Van Lathan

11 sketches, 98 claims, and 48 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–11 of 11 sketches.

The Rewatchables: ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Enjoys the series for its sleaze, hang value and cheesy lines. Roots for Black-cast-free sendups and loves a flex category. Gravitates to Freddy and likes Kevin Bacon.

Stances

Friday the 13th is a movie that did not need Black people
Rewards bad-hang awards and flex lists

Humor: Performative, riffs in character voices, escalates lists to absurdity.

In their words

“Number five, Friday the 13th.” (1:20:13)

The Rewatchables: ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Cares about craft, producing and career-level analysis; likes the film's ensemble and sound. Dislikes streamer overspend like Napoleon and uneven character writing. Sucker for 80s and 90s star-driven filmmaking.

Stances

Brad Pitt carved out an incomparable career
A good producer leaves no seams
Damson's character was underwritten for him to win
Napoleon was precisely what Apple should not make

Humor: Wry and sharp, uses jokes about race and casting to land points.

In their words

“A movie that's well produced, you cannot see the seams.” (0:37:18)
“Brad Pitt carved out a Brad Pitt thing that makes him incomparable to a lot of his contemporaries.” (0:19:19)

The Rewatchables: ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (guest)

Loves cool, grounded actors (Madsen, Goggins, Bernthal) and nitpicking the logic of the alien plan. Can't stand the empath being a job. Sucker for a hot tub, a convertible, and a plan to survive an alien.

Stances

Madsen was effortlessly cool
The empath is the best part and the worst
His alien survival plan is to team up

Humor: Absurdist riffs on LA dating, empaths and surviving the alien.

In their words

“How about a science fiction, science fiction slash horror movie?” (0:46:11)
“Me and you against the world, baby.” (1:20:29)

The Rewatchables: ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Boxing gym veteran who reads Rocky through race and the gym. Loves Apollo as a revolutionary Black character and Mickey as a man who ages with you. Hates Paulie. Sucker for the 5 AM training and the training montage.

Stances

Paulie is the asshole of the film
Boxing is the one place where tribalism is still acceptable
Apollo is a revolutionary character, particularly as a Black man
Likes Rocky V; ranks 3, 4, 5, 2

Humor: Deadpan stories from the boxing gym and pointed jabs at his own flex categories.

In their words

“The Poly Award for asshole of the film.” (1:07:55)
“Boxing is legitimately the only place where it's still completely acceptable to be totally tribal.” (0:56:26)
“I go three.” (1:51:23)

The Rewatchables: ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

He loves a movie about ordinary-looking people in extraordinary situations and dislikes casting that feels too glossy. He is a sucker for the Van Lathan Award bit about whiteness and the lack of black characters, delivered as comedy. He is drawn to the erotic subtext and the movie-star vs ordinary actor contrast.

Stances

Hollywood leads look too good now compared to the attainable cast of Twister
The movie is perfectly white escapist, so more black people does not belong in Wakita
Paxton lacks movie-star magnetism for a lead like Out of Sight
Twister is the way things used to be, not a harbinger

Humor: Deadpan provocations and a running award in his name about diversity in the film.

In their words

“It's just like normal person stuff with a couple of scientists” (0:04:22)
“And this is a white ass story about some storm chasers.” (1:18:22)

The Rewatchables: ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan (host)

Van brings a Black-viewer lens and pop-culture mapping, such as Sciorra's later roles and the film not needing more Black people. He loves charismatic bad guys and Richard Gere in particular through his mother and grandmother. He can't stand the movie's attitude toward domestic violence.

Stances

The film did not need more Black people (a joke category)
Attractive villains are the best villains
Gere is the apex of hot bad guy

Humor: Self-aware, story-based, and dryly absurd: wife walking out of the Vision Pro screening.

In their words

“I think an attractive villain is the best kind of villain.” (1:32:08)
“My mama loved Richard Gere.” (0:54:16)
“Kalika got up and said, I can't look.” (0:54:04)

The Rewatchables: ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan (guest)

Loves He Got Game's take on fatherhood, gambling scenes, and the thoughtful cultural reading of the film; deeply moved by the boxing scene. Dislikes the film's casual racism being waved off; thinks Lorenzo is a bad dad. Sucker for an all-Black recast and casting games.

Stances

Lorenzo is a bad dad, Sonny better
N-word moment is weak link
$20 rule is truest thing
Recast all-Black Bronx Tale

Humor: Big, boisterous, teases the others about being white and calls out their inconsistencies.

In their words

“Y'all are white, so y'all don't really know poor people like that.” (0:51:11)
“Okay, so Mershaw Ali is Lorenzo.” (1:34:14)

The Rewatchables: ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan (guest)

Loves 90s cable-rotation movies, Alec Baldwin's 20th century run, Prelude to a Kiss, and Naked and Afraid. Can't stand The Revenant's brutality or the 'Black guy dies' trope. Sucker for family jokes and Hopkins' eyes.

Stances

The cabin scene is the best scene
Baldwin is a great actor despite everything
Billionaire heroes would not play today
Would choose bear over shark

Humor: Warm, loud, self-deprecating riffs and impressions built on personal anecdotes.

In their words

“is such a good actor, bro.” (0:46:23)
“I watch naked and afraid.” (0:44:04)

The Rewatchables: ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan (guest)

Loves the film as a family comedy he watched with his mom and grandmother, and relates to Bob's fears through therapy. Can't stand Kevin Hart as a character actor and loves Prime. A sucker for family-movie nostalgia and the lake-house dream.

Stances

Bob is more human than the psychiatrist
Film mocks fame-hungry psychiatrists
Prime is underrated
Kevin Hart can't play a character
Bob is treating himself by pursuing the doctor

Humor: Warm, self-deprecating therapy jokes and big ideas like the all-Black recast and Bob-as-Dr.-Phil sequel.

In their words

“So Bob's more of a human than a psychiatrist is.” (0:41:58)
“I just don't think Kevin Hart can be anybody other than Kevin Hart.” (0:56:48)

The Big Picture: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! (guest)

A lifelong comic book reader who loved the film and rates it above the original; Namor's performance and the redefinition of Wakanda's power were highlights. He loves Avatar's wonderment, Nolan-style demanding films, and fighting for comics to get the grace given to serious films. He's wary of the MCU's drift into self-parody.

Stances

Wakanda Forever is better than the original
Namor is by far the best part
Comic book movies are denied the grace Nolan films get
Marvel's recent films lack a heartbeat and have become parodies

Humor: Big, bombastic and self-aware comic nerd, with sports and pop-culture analogies and a mock top-five list.

In their words

“I thought Neymar was by far the best part of Wakanda forever, like by far” (0:15:59)
“They're the Russell Westbrook of final fights.” (0:58:00)
“Number two, the Godfather two, number one, Black Panther, Wakanda forever.” (1:09:05)

The Big Picture: Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright (guest)

Loves characters who are flawed heroes, quotable lines, bully-movie comeuppance, and the way the film makes the arcade comic world feel sublime. Cares about directors getting their big shot. Hates when his friends do not get the movie.

Stances

The film was a tick ahead of its time
Nerds have the power now
Goonies disease: he wants a sequel for selfish reasons

Humor: Big storyteller voice, anecdotes about his homeboys, his girlfriend hating the looped DVD, and accosting Jason Schwartzman in a BevMo.

In their words

“I have what I call like, the homeboy gauge.” (0:15:50)
“I call this Goonies disease.” (0:43:37)

Their shows' recurring bits

Running bits, not opinions; a critic read aloud is cited, not present.

The Big Picture

Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.

The Rewatchables

Apex Mountain: The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits.
Who Won the Movie: The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off.
The Ebert review: Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show.
Casting what-ifs: Who was almost cast, or who should have been.
Most rewatchable scene: The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels.
Aged best / aged worst: What holds up and what does not.
Picking Nits: The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits.
Double feature: The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick.

Their claims

Showing 1–98 of 98 claims.

theme (theme): Friday the 13th → The Big Chill. Van's flex: a top five of movies that did not need Black people, with Friday the 13th at number five.
“Number five, Friday the 13th.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:20:13 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (theme): The Big Chill → Grease. Van's list continues through Grease, Good Will Hunting, and Jackass.
“Number three, Grease.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:20:44 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): F1 → Gleaming the Cube. F1 revives the 80s star-plus-cultural-phenomenon movie like Gleaming the Cube and Over the Top.
“we used to do these movies, gleaming the cube, skateboarding over the top, arm wrestling”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:18 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Brad Pitt → Tom Cruise. Cruise embodied hyper celebrity while Pitt just did whatever interested him.
“Tom Cruise embodied, not just the movie star, but the hyper celebrity.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:19:30 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): F1 → Napoleon. Napoleon was an overspent streamer mess; F1 looks like craft and care.
“the movie itself is just a mess.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:42:46 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): F1 → The Big Short. Both movies must teach the audience the rules while telling the story.
“the big short is the only other movie that I can compare to this film that has to do work in order for the narrative to be understood.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:51:44 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): F1 → Creed. Creed did the handover to the new generation best.
“Like the movie that probably did the handover, the best is Creed.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:03 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): F1 → Any Given Sunday. Any Given Sunday also hands over to a young player, with little stake in it.
“Like once again, in that movie, there's no stakes in Willie Beaman taking over Cap.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:18 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): F1 → Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Obi-Wan cutting Anakin's leg is a second Star Wars old-guy-schooling scene.
“I'm talking about in revenge of the Sith.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:18:13 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): F1 → Jurassic Park. A Spielberg F1 would be Jurassic Park with cars.
“This is essentially Jurassic Park, but with cars”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:31:31 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Ben Kingsley → Michael Caine. Kingsley is in the middle-aged English actor zone of Michael Caine, doing it in his sleep.
“I think he was probably in that zone of middle-aged English actor who's like kind of in the Michael Kane zone.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:17:09 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Ben Kingsley → BloodRayne. Kingsley took a one-day, $75,000 gig in a movie by the worst-director-of-all-time (Uwe Boll).
“He was in one of his movies and apparently Blood Rain.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:17:39 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Ben Kingsley → Sexy Beast. Kingsley takes paychecks, then reminds everyone in Sexy Beast he is the best actor in the world.
“he would just be in Sexy Beast and you'd be like, oh, you're the best actor in the world.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:18:01 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Michael Madsen → Basic Instinct. Madsen could have played the Michael Douglas part in Basic Instinct.
“Like Madson could have been the Michael Douglas basic instinct part.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:22:58 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Michael Madsen → Shooter. Shooter needed someone clean-cut with a dark side, and that is Madsen.
“The only thing about shooter is shooter, shooter had to be somebody that looked clean cut but had a dark side, that's Madson.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:17 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Forest Whitaker → Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Whitaker spent years playing weird, off-kilter characters, as in Ghost Dog.
“Like fucking Ghost Dog this, or Asian Harlem, which is a great fucking movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:44:40 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Species → White Men Can't Jump. Sil should have hustled people at the Venice courts like White Men Can't Jump.
“Why can't she stop by the Venice courts and do a white white man can't jump?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:54:55 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
people (people): Species → Under Siege. The microbiologist's weapons skill is the Erika Eleniak from Under Siege category.
“She had the Erica Leniac it from, from, from under siege”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:57:54 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Michael Madsen → Reservoir Dogs. Apex mountain pick for Madsen is Reservoir Dogs, argued against by the VHS-era 1995 context.
“Uh, I would say probably Reservoir”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:14:23 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Michael Madsen → Pulp Fiction. Madsen passed up Pulp Fiction, which was the turning point of his career.
“Like he passed up pulp fiction, like he probably has the most juice right around there.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:15:03 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Martin Scorsese → Species. Scorsese would make a gritty, sex alien movie steeped in Catholic guilt, with the empath as a priest.
“I wanted his gritty, sex alien movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:17:26 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Rocky → Hoosiers. Sports movies of the era pit an audience-favorite against the black player or team, like Hoosiers and Rocky.
“it's like Hoosiers, it's rocky.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:57:04 · Van Lathan (0.45 sure it was them)
people (people): Sylvester Stallone → Antonio Tarver. Stallone removed Roy Jones Jr. from Rocky Balboa and put Antonio Tarver in.
“Sloane removed him from the movie and put Antonio Tarver in the movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:04 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Rocky → The Notorious B.I.G.. A record that plays at the end of Rocky was sampled in a hit song (Victory).
“There's a record that plays at the end of the movie that was sampled by somebody else”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:06:43 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Rocky → Rocky Balboa. The little girl Marie from Rocky grows up to be the love interest in Rocky Balboa.
“she then becomes the Rocky Balboa love interest.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:14:31 · Van Lathan (0.45 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Rocky → Raging Bull. Another double-feature choice, Raging Bull, picked by one host.
“I go Raging Bull.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:44:35 · Van Lathan (0.45 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Twister → Twisters. The new film shows how much better-looking the leads are now than the ordinary-looking cast of the original.
“This movie and Twister, the old movie, it shows you the difference in things.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:04:47 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Twister → Twisters. Twister's leads look attainably pretty while the sequel is a movie-star vehicle for the hottest guy in Hollywood.
“now this same film is a movie star vehicle for the sexiest, hottest guy in Hollywood right now”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:05:05 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Bill Paxton → Brian Cranston. Paxton is the type who needs a late-career role made for him, like a bad guy on Ozark.
“He's also the kind of guy to me that catches a role that's made for him late in his career.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:21:10 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Philip Seymour Hoffman → Mission: Impossible III. Hoffman elevated any material, playing the Mission: Impossible III villain like he was in The Master and scaring Tom Cruise.
“no matter what the material was, he elevated it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:25:42 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Goodfellas. Aunt Meg feeding a crew of twelve in minutes is compared to Pesci's mom making meatballs at 3 a.m. in Goodfellas.
“Like a Goodfellas when they show up at 3 in the morning”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:58:13 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → Batman (character films). Joe chasing her parent's trauma by storm-chasing is likened to Batman, a Caucasian Mount Rushmore of trauma.
“Caucasian character Mount Rushmore.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:10:15 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Twister → White Squall. A joke title for Twister, Caucasian Storm, leads to White Squall as another white-people-in-nature movie.
“Have you ever seen White Squall?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:13:35 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Twister → Deep Impact. Deep Impact, same summer, is suggested as a disaster double feature and feels coded to Twister.
“Oh, no, this movie is deep impact coded to me.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Twister’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:47:09 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Annabella Sciorra → The Sopranos. Fifteen years from selling cars and hooking up with Tony Soprano.
“On her way, 15 years away from selling cars and hooking up with Tony Soprano.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:05 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Annabella Sciorra → Jungle Fever. A couple years later she was a prominent figure for young black adolescent males in Jungle Fever.
“But only a couple years away from being a very, very prominent figure in the lives of like a lot of young black adolescent males.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:10 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Annabella Sciorra → The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Sciorra went from this to Jungle Fever and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle within a couple of years.
“And hand that rocks to cradle.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:08:21 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Andy Garcia → Ray Liotta. Both had looks, charm, and chops but never broke through to the next level.
“I feel like he had that in common with Ray Leota.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:10:52 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Richard Gere → Tom Cruise. Leading men like Cruise would not cede sexual power to a Lothario co-star the way Garcia and Baldwin do here.
“Cruz isn't signing up for this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:14:26 · Van Lathan (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Wire → Internal Affairs. Cops in The Wire beat suspects and plant evidence but read as more human than police, so dirty cops work differently on TV.
“You see a couple these, Hurricane Carver, take some money, the whole not, so they're more human than they are police, which makes the lens that you look at them through a little bit different.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:18:16 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Mike Figgis → Leaving Las Vegas. Figgis directed both; the two films share DNA of desperate, almost violent sex in a place full of promise and sin.
“If you watch this movie and you put it next to, uh, leaving Las Vegas, you could tell that they have the same DNA.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:28 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Leaving Las Vegas → Internal Affairs. Both are set in a place supposed to be full of promise but are really full of sin and desperation.
“They're both set in a place that's supposed to be full of promise, but is, in fact, full of sin and desperation.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:23:46 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Internal Affairs → Rear Window. The jealousy scenes turn the movie toward Rear Window or Vertigo as Raymond is consumed by sexual inadequacy more than the case.
“That's where it turns to the rear window a little bit, right?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:41:23 · Van Lathan (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Another 48 Hrs. → Internal Affairs. The Internal Affairs guy is cast as the bad guy while investigating Jack Cates, who is the corrupt one.
“Meanwhile, he's investigating Jack Cates, who is like just completely corrupt.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:07:06 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Harrison Ford → Internal Affairs. One speaker would nominate Harrison Ford from the studio's long list for Peck.
“Harrison Ford, which is the one that I would nominate.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:08:53 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Don Johnson → Richard Gere. Don Johnson is nearly as good a fit; he and Gere were in the same corner for a while.
“Yeah, and gear were in the same kind of corner for a while there.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:09:40 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Internal Affairs → The Breakfast Club. Another movie with no black people that did not need any.
“Same as Breakfast Club, a movie with no black people.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:11:32 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Internal Affairs → Bad Influence. Offered as the best double-feature choice because of this weird era of psychosexual movies.
“I had bad influence just because this weird era that we're in now with like weird psychosex movies.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:29:57 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Richard Gere → Ryan Gosling. Gosling is the one current actor who could be a Peck if he wanted.
“Gosling, if Gosling wanted to be, Gosling could be.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:33:48 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Black Panther → Internal Affairs. Peck is the man compared to Garcia, like a Killmonger thing: he talks shit to the very end.
“It's kind of like a whole, like, Black Panther, Killmonger thing, where you leave.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:35:07 · Van Lathan (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (cautionary parallel): Lillo Brancato Jr. → Edward Furlong. Brancato's wasted-talent arc is compared to Johnny Manziel and T2's Edward Furlong.
“He's basically Johnny Manzel.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:30:51 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
people (cast overlap): A Bronx Tale → Belly. Taral Hicks's career: she appeared in Belly, which may have been too much for her devout beliefs.
“And she appeared in the film Belly.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:11:24 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (same genre): The Edge → Cast Away. Man-against-nature survival movies hook the viewer because you imagine what you would do.
“there's very few movies where you're not locked in.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:03:10 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
people (same actor): The Edge → Glengarry Glen Ross. Van names Glengarry Glen Ross and Malice as the Baldwin roles closest to his Edge character, the arrogant guy who somehow stays likable.
“An arrogant motherfucker who will stab anyone in the back, but it's kind of like him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:04:11 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (zeitgeist): The Edge → Wall Street. Wall Street captured the 80s aspirational billionaire that the Edge still lives in.
“Wall Street really captures it with the Gordon Gecko character.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:10:59 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (structural echo): The Edge → The Bounty. Van says the Edge's ending, walking back to society after being marooned, mirrors the Bounty, with Hopkins as Captain Bligh.
“This movie kind of reminded me of the bounty in a way because of how the 2 characters come back, like, Hopkins is Captain Bligh and all of that.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:17:52 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career move): Prelude to a Kiss → Meg Ryan. Prelude was Baldwin trying to get a hit as Meg Ryan's career was exploding.
“I think prelude to a kiss was him trying to get a bona fide hit because everything that she was in at that point was going so huge.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:20:59 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
theme (genre copy): Body of Evidence → Basic Instinct. Mid-90s sexy noir all followed Basic Instinct; Madonna's version was a spoof-level bust.
“That was literally like a basic instinct spoof.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:22:30 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (same career tier): Alec Baldwin → Val Kilmer. Van says Baldwin and Kilmer were both A-listers whose IMDb never matched their talent.
“I think him and Val Kummer occupied this strange space in that kind of 90s, early 2000s where they were A-listers.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:24:01 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (sports analogy): Alec Baldwin → Mitch Richmond. Baldwin's 90s are compared to Mitch Richmond: good numbers, never the winning team.
“It was like watching a basketball player. It's like that guy, you know, Mitch Richmond.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:24:17 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): The Edge → Independence Day. Pullman and Goldblum link by Independence Day, offering another route to the Edge's casting.
“Somebody who's in Independence Day with him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:28:03 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Jeff Goldblum → Anthony Hopkins. Van suggests Goldblum, a co-star of Pullman in Independence Day, as an offbeat rich guy.
“I think Jeff Goldblum could have pulled this off in like in a weird, quirky sort of the rich.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:28:05 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (structural echo): The Edge → The Bounty. Van again: the ending is almost identical to The Bounty's return to civilization.
“But at the end of this movie, when he walks back, it's almost identical to the edge of bounty where William Bly actually finds himself back.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:31:33 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
theme (comparison): Bart the Bear → Marlon Brando. Bart is the Marlon Brando of bears and the Michael Jordan of bears.
“Right, he's the Marlon Brando of bears.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:33:34 · Van Lathan (0.55 sure it was them)
unmapped (bear movie): The Edge → The Great Outdoors. Van's favorite bear movie is probably The Edge, though The Great Outdoors is one of his favorites ever; Bart was in both.
“Although the Great Outdoors is one of my favorite movies of all time.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:34:30 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (plane crash): The Edge → Sully. Sully joins The Edge as a reminder of how terrifying bird strikes are.
“does it make you wonder why there aren't more, like the, like the movie Sully is another one?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:36:58 · Van Lathan (0.55 sure it was them)
people (same actor): Harold Perrineau → Oz. Perrineau was in every episode of Oz.
“He was in every eyes.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:40:01 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
craft (survival craft): The Edge → Naked and Afraid. Van uses Naked and Afraid to judge whether the bear trap and rope in the film are plausible.
“So like, I watched naked and afraid.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:43:39 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (survival rescue): The Edge → Alive. Alive is nominated as the greatest rescue scene; Cast Away punted on the rescue.
“I mean, the fucking alive. It has to be number one, right?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:49:44 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (on-screen pair): Alec Baldwin → Elle Macpherson. Bill wanted a real actress, e.g. Kidman or Thurman, opposite Baldwin.
“That's where you need like Nicole Kidman.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:07:07 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (title what-if): The Edge → Into the Wild. Into the Wild was one of the studio's spitballed titles for The Edge, later a real wilderness film.
“It's just funny that Into the Wild is on there and that ended up becoming like a really strong wild wilderness film later on.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:09:38 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (all-black remake): Queen Latifah → Elle Macpherson. Remake with Latifah as the billionaire with Idris Elba the photographer-type and Tessa Thompson or Zoe Kravitz as the wife.
“I got Queen Latifah, Tessa Thompson, Queen Latifah, Idris Alba.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:24:23 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Samuel L. Jackson → The Edge. Sam Jackson attacked by a bear after a shark would be hilarious.
“Watch him get attacked by a bear because then he could have been attacked by a shark and a bear within a two-year span.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:25:47 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
what-if (casting what-if): Phil Hartman → What About Bob?. In a reboot Van would cast Phil Hartman as the Dreyfuss character.
“I actually would cast Phil Hartman as the Richard Dreyfuss character.”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:08:27 · Van Lathan (0.90 sure it was them)
craft (era tone): What About Bob? → National Lampoon's Vacation. Both reflect a time when comedies let protagonists do outrageous things; Clark Griswold kidnaps people at the end of Vacation.
“Well, vacation was like that too. Remember, at the end, Clark Chris, like he kidnaps people.”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:45:12 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
theme (skill comparison): What About Bob? → The Bourne Identity. Bob's pretending to be someone else to track the doctor is likened to Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt spycraft.
“Jason Bourne, like CIA detective skills to go in there and pretend to be somebody else, Ethan Hutt skills”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:09:39 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (OCD treatment): What About Bob? → As Good as It Gets. Bob's improvement by pursuing the doctor is compared to Helen Hunt making Nicholson less OCD.
“So it's almost like Helen Hunt and as good as it gets, making Nicholas and less OCD.”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:09:56 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
lineage (remake format): What About Bob? → In Treatment. A 10-episode remake would be hard; In Treatment is the nearest show, tracking patients over years.
“I mean, in treatment was the show and treatment was kind of sort of like this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:12:11 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
unmapped (demanding-film grace): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Interstellar. Van notes Interstellar asks viewers to grasp relativity and singularity, yet nobody balks at it the way they do at Infinity Stones.
“And he's asking you to understand relatively relativity, singularity, and all of these things.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:21:29 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (demanding-film grace): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Tenet. Van argues audiences give Nolan films like Tenet grace for demanding hard work that comic book movies do not get.
“I think that there's a grace that we give to quote unquote, serious films or real films.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:21:48 · Van Lathan (0.85 sure it was them)
unmapped (demanding-film grace): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Inception. Van says many people love Inception without understanding it, yet comic book movies are not given the same pass.
“I know a lot of people who loved inception.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:21:54 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (ancestral plane parallel): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Black Panther. Van explains that in the first film T'Challa saw his father on the ancestral plane because he had questions for him, while Shuri saw Killmonger because she wanted revenge, the same motive Killmonger had.
“Shuri did not want to be the Black Panther to protect Wakanda.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:32:14 · Van Lathan (0.85 sure it was them)
theme (character introduction): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Captain America: Civil War. Van says Black Panther was handled better in Civil War than in his own movie, and that Civil War served as his origin; Ironheart's introduction here does not land the same way.
“Black Panther, to me, was portrayed better in Civil War than he was in the original Black Panther movie.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:37:09 · Van Lathan (0.85 sure it was them)
theme (character introduction): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Iron Man 2. Van says the MCU has introduced characters inside other movies before, like Black Widow in Iron Man 2.
“Black Widow makes her a parent, her 1st appearance.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:37:22 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (time and resources): James Cameron → Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Van says Cameron spends 13 years on one franchise, so his film will look better than a Marvel release.
“one movie, this guy's working 13 years on it.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:49:41 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (action craft): Russo Brothers → Captain America: Civil War. Van credits the Russos as experts at MCU action, better at it than directors of the other movies.
“Yeah, like in the movies and there's a very, you know, what the Russo's do for the MCU, it's not easy to do that, right?”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:50:31 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
people (director mismatch): Chloe Zhao → Eternals. Van says Zhao is a fantastic director, but a big fight between celestial beings may not suit her, as with Marvel hiring auteurs.
“But that doesn't mean that a big fight between celestial beans is going to be her cup of tea.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:51:08 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (final fight): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Spider-Man: No Way Home. Van names the Marvel third-act problem and cites No Way Home as a movie that is all about its final fight.
“The whole movie is for the final fight.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:58:25 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (Marvel malaise): Black Panther: Wakanda Forever → Thor: Love and Thunder. Van says Marvel films are now parodies of themselves, citing Thor: Love and Thunder as a spoof of Ragnarok.
“Some of these films are almost parodies of themselves.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:11:23 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (self-parody): Thor: Love and Thunder → Thor: Ragnarok. Van says Love and Thunder is a spoof of Ragnarok and that Waititi likely knew it.
“is like a spoof of Thor Ragnarok.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:11:29 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (restraint): Captain America: The Winter Soldier → Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Van says Winter Soldier was a sleek comic book spy thriller doing less, which the current audience demand for cameos and jokes would make impossible now.
“Captain America Winter Soldier was less.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:12:05 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
unmapped (small-scale Marvel): Werewolf by Night → Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Van says Werewolf by Night is the kind of fantastic small Marvel piece that ends up on Disney+, while Sean wishes there were more reading-an-issue movies like it.
“the good stuff like werewolf by night, which was fantastic.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:12:24 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Spider-Man: Homecoming → Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Van says audiences are now so saturated with origin stories that Homecoming can skip Uncle Ben, which wasn't possible when Scott Pilgrim came out.
“Spider-Man Homecoming doesn't even touch on Uncle Ben.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:19:54 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
unmapped (audience): Bright → Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Van says Bright split his friends the same way over whether the world needed explaining.
“remember when Bright came out on Netflix?”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:20:54 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
people (people): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → Marie Antoinette. Van links the Jason Schwartzman fight to meeting Schwartzman and arguing about Marie Antoinette.
“I even told him I didn't like Marie Antoinette.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:27:11 · Van Lathan (0.75 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → 1980s bully movies. Van loves the Lucas Lee fight because it recalls cheesy 80s bully fights and flips them, Scott winning through wiliness.
“the fights that I love from, uh, bully fights are like from 80s, cheesy 80s movies.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:33:29 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Edgar Wright → Ant-Man. Van calls Wright leaving Ant-Man a great disappointment of his nerd movie life.
“It's one of the greatest disappointments of my nerd movie watching life that Edgar Wright stepped away from Ant-Man.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:39:23 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Scott Pilgrim vs. the World → The Goonies. Van wants a sequel the way he wants a Goonies sequel, for selfish reasons, even though the original should be left alone.
“I call this Goonies disease.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:43:37 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–48 of 48 fun items.

fun, about Friday the 13th: No black people in the film: Van's flex, with a top-5 that includes The Big Chill, Grease, Good Will Hunting and Jackass.
“0 black people.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:19:29 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Jerry Bruckheimer: Simmons counts Bruckheimer rewatchables at about 16; he is one of the last producers who says 'picture'.
“We've done 417 movies.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:34:52 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Jerry Bruckheimer: Bruckheimer got Apple to make inch-sized cameras for F1 cars.
“He's getting Apple to make him like these inch inch size cameras.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:36:11 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Producing: A well-produced movie shows no seams.
“A movie that's well produced, you cannot see the seams.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:37:18 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about F1: Sonny causing minor crashes to help JP is what F1 fans dismiss as ridiculous.
“You love this movie and if you do understand all the details of F1, you're probably like, well, that's bullshit.”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:51:34 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about F1: Sequel ideas: F minus one with Austin Butler as young Sonny; F2 with Pitt running the team.
“Austin Butler, as Sunny?”
The Rewatchables · ‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:36:57 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Dennis Feldman: The Species Wikipedia page is suspiciously detailed about his writing process, down to draft numbers.
“There's just a lot of his process in the Wikipedia page, like a lot.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:47:29 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Species: Bill's get-out: team up with the alien, we'll start a whole new world.
“Me and you against the world, baby.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:20:29 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Michael Madsen: Madsen's tough-guy introduction is handing off a cat; the speakers joke it was Madsen's idea and Donaldson just needed the shot.
“The 1st time we see him, he's handing a cat to his cat center, awesome moment.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:20:42 · Van Lathan (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Paulie: The Polly Award for asshole of the film: he pimps his sister and throws her Thanksgiving turkey out the window.
“The Poly Award for asshole of the film.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:07:55 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Rocky: Paulie throws the Thanksgiving turkey out the window and eats a piece; Burt Young covered himself in vermouth on his neck.
“This dude takes the turkey, throws it out of the window and then eats a piece of it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:10:00 · Van Lathan (0.55 sure it was them)
fun, about Sylvester Stallone: He smoked so much making Rocky that he quit smoking in real life.
“In real life, he quit after Rocky because he was like, it was too gross.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Rocky’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:12:34 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Internal Affairs: Box office: a $50 million budget (as said) against 47.7 million, then a cable mainstay, heavily edited for TNT.
“It was one of the worst edited for TNT movies possible”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:24:45 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Andy Garcia: Garcia's flat top gets compared to Brandon Walsh's haircut in 90210.
“Uh, Brandon Walsh eventually would take it to another level in 902-0.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:47:08 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Van Lathan: Van's wife Kalika got up and left when she saw the pan-back: she saw Richard Gere and 'Richard Gere has a thing with the black ladies.'
“Kalika got up and said, I can't look.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:54:04 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Richard Gere: Van's mother and grandmother loved Richard Gere.
“My mama loved Richard Gere.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 0:54:16 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Richard Gere: He might be the apex of hot bad guy, and the hosts wished he had played more villains.
“And I think gear might be the apex of like hot bad guy.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan · 1:32:10 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about A Bronx Tale: The $20 rule: Sonny's advice that you can buy off a pest for 20 bucks and never think about it again. Van calls it the truest thing in the movie because he lends money.
“That is by far. is the truest thing in this entire movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:50:58 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Rewatchables / Black Star: The Black Star channel runs a rotation of four movies and loosely interprets the theme; they wonder why Ghost is on it. Ryan notes Starz Black does the same with Denzel.
“Why is why is Ghost on Black Star?”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:06:20 · Van Lathan (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about A Bronx Tale recast: All-Black remake: Mahershala Ali as Lorenzo, Sterling K. Brown as Sonny, Shameik Moore as C, and Jenna Ortega (as transcribed 'Genie Ortega') as Jane. Group suggests Laura Linney or Laura Dern as Lorenzo's wife.
“Okay, so Mershaw Ali is Lorenzo.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:34:14 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about A Bronx Tale boxing scene: Van, who lost his father, singles out the boxing-match scene where C is ashamed to sit with his dad; he would run to Santa Monica and back just to sit and watch Bonanza or Shane with his father again.
“I'd run straight to Santa Monica and back right now just to sit down and watch Shane or any of those stupid movies now.”
The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:50:55 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Edge: Best quote pick, and the show's cold open: kill the bear.
“I'm gonna kill the bear.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:01:00 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Edge: Bill's riff on why a billionaire hero is impossible to sell today: no one would root for Jeff Bezos against the bear.
“Like no one's going to root for Jeff Bezos against the bear.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:10:24 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about The Edge: Most rewatchable scene versus best scene: Bill's is killing the bear; Van's best scene is Charles figuring out the affair in the cabin.
“The best scene in the movie is the cabin scene.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 0:51:11 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about The Edge: The rule of three: when three are left in a horror or action movie, the Black guy dies; Van turned down a Blumhouse cameo for it.
“My character must survive.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:01:05 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Elle Macpherson: Weak link award: Macpherson's acting; Bill wants Kidman or Uma Thurman.
“She's like fantastically bad.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:03:12 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Gil Myers: Best that guy: Gil Myers of 90210 plays the mechanic; L.Q. Jones asks for $40 million.
“Kil Myra is huge 902 and 0 senior year in high school.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:14:09 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about The Edge: Nitpick: Mickey engraved the watch for Bob the same way she engraved her husband's; Bill says the engraver would be blackmailing her.
“Why would she engrave the watch?”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:19:54 · Van Lathan (0.55 sure it was them)
fun, about The Edge: Next-day question: Charles gives away the watch, leaves her, and she becomes a Bravo housewife.
“She's on bravo shows.”
The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:32:24 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Recasting couch: all-Black cast: Van's all-Black recast: Sterling K. Brown as Dr. Marvin, Sanaa Lathan as his wife, Bob as J.B. Smoove (not Kevin Hart, who 'can't play a character'); Tracy Morgan floated as alternate Bob.
“The Richard Dreyfuss character is Sterling K. Brown.”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:55:51 · Van Lathan (0.95 sure it was them)
fun, about Sequel pitch: Van's sequel pitch: filmed in 2021, Leo is dead, Bob has become Dr. Phil with a TV show; Dreyfuss sued Disney for royalties so Leo must be dead.
“Bob has become Dr. Phil.”
The Rewatchables · ‘What About Bob?’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:13:43 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Namor: Van rattles off Namor as one of the oldest Marvel characters, an indicator of cool who does cool, unsavory things, including trying to have sex with Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four.
“Namor is trying to have sex with Sue Storm.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:10:02 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Marvel Comics: Van's pitch for comics: reading X-Men at nine taught him telekinesis, and the books keep upping the ante conceptually, so why can't MCU fans accept Infinity Stones; Loki then made them inert.
“I always encourage kids to read comic books because it flings your mind forward.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:14:33 · Van Lathan (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Namor / Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Van says comic fans watched the trailer to see if Namor got his winged feet; without them, he says, fraud.
“I've been doing this since 1987 fraud.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:23:22 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Van says that during the funeral scenes he kept wondering whether Angela Bassett's and Shuri's tears were real, since Boseman really died.
“I'm like, is she really crying?”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:40:54 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Lake Bell: Fan theory relayed by Van: Lake Bell's character was meant to serve a bigger villain and survive for a post-credits talk, but that was cut late, leaving a recognizable actor killed in one scene.
“you have a really recognizable act actress who's been working for a very long time, shows up and gets killed in one scene and you're like, why was she in this?”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:44:13 · Van Lathan (0.75 sure it was them)
fun, about Avatar: Van says he goes into Avatar and falls into wonderment, saying 'ooh' at the Na'vi and unobtanium, before getting into the mech-suit fight with Jake Sully.
“So I go into Avatar and I just fall into wonderment.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:48:43 · Van Lathan (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Talokan: Van mocks the underwater kingdom: they have their own sports, throwing a ball through a ring of jets.
“They're throwing a ball through a circle of like the jets.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:52:12 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Atuma: Van loves Atuma, an Atlantean who thinks he should rule, beating Okoye after they try to rescue Riri, and jokes Atuma gives her the Bane Bruce Wayne treatment.
“And he gives her the bang Bruce Wayne treatment.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:56:59 · Van Lathan (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Marvel final fights: Van compares Marvel final fights to Russell Westbrook, a low-percentage shooter; some are fantastic and some are eh.
“They're the Russell Westbrook of final fights.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 0:58:00 · Van Lathan (0.75 sure it was them)
fun, about Divine Love Konadu-Sun: The surprise ending child is called the vibranium of child actors, and Sean later says the actor's name is one of the greatest he has heard.
“he's the vibranium of child actors.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:01:25 · Van Lathan (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Van's all-time top five: Raising Arizona, Madhouse (with John Larroquette), The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and at number one Wakanda Forever.
“Number four, Madhouse with John Larroquit.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:08:58 · Van Lathan (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Marvel / Quantumania: Van promises to turn Amanda into Amanda back issue Dobbins with weekly Zoom comics lessons before next summer.
“You're about to be Amanda back issue Dobbins.”
The Big Picture · ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Is Here! · 1:13:25 · Van Lathan (0.60 sure it was them)
fun, about Van Lathan: Van's comic book collection of 3,500 was lost to Hurricane Katrina; the movie brought back the feeling of flipping pages.
“I just want to give a quick shout out to Hurricane Katrina for taking my comic book collection.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:09:43 · Van Lathan (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Van Lathan: Van's homeboy gauge: he plays movies for his Baton Rouge friends and sees who can get into them. Scott Pilgrim splits them.
“I have what I call like, the homeboy gauge.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:15:50 · Van Lathan (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Jason Schwartzman: Van once cornered Schwartzman in a BevMo on Sepulveda, told him he did not like Marie Antoinette, and Schwartzman defended the film kindly.
“The sweetest man I have ever met.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:27:06 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Van looped the DVD so much that his girlfriend hated the movie and begged him to stop rewinding the bread line.
“stop rewinding it if you want me to love the movie.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:36:59 · Van Lathan (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about The Goonies: Van's Goonies disease: he would watch a sequel for selfish reasons even though the original should never be touched.
“Really, it should never be touched again.”
The Big Picture · Celebrating ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World’ 10 Years Later With Edgar Wright · 0:44:28 · Van Lathan (0.80 sure it was them)