{ "version": 3, "updated": "2026-10-14", "store": { "name": "Video Culture", "about": "Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 1995–2021. Reopened here." }, "curators": [ { "id": "carter", "name": "Carter" }, { "id": "blank-check", "name": "Blank Check with Griffin & David" }, { "id": "big-picture", "name": "The Big Picture" }, { "id": "rewatchables", "name": "The Rewatchables" } ], "clerk": { "name": "Sean Fennessey", "curator": "big-picture", "note": "Uncut gems because not just because of the people you know, but mostly because of the people you don't know.", "playing": [ "549", "157.5", "583", "584" ] }, "rooms": [ { "id": "by-the-counter", "title": "By the Counter", "kind": "picks", "curator": "carter", "blurb": "The films the shows recommend most, across the most shows.", "numbers": [ "157.5", "500", "501" ] }, { "id": "directors", "title": "Directors", "kind": "directors", "curator": "blank-check", "blurb": "Directors Blank Check spent a miniseries on, with the films the shows covered. 53 lines the hosts drew between them, mostly theme and contrast.", "directors": [ { "name": "Martin Scorsese", "blurb": "“I just watched every Marty movie and came away.” — Jamelle Bouie, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "151", "157.5", "152", "153" ] }, { "name": "Steven Spielberg", "blurb": "“here's like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones inspiring each other.” — Brian Michael Bendis, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "132", "133", "134", "135" ] }, { "name": "Peter Weir", "blurb": "“Weir's 1st call was to Mel Gibson, who someone he'd worked with before, who's obviously a giant star” — David Sims, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "601", "602", "603", "604" ] }, { "name": "Amy Heckerling", "blurb": "“everything about this feels like it was made by one person.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "611", "612", "613", "614" ] }, { "name": "Bob Fosse", "blurb": "“Get divorced and never fucking get back in the groove again, ever again.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "621", "622", "623", "624" ] }, { "name": "David Dobkin", "blurb": "“his filmography is mostly ugly, misjudged comedies that have regressive social politics.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "631", "632", "633", "634" ] }, { "name": "David Lynch", "blurb": "“Unfortunately, Star Wars wasn't my cup of tea.” — Blank Check", "numbers": [ "161", "162", "163", "164" ] }, { "name": "Hayao Miyazaki", "blurb": "“how do I maintain the spirit that's in the manga, the purity of it and transfer it to film, which is something that I thought a lot about with the farewell” — Lulu Wang, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "411", "412", "413", "414" ] }, { "name": "Henry Selick", "blurb": "“It does seem like he was pretty unfettered, and that is his best film.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "641", "642", "643", "644" ] }, { "name": "James L. Brooks", "blurb": "“makes huge success in terms of endearment, then broadcast news, which we argue is even better.” — Blank Check", "numbers": [ "651", "652", "653", "654" ] }, { "name": "Jane Campion", "blurb": "“everyone thought the colors were exaggerated.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "661", "662", "663", "664" ] }, { "name": "Joel Coen", "blurb": "“Francis McDormand is married to Joel Cohen and is more involved in the development of these movies” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "211", "212", "213", "214" ] }, { "name": "John Carpenter", "blurb": "“and Carpenter smiled and said, ah, a romantic.” — Blank Check", "numbers": [ "201", "202", "203", "204" ] }, { "name": "Jonathan Demme", "blurb": "“Jonathan Demi Tully would have been a better Tully.” — Blank Check", "numbers": [ "671", "672", "673", "674" ] }, { "name": "M. Night Shyamalan", "blurb": "“Bob Bellaman is like the ultimate film critics actor.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "681", "682", "683", "684" ] }, { "name": "Park Chan-wook", "blurb": "“He has an HBO series where Robert Downey Jr. plays multiple characters.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "691", "692", "693", "694" ] }, { "name": "Paul Verhoeven", "blurb": "“who is his constant collaborator in the Dutch movies, and not since.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "701", "702", "703", "704" ] }, { "name": "Tim Burton", "blurb": "“Zalek is kind of bringing the artwork of Tim Burton to life.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "numbers": [ "711", "712", "713", "714" ] } ], "connections": [ { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Paul Verhoeven" ], "how": "Protest against Benedetta was six nuns, showing religious outrage has faded since Last Temptation. “it kind of shows that they just can't be bothered anymore.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Steven Spielberg", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Scorsese gave up Schindler's List to Spielberg, who gave him Cape Fear. “which turns into the swap that lands with uh, Spielberg giving him Cape Fear.” — Blank Check", "kind": "what-if" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "David Lynch" ], "how": "Like Blue Velvet, it got just a director nomination and no picture nomination; list also includes Mulholland Drive and Short Cuts. “Well, Blue velvet was the same thing.” — Blank Check", "kind": "industry" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Raiders is cited as a comeback after the flop 1941; Color of Money is instead a stabilizer rather than a comeback. “Like Raiders of the Lost Arc as a comeback post-1941 is a pure like he bottomed out and then he struck gold as hard as you possibly could.” — Blank Check", "kind": "career" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Scorsese covers scenes with morphing moving master shots, like Spielberg's quick efficient coverage, to stay under schedule. “But he's doing like all this Spielberg, like coverage with camera movement.” — Blank Check", "kind": "craft" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Spielberg's lean style forged by 1941 failure is compared with Scorsese compressing his shoot to regain trust. “That's always been a famous, uh, Spielberg thing, that he's so forged in the failure of 1941 that he adopts that style for Raiders” — Blank Check", "kind": "career" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Dunn and Robinson hired Burton after seeing his short Vincent. “So, uh, they they love this script and then they watch Vincent, the Short by Tim Burton.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Burton was originally signed to direct After Hours as his first feature before Scorsese took it. “Now, so now they're packaged. Griffin Dunn is the star, and Tim Burton is the director.” — Blank Check", "kind": "what-if" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Burton made Frankenweenie partly to prove he could do live action and earn trust for After Hours. “Burton need to prove that he could do live action to help kind of gain trust for after hours.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Scorsese was also offered Witness and refused to go to Pennsylvania/Amish country. “And Marty was kind of like, I'm not going to Pennsylvania.” — Blank Check", "kind": "what-if" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Pee-wee's Big Adventure was number 3 at the 1985 box office, directed by the man considered for After Hours. “directed by a guy who was considered for directing this film.” — Blank Check", "kind": "people" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "Hayao Miyazaki" ], "how": "David's top ten includes Spirited Away, Alien, Master and Commander, A Matter of Life and Death and Chungking Express, the uncovered outliers. “Spirited away. Alien Master Commander. Matter of life and death.” — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "Paul Verhoeven" ], "how": "Like RoboCop, this is an episode where a movie means so much to one host the question was whether a guest was needed at all. “Sometimes there is a movie like Robocop, you know, where it's just like, this means so much to one of us.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "John Carpenter" ], "how": "Bridges plays a person one step removed from reality in both films. “both about people who are a little outside of reality, right?” — Blank Check", "kind": "people" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "how": "Both are about a man recovering from an accident that left him untouched; Bruce Willis would have fit, but was not ready. “sort of a similar idea of a guy who's kind of like, fucking nothing happened to me, like, and who is recovering from an accident.” — Blank Check", "kind": "theme" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "John Carpenter" ], "how": "The first thirty minutes of Fearless feel like Starman. “He does feel like Starman.” — Blank Check", "kind": "people" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Fearless lost heat to that year's heavy hitters Schindler's List, The Piano and The Fugitive. “it was the Schindler's list, piano, fugitive.” — Blank Check", "kind": "industry" }, { "between": [ "Peter Weir", "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "how": "Fearless is not Unbreakable because its protagonist is not literally invulnerable; the world helps him survive. “But you're like, it's not unbreakable where it's like he genuinely cannot be hard.” — Blank Check", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "Joel Coen", "David Lynch" ], "how": "Fargo is the ultimate Coen film the way Blue Velvet is the best encapsulation of Lynch, not necessarily the favorite. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "career" }, { "between": [ "Joel Coen", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "The shot of Jerry rehearsing his phone call from the hallway is likened to Taxi Driver's payphone scene. “It's like the fucking taxi driver, uh, payphone scene.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Amy Heckerling", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Heckerling saw the hit potential but wanted to make something like Mean Streets, not a cute family movie. “I can see how this would be a hit, but I kind of want to do like mean streets.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "John Carpenter", "David Lynch" ], "how": "Starman is political and rooted in reality, an interesting analog for where sci-fi was. “Yeah. But another interesting analog to like where sci-fi filmmaking is at where like carpenter's very political and is very rooted in reality.” — Blank Check", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "Park Chan-wook", "Paul Verhoeven" ], "how": "The husband's cartoon fall off the mountain is compared to the Dick Jones stop-motion fall at the end of Robocop. “He does like a like a end of Robocop Dick Jones fall, basically.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "craft" }, { "between": [ "Henry Selick", "Tim Burton" ], "how": "A host says Burton's name overshadows Selick; people hear Nightmare Before Christmas and assume it is Burton's. “It does really feel like the Burton thing is a shadow.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Henry Selick" ], "how": "Burton played the calming intermediary on Nightmare and, less so, James and the Giant Peach; Monkeybone had no such figure. “Burton doing that for him to a far lesser degree on the 2nd movie.” — Blank Check", "kind": "industry" }, { "between": [ "Henry Selick", "Tim Burton" ], "how": "Nightmare Before Christmas brought Burton's artwork to life; Peach got Lane Smith; Coraline Tadahiro Uesugi; Wendell & Wild Pablo Lobato. “Zalek is kind of bringing the artwork of Tim Burton to life.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "lineage" }, { "between": [ "Henry Selick", "Tim Burton" ], "how": "Wendell and Wild are Beetlejuice-like in that the story is really about the human teen (Lydia/Kat) and they are the colorful characters. “They're Beetlejuicy in the movie in that it's like, well, it's really about Lydia.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "kind": "craft" }, { "between": [ "Henry Selick", "Tim Burton" ], "how": "Unlike Beetlejuice, who is purely malevolent, Wendell and Wild are babes in the wood whose ulterior motive is an amusement park. “Unlike Beetlejuice who like operates from a place of like pure malevolence, right?” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "Bob Fosse", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Every scene of Star 80 is likened to the porno scene in Taxi Driver turned up to 75. “Like every scene of this movie is like the porno scene in Taxi Driver, but amped up to 75.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "theme" }, { "between": [ "Jane Campion", "Peter Weir" ], "how": "The gauzy distance, fades to black and mystery of the childhood chapter recall Picnic at Hanging Rock. “Peter Weir's picnic and Hanging Rock, which I think this movie has something in common with” — Dana Stevens, Blank Check", "kind": "craft" }, { "between": [ "John Carpenter", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Karen Allen came off Raiders into Starman, two years later. “this is 2 years after Raiders” — Blank Check", "kind": "people" }, { "between": [ "Hayao Miyazaki", "Paul Verhoeven" ], "how": "Early in the film it reads as Miyazaki's people-versus-bugs movie, but its ending flips the Starship Troopers propaganda by having the heroine empathize with the bugs. “Like this is his people versus Bugs movie.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "theme" }, { "between": [ "Hayao Miyazaki", "Paul Verhoeven" ], "how": "Starship Troopers ends with bug-hatred propaganda, whereas Nausicaä realizes the bugs are just trying to survive and approaches them with empathy. “reading the mind of the bug and cheering the fact that they're afraid because it's all about propaganda.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "Hayao Miyazaki", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "The no-cuts sword story is paired with Scorsese's story of nearly holding Columbia hostage over a recut of Taxi Driver. “Scorsese has that story about the night that he almost had a mental breakdown when Columbia wanted to recut taxi driver” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "industry" }, { "between": [ "Hayao Miyazaki", "David Lynch" ], "how": "Blasted world with creatures the people cannot understand, and Nausicaä as a feminine Fremen-like figure who learns to coexist with the land, versus industrial nations running roughshod. — David Sims, Blank Check", "kind": "theme" }, { "between": [ "Hayao Miyazaki", "David Lynch" ], "how": "The promise that you can grow plants in a place everyone says you cannot is central to Dune and to Nausicaä's ending. “And everyone's like, you can't grow anything on Dune.” — David Sims, Blank Check", "kind": "theme" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "how": "The last time a movie felt this soulless and hard to stay awake through on the show was The Last Airbender. “the last time I remember feeling this way watching a movie forward, this podcast was Last Airbender.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "John Carpenter" ], "how": "Hard to find a hero as ineffective as Wahlberg here, outside Big Trouble in Little China where that is the joke. “I was trying to think of, find another, like, hero in an action movie who, that's not, like, Big Trouble, Little China, where that's part of the joke.” — Blank Check" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "The apes' chanting of a word makes one speaker think of Temple of Doom. “Um, I can't not think of Temple of Doom every time they say it in this movie.” — Blank Check", "kind": "theme" }, { "between": [ "Paul Verhoeven", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Flesh+Blood is a tweener or bridge between two phases of the director's career, as Lost World was for Spielberg. “It's sort of a tweener.” — Griffin Newman, Blank Check", "kind": "industry" }, { "between": [ "Paul Verhoeven", "Steven Spielberg" ], "how": "Flesh+Blood's opening is a swooping tracking shot, unlike Lincoln's quick-cut mud-fight opening. “you compare this to the opening of Lincoln, which is like, here are these men in the mud and you see them stomping each other” — Blank Check", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "David Dobkin", "Joel Coen" ], "how": "Recent Best Picture winners like The Artist, The Hurt Locker, and No Country are not like The Judge, which is the old kind of Oscar bait. — David Sims, Blank Check", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "John Carpenter" ], "how": "Bill's lost-at-3am Meatpacking night felt like Escape from New York. “oh, it becomes escape from New York.” — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables", "kind": "craft" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "John Carpenter" ], "how": "Bill compares the interrupted never-finished story to Loomis and the undertaker in Halloween. “Loomis is looking for Myris's grave, and the undertaker is telling this long story.” — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables", "kind": "craft" }, { "between": [ "Tim Burton", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Burton was originally set to direct but stepped aside when Scorsese wanted it. “This was originally supposed to be directed by Tim Burton.” — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables", "kind": "what-if" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Tim Burton" ], "how": "Tim Burton left After Hours the same year he made Pee-wee; both are about a manchild in a strange world finding salvation going home. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables", "kind": "programming" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Joel Coen" ], "how": "Seeing something that is exactly what you want, like this cast or No Country, can feel weirdly unsatisfying. “I had it too when I saw No Country for Old Men because I love that book so much.” — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Joel Coen" ], "how": "No Country is note perfect but he has watched it far fewer times than The Departed, because flawed movies leave room to check out and ask questions. — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "between": [ "Steven Spielberg", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Catch Me If You Can is offered as runner-up to Wolf for best Leo performance of the century. “I wanted to come back to it as like, to me, this is maybe the runner-up to Wolf of Wall Street.” — The Big Picture", "kind": "verdict" }, { "between": [ "Steven Spielberg", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Catch Me has the daddy-issues backstory that Wolf pointedly omits. “It does have some of the trappings of explaining why someone is the way that they are that we're talking about that you don't necessarily have to do.” — The Big Picture", "kind": "contrast" }, { "between": [ "Jane Campion", "Martin Scorsese" ], "how": "Streamer films reach boutique labels: Power of the Dog went to Criterion right away. “Like the power of the dog going to the criterion collection right away is interesting.” — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "between": [ "Martin Scorsese", "Joel Coen" ], "how": "Last nihilistic Best Picture winner, offered as the comparison for how unlikely this one is to win. “when was the last time a movie that was this nihilistic one best picture? Is it is it no country for old men?” — The Big Picture", "kind": "verdict" }, { "between": [ "Park Chan-wook", "Paul Verhoeven" ], "how": "Sean likens Decision to Leave to Park's version of Basic Instinct, a perfectly directed little romantic noir. “I liked this one as like his basic instinct, you know, like, this is a perfectly directed little romantic noir.” — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture", "kind": "theme" } ] }, { "id": "special-features", "title": "Special Features", "kind": "picks", "curator": "blank-check", "blurb": "The films Blank Check watched with the mic on, in order.", "numbers": [ "502", "503", "504", "505", "506", "507", "508", "509", "510", "511" ] }, { "id": "the-rewatchables", "title": "The Rewatchables", "kind": "picks", "curator": "rewatchables", "blurb": "Every movie The Rewatchables rewatched here, newest episode first.", "numbers": [ "512", "513", "157.5", "514", "515", "516", "517", "518", "519", "520", "521", "522", "523", "152", "524", "312", "525", "526", "527", "528", "529", "530", "531", "532", "533", "534" ] }, { "id": "the-big-picture", "title": "The Big Picture", "kind": "picks", "curator": "big-picture", "blurb": "What The Big Picture made episodes about, then what it ranked or paired, most talked about first.", "numbers": [ "535", "536", "537", "538", "539", "540", "541", "542", "543", "544", "528", "545", "546", "547", "548", "549", "550", "551", "212", "552", "553", "554", "555", "556", "557" ] }, { "id": "everybody-brings-it-up", "title": "Everybody Brings It Up", "kind": "picks", "curator": "carter", "blurb": "The films that come up on more than one show, in four or more episodes: the canon the shows share.", "numbers": [ "558", "559", "560", "514", "561", "502", "131", "562", "504", "563", "528", "564", "565", "566", "567", "568", "569", "152", "570", "571", "572", "156", "535", "573", "546", "151", "212", "574", "575", "576" ] }, { "id": "double-features", "title": "Double Features", "kind": "picks", "curator": "carter", "blurb": "Pairs a host said to watch together, side by side; each card names its partner.", "numbers": [ "161", "560", "133", "131", "502", "504", "514", "571", "508", "507", "539", "577", "511", "578", "506", "505", "579", "580", "510", "581", "570", "582", "512", "203" ] }, { "id": "new-arrivals", "title": "New Arrivals", "kind": "new-arrivals" } ], "films": [ { "number": "131", "title": "Jaws", "year": 1975, "directors": [ "Steven Spielberg" ], "added": "2026-09-01", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0073195", "tmdb": "578" }, "note": "Pair with Raiders of the Lost Ark — Blank Check." }, { "number": "132", "title": "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", "year": 1997, "directors": [ "Steven Spielberg" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0119567", "tmdb": "330" }, "note": "The hosts pitch a five-minute version: Hammond tells Malcolm about the second island over lunch, Malcolm says never go there, the end. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "133", "title": "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "year": 1981, "directors": [ "Steven Spielberg" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0082971", "tmdb": "85" }, "note": "Pair with Jaws — Blank Check." }, { "number": "134", "title": "Empire of the Sun", "year": 1987, "directors": [ "Steven Spielberg" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0092965", "tmdb": "10110" }, "note": "Lean asked Spielberg to check on the rights, then lost interest and handed the novel to him. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "135", "title": "Jurassic Park", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Steven Spielberg" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0107290", "tmdb": "329" }, "note": "The hosts judge the sequel as normalizing the dinosaurs too fast and dropping the wonder-before-terror structure of the original. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "151", "title": "Raging Bull", "year": 1980, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0081398", "tmdb": "1578" }, "note": "Scorsese reportedly conceived of the Raging Bull ending as a plea: I deserve to make films. The hosts call it a pat on the back and a bold meta statement. — David Krumholtz, Blank Check" }, { "number": "152", "title": "The Color of Money", "year": 1986, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0090863", "tmdb": "11873" }, "note": "Newman was hands-on: he effectively cast it, hired the director, and badgered Richard Price. It's Scorsese's only film to come in under schedule and under budget. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "153", "title": "The Last Temptation of Christ", "year": 1988, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0095497", "tmdb": "11051" }, "note": "Jamelle's Letterboxd line: fundamentalists hating it makes sense because Christ as all-encompassing love opposes the in-vogue Christ of vengeance. — Jamelle Bouie, Blank Check" }, { "number": "156", "title": "Taxi Driver", "year": 1976, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-09-01", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0075314", "tmdb": "103" }, "note": "Taxi Driver is a straight drama while Raging Bull is a brutal comedy and tragedy. — David Krumholtz, Blank Check" }, { "number": "157.5", "title": "After Hours", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-09-19", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0088680", "tmdb": "10843" }, "note": "Categories 'most rewatchable scene': the second diner conversation with Marcy and 'surrender Dorothy'; Marcy's death with the arrow sign; the phone-number bit. — Sean Fennessey, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "161", "title": "Dune", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "David Lynch" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0087182", "tmdb": "841" }, "note": "Pair with Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope — Blank Check." }, { "number": "162", "title": "Wild at Heart", "year": 1990, "directors": [ "David Lynch" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0100935", "tmdb": "483" }, "note": "Dern deserved Oscars for her more adventurous work (Rambling Rose, Wild at Heart, Inland Empire, Jurassic Park). — The Big Picture" }, { "number": "163", "title": "Inland Empire", "year": 2006, "directors": [ "David Lynch" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0460829", "tmdb": "1730" } }, { "number": "164", "title": "The Elephant Man", "year": 1980, "directors": [ "David Lynch" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0080678", "tmdb": "1955" }, "note": "Dino wanted Elephant Man Lynch, not Eraserhead Lynch, though they share a lot. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "201", "title": "Starman", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "John Carpenter" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0088172", "tmdb": "9663" }, "note": "The baby in the transformation sequence recalls the unsettling baby in Annette. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "202", "title": "Escape from New York", "year": 1981, "directors": [ "John Carpenter" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0082340", "tmdb": "1103" }, "note": "Bill's lost-at-3am Meatpacking night felt like Escape from New York. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "203", "title": "Halloween", "year": 1978, "directors": [ "John Carpenter" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0077651", "tmdb": "948" }, "note": "Pair with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — The Rewatchables." }, { "number": "204", "title": "The Thing", "year": 1982, "directors": [ "John Carpenter" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0084787", "tmdb": "1091" }, "note": "Carpenter's rising run ended when his big-budget check flopped, and Christine was the safe follow-up. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "211", "title": "Fargo", "year": 1996, "directors": [ "Ethan Coen", "Joel Coen" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0116282", "tmdb": "275" }, "note": "An NBC pilot directed by Kathy Bates with Edie Falco as Marge aired years later; the Coens were not involved. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "212", "title": "No Country for Old Men", "year": 2007, "directors": [ "Ethan Coen", "Joel Coen" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0477348", "tmdb": "6977" }, "note": "Raftery listened to the coin-toss scene with the screen off and found it even more unsettling without the actors' reactions. — Brian Raftery, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "213", "title": "Blood Simple", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "Ethan Coen", "Joel Coen" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0086979", "tmdb": "11368" }, "note": "The Coens wrote Presnell's character from Texas businessmen they met raising money for Blood Simple. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "214", "title": "Miller's Crossing", "year": 1990, "directors": [ "Ethan Coen", "Joel Coen" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0100150", "tmdb": "379" }, "note": "Buscemi was hired in Miller's Crossing as someone who can read dialogue fast, and the Coens wrote Fargo's Carl for him. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "312", "title": "The Royal Tenenbaums", "year": 2001, "directors": [ "Wes Anderson" ], "added": "2026-09-01", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0265666", "tmdb": "9428" }, "note": "Most rewatchable scenes pick: opening character-intro montage over Hey Jude; Margot's play review; Royal meets grandkids at the Y; Eli on mescaline. — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "411", "title": "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "Hayao Miyazaki" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0087544", "tmdb": "81" }, "note": "The Neon Genesis Evangelion creator started on this film, animating the God Warrior waking. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "412", "title": "The Castle of Cagliostro", "year": 1979, "directors": [ "Hayao Miyazaki" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0079833", "tmdb": "15371" }, "note": "Cagliostro was poorly received by fans of the series, then Miyazaki struggled to get another film made, which led to the manga and then this film. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "413", "title": "Castle in the Sky", "year": 1986, "directors": [ "Hayao Miyazaki" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0092067", "tmdb": "10515" }, "note": "Joe Hisashi's first Miyazaki score is described as like his Castle in the Sky score: electronic and pulsating. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "414", "title": "Princess Mononoke", "year": 1997, "directors": [ "Hayao Miyazaki" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0119698", "tmdb": "128" }, "note": "Unlike Nausicaä, Mononoke has no real villain, so it is hard to strip the Miyazaki out; Nausicaä can be recut into heroes versus villains. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "500", "title": "Long Shot", "year": 2019, "directors": [ "Jonathan Levine" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt2139881", "tmdb": "459992" }, "note": "Long Shot opened a week after Endgame with two stars over 35, which explains its low turnout. — Chris Ryan, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "501", "title": "Ambulance", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Michael Bay" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt4998632", "tmdb": "763285" }, "note": "Chris says the first half of Ambulance is Michael Bay trying to make Heat, before the second half becomes a great chase movie. — Chris Ryan, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "502", "title": "Iron Man", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Jon Favreau" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0371746", "tmdb": "1726" }, "note": "Pair with Iron Man 2 — Blank Check." }, { "number": "503", "title": "The Incredible Hulk", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Louis Leterrier" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0800080", "tmdb": "1724" }, "note": "See the scene where the soda-factory blood contaminates a bottle and Stan Lee's cameo drinks it, and then nothing comes of it. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "504", "title": "Iron Man 2", "year": 2010, "directors": [ "Jon Favreau" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1228705", "tmdb": "10138" }, "note": "Pair with Iron Man — Blank Check." }, { "number": "505", "title": "Thor", "year": 2011, "directors": [ "Kenneth Branagh" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0800369", "tmdb": "10195" }, "note": "Pair with Captain America: The First Avenger — Blank Check." }, { "number": "506", "title": "Captain America: The First Avenger", "year": 2011, "directors": [ "Joe Johnston" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0458339", "tmdb": "1771" }, "note": "Pair with Thor — Blank Check." }, { "number": "507", "title": "The Avengers", "year": 2012, "directors": [ "Joss Whedon" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0848228", "tmdb": "24428" }, "note": "Pair with Iron Man 3 — Blank Check." }, { "number": "508", "title": "Iron Man 3", "year": 2013, "directors": [ "Shane Black" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1300854", "tmdb": "68721" }, "note": "Pair with The Avengers — Blank Check." }, { "number": "509", "title": "Thor: The Dark World", "year": 2013, "directors": [ "Alan Taylor" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1981115", "tmdb": "76338" }, "note": "Griffin overhypes the final fight from the opening credits. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "510", "title": "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", "year": 2014, "directors": [ "Anthony Russo", "Joe Russo" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1843866", "tmdb": "100402" }, "note": "Pair with Avengers: Age of Ultron — Blank Check." }, { "number": "511", "title": "Guardians of the Galaxy", "year": 2014, "directors": [ "James Gunn" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt2015381", "tmdb": "118340" }, "note": "Pair with Captain Marvel — Blank Check." }, { "number": "512", "title": "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", "year": 1974, "directors": [ "Tobe Hooper" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0072271", "tmdb": "30497" }, "note": "Pair with Halloween — The Rewatchables." }, { "number": "513", "title": "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby", "year": 2006, "directors": [ "Adam McKay" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0415306", "tmdb": "9718" } }, { "number": "514", "title": "Pulp Fiction", "year": 1994, "directors": [ "Quentin Tarantino" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0110912", "tmdb": "680" }, "note": "Pair with Inglourious Basterds — The Rewatchables." }, { "number": "515", "title": "Twister", "year": 1996, "directors": [ "Jan de Bont" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0117998", "tmdb": "664" }, "note": "Built from an ILM proof-of-concept clip of a pickup truck, a tractor tire and a tornado, with the story figured out afterward. — The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "516", "title": "A Bronx Tale", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Robert De Niro" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0106489", "tmdb": "1607" }, "note": "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. — Van Lathan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "517", "title": "This Is the End", "year": 2013, "directors": [ "Evan Goldberg", "Seth Rogen" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1245492", "tmdb": "109414" }, "note": "The pitch: celebrities play themselves at the apocalypse, with a demon with a 10-foot penis; the cockiest pitch ever. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "518", "title": "The Edge", "year": 1997, "directors": [ "Lee Tamahori" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0119051", "tmdb": "9433" }, "note": "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. — Van Lathan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "519", "title": "Beverly Hills Cop II", "year": 1987, "directors": [ "Tony Scott" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0092644", "tmdb": "96" }, "note": "A Premiere magazine piece says the script was rewritten dozens of times, finalized three weeks before production, with a 10-week shoot stretching to 20. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "520", "title": "The Player", "year": 1992, "directors": [ "Robert Altman" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0105151", "tmdb": "10403" }, "note": "Every time Griffin Mill enters a bar, restaurant or party he is served a different brand of bottled water. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "521", "title": "Die Hard 2", "year": 1990, "directors": [ "Renny Harlin" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0099423", "tmdb": "1573" }, "note": "Most rewatchable scene: McClane fights two guys in a restricted baggage area, a cluttered multi-room fight setup nobody does anymore. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "522", "title": "Miracle", "year": 2004, "directors": [ "Gavin O'Connor" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0349825", "tmdb": "14292" }, "note": "Simmons listened to the Sweden game on a clock radio; the broadcast was tape delayed and he overheard the score in a grocery store. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "523", "title": "Father of the Bride", "year": 1991, "directors": [ "Charles Shyer" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0101862", "tmdb": "11846" }, "note": "The 1991 film remakes the Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor original, and the duo argue the remake anxiety has faded with time. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "524", "title": "What About Bob?", "year": 1991, "directors": [ "Frank Oz" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0103241", "tmdb": "10276" }, "note": "A 10-episode remake would be hard; In Treatment is the nearest show, tracking patients over years. — Van Lathan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "525", "title": "Seven", "year": 1995, "directors": [ "David Fincher" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0114369", "tmdb": "807" }, "note": "Both are movies you get sucked into on cable by the last 40 minutes. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "526", "title": "Fletch", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Michael Ritchie" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0089155", "tmdb": "9749" }, "note": "Producer rights were bought July 1976, every studio passed for 8 years, then Michael Douglas pushed it through; $8M budget, $59M gross, $24.4M in video rentals. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "527", "title": "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "year": 1986, "directors": [ "John Hughes" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0091042", "tmdb": "9377" }, "note": "Bill's pick: the parking attendants' joyride in the Ferrari set to Star Wars music, one of the hardest he has ever laughed. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "528", "title": "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", "year": 2019, "directors": [ "Quentin Tarantino" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt7131622", "tmdb": "466272" }, "note": "Amanda's favorite scene is Brad Pitt on the roof, which she calls the lightning bottle moment for Brad Pitt season. — Amanda Dobbins, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "529", "title": "Do the Right Thing", "year": 1989, "directors": [ "Spike Lee" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0097216", "tmdb": "925" }, "note": "Sometimes perfection happens, and Inside Man is cited as another. — Wesley Morris, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "530", "title": "Mean Girls", "year": 2004, "directors": [ "Mark Waters" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0377092", "tmdb": "10625" }, "note": "The reverse Vivian Award for worst clothes: wide-waistband mini skirts, kitten heels, blue eyeshadow, the party dress; the Henley top and short skirt also hated. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "531", "title": "Old School", "year": 2003, "directors": [ "Todd Phillips" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0302886", "tmdb": "11635" }, "note": "Best quote contest: 'Blue, you're my boy!', Frank's earmuffs and 'cockballs' bit, and Mitch's 'Columbus wasn't looking for America' line. — The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "532", "title": "Taken", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Pierre Morel" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0936501", "tmdb": "8681" }, "note": "At dinner Neeson shoots Jean-Claude's wife in the arm because Jean-Claude forgot the weight of a gun (it is empty), then says relax, it's a flesh wound. — Shea Serrano, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "533", "title": "Mission: Impossible", "year": 1996, "directors": [ "Brian De Palma" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0117060", "tmdb": "954" }, "note": "The 32-minute Prague opening act ends with a fade to black after Cruise jumps through the aquarium and escapes Kittridge. — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "534", "title": "The Departed", "year": 2006, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0407887", "tmdb": "1422" }, "note": "Casting what-ifs: Pitt (producer) was Damon's part, Liotta then Leary for Dignam, Pacino for Costello, De Niro for Sheen's part, Gibson for Baldwin's. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "535", "title": "The Wolf of Wall Street", "year": 2013, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0993846", "tmdb": "106646" }, "note": "Fennessey says the film is the 'final boss' of a hyperkinetic style Scorsese built in the 21st century. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "536", "title": "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World", "year": 2010, "directors": [ "Edgar Wright" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0446029", "tmdb": "22538" }, "note": "Edgar says the film was a miracle for a major studio and that today it just would not get made. — Edgar Wright, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "537", "title": "A Minecraft Movie", "year": 2025, "directors": [ "Jared Hess" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt3566834", "tmdb": "950387" }, "note": "Sean sat next to a date-night couple; the guy crushed three Sam Adamses and chuckled, all while surrounded by 9-14-year-olds who did not know how to behave. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "538", "title": "Babylon", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Damien Chazelle" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt10640346", "tmdb": "615777" }, "note": "Amanda's famous take: she likes the middle two hours best, and found the opening party a lot after the elephant. — Amanda Dobbins, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "539", "title": "Killers of the Flower Moon", "year": 2023, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt5537002", "tmdb": "466420" }, "note": "Pair with Silence — The Big Picture." }, { "number": "540", "title": "Resident Evil", "year": 2026, "directors": [ "Zach Cregger" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt35538033", "tmdb": "1423191" }, "note": "At the Century City screening, Sean and Chris were put in separate rooms; they locked eyes after and both knew they had one. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "541", "title": "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Ryan Coogler" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt9114286", "tmdb": "505642" }, "note": "Van's all-time top five: Raising Arizona, Madhouse (with John Larroquette), The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and at number one Wakanda Forever. — Van Lathan, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "542", "title": "The Killer", "year": 2023, "directors": [ "David Fincher" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1136617", "tmdb": "800158" }, "note": "A visual gag: Arliss Howard, the client, wears a Sub Pop t-shirt, Adam calls it a laugh-out-loud commodification joke. — Adam Nayman, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "543", "title": "Mamma Mia!", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Phyllida Lloyd" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0795421", "tmdb": "11631" }, "note": "Sean watched Mamma Mia with Eileen and Alice in a 4:30-to-6:18 window between Lincoln and moderating a One Battle After Another event at Warner Brothers. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "544", "title": "Mulan", "year": 2020, "directors": [ "Niki Caro" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt4566758", "tmdb": "337401" }, "note": "Amanda skips the music debate by calling the Reflection ballad 'an average ass ballad about finding yourself' after eight emails about Christina Aguilera's cover. — Amanda Dobbins, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "545", "title": "The Strangers", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Bryan Bertino" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0482606", "tmdb": "10665" }, "note": "Sean saw it in theaters knowing only the trailer; the hosts say it was shot in 2006-07 and sat on the shelf a year, which is how it landed in 2008. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "546", "title": "Moneyball", "year": 2011, "directors": [ "Bennett Miller" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1210166", "tmdb": "60308" }, "note": "The film's central romantic claim: it is about math, angry people, and unflattering pants, yet becomes irresistibly sentimental. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "547", "title": "Poor Things", "year": 2023, "directors": [ "Yorgos Lanthimos" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt14230458", "tmdb": "792307" }, "note": "Haynes recently saw Poor Things and loved it, singling out Mark Ruffalo. — Todd Haynes, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "548", "title": "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story", "year": 2007, "directors": [ "Jake Kasdan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0841046", "tmdb": "6575" }, "note": "Adam watches the Beatles-stop-fighting-in-India excerpt on YouTube about weekly; he saw the film twice in theaters. — Adam Nayman, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "549", "title": "Nightmare Alley", "year": 2021, "directors": [ "Guillermo del Toro" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt7740496", "tmdb": "597208" }, "note": "Host watched it four times; first lukewarm, a soft-focused noir, he came around. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "550", "title": "Masters of the Universe", "year": 2026, "directors": [ "Travis Knight" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0427340", "tmdb": "454639" }, "note": "A scene where He-Man's father disapproves of his son's toughness made one critic joke about the shoe business. — The Big Picture" }, { "number": "551", "title": "Mercy", "year": 2026, "directors": [ "Timur Bekmambetov" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt31050594", "tmdb": "1236153" }, "note": "Mercy has an on-screen countdown clock of 90 minutes that nearly matches the 96-minute runtime, which the hosts call its one real innovation. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "552", "title": "W.", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Oliver Stone" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1175491", "tmdb": "10523" }, "note": "Christian Bale was originally cast as Bush and studied him for months but dropped out when makeup could not make him W. — Brian Raftery, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "553", "title": "All of Us Strangers", "year": 2023, "directors": [ "Andrew Haigh" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt21192142", "tmdb": "994108" }, "note": "The film closes with the Power of Love lyric Make Love Your Goal, which was also the last line of the script. — Andrew Scott, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "554", "title": "Mulan", "year": 1998, "directors": [ "Barry Cook", "Tony Bancroft" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0120762", "tmdb": "10674" }, "note": "Mallory saw it at age 11 in theaters with a friend and no parents, remembering Skittles and the euphoria of freedom, and says she has seen it around 25 times. — Mallory Rubin, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "555", "title": "Elvis", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Baz Luhrmann" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt3704428", "tmdb": "614934" }, "note": "Amanda zoned out and missed that Elvis's mother died, and only realized the fancy house was Graceland when the film moved on; the pacing is endless yet frenetic. — Amanda Dobbins, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "556", "title": "Brittany Runs a Marathon", "year": 2019, "directors": [ "Paul Downs Colaizzo" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt7671064", "tmdb": "529862" }, "note": "Colaizzo and his roommate stole a couch from a Broadway show after it closed, where the film's pipe dream was written. — Paul Downs Colaizzo, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "557", "title": "Mean Girls", "year": 2024, "directors": [ "Arturo Perez Jr.", "Samantha Jayne" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt11762114", "tmdb": "673593" }, "note": "The new film reuses the original's iconic lines and jokes nearly verbatim, which Sean found a little flat because no joke lands when you know it is coming. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "558", "title": "Goodfellas", "year": 1990, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0099685", "tmdb": "769" }, "note": "Fennessey wonders whether the needle drops and the Pesci cameo are purposeful homage or accident. — Sean Fennessey, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "559", "title": "Boogie Nights", "year": 1997, "directors": [ "Paul Thomas Anderson" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0118749", "tmdb": "4995" }, "note": "Zach's favorite-movie coin toss is Fargo versus Boogie Nights, a year apart, from his formative film-buff years. — Zach Cregger, Blank Check" }, { "number": "560", "title": "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope", "year": 1977, "directors": [ "George Lucas" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0076759", "tmdb": "11" }, "note": "Pair with Dune — Blank Check." }, { "number": "561", "title": "Heat", "year": 1995, "directors": [ "Michael Mann" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0113277", "tmdb": "949" }, "note": "Pacino's Marvin Schwarz scene is framed as a sequel to his Heat performance. — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "562", "title": "Top Gun", "year": 1986, "directors": [ "Tony Scott" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0092099", "tmdb": "744" }, "note": "Days of Thunder is tapping the same vein as Top Gun in its afterburner. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "563", "title": "The Irishman", "year": 2019, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1302006", "tmdb": "398978" }, "note": "De Niro's 21st-century highs include The Irishman, where he plays an interior role. — Sean Fennessey, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "564", "title": "Black Panther", "year": 2018, "directors": [ "Ryan Coogler" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1825683", "tmdb": "284054" }, "note": "The sequel runs 2:41 against the original's 2:12, which Amanda reads as the film trying to do too much. — Amanda Dobbins, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "565", "title": "Beverly Hills Cop", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "Martin Brest" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0086960", "tmdb": "90" }, "note": "The first film feels like an extension of 70s cop movies, especially the Detroit material, while the sequel feels glossy and 80s. — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "566", "title": "Titanic", "year": 1997, "directors": [ "James Cameron" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0120338", "tmdb": "597" }, "note": "The film exists because James Cameron's Mexican Titanic tank, with a gimbal, was still usable for the ship set. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "567", "title": "Oppenheimer", "year": 2023, "directors": [ "Christopher Nolan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt15398776", "tmdb": "872585" }, "note": "The real joke about Oppenheimer's length was the clipboard business, not the runtime. — Amanda Dobbins, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "568", "title": "Barbie", "year": 2023, "directors": [ "Greta Gerwig" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1517268", "tmdb": "346698" }, "note": "Barbie sits at the top of the toy-movie heap, along with the first Lego Movie. — Griffin Newman, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "569", "title": "The Godfather", "year": 1972, "directors": [ "Francis Ford Coppola" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0068646", "tmdb": "238" }, "note": "Sonny is said to be more like Vito than Sonny Corleone: guns bring heat, so keep them out of the neighborhood. — Chris Ryan, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "570", "title": "Back to the Future", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Robert Zemeckis" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0088763", "tmdb": "105" }, "note": "Pair with Teen Wolf — Blank Check." }, { "number": "571", "title": "Inglourious Basterds", "year": 2009, "directors": [ "Quentin Tarantino" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0361748", "tmdb": "16869" }, "note": "Pair with Pulp Fiction — The Rewatchables." }, { "number": "572", "title": "Top Gun: Maverick", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Joseph Kosinski" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1745960", "tmdb": "361743" }, "note": "Chris says the sequel delivered and is better than the first, and Amanda agrees. — Chris Ryan, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "573", "title": "True Romance", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Tony Scott" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0108399", "tmdb": "319" }, "note": "Weaving responded to a tone like True Romance and Bonnie and Clyde that is rarely seen now. — Samara Weaving, The Big Picture" }, { "number": "574", "title": "Die Hard", "year": 1988, "directors": [ "John McTiernan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0095016", "tmdb": "562" }, "note": "The hero who is capable but visibly working it out is what the imitators miss; same as John McClane. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "575", "title": "The Silence of the Lambs", "year": 1991, "directors": [ "Jonathan Demme" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0102926", "tmdb": "274" }, "note": "Ed Gein had a big Hollywood footprint; Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter touched on him. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "576", "title": "Schindler's List", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Steven Spielberg" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0108052", "tmdb": "424" }, "note": "On Schindler Spielberg refused to storyboard, almost as a reaction to criticism of the puppet-show control in Empire. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "577", "title": "Silence", "year": 2016, "directors": [ "Martin Scorsese" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0490215", "tmdb": "68730" }, "note": "Pair with Killers of the Flower Moon — The Big Picture." }, { "number": "578", "title": "Captain Marvel", "year": 2019, "directors": [ "Anna Boden", "Ryan Fleck" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt4154664", "tmdb": "299537" }, "note": "Pair with Guardians of the Galaxy — Blank Check." }, { "number": "579", "title": "Citizen Kane", "year": 1941, "directors": [ "Orson Welles" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0033467", "tmdb": "15" }, "note": "Pair with Casablanca — The Big Picture." }, { "number": "580", "title": "Casablanca", "year": 1942, "directors": [ "Michael Curtiz" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0034583", "tmdb": "289" }, "note": "Pair with Citizen Kane — The Big Picture." }, { "number": "581", "title": "Avengers: Age of Ultron", "year": 2015, "directors": [ "Joss Whedon" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt2395427", "tmdb": "99861" }, "note": "Pair with Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Blank Check." }, { "number": "582", "title": "Teen Wolf", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Rod Daniel" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0090142", "tmdb": "11824" }, "note": "Pair with Back to the Future — Blank Check." }, { "number": "583", "title": "Bright Lights, Big City", "year": 1988, "directors": [ "James Bridges" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0094799", "tmdb": "17170" }, "note": "Bright Lights, Big City is a big one from this era that nobody talks about. — Sean Fennessey, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "584", "title": "Into the Night", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "John Landis" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0089346", "tmdb": "11338" }, "note": "Sean's double-feature pick: the LA version of the same energy, made at the same time. — Sean Fennessey, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "601", "title": "Fearless", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Peter Weir" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0106881", "tmdb": "10443" }, "note": "Weir loved the unpublished-novel first-draft script, adapted by its own author. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "602", "title": "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World", "year": 2003, "directors": [ "Peter Weir" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0311113", "tmdb": "8619" }, "note": "David states it is one of his ten favorites and Griffin says he texted it was the best movie ever made; David jokes he should have put it on his Sight and Sound ballot. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "603", "title": "Picnic at Hanging Rock", "year": 1975, "directors": [ "Peter Weir" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0073540", "tmdb": "11020" }, "note": "Boyd shot Picnic, Last Wave, Gallipoli and Year of Living Dangerously for Weir; he and Weir reunited by chance on an airplane for this film. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "604", "title": "Witness", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Peter Weir" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0090329", "tmdb": "9281" }, "note": "Year of Living Dangerously got Weir into Hollywood; Witness is the guarantor of his Hollywood run. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "611", "title": "Look Who's Talking", "year": 1989, "directors": [ "Amy Heckerling" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0097778", "tmdb": "9494" }, "note": "The scene where the baby gets high from his mom's Demerol, and the speakers note epidurals would be the era-correct treatment. — Hillary Busis, Blank Check" }, { "number": "612", "title": "Clueless", "year": 1995, "directors": [ "Amy Heckerling" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0112697", "tmdb": "9603" }, "note": "Clueless brought the teen genre back and made it female; Mean Girls inherits that more female guiding hand. — Amanda Dobbins, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "613", "title": "National Lampoon's European Vacation", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Amy Heckerling" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0089670", "tmdb": "11418" }, "note": "Heckerling had a miserable experience; Chase is said to be hard on collaborators. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "614", "title": "Johnny Dangerously", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "Amy Heckerling" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0087507", "tmdb": "16806" }, "note": "Heckerling came off two disappointments, Johnny Dangerously and European Vacation, and needed a can't-miss hit. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "621", "title": "Star 80", "year": 1983, "directors": [ "Bob Fosse" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0086355", "tmdb": "30707" }, "note": "Fosse had his location scout break into the real murder house without a permit to recreate the carpet and details. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "622", "title": "All That Jazz", "year": 1979, "directors": [ "Bob Fosse" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0078754", "tmdb": "16858" }, "note": "Star 80 came about because Fosse had no planned follow-up after surviving the film in which he dies. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "623", "title": "Cabaret", "year": 1972, "directors": [ "Bob Fosse" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0068327", "tmdb": "10784" }, "note": "Fosse shot Sally Bowles walking onstage in a medium shot from the back, trusting his lead. — Julie Klausner, Blank Check" }, { "number": "624", "title": "Lenny", "year": 1974, "directors": [ "Bob Fosse" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0071746", "tmdb": "27094" }, "note": "Star 80's interview framing/superstructure echoes Lenny's, and Lenny is the origin of the Chevy-Chase-style voice. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "631", "title": "The Judge", "year": 2014, "directors": [ "David Dobkin" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1872194", "tmdb": "205587" }, "note": "The shower scene: Downey hoses a soiled Duvall down with a handheld shower head, and the only shot they can't forget is the stained legs and the drain. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "632", "title": "Clay Pigeons", "year": 1998, "directors": [ "David Dobkin" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0118863", "tmdb": "26618" } }, { "number": "633", "title": "Shanghai Knights", "year": 2003, "directors": [ "David Dobkin" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0300471", "tmdb": "6038" }, "note": "Dobkin directed Knights, a catastrophe next to the masterpiece Noon. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "634", "title": "Wedding Crashers", "year": 2005, "directors": [ "David Dobkin" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0396269", "tmdb": "9522" }, "note": "Both open with a wedding; Bill calls it his open-your-movie-with-a-wedding theory. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "641", "title": "Wendell and Wild", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Henry Selick" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt5181830", "tmdb": "511817" }, "note": "Griffin and Ben saw it at the Quad in a nearly empty theater and walked out invigorated about its social commentary. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "642", "title": "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Henry Selick" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0107688", "tmdb": "9479" }, "note": "Nightmare has one major objective everyone is on; Wendell & Wild is just so much plot. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "643", "title": "James and the Giant Peach", "year": 1996, "directors": [ "Henry Selick" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0116683", "tmdb": "10539" }, "note": "Peach is ranked third over Wendell & Wild because it is more straightforward and rewatchable. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "644", "title": "Coraline", "year": 2009, "directors": [ "Henry Selick" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0327597", "tmdb": "14836" }, "note": "Coraline was made with Laika hands-off, and it is his best film, so maybe studio notes are not needed. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "651", "title": "As Good as It Gets", "year": 1997, "directors": [ "James L. Brooks" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0119822", "tmdb": "2898" }, "note": "Maya Rudolph appears as a cop in her first film role. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "652", "title": "Terms of Endearment", "year": 1983, "directors": [ "James L. Brooks" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0086425", "tmdb": "11050" }, "note": "Brooks had already worked with Nicholson on Terms of Endearment, where he won an Oscar. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "653", "title": "Broadcast News", "year": 1987, "directors": [ "James L. Brooks" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0092699", "tmdb": "12626" }, "note": "Nicholson also pops off in Broadcast News, another Brooks film. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "654", "title": "I'll Do Anything", "year": 1994, "directors": [ "James L. Brooks" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0110097", "tmdb": "106143" }, "note": "After the disaster of I'll Do Anything, Brooks needed to get his groove back, and As Good as It Gets did it. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "661", "title": "An Angel at My Table", "year": 1990, "directors": [ "Jane Campion" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0099040", "tmdb": "2891" }, "note": "Dana's favorite shot is an 8 to 9 second silent shot of Janet staring at a piece of chalk as she freezes while teaching. — Dana Stevens, Blank Check" }, { "number": "662", "title": "Sweetie", "year": 1989, "directors": [ "Jane Campion" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0098725", "tmdb": "65015" }, "note": "Frame approved the adaptation before Sweetie was made; Campion used early festival heat for a weird small comedy first. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "663", "title": "The Piano", "year": 1993, "directors": [ "Jane Campion" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0107822", "tmdb": "713" }, "note": "Dana thinks the score is overused and imposing, a major problem for her. — Dana Stevens, Blank Check" }, { "number": "664", "title": "Bright Star", "year": 2009, "directors": [ "Jane Campion" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0810784", "tmdb": "29963" }, "note": "Fox, the lead here, returns in Bright Star as Fanny's mother, which feels deliberate and twins the two films. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "671", "title": "Ricki and the Flash", "year": 2015, "directors": [ "Jonathan Demme" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt3623726", "tmdb": "275601" }, "note": "The bar-band casting problem: Bobby and Lindsey's old dive-bar KJ felt like a real regular; Streep as a bar-band singer never reads as a plausible mediocre singer. — Bobby Finger, Blank Check" }, { "number": "672", "title": "Rachel Getting Married", "year": 2008, "directors": [ "Jonathan Demme" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1084950", "tmdb": "14976" }, "note": "The dad in Rachel Getting Married, and the kitchen meltdown scene, is amazing but intense in the opposite way. — Bill Simmons, The Rewatchables" }, { "number": "673", "title": "Stop Making Sense", "year": 1984, "directors": [ "Jonathan Demme" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0088178", "tmdb": "24128" }, "note": "Worrell, in Ricki's band, was from Parliament-Funkadelic and sometimes a Talking Heads member in Stop Making Sense. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "674", "title": "The Manchurian Candidate", "year": 2004, "directors": [ "Jonathan Demme" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0368008", "tmdb": "14462" }, "note": "Demme worked with Streep on The Manchurian Candidate, so they had an existing relationship. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "681", "title": "Lady in the Water", "year": 2006, "directors": [ "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0452637", "tmdb": "9697" }, "note": "Other kids at Griffin's NYU summer program saw it and came back to the cafeteria yelling snarf, snarf, snarf, mocking the film. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "682", "title": "The Village", "year": 2004, "directors": [ "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0368447", "tmdb": "6947" }, "note": "The Village was the first real backlash, and Lady in the Water is cast as the film that dynamited his career. — Richard Lawson, Blank Check" }, { "number": "683", "title": "Signs", "year": 2002, "directors": [ "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0286106", "tmdb": "2675" }, "note": "Both end abruptly on one image after someone heals a body through prayer or love, with only a token time jump. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "684", "title": "Unbreakable", "year": 2000, "directors": [ "M. Night Shyamalan" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0217869", "tmdb": "9741" }, "note": "Both are about a man recovering from an accident that left him untouched; Bruce Willis would have fit, but was not ready. — Blank Check" }, { "number": "691", "title": "Decision to Leave", "year": 2022, "directors": [ "Park Chan-wook" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt12477480", "tmdb": "705996" }, "note": "Subtitle translator trivia: the Google-translated line bring me the heart of that detective became bring me the head, since English lacks a word for metaphorical heart. — Tatiana Maslany, Blank Check" }, { "number": "692", "title": "The Handmaiden", "year": 2016, "directors": [ "Park Chan-wook" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt4016934", "tmdb": "290098" }, "note": "Decision to Leave is more restrained than The Handmaiden but still has wild camera moves. — David Sims, Blank Check" }, { "number": "693", "title": "Oldboy", "year": 2003, "directors": [ "Park Chan-wook" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0364569", "tmdb": "670" } }, { "number": "694", "title": "Stoker", "year": 2013, "directors": [ "Park Chan-wook" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt1682180", "tmdb": "86825" }, "note": "Stoker was Park's only American film and he took someone else's script; Decision to Leave is the first fully original thing after a run of adaptations. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "701", "title": "Flesh and Blood", "year": 1985, "directors": [ "Paul Verhoeven" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0089153", "tmdb": "12775" }, "note": "The opening is the maximalist first 20 seconds: a tracking shot of mercenaries and a nine-months pregnant beer server. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "702", "title": "Turkish Delight", "year": 1973, "directors": [ "Paul Verhoeven" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0070842", "tmdb": "21035" } }, { "number": "703", "title": "Soldier of Orange", "year": 1977, "directors": [ "Paul Verhoeven" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0076734", "tmdb": "633" } }, { "number": "704", "title": "Spetters", "year": 1980, "directors": [ "Paul Verhoeven" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0081547", "tmdb": "40072" }, "note": "Spetters is like his Loveless, about aimless bikers. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "711", "title": "Planet of the Apes", "year": 2001, "directors": [ "Tim Burton" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0133152", "tmdb": "869" }, "note": "Apes action figures: Griffin owned all of them except Estella Warren; Pericles reportedly had one. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "712", "title": "Ed Wood", "year": 1994, "directors": [ "Tim Burton" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0109707", "tmdb": "522" }, "note": "One commenter argued Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns say everything Burton has to say; after that he took what was offered. — Griffin Newman, Blank Check" }, { "number": "713", "title": "Edward Scissorhands", "year": 1990, "directors": [ "Tim Burton" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0099487", "tmdb": "162" } }, { "number": "714", "title": "Batman Returns", "year": 1992, "directors": [ "Tim Burton" ], "added": "2026-10-14", "ids": { "imdb": "tt0103776", "tmdb": "364" }, "note": "Coogler could make his own Batman Returns-style odd, personal sequel. — Blank Check" } ] }