Brian Koppelman

3 sketches, 89 claims, and 31 fun items attributed to them. What was said about them.

Personality, episode by episode

Showing 1–3 of 3 sketches.

The Rewatchables: ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman (guest)

Loves craft: Chandor's economy, not speaking down, and actors like Tucci and Hoffman. Sucker for heightened workplace dialogue and one-night structures.

Stances

Margin Call is among the 10 best of 15 years
Hanks does not play sleaze
Conflict structure over a night is the point

Humor: Warm and rueful, funny about his own screenwriting life.

In their words

“this movie doesn't speak down to the viewer” (0:21:59)
“all you need is conflict, basically” (1:20:51)

The Rewatchables: ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman (guest)

Loves screenwriting craft, Goldman, Stephen King, and actors who disappear into a role. Admits poker-movie ego error and loves Caan. Dislikes actors who protect themselves from looking foolish. A sucker for a good line of dialogue.

Stances

Goldman's lesson: you never know, take ego out of it
Kathy Bates never winks at Annie
James Caan is a great movie star but Paul Sheldon's bookishness is a stretch

Humor: Warm storyteller who tells on himself; the Rounders confession is the punchline.

In their words

“we were open enough in that moment and it was so clear” (0:24:08)
“and she, Kathy, never makes fun of Annie.” (0:32:37)
“I was so wrong.” (0:23:04)

The Big Picture: Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster (guest)

Obsessed with filmmaking as an act and with first films that announce a master; loves tension (Bound), dialogue, perfect-album movies, and the Mamet-Oliver Stone lineage. Likes genre twists over straight genre and champions overlooked directors like J.C. Chandor. Can't connect with Sexy Beast.

Stances

His list is favorite five, not best five
Reservoir Dogs doesn't count because of Tarantino's earlier film
Sex, Lies, and Videotape is #1
Chandor is underrated
This is the best era for a variety of stories

Humor: Self-deprecating and name-dropping on purpose ('This is like the world that I live in'), and gushes openly about movies that changed his life.

In their words

“Dude, so happy to be here with you.” (0:28:21)
“JC Shandor does not get the credit he deserves a filmmaker.” (1:10:51)
“I mean, I don't want to spoil my five, but obviously that movie's going to be in my five.” (0:34:20)

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 1–89 of 89 claims.

contrast (contrast): Margin Call → The Big Short. Koppelman says the Big Short film does not equal Margin Call in conveying the psychology of the people who unleashed the crisis.
“the movie, The Big Short, to me, doesn't really equal this film in letting us understand the psychology of the people who really like loose this thing on the world”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:04:16 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Margin Call → The Wolf of Wall Street. Koppelman names Wolf as the other movie he has watched most, for the psychology of its people.
“Wolf of Wall Street's the other movie I've probably watched the most”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:20:50 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): Margin Call → Billions. Koppelman says Margin Call reaffirmed how he and Dave had thought about these people, and made a hedge-fund story make more sense than a bank story.
“margin call may be reaffirmed that the way Dave and I thought about these people, as we'd met them, was pretty much like the way a lot of them are”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:21:18 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Margin Call → Billions. Koppelman says the borrowed lesson is that Margin Call does not speak down to the viewer.
“this movie doesn't speak down to the viewer”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:21:59 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
theme (genre): Margin Call → The Company Men. Koppelman recommends The Company Men as a good if lesser film in the same mold.
“if you like this movie, um, that I really, really like. It's not as good as margin call, but really good is the company man.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:23:48 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Boiler Room → The Wolf of Wall Street. Koppelman says Boiler Room informed Wolf, being the fictional version of Jordan Belfort's story.
“Boiler Room really informed Wolf of Wall Street because Boiler Room was the fictional version of Jordan's story”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:25:01 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Ben Younger → Oliver Stone. Koppelman notes Stone did the Wall Street story first and Younger went after it with limited resources.
“Oliver Stone did it first, but Ben Younger went after this.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:25:01 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Margin Call → The Big Short. Koppelman: unlike Big Short, these people are not criminals by law, making this a crime movie with no prosecutable crime.
“this is a crime movie with no prosecutable crime in it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:26:32 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Margin Call → The Wolf of Wall Street. Same stretch: Wolf is about criminals who went to jail; Margin Call has no coke, assault or prosecutable crime.
“Jordan went to jail.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:26:45 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Margin Call → Michael Clayton. Michael Clayton has murder in it, Margin Call does not.
“Michael Clayton has murder in it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:26:51 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Margin Call → George Clooney. Koppelman says it would only be a feature today with a movie star, naming Clooney as Irons.
“You probably would have had to put Clooney in the Jeremy Irons role and then it gets made now as a feature”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:30:08 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): J.C. Chandor → A Most Violent Year. Koppelman became an instant J.C. fan and watched Chandor's later films the moment they were available.
“I watched the most violent year, the moment it was available.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:30:39 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
career (career): Margin Call → Rounders. Koppelman contrasts Chandor's four-day script with Rounders, which took 3.5 months for a first draft.
“rounders was 3.5 months for the 1st draft after we'd outlined it”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:32:20 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
craft (craft): J.C. Chandor → Kevin Spacey. Koppelman says the clapping was found by Spacey on the day, and Chandor kept the speech as written.
“Spacey and he found the clapping thing like on the day”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:32:52 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
people (people): Stanley Tucci → Philip Seymour Hoffman. Koppelman says that when Hoffman was alive, Tucci and Hoffman were the two actors he most wanted to work with.
“Tucci and Philip Seymour Hoffman were like the 2 people, I didn't get to work with what most want to work with”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:46:28 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
career (career): Stanley Tucci → Big Night. Koppelman says he is a fanatic for Big Night and Tucci always has humanity.
“I'm a fanatic for big night”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:46:28 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Margin Call → Billions. Koppelman says Billions also does the all-the-best-characters-in-one-room scene.
“There's a couple TV shows that do this, including billions.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:50:18 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Tom Hanks → Kevin Spacey. Koppelman says Hanks does not play sleaze and could not sell the drifting-away line at the end.
“He doesn't play sleaze.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:10:32 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Philip Baker Hall → John Tuld. Koppelman says Hall could have played either Tuld or Sam.
“Philip Biggerhall could have played either.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:22:02 · Brian Koppelman (0.60 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Margin Call → The Wolf of Wall Street. Koppelman's double-feature picks are Wolf of Wall Street or Sweet Smell of Success.
“Either wolf of Wall Street or sweet smell of success.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:23:57 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Kevin Spacey → The Usual Suspects (Verbal Kint). Koppelman contrasts how Spacey smokes in Margin Call with Verbal Kint's cigarette business.
“Look at the way verbal Kent smokes a cigarette compared to the way this guy smokes a cigarette.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:25:12 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): James Gandolfini → Kevin Spacey. Koppelman says Gandolfini would have been incredible as Sam.
“Gandalfini would have been fucking incredible as Sam.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:26:18 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Philip Seymour Hoffman → Kevin Spacey. Someone adds Hoffman as another candidate for Sam.
“Philip Seymour Hoffman, the other guy who obviously could have played Sammy, would have killed it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:26:40 · Brian Koppelman (0.60 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Stephen King → The Beatles. King was the biggest writer in the world as the Beatles were the biggest band.
“He was the biggest writer in the world in the way that the Beatles were the biggest band in the world.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:03:45 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Misery → The Shawshank Redemption. King adaptations ranked: Stand By Me, Shawshank, Misery, and The Shining as the four best.
“Misery's the 3rd of that of the 3 best ones, I think, and the Shining, right?”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:04:34 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Shining → Stephen King. King did not even like The Shining despite it being a top King movie.
“And the shining he didn't even like.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:04:47 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
people (people): The Dead Zone → David Cronenberg. Koppelman thinks of The Dead Zone as a Cronenberg movie and top-group King.
“which I think of as a Cronenberg movie, which is absolutely in that top group of Stephen King movies, the dead zone.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:09:31 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): The Dead Zone → Martin Sheen. Sheen's villain in The Dead Zone was referenced twice on Billions.
“Martin Sheen in that movie, uh, is we, we, we referenced that movie twice last year on the TV show”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:10:31 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): Andy Scheinman → Rob Reiner. Scheinman, Reiner's producer partner, got the rights after reading the book on a plane; he met Reiner through tennis.
“he became friends with Rob Reiner because he was so good at tennis”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:12:17 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Rounders → John Dahl. Dahl proposed screening with and without hole cards; Koppelman and Levien were proven wrong.
“Once we're going to screen it where you can see Matt's cards, and once we're going to screen it where you can't, you guys sit in the audience and watch, and you guys make the decision.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:22:37 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Damian Lewis → Homeland. Koppelman needed episodes to unlearn Lewis as Brody to accept him on Billions.
“it took me, I don't know how many episodes just to unlearn my homeland, Damian Brody, and accept him.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:28:36 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
career (career): James Caan → Rollerball. Simmons is a James Caan fan and wants to do Rollerball as an episode.
“the podcast you and I promised to do 5 years ago, I think, is rollerball”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:33:41 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): James Caan → Denzel Washington. Denzel is the only other person you could imagine in the part.
“Denzel's the only person you could ever imagine”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:34:07 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Misery → Robin Williams. Williams had caged energy and you would believe he read the books.
“Robin Williams to me would have been incredible.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:35:35 · Brian Koppelman (0.55 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Misery → Michael Douglas. Douglas had the same demons and the genius IQ.
“Michael Douglas would have crushed it too, because he would have had the same demons.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:35:57 · Brian Koppelman (0.55 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Misery → Robert Duvall. Duvall at about the age of Sheldon, around when he turned down Godfather 3.
“It was right around when he turned down Godfather 3”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:36:29 · Brian Koppelman (0.50 sure it was them)
what-if (what-if): Misery → Jane Fonda. Jane Fonda surfaces as an alternate for the agent.
“Jane Fonda.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:07:01 · Brian Koppelman (0.45 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Misery → The Princess Bride. Reiner's apex discussion; the wine scene echoes iocaine powder in Princess Bride.
“the wine scene, it's funny, the iocaine powder, he's trying to put iocaine powder in her wine”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:10:49 · Brian Koppelman (0.50 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Misery → The Dead Zone. Koppelman's double feature is Dead Zone and Misery.
“Dead zone and misery.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:19:44 · Brian Koppelman (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Misery → Something Wild. Double-feature: Something Wild flips Misery, with Liotta as the crazed one chasing.
“He's the crazed person stalking and chasing after the person, something wild.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:20:00 · Brian Koppelman (0.75 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Brian Koppelman → Sean Fennessey. Brian says his list is his favorite five, not the best five, because he had not seen everything.
“It's going to be my favorite 5 movies by these people”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:30:34 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): The Brothers Bloom → Brick. Rian Johnson's second film, flawed, still showed Brian a director with a gift for putting shots together.
“I remember seeing Ryan's 2nd film which is a more flawed film.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:32:21 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): The Brothers Bloom → Steven Soderbergh. Brian phoned Soderbergh after The Brothers Bloom to say you had to see how Rian puts shots together.
“I remember watching Ryan's 2nd movie and calling Soderberg”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:32:35 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
career (career): The Virgin Suicides → Sofia Coppola's later films. Brian says you can see all of Coppola's later films in her debut.
“you can see all her films from that film, like where where she was going”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:33:09 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): She's Gotta Have It → Brian Koppelman. No first film from this era influenced Brian more than She's Gotta Have It, but Spike Lee is just too old for the list.
“there's no 1st film of someone around this generation that influenced me more than she's got to have it”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:34:40 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): Joel and Ethan Coen → Spike Lee. The Coens are too old too: Ethan was born the same year as Spike.
“even Ethan, who's younger, was born, I think, the same year as Spike, 57”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:34:40 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Jim Jarmusch → Gen X directors. Jarmusch and John Sayles were 1980s independent cinema, now elder statesmen who inspired this generation.
“It's wild to me that Jarmush is now an elder statesman filmmaker”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:35:43 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Steven Soderbergh → Yes concert film. The Yes concert film was the first thing Soderbergh edited and shot.
“the yes concert film was the 1st thing that he edited and shot”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:36:14 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Walking and Talking → Bottle Rocket. Nicole's debut had romance in it and Wes's was about goofy teens; Brian wonders why she is not grouped with PTA and Wes.
“Wes's 1st movie, has is, you know, is about these goofy teens.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:38:51 · Brian Koppelman (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Reservoir Dogs → Tarantino's unreleased first feature. Brian will not count Reservoir Dogs because Quentin made an earlier feature that was never properly distributed.
“I'm not because it was Quentin's 2nd feature and he made a feature before that.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:39:59 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Being John Malkovich → a perfect album. Brian calls Being John Malkovich a perfect film that fully achieves its aim but is not his favorite.
“being John Malcolmich is nailed”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:41:21 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): District 9 → Brian Koppelman's top five. A hard cut: no one could argue against District 9 as a top-five first film.
“I couldn't argue with anybody who'd have District 9 as one of their 5 favorite 1st movies by a filmmaker.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:41:34 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): Away from Her → Stories We Tell. Sarah Polley's third film, a quasi-documentary, is also great.
“Her 3rd movie, which was the quasi documentary.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:43:31 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Bottle Rocket → Rushmore. Brian came to Wes Anderson through Rushmore, so Bottle Rocket was just a world he knew was there.
“a Rushmore guy”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:43:56 · Brian Koppelman (0.75 sure it was them)
career (career): Walking and Talking → Nicole's later movies. Brian ranks her later movies higher but calls the debut an auspicious start.
“I think that Nicole's later movies were better, but I think walking and talking is an incredibly auspicious start to a career”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:44:05 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Ex Machina → Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Anchorman is a great directorial debut we do not rate as highly, because comedies are held in lower esteem.
“the anchorman question is about comedies in general”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:45:28 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Ex Machina → Oscar Isaac. Ex Machina launched Oscar Isaac to the top of the A-list, a rare thing a film can do.
“He just jumped to the top of the A-list.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:46:16 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Ex Machina → Titanic filmmaker. Garland announces himself as a titanic filmmaker with his debut.
“Garland announces himself as like, a Titanic fucking filmmaker”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:47:23 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Gone Baby Gone → Argo. Brian says Affleck made his best work two pictures later, Argo, with The Town also kick-ass.
“he made his best work 2 pictures later”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:48:49 · Brian Koppelman (0.75 sure it was them)
people (people): Being John Malkovich → Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman's script is the star, but Jonze deserves credit for recognizing it and realizing it on screen.
“You got to credit Spike for for recognizing it and actualizing it.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:51:42 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Adaptation → Synecdoche, New York. Kaufman's first film as writer was Adaptation, not Synecdoche, which was his second as director; they flub it mid-conversation.
“No, that's his 2nd movie, man.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:52:23 · Brian Koppelman (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Hard Eight (Sydney) → David Mamet. PTA talks about Mamet's influence, but Brian says he threw it off more easily than Brian and his partner do.
“although PTA talks about Mammoth's influence”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:54:07 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Hard Eight (Sydney) → California. Brian says the film's voice is filtered through California, so it differs from Mamet.
“because it's filtered through California”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:54:19 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
people (people): Hard Eight (Sydney) → Gwyneth Paltrow. Playing someone less smart than herself was brave in her career, and she did it with no ego.
“For her to play somebody not as smart as she was, very brave in that spot in her career.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:55:50 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): Hard Eight (Sydney) → Philip Seymour Hoffman. Everything magical about Hoffman is in his one-minute scene.
“Everything magical about Filistino Hoffman is in this one minute sequence.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:56:34 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
career (career): Hard Eight (Sydney) → Phantom Thread. Phantom Thread is the hyper-disciplined piece PTA delivered after going very far afield.
“the next time he made just a hyper discipline piece was Phantom Thread”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:57:32 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
craft (craft): The Brothers Bloom → genre pieces. Brian prefers a twist on a genre, as in The Brothers Bloom, to straight genre like Sexy Beast.
“the brothers bloom, which is a twist on a genre, does”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:01:59 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): A Single Man → Todd Haynes. Brian cannot understand how Tom Ford made A Single Man, the way he cannot with Todd Haynes.
“sort of like the way I'd think about Todd Haynes”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:03:07 · Brian Koppelman (0.65 sure it was them)
people (people): Pi → Scarface. The most famous face in Pi is Mark Margolis, who played Sosa's assassin in Scarface.
“The most famous guy in it is the guy who was the assassin for Sosa”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:05:30 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): Pi → Paul Thomas Anderson. Watching Pi, you knew you were seeing a major filmmaker, as with PTA.
“You knew, that's another, like, PTA.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:06:20 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Pi → Black Swan. Black Swan and The Wrestler are Brian's favorite Aronofsky films along with Pi.
“that Black Swan and the Wrestler, for me, are my 3 favorite of Darren's films”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:06:39 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Virgin Suicides → Lost in Translation. Brian calls Lost in Translation as good as a movie can be and says Virgin Suicides is perfectly executed but just misses.
“lost in translation for me is, you know, just as good as a movie can be”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:08:46 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Margin Call → Oliver Stone. Oliver Stone is as big an influence on Brian's dialogue as anybody but Mamet.
“Oliver Stone's big an influence on the way that I write dialogue as anybody but Mammoth.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:09:43 · Brian Koppelman (0.65 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Margin Call → Wall Street. Brian says Margin Call is the best film about business and the two are the best movies on the subject.
“Wall Street and Margin Call of the 2 best movies about this”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:09:55 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
career (career): Margin Call → A Most Violent Year. Brian calls Chandor's later gangster-adjacent film a cousin to Hard Eight.
“it's actually like a cousin to heart 8 in a certain way”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:11:19 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): Margin Call → Stanley Tucci. The Tucci performance at the center is as good as anything you will see.
“There is a performance from Stanley Tucci in the center of that film.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:11:47 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Margin Call → The Station Agent. The Station Agent was on Brian's potential list and shares tone and performances with Margin Call.
“there's something related Tom McCarthy's movie to it”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:12:08 · Brian Koppelman (0.75 sure it was them)
people (people): John Singleton → Billions. Singleton directed an episode of Billions for Brian.
“John directed episode 7 of season 2 of Billions.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:14:03 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
people (people): Boyz n the Hood → Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne's performance is the best; missing an Oscar is a crime against nature.
“How Larry Fishman doesn't have an Oscar from that movie.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:15:33 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
people (people): Boyz n the Hood → Ice Cube. Singleton wrote the part for Ice Cube, who blew his audition and was told to go home and prepare.
“So John writes the part for Ice Cube.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:16:10 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Boyz n the Hood → Reservoir Dogs. If Reservoir Dogs counted, Brian would have put it second and bumped Boyz to third.
“I would have bumped boys in the hood back to 3”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:19:15 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Reservoir Dogs → Quentin's career. Brian thinks it is Tarantino's 4th or 5th best film.
“I think it's his 4th or 5th best film.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:19:22 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
people (people): Natural Born Killers → Quentin Tarantino. Brian loves the Tarantino script of Natural Born Killers but hates the Stone film.
“which I hate the movie, but I love the script”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:20:26 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Pulp Fiction → Reservoir Dogs. Pulp Fiction, not Reservoir Dogs, made Tarantino important to Brian.
“what made him so important to me, is pulp fiction”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:20:44 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
people (people): Steven Soderbergh → Brian Koppelman. Brian has worked with Soderbergh three times.
“Yeah, 3 times.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:21:25 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): Sex, Lies, and Videotape → Brian Koppelman. Seeing it sent Brian to independent movies and a new way of watching.
“That what sent me to independent movies.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:23:23 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
people (people): Sex, Lies, and Videotape → James Spader. Only Spader ever reached that level again.
“Only Spaders ever touched the level of performance again.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:24:42 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Sex, Lies, and Videotape → Margin Call. Both depict a moment in time; Sex, Lies depicted its moment 30 years before.
“30 years before the moment in time.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:25:11 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): Steven Soderbergh → Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Brian says Soderbergh's later obsessions and technical command are on display in the debut.
“He's studying these obsessions that are going to define him for the next long period of time”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:26:16 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)

Their fun items

Showing 1–31 of 31 fun items.

fun, about J.C. Chandor: Chandor wrote the script in about four straight days with almost no edits, per a morning message to Koppelman.
“He wrote the script basically in 4 straight days”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:31:53 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Stanley Tucci: The stoop scene was the first thing shot; the whole movie builds to it.
“they shot that on the 1st day of shooting.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 0:47:27 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Kevin Spacey: Smoking details; he smokes differently per character.
“He smokes a cigarette completely differently depending on what character he's playing.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:25:08 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Misery: Warren Beatty never wanted to sit in bed and let the other person be the star; Scheinman told Koppelman beside a tennis court.
“I could tell from moment one, Warren was never going to do it”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:18:11 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Rounders: Koppelman and Levien insisted the audience never see Matt Damon's hand; Dahl screened it both ways and they conceded.
“I was like so fucking cocky and confident.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:22:49 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Rounders: Cut idea: Teddy KGB's thug shoving a urinal cake into Worm's mouth; Dahl said no actor would do it.
“shoves the urinal cake in his mouth.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:24:47 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Kathy Bates: A lesser actor would let you know she's in on the joke; Bates never makes fun of Annie.
“A lesser actor would let you know that she's in on the joke”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:32:37 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Misery: Dinner scene is the most rewatchable; Simmons believes she spilled the wine on purpose.
“I think she did spill the wine on purpose.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:42:05 · Brian Koppelman (0.55 sure it was them)
fun, about Misery: Sheriff's wife was invented by Goldman; the Farnsworth-Sternhagen marriage feels like Goldman.
“I believe the sheriff's wife is not in the book.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 0:52:11 · Brian Koppelman (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Kathy Bates: The Dago line: Bates throws away the ceiling line casually; both call it the best line in the movie.
“As a writer, what's the name of that Dago painted the ceiling is the best line in the movie.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:02:33 · Brian Koppelman (0.70 sure it was them)
fun, about Misery: Prestige remake pitch: two women, period setting because modern phones make people too findable.
“I think if you make this again, it's 2 women and that's how you do it.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:17:37 · Brian Koppelman (0.55 sure it was them)
fun, about Misery: Koppelman spent a day playing poker with King in 1993; King had one cigarette on the table, as in the film.
“4 cigarettes a day because he quit smoking, but he had 4 cigarettes a day.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Misery’ With Bill Simmons and Brian Koppelman · 1:23:29 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Quentin Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs is disqualified for Brian because Tarantino disowned his earlier first feature, never properly distributed.
“he's disowned it as a formal part of his filmography”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:40:29 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Bound: Brian watched Bound at 29 and had to stand at the back of the theater white-knuckling the wall.
“I remember going to the back of the theater and just standing against the wall in the back of the theater”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:42:50 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Away from Her: Brian: perfect but too sad to rewatch.
“It's just not, it's too sad to watch over and over again.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:43:24 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Being John Malkovich: Malkovich told Brian that Spike would say 'John Malkovich wouldn't do it that way' on set.
“he'd say, John Malkovich wouldn't do it that way.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:50:53 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Being John Malkovich: Brian relishes using the word 'Malcatraz' legitimately.
“getting to use the expression Malcatraz in your life in a legitimate way”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:51:47 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Hard Eight (Sydney): Brian says the studio forced the title Hard Eight in exchange for letting Paul keep his cut; Brian insists on calling it Sydney.
“if we're going to do it for this list, we have to call it Sydney, right?”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:52:58 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Hard Eight (Sydney): Brian watched the Hard Eight commentary many times; PTA limited Gwyneth Paltrow's and John C. Reilly's use of props like the cigarette.
“How he limited the amount of time she could go to the cigarette because he didn't want her using props”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:55:35 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Philip Seymour Hoffman: Brian tried to get Hoffman into a movie on an airplane, but he did not want to do a gangster film.
“He wouldn't do it before he was super famous.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:56:20 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Hard Eight (Sydney): See the diner opening: the cigarette goes into the ashtray and the camera starts moving.
“the cigarette goes to the ashtray and the camera moves down and then we're moving.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 0:58:30 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Pi: Brian's pick for #4: made for nothing, in black and white, with friends, about stock-market algorithms and Kabbalah.
“he made it for nothing in black and white with his friends, and nobody famous.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:05:15 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about The Virgin Suicides: Coppola made it while under fire as the person blamed for ruining a famous franchise.
“She was considered to be the person who ruined.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:08:24 · Brian Koppelman (0.75 sure it was them)
fun, about Margin Call: Brian knows almost every word; it was shot in about 11 days.
“It was shot in like 11 days.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:11:35 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Boyz n the Hood: See Fishburne playing with ball bearings while waiting for night to fall.
“When, He is playing with those uh, gold balls in his hand.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:15:40 · Brian Koppelman (0.80 sure it was them)
fun, about Boyz n the Hood: Ice Cube blew his audition and John Singleton, 24, told him to go home, study and return.
“Go the fuck home, and you imagine saying to the ice cube, go the fuck home, and study.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:16:58 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about John Singleton: Brian and Levine were slated to work with Singleton; he was due to meet them the week he died.
“And he was supposed to fly into New York to meet with Dave and me the week that he died.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:17:14 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Pulp Fiction: Brian saw it opening night in 1994 and promised himself he would become a filmmaker.
“that's probably when I made the promise to myself that I would find a way to become a filmmaker.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:19:49 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Natural Born Killers: Brian read Tarantino's script first and prefers it.
“I had read Quentin's Natural More killer script first.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:20:23 · Brian Koppelman (0.85 sure it was them)
fun, about Sex, Lies, and Videotape: Brian saw the first post-Sundance New York screening at the Ziegfeld with no idea what to expect.
“So this was the 1st screening after Sundance in New York once it was a thing.”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:22:35 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Steven Soderbergh: Brian recommends Soderbergh's book, which pairs the screenplay with his journal.
“the book has the screenplay in his journal”
The Big Picture · Top Five Gen X Director Debuts, the Fate of ‘Black Widow,’ and a Potential Oscars Disaster · 1:23:52 · Brian Koppelman (0.90 sure it was them)