We all have those moments where we just want to disengage from conventional society. We often yearn to go "off the grid." But, would we ever want to go to the Mosquito Coast? HELL NO. Sean Fennessey joins us to chat about Peter Weir's 1986 film that tests the limits of Harrison Ford's likability to the extent that Ben Hosley would describe it as "anti-smile." Allie Fox is a bad hang. The Mosquito Coast? GOOD MOVIE. Listen to Griffin and David on the Big Picture Watch Harrison Ford on Conan spoil Star Wars 7 The Great Railway Bazaar Read Roger Ebert?s review of Paul Blart Mall Cop Read Rembert Explains America: Burning Man Forever Listen to The A24 Podcast: A Bigger Canvas with Martin Scorsese & Joanna Hogg Dive into the Hogg-verse with Davis piece on Joanna Hogg Watch Ham Hat Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strap in, DobMob...we're going to Amish Country! The Big Picture's Amanda Dobbins joins us to talk about Peter Weir's Witness, perhaps the zenith of Harrison Ford's hotness, and the film that garnered him his sole Oscar nomination. We're talking Rumspringa, birds and birdhouses (Amanda is not a fan), Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, and young Viggo (which naturally lends itself to LOTR discussion). Listen up, or else you'll be shunned from the Blankie community! Listen to Griffin and Ben on The Daily Zeitgeist? ?Check out the Kyle Chandler Men's Health Cover mentioned ? ?Watch Tracy Letts talk shit about Star Wars? ?Read Roger Ebert's Review? ?Listen to The Big Picture? ?Listen to Jam Session? Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracy Letts - Pulitzer and Tony winner, but most importantly The King of Physical Media - makes his much-anticipated Blank Check debut on an episode about a film that has no legitimate BluRay release. The irony! This week, we're discussing Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously, a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Indonesian political unrest. We're discussing the star-power of Mel Gibson, the improbable performance of Linda Hunt, and, because this is Blank Check - the trench run at the end of Star Wars. Plus, we present the King of Physical Media with some meticulously chosen discs. Log your physical media using CLZ Check out Night Owl Video if your are in the Brooklyn area. ?Listen to The 1988 Movie Draft, The 1982 Movie Draft and The Legal Draft Episodes of The Big Picture Read the Linda Hunt Interview Listen to Mike Duncan's Revolutions Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we are honored to welcome Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent to the podcast as we discuss Peter Weir's devastating classic Gallipoli. In addition to bringing much needed context on the history of Australian cinema, this episode also delves into the significance of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Aussie national consciousness, the undersung career of actor Mark Lee, and the genius of Peter Weir's approach to telling this story. Plus, we get to ask Jennifer about her role in Babe: Pig in the City AND we ask her to tell her buddy Justin Kurzel how much Ben loves his Assassin's Creed movie. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peter Weir's follow up to Picnic at Hanging Rock - 1978's The Last Wave - deals with similar themes, with colonialism butting against the wild mysticism of Australia's land and people. However, this time...it's WET AS HELL. BenDavid Grabinski - the filmmaker behind the upcoming Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice - joins us to talk about this beguiling film, apocalyptic thinking, Richard Chamberlain's status as the king of TV miniseries, and Tom Shadyac's Dragonfly, weirdly enough. Watch BenDavid's new movie Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice If you're in New York, be sure to go to Sunken Harbor Club or Nitehawk Trivia Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On St. Valentine's Day in 1900, a group of podcasters set out to record an episode about Peter Weir's Picnic At Hanging Rock. Some were never to return...because they got addicted to the calming sounds of pan flute! Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun joins us to chat about this 1975 classic of Australian cinema, and we're getting into the eerie qualities that make this film such an enduring mystery. From Rachel Roberts' wig drama to frame rate manipulation...from the Aboriginal concept of "dream time" to the casting of actual private school girls...there's much to unpack. But don't worry, we also spend a lot of time discussing The Grabber from The Black Phone 2. Check out Jane's Dream Film Syllabus Watch the Virgin Suicides Zoom Reunion Read Australian Gothic: Peter Weir?s ?Picnic at Hanging Rock? at 50 by Tim Pelan Check out Jane's Sully Tumblr Pre-Order Jane's Book Public Access Afterworld Pan flute accompaniment composed and performed by Alex Mitchell Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonjour! Erm...we mean...G'day mates! Our Peter Weir series PODNIC AT HANGING CAST kicks off with Weir's 1974 feature debut The Cars That Ate Paris, a film about the guy who plays Napoleon in the Bill & Ted movies getting stranded in a quirky and murderous Australian town. We're getting into the origins of the Australian New Wave, the various "calling card" projects that Weir made in the beginning of his career, and this film's spiky car which Ben has a lot of affection for, obviously. Check out the Steve Martin Cold Open - Saturday Night Live Listen to Griff on Comedy Bang!Bang! Check out Dirty Laundry on Dropout Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Live from our windowless studio in Downtown Brooklyn, it's the 11th Annual Blankies! Joe Reid joins us once again to give out golden Wattos to our favorite films, performances, and craftspeople of the year. Some of our picks are certainly part of the greater award season conversation. Others are Materialists. Join us as we honor the best Putters and Murmurs, the Wettest flicks of the year, and as Griffin debuts his latest Billy Crystal opening showtune. Listen to This Had Oscar Buzz Watch Igby Goes Down Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Lynne Ramsay series comes to a close with last year's Die My Love, which brings us to the realization - damn, have we really never talked about Jennifer Lawrence before? Join us and Vulture's Alison Willmore as we do a full career deep-dive on J.Law, and grapple with this film and Mubi's decision to purchase it out of Cannes for a buttload of money. Read the NY Mag profile of Darren Aronofsky from 2017 Read Alison's work at Vulture Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2018, Lynne Ramsay released You Were Never Really Here, a film about a completely implausible scenario...a townhouse on the East side of Manhattan houses a sex trafficking operation that implicates high-level government officials in its web of depravity???? Could you even imagine?!! Hollywood Handbook's Sean Clements joins us to chat about this eerily relevant film, the literary career of Jonathan Ames, Joaquin Phoenix's screen persona, and Joseph Gordon Levitt's recently announced follow-up to Don Jon. Listen to Hayes Davenport's (not a guest on this episode) episode of High & Mighty where he talks about newspaper comics. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The time has come for us to talk about Kevin. The New Yorker's Jia Tolentino joins us to talk about Lynne Ramsay's depiction of every parent's worst nightmare - 2011's We Need To Talk About Kevin. We need to talk about how Griffin grew up with Ezra Miller, and even auditioned against them to play Kevin. We need to talk about Lionel Shriver's awful politics. We need to talk about Tilda Swinton comparing her performance here to Buster Keaton. And we need to again explain the whole Fantastic Beasts franchise to another guest who is blissfully unaware of Credence Barebone. Read Jia's Profile of Jennifer Lawrence and her other work at the New Yorker. Check out the r/HowIsLivingThere Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost four years ago, Producer Ben Hosley watched Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" and proclaimed that if he'd been in that scenario, everything would have worked out perfectly. With the gleefully satisfying "Send Help," Raimi gives Ben the ending he's always wanted. Join Ben, Griffin, David, and Marie as they chat about the endless likability of Rachel McAdams, the heel turn of Dylan O'Brien, and how the various employees of Blank Check Productions would fare on a deserted island. Read "Dylan O?Brien Is Ready to Talk About That Accident" Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mommy's back! Emily Yoshida joins the gang to talk about 2002's Morvern Callar, a surprisingly tender film about grief, starting over, and taking a Jet2 Holiday. We're chatting about Samantha Morton's unconventional star quality, our personal history with mixtapes, and the Fantastic Beasts franchise for some reason. Plus, Ben reveals his love of seaside snow, Griffin adds some context from the source material (or whatever he could translate from the Scottish dialect), and everyone agrees that Morvern did nothing wrong. Watch Shogun Season 1  Check out the official Shogun podcast Listen to the Emily?s Traitors Podcast: First To Breakfast Watch Carnival of Souls Watch the Romano Tours SNL Sketch Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We need to pod about Glasgow. We need to pod about the arresting inner lives of these complicated protagonists. We need to pod about every incredible project Lynne Ramsay has been attached to over the past 25 years that never actually happened. So yeah, WE NEED TO POD ABOUT CASTVIN! Join us as we discuss Ramsay?s debut film Ratcatcher, a striking study of a young boy on the precipice of adolescence in the slums of 1970s Glasgow. Ben discovers that he adores this movie. Griffin discovers that he can make ?Lin Manuel Ramsey? a bit. And everyone discovers that Scottish accents are not that easy to imitate. Watch the Characters Welcome Sketch from Tristan Griffin Watch Timmy on Fallon Check out Meshes of the Afternoon Watch The Mother Project Check out Notes on the Cinematograph Watch Barry Jenkins in the Criterion Closet Listen to the Top 21 Sports movies of the 21st century episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Pulp Men (and Woman) of the Year Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie as they discuss Park Chan Wook?s latest offering, the silly and sublime No Other Choice. We?re talking about paper, AI-proof jobs, the handsomeness of Lee Byung-hun, the possibility that Director Park is the Michael Jordan of dissolves, and the fact that this is likely Griffin?s favorite film of 2025. Plus, David breaks down over the finale of Stranger Things, and we all apologize for a bunch of stuff. Read the Chevy Chase New York Times profile. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Testing, testing?does anybody know? Is this thing on? It depends on who you ask, frankly. The Blank Check team are divided on Bradley Cooper?s latest offering, the divorce dramedy Is This Thing On? Can you just walk in off the street to do an open mic at the Comedy Cellar? No. Is Peyton Manning one of our finest athlete actors? Yes. Is Griffin?s opinion of this film possibly strained by his anxiety over the New York City mayoral election? Probably. Join us for an episode that we hope is funnier than Will Arnett?s sad sack stand-up, but also probably not as brilliant as Bradley Cooper?s performance as a guy named ?Balls.? Read the Cybertruck article Listen to Cannes I Kick It Watch the Vic Mensa ft. Wyclef Jean performance on Colbert Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We went back to Pandora and we all fell in love with a very special lady. She?s a bit prickly. A bit unconventional. But boy, is she something! Join us as we chat Avatar: Fire and Ash, aka VARANG: THE AWAKENING, the third installment in Big Jim?s Sully family saga. Yes, this movie?s a bit messier than the previous ones. Yes, it repeats many of the same beats as The Way of Water. No, we do not care. We are too distracted by our new Na?vi queen. Listen to Big Jim drop Big Lore on The Town with Matt Belloni (Part 1 - Part 2) If you're in the area check out Nitehawk Trivia  Watch the Anaconda Trailer to have 3 Bad Minutes Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It?s pretty hard being the governor of an unnamed state when you?re a 34-year-old woman with a husband who?s the heir to a local pizza empire and you?ve got a brother who has agoraphobia and your sleazy dad keeps leaving you weird voicemails and Julie Kavner is narrating your entire life story! Wooo, that was a lot. James L. Brooks? Ella McCay is A LOT. Richard Lawson joins us to chat about this very strange movie that feels like a real outlier at contemporary multiplexes. If anything, Ella McCay is a refreshing throwback. Kind of. Minus a few glaring, mind-boggling missteps. Anyway, join us for a fun conversation about this latest Brooksian offering, and stick around for a very exciting announcement about the expansion of Blank Check Productions!  Subscribe to Richard?s newsletter Premier Party Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Honey Don?t? Honey probably shouldn?t have. But that?s okay, because Honey, we?re gonna talk about it anyway! Writer and illustrator Mattie Lubchansky joins us to close out our Coens series with Ethan and Tricia?s latest offering from earlier this year. How do we feel about Margaret Qualley and Aubrey Plaza as performers? How do we feel about Chris Evans? ?year of trying stuff?? How do we feel about the threatened third film in this Lesbian B-Movie trilogy, ?Go Beavers!?? Well, honey, you?ll just have to listen to find out. Plus - stay tuned after this episode to hear our introduction to The Hudsucker Proxy from our screening at Friend of the Fest at the American Cinematheque! ?Read Mattie's books? ?Check out Mattie's Wife Jaya's writing? ?Check out Slow Xmas 5 Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two gals and a briefcase full of dicks. What more could an 84 minute caper need? mxmtoon joins us to chat about Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke?s lesbian road trip movie Drive Away Dolls, and brings with her the fascinating perspective of someone whose first Coen movie was?Drive Away Dolls! We?re chatting about Ethan and Tricia?s unconventional relationship, the legacy of Cynthia PlasterCaster, and the unlikely leading man trajectory of Pedro Pascal. Plus, we?re mourning the dearth of lesbian bars and Geraldine Viswanathan vehicles in our current cultural climate. Check out mxmtoon?s YouTube Channel Read Ethan?s Collection of short stories  Support The Lipstick Lounge if you are in Nashville Or  Sugar and Spice Bar, The Cattyshack, The Cubby Hole, Gingers   Check out Demon Slayer Follow mxmtoon on Twitch Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can?t say ?Macbeth? in a theater, but you can certainly say it on a podcast! Dana Schwartz joins us (in her third Blank Check appearance on a witch-centered film) to talk about Joel Coen?s The Tragedy of Macbeth, the first solo-directorial effort from a Coen Brother after their amicable split. We?re debating the success of Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington?s performances, learning about the history of Scottish kings, and discovering Ben Hosley?s family crest in the first Blank Check episode devoted to a work of Shakespeare. Trust us, this isn?t homework. It?s fun! Listen to Noble Blood Listen to Hoax  Read Anatomy A Love Story Pre-order The Arcane Arts Read If Roast Beef Could Fly Check out Forbidden Planet Watch Jefferson Mays? A Christmas Carol Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six segments. Four legendary movie podcasters. Three and a half hours of keeping David Sims away from his family. Welcome to our Ballad of Buster Scruggs episode! How Did This Get Made?s Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas join the Two Friends to talk about the Coens? final film together (as of this recording), a grab bag of western vignettes that could have been titled ?A Million Ways to Die in the West? if Seth MacFarlane hadn?t already claimed it. We?re picking our favorite segments, chatting about the ?wild west? of Netflix projects back when Scruggs was greenlit, and ranking the Coens? filmography before we cover their solo directorial efforts. Oh, and Jason has a few bones to pick with Griffin and David about a certain section of the True Grit episode. Listen to How Did This Get Made - Grizzly II: Revenge w/ Jake Johnson Listen to the Coens on Fresh Air Check out the Parker Novels Check out the Darwyn Cook Parker novels graphic novel adaptation Listen to Telly Savalas? Album Listen to Tim Blake Nelson on WTF Read Joshua Pease piece on Buster Scruggs Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Would that it twere so simple to lasso that lazy ol? moon! This week, we?re chatting about all the studio shenanigans in Hail, Caesar! with our pal Shirley Li. Speaking of Shirley, we all knew she was skilled at getting David ?The Dog? Sims off the leash, but did you know that she also attended researcher JJ?s wedding?! Lore drop! Join us as we unpack the careers of Channing Tatum and Alden Ehrenreich, gush over the gorgeous near-Technicolor cinematography, and celebrate the love of da moviesh that comes through so clearly in this film. Read Shirley's work Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

??Puh-pa-please Mr. Kennedy (uhoh!) please won?t you listen to our puh-podcast??This week we broadcast, not from a balcony, but from the Blank Check office, with guest Rachel Zegler (she connects with people, JJ?s research confirms)! Coming off of back to back Blank Checks the Coen?s took their time to release Inside Llewyn Davis, a somber comedy following a folk singer stuck in a failure loop. We?ve got two dogs off the leash, two fart detectives, the Coen?s attempting the Armageddon method of casting Llewyn, and the cold reality of pursuing the arts. Read Jack Antonoff?s slander in print Watch Carey Mulligan in 2015?s Far From the Madding Crowd Listen to the penultimate episode of WTF  Get the Evita Album Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kathryn Bigelow is back. But are WE so back? Not quite. The gang discusses the recent release A House of Dynamite, a film in which the president listens to podcasts, Tracy Letts loves the Mets, and the city of Chicago may or may not be completely leveled by an atomic bomb. Do we kind of miss Mark Boal now? Are we praying Kathryn Bigelow directs something a little more in line with Strange Days or Point Break next? Would Ethan Hunt have saved this movie? Yes, yes, and yes. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We love to pull the cork. Comedian (and probably the biggest Greek-American entertainer of our time) Stavros Halkias joins us to chat about 2010?s True Grit, the Coens? true attempt to cash their post-Oscar blank check. We?re talking about Hailee Steinfeld?s incredible performance. We?re talking about Jeff Bridges? distinctive mumbly delivery. We?re talking about how this film is a considerable upgrade over the John Wayne original in possibly every way. We?re also talking about how everyone probably smells awful in this movie. And we?re talking a lot about the Morris Chestnut network TV show ?Watson? for some reason. Join us by the campfire, it?s a fun time! Check out Bugonia Read David?s Interview with Yorgos Check out the profile of the owner of Panathinaikos B.C. Check out Charles Portis? other books Watch Booboo Kills Yogi" ending See Stavvy Live Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The time has come for us to lock the gates. On the occasion of the end of WTF, Marc Maron joins us to talk about chaos, God, mathematics, and Jewish identity as we dive into 2009?s A Serious Man. Highlights of this episode include Marc asking, ?Is this a bit?? when David opens the dossier, Marc?s discussion of his audition to play Larry Gopnik, and Marc telling Griffin that he?s proud of him. Not a dry eye in the house, folks. This is a special one. Listen to WTF Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What did we learn, Palmer? That 2008?s Burn After Reading is pretty freakin? hilarious, sir. Our Fran (Hoepfner, not McDormand) joins us this week to talk about Joel and Ethan Coen?s madcap dark comedy about a bunch of morons living in the DC area. The way John Malkovich says ?mem-waah?...George Clooney?s homemade dildo chair?Brad Pitt?s stupid face right before getting murked?it all adds up to a splendid tapestry of silliness. Listen, laugh, and maybe you can fit in a run afterwards. Read Fran at Vulture Subscribe to Fran Magazine Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Two Friendos, plus ?Masterpiece? Leslye Headland and ?I would have had no problems handling that bag of money? Ben Hosley take on one of the most acclaimed films of the 21st century in this week?s episode. It?s No Country For Old Men week on Blank Check! We?re chatting about Anton Chigurh?s strange physicality, Tommy Lee Jones? tired resignation, and Josh Brolin?s career breakthrough in this episode, all while lavishing praise on the Coens? practically perfect film. Now tell us - what?s the most that you?ve ever lost on a coin toss? Check out the SNL Jumanji Sketch Read Cormac McCarthy's Books Check out the Brooklyn Kolache Company Check out Every Frame a Painting Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We must have waffles forthwith! We must also have Connor Ratliff on the pod to talk about Tom Hanks for the first time since the completion of his Dead Eyes series! Join us for a spirited discussion about 2004?s The Ladykillers, a film that is universally regarded as the Coens? worst, and is also the film that ended Hanks? legendary decade-long boffo box office streak. We?re getting into defining the parameters of the world of ?Weird Hanks.? We?re getting into the?uh?uncomfortable racial depictions that mar this movie. We?re getting to the ?Root of the Matter,? and we?re getting Connor to softlaunch an incredible new term - ?Mooseporting.? Listen to Dead Eyes Listen to the Audiobook for The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece Watch the second David S. Pumpkins Listen to Connor talk to Bobby Moynihan about David S. Pumpkins Read the David S. Pumpkins Oral History Check out Does the Dog Die Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We?ve been exposed. You?ve nailed our asses. Of course we?re going to defend this movie! 2004?s Intolerable Cruelty features George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones at the height of their powers, yet failed to connect with contemporary audiences. Guest Katey Rich joins us as we attempt to understand why. Too mean? Too talky? A lack of period trappings? Maybe they were just blinded by George Clooney?s incredible teeth. We?re talking Clooney?s directorial efforts (bad), Richard Jenkins? 2008 (immaculate), and the name ?Rex Rexroth? (difficult to pronounce) in this week?s episode, so sign your Massey pre-nup and join us!  Read David?s Interview with George Clooney Play Cinematrix Check out the Prestige Junkie After Party Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This one?s a real enigma - is The Man Who Wasn?t There a film about the alienation of a man who is deeply closeted and searching for connection in a tightly wound post-war world? Is it about a wife guy who doesn?t know how to express his feelings? Is it somehow about how Beethoven was not only deaf but suffered from horrific diarrhea at the end of his life? No? Well, that?s Jordan Hoffman?s theory! Join us for a very silly episode where we go long on Billy Bob, coin a new term for a Shalhoub appearance, and decide that all Austin-based podcasters are just Salacious B. Crumb. Read Jordan?s Article about the collapse of ?The Messenger? Subscribe to Jordan?s SubStack THE Billy Bob Interview Watch the ITYSL Sketch with the great Biff Wiff Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Those Soggy Bottom Boys really know how to carry a tune! Emily St. James joins us to talk about O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a wonderful film whose reputation was ultimately eclipsed by its octuple-Platinum soundtrack of ?old timey? bops. When we?re on track, we?re talking peak Clooney, digital color correction, T. Bone Burnett, and the history of Southern politics. When we?re off track in this episode? Expect some discussion around Linkin Park?s Hybrid Theory and the Emmy-winning run of The Practice. ?Blank Check Theme (Sirens version)? Performed by:Amy Irving Olivia Ellen Lloyd Maggie Feldman Recorded and Produced by Gabe BarretoMixed by Alan Smithee Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It?s the episode you?ve all been waiting for - Seth Rogen joins us to talk about the Coens? 1998 stoner classic The Big Lebowski. It should come as no surprise that Lebowski has loomed large over Seth?s work as a writer and director, and we?re going in depth on the influence and lasting impact of The Dude. Make yourself a White Russian (but maybe take a Lactaid first), turn off The Eagles, and settle in for a hilarious three hours of film analysis and Hollywood anecdotes. Oh, and if you were wondering - in this episode, someone is made to answer for his crimes against Sammy Fabelman. Finally. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did we get the director of Weapons, another ?true story,? on our Fargo episode? You betcha. Zach Cregger joins the Blank Check crew to discuss the Coens? 1996 masterpiece and we?re going SCENE BY SCENE dissecting this perfect movie. ?Minnesota nice,? ?Dark Marge,? the Mike Yanagita scene, the origins of Jerry?s overwhelming debt, the inner life of Gaear Grimsrud, and the operatic score are just a few of the topics discussed. Did you know that Ben Hosley?s first car was an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera? YOOU BETCHA. Note: This episode was recorded before we saw Weapons, so no spoilers here.  Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(Gestures at a circle) You know, for kids! Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger of the Doughboys join us for a freewheeling, gut-busting episode about the time Joel Silver gave the Coens a bunch of money to make a ?commercial film? and then it ended up being 1994?s The Hudsucker Proxy. A sampling of topics discussed: Paul Newman being hot up until the day he died (and possibly after), whether or not this movie has a Sturges protagonist in a Capra film or vice versa, whether or not the previous question even matters, the fact that Griffin has never seen The Wire yet has watched every episode of Greg the Bunny, the amount of baby wipes David has to buy in a month, the extent to which the style of humor in Hudsucker overlaps with that of The Simpsons, and a whole bunch of Yaddle talk for some reason. Read Caity Weaver?s Mozzarella Sticks piece from 2014 Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is John Goodman the devil? Is the studio system good, actually? Is it better to be the director of a bomb than it is to be the director of a film that doesn?t exist? Filmmaker (and part of a DGA-sanctioned directing duo) Chris Weitz joins us to talk about Barton Fink, possibly the greatest film ever made about the ?art vs. commerce? divide inherent to the movie business. It?s not easy to make a picture, folks. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It?s a movie about hats, and a movie about giving folks the high hat. It?s also a movie about how Jon Polito is the greatest actor in the world. It?s Miller?s Crossing! Filmmaker Ari Aster (go see Eddington!)  joins Griffin and David to discuss the Coen Brothers? knotty homage to the gangster genre, a film overloaded with memorable characters and witty lines of dialogue. We?re doing a deep-dive on Gabriel Byrne, litigating Marcia Gay Harden?s surprise Oscar win for Pollock, and once again examining the Coens? body of work through the lens of Jewish identity. Don't watch Tino's Dick Fart Read Faber Screenplay Books Check out Straight Time See Eddington Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesus Cock, that?s a hot new episode! John Hodgman returns to Blank Check to chat about Raising Arizona, the Coen?s swerve of a follow-up to Blood Simple that trades in the hallmarks of noir for the hallmarks of Looney Tunes. We?re talking about Nic Cage?s sad eyes, Holly Hunter?s year of iconic crying performances, rest stop public pomade, and people we are glad are dead. It?s a fun time. And yes, there?s yodelling. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gather round, folks - it?s time to embark upon a journey through one of the most sterling filmographies in American cinema. Our Coen Brothers series - Pod Country for Old Cast - kicks off with Joel and Ethan?s remarkably assured 1984 debut Blood Simple. Coen experts and hosts of the To The White Sea podcast Ray Tintori and Jordan Fish join us to do some serious tablesetting for the odyssey ahead, offering some context that JJ didn?t even manage to dig up. Speaking of digging - Ben Hosley has some thoughts on the subject. Listen to the To the White Sea Podcast Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our Amy Heckerling series comes to an end with 2012?s Vamps, a film produced too late to have an appropriate budget, and too early to be a streaming series. However - we find it charming! Caroline Framke returns to the podcast after 6 years (an eternity for us, but probably a blink for a vampire), and we talk about the pitfalls and pleasures of eternal youth, the B in Apartment 23, and how if Heckerling never makes another film, this one would serve as an appropriate career coda.  Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Amy Heckerling and Paul Rudd stars as ????? in a totally normal movie that might actually be a voodoo curse made against Amy?s enemies. Oh, also Saorise Ronan makes her FILM DEBUT. What a picture! The incomparable Karen Chee joins us to talk about 2007?s I Could Never Be Your Woman, a movie that was financed by a French scoundrel, released directly to Blockbuster, and features some of the most dated cultural references we?ve ever come across. Is the film good? No. Is it fascinating? We sure think so! Watch A Man on the Inside on Netflix  Listen to Yo-Yo Ma Check out Paul Rudd?s trick Follow Karen on Letterboxd  Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Blank Check is going back to the British Isles with Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and one extraordinarily well-endowed zombie this week as they discuss 28 Years Later. This movie has so much to love in it ? wet bones, third-act Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer doing a thing, the Angel of the North, Teletubbies, the aforementioned well-endowed zombies, mind-bending digital photography, and did we mention THE WET BONES??? Be prepared for David to get REAL British, for Marie to cry on mic, for Griffin to bring up the manosphere, and for Ben to learn about Operation Yewtree. Gosh, we love this movie so much. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The song. The hat. The?casual date rape?!!? In what should have been Amy Heckerling?s ?blank check? after the success of Clueless, 2000?s Loser is a real LOSER. Filmmaker Chandler Levack joins us to chat about this technically-not-a-remake-of-The-Apartment ?comedy? that gets college surprisingly wrong. Come for the Wheatus talk, stay for the in-depth power ranking of every American Pie cast member?s post-Pie career. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Okay, so you?re probably going, ?Is this like a Noxzema commercial or what?? But seriously, this is actually a way normal podcast about one of David Sims? favorite movies! SNL?s Heidi Gardner (a total betty) joins us to talk about Amy Heckerling?s beloved Jane Austen adaptation, and we?re rolling with the homies. Join us for Alicia Silverstone and Paul Rudd career discussion, a lot of local Kansas City lore, and Ben?s takes on Cher?s iconic fits.  Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie accepted the mission. They live and pod in the shadows, for those they hold close, and for those they never meet. They also have a few notes for Tom Cruise and Chris McQuarrie with regards to Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Join the crew as they break down all the problems of this latest (and final???) installment of the beloved franchise. Join them as they rave over some of the most incredible sequences ever to grace the silver screen - ALSO in this movie. It?s a mixed bag, folks. But speaking of bags - we still love popcorn. And movies. If you?re in NY check out the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE?Story and Spectacle at the Museum of the Moving Image Read Owen Gleiberman?s Review Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Ubriacco family are back and - can you believe it? - they?re still talking! Actor and filmmaker Max Minghella joins us to talk about Look Who?s Talking Too, the contractually-obligated, quickly produced sequel to Amy Heckerling?s surprise hit. We?re talking about Mr. Toilet Man (he eats your pee pee and poo poo), Elias Koteas? Mr. Scary Uncle Man (he has a gun), and Mr. English Man (David Sims, who grew up in London). Plus, Ben continues to flesh out his ?Look Who Hath Talked? prequel, and Griffin becomes the first person with the courage to ask, ?Who was the first baby?? Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In perhaps the spermiest film we?ve ever covered, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley hang out with a baby voiced by Bruce Willis and Amy Heckerling gets revenge on Harold Ramis. As David Sims says early in this episode - Look Who?s Talking is a VERY RICH text. Vanity Fair?s Hillary Busis joins us to talk about this 1989 ?forgotbuster,? a film that made a bozo amount of money and dared to ask the question, ?What if baby talked??? We?re going deep on Travolta lore, grappling with Kirstie Alley?s later career, and following numerous tangents on everything from the rules of the Rugrats universe to advancements in crib safety. Look who?s podcasting! Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congratulations! You?ve won an all-expenses-paid vacation with Griffin, David, Ben, and Jon Gabrus to Europe! Only downside is?well, you have to watch this movie. From the strange cultural stereotypes to the unfortunate lack of jokes, Amy Heckerling?s sequel to National Lampoon?s Vacation isn?t the smoothest trip. But, it certainly gives us an excuse to talk about one of the most beloved franchises of the 1980s! Join us for Stonehenge stories, a deep dive into Beverly D?Angelo?s incredible biography, travel talk, and a whole lot of Chevy chat. Listen to Action Boyz and Staying Alive Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He?s the nicest bad guy in town. His last name is an adverb. And he?s got some pretty wacky bits! Sweetie pie comedian Josh Gondelman joins us to talk about 1984?s Johnny Dangerously, Amy Heckerling?s loving homage to 1930?s gangster pictures. Things we attempt to understand in this episode: the cultural legacy of Joe Piscopo; the actual joke that?s being told in the ?Your Testicles and You? animated reel / is there one?; Marilu Henner?s insane memory thing; if the Danny DeVito bull scene is a parody of anything; why does Richie Rich have cent signs in his name if he?s so rich?; and most crucially - why is this movie so damned hard to see in 2025?!?! Real fans know that Blank Check started off as an investigative podcast. Maybe it?s time to bring that element back! Subscribe to Josh's newsletter If you haven't been able to find the movie maybe watch the Internet Archive version. Buy Mattie Lubchansky's Book Simplicity Listen to Griffin on The Michael Keaton Movie Mount Rushmore episode of The Big Picture Read Coolio's Obituary Watch the end of Disaster Movie Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more ?real nerdy shit? to feed your  pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won?t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!  Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices