Brian Raftery

3 sketches, 105 claims, and 42 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–3 of 3 sketches.

The Big Picture: 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished (host)

Loves slow-burn tension and scenes built on dialogue, naming the Ellis kitchen scene the best of the 2000s. Is drawn to films that capture their national moment. Has little patience for the word classic, and dry humor about presidents and haircuts.

Stances

  • No Country for Old Men is about inevitability and powerlessness
  • Its 2007 release resonated with Bush-era anxiety
  • W. was undone by timing, not quality
  • Stone's late-2000s movies are best read through the decade's politics

Humor: Deadpan asides and self-deprecation (admits listening to the scene with the screen off is dorky; compares a killer's hair to Slinky Dog).

In their words

  • “To be honest, I hate the word classic, but I don't know how else you describe those movies.” (0:07:25)
  • “This is dorky, even for me.” (0:14:02)
  • “John Stewart, who was a very underrated Oscars host, in my opinion” (0:05:25)

The Big Picture: 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished (host)

Loves the ordinary-people-versus-the-moment way studio movies reflect their time, and is a sucker for a good tonal contrast between teen comedy and dread. He rates Bring It On as sunny and fun and Donnie Darko as the era's anxiety. He pokes at Flintstones sequels and flimsy studio product.

Stances

  • Movies reflect the national mood; Bring It On and Donnie Darko bookend pre- and post-9/11
  • Donnie Darko was the first film to embody the post-9/11 mood
  • Studios could afford risks in 2000

Humor: Dry, self-deprecating asides and punning jokes like 'chillenium' and the Corky Romano gag.

In their words

  • “That movie sucked.” (0:15:53)
  • “People were living in the chillenium.” (0:21:32)

The Big Picture: 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? (host)

Loves 80s Tom Cruise and Risky Business without apology; has a soft spot for Forrest Gump's Hanks and Sinise and the immersion of the best Vietnam films. Can't stand the idea that movies work as history lessons, and is critical of the genre erasing Vietnamese people. Sucker for personal stories.

Stances

  • movies aren't history lessons
  • Vietnam films mostly ignore the Vietnamese
  • studios won't greenlight a Vietnam Saving Private Ryan

Humor: Dry self-deprecation (AOL message boards, Blu-ray) and parenthetical asides.

In their words

  • “I know I've said this before, but movies aren't history lessons.” (1:04:04)
  • “I love risky business.” (0:20:56)
  • “They often ignore or dismiss the Vietnamese people themselves.” (1:04:46)

Their shows' recurring bits

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

The Big Picture

Their claims

Showing 101–105 of 105 claims.

  1. lineage (lineage): Saving Private Ryan → Apocalypse Now. Two decades of Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Born made Ryan's grit necessary.
    “By the time Saving Private Ryan was released, moviegoers have spent two decades being confronted by the likes of Apocalypse Now in Platoon and born in the Fourth of July.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:00:36 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): Saving Private Ryan → Vietnam. Raftery can't imagine a studio greenlighting a Vietnam Saving Private Ryan.
    “I can't imagine a studio exec green lighting of Vietnam version of Saving Private Ryan.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:02:13 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  3. industry (industry): Iraq and Afghanistan war films → Vietnam films. The post-9/11 hits drew less interest than Vietnam films; wars are on cable and the internet.
    “those wars did inspire some hit films, the Hurt Locker, American Sniper, Lone Survivor, Zero Dark 30”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:02:33 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  4. theme (theme): Born on the Fourth of July → Heaven & Earth. Raftery closes: personal stories in Born, Heaven & Earth and Running on Empty change how you see the war.
    “It's impossible to watch born on the 4th of July without feeling, not just for Ron Kovic”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:05:32 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  5. theme (theme): The Best Years of Our Lives → Vietnam. For Kieu Chinh the film about WWII homecomings understood her own loneliness from war.
    “said 1000s of miles away in America, that understood the pain and loneliness the war had brought to Chin's life”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:07:38 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–42 of 42 fun items.

  1. fun, about Anton Chigurh: Raftery on the hitman's hair: one of the worst haircuts of all time, reminiscent of Slinky Dog from Toy Story.
    “He also possesses one of the worst haircuts of all time.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:09:28 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about No Country for Old Men: Raftery listened to the coin-toss scene with the screen off and found it even more unsettling without the actors' reactions.
    “This is dorky, even for me.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:14:02 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about No Country for Old Men: Raftery links the coin toss to the old story of the appointment in Samarra: death won't catch me today.
    “The appointment in tomorrow, the old Middle East story about death won't catch me today because I'm going to Samara.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:15:47 · Brian Raftery (0.60 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about No Country for Old Men: Hot take: the Ellis kitchen scene is the single best scene of any film from the 2000s.
    “Ellis then offers a closing thought that, for me at least, makes this the single best scene of any film from the 2000s.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:19:02 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about No Country for Old Men: Raftery found it comforting in 2007 that somebody else realized how messed up everything had always been.
    “thank God somebody else realizes just how fucked up everything's always been.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:21:17 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  6. fun, about No Country for Old Men: The poster tagline is 'There are no clean getaways,' which Raftery says the 2000s proved untrue.
    “There are no clean getaways.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:22:07 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  7. fun, about World Trade Center: Fans thought Stone had gone patriotic after World Trade Center; the film was a surprise box-office hit with one of Cage's most dialed-back performances.
    “And it featured one of Cage's most dialed back performances of the 2000s.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:24:35 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  8. fun, about W.: Christian Bale was originally cast as Bush and studied him for months but dropped out when makeup could not make him W.
    “But he dropped out after it became clear that no amount of makeup would transform him into W.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:31:37 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  9. fun, about W.: The closing press-conference scene has Bush struggling for over a minute to name a lesson learned.
    “Bush struggles for more than a minute.”
    The Big Picture · 5. ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘W.’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:38:01 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  10. fun, about George W. Bush: Raftery emailed a presidential candidate in 2000 asking his favorite movies; one pick was Austin Powers.
    “Turns out one of Bush's choices was Austin Powers, International Man a Mystery.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:01:55 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  11. fun, about Gladiator: Raftery says he hears Elizabeth Taylor saying 'Gladiator' weekly, more than he thinks about the film.
    “I'm not kidding when I say that I hear Liz Taylor saying gladiator in my head at least once a week.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:15:21 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  12. fun, about The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas: Flat verdict.
    “That movie sucked.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:15:53 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  13. fun, about I Know What You Did Last Summer: Senate hearings on violent R-rated movies had McCain explain the plot of a Jennifer Love Hewitt film.
    “meaning the whole country got to watch John McCain explain the plot of a Jennifer Love Hewitt movie.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:16:41 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  14. fun, about Bring It On: Made for just $11 million; expected to recoup on DVD, then opened number one for three weeks.
    “The film's budget was pretty low.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:17:52 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  15. fun, about Bring It On: Original title Cheer Fever; Universal's study found most teens thought cheerleading uncool, so it became Made You Look, then Bring It On.
    “According to a study commissioned by the studio, 59% of teenagers considered cheerleading, quote, uncool.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:19:29 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  16. fun, about Requiem for a Dream: Raftery's most stressful night of 2000: Requiem screening, Weezer reunion, Survivor finale.
    “One night, I had to go to a screening of Requiem for a Dream, and see a Weezer reunion concert, and get home to see the season one finale of Survivor before anybody ruined it from me.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:21:39 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  17. fun, about Bring It On: August release, a studio dumping month, yet it opened at number one.
    “But bring it on opened at number one and stayed there for 3 weeks.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:22:35 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  18. fun, about Donnie Darko: Fields planted a trades story claiming filming would start that summer; it was invented and it worked.
    “The producer planted a story in the Hollywood trades, announcing they were gonna start filming that summer.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:28:38 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  19. fun, about Donnie Darko: Subplot about a youth dance team named Sparkle Motion that Raftery skips.
    “and a whole subplot about a youth dance team named Sparkle Motion.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:31:16 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  20. fun, about Donnie Darko: Cost $4.5 million and shot in 28 days, the same as the countdown, a coincidence.
    “Donnie Darko cost just $4.5 million, and wound up being filmed in just 28 days.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:32:07 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  21. fun, about Donnie Darko: During the shoot a Boeing 747 hit a bird and rained engine parts on a nearby beach.
    “According to one newspaper account, a Boeing 747 hit a bird and began raining down engine parts on a beach not far from where the movie was filming.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:32:17 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  22. fun, about Donnie Darko: Raftery says the eeriest scene is kids hearing a plane overhead and looking to the sky.
    “The scene that always gets me is one in which Donny and a bunch of school kids are standing outside.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:38:21 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  23. fun, about Corky Romano: Raftery's joke about who audiences watched instead.
    “Sorry.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:41:29 · Brian Raftery (0.60 sure it was them)
  24. fun, about Donnie Darko: Grossed barely half a million dollars, then became the first midnight movie of the 2000s.
    “Donnie Darko wound up grossing barely half a million dollars in the US.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:41:34 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  25. fun, about Donnie Darko: Called a prime example of subreddit cinema.
    “Donny Darko would become a prime example of subreddit cinema.”
    The Big Picture · 1. ‘Bring It On’ and ‘Donnie Darko’ | Mission Accomplished · 0:42:12 · Brian Raftery (0.95 sure it was them)
  26. fun, about Ron Kovic: Cried at the Marine hymn from John Wayne's death scene in Sands of Iwo Jima.
    “For years afterward, every time Kovic heard that music, he tear up, thinking about Wayne's death scene.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:01:43 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  27. fun, about Ron Kovic: Typed the memoir on a $42 Sears typewriter.
    “Using a typewriter, he bought for 42 bucks at a local Sears.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:07:27 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  28. fun, about Al Pacino: The first Born movie died when Pacino shaved his mustache.
    “Pacino had shaved off his mustache.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:10:12 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  29. fun, about Running on Empty: Restaurant scene where Annie meets her father (Steven Hill).
    “The most remarkable moment in running on empty takes place in an upscale restaurant.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:15:08 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  30. fun, about Running on Empty: Final scene: Arthur lets Danny go on a roadside near the Jersey Turnpike.
    “It takes place on a leafy roadside near the Jersey Turnpike.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:16:52 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  31. fun, about Tom Cruise: Raftery's defense of Risky Business.
    “I love risky business.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:20:56 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  32. fun, about Tom Cruise: Cruise met Kovic when Kovic's friend saw him wrestling a wheelchair out of a car.
    “a friend called him and said there was somebody outside, trying to get a wheelchair out of a car.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:23:02 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  33. fun, about Tom Cruise: Spent months in a wheelchair; Stone considered injecting him with a paralytic, insurers said no.
    “On the director's commentary track for born in the 4th of July, Stone says he actually considered injecting cruise with a substance that would briefly paralyze the actor from the waist down.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:23:38 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  34. fun, about Dogfight: Bar scene: older men buy Birdlace a drink but cannot look him in the eye.
    “But the men can barely look him in the eye.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:31:36 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  35. fun, about Forrest Gump: Gump is goofier and darker than you remember.
    “trust me when I say that Gump is a bit goofier than you remember.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:43:46 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  36. fun, about Forrest Gump: Raftery on pretending to be too cool for it.
    “pretending you're too cool for Forrest Gump is its own form of generational smugness.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:47:31 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  37. fun, about Dead Presidents: Allen Hughes compiled favorite Vietnam scenes on a VHS tape played in his trailer.
    “Alan Hughes even compiled his favorite Vietnam movie scenes onto a VHS tape, which he played in his trailer for inspiration.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:50:32 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  38. fun, about Dead Presidents: Dale Dye's boot camp: actors dug toilet holes and lived off rations in Florida.
    “the dead president's actors lived off rations, dug holes for toilets, and listened to Di's war stories.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:51:29 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  39. fun, about Dead Presidents: Cult following on home video despite no box-office hit.
    “it found a cult following on home video.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:56:31 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  40. fun, about Brian Raftery: Watched about 50 Vietnam films, some at 5 a.m.
    “I watched probably 50 Hollywood films about Vietnam for this show.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:04:50 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  41. fun, about Risky Business: Correction: Raftery notes he owns it on Blu-ray.
    “In fact, it came out in 1983, which I should note because I had that on Blu-ray.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:09:34 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)
  42. fun, about Top Gun: Episode correction: Cruise was a Navy pilot, not Air Force, and Risky Business was 1983.
    “In that film, he was a Navy pilot.”
    The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:09:43 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)