|
Back in 2015, actor and comedian Griffin Newman and staff writer/film critic for The Atlantic David Sims decided to watch the one and only Star Wars film, The Phantom Menace, every week for 10 weeks, recording a podcast episode about it each time for their podcast The Phantom Podcast. At the end of those 10 weeks, after having gone insane and also having recorded a palate-cleansing episode "Judging the Judge" about Robert Downey Jr.'s ill-conceived Oscar-bait movie in which Robert Duvall shits himself, they discovered there was a second Star Wars movie - a sequel! - entitled Attack of the Clones. So they recorded another ten episodes and went insane again. Then they did the same for Revenge of the Sith. After that, what was left to do? Well, they dropped the whole bit about pretending not to know there were more Star Wars films, and pivoted. They renamed the podcast Blank Check with Griffin and David. Now it's a podcast about the filmographies of directors who receive a "blank check" - they had a massive success and then were given the chance to make crazy passion projects with infinite resources, like Lucas's prequel trilogy. The show has covered the filmographies of directors like M. Night Shyamalan, Brad Bird, Ang Lee, Paul Verhoeven, Kathryn Bigelow, Christopher Nolan, Nancy Meyers, the Wachowski Sisters, and Cameron Crowe. The podcast covers filmographies, which means they have episodes about not just the hits but EVERY film the director has done, in order. Did you know Kathryn Bigelow's first movie was a biker movie which featured Willem Dafoe's first starring role? That Ang Lee made a movie about Woodstock starring Demetri Martin (the son of a Greek Orthodox priest) as a gay Jewish guy? That Speed Racer is an absolute stone cold masterpiece of cinema? You'll learn all this and more from listening.    The appeal of the podcast (for me at least) is threefold: 1) the hosts are "connoisseurs of context," going deep into careers, box office returns, industry scuttlebutt, and all sorts of other stuff in their deep conversations. 2) the hosts are hilarious and have great banter. The producer of the show, who chimes in sometimes, is also hilarious. 3) they cover a really interesting mix of directors.    If you want to start listening, you can pretty much jump in wherever. Most people recommend starting with either an episode for a movie you like, or an episode at the beginning of the filmography for a director you like. Another option is to listen to everything from the beginning, which is nice because you'll understand all the in-jokes. If you want, you can listen to the "best of" compilations for the Star Wars casts: Best of the Phantom Podcast | Best of Attack of the Podcast | Best of Revenge of the Podcast Links
TychoCelchuuu fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Jan 12, 2020 |
#
?
Jun 9, 2019 23:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 10:49 |
|
|
Alright, I gotta admit something: I skipped Last of the Mohicans. I watched 30 minutes of it and I was absolutely bored. Skipped to the translation scene, then the finale, and now I'm listening to the episode. I'm not a fan of colonial America, and I really struggle to care about historical epics- the last colonial America thing I remember caring about was the Timeless episode where they get stuck in colonial times and the Stan Freberg album about the history of America- so I just went for the episode. To be honest, The Keep took waaaay longer to bore me (I started getting bored of the Keep around the time Scott Glenn started boinking the lady).
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 01:23
|
|
|
One of the things I like about being a fan of this podcast is that it's gotten me to watch more movies I don't like. Before I started listening to movie podcasts (and this along with Black Men Can't Jump in Hollywood is the main movie podcast I listen to) I would basically try to only watch good movies, because, like, why wouldn't I? But since I watch all the movies they cover, this means I'm watching the mediocre and bad ones too (hello Elizabethtown and The Weight of Water). I find that watching some bad movies makes me appreciate and understand what works in good movies more than I did before, and it's also a different sort of movie watching experience, so I value both of those. Plus, sometimes I like the "bad" movies. For instance, I really enjoy Aloha. There's no loving way I would've watched that of my own volition otherwise, and now I have this really interesting knowledge that a movie every sane person hates is something I enjoy! It's nice to know more about how my tastes are unique, rather than finding out that, like, yeah, I like Citizen Kane pretty well or whatever. I've fallen behind though so I haven't watched any of the Mann. I've seen about half of his movies already, but not Last of the Mohicans, so I don't have much to add there.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 02:25
|
|
|
So far, all I can tell you is Manhunter great, Thief good, The Keep bad, The Last of the Mohicans boring (though considering the praise they heaped upon it in the episode, maybe that's just me).
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 03:09
|
|
|
Well I've seen Manhunter and Thief which are both fantastic, and although I've heard mixed things about The Keep my entire life, what little I've heard about it makes it seem like it's my jam. I also like Miami Vice, one of the Manns many people dislike, and really now that I think about it, I've never seen a Mann I don't enjoy. So, we'll see!
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 03:28
|
|
|
stratofarius posted:So far, all I can tell you is Manhunter great, Thief good, The Keep bad, The Last of the Mohicans boring (though considering the praise they heaped upon it in the episode, maybe that's just me). To be fair, they were very measured in their praise of Mohicans, and most of that was directed at DDL himself. Though their tangents during the episode made me realise how much I would enjoy a Paul Thomas Anderson or Buster Keaton series. Very excited for Gabrus on Heat next week. I'm glad there is a thread for this show. I came to the podcast about a year ago through the Star Wars episodes and it recently has become a listen-every-week podcast even when I haven't seen the film they are discussing (the only other never-miss podcast for me is Threedom). It's just so silly and positive. We Stan a legend.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 03:45
|
|
|
The Human Frame posted:To be fair, they were very measured in their praise of Mohicans, and most of that was directed at DDL himself. Though their tangents during the episode made me realise how much I would enjoy a Paul Thomas Anderson or Buster Keaton series. Yeah, I just remembered Dana going 'the last twenty minutes kinda save the movie', so I exaggerated on the praise. Excited to see Heat for the first time ever.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 07:21
|
|
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:I also like Miami Vice, one of the Manns many people dislike, and really now that I think about it, I've never seen a Mann I don't enjoy. So, we'll see! Miami Vice really vexed me for a long time, I found it almost impenetrable the first time I watched it. It almost requires its viewers to detach themselves from the term 'Miami Vice', even if that's the only frame of reference it gives for what's going on. I think the director's cut is worth watching because of how much more agency it gives the women, but it does lose the crazy hard cut into Numb/Encore. The only Mann I haven't totally enjoyed is probably Ali, but the first thirty minutes and the last ten are really great.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 13:37
|
|
|
I recently started this podcast from the beginning, going through all of the Star Wars prequel episodes, and I have to say, while a funny concept at the start, the "bit" about not knowing there were other movies gets old real fast. I liked it when they used it to analyze the movie as if it really didn't have any larger context (because the prequels really don't make a lick of sense without the OT context), but they would often just start harping on the thing we all know wasn't true, and it stopped being funny. That being said, I'm past that now, they mostly have let it go in the OT Star Wars episodes (I'm on Empire Strikes Back now), and I'm really looking forward to diving into what the new show will be about. TychoCelchuuu posted:Best of the Phantom Podcast | Best of Attack of the Podcast | Best of Revenge of the Podcast ...oh son of a bitch. I could have really used these earlier. It would have made the "bit" less annoying if it wasn't carried through 30 episodes. Oh well.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 14:53
|
|
|
thrawn527 posted:I recently started this podcast from the beginning, going through all of the Star Wars prequel episodes, and I have to say, while a funny concept at the start, the "bit" about not knowing there were other movies gets old real fast. I liked it when they used it to analyze the movie as if it really didn't have any larger context (because the prequels really don't make a lick of sense without the OT context), but they would often just start harping on the thing we all know wasn't true, and it stopped being funny. I have bad news for you, the repetition of unfunny bits/jokes never goes away, which really detracts from the stronger parts of the show. Griffin thinks he's way funnier than he actually is and completely ignores the comedy rule of three. He also doesn't "yes, and" the jokes of others and kills any possible comedic momentum. When listening to their Nolan episodes, there were only so many times I could hear Griffin refer to Batman Begins as "Bartman Begins" and the Joker as "Richard T. Joker" before I wanted to scream and decided to jump ship. It wasn't just those two either, he has little quirks like this in every episode and they usually fall flat. He also has a story for everything, usually invoking his life of obscene privilege that got him into the industry, that don't necessarily add to the conversation; although, when he does have a good story, like the one about his sister getting mad about the NY Pride Parade making them late for Herby Fully Loaded, it's worth the derail. He's the reason episodes run super long and if ever there was a show in desperate need of an editor, it's this one.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 15:25
|
|
|
Counterpoint: I love Griffin's sense of humor and I love David's dismay at his jokes. It's like seeing myself split into two people. I'm going to agree with the fact that it is something and it can be very overpowering. Griffin's got a very specific kind of humor that I've described to a friend as 'if Fozzie Bear was a film nerd'. But I love that.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 18:05
|
|
|
stratofarius posted:Counterpoint: I love Griffin's sense of humor and I love David's dismay at his jokes. It's like seeing myself split into two people. Totally this. I get how he's annoying but in the podcast he totally works for me, bad jokes and all. Dunno if I'd want to go see him do comedy though... This was a good OP though I'd have gone more into that they've recently covered (late) Spielberg and Burton (all directed) more so than Kathryn Bigelow and Mann. This along with We Hate Movies and Black Men Can't Jump are also my three go-tos since they all cover movies from a completely different perspective, wasn't expecting to see that one referenced here so nice to know it's not just me. I'm also gonna cop that while I love this podcast I've also never managed up listen to more than the first couple of Star Wars eps since yeah it just gets to be too much kinda. Might try the best ofs at some point though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2019 23:52
|
|
|
clown shoes posted:I have bad news for you, the repetition of unfunny bits/jokes never goes away, which really detracts from the stronger parts of the show. Griffin thinks he's way funnier than he actually is and completely ignores the comedy rule of three. He also doesn't "yes, and" the jokes of others and kills any possible comedic momentum. When listening to their Nolan episodes, there were only so many times I could hear Griffin refer to Batman Begins as "Bartman Begins" and the Joker as "Richard T. Joker" before I wanted to scream and decided to jump ship. It wasn't just those two either, he has little quirks like this in every episode and they usually fall flat. He also has a story for everything, usually invoking his life of obscene privilege that got him into the industry, that don't necessarily add to the conversation; although, when he does have a good story, like the one about his sister getting mad about the NY Pride Parade making them late for Herby Fully Loaded, it's worth the derail. He's the reason episodes run super long and if ever there was a show in desperate need of an editor, it's this one. Did you listen to the Incredibles episode, where 85% of the runtime was Griffin and some other rich NYC rear end in a top hat talking about their high school summer camp? The show can be really interesting and fun when they actually talk about and engage with the movie, but sometimes they let themselves run right off the rails and it's a slog.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 00:39
|
|
|
stratofarius posted:Counterpoint: I love Griffin's sense of humor and I love David's dismay at his jokes. It's like seeing myself split into two people. I agree with this. I really enjoy The Two Friends sensibility and sense of humour, but can see that it would be really irritating if it wasn't your thing. But then, I can't see why one earth someone would listen to the show if that was the case. Podcasts have reached a point where every guest and every topic has appeared on multiple shows, so why listen to one that doesn't click with you? (This is why I wait for the guests on Dax Shepard's podcast to appear on other shows). Also, I get it, kill the rich etc... but I really don't mind hearing people talk about their childhood even if it was more well off than mine.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 02:18
|
|
|
Grenrow posted:Did you listen to the Incredibles episode, where 85% of the runtime was Griffin and some other rich NYC rear end in a top hat talking about their high school summer camp? The show can be really interesting and fun when they actually talk about and engage with the movie, but sometimes they let themselves run right off the rails and it's a slog. For better or for worse, since he's one of the hosts, I think Griffin gets to indulge himself more on Blank Check than anywhere else. If you listen to his guest appearances on other podcasts (he's in two of my favorite episodes of Off-Book) he's just as funny but way less self-indulgent, which I think for some people is probably a much better fit. I like Griffin's schtick anyways so I don't care, but for anyone who's convinced they hate him, I'd say maybe stop listening to Blank Check and just check out all the promo tours he did for The Tick on various podcasts or whatever.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 02:32
|
|
|
His latest CBB was pretty good too.* *Though nothing will beat Peter Serafinowicz's Alan Alda impression when they both first appeared to promote The Tick.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 02:58
|
|
|
Griffin was pretty drat good on Podcast The Ride, but that's because his love of insane little details and context for weird things match that podcast's love of insane little details and context for weird things.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 05:05
|
|
|
clown shoes posted:I have bad news for you, the repetition of unfunny bits/jokes never goes away, which really detracts from the stronger parts of the show. Griffin thinks he's way funnier than he actually is and completely ignores the comedy rule of three. He also doesn't "yes, and" the jokes of others and kills any possible comedic momentum. When listening to their Nolan episodes, there were only so many times I could hear Griffin refer to Batman Begins as "Bartman Begins" and the Joker as "Richard T. Joker" before I wanted to scream and decided to jump ship. It wasn't just those two either, he has little quirks like this in every episode and they usually fall flat. He also has a story for everything, usually invoking his life of obscene privilege that got him into the industry, that don't necessarily add to the conversation; although, when he does have a good story, like the one about his sister getting mad about the NY Pride Parade making them late for Herby Fully Loaded, it's worth the derail. He's the reason episodes run super long and if ever there was a show in desperate need of an editor, it's this one. This sums up my feelings about this show perfectly. When they actually talk about the movie in question, I’m all there. But the moment Griffin starts his “bits”, I’m zoning out. Not to mention his commercial bits, my God, the commercials! They’re like weaponized boredom; too long, too dull, too obnoxious. I’ve been ranting about them before, and I’m sorry for sounding dramatic, but there’s something about them that really, REALLY annoys me. This could fill a great void that is missing from WHM (in-depth discussion about the film industry) but then it had to be “funny” too. Their episode about Ratatouille is great, and made me come back to that (fantastic) movie. So there, some positive words as well! BigglesSWE fucked around with this message at 16:07 on Jun 11, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 16:05
|
|
|
In their latest Patreon episode, David is reeling off some facts and Griffin is going 'wow', and then without saying anything he just says 'Mater' in an Owen Wilson voice instead of an 'wow'. I can never get angry at Griffin Newman.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 16:58
|
|
|
Like almost all stuff that lots of people think is great, Blank Check is pretty divisive. For instance, I love the ad reads! They're my second favorite ads in all of podcasting, second only to Hollywood Handbook, which is even more drawn out than Blank Check.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 17:26
|
|
|
I’m glad you like them. To me, personally, it’s literally inconceivable that anyone would, but more power to you.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 17:37
|
|
|
Just listened to the Mohicans episode. Good analysis! I'll probably never watch it but I really enjoyed the DDL geeking out.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 17:49
|
|
|
Is Griffin being crazy or is hotel Transylvania actually good?
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 17:59
|
|
|
Old Kentucky Shark posted:Is Griffin being crazy or is hotel Transylvania actually good?
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 18:41
|
|
|
To me the stories and characters of Hotel Transylvania are absolute poo poo, but in a world where everything tries to be either Disney, matching that same quasi-realistic style (that I quite frankly find SUPER boring), any movie that goes as crazy as Hotel Transylvania just feels like an immediate breath of fresh air. After I saw Wreck it Ralph 2 (an admittedly not good movie) with a friend, I told him the HT movies are like if the little funny details of WiR 2 that feel like people actually put effort into it (like the 8-bit walk animations) were stretched out over a whole movie with a story that was just as bad. That's the HT movies for me.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 19:05
|
|
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:One of the things I like about being a fan of this podcast is that it's gotten me to watch more movies I don't like. Also I love Producer Ben and this tweet made me laugh. For a total Scumbum (as was I), it really IS shocking it took this long: https://twitter.com/benhosley/status/1125110840074612742
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 20:02
|
|
|
caligulamprey posted:I find their actual taste in movies to be kinda subpar - or a better way to describe it is they're not as critical as they should be? I'm just saying they defended Tim Burton much longer than they should have. Both of them do seem somewhat similar to me and Keanu Reeves, though, in that we all just love movies. So it might be that we're juts less critical of movies overall than you. None of this means their taste is "subpar," though. It just means it's different from yours. Of course most people use "your taste is subpar" to mean "your taste is different from mine" but that's not the right way to think about things!
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 22:50
|
|
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:Both of them do seem somewhat similar to me and Keanu Reeves, though, in that we all just love movies. So it might be that we're juts less critical of movies overall than you. Also the goofs. caligulamprey fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Jun 12, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 23:15
|
|
|
I look forward to this show every week, it's my favorite show, so many of the bits between me and my GF are just bits we've stolen wholesale from this show. Blank Check has broadened the scope of films I consume, and given me a real appreciation for DA MOVIESH.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2019 23:24
|
|
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:Both of them do seem somewhat similar to me and Keanu Reeves, though, in that we all just love movies. We all love da moviesh.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2019 00:27
|
|
|
BigglesSWE posted:This sums up my feelings about this show perfectly. MY GOD THE COMMERCIALS. I literally cringe when I hear him say "ding dong."
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2019 03:40
|
|
|
creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2019 03:43
|
|
|
The best commercials are the one that make David go 'oh no', like the Foghorn Leghorn one which is only about Foghorn Leghorn.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2019 03:52
|
|
|
clown shoes posted:MY GOD THE COMMERCIALS. I literally cringe when I hear him say "ding dong." Yeah it’s incredibly grating. My heart sinks every time.
|
|
#
?
Jun 12, 2019 08:50
|
|
|
So Griffin doesn’t think slave Leia in a metal bikini was an effort to sexualize Leia. That’s certainly an opinion. “That’s just what Jabba would do!” I mean, people wrote it that way, so sure. edit: Griffin is at his worst yet during the Return of the Jedi episode. I’m not sure I’ll be able to take this podcast. thrawn527 fucked around with this message at 14:08 on Jun 13, 2019 |
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2019 13:59
|
|
|
The Star Wars episodes are different in a lot of ways from the rest of the episodes.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2019 15:15
|
|
|
The best episode is the one on Book Of Henry because they both just absolutely hate the movie with a passion and its such a contrast with basically every other episode.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2019 16:43
|
|
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:The Star Wars episodes are different in a lot of ways from the rest of the episodes. The fun of the Star Wars eps is listening to them quietly go crazy halfway in when they realize what they committed to.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2019 17:58
|
|
|
Zore posted:The best episode is the one on Book Of Henry because they both just absolutely hate the movie with a passion and its such a contrast with basically every other episode. Omg yes it's amazing as it's own thing. I'd honestly be down with a podcast that analysed all movies like that. "okay we're going to explain this terrible movie step by step and you just stop us as you have questions". I guess it might only work for movies with that level of wtfness though. I have never seen that film but I know it by heart and never want to ruin it by actually watching it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2019 20:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 28, 2024 10:49 |
|
|
thrawn527 posted:So Griffin doesn’t think slave Leia in a metal bikini was an effort to sexualize Leia. That’s certainly an opinion. That’s the worst episode, I don’t think it ever gets that bad again.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2019 20:22
|
|
