Blank Check with Griffin & David artwork

Blank Check with Griffin & David

487 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 5.2K ratings

Not just another bad movie podcast, Blank Check reviews directors' complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them the rare ‘blank check’ from Hollywood to produce passion projects. Each new miniseries, hosts Griffin Newman and David Sims delve into the works of film’s most outsized personalities in painstakingly hilarious detail. Produced by Ben Hosley.

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Episodes

Last Action Hero with Paul Scheer & Jason Mantzoukas

March 24, 2024 04:00 - 3 hours

You either love this movie or you hate it, and guess what - we’re landing all over the LOST ACTION HERO spectrum this episode! Paul Scheer & Jason Mantzoukas join us once again for a clock-busting, rip-roaring time, and we’re unpacking all of this movie’s meta madness.  Is John McTiernan able to parody his own work? Should the kid have actually killed people in this movie (as in the original, edgier script)? Will David have an aneurysm if this episode recording doesn’t end at a reasonable ti...

Medicine Man with Jamie Lee

March 17, 2024 04:00 - 2 hours

Oh baby, this one’s a STINKER! Sean Connery finds the cure for cancer but then he loses it (??). Lorraine Bracco delivers all of her dialogue like someone making a comment and not asking a question at a Q&A. They’re both playing scientists - but where’s the CHEMISTRY?? Comedian and writer Jamie Lee returns to Blank Check to talk about John McTiernan’s attempt at a serious adult drama, 1992’s MEDICINE MAN. We spend most of the episode trying to recast this movie to make it somewhat palatable....

The Hunt For Red October with Jamelle Bouie

March 10, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

We love da submarinesh! Host of “Unclear and Present Danger” Jamelle Bouie joins us this week to talk about middle aged white guys, airport novels, and naval recruitment propaganda. That’s right - we’re talking about John McTiernan’s adaptation of Tom Clancy’s THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER! Come for our thesis on why Alec Baldwin played the best version of Jack Ryan, stay for Ben and Jamelle’s impassioned pleas for a Highlander patreon series. And of course, there will be Connery impressions. Th...

The Ninth Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid

March 03, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

The pomp. The pageantry. The awkwardness of trying to shoehorn any of this year’s Oscar nominees into “Moon River” - that’s right, folks. The Blankies (and host Griffy Crystal) are back! Joe Reid of “This Had Oscar Buzz” joins us once again to celebrate the momentous year in cinema that was 2023. We’re handing out fake awards, making outrageous claims, and we’ve got a special musical performance that brings the house down. Enjoy! This episode is sponsored by: Mubi (mubi.com/howtohavesex) ...

Die Hard with Kevin Smith

February 25, 2024 05:00 - 3 hours

Thirty-six floors. Thirteen (fake) terrorists. One perfect action movie. Kevin Smith - who was in a Die Hard movie AND directed Alan Rickman in DOGMA -  joins us again for a supersized episode on McTiernan’s signature film. We’re getting into Bruce's wine cooler commercials. We reveal the surprising Shakespeare play that influenced McTiernan’s direction of this story. We’re nerding out about the spatial and organizational PERFECTION that makes it such a classic. And we’re paying loving homag...

Predator with Jon Gabrus

February 18, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

GET TO THE CHOPPA! Griffin attempts his best (actually, worst) Arnold voice this week as we head to the jungle with Jon Gabrus and some bic razors. For almost three hours, we’re dissecting every little bit of PREDATOR - the glow-stick goo alien blood, the Alan Silvestri score, Arnold’s calves, Arnold’s biceps, Arnold’s long red polo shirt, Arnold’s chiseled cheekbones, the way Arnold says KILL ME!!! - you can expect lots of Arnold talk.  The filmed special of Blank Check on Broadway Live at...

Nomads

February 11, 2024 05:00 - 1 hour

Okay, action freaks! We’re kicking off our John McTiernan miniseries - POD HARD WITH A VENGECAST - with a film that is not at all indicative of the greatness to come. Nomads! A movie where Pierce Brosnan attempts a garbage French accent and is terrified by some punks in a van. That’s kind of the whole thing. Anyway - get ready for a spirited conversation about plenty of other topics, like: the filmography of Tom Shadyac! John McTiernan’s super cool dad! Gerard Depardieu’s face! The strict ru...

The Mirror Has Two Faces with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber

February 04, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

If Yentl was about connecting with her absent father, and The Prince of Tides was about forgiving her difficult mother, The Mirror Has Two Faces is just about BARBRA! Who Weekly’s Bobby Finger and Lindsay Weber join us as we close out our Streisand series with her final film, a strange Frankenstein of a Judd Apatow, Albert Brooks, and Nora Ephron romcom. Should Lauren (“Betty”) Bacall have won the Oscar that year? Should Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Bridges have swapped roles? Is “the perfect bit...

The Prince of Tides with Katey Rich

January 28, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

Can you hear the crawdads sing? Or is that just our Nick Nolte impression? Our favorite Carolinian Katey Rich joins us to chat about Streisand’s 1991 adaptation of Pat Conroy’s bugnuts novel, a story that includes some serious ethical breaches made by alluring therapist Susan Lowenstein. Listen along as Katey shares some tidbits from the book that did NOT make the screen adaptation (a tiger, for example), Griffin relates to Jason Gould’s attempts to be sporty, and David offers his hot take t...

Blank Check on Broadway

January 25, 2024 17:00 - 2 minutes

Announcing our BIGGEST live show ever! On Friday, March 8th at The Town Hall in NYC, Blank Check will celebrate its nine year anniversary. Tickets go on sale on Friday, January 26th @ 12PM ET. Follow this link to get yours!

A Conversation with Amy Irving

January 24, 2024 05:00 - 1 hour

Surprise! In a first for Blank Check, we're dropping a bonus main-feed episode featuring a conversation with an Academy Award-nominated star of the film we just covered. The great Amy Irving joins us for a fun conversation about her career highs and lows, the behind-the-scenes YENTL gossip, and Ben's buried jeans. That's right, we have to explain Ben's denim thing to Amy Irving. Follow Amy on IG @amyirvingofficial AND checkout her album "Born In A Trunk" on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp or...

Yentl with Jordan Hoffman

January 21, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

Podcast, can you hear me?” We certainly can, Barbra! The very menschy Jordan Hoffman joins us to chat about Streisand’s official directorial debut, a marvel of a film that makes anyone describing it sound insane. Yes, Barbra wrote, directed, produced, and starred in a period piece about a shtetl girl who crossdresses in order to study the Talmud. Yes, the film is a musical with songs composed by Michel Legrand. Yes, Barbra is the only person who sings in it, despite the male lead being Broad...

A Star Is Born (1976) with Rachel Zegler

January 14, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

Hello Gorgeous! We’re kicking off our Barbra Streisand series (titled “Podcastl,” naturally) with a look at her version of the classic Hollywood cautionary tale - 1976’s A STAR IS BORN. And who better to join us than our own songbird superstar - the lovely Rachel Zegler! While Babs didn’t technically direct this one, she and her partner Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper in LICORICE PIZZA, duh) exacted supreme creative control over the project - to mixed results. Join us as we trace the beginning of...

Ferrari with Bilge Ebiri

January 07, 2024 05:00 - 2 hours

Vroom vroom! Michael Mann is BACK. Bilge Ebiri is BACK. How do you say “we’re so back” in Italian? Join us as we talk about cars that go fast (Ferraris), hair that grows long (Adam Driver’s, normally), faces that have seen smart phones (Shailene Woodley’s) and character actors that could have been in this movie (Paul Giamatti, but specifically as Pig Vomit). Masculinity is a cage, machines that work the best are the most beautiful, and we all think that the Mille Miglia seems like a bad idea...

Wonkquaman with Marie Bardi-Salinas

December 31, 2023 05:00 - 3 hours

We’re closing out 2023 with two words - Wet. Chocolate. Join us as we bid farewell to the DCEU, say “hello fennel” to Timothée Chalamet, and bring our craziest unhinged, “end of school year” energy to two very different new releases. Orm. Check out Matt Singer’s Wonka Themed IHOP menu article. This episode is sponsored by: Eye of the Duck Hello fresh (HelloFresh.com/checkfree CODE: CHECKFREE) Join our Patreon at patreon.com/blankcheck Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter and Instagram! B...

Maestro with Marie Bardi-Salinas

December 17, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours

The music! The makeup! The MAESTRO! We’re diving into Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic, the result of his post-A STAR IS BORN Blank Check, and we’re getting personal, emotional, and pretty ridiculous. Who does Griffin’s Bernstein impression sound like (because it certainly doesn’t sound like Bernstein)? What is Ben’s familial connection to the Maestro? Will Marie ever forgive Griffin for inviting Bobby Wagner on a date to visit Bradley Cooper’s Philly cheesesteak truck instead of he...

The Boy and the Heron with J.D. Amato

December 10, 2023 05:00 - 3 hours

It took seven years for Hayao Miyazaki and the artists at Studio Ghibli to make THE BOY AND THE HERON. What better way to honor that lengthy process than to invite JD Amato back for another clockbusting, context-loaded episode?! For a rather bit-free THREE-AND-A-HALF HOURS, we are diving into Miyazaki’s personal history, his creative process, the differing animation styles between the Ghibli greats, and the thematic implications of this beautiful new film. Because this is Blank Check, we’ve ...

I Love You to Death

December 03, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours

Mamma mia! We’ve got-a some-a sleepy pasta for-a you to taste-a this-a week! In our latest, much-awaited installment of PORCH CLASSICS, we’re handing the reins to Producer Ben, who has chosen to spotlight a forgotten comedy about “the world’s horniest pizza man who cannot die.” Lawrence Kasdan’s I LOVE YOU TO DEATH is a feast of bizarre performances (Italian-face Kevin Kline, Serb-face Joan Plowright, Stoner-face William Hurt) and tonal miscalculations. All this to say - it’s a very FUN movi...

The Killer with Marie Bardi

November 26, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours

We’re wrapping up our Fincher series with his latest release - a stripped-down, gig-economy hitman thriller - THE KILLER. Is Michael Fassbender’s unnamed hitman actually good at his job, or a total goober? How do your friends at Blank Check feel about The Smiths? Where do the Two Friends put MANK in their final Fincher rankings? And - is Griffin okay, or has he fallen too deep inside the Gaylor Swift rabbit hole? This episode is sponsored by: AuraFrames.com (CODE: CHECK) Uncommon Goods (u...

Mank with Sean Fennessey

November 19, 2023 05:00 - 2 hours

Nerts! Are you folks ready to get MANK-PILLED? We advise that you start by “mankro-dosing” David Fincher’s 2020 exploration of the life and times of cantankerous screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. The Big Picture’s Sean Fennessey joins us to chat about Fincher’s first Netflix feature, and we’re asking all the important questions. Would this film have a better reputation if it had been titled “manK!” ? Will there be a film made 40 years from now entitled “SORK” about Aaron Sorkin, David Finch...

Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman

November 12, 2023 05:00 - 3 hours

“Amazing Amy” meets “Awkwardly-Smiling Affleck” in Fincher’s darkly comic masterpiece - an instant classic from that first shot of Rosamund Pike’s pretty head. The delightful Esther Zuckerman (who will definitely NOT “gone girl” her boyfriend) joins us to discuss this impressive work of adaptation. We’re asking all the big questions - is “Amazing Amy” actually a good children’s book? Did Tyler Perry take any directing tips from David Fincher when he made BOO! A MADEA HALLOWEEN? Would this mo...

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Fran Hoepfner

November 05, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? More like The Girl Who Go On Computer! The Girl with the Fruit Tattoo - Fran Hoepfner - joins us as we dive into Fincher’s 2011 Nordic noir. How does Fincher’s take on Stieg Larsson’s international best-seller compare with the original Swedish version? What does Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander have in common with ET? Does Christopher Plummer have the greatest octogenarian acting decade of all time? WHEN WILL BEN HOSLEY MAKE HIS WITCH HACKER MOVIE? Guest Link...

The Social Network

October 29, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Let us take a walk down memory lane to when the Metaverse was but a twinkle in Zuck’s eye, to when Aaron Sorkin was just a much-respected writer and not yet a (groan) director…to when the idea of a prestige film about millennial tech bros seemed like a ludicrous proposition. My, how times have changed! THE SOCIAL NETWORK is one of the most influential and consequential films of the 21st Century - prescient, quotable, and eminently rewatchable. You know what’s cooler than a two hour podcast? ...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Richard Lawson

October 22, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

2007’s THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is a film that dares to ask the question, “What if he baby but old?” Despite the meme-ification of David Fincher’s trip to the uncanny valley, we are pleased to make our belated case for why this movie is GOOD, actually, and in step with the themes of Da Finch Man’s body of work - not a sappy outlier. Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson returns to the podcast as we all grapple with mortality, wistfully opine about tugboats, and develop an absurd running bi...

Zodiac with Leslye Headland

October 15, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

This is the Zodiac speaking. I have recorded this podcast episode with Griffin, David, and the genius Leslye Headland because I am tired of the tangents on every other episode so far this Fincher series. With this episode, we’re getting into the CRAFT, the OBSESSION, the MADNESS, the MINUTIAE of David Fincher’s Gordian knot of a true crime mystery. What is the scariest scene in ZODIAC? Which of the three main actors gives the best performance? Are Aqua Velvas good? Like my identity, there is...

Panic Room with Eva Anderson

October 08, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

We’re scootin’ through some wild Manhattan real estate this week and locking ourselves into David Fincher’s PANIC ROOM with the wonderful Eva Anderson! Can you believe that Jodie Foster wasn’t even supposed to be in this movie? And that David Fincher was the one who braided Jared Leto’s cornrows? Just kidding about that last one. Come for Griffin’s formative crush on young Kristen Stewart, stay for the inexplicable amount of talk about “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” - a show that has absolu...

Fight Club with Alex Ross Perry

October 01, 2023 04:00 - 3 hours

The first rule of Fight Club? Don’t talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club? DON’T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB. For those of you who like following the rules, we have an edited version of this episode available on Patreon wherein we do NOT talk about the seminal 1999 film FIGHT CLUB. But for the rest of you sickos, we’ve got a supersized episode with Project Mayhem’s own Alex Ross Perry. In this episode, we discuss our picks for the iconic DVDs of the “DVD era”, dive into the career o...

The Game with Brendan Hines

September 24, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Congratulations! If you are listening to this episode, it means you’ve discovered the key in the mouth of the wooden clown we placed in your driveway. Actor, musician, and handsome man Brendan Hines joins us this week as we lead you on an immersive, life-changing experience through David Fincher’s The Game. We understand you may have some questions. How much did this whole thing cost? Is cocaine a requirement for every Michael Douglas movie? What’s Deborah Kara Unger up to these days? Did Ch...

Se7en with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger

September 17, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Who loves Da Finchman? These guys do! MTV Movie Award-losing duo Mitch and Nick of the Doughboys join us to talk about David Fincher’s breakthrough hit - the nasty noir SE7EN. What can you expect from this episode? Lots of talk about “playground rumors” related to what this movie does and doesn’t actually show, a full taxonomy of Kevin Spacey’s on-screen persona, the true identity of the Zodiac killer, and a VERY Doughboys description of the film’s “gluttony” murder. Guest Links:  Listen t...

Alien³ with Matt Singer

September 10, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

The time has come for us to talk about one of the most successful, most influential, most respected American filmmakers of the past 30 years. That’s right, we’re talking about the director of ALIEN3, David “Da Finchman” Fincher! We’re kicking off “The Curious Pod of Benjamin Buttcast” in style, pressing play on our Alien Quadrilogy Blu-Ray with guest Matt Singer - and you better believe we’re watching the “extended cut” in “Mu-th-ur Mode”! Join us as we give some light background on young “D...

Decision to Leave with Tatiana Maslany

September 03, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Decision to Leave? More like, decision to watch a good movie! EMMY AWARD WINNER (but more importantly, David Sims Best Supporting Actress Nominee of 2017) joins us to discuss Park’s most recent film, a romantic noir that gets text messaging absolutely right. We’re getting into everything, from the complexities of Tang Wei’s performance, to the concept of “sand beaching,” to S. Craig Zahler’s tight ponytail. Plus, we give our final Park rankings, and announce our next series, the worst-kept s...

The Handmaiden with Emily Yoshida

August 27, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

We couldn’t be more excited to talk about the film we consider to be Park’s masterpiece - the gorgeous, twisty, and ultimately moving THE HANDMAIDEN. “Mother of the Blankies” Emily Yoshida joins us to unpack this puzzlebox of an erotic thriller, a brilliant adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith. Come for the coining of a new Blank Check phrase (thanks, researcher JJ!), stay for a very crucial “touch of the Tucc” tangent. By the way - what does that octopus actually do?? Join our Patreon a...

Stoker with Emily St. James

August 20, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Remember when the star of TV’s Prison Break (Wentworth Miller, “human map”) wrote a screenplay that landed on the Black List and ended up serving as the material for Park Chan-Wook’s only English film to date? What a time to be alive! Mia Wasikowska superfan Emily St. James returns to Blank Check to offer her take on 2013’s Stoker, a movie that is not NOT about vampires. Join us as we fawn over Park’s stunning directorial choices (that shot where Nicole Kidman’s hair transitions into grass!)...

Thirst with Hoai-Tran Bui

August 13, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Move over, Dracula. Eat your heart out Edward Cullen. A new sexy vampire is in town, and he just happens to be a PRIEST! Park Chan-Wook reunites with the wonderful Song Kang-ho to put his own stamp on the popular genre with 2009’s THIRST. Inverse’s Hoi-Tran Boi joins us to chat about this darkly funny (and devilishly sound-designed) film, an adaptation of Emile Zola’s classic novel Thérèse Raquin. How do the rules of vampirism translate to a culture where everything is cooked with garlic?   ...

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK with Karen Chee

August 06, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour

From the twisted mind of Park Chan-Wook, it’s…a surprisingly sensitive romance set in a mental hospital? Writer and Comedian Karen Chee joins us to chat about 2006’s I’M A CYBORG, BUT THAT’S OKAY - a real outlier in Park’s career, and a commercial disappointment after the global success of his Vengeance Trilogy. Would it surprise you to learn that this film was inspired by, of all things, TOY STORY? Is this the best Park film to remake with a cast of Muppets? Are any of the film’s mental ill...

Oppenheimer with Marie Bardi

July 30, 2023 04:00 - 3 hours

DA MOVIESH ARE BACK, BABY! Film Director Barbie joins the gang to chat about Christopher Nolan’s latest and an historic weekend at the multiplex. What’s the best format for seeing OPPENHEIMER? Which of the many character actors in this film makes the biggest impression? Will David make his sexy Christopher Nolan voice a new recurring bit? Plus - we address the SAG strike (solidarity!), the social media discourse around this film (so dumb!), and Ben admits that science used to seem cool. Thi...

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One with Marie Bardi

July 23, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

It’s 2023. An all-powerful AI program named “the Entity” is sewing chaos and threatening the fragile equilibrium of the world as we know it. It is also throwing sick parties. Meanwhile, over at Blank Check HQ, the BENTITY has a few tricks up his sleeve to surprise Griffin, David, and Marie with a mission of their own as they break down Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie’s latest big-screen extravaganza. Special thanks to IMF team members Teo Rapp-Olsson and Patrick Willems. Support their ...

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance with Karen Han

July 16, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Park Chan-Wook’s loosely-linked “Vengeance Trilogy” comes to a starkly satisfying end with 2005’s LADY VENGEANCE - a normal flick…that’s all we have to say! Just kidding - we have LOTS to say about this one, with its stacked cast of lady convicts and grief-stricken parents. Our beloved Karen Han returns to the pod to correct our terrible Korean pronunciations and to tell us about “Jump Like A Witch” - a Korean reality series wherein famous female celebrities attempt to form a basketball team...

Oldboy with Alison Willmore

July 09, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour

What is an Oldboy? How do you feel about Greek Tragedies? How did Choi Min-Sik achieve that iconic (and insane) hairstyle? Was giving the 2004 Palme d’Or to FAHRENHEIT 9/11 over this film one of the greatest mistakes in the history of arts and culture? All those questions answered and more as critic Alison Willmore joins us to talk about OLDBOY, the first major Korean breakthrough in the American filmbro canon.  Guest Links:  Read Alison's writing at New York Magazine Especially “Theory: ...

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance with David Ehrlich

July 02, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Park Chan-Wook kicks off his famous “Vengeance” trilogy and we kick off another episode where we talk about Ted Danson’s late 90s sitcom BECKER! Critic, friend of the pod, and Crystal Skull-apologist David Ehrlich joins us to chat about Park’s “Sympathy for Mister Vengeance” - a film that shows that revenge is not a dish best served cold, but is actually kind of sad and futile. Come for Ehrlich’s story about his teen trip to Seoul (when he had lunch with Director Park!), stay for the throwba...

Joint Security Area

June 25, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour

Park Chan-Wook’s 2000 breakthrough and Korean box office juggernaut - JSA (Joint Security Area) - is the rare international murder-mystery that dares to ask the question…”what if the real smoking gun was FRIENDSHIP??” Join us as we unpack this poignant and twisty thriller, and maybe some of you can unpack on your own time why Griffin chooses to bring up THE LITTLE RASCALS when talking about Korean geopolitics. Join our Patreon at patreon.com/blankcheck Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter an...

The Moon Is…the Sun's Dream / Trio

June 18, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour

It’s a brand new era for Blank Check - Griffin is in his “arriving early to work” era. Ben is in his “Bad Boy 2.0” era. And we’re all in our WORLD CINEMA era as we kick off our series on South Korean master (and March Madness champion!) Park Chan-Wook. Join us as we offer a brief overview of the evolution of Korean cinema - from 1960’s landmark THE HOUSEMAID up through decades of government censorship - and introduce the career of one of our finest filmmakers. However - we’re gonna be real w...

The Cameraman / Spite Marriage

June 11, 2023 04:00 - 1 hour

Our Buster Keaton series comes to a conclusion as his period of creative independence does, with his first two features for MGM: THE CAMERAMAN and SPITE MARRIAGE. The former? Debatably a meta-masterpiece, with a Chinatown setpiece for the ages and one very adorable monkey. The latter? Well, you can see the downward spiral start to take shape. In this episode, we fill in the later years of Buster’s life and career, give our final Keaton rankings, and attempt to cheer Ben up after a very demor...

College / Steamboat Bill, Jr. with John Hodgman

June 04, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

After his “blank check” for THE GENERAL bounced,  Buster Keaton found himself creatively and financially shackled. Thus, 1927’s COLLEGE lands on the lesser end of the quality spectrum (not to mention a very difficult watch with Buster putting on blackface for a scene - yikes). But, his follow-up STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. features some of the most memorable and dangerous stunts of Keaton’s career, and acts as a beautiful send-off to his period as a self-sufficient filmmaker. The wonderful John Hodg...

Battling Butler / The General with Jamelle Bouie

May 28, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

One of narrative cinema’s earliest training sequences, and one of cinema’s most famous trains - that’s right, we’re covering Buster Keaton’s 1926 films BATTLING BUTLER and THE GENERAL. Gentleman, scholar, and action movie aficionado Jamelle Bouie joins us to unpack this week’s double feature, providing some essential historical context for THE GENERAL’s unfortunate Civil War  setting. Plus, Ben starts researching how one buys a train. Guest Links:  Read Jamelle’s writing at The New York Ti...

Seven Chances / Go West with Jamie Loftus

May 21, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

This week’s Keaton double feature sees our unflappable hero chased by two types of terrifying crowds: angry would-be brides, and a herd of cattle. How does he outrun them both? Jamie Loftus joins us to chat about Buster Keaton’s tremendous on-screen running (up there with Tom Cruise), his enduring sex appeal (we love a hot tired guy), and his compassion for animals (giving the bovine star of GO WEST a week off to have sex). Plus, because Jamie is THE Hot Dog Queen, we get into a very involve...

Sherlock Jr. / The Navigator with James Urbaniak

May 14, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Buster Keaton released two features in 1924 - “Sherlock Jr.”, a film that was considered a commercial disappointment at the time but has grown in stature over the past century, and “The Navigator'', a colossal box office hit that hasn’t aged nearly as well. Actor and lover of old-timey things James Urbaniak makes his long-awaited debut on the pod (originally promised back in our Shyamalan days!) and we’re getting into the billiards bits, boat gags, razor puns, and movie magic that make this ...

Three Ages / Our Hospitality with Dana Stevens

May 07, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

The Great Stone Face…The Little Boy Who Couldn’t Be Damaged…whatever you call him, Buster Keaton is one of the most important figures in film history, and we couldn’t be happier to be spotlight him in our latest series PODCAST JR. Our beloved Dana Stevens - writer of the fantastic Keaton tome “Camera Man” - joins us to set the table as we dive into the filmography of one of Griffin’s favorite artists. We’re going into Buster’s start as a vaudeville child star (sometimes in “Irish face”), the...

Yesterday with Zach Cherry

April 30, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

Our Danny Boyle series comes to an end with a mind-bending movie that dares to ask the question, “What if The Beatles didn’t exist?” Severance’s Zach Cherry makes his long-overdue first appearance on the pod to profess his love Boyle’s most recent film, while David nearly has a stroke from trying to wrap his brain around all its logic loops. We’re asking all the big questions - if the Beatles never existed, would Charles Manson? If cigarettes never existed, how would that change the coloniza...

T2 Trainspotting with Scott Aukerman & Shaun Diston

April 23, 2023 04:00 - 2 hours

First they were addicted to heroin, now they’re addicted to *nostalgia* (but also still heroin)! Danny Boyle returns to the squalid Scottish world of Renton, Sick Boy, Spud, and Begbie for T2: Trainspotting, and Scott Aukerman and Sprague (aka the Artist Formerly Known as Shaun Diston) join us to talk about this under-seen legacy sequel. How did Danny Boyle and Ewan McGregor’s real-life feud influence this film? Is Spud’s arc in this basically just Bubbles’ arc in season 5 of The Wire? Which...

Guests

Emily Yoshida
9 Episodes
Richard Lawson
7 Episodes
david ehrlich
5 Episodes
Alex Ross
4 Episodes
Chris Gethard
3 Episodes
Caitlin Durante
1 Episode
Dan McCoy
1 Episode
Elliott Kalan
1 Episode
Jamie Loftus
1 Episode
John Hodgman
1 Episode
Jon Gabrus
1 Episode
Matt Patches
1 Episode
nicole byer
1 Episode
Nicole Byer
1 Episode
Paul F. Tompkins
1 Episode
Paul Scheer
1 Episode
Scott Aukerman
1 Episode

Books

Alice in Wonderland
2 Episodes
Alice In Wonderland
2 Episodes
Planet of the Apes
1 Episode

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