Fearless with Timothy Simons

9:10David Sims:This is a miniseries on the films of Peter Weir. It is called Podnick at Hanging Cast. Right. Although I want the opinion of our guest. Oh my God. What were the other options? Here he fucking goes. Podster and Castmander, the pod side of the cast. Now I like... Every time he says it, he pivots out of the title because he knows it's bad. being able to get pod and cast in there two times each. I mean, I think maybe in theory rather than practice. Today, we're talking about fearless.

9:40Griffin Newman:Oh, he pivots right away.

9:43David Sims:Our guest today, of course, from the hit movie Goosebumps, previously known as Tim Simons, today introduced exclusively as Hitmaker. Oh, my God.

9:51Griffin Newman:Hitmaker! He's here! Hitmaker.

9:54David Sims:Hitmaker, blonde edition. You are here in New York. Hitmaker Frosty. you're here in New York. Tim has blonde hair. Press gauntlet. You're doing all the morning shows. That's why we're talking about all these other fucking things because you're doing like every morning show here in New York. Yes. To promote the new season of the Netflix show, Nobody Wants This, which at the time this episode comes out will have premiered six months ago. Right.

10:17Griffin Newman:It is reheated oatmeal at this point. If you want to watch that on Netflix now, it's still there, I assume. Maybe. Unless it got canceled. Everyone will have watched it 30 seconds at a time on TikTok by this point. Oh, hell yeah, exactly. And start me at like part 62, right? You know, like TikTok likes to just dump you in the middle there.

10:34David Sims:Now, Tip, the show's called Nobody Wants This, but judging by the viewer data, it seems like a lot of people want this. I, uh, have I told you this story before? Has that just sucked? Interesting. You just got a job offer. I got a job offer. NBC. How many, how many of those do you have to deal with now? A fair amount. Yeah. A fair amount. but i i don't know if i've ever told you this or if you saw this at the time but there was a lot of conversation around what the show was going to be called it had it had a working title and then it had a few other like a few other working titles one of which i thought worked i think at one point it was going to be called uh it was initially titled shiksa and then it was called for a little bit was called heartburn and you can't do that well no that's the thing is that Ultimately, I think if it existed in a vacuum is a good name for the show.

11:23Sure. Sure, but it's fucking similar. But it is sort of owned already.

11:26Griffin Newman:It should have been called like the Jewish guy and the white girl. That's just like the most obvious. Wow. I'm getting a text from Netflix that they want to hire you. Hire me for title brainstorming. You guys got to stop being so good at this. You're getting all these jobs.

11:41David Sims:I just think that almost every time something is titled like that, it bombs. and then the headlines write themselves and everyone's like, we should have seen this coming. Yes. It's a rare case where a title has that much of a self-own in it and it fucking defies the haters. I don't know if you remember this, but when they announced the title and they gave us like, here's your first look pictures if you want to post them. I posted on Instagram, hey, here is the show. It comes out on whatever day. This was for the first season and here's a picture of Adam and Kristen and they look amazing. And I said, I really hope that reviewers like this show.

12:18Otherwise, they are going to dog fuck us into the ground with our title.

12:23David Sims:Dog fuck us is a great hit maker. It's a hit maker for sure.

12:27Griffin Newman:Yeah, that's you. That's you through and through.

12:30David Sims:Yeah. I can't think of another case where it's worked out. Yeah. Like, what's the worst that could happen? It's a big one. I remember the Dane DeVito, Martin Lawrence movie where that came out. buying a ticket to this piece of shit. Right. The reviews were just like a full page photo of the critic pointing at the poster, zero stars. Like there was, this is a little bit more like, it's not as direct, but I remember like, how do you know? Ended up being like, how do you know this is a shitty movie? I watched it or whatever.

13:05Griffin Newman:You just don't want like a vague question, any kind of negative statement, obviously. Yeah. Can I, I'm just, so you're in Nobody Wants This so that's on Netflix anything else we should mention that you're in Percy Jackson I forget when that's coming out oh yeah wait when does this come so this is of course posting on May 10th 2026 wow Jesus really yeah so we hope Trump at this point has solved six to eight more wars

13:31David Sims:yeah and by the time you're listening to this you're in month six of the AWS outage yeah

13:37Griffin Newman:right if you're even the only thing that's still down though everything else is fine I think at this point I will have been in Scream 7 oh fuck yeah there you go wait do you make it well I can tell you that I am in the film Scream 7 okay fine yeah

13:53David Sims:Phenasy was asking like are you Ghostface you have to tell me now and Tim was like I can't say anything and I was like if the movie starts and Ghostface is 7 foot 3 yes

14:03Griffin Newman:it is tough to yeah just kind of hide you they're not going to hide you

14:07David Sims:this is the problem I'm not asking you to reveal any spoilers but I think I'm going to know pretty quickly whether you are or are not. He's like hunched down. Yeah, like he has to bump his head on every door frame. It's actually you and Chicken Shop Date and it keeps like, it's very obvious.

14:24Griffin Newman:She's the other one. No, those were I'd say by and large the things that are going on. It's your Commander Bell on the Handmaid's Tale. I'm seeing here that June stabbed you in the eye. Who's June? June is Lizzie Moss. And she fucking stabbed you. She stabs me in the eye. Dang. And there was a point. And were you like in charge of all that, all the bad stuff happening? You played one of the good guys?

14:46David Sims:Were you one of the good guys? I played one of the very. I think if Elizabeth Bossa is stabbing you in the eye, you might not be one of the. Not all men. I was like the leader of like the resistance. And she was just like, she thought I was like going at him too hard. And she was like, well, you know, we. Moderation. Yeah. We need to be moderate. We need to be moderate. This is the problem. Yeah. No, I did. I played a bad person. I think I was kind of thrown in there as like, you know, the son of an unseen, very powerful voice. You're like a Nepo. I'm like a Nepo. And there is like a, there is like a.

15:18A generational. A generational. Yeah. And, and I, I did take this. I don't, we don't need to talk about this. Did you work with Max? No, probably not. I did. One thing that was very fun was that I kind of at some point crossed over with everybody in the show.

15:34Griffin Newman:That looks like five episodes. Yes, but I somehow managed to have at least a small scene. Whitford? Whitford. Had some scenes of Whitford fucking rules. Are you kind of doing a Whitford thing with the blonde hair? He's got the white hair, but, you know, just kind of the shock of hair, you know? There's nothing intentional behind it, but if there is any way that I can be compared to him, I will take it. He's someone you want to. It's a great career. It is an incredible career. And there is just something about his cadence that makes me happy. It's so specific. And yes, it is in a lot of characters that he plays, but it never feels like a crutch.

16:14And also, he can moderate, you know, modulate it.

16:18Griffin Newman:It doesn't feel like a gimmick. And one thing that I find amazing about watching Bradley Whitford is that there is a real subtlety about, like, he's not the most still, like, facial actor. No, he's not. But there is such a subtlety in his, like, facial movements that I think is so admirable. So I agree with that. In another Netflix show, The Diplomat, which is a hit show on Netflix. Oh, yes. Kind of a hit.

16:44David Sims:Episode on Fearless, the Peter Weir movie from 1993. Go on.

16:47Griffin Newman:I'm watching season three. Season three just dropped, right? And so in season two of The Diplomat, it's about what if Keri Russell was a diplomat? Of course. And what if Rufus Sewell was her randy husband who just loves to almost have affairs? Like kind of a plot point in The Diplomat as Rufus Sewell keeps being like, can I fuck you? And the lady's like, yeah, you should fuck me. And he's like, actually, I can only fuck my wife, but I'll flirt with you. Like he like can't actually have affairs, but he gets like, he loves to get close. And then he's just like, sorry, actually, I'm so in love with Keri Russell.

17:16Griffin Newman:Season two introduces who's the vice president, Allison Janney. Okay. We love Allison Janney. Another example, yeah. And then not to spoil the diplomat, but some things happen kind of Veep style, and she becomes the president. Whoa. And then in season three, we meet her husband, Bradley Whitford. Okay. And it's like that's the most gimmicky version of using Bradley Whitford, right? For sure. West Wing reunion. We're marrying two West Wing actors who were, you know, not married, right? And even still, I was like, I'm happy to see you. Of course. I see Bradley walking. He's got a big beard or something.

17:48Griffin Newman:He's like, it's great. I, I just, he fucking rules. I had to do a, there's a, a picture of us doing dance rehearsals on a Sunday. Now I hear you do a dance and nobody, but he told me he keeps getting this question. I do do a dance. I do do a dance. I do do a dance. And, but we had to do, we also had to do dance rehearsals for the handmaid's tale. And there is a picture of Bradley Whitford and I, for like ballroom dancing or something. We were doing the Foxtrot. There's a Macarena at the end of the season.

18:18David Sims:I'm sorry, who do you do the Foxtrot with? I'll admit I never watched the Handmaid's Day. Are you only on the last season? I'm only on the last season. There's a big wedding. You were the big bad. There's a big wedding. Okay, okay. And so people are like doing a sort of fancy dance during the wedding. Yeah. And we were at these Foxtrot rehearsals and it's on a Sunday. And we are sitting at the studio that we're rehearsing in is called, the studio is called The Joy of Dance. Okay. and we are sitting underneath uh like a tv that has the logo that says the joy of dance and i'm like so happy to be there and and bradley is sitting next to me looking like the most miserable man most cantankerous who has ever lived and i have the biggest shit-eating grin on my face underneath the sign that says the joy of dance it is just two people in very different circumstances in their head and i love that picture David I have terrible news

19:10Griffin Newman:Bradley Whitford is a graduate of Juilliard Do you not like Juilliard? No this is a thing I do not like people's lionization of Juilliard I do not mind if people went to Juilliard Griffin thinks I have a beef with Juilliard I have a beef with the way that elite schools in this country and other countries get their dick sucked all day and night That's all

19:34David Sims:There's nothing wrong with a little bit of top

19:36Griffin Newman:You don't like too much top.

19:41David Sims:Let's work the tip a little. Don't go down to the shaft. The thing is, David loves to do this defense now, right? I love to do this defense now. We did the Superman movies on Patreon. Christopher Reeve, famous graduate of Juilliard. David Cornswit, current Superman, famous graduate of Juilliard. Can you believe a guy named Juilliard would be Superman? Is he a famous graduate of Juilliard? Which one? He's a Superman now.

20:05Griffin Newman:I guess he's currently very famous. He's currently becoming famous. He's holding the office of Superman. I don't know that you can say famously a graduate of Juilliard because I did not know that until just now. This is why the podcast exists to educate people. Is he in the office for a minute there? If you're imagining presidential terms, it's like Christopher Reeve until Superman 4, and then is it succeeded by Dean Cain? I think he's almost more like the U.S. ambassador. Or is it like in Wikipedia? Stationed in another country. Superman, but it says like acting beneath. Like it's sort of like, you know, there's a qualifier.

20:38Griffin Newman:Right, right. And then we actually have Brandon Routh or whatever. He's maybe Speaker of the House or some shit. He graduated from the Juilliard of like going through those tubes pretending to be an ICE agent. Oh, dude. That was the Juilliard of fucking Proud Boy training centers. He's like, watch me own the libs. And I'm like, you're doing an assault. You are owning yourself, my friend.

20:56David Sims:So David now frames it as, I just have a problem with the lionization of upper institutions. I do as well. I fucking hate higher education. Okay? Yeah. When I bring it up - I don't hate higher education. Wait a second. When I - I'm saying what I do. Okay. When I bring it up in the episode, David goes from zero to 8 ,000 and goes - If you bring up Julio again, I'm going to fucking murder you. That is the direct quote. You deserve it. With no explanation of why he was spinning out of control. And then he goes, I don't understand why people think I hate Julio. You deserve it.

21:29Griffin Newman:You deserve it then and now. I'll murder you now. He only explains things - Eight to nine months. It's because we're doing a commentary and I'm watching it and you keep being like, and he went to Juilliard and I'm like, stop fucking bringing it up to you. Who gives a shit? I don't care where someone went to school. If he gets that angry about it that quickly,

21:45David Sims:people are like, did Juilliard murder his parents in a back alley? What's going on here?

21:50Griffin Newman:No, my dad was a working class guy who probably drilled this shit into me a little too hard, if anything. My dad didn't go to college. Did he drive a lorry? No, I mean, maybe in his younger days. Did he drive a lorry? Just going for the lowest common denominator joke there.

22:07David Sims:Hitmaker. I will say. Yeah. Despite your feelings about Juilliard, going back to Bradley Whitford for one moment, the man is an amazing storyteller. He has a lot of great stories about being—

22:19Griffin Newman:He's been on so many sets. So many sets. Worked with so many cool people. He once told me a 20-minute breakup story that included a doctor's visit where he found out that the Challenger had exploded. Holy shit. And that was the smallest detail of the story. The man's an incredible storyteller. So this is pre-Caximaric? Yes. How do you say her last name? I always thought it was Caximaric. Oh, yeah. Caximaric. Because he was married to her. Yes. Yes, pre-Jane Kesmerick. So it would have been like, you know, I think college girlfriend. Okay. All right. Yeah, it would have been back then. All right.

22:57Griffin Newman:Co-ed Bradley. Man About Town Bradley. Wait, you were about to say something, Griffin. Hitmaker.

23:04David Sims:Oh, yes. The previous two appearances you have made on this podcast are.

23:09Griffin Newman:And this is our guest is Timothy Simons. Hitmaker. Yeah, Hitmaker. The Shining and Joss. Wait, and also, only to digress. It is tough. To digress, and I definitely want to, we have to talk about that. I am very, the nickname Hitmaker. Coined by Tracy Lutz. Coined by Tracy Lutz. Who has a Pulitzer Prize. Who has a Pulitzer Prize. You got zero of those. I have zero of those. I found out from Tracy Lutz that apparently you find out that you were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize at the same moment that you either win or lose it. That's why. You basically get notified like, right, you made the three.

23:46Yes, but they also give you a call, right? if they're like, hey, by the way, you didn't get it. And like you would just be enjoying your morning.

23:54Griffin Newman:It's an honor to be, you know, shortlisted. Yeah, to be shortlisted. You're just like walking around and somebody calls you, oh, hey, by the way, you didn't win one today. I didn't even know it was an option. If you're Tracy Letts, you're walking around probably a closet of discs somewhere. Yes. You get the call. So he coins that. And it feels like a nickname that I just don't know based on my own personal constitution that I can lean into it too hard. The reason that I am even... He's making the joke because you were on a show that was a hit. But what I am known for nickname-wise previous, the little part of me that leans into it is that every other nickname I am publicly known by has something to do with jizz.

24:40And it's just kind of nice.

24:42Griffin Newman:Because I was assuming your height might be... No, because of Veep, because of the JNAT files. because of all those nicknames.

24:50David Sims:That show has a running gag of people coming up with the worst things to call you with Titans first seasons.

24:56Griffin Newman:I mean, not little, tall, freak. Tall little freak, weasel. And so it is nice, I think, just for there to be like one nickname out there that is like complimentary in a way. And I do like that, although I don't lean into it too hard. I would never refer to myself as such. It would be funny if you went on like CBS this morning and like handed a postcard. And you shall refer to me.

25:16David Sims:And you shall refer to me. leaning back in the chair. And one last thing. And one last thing. When you bring me out, call me Hitmaker. So Jaws and The Shining are the two previous. We have an active group text with friends. You will text us once or twice a year and go, guys, I gotta come back on blank check. Oh, now we're gonna roast him? I think this is good. I think this is good.

25:38Griffin Newman:Yeah.

25:38David Sims:And then we're like... Get some foglers. We're making a roast. Tim, we'll have you on anytime. Tim, we're doing this director. Well, first we'll say, we're booked up right now. The second we have new stuff on the schedule, We'll let you know. And then we go, Tim, here you go. It's the Glengarry leads, right? Yes. Here's the first six months of a schedule. Take your pick. You have first crack and you always go, none of these really get my dick hard.

26:00Griffin Newman:But it's like David Lynch and the Coen brothers were the two where you were like flipping through. Blue Velvet, is that a movie? Yeah. Oh, well, I'm sorry.

26:11David Sims:Or we show you Spielberg and you go, I guess I would do E.T., Raiders or Jaws. Jaws. You either only pick the three things everyone want to do or you go, none of these get my dick. All right.

26:23Griffin Newman:Let him defend him. This guy's famous. He comes to our show. We're mean to him. He's a hit maker. Let me defend myself momentarily. When it came to Lynch and the Coen brothers, I was very vocal about the Coen brothers. And Grant, I know you like doing these things in person. So some of it is schedule-wise. It is. I want to honor your commitment to doing it in person.

26:45David Sims:I appreciate that. When it came to the Coen brothers, I believe I threw out a list of all of them. I still haven't seen, ever seen Lady Killers, which I am sort of embarrassed by, even though I know it's like not a favorite or whatever. You're fine. Thank you. I feel like maybe that was embellished a little bit when it came to the Coens because I am such a huge fan of the Coens. Sure, sure. But I also want to, in a way, part of that is I don't want to take away something from the Lynch filmography that somebody feels passionately about. When I'm a little bit more, you know, oh, I'm going to take that away from the...

27:20I understand that. Totally, totally, totally. I think it's a good call. And the director is right.

27:23Griffin Newman:People are going to be passionate. And then sometimes shit just doesn't get my dick hard. You know what I mean?

27:28David Sims:You do drop that phrase. I bring this up not to roast you as much as to say this episode came about... Mark Anthony over here. I'm not here to roast. I'm not here to roast. This episode came about a different way. We throw you the schedule. You go, honestly, I'm up for anything. You guys tell me where I could best be used. And I say, have you ever seen Fearless? And you say no. And I go, I feel like that might be a hitmaker movie. Right. Why don't you watch it? Throw it on. Tell me what you think. If you spark to it in the way I think you will, it's yours. But you were mensch about this. I was.

28:03And I think even on this list, there were things where I was like, I had just very recently seen Picnic at Hanging Rock for the first time. But there was a part of me that was like, I can't tackle.

28:13Griffin Newman:That's kind of a big. Yeah, that's a big one. I think you're the one to speak to the sort of teenage girl experience in like turn of the century in Australia. Women going missing. But I think it's a lot of experience. Weird. To your credit, you recognize that, yes, I may have been the perfect person for that episode. Yeah. But then we're like, you know, maybe we should maybe we should give another voice a chance on that. So look, heavyweights the crown. And we loved having Hillary Clinton on that episode. We haven't booked that episode yet.

28:42David Sims:It's going to be Hillary. you do a thing like Jaws or Shining you're like this has to be a three hour episode we're going to talk about fucking every element of this movie and we'll wedge in some tangents but like Fearless is the kind of movie I love covering on this podcast where I'm like I think this is an excellent

28:58Griffin Newman:movie yes but it is not does not require right like an oil level drilling yes no yes

29:05David Sims:it offers many different tendrils of conversation and I was excited to do something because I am passionate about The Shining and Jaws, and those are like totemic films in and of themselves, I am sort of excited to talk about one that I didn't have like much of an emotional, I had never seen it, so I didn't really have an emotional connection to it. You've seen it twice now. And didn't really look up, and I would say even broadly, I have seen a lot of Peter Weir's movies, but I wasn't, I'm not like familiar with his style throughout his entire career. Sure. And so, and I haven't looked up anything about this one.

29:43So I'm actually really excited to find out more about Fearless today, just as somebody who, as a listener.

29:51David Sims:We're here to learn. I mean, I think Peter Weir is an ultimate, his style matches the material kind of guy, right? Not that he's a chameleon. I don't know if I agree with that. I think there are through lines. Sure. I think of him a little similar to Sidney Lumet's.

30:07Griffin Newman:A little bit. I mean, but I see, yeah, I don't know. I mean I'm interested as we do the because like the thing with Ang Lee when we did him we picked Ang Lee because he was a blank check candidate obviously made movies like Hulk that we were like perfect for the show but we were also like oh he's kind of a chameleon right he's done a bunch of genres then you watch the movies and you're like there are very obvious themes and through lines

30:26David Sims:every single movie is about emotional repression and when it bubbles over families like you know

30:30Griffin Newman:made and found all this shit you know like and you're like right and I'm excited to see this with Peter Weir too I do feel like he was a little bit more of a I want to do something different like you know consciously like as he was approaching projects as he's accruing fame it's also an era in hollywood when there were interesting scripts that you could pivot to yeah you could tell your team like i want find me something that's more dramatic find me something that's more going to cost this much money right like versus like whatever i'm peter weir so i do this sort of move like you that the story of this movie is he had made green card and he was like well, I don't want to do something as light next time.

31:09Griffin Newman:Like, it's a broad, you know, sort of direction for him to go in, but he's thinking of directions to go in.

31:14David Sims:The book comes out the same year as the movie, so this is a thing that gets optioned as a manuscript. It's not adapting a hit book, right? And it's not even like you read the galleys of this thing and you go like, holy shit, this is the Da Vinci Code. People are going to lose their minds. I imagine you go, this is a good piece of writing, you know, and this is a good vehicle for a good actor. and Jeff Bridges is certainly a star at this period of time, but he's not Harrison Ford. He's not Mel Gibson. He's not Robin Williams. He's not the level. Well, indeed, talk about it. The studio was unhappy.

31:43David Sims:A-list box office, right? He's like one of the best actors working in the studio system in the 90s, the studio system in Hollywood in the 90s. But he's a guy who kind of has a little bit of a box office ceiling while having like ultimate credibility. And you look at the poster for this movie. This isn't a blank check movie, but the top thing of the poster is from the director of Witness and Dead Poets Society.

32:06Griffin Newman:Right, he's got these two big grown-up Hollywood hits that he can now, like, you know, advertise off of.

32:12David Sims:Even if he's not a household name, this is an era where you could put that at the top of a poster, and people would walk by it and go like, I liked the way those movies made me feel. And also, it seems like, and this is a broad statement, I guess, and I don't want it to be detrimental to audiences right now, this also very much seems like a movie that could be made in 1993, where you see those two movies above the title. And this is not necessarily a fun, exciting night out at the movies. It's a movie I really, really enjoyed. But it also is not like, hey, let's go to the cinema. An audience was willing to engage with a movie like this.

32:51To some extent, yeah.

32:52Griffin Newman:It was a modest hit, I would say, right? Like it made... Yeah, it did okay. Was the studio not happy with Jeff Bridges being cast? Well, you'll just... I can go into the dossier, but like Weir's first call was to Mel Gibson who's someone he'd worked with before who's obviously a giant star and Gibson was busy making his first film The Man Without a Face and probably doing all the normal stuff and you know like he's your best friend you can probably speak to it better than me I was in the car when he got pulled over that one time Say more stuff Say more stuff

33:24David Sims:You pitched him sugar tits I did I was like it's gonna be like a little harsh but they'll find it funny

33:30Griffin Newman:They're not recording this You're not recording.

33:32David Sims:You passed him a list of alts. Dog fucker?

33:36Griffin Newman:I know that's not how you use it. When he, you know, Gibson passed, Peter Weir then went to the studio and was like, I'm thinking Jeff Bridges. And they were like, oh, we were thinking another Mel Gibson type famous person. We like Jeff Bridges just fine, but that's not that tier of fame. So they were disappointed when, you know, they learned he was like, no, no, no, Jeff Bridges.

33:57David Sims:We're talking about this a lot in this series, But because Weir was so much a guy who worked with the top A-list stars and was a guy that these stars trusted either brought on to develop their projects or would sign up to the project because he was directing it. This is still a time where if you have one of the 10 guys above the title, you can basically sell the audience on whatever they're doing. Yeah. You can take something that seems a little challenging or a little uncommercial, and a studio will give it tens of millions of dollars and full promotional support, and the audience will, like, go along for the ride.

34:31David Sims:And you're, like, across the 90s he works with, and the 80s, he works with Gibson, Williams, Ford, and Carey. Yeah. Right? And he works with two of those guys two times.

34:42Griffin Newman:And let's not forget the other A-lister he worked with. Draw the bottle. Uh-huh. The. And that's a normal man. A normal man who definitely did not, like, pee in the aisle. I need to go. I need to go. The bathroom is occupied. The line is too long. I feel like that was also a very short flight. It's just the guy from Little Mermaid.

35:04David Sims:It was a very short flight, yeah. Are we? It was L.A. to San Francisco.

35:08Griffin Newman:It was L.A.

35:09David Sims:to San Diego.

35:10Griffin Newman:And he's like, I gotta go. Just open the door. I'm gonna go outside. We just bored it. The Fearless sequels have one taking off the plane like so shaken except for one guy who's like, I feel fine. And everyone's like, Jared Depardieu just pissed all over our plane. That was... They opened the doors and they pissed off. The one thing... Running away. The one thing that I read was that initially it wasn't a plane crash. It was just they all witnessed a man pee in the aisle. Yeah, they just saw it. And then they were like, I saw death in that moment. Have we planted a flag that witness is the blank check?

35:41What is the blank check?

35:43Griffin Newman:I would say the guarantor is your... living dangerously personally, but we'll get there.

35:49David Sims:I think that's the guarantor that gets him into Hollywood. I think Witness is the guarantor for the next... For the rest. For the Hollywood career.

35:55Griffin Newman:Because like Witness is kind of that movie, obviously, Scott Harrison Ford. So he helps. But the wild success of that film certainly means it's like he is now the kind of director pretty much anyone would want to work with. It's a big hit.

36:08David Sims:He gets a Best Picture nomination. Best Director, Best Actor. But also it is that thing where like, oh... And then Dead Poets. and you know he made Harrison Ford respected as an actor yeah

36:17Griffin Newman:and the same with Poets and Robin Williams I guess

36:20David Sims:yeah but there was a certain degree the last guy who kind of had this for better or worse and mostly for worse was David O. Russell yeah where it was just like people know it's automatic if you're in his movie you have a really good shot at getting an Oscar you've got an awards campaign

36:36Griffin Newman:right you won't get yelled at on set

36:38David Sims:right no and I think a lot of these A-list guys really were just like I trust this guy He's unlocking new corridors of movie stars, you know? I have two questions for, was Picnic at Hanging Rock a reclamation or was that something that really put him on the map at the time? Very much put him on the map. Art house sensation. Really big deal. And then... Australian cultural phenomenon, in America and the States, art house phenomenon. Okay. Beyond respected. And then where was Jeff Bridges in his career? Okay, so we got to talk about it. Okay.

37:10Griffin Newman:All right, look. Good, I want to talk about it. He's been building bridges for 20 years at this point. amazing stuff. Like, you look at his career and you doff your couch. Is he one of your guys, Tim? He has always historically been one of those guys and probably because of Lebowski has been one of those guys that I have always loved. But as I have gone back and started filling holes, a huge one I had never seen in the last picture show. Right at the start. Right at the start. I was like, oh, that's why. He's a fucking movie star. He wasn't like this sort of schlubby, like he was a beautiful fucking movie star.

37:49Griffin Newman:It's very true. He was beautiful. But I do feel like for such a cutie pie, he took these roles, the early stuff like Fat City, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. He's like, I will play the face. I'll play the young guy, but it'll be in a dark movie that's like, you know, tragic and sort of playing against my handsomeness in a way. Right. I mean, those are the two early ones post. But he's the kind of cocky hotshot

38:15David Sims:who gets taken down a bit.

38:17Griffin Newman:Right, because he also does stuff we don't remember. Like he made a NASCAR movie called The Last American Hero, which I think is probably just more direct, like what if he was a cocky hotshot guy? He entered the grid, of course, in the 80s. Well, we'll get there. But, you know, in the 70s, just to do more of the 70s. You know, Stay Hungry, he's really good. And that's a good movie, the Bob Raffles movie. King Kong, he's a gorilla. Yeah, he's a gorilla. I don't... Crunchy, he's environmentalist. Winter Kills, a movie I know Ben enjoyed. Yeah, I just saw it recently. Which has had a bit of a revival of late.

38:45Griffin Newman:Winter Kills? Yeah, dude. You would dig Winter Kills. It's kind of like a weird satire of the JFK assassination. It's like a Parallax View spoof movie, kind of. It's a very strange film. That sounds like it fucking rules. It does kind of rule. And then Heaven's Gate is not, I don't think, really held against anybody. He's not even a big part of that movie. That movie's held against Chimita. It's not held against Chris Christopherson or whatever.

39:11David Sims:So this is the other thing we just have to call out if we're like even setting up the beginning of Bridges. His dad just fucking work a day career actor. Right. Yeah, of course. And it is instilled in him and his brother just the fucking work ethic of this is a job. This is how you treat people. Right. This is how you show up. And he would throw his kids little parts on the shows he was working, sea hunting stuff, you know, like Lloyd Bridges was just a guy. Right. Without being a star. but had like a solid career and just really drilled into them like you can't take this for granted every job's a gift you gotta show up and give it your best and then he talks about Last Picture Show being the first moment where he's like oh I like see how I could build a life out of this where it went from being a thing of like I don't know this has kind of gotten thrown to me and he gets this Oscar nomination for Last Picture Show

40:03Griffin Newman:another for Thunderbolt Knife

40:05David Sims:the Last Picture Show nomination the kind that doesn't happen that often anymore where you're like, this is not some extreme dramatic part, but a guy just fucking nails it so hard. It's the sort of like Jude Law, talented Mr. Ripley, like welcome to the club nomination. And then Thunderbolt is like, congratulations, you've graduated to two-hander with Clint Eastwood and you've held your own.

40:28Griffin Newman:Not just held, I think he, Eastwood, I think was annoyed at it. He was like, this guy's fucking getting, having all the fun. Like this guy gets the fun part.

40:36David Sims:Which is that nomination of like, you might actually be like a fucking movie star. But are we in infrastructure week right now? Because we're building bridges? Yeah, because we're building bridges. Build back better. We got to build back better. I just should play Biden. One thing that I love. Right? Yeah. He actually went good. He'd be really good. Moving pretty slow.

41:08David Sims:David? Yes? Got an intentional air about you today.

41:12Griffin Newman:Well, I'm more intentional about what I wear day to day. Oh, interesting. I like to lean into pieces that feel easy, comfortable, and put together. I'm sure you could get those from anywhere, right? No, quints. Look, really, I am wearing quints right now.

41:24David Sims:Listeners, he's showing tag on Maine.

41:27Griffin Newman:It's been my go-to because very clean fits, very nice fabrics. Yeah. They don't feel like cheap fabrics. I hate dirty fits. I hate cheap fabrics. I am in, we're in, you know, the weather's getting warmer. I really rely on my Quince polo shirts for the kind of like, exactly like a formal enough piece of clothing that I can go to the office, but it's comfy. Yes, because we do have a dress code here at Blanket Productions. So they've got those 100 % Pima cotton tees with a softness. They got a feel to enjoy.

41:57David Sims:And for the listener at home, David is touching the fabric.

42:00Griffin Newman:Pants hit that same balance, relaxed and comfortable. I got to tell you, I recently had a birthday and my in-laws sent me a Quince gift card because they know I like Quince so much and I am itching to spend it. That's a really strong endorsement. That's an endorsement, right? Yes. Everything at Quince, it's priced 50 to 80 % less than what you find in similar brands because they work with those ethical factories. They cut out the middlemen, getting premium materials without the markup. I've got the cashmere zip. David is showing me. Oh, nice. Cashmere zip sweater. I like that sweater. It's very nice.

42:30Griffin Newman:Yeah. I wear it all the time. it's got pockets so refresh your everyday with the luxury you actually use head to quince.com slash check for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too that's quince.com slash check for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash check

43:03He won for Crazy Heart. Yeah, he did.

43:06Griffin Newman:You're jumping ahead there. I am jumping ahead a little bit. One thing that I love about Jeff Bridges is when I remember so clearly he gets up there and just says, what a groovy profession, man. It was so lovely. It was so lovely. And I think that that work a day ethic that you're talking about is even present when he's doing that. And all of these, you get the sense that he was just like, yeah, I'm going to take my career seriously, but also I'm going to go work and I'm going to be in a movie. This one might not win an Oscar.

43:40David Sims:He's had like the same stand in for like, I want to say maybe 50 years now, who's like his best friend. And there are amazing sort of like photo montages you can see of them styled together across the decades of they just kind of like live in tandem. He's been like married to the same woman for decades. like there's shit like this but also I think it's like that heaven's gate moment doesn't knock him down well because this guy's reputation is just like I think within I want to speak to this well

44:06Griffin Newman:in the industry right professional great does interesting things arguably until true grit he

44:12David Sims:was never seen as a guy who could like really guarantee box office but I think he's like consummate pro of course everyone likes working with him he's never bad well except if you tell him that Tony Stark,

44:25Griffin Newman:you know, you can't build, like, the Ark Reactor and he knows that Tony Stark built it in a cave from a box of scraps. Who wouldn't get frustrated by that show? I mean, it's true, it's frustrating. It's like a son brought up Juilliard. You'd have to snap it. You have to be like, no, I'm gonna build the Ark Reactor. Yeah. I just, when you look at his sort of post, what you're, you know, the first two noms, right? You look at the King Kong Winter Kills, Heaven's Gate, Cutter's Way, Tron, you are, I am like right he did a lot of interesting projects and none of them really like financially succeeded King Kong made money but under wealth right things like that so it's like by the time he does Starman in 84 a film we've covered a film that really I was thinking about a lot while I was watching Fearless right because you're both about people who are a little outside of reality right who are like one step removed from being normal humans and so much in Starman because he is Starman observing like watching him look at stuff And he's so tremendous in both movies.

45:22Griffin Newman:Yeah. But yeah, by the time he makes Starman, it's like, yeah, he's, you know, he's a little weird. And he's like the guy Carpenter would use to play like kind of a weird guy.

45:31David Sims:And to your point, like two nominations before he's 25. And then it takes another 10 years before they give him the best actor nomination.

45:38Griffin Newman:Right, right. For Starman. Then he did Jagged Edge, you know, Morning After. He does these like thrillers.

45:44David Sims:He's got his kind of grown up thriller period.

45:45Griffin Newman:Tucker, which he rocks in. So good in. God, have you seen Tucker Man in his dream? FFC Coppola Megalopolis guy no great bridges is that the guy who made the car oh yes I have seen I haven't I watched that I think when I was in high school you ever seen Smucker's the man in his dream about the guy who did the jelly no no that one I missed then he does peanut butter and then it just the wheels fall off you ever seen the peanut butter solution uh yeah yeah that is a good Severin Kids release you got that you got that below did they put it out oh yeah you ever seen the peanut butter falcon people I didn't see it Peanut Butter Falcon, but the guy that wrote and directed it used to go to my gym.

46:24Really? Actually, still currently, I'm now the gym.

46:27Griffin Newman:I thought you were going to say high school or something. Gym? You're lying. You go to gym in Los Angeles. I could never believe such a thing. We actually used to go to one gym and now that gym and then that gym closed. And now we go to a new gym and he's at this new gym. This is an honest podcast. Also, it's just like, this is the kind of incendiary stuff we can't put on. We need lawyers to check against this. We're an independent podcast. You're right. The liability you're exposing us to here. Look, my point is after this weird kind of up and down 80s, and this is something Peter Weir says when he in the dossier, when he says like I was drawn to Bridges.

47:07Griffin Newman:It's like fabulous Baker boys, 89, Fisher King, 91. Like, it's kind of like, this is an interesting actor, like who is a real movie star. He is a real movie star. Undeniably. I would say the Fabulous Baker Boys. The Fabulous Baker Boys is the first time in my life that I was aware of Jeff Bridges. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah, well, he rocks in it. You should see it. I should see it. Right now. It was like one of those movies that like my parents were talking about. It's my mom's favorite movie of all time.

47:36David Sims:He's always good, but there's something about when Bridges hits his 40s in the 90s.

47:42Griffin Newman:You're like, this makes sense. This makes perfect sense. This is good.

47:46David Sims:This is like he's a grown-up movie star with an interesting edge. I also think it's just to this point, right? This is an era where if there's a good script that a good director is interested in, if there's an interesting piece of material around town, the studio goes like, we want to make this. let's offer it to Mel both Toms whoever and then they pass and they go like okay let's move down a tier on the list they don't go well then we're not going to make it and Bridges kind of becomes this guy where a lot of those movies he did you imagine that the ten guys above him all turned it down and then the studio goes like I guess we can get Bridges for cheap and the director's like great I get to cast Jeff Bridges like he's kind of the most interesting consolation movie star?

48:36Griffin Newman:Yeah. I think that's fair. He's always going to deliver. Well, let me open the dossier, in fact, to tell you what happened here. And I also want to throw in a question. Whatever that list above him is, and we don't need to get into the specifics of the movie quite yet. Yeah. Is there any one of those actors that you think would have given as compelling a performance? No. I kind of... No, he's not perfect for this. He's kind of perfect for it. Here's who I thought of. because of Unbreakable, Bruce Willis. Because Unbreakable is a sort of like, you know, very, very different movie, but sort of a similar idea of a guy who's kind of like, can fucking nothing happen to me?

49:14Griffin Newman:And who is recovering from an accident. But Bruce, I don't think, was ready for this yet. No, he'd be like, he'd be doing wisecracks. But he makes sense as if Peter Weir had said, what about Bruce Willis? He should have been like, yeah, yeah, yeah, great, great, great. Like, we like that. You know, that'll sell. I feel like you texted last night,

49:30David Sims:like all caps, what was it? Peak Bridges. Bridges excellence. Bridges excellence.

49:35Griffin Newman:And I have... He is true. From minute one, you're just like, I am in good hands. Unbelievable hands. And also, the best head of hair

49:41David Sims:I have ever seen. A fucking lion's man.

49:44Griffin Newman:Ben, speak to this for a second. I want to throw something at you. The way he looks in this movie, especially the sort of first look, the jacket, the glasses, the hair. Yeah. This is how men should look. I kept thinking this. Like sort of early 90s. It's like the suits are a little bigger. The suiting is so fantastic. It's very much that trend of that time where it was the sports jacket was kind of a little bit longer. Yes, a little baggier. Because the 80s are over. Just the Armani influence. The hair and the sunglasses when he's leaning against the car. Those glasses, get me them right now. Chat GPT, how do I buy them?

50:21Griffin Newman:This is what AI should do for. Truly, I left watching that for the first time and was like, all of those looks like I need to start wearing sports jackets. He looks so, and then even the slacks, they're a little bit loose. They're kind of like a little bit higher waist cut. Is this just like, do I just want to live in like 1992 and have like a Palm Pilot? Yes. You want to be him. Well, I want to be him too. It is Jeff Bridges. Right.

50:48David Sims:He's also, he's one of those guys where if you rough him up 10%, he gets 50 % more handsome. Right? Like him with like a little bit of dirt looking a little hungover. Yeah, he's a natural wine. He's funky. You're like, holy shit. If I am not mistaken, because I rewatched it recently, I believe that this was the main visual reference for creepy CGI Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy. You know, it makes sense. That they identified this as, this is his physical peak. If you're trying to visually create the uncanny valley of what's the Jeff Bridges frozen in time moment, it's this. That makes sense. Yeah.

51:24David Sims:That's interesting. You could try to Fran Lebowitz those glasses. speak on that it's where did you ever read this interview with Friendly Bullets you're gonna have to be more specific

51:34Griffin Newman:you know what Griffin answer the question where they're talking about her style and she was basically like did you ever read this interview with Bruce Willis I'm just like well what sorry one of the most prolific interview givers that has ever been she had this interview about her style and she was basically like I the shirt that I wear, she wears like one shirt and she has her glasses.

52:00David Sims:She's got a Doug Funny closet. Yes. It's the same outfit. It's the same outfit every day. And she was like, at some point, the shirt maker that made those shirts stop making them. So I had to start having them custom made. But then what also happened is the glasses maker that makes my glasses stopped making them. And I had to have those custom made. And Ben, you'll know about this. suiting, custom-made shirts, not inexpensive, but not insane, I think if you're friendly, boys. They were like, well, how much does it cost to have glasses made? And she would not give a number, but broadly was like, how much does a car cost?

52:42That was the number. If it's one of one like that. If it's like one of one. And I'm sure if they were making them, she was like, make me two or three while you were there. But I think that basically meant buying two or three cars. But it's like the, right,

52:53Griffin Newman:when they're making the Batsuit in Batman Begins. We bought 10 ,000 because we might as well. We're making them. You're like, these parts now basically need to be uniquely machined for her. Yeah. Yeah. I think that is what she referenced in the article. I'll go look up that interview. If you just want to Google Fran Leibovitz interview, I'm sure it'll be the first one that comes out. Right, right, right. I'll actually just yell it into my phone. She only did one. I think, though, that now with 3D printing, I bet that it's actually a little bit more inexpensive, but I'm sure this is a very recent technology.

53:29Griffin Newman:Yes. You definitely would have to get a mold created that then they would have to fill with plastic or whatever the material base is. So yeah, it was not a cheap process. Probably less expensive now. Can I just say, did you guys see the interview with Harrison Ford where he talked about Jay Leno? Don't answer the question anymore. Jay Leno? No, I don't think so. Where Jay Leno 3D printed him a toilet seat? No. This is the most... It's for your ass! The most charming... That's what he said when he handed it to him. Celebrity interview I have ever seen. Wait, but who's interviewing him about this?

54:08Griffin Newman:Like, who is... It's not Jay Leno. No, he is in an interview. I can't even remember which one. I think it was... It was... What's the movie? Oh, it was probably for Red Hulk. That was the end of the movie, right? He's being interviewed by NPR, the nice lady from NPR, not Terry Gross, another one.

54:25David Sims:And Tim, can you quickly just please pay respects to our president? Salute. There he is, of course. The president. You can't invoke him without showing some proper respect.

54:33Griffin Newman:And Jay Leno calls him during the interview.

54:36David Sims:He's like, hey, the toilet seat's ready. And she's like, why is Jay Leno calling you? And he was like, oh, he's making me a toilet seat. and then goes on to explain that he has a rare toilet seat or a rare toilet that does not have any new seats, but he loves the toilet. And Jay Leno has a 3D printer. Has the technology because of all the car shit that he does. And Jay was like, I'll take care of that for you. I'm not doing it justice, but it's a very charming interview.

55:07Griffin Newman:I'm just kind of real. You know, Harrison Ford, as we've, I think, brought up on other episodes, he's, yeah, he's been giving some charming interviews of light.

55:15David Sims:There's a wild card with Rachel Martin. Okay. There you go. We did our witness episode with the great Amanda Dobbins very recently. Oh, that's great. And talking about how that's a like peak physical form, the best, one of the best looking men in the history of movies has ever looked movies. And yet watching this just a week or two later, I'm like, this might actually be the number one look a guy has ever had on screen. Yeah. Yeah. This in a way, and I'm not saying any of us could attain it. This feels somewhat more attainable than peak Harrison Ford. Yes. There is a possibility that another human being could look like this.

55:50David Sims:There's something weirdly a little more every man about him. Yeah. And his handsomeness comes from like it is not an obvious chiseled perfection. Yeah. But I also think this era of him in the 90s, his work just feels so like simple and effortless while clearly being thoughtful and deeply felt like deeply soulful in everything. This man is just like so comfortable on camera, understands the medium and has just like honed his fucking craft. And then Lebowski obviously like break something in him that leads to the next era of I'm a billy goat gruff eating a tin can. I live under a bridge. Right. And like everything after that point becomes something else, which he's very good at.

56:38What were his 90s after this?

56:41Griffin Newman:Jeff Bridges, it's a good question and I'm going to hear to answer it for you because I do think it's not like, again, look, he made The Big Lebowski, so he has a great 90s, but he does make a lot more stuff that goes over okay to bad. So the Vanishing remake, he's actually good in that. Which I think ultimately pretty good movie except for the fact that it's a remake of a better movie or whatever. Blown Away, he kind of rocks in it. He does a lot of like yelling movies. So Blown Away, White Squall, Arlington Road, all kind of solid movies where he yells a bunch. None of them classics. Yeah. Wild Bill, where he plays Wild Bill Hickok for Walter Hill was a huge failure.

57:20Griffin Newman:Right. And that felt like the first, the biggest stretch he had done in a while. Yeah, in terms of like a bit. Yeah, exactly. Mirror Has Two Faces, a movie we've covered on this podcast. Very normal. The issue with it is how normal it is. It's too normal. Just regular and nothing weird happens.

57:34David Sims:You forget you're watching a movie and not looking at a blank piece of paper.

57:37Griffin Newman:Or just like, right, watching your friends hang out. It is so reflective of the way normal people talk today. But then the thing with, right, dialogue, the way they interact and dress and behave. But like with Lebowski, it's like Lebowski, sure, doesn't do very well at the time. But very quickly you see love of bridges, right? Like, so the contender, he plays the fucking president. and he's great in that movie, gets another Oscar nomination. Oh, that was with, why am I blanking on the internet? Joan Allen. Yes. Maybe you don't support women or good actors or whatever. No, no, no. No, you don't.

58:12Griffin Newman:Exactly. Thank you for bringing it up because I have my own dossier of things I wanted to make clear. Right. And one of them was I don't support women. Women shouldn't be the leads of movies.

58:22David Sims:Sean Fancy coined a new term to describe when Tim goes off, which is movie MAGA mode. And like, I want to make it clear that movie MAGA mode is basically like a little bit of a nitpick of a movie that most people agree is perfection. I feel like that's what my movie MAGA takes on. It's not actually right-wing opinions expressed through movie capture.

58:44Griffin Newman:But it's like the tone or tenor, the energy.

58:47David Sims:Tim leans in and says, am I crazy? And then throws out a I'm-just-asking-questions movie take. And am I proud of this? Yeah. No, but I do think every once in a while, I love an unbridled positivity toward the movie going and movie watching experience. Yeah. And David, I'm going to direct this to you. Oh, yeah. And I don't. Griffin, I should be directing this to you. But every once in a while, Griffin will refer to a film that is not a masterpiece as a masterpiece. Such as?

59:22Griffin Newman:Any in particular that you're thinking of?

59:24David Sims:Well, I don't think I've ever been wrong about this, so I'd love to hear you pull one example. I mean, I feel like, look, this isn't the example, but a thing that has come up recently when we're talking about physical media is like Griffin would just sort of casually be like, oh, the movie Sliver, that's a masterpiece. I don't think Griffin did that. No, but that's not exactly.

59:45Griffin Newman:Let's cite that as an example of like a God bless it bad movie.

59:48David Sims:They announced Small Soldiers 4K Steelbook, and I go, obviously, inarguable masterpiece. Yes. And everyone in the group text agrees with me, and we move along. I think that would be an example.

1:00:02Griffin Newman:Right, and that makes you go movie mega mode. Just to give you Bridges, 90s, you know, sorry, yeah, we gave you the 90s, but then, like, the 2000s, I just feel like... K-Pax, he paxes it. He tries to nail K-Pax to the wall. That guy's like fucking Joey.

1:00:14David Sims:Yes or no, alien? He slips him a piece of paper Are you an alien? Check one His face is like I'll never tell

1:00:27Griffin Newman:Stuff like Seabiscuit Like door in the floor Which he's really good in Iron Man obviously Even like less seen stuff like Tideland He's becoming a little bit of elder statesman Right he's entering young grandpa mode

1:00:41David Sims:Even if he's first build He's kind of supporting someone else And we all support him and love him

1:00:46Griffin Newman:But then post Crazy Heart, he has the genuine, like, I guess he's a 60 plus year old movie star. Right. Like Crazy Heart. Yeah. True Grit. Man, who's Derek Goats? The Tron Legacy. You know, he's all over that movie. Good and bad. R.I.P.D. rounding up the rest in pieces. The Giver.

1:01:06David Sims:We obviously talked about it on the Coen series, but True Grit and Tron Legacy come out a week apart from each other. They sure do. The two movies are just like burning up the box office together. and Hollywood goes like, I guess he's box office gold now? And then he has this run of terrible big budget films. Some of them are bad. Seven Son, R.I.P.D., Giver, all nightmares.

1:01:27Griffin Newman:Giver, but The Giver is an example of it's like, he had been trying to make that movie for so long and it's only post like True Grit. Right. Then he finally asked the club, he was like, I'll be The Giver. You know, and they're like, all right, all right, all right.

1:01:39David Sims:You know the crazier thing about The Giver? He read the book when it came out. Excellent book. It's the best book. Options it. and goes, I want to make this as a movie starring my dad. Right. That was his big thing was he wanted Lloyd to play. It was got to be old. Yes. And then eventually he, like Lloyd had died. He aged into it. He has an Oscar. He's seen his box office now. And then they fuck up every single aspect of the movie. It sucks how bad that movie is.

1:02:03Griffin Newman:It's a real bummer. Yeah. And so, you know, he's doing great. I think he's even great. I mean, obviously, Heller High Water was like his sixth Oscar nom. And he rocks in that movie.

1:02:13David Sims:But you're right. But the crazy heart moment was bizarre because there was this feeling of like, oh, I guess we never realized that he's overdue for an Oscar. He didn't have that same kind of narrative to him as like, when are they going to give it to DiCaprio or Julianne Moore or some of these people? Because his nominations were spaced out. And it was always a sort of like, oh, right. Yeah. And then that movie like premieres at Toronto and everyone's like, fuck, we could just get him the Oscar. This movie is whatever. we could go full court press and he could probably win and hell or high water i feel like there's like that last moment where where i believe he shoots ben foster spoilers for the 2012

1:02:59Griffin Newman:ben foster has never played a character in a movie that would require shooting yeah i don't know no i would say broadly yeah no he's always playing a guy who's on the right side of the law shake

1:03:08David Sims:your hand let him cook let him cook ben foster just let's hear what he has to say yeah um is death a coming um that's a 30 days of night uh quote but i feel like everybody is gonna get um masterpiece exactly i'm joking i've never seen that movie yeah um you haven't seen it no ben foster is really good and scary in the opening scene he's got like a he's got like a real he's like rom-com that noise that's death i call that and it's so good i don't know if the movie's

1:03:41Griffin Newman:that's not the kind of line i can picture coming out of his mouth and certainly not with like an accent he didn't like to do those the the the jeff bridges performance in that last moment or in those later in in like that in that scene in hell or high water i feel like is indicative of jeff bridges broadly which is he gives you something that contains three emotions that you that no one else could do. He finds a way to have a reaction to these situations that feels completely singular and also emotionally true for the entire audience watching it.

1:04:18David Sims:That's a great way of putting it. And, you know, post Crazy Heart, all these characters become a lot larger and more overstated. And he's obviously turned into, like, a bearded bourbon man. But when you see him in interviews present day, the dude is much closer to his cruising altitude as a guy. And then he loves playing these like ornery old coots or whatever. Right. Yeah. But this 90s era where he's doing that in a movie like Fearless, where I think this movie is excellent. And I'm wondering if this is an episode to coin a term for this kind of thing. But a movie that is uniformly excellent, and yet there is a stretch of it that is like transcendent, send it where I think the first 30 minutes of this movie to me the book ends to me it's the

1:05:04Griffin Newman:first 30 kind of last 20 or really what the first 30 I like yes the first 30 you're basically like why is this film not talked about constantly right I understand like that Schindler's list came out in 1993 like yeah or whatever but like why am I not always hearing about fearless and And then the middle is not bad at all. It is good. It makes sense for the movie it's trying to be or whatever. But it's a little less thrilling, I guess. Whatever, you know.

1:05:35David Sims:And no point does the movie lose me. No. But the first 30 minutes, I'm, as you're saying, leaning and going like, wait, is this actually one of the best films ever made? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it has a little bit of that picnic at Hanging Rock thing where you're like, what is this mood he's captured? It's so spooky, right. What is this feeling with such kind of like invisible craft? I cannot think of another movie that feels like this. And so much of it is him being able to do this, especially in the first chunk where he is inscrutable. Right. Where it's a while until we backfill kind of who this guy is.

1:06:08David Sims:Which is really smart. And you're just like, what the fuck is motivating his decisions? I understand he just walked off of a plane crash, but why is he doing this? And you're so locked into everything he's doing because every little moment is like three hyper-specific emotions that are legible without being, like, overly communicated to the audience, right? He's not doing anything, like, showy. He's not indicating. And it's almost like the thing that he gets to, the emotion that he gets to, is the one that in the script is supposed to be there, or maybe other actors could find their way to. It's just he somehow manages to choose the most interesting path to it.

1:06:48Griffin Newman:Yeah. Yeah. The film, just to give you the dossier a little bit Like I said, Peter Weir had done Dead Poets Society and Green Card Basically back to back Because he was trying to get Green Card made Makes Dead Poets Society while he's trying to get that made And then goes right to Green Card And he said he needed a rest He was apparently covered in French piss Not sure what was going on there I do your taxes for you Here is the trick, you no file

1:07:16David Sims:We have not recorded our Green Card episode

1:07:18Griffin Newman:I have some ideas.

1:07:21David Sims:The time we're doing this. I just like, I can't even imagine. That is going to be on. How many piss jokes our listeners will have heard at this point. It is going to be unlistenable.

1:07:29Griffin Newman:A movie, Green Card, to be clear, a movie I really love and like really is a movie that makes me happy. But the piss jokes. They write themselves. So he's Peter Weir. Kind of a wellness king, I'm going to say. Kind of a self-healing. Okay. because he's just like moving going back to Sydney and I'm going to chill I am going to apparently spend this break reading swimming yeah learning French and tending to my garden that's right taking it easy and he thinks exactly he he never moved to LA he thinks that like it kind of helped his directorial I stay sharper just to stay out of the scene a little bit uh on hook from with the directors.

1:08:16That is true.

1:08:16Griffin Newman:And he does say this here, like it's too bad I never saw like a 6 '5 guy at a gym who was on an HBO show. What are you, 6 '6? How tall are you? 6 '5, yes. 6 '5, 6 '6 in that little range there. It's crazy that that's quote in there. I know. Shouts to JJ. He said it in 1993 to Premier Magazine. And he doesn't want to make another green card. He's like, green card had done, it was successful, it was a direction I didn't want to continue in. I was a little uneasy with the success. I wanted to do something a little more difficult. Well, Hollywood always wants you to do the thing you just did. Of course.

1:08:46Griffin Newman:They're going to throw those versions of the scripts they've got.

1:08:49David Sims:And he wants to make a rom-com. People are like, you can't make a rom-com. He makes a rom-com well. And they're like, congrats, you've proven it. Make 10 more rom-coms. Right, right.

1:08:56Griffin Newman:So he dips his toe back into the, you know, blah-like situation. He's a big deal director. He's an Oscar nominee. And so he says... Two times now. Dos. Dos. And he says he got sent, I think three, because he got a green card nom too for screenplay. Oh, you're right. And he got sent a bunch of scripts, he said that were basically like, go pictures, right? You're a big shot. Like, what do you want to do? And he was like, these are all suck. Like, not interested. Nothing edgy, nothing strange. Everything was clear and logical. Nothing was unconscious. And he said, all these films are out right now.

1:09:27Griffin Newman:They are films that were made. I'd love to know. But basically, he's like, these are scripts that Hollywood had cleaned up already. You know what I mean? And I just was bored by like, whatever notes get put through, you know, the studio. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fearless, however, right, is based, like you said, it's a spec script based on a book that hasn't even come out yet. Raphael Iglesias, father of normal man, Matt Iglesias, had written this book. It was like, I think his seventh book or something. And it's the first draft script and we're like, thank you. This has not been fucked with. This is weird.

1:10:06David Sims:He adapts his own unpublished book.

1:10:08Griffin Newman:Right. Get me this right away. Now, Rafael Iglesias is inspired by he was in a car accident a long time, like in the 70s or whatever, and had like walked away, you know, no injuries, shaken up. He's still got that kind of like it took him days to readjust to life. He starts getting obsessed with plane crashes, which normal people like me are also obsessed with. Oh, I feel like this really will lead to a we have to have a sidebar. We're pinning this on board. It's not a sidebar. It's a main bar. Okay. It's a satellite. We're going to crash. And then he, in 89, reads about the notorious United Flight 232 crash.

1:10:45Griffin Newman:I don't know if you know about it, which is like a famous crash in aviation history in that like the thing that happened was a one in a million thing, like a crazy mechanical failure that fucked up the engines and the hydraulics. So the plane, you know, landed, but crash landed onto like, you know, they tried to get it on a runway, but not really in like South Dakota or Iowa, some, you know, somewhere. and a lot of people died but a lot did not and some people walked out on scale and other people died it was like a hundred people died 180 survived something like it's and it is in like a plane crash history like they have simulated a million times and it's never this been they've never gotten as good a result they're like we don't understand how like this actually went quote-unquote so well.

1:11:33David Sims:But also in an era of newly launched 24-hour news, I feel like plane crash culture explodes in the 90s, you know? If a plane crash goes wrong, it's like we're staying on this beat for days and following it. It just felt like, I don't know, the coverage of these things became a lot louder than it had previously been. I'm sure, for sure. Is Hero the same year as this movie, Stephen Freer's movie?

1:12:01Griffin Newman:I think that film starred Jet Li and came out in 2002 Griffin no I think that film is

1:12:07David Sims:also by the way title of a Jet Li film yeah right

1:12:10Griffin Newman:that's right not a bad movie Hero is 92 so the year before okay

1:12:13David Sims:a very different movie but is similarly kind of obsessed with what happens to the people who walk off walk out of a crash alive

1:12:22Griffin Newman:yeah so Weir likes the script has some notes pretty much immediately which is kind of his move Like that's what he did with Dead Poets Society as well. Initially, he's like, I really thought it was a daring movie, but it's two movies. The first 25 pages, the original script was straight through, right? So plane crash, then aftermath. Oh, sure. So the first 25 pages are about the plane crash, how you cope with the knowledge you're going to die, all this. And then the next part is that. So he's like, no, we're going to intersperse the plane crash throughout, right? Like we're going to do the structure of the movie, which is basically like start after the crash and then build the flashbacks out a little bit, little by little, which I think is why the movie works.

1:13:07Griffin Newman:Yeah. Because you'd be too overwhelmed if it started with the plane crash.

1:13:12David Sims:Yeah, and it's too conventional. And it's conventional. What's so striking about the opening?

1:13:16Griffin Newman:It's about him reaching an emotional realization about what happened to him, right? Right. So it helps to see, I mean, another great film about a plane crash, Sully, does basically the same thing. Agreed.

1:13:25David Sims:But also this movie is about like a rebirth, right? That he walks off. He walks out of this crash feeling like a different person in a way. And so dramatically, the most impactful thing you can do is start the movie with that guy. And then slowly catch up to everyone around him being like, the fuck happened to you? Because the first 30 minutes, he does feel like Starman.

1:13:46Griffin Newman:Yes. Where you're like, is this a person who's outside of reality? Being in a place before? Yeah. What were you going to say, Hitmaker? Well, it is like, no, I think you're. Say it to Baby Joey. and who is that it's the baby from superman your favorite movie of 2025 oh yeah that was my favorite movie of 2025 um the um and he did go to julio and he well you can see i'm gonna fucking murder you i i think there is something interesting about like yes about that structure and as he gets sort of closer back to real life him remembering more and more of it or or whatever or the audience learning more and more about it, you could also then say he's remembering more and more of it, if you want to take that examination of it.

1:14:32But also, like, the first 25 minutes are a little bit odd to cope with because you realize that he didn't call his wife. Yes. Like, that is...

1:14:43Griffin Newman:Yeah, no, I mean, that is... If I'm his wife, I have some notes. I have some questions. Some cues. Wait, you mean to tell me you just went to go visit your college girlfriend?

1:14:54David Sims:Let's just like speed round, okay? Movie starts, he's walking through a cornfield. It's like... With a baby. Quiet Warner Brothers logo. And then it's like cornfield. Here's Jeff Bridges with a baby. He's very calmly like, ooh, who's missing a baby? Hands the baby back. Says goodbye to the child. Goes to first responders. It's like, I gotta get in a train. Gets on a train. Meets up with his college girlfriend. orders a bowl of raspberries. Well, he goes to the hotel, takes a shower,

1:15:24Griffin Newman:realizes that he's got a gash inside

1:15:27David Sims:that should be like stitched. Like it's a deep gash. But everyone else is like crying and screaming and he's just like,

1:15:34Griffin Newman:I need to get to a hotel. Yeah.

1:15:36David Sims:I need to find my college ex-girlfriend, check out my chest, eat the strawberry. She's like, aren't you fucking allergic while she's like spiraling about her life has gone awry.

1:15:45Griffin Newman:Deborah Monk, by the way, absolutely crushing that scene. She's so fucking good. Yes. I just love someone like that, like a theater actor, who can just come in and be like, I'll give you a full picture of this person really fast.

1:15:57David Sims:You're real clown in this movie? Yes, absolutely. It's out of control in two scenes? Yep. I did a short film. We've heard of him. Huh? Short films? Yeah, well, short films. Shorties watching shorties. My friend Dan Bulla wrote and directed. He is a... SNL. SNL writer. Yeah. Yeah. And there was it's about a guy who thinks he wins the lottery and then just kind of goes off the rails. And at one point, there was a moment in this movie that I really liked that if anybody's ever seen the short film Winners by Dan Bulla, I wonder if it was when he's basically eats the strawberry and he and she's like, I thought you were, I thought you were allergic.

1:16:36And he was like, I'm past all that. there's a moment in winners where somebody says to me you're not wearing shoes and i i just say i'm done with shoes good and this is a very deep cut reference but i i really liked that moment just because he was like it almost feels you know what it feels like what and i think you should leave sketch a tim robinson character where he's like a little bit i'm past all that

1:17:02David Sims:I'm past all that people can change

1:17:04Griffin Newman:people can change

1:17:05David Sims:people can change

1:17:06Griffin Newman:Mrs. Stoutfire this guy used to slop up his steaks Mrs. Stoutfire is also 93 okay so there's two movies about strawberry allergies in 1993 right? right isn't it Mrs. Stoutfire strawberries? right? oh yeah it's I just know the famous quote

1:17:22David Sims:which is of course hello hello it's 15 minutes before he returns home but it feels like 30 it does Because the movie is just operating like out of space and time almost. Very dreamy. But yeah, they find him outside the diner. Yeah. The representative from the airline is like, this is the last guy we haven't been able to track down and do damage control with.

1:17:44Griffin Newman:Right. And I mean, well, there's the two, there's the guys where he's like, am I under arrest? And they're like, I mean, no, you haven't done anything. No. They're just like, you're just being weird. Do you recognize this man? Right. And it's his, like the license of his business partner. John Lancey. And he's like, yeah, I do. They're trying to lie to John Delancey because John Delancey's body was separated from his head.

1:18:08David Sims:But also, like, is this guy a liability? I mean, that's what's going on. So much of this movie is the circling all the insurance companies and the lawyers. And how does all of this get settled? And this guy is just like beyond all of that.

1:18:20Griffin Newman:Right. And then, right, I love the airline lady being like, so we booked you on Amtrak, of course. And he's like, no, I'll take a plane right now, baby, first class. And she's like, okay, like, cool. And she's got to be thinking like, this is so great for us. Yeah. Like, how can he sue us? Right. Right. Right. Right.

1:18:35David Sims:Right. That's all of these conversations are everyone walking on pins and needles trying to make sure that they're no one's going to say the thing that cost them a hundred million dollars. Right. And they put him on the plane next to John Turturro playing a very calm, dry.

1:18:52Griffin Newman:This is great casting.

1:18:54David Sims:Still man.

1:18:55Griffin Newman:Him and Tom Wallsley. You mean physically dry. Yeah. Like, yeah. Right. I mean, this is like, it's a couple years after Jungle Fever. Like, I think he's mostly at this point still a Spike Lee guy, right? Like, and like, you know, those early Woody Allen movies that he's in and stuff.

1:19:11David Sims:But he's done Miller's Crossing already or is that the same?

1:19:12Griffin Newman:Miller's Crossing is, yeah. What is that, 90? Yeah. So he's done Miller's Crossing as well. Yeah, God. So he's just a guy you like to see in a movie.

1:19:18David Sims:Yeah. But this, I feel like they're coasting off a lot of look into your heart in this. Sure. Of like, right. Is this guy a fucking rat? He's, you know, a therapist. hired by the airlines to manage the psychological kind of trauma of the survivors who they kind of sneak onto the plane next to him. Bridges immediately calls him out. And then like minute 15, he walks through his front door to his wife and child who he has made no attempt to contact. And everyone is bawling. There are like 10 family members there. Tom Holtz is a lawyer.

1:19:52Griffin Newman:I never thought he's planted. I didn't even actually make the connection. I thought it was It's just random, but it makes more total sense that like they rushed him like last minute to get into that seat on that play. Right.

1:20:05David Sims:But because they're like, this guy says he wants to go back on a plane, but like 90 % chance the thing takes off and he starts screaming and ripping the chairs out. Totally. Everyone's in such a like intense holding pattern of, right, how do we mitigate this situation? He shows it back home. This is the beginning of him needing to butt up against the expectation of how he behaves. Everything up until that point in the movie is what's going on with this guy, right? As an audience, but he's kind of like warping the world around him. The second he's back in his familial home, there's a sense of like, the fuck is up with you.

1:20:44David Sims:Down to like how calmly he slaps John Turturro. that yeah there isn't some ramp up big explosive i think you should leave type moment he just in a very focused way is like nope not doing this there was though a thing that maybe just stuck out a little bit to me like i don't know i've been kind of i've only seen it twice and i have kind of gone back and forth and it'll come up in all the conversations what we're doing about the emotional like the what's going on emotionally but there is something a little bit about him slapping John Turturro that feels maybe out of place in that moment?

1:21:20Griffin Newman:Well, it's too much. And Turturro reacts by just being like, I can't help him right now. You know, I'm going to go rather than freak out. But yeah, I mean, he was just in a plane crash where like half the people died or more. So like he can really do anything and no one's really going to call him out. That's the big thing. That's not why he's behaving that way. But it's why everyone is walking around on tiptoes around him.

1:21:44David Sims:It's the post-Strawberry moment. It's that here's this guy who had this allergy that almost killed him as a child. And he just goes like, fuck it. I'm going to try eating a whole bowl and they taste delicious and he has no problems. And there is a part of him that thinks maybe I am dead. This is not real. But even if it is real, then no rules apply to me anymore. And there's a sense of like testing the boundaries of just I'm going to do like no impulse control whatsoever. OK. if this guy's annoying me I'm gonna slap him in the face and he needs to do something that extreme for everyone around him to go like what the fuck is going on here because everyone up until that point especially to Turu who's been sitting next to him is like it's actually alarming how calm he seems to be

1:22:28Griffin Newman:look I mean if we're doing the end of the movie like he he basically looks into the other world or whatever and then after that he's calm he's like you know whatever he's shed of human feeling I feel like that that makes the way that you just described that makes a little bit more sense when I was rewatching it last night there was a part of me that felt like that was the underneath of it bubbling up too early in the performance like like the internal thing rather than a like an external testing of boundaries it seemed to mean more like it was revealing what was going on like that there was this thing underneath him he has this calm yes but that it almost feels like that's a little bit too early to show a crack in it.

1:23:15That was the way I read it last night.

1:23:17David Sims:I think it's more like we've watched for 15 minutes as this guy is in like accidental vacation mode. Right. I'm going to rent a car. I'm going to stick my head out the window. I'm going to like park it on the side of the road and just sit with my sunglasses on. He's going to rent a car,

1:23:31Griffin Newman:drive 80 miles an hour with his eyes closed. Right.

1:23:34David Sims:He's going for it. That's how I am. And his college girlfriend, someone he has this like history with but hasn't seen in decades. It's right. Like none of this is real. None of these are like real interactions that affect his daily life. And I think he's like having a really quick adverse reaction to entering a space where everyone is expecting him to be the guy he was before. And it's sort of like first idea, best idea. Yeah. You know, the way if someone's annoying you, you're like, God, I wish I could hit this guy in the fucking face. And you knock that thought down immediately. He's like, well, what I'm going to do is hit him in the face.

1:24:11David Sims:And Turturro's response is, yeah, cool, makes sense. You need to be doing something weird now because you just almost died.

1:24:18Griffin Newman:But I don't think it's just that he's doing what we all wanted to do, which is give Turturro a slap and a kisser. I mean, I've thought about it. I can't deny it. It's that Turturro is picking at something he can't think about. And so he reacts. You know, he gets angriest, don't you think? Like, you know, he's, he has put it away. He can't think about what happened when the boy comes to stay with him. Cause he's like, I just can't stop thinking about how good you were. Like, you know, how you helped me. He doesn't want to confront what he did. He doesn't want to talk about what he did. Right. He's like, I did nothing.

1:24:54Griffin Newman:Yeah. And again and again, he's just like, no, no, no, no, no. Whatever, whatever, whatever, you know. And when he meets Rosie Perez, it's like, he's like, I feel like love for her. like I'm connected with her in this element he can't describe why he can't talk about the plane crash ever

1:25:12David Sims:she is the other person that he comes across who treats that as the first day of a new life sure but for her she entered hell

1:25:20Griffin Newman:and she basically entered heaven

1:25:22David Sims:this is one of the most spiritual mainstream movies I have ever seen without being religious in any way it is also like second rewatch I will say I was like obviously there are going to be a lot of like a lot of religious imagery or talk about angels or whatever but like the first thing and this is just me not knowing a lot about yeah the bible but like the first thing he does walking out of the cornfield with a with a tiny baby and the first thing the first characters that you see are three like field workers kneeling down and crossing themselves i was like oh wait was this movie like much more directly religious than i remember i

1:26:09Griffin Newman:don't from the first time right but i don't think i don't think so yeah like i don't i think it's

1:26:13David Sims:more that like the people around him keep trying to put that on him and on the situation right and obviously like rosie perez's character comes from a more religious background but both of them have experienced something that goes beyond that. Yeah. That transcends the codex of being able to use this book to process experiences. And that's what their connection is, is like, we're going through different things, but we're the only two people who understand that something changed and we're not the person those people knew before. Which is really profound.

1:26:58David?

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1:31:05Do you guys want to talk momentarily about plane crashes? Sure, anytime. And our generalized feelings about them? Main bar. Main bar. Main bar. We got a main bar here. Who starts? Who starts?

1:31:17Griffin Newman:I don't understand. Like, what do you want me to say about plane crashes? Well, you don't fly on planes? Or you... I haven't flown on a plane since COVID. Now, I've got the excuse that I have young children, so there's been no... And all my extended family lives in New York, right? So I'm not compelled to travel afar to see family, which is like any of my friends with kids when they're getting on a plane. And you're like, Jesus, you've taken kids on planes. It's a pain in the ass, I'm sure. They're like, yeah, but I got to see my... And I'm like, right, you got to fly to wherever. I don't have to do that.

1:31:49Griffin Newman:I haven't flown for work. I don't like flying. I have flown on many, many, many planes. Like, this is not a, like, paralyzing thing. But I've been avoiding it. Uh-oh. It's going to have to happen again sometime. That won't be fun for me.

1:32:03David Sims:Because two things. In the years leading up to the pandemic, you started winding down your desire. I shouldn't say desire. Your tolerance for covering anything that would require a flight. That is not true. I feel like in the early years of us being friends, you flew more for work.

1:32:21Griffin Newman:I flew twice in 2020. I flew to Utah for Sundance. I flew to Charleston to go on vacation. I used to get, I just don't like it. I take drugs to calm myself down and I deal with it. Like, but I don't like it. I have been a throw a Zanny down. I'm a Clonny guy. Okay. A little Clonny guy. A little Clonny boy. Okay. I got a little, got a bunch of Clonny's. Okay. And if anyone wants them, come to my house. I don't think you can. Whoa. I don't think you can do that. I mean, the address is... Main feed. Main feed. No, I have a prescription, a medical prescription for anxiety on planes. Right, but I don't think that legally gives you the right to be able to just hand them out or sell them.

1:33:03Griffin Newman:$100 per pill in my house if you come there. We're launching a new tier.

1:33:08David Sims:The Clonnie Boy tier? No ads, free Clonnie. Technically, you're paying for the podcast. The Clonnie is free. It's like the Dallas Buyers Club. Yes. Yes.

1:33:20Griffin Newman:But I know a lot about plane crashes because I'm an anxious flyer, and I think a lot of anxious flyers do what I do, which is sort of like, well, okay, let me understand what went wrong with a plane to understand that it's very unlikely. You research it.

1:33:32David Sims:You talk about that you watch successful plane landing sometimes to calm yourself down. I haven't done that in a while.

1:33:37Griffin Newman:TikTok was showing me those for a while.

1:33:39David Sims:This is you thinking out loud, but there was some conversation we had like this off mic with a guest where they were interrogating you. not interrogating but asking you about the plane thing right and how high your level of anxiety was and you did say out loud I don't know if I ever go on a plane again

1:33:54Griffin Newman:fuck planes why would I go on one of those things you did say exactly I gotta say anytime a friend of mine takes a plane there's always some bullshit happening it feels like air travel sucks it doesn't help that air travel sucks it's delayed it's hard to get places you know what I mean it just sucks in every way now

1:34:12David Sims:I love going to places

1:34:14Griffin Newman:I find almost everything about flying annoying. You used to be a big flying fan, I feel like. You were like, I genuinely like flying.

1:34:24David Sims:Well, my thing is I have no problems with the being in the air and a giant mechanical bird part of it. I find the hell is other people part of it. Right. They're making it harder. I think airports basically bring out the worst in people. I think airlines keep on making everything worse and more expensive. I think post-pandemic everyone's lost their fucking minds and it just becomes like an ultimate pressure cooker thing. Right. But I don't dislike the act of it once we're like in the air. Okay. I actually kind of find it relaxing. I have all my piccadillos of like, I need to be in the right seat.

1:35:03Griffin Newman:Jerking off.

1:35:03David Sims:I got to jerk off four or five times. Got to be dick out.

1:35:05Griffin Newman:Yeah, right. Yeah, right.

1:35:06David Sims:I got to drink seven bottles of white Zinfandel. Got to piss in the aisle. Not do your French taxes. Yeah, exactly. Need to not memorize my lines and have people feed them to me with a New York piece.

1:35:17Griffin Newman:No, no, no. Piss on the taxes. I owe them nothing.

1:35:21David Sims:Yeah. But,

1:35:25Griffin Newman:Jared Depardee's also done worse things, just to be clear. Yes, he's been accused of various things. And we talked about it on the Green Card episode briefly just to address that we are conscious and we know that Jared Depardee has been accused of bad things. You are both very tall men.

1:35:40David Sims:I know you bring up, David, that on top of your, like, flying anxiety that you're also like, I don't like being in a small space. I don't like this and that, right? Like, despite being a little guy, I can get claustrophobic really quickly. And I need, like, exit paths more for bathroom than, like, what if this crashes shit.

1:35:58Griffin Newman:I'm with you on all that, too, though, for sure.

1:35:59David Sims:So I'm, like, very specific about, like, where my seat is and times of flight and routines and all that sort of shit. but anytime I'm on a plane and there's like extreme turbulence for someone who like as a child was so all-consuming and his obsession with death anxiety of death every time that happens now I'm like if this plane goes down that is what it is yeah like I have this tranquility absolute like I guess maybe this is how I die kind of

1:36:27Griffin Newman:I don't like turbulence but turbulence bothers me the least because that's actually the least dangerous thing on a plane are you able to Are you able to engage with plane crashes in movies? Yeah, but I mean, this to me, I said this on Letterboxd, this is the final boss plane crash movie. I have seen the plane crash in this movie. You know what I mean? But I do feel like until maybe Flight, Griff, do you have any other takes? Flight and Sully. Well, but Sully is about a successful air, forced water landing. A successful forced water landing. It's not a crash.

1:37:02David Sims:It's not a crash.

1:37:02Griffin Newman:Nobody died in Sully. like yes it's intense and scary but like you know Sully's obvious but like one time I took my kids flight obviously is also about I guess it's sort of mostly people walk away from that one right it's also fictional he did roll it he was gonna roll it one time I took my kids to like a Lego exhibition cool and there was a Lego miracle on the Hudson it was like they had made the little Hudson and they made the plane all the people getting off on the wings I just wanted to throw that in great place but I feel like I mean I guess cast away but it's like it's the two Zemeckis You know, but that's like a passenger plane.

1:37:37David Sims:When Castaway came out, people were like, this is the best plane crash ever committed to film. And then when Flake came out, they were like, Zemeckis has topped himself. Right. What's fascinating about this one.

1:37:47Griffin Newman:Fearless was always the kind of like, that's the most like sort of graphic, realistic, or whatever, you know, like a visceral plane crash scene in a movie. Obviously, it's also an entire movie about a plane crash. It's people wrestling with what happened on the plane crash. is the awful thing of what happened to Rosie's, Rosie Perez's character. Like, you know, like, it's the plane crash movie. This is the fucking plane crash movie.

1:38:12David Sims:What is most interesting about Weir's approach to the plane crash to me? Aside from... I think spacing it out is brilliant. Yes, I agree. And you're getting only these little slivers. He's holding off for so long. And in those little slivers that are mostly about dramatizing the human reaction to this thing going wrong and getting worse, which he does really, really well. Those moments are very intense. But cinematically, he is just using like Star Trek original series tricks. Mostly. Until the final sequence, he's truly just like kind of shaking the camera and shaking the set. Yeah. And it's well done and it's well acted.

1:38:48David Sims:And I'm rewatching it and I'm going like, man, David texted this as the ultimate plane crash movie. He gets it right dramatically, but it's not that visceral. And I forgot how extreme the end sequence is.

1:38:59Griffin Newman:why the end is so transcendent. Like, he's finally looking at it again. And you said realistic.

1:39:04David Sims:Realistic in the sense that it hits so many different beats of what would happen. It visualizes the different elements of what happens in a crash, but it also does feel stylized. It feels nightmarish while also feeling, like, transcendent and almost holy. And I was remarking to myself last night that, again, to, like, the 1993 of, like, from the director of Witness and Dead Poets Society. The fact that they take the time to show not only the collection of sharp materials, but also high heels. The moment where she just opens the bathroom door and throws all the hot... And she's like crying. I didn't know this was part of the process until now.

1:39:47I still don't, but that feels like a really amazing dramatization of the fucking sort of absurdity of the terror of a moment like that.

1:39:59Griffin Newman:She's doing her training or whatever. Yeah. It's one of my favorite moments, favorite things that can happen. What do I do with this baby?

1:40:07David Sims:And they're like, I don't know. We don't know. I mean, one of my favorite experiences I can have watching a fictional scripted film is to go, that must be how it really happens. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even if I'm watching some film.

1:40:20Griffin Newman:They must have called somebody and checked, yeah.

1:40:22David Sims:You don't make that up. That was research. That was experienced. And like the the flight attendant character is based on a real woman who had given false advice based on older protocols of what you should do.

1:40:34Griffin Newman:Jesus freaking freaks me out.

1:40:36David Sims:I won't get into the details of it, but basically gave the wrong advice. The child died and basically spent the next like two decades of her life fighting to change the laws and the protocols to be like, this is like the unfortunate sacrifice in the cautionary tale. We need to change this. But basically the argument was the sample size is so small. We don't know.

1:41:00Griffin Newman:Right. This only happens every right. Very rarely. I mean, yes.

1:41:04David Sims:And the variables are so extreme that you can't like simulate this and test the best way to handle, right. But the point of this movie,

1:41:15Griffin Newman:obviously the point of what he does with Rosie Perez, normal therapy stuff. Uh-huh. You know, they're right. Everything they would do, I would say is. I think everything they do is completely normal. Medically recommended.

1:41:24David Sims:We should also acknowledge Rosie Perez in a stellar performance. Great performance. Very deserved Oscar nomination. Coming off like an incredible four or five year run for her that basically ends with this. It is...

1:41:36Griffin Newman:I mean, it's not like she's not a working actor, but you're right. It's a huge bummer that she did not like, you know, whatever. I went to the Wikipedia and I was like, clearly

1:41:44David Sims:it didn't sustain, but what were the post-Oscar, like, bump nomination bump roles she got? And you're like, no, it kind of, all the best stuff is before this. Right. And I feel like every five or six years, someone will clearly be like, I'm going to bring Rosie Perez back. And she's always good. Always good. And it never totally hits

1:42:02Griffin Newman:She should have won the Oscar this year as much as I love Anna Paquin, but she's like, she to me, and she was sort of like, she won the Critics Awards. Like she was sort of the, whatever, you know, the favorite. I think this movie is kind of, I'd say this positively, but like kind of woo-woo. And like. Yeah. Oh, for sure. Is, you know, wasn't hugely successful. It was critically like, it got respectable reviews, like, but it didn't get, I don't think like the kind of flat out raves you need. And like, it was the Schindler's List. piano fugitive there's all these fucking great heavy hitters I have remembered

1:42:36David Sims:so confidently that Bridges did get nominated for this and I was like in what fucking universe does he not get nominated and then you're like oh the five nominees are Liam Neeson for Schindler's List Anthony Hopkins Remains of the Day

1:42:50Griffin Newman:keep going

1:42:51David Sims:Daniel Day-Lewis in the Name of the Father incredible performance I know the sort of surprise nominee in the batch was Lawrence Fishburne for What's Love Got to Do With It, who hadn't gotten the precursors, but deservedly got the Oscar nom. And then fucking Tom Hanks for Philadelphia. Jesus. And you're like, yeah, you're right. That is the one year where Bridges wouldn't have made it in. And we said the same thing in Witness of like, how did fucking Ford not get nominated for Fugitive? And you're like, that five. The Globes even nominated Ford. Right. There is one thing that I will throw out there that this almost feels like a movie and a performance that is, yes, there is the woo-woo parts of it, but I could see people being like, I don't know that I really want to, like obviously incredible and poor performance that she gives, but one that I could understand if people were like, I don't really want to engage with this.

1:43:45I don't want to engage with what this woman is having to deal with. I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about a plane crash. I also really don't want to think about the death of my baby. I could see that being a factor working against it. You know what I mean? Well, I kept thinking about Flay while watching this. Which I will say. Yeah. It's going back to main bar. I have broadly always been a pretty good flyer when our kids were born.

1:44:12Griffin Newman:You gotta travel for work all the time. I gotta travel for work all the time. I feel like I'm... You're a hit maker. You know what? Sometimes hits, they get produced in other states or other countries. And you fly to your gym. Almost exclusively in Budapest these days. I fly to my gym. You fly to your gym. Of course. But that is like, that's just a little two-seater, just like a little fun. That's your PJ. They're like, Hitmaker coming in. Parachuteout. There was a period of time, and I'm much better about this now, but right after my kids were born, it became a thing where I was like all of a sudden terrified to fly in ways I cannot describe.

1:44:54Griffin Newman:But was it just, okay, terrified to fly. So it wasn't just like, it is so difficult to fly with young children. It was also like, I'm existentially afraid for their... I am existentially, I was honestly, I guess I've heard a lot of parents talk about this where I'm kind of okay with flying if we're all together. Right. I was terrified when I was leaving them. Yeah, absolutely. And the sort of sharp focus that would get thrown into... Like this could be the last time I'm reading by. This could be the last time and I don't like that.

1:45:23David Sims:I was talking about this on draft day. Yeah. Why you were even hesitant to like take quick trips to go back and visit them if you had a couple days off where you were like limit the. They were less than a year. Am I wrong? That was they would have been.

1:45:37Griffin Newman:They'd just been born and you said I'm out of here. I think is what I'm saying. Yes. That was. Right. I mean, like, look. Yeah. That's like a paraphrase. Sure. But the doctor was like, do you want to hold your baby? And you were like, I'm draft day. Draft day. Do you not know who Kevin fucking Costner is? Kevin fucking Costner. You were yelling that from your helicopter. I was in the... Took off from the hospital. There was like one of those like life flights that got delayed because I was screaming at the NICU doctor being like Kevin fucking Costner. It was like Batman and Darth Vader gets sucked up into the airplane.

1:46:10David Sims:Sorry. The part of it is, it's not like you were a late in life success, but you had done a lot of theater. You had like worked in casting. I'm very...

1:46:19Griffin Newman:I'm sorry. I mean, again, a paraphrase of what he just said. But yes, it was to the point. Yeah, you're a little older and had kids.

1:46:26David Sims:Then you have children. And then it's like, suddenly you like, you got it. Right? It was like, you got Veep and like things started rolling. And you stayed blessed and booked and busy since then. But draft day, I feel like was only after you had done the second season of Veep. So the kids are probably right around two at that point. but it was still very much in that thing of like i had to take xanax but i had this experience of like it was either i was terrified for the entire flight if i didn't take it yes or i would take it and then halfway through the flight would wake up in in like the xanax haze and it was like i woke up to new to know that we were flying through a city about to hit a building well so right you know what i mean and i was okay with it because i was on the xanax because i have to be in goosebumps Like that kind of shit.

1:47:17Griffin Newman:And the attendee would lean down and say, we'll be at Riyadh soon. And don't worry, your car will take you right to the comedy. Right, of course. Meeting you at the headlining. And I would tell even the person on the plane, I have no qualms about what I'm doing. No. You'd be like, I'm scared of the flight. Not of the great people I'll be entertaining.

1:47:35David Sims:These people deserve to hear comedy and I am a truth teller. I just remember you talking about all this anxiety a lot because it was also the like, you're leaving your wife at home with twins, right? Yes, there's that. And there's the part of like, you never know when it's going to stop. So if jobs are like lining up and especially if it's like starting for the first time, you're like, do I have to like ride this out? Yeah. As long as I'm like holding a hot hand. And then the other part of it was you're like, I have twins. Like this is going to cost me for the rest of my life. Yeah. I got to take all these small parts, but it means you're traveling all the time.

1:48:09But you do feel like you've... I'm like kind of way past it now. My wife is a terrible flyer. Wow. And so I... My heart is with her. I, and so like we have talked about ways that we work through that and how I can be more supportive, which I do think she doesn't listen to this podcast, so she will not be here to rebut me. Smart. That I do feel...

1:48:30Griffin Newman:You don't listen to her, but she doesn't listen to this podcast. Yes. I have tried to become better at how I can support her, but I do feel like I never think about taking Xanax anymore. And frankly, like, I kind of enjoy it now. And even when I have to, like, fly it, like, recently I flew back from somewhere, like, in the 23rd row in the middle seat. And I was like, you know what? I had a great time. And I watched Slow Horses. And this is fun. Man of the people here. He's got a sag nom, but it don't matter. He's flying in row 23. Row 23, middle seat. Put my little iPad in the holder with my big old legs.

1:49:06and but I will say I have never seen the movie Plane because that came out in that period of time the um Plane

1:49:15Griffin Newman:sorry no Flight yeah yeah Plane is the Gerard Butler movie Plane is they crash they just kind of land in like Action Island or whatever yes but I never saw Flight Flight is scary right Flight came out in that period of time where I was like oh I am not going to be engaging with this movie my whole thing with what's the other like plane crash classics, right? Like, the lost pilot, but like, you know, movies, like,

1:49:41David Sims:Cast Away, Fly, I'm trying to think of, like, Fly the Navigator, but I'm like, things, you're saying things that, like, show a plane crash as an extended sequence? Yeah, like, in, like, visceral detail

1:49:48Griffin Newman:of some sort, you know, like, Final Destination, I suppose. Well, sure, yes.

1:49:52David Sims:That one doesn't turn out so well. Die Hard 2.

1:49:56Griffin Newman:Yeah. That stuff, it's so absurd, right? Like, it's like, and it's like, anything where it's like a terrorist blows up a plane Air Force One level stuff. You're like, Like, well, I think I'm okay. The freaky ones are the ones that are depicting somewhat realistically a real-ish plane accident. United 93.

1:50:14David Sims:I would say kind of a historically bad plane incident.

1:50:18Griffin Newman:That is a... I will speak truth to power and say that movie's a little stressful.

1:50:22David Sims:It's a little stressful. It's a little stressful. There was a movie that I was watching recently that had a... Recently, this was probably 10 years ago. I watched On a Plane. had a very famous plane explosion in the beginning of it. And I was watching it on a plane. They edited out the explosion. Oh, yeah. Planes will... Oh, yeah.

1:50:42Griffin Newman:Oh, movie on plane will get rid of a plane crash. They will just do it. Or not have the movie air at all. You know what we're forgetting? What? This is such a grounded, realistic take on the plane crash, a con air. Con air. Yeah, and that is... And I do... I don't fly much, but I will fly con air regularly. And I am a Miles member of con air. I love a cage. Exactly.

1:51:02David Sims:They should have a cage more often as an option. I have to correct you, Ben. That wasn't a crash. That was a forced Vegas strip land. That's right.

1:51:11Griffin Newman:I mean, and Cyrus the Virus, I do think has been a pretty good Secretary of State for Donald Trump. I don't know what you guys think. He's a good guy. We talked about Flight several years ago.

1:51:24David Sims:That is a movie where every time I watch it, and I try to circle back to it.

1:51:28Griffin Newman:Another movie about reckoning with Aftermath.

1:51:30David Sims:This is my thing, is that Flight for me, the first half is unbelievable. Yeah. And every time I watch it, I expect it to go down more smoothly, but I bump against how kind of pat it feels in the whole movie getting simplified to you got to get sober and find Christ again. It's not an incredibly well-written movie, despite its screenplay on page. Right, right. Whereas I'm like, this movie is spiritual because it's in conversation with the intangible. whereas flight is like you gotta just buy into these two pre-established

1:51:59Griffin Newman:systems there's one sort of supernatural thing that happens in this movie which is he can eat the strawberries right that's the one thing where you're like okay we're going a little beyond science here I guess maybe his body his nervous system is in such a bizarre state

1:52:13David Sims:my read especially

1:52:14Griffin Newman:but I don't know how allergies work

1:52:17David Sims:I was just like when I watch it I'm like it must be something with his adrenaline

1:52:21Griffin Newman:We don't mind watching it, I feel. Everything else in the movie, I mean, sure, he behaves badly. He walks into traffic. He drives too fast, things like that. But you're like, it's not unbreakable where it's like he genuinely cannot be harmed. He doesn't seem magical. No, exactly. But that's why Bridges is so good because he just seems a little out of step with real life. Yes. He just feels a little touched or a little angelic or a little whatever you want to call it.

1:52:50David Sims:I like that this movie is like, there aren't answers for this. There's nothing that can speak to what he's feeling or what she's feeling, you know? When I hear about people who have tragedies like what befalls the Rosie Perez character here, I go like, I literally don't know how you wake up the next morning. Yeah, no. I just don't understand how you could possibly ever move on from that.

1:53:10Griffin Newman:And Turturro has a line where he says, because Isabella Rossellini, who's great, we love Isabella. Yeah. Remind me to talk about her in one minute, okay? Okay. Before I finish this off. you know she says like why are you doing this why are you putting them together to turn to turos like if rosie perez is not reached like she will you know basically need help for the rest of her life he's like she'll be institutionalized i mean like she won't problem cases she cannot

1:53:34David Sims:be pulled out of it and he's acting like nothing happened right and the two most severe reactions they're basically at opposite ends of like the ptsd spectrum which is like almost kind of complete disassociation from reality and like an inability to pull yourself out oh and one thing that i didn't really pick up on the first time which i feel like stuck out the second once he mentioned something early on about people that are dealing with ptsd sometimes almost chase the feeling

1:54:04Griffin Newman:of indestructibility he says about vietnam vets yes and there was that they feel indestructible in some way because they didn't die they didn't die but then if they start to lose it they start chasing it and there was a moment where he agrees to lie he's like so you want me to lie right to the lawyers you want me to say you know the more minutes we spent in this you want me to lie and when he agrees to do it he runs out yeah and goes up to the roof right and that one i feel like i noticed more of that the moments where he could feel himself slipping away from it he then ran was when real world is starting like it's tom hulse is talking to him and he's just like all right I can't fucking deal with you.

1:54:41Griffin Newman:I can't fucking. That's what I'm saying. It's the slap moment. He's getting him back, you know, through the barrier. Don't pull me out of my dreams. Through the liminal barrier.

1:54:48David Sims:Because the Hulse moment is Hulse starts saying like, and look, if you could focus on this in the narrative. And he just screams abruptly. Hulse is like, what's going on? And he's like, no more lying. Yeah. I'm not lying. I refuse to play by these rules. Do you want to talk about Isabella Rossellini?

1:55:04Griffin Newman:Oh, I do. So she comes on screen. I'm talking to my wife about her. She looks quite good in this film. She's a beautiful vision As ever And I will say we're caster Because he was like I want his wife to be Like from another country I can tell you about that later But I was like Isabella Rossellini Kind of in the Sean Connery zone Always sounds like that it's never a problem Correct Do you know what I mean I don't want to see Isabella Rossellini talking different I want her talking Rossellini style Right Because she's got the most beautiful diction Like this wonderful accent it's always like melodic and interesting to hear her read dialogue.

1:55:43Griffin Newman:It helps. She always is doing that. That she's a ballet teacher. It would be one thing if she was a lunch lady. But I mean, hey man, I'd be like, wow, interesting lunch lady.

1:55:51David Sims:Ben and I were watching a friend of the show, a past and future recent guest, Ben David Grabinski, showed us End of Days, which we had never seen before. Oh, good movie. And I couldn't stop making jokes about this movie that's like built on the premise of like what if just a New York cop had to come face to face with Satan? And that New York cop is of course played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. With a cup of coffee and a trench coat being like, ah, this is my block.

1:56:15Griffin Newman:I'm Lieutenant Cop. Right.

1:56:18David Sims:And the movie just acts like, I remember these streets from when I grew up here. His partner is Kevin Pollack, and the movie keeps acting like both of them look like that.

1:56:28Griffin Newman:In a way. Late 90s Schwarzenegger, I feel like, is where this had gotten out of hand. Right. Like, yes, but yes, absolutely.

1:56:33David Sims:And I was like, beyond the fact that he just looks like that, right? the bone structure and the shape he was in and everything. It's not just that he's Austrian and I can't accept that someone could immigrate from one country to another and hold down an American job. I'm like, he just doesn't even sound like a human being. Other Austrian people don't sound like him, right? There's nobody like him. Isabella Rossellini has this built-in thing where anytime she enters a movie, you're like, cool, this character's backstory is she has lived in five different countries. Yeah. And there's never a movie where it butts up against that, where you couldn't believe, like, yeah, she had an interesting childhood.

1:57:07Griffin Newman:Like, 100%. I mean, she's horrible. This is the thing. I start just going on it about, like, look, Ingrid Bergman, Roberto Rossellini, they had a famous affair. She's, like, this product of this, like, notorious affair and it was so scandalous. She always plays a cultured woman who has experienced things. I was just talking about this last night with a friend that I bumped into about the bone collector that when Angelina Jolie has to say, I moved to New York to be a model, but I found that unfulfilling, so now I am a police officer. Someone had to insert that line when she was cast, you're saying?

1:57:39David Sims:They should have given that movie a special Oscar for putting in that one line. Because that's the one thing those movies never do when you cast the most beautiful people in the world, especially with actresses, where you're like, has anyone ever come up to you

1:57:53Griffin Newman:and said maybe gap catalog?

1:57:58Ken, one thing that was interesting about having never seen this movie before and then watching it a second time was, the first time through, I kept struggling to figure out if I was supposed to be cheering for this new Jeff Bridges.

1:58:17Griffin Newman:I think what he's doing is very seductive. Yes. Because you're like, you know, obviously a character like Tom Hulse's character, you're like, well, fuck this blood-sucking lawyer guy, right? And even, you know, everyone, Like, you know, you're like, yeah, he's above it all. But then you are like, no, he, this is a man who's so traumatized. He's behaving in this way. And he needs to engage with what's happened. You see the way that he's trying to help Rosie Perez. And you're like, what are we, what are we going for? Like, I feel, I feel conflicted. Because he is clearly not doing a great job with his own family.

1:58:52David Sims:Can I throw out a headier take? Yeah. And this is part of the power bridges in this movie. is the top tier movie stars in most eras, but I think particularly in the 90s in Hollywood, kind of represent the id. That even when they're playing kind of everyman in some sense. You want, they're doing what you could only dream of doing. Exactly.

1:59:16Griffin Newman:Yes, behaving in a way that's alluring.

1:59:18David Sims:It's not just they look better than you and they're more charismatic than you, but part of it is like you want to watch them get away with it. You want to watch them be awesome. you want to watch them take control and say the things you can't say and even if they have to learn a lesson at the end you know that was part of the juice and jeff bridges is a guy who never feels like he's representing a fantasy version of a person yeah even when he's in extreme circumstances and especially in this like 90s earthy era where if it was mel gibson there there would be 30 minutes of this movie that felt like yes man right there would be even if mel was good You know, same with Bruce, where there'd be a little bit of like, ain't I a stinker?

1:59:57David Sims:Isn't this awesome? I can drive the car this fast and like kiss Rosie Perez and do whatever I want. You know, to that point, Bridges is too grounded where the whole time you're like, what's happening here feels extreme, but it doesn't feel like wish fulfillment. Yes. And it doesn't feel fun. I thought about that when he last night when he was walking across the street and he's like, you're trying to kill me, but you can't. And there is that part of me where it's like, it's not like he like walked through the traffic magically and it never slowed. And no time. That's what's crucial. One of the cars has to swerve and jam on its brakes.

2:00:33And it's like, no, God didn't let you survive. Somebody hit their brakes. Yes. Like you. It was not magic. The rest of the world helped out in this.

2:00:45David Sims:What he is really representing is what if you choose not to buy into the rules of society? Right. Not what if nothing could kill you. What if you casually mention to your wife, Isabella Rossellini, that you have never experienced a love like the one that you feel for this other woman?

2:01:02Griffin Newman:Which, I mean, again, Rossellini's got to give him a lot of rope. He was in a plane crash. Yes. He's got plane crash hall pass right now. He's obsessed with holes. You know, like five, six years. It's the Hieronymus Bosch painting that they're, you know, Ascent of the Blast, you know like this idea of like the light at the end of the time yeah right i'm just saying there

2:01:21David Sims:is this guy's printing out all the holes he can find in history if only fans had existed he would

2:01:26Griffin Newman:have never pulled back up for well well that's that's a bit of an off color joke i'll say

2:01:31David Sims:a little ribald on this podcast that's a little shocking work a little blue if i want to i do think that if like six years went by isabella would be like he's still fucking dining out on

2:01:44Griffin Newman:this plane crash oh should we have fearless too where he's back to being normal and she's like he brings it up a lot god damn you just fucking i have a life too i fucking ballet school i had i had a bad day today you had a bad day six years ago one of those girls is being mean to me and

2:02:01David Sims:she said whatever it's such a good moment when the representative from the airline finds him Right. Right. And says like, we know that you were already kind of like touchy about flying before the thing happened. She doesn't even want to say crash. She's talked to Rossellini and his family before he has. And that's the first tell of like the guy before this was actually deeply neurotic.

2:02:29Griffin Newman:And you see it in Bridges in the flat in the full flashback. Right. Yeah. Before he looks out the window and basically obviously just has this like, I, this is it. yeah this is and now i have crossed the barrier but like before then yeah he's anxious yeah and

2:02:42David Sims:it's more that feeling of i think the surrendering of control of being i can't do any of this i don't think he orders a bowl of strawberries because he thinks he's now invincible i think he orders a bowl of strawberries because he's like i almost just died so what's the difference if i order a bowl of strawberries now and this kills me yeah and if not this it could be crossing the street right he doesn't walk across the street because he thinks it's impossible for a car to hit him it's that he keeps kind of like testing the limits of all of this is so random in a um

2:03:16Griffin Newman:synopsis of the novel i found this term that's really interesting it's um described as the character is experiencing an extreme form of pink cloud syndrome go on and a pink cloud syndrome is a thing that you find when describing people who are getting sober. Early on, they have this feeling of elation. Oh, yeah. Of just extreme high. And that doesn't last forever. And it doesn't last. But it's that initial period of like, it's not just like, I'm doing this. It's like, it's this incredible, just heightened experience of feeling such positivity. But of course, life sets in the reality after a period of time.

2:03:59Griffin Newman:Be an architect. Yeah. You gotta go back to fucking Rossellini. It's only a thing.

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2:04:46David Sims:I'm not going to go into like a crazy tangent about this, but, you know, I have my extended health problems that turned out to be this gallbladder thing. But for like six months was a medical mystery that after the fact they were like, that would have killed you if it had gone on another three months and hadn't been identified. And that was starting the beginning of 2021. So it's after nearly a year of being like an extreme lockdown where it triggered all of my worst anxieties and I lost my fucking mind. And then it's like, vaccination's coming. Wait a second. There's some problem in your body that we can't identify.

2:05:21David Sims:Something's up with you. And the can keeps getting kicked and I keep going back for tests and they're just like, we don't know. We don't know. And I'm stuck in a medical hamster wheel and I feel like I haven't been in person for like 18 months, right? when this thing finally got resolved and it got the bad shit out of my body in like July 2021, I had this feeling where it was like, okay, like the couple of days after the surgery, my recovery, you know, there was wonkiness. I, of course, checked out of the hospital and immediately went to a screening of F9 that was captured on our Patreon.

2:05:51Griffin Newman:Yeah, he did. And if you're wondering when did he arrive for said screening?

2:05:55David Sims:They like to complain about me being late to the screening. I was waiting to be checked out of the hospital.

2:06:00Griffin Newman:Well, we're actually just complaining about how you're late all the time. It's just a very funny example of you being late.

2:06:07David Sims:But I have...

2:06:09Griffin Newman:It was my first thing I did after my kid was born, I feel like, as well. It was early. Right. Crazy early. Every society beginning to flower, whatever.

2:06:19David Sims:But I had this thing where, like, when the basic recovery had happened, let's say a week after the surgery, I was just like, oh, my God. I'm taking nothing for granted ever again. I am so happy to be alive, able to walk out on the street. But then you saw that movie, Yes Man, and you're like, oh, this covers it. What if I start saying no to shit? No, but even beyond that, and I felt a little bit of this with my fucking dental problems I've had recently, where it's like, this thing is weighing down on you. Surgery happens. Sky's cleared up. I wake up one day. I'm like, holy shit, I slept properly.

2:06:55David Sims:My executive function is in line. I'm like organized. I'm not feeling like stressed out by all this there's just like a clarity to like holy shit I can just do stuff like the burden is gone and every time I fall for the shit the pink cloud syndrome of like oh this might truly be the first day of the rest of my life what if like all the fucking bits about griffin fucking shit up ended yesterday and now I'm just like the best at being normal and then like 10 days later I'm like oh wait a second because I heard you say back up on me.

2:07:29Griffin Newman:I heard you say organized. So I imagine maybe day three, all of a sudden, your apartment appears to be like similar to the way your desk looks. A little bit. Now, we should share with the listeners too, just before we start recording. Griffin immediately is walking into the office. Everything's going well. Griffin wanted to be back coffee. I have two more dentist appointments

2:07:48David Sims:this week. I have a bone spur in my jaw. They need to remove. You spilled what looks like

2:07:52Griffin Newman:green, gray water.

2:07:54David Sims:It was a matcha latte. You have a bone spur in your jaw? Yeah, yet another thing me and our president have in common. These are on his feet. Two great New Yorkers with bone spurs. The fuck? They're going to take something else out of your mouth? Yeah, and then I'll have five days of feeling like Jeff Bridges in Fearless. Well, good for you. And then I'll go back to fucking dropping coffee like Rick the intern. It is, I do feel like a pretty, not in the trailer, by the way. I just don't want to, I can't let that go. and said it was not it it was in sorry in the trailer it wasn't in the film false advertising

2:08:28Griffin Newman:and wasn't on the blu-ray in the deleted sand and and kevin costner heard that and got so mad that he started deep sea diving looking for treasure well because rick spilled the coffee all the way to the bottom exactly i needed that coffee yeah that is a very human response to these things of like oh my god i went through like the moments like i remember getting like std tests in college. And that five days or whatever waiting for them. Were you up to anything in college? Well, just like, you know, whatever, a normal... Just being responsible. Being a responsible person. I used to call him Hitmaker for a different reason.

2:09:04Griffin Newman:I'm sorry. It's good to get STD tested. Because he pointed across the room. I'm not here to make fun of that. I'm sorry. But like, you know, I think, you know, I grew up in a time in which sex killed you. Right. There was always like this little extra weight to those coming back. Yeah. Right. And in that period of time, you were like, all right, I'm never making another mistake in my life. And then you get it. Of course. I'm fucking good. Or you go see the doctor and the doctor's like, hey, you got to stop doing it. And you're like, you're right. I will. And then like a week later, you're like, doctor what?

2:09:34David Sims:Yes. Doctor who? Well, I'm also. Doctor. Actually, his name is the doctor. Doctor who is just what they call the show because people ask doctor who is he. I'm such a manic person in general. What? that when I have these moments like post-surgery, it is the only time in my life where I feel level. That's the thing. It's not like I'm like, holy shit, I'm unstoppable. It is a little similar to the Jeff Bridges thing where I'm like, oh my God, I just feel like I can walk. You know? Like my thoughts are like in order.

2:10:05Griffin Newman:Given that we've hit two hours, can I give you a couple more things from the dossier? I would love that. Yeah, okay.

2:10:09David Sims:I just think we need to talk more about Rosie Pratt.

2:10:11Griffin Newman:She's great in the film. Just the Mel Gibson thing I said of he was the first choice and Mel was like look I'm about to direct The Man Without a Face and then Mel is set apparently like who's your second choice? Like who else are you thinking of? And Weir says Jeff Bridges and Mel was like fuck I wanted to cast him in The Man Without a Face which rocks which is kind of cool. Mel wasn't going to play the lead himself? No he was like no I fucking want Jeff Bridges. Now I mean like maybe Mel was like actually what if I had no face? Like I don't know but I've never seen that movie. Me neither. Yeah I hear it's pretty good.

2:10:45Griffin Newman:What's it about? Well.

2:10:48David Sims:It's a man with some facial scarring. He's actually, he's got. Who like tutors a boy in English.

2:10:52Griffin Newman:Yeah, it's like a sort of heartwarming movie about a sort of reclusive man.

2:10:59David Sims:He's like a Phantom of the Opera English teacher. Oh. He can take an English tutor where he's like, don't look at me, I'm hideous. And they're like, you're Mel Gibson and you just got some shit on one side of your face. He's got scarring, serious scarring. But he's like pushed away from society, I think, basically has become a hermit. I feel like both based in and shot in Maine. Sounds right. Which is where I'm from.

2:11:21Griffin Newman:Here he comes, the fucking Mr. Maine, the Maine event. The Maine event's a good nickname. That is a really good nickname. Yeah, film set and shot in Maine. So the casting bridge is just to say, the film got sort of, the budget got right-sized, you know, a little bit. It cost about$20 million. Wow. Which is, you know, regular budget at the time, I feel.

2:11:44David Sims:notion of like how these things used to be greenlit. It's like this is a go picture. It's 40. If you can get one of these 10 guys, it goes up to 60. If you go for someone you like who's less of a name, it goes down to 20. Yeah.

2:11:57Griffin Newman:Bridges called Gary Busey, one of his close friends who had been in a serious motorcycle accident and survived. Came out normal. Give me a bowl of strawberries! Busey said that he described the feeling, the sort of pink cloud feeling that Ben is referring to, is feeling like an angel in an earth suit. And you know The thing with Bridges was just like he wanted to do it He was really into it But he had just made The Vanishing He made a lot of movies like back to back to back And he was like I'm worried I'm going to be like burnt out And Weir was like you know take a break Get yourself right and we're going to make the movie The book is set in New York But Peter Weir had just done Green Card And was like I don't want to do New York I want to do somewhere else So they moved to San Francisco The Rosie Perez character is Italian in the book Like Italian American and Peter Weir was like, well, if we're going to San Francisco, she should be Latina.

2:12:47Griffin Newman:Yeah. And so that's how that happened. She was the first choice for the role, essentially. Well, do you know who the studio wanted?

2:12:56David Sims:Oh, tell me. Winona Ryder. Yes, they did. The story she has told to Jeff Bridges' character that they wanted her because she was big. This is the same year as Age of Innocence.

2:13:07Griffin Newman:Yeah, it is.

2:13:08David Sims:It was obviously before they had made that cultural swap, right? and they wanted her to audition with him and do the kissing scene. And he was like, I'm not going to kiss her. He's like, I'm way too old for this. Right. In front of like the studio and everything. And she was just like, that's the only guy in Hollywood who would have done that. Right. Wow. Yeah. Also, good call, like not just from like a creepiness factor. It's wrong for the movie. It's wrong for the movie. The moment isn't really like how, it isn't about their chemistry. It's about something weirder past beyond that. Her response is so good.

2:13:45Griffin Newman:It's not a really, right. Their relationship is not romantic per se. It's more just like they are, there's just like an embarrassing closeness or whatever. Like they're the only two people who can understand each other in a weird way. I also love that the narrative reveals itself to be

2:13:59David Sims:that for this guy who's like, I'm not a hero. I don't like to be looked at this way. I'm uncomfortable with all this attention. Locks in on like, actually, I might be the only person who can help her. Right. That it starts as just like, you're the only person I feel like I can actually be heard by and then becomes like, wait a second, there's a thing I can do here that no one else can help you with. And also, it doesn't even seem like he really knows what that is. And he would have never been able to figure out what it was unless he had been sort of untethered from the regular human life. that because nobody's like John Turturro in group therapy isn't going to suggest.

2:14:42What if you drove your very safe Swedish car head on into a wall? Have you ever tried a car crash therapy? Have you ever tried that? It's coming up. Your doctor spins around and it's David Cronenberg. Have you ever fucked the scars of someone in a car accident?

2:15:00David Sims:Scars can be fun to fuck. I think just to speak on Rosie Perez for a second, One thing that I did not notice the first time was how she kissed the toolbox, holding it in her arms. She is incredible in this movie. And that scene, I think, went unnoticed the first time. But I don't think I really realized how fucking good she is in that scene and embodying that fucking toolbox turning into bubble. You know what I mean? So she's, of course, a fly girl choreographer on Unliving Color, right? Her first movie is Do the Right Thing. Yes. Then it's Night on Earth, White Men Can't Jump. She's great in both.

2:15:44David Sims:Untamed Heart, which I've never seen. Neither have I. And Fearless. Yeah. Fearless is her fifth movie ever. My God. Yeah. Yeah. And she basically was this person where it was like, well, she's got a really interesting vibe, but is she really like a technical actress or is she just good at playing herself kind of thing? And then this felt like a movie where people were like, we cannot deny. There is like a level of emotional access and technique here. It's not just, oh, she's got an interesting dialect kind of thing. And then the run after this is like, it could happen to you. She's the third lead of that.

2:16:19Griffin Newman:She's like the best friend character. 100%. Right. Yep. Somebody to Love is the Alexandra Rockwell movie. We've never seen it. That's a nice Cabiria riff.

2:16:26David Sims:Right.

2:16:26Griffin Newman:She's like a taxi dancer. I think that that movie is probably like, you know, somewhat interesting. That's it was tiny. She does a lot of indie stuff.

2:16:35David Sims:I mean, I think Durango's like her one kind of like lead follow up thing there. Yeah.

2:16:41Griffin Newman:Which it's like, obviously, like Hollywood is racist. Yes. Yeah. Especially in the 90s. I feel like Hollywood had not calibrated how to tell like Latin stories on screen much at all. Right. There's some movies, but there's very few.

2:16:53David Sims:And to her credit, a lot of these indie movies were saying that she does in the wake of the nomination are very low budget, independent Latin stories told by Latin people that did not get support and attention.

2:17:05Griffin Newman:Rosie Perez is also like, she's like five foot even. Yeah. She's got this amazing accent. But she is Rosie Perez. She's a spark plug. And it's like, I feel like probably every casting person looked at her and was like, yeah, it's Rosie Perez. Right, you bring her in as a spark plug or whatever. It's insane that no one watched this movie. Not nobody. She did movies after this. Yeah. that she's good in. But right, nobody watched Fearless and was like, fuck, like, I gotta use her right now for myriad quilt of role. Absolutely.

2:17:35David Sims:And I'm sure if you saw the list of things she was offered in the wake of Fearless, it would be, like, revolting, right? Yeah.

2:17:43Griffin Newman:I assume it was a lot of, like, do you want to play, right, someone in, like, a Wesley Snipes movie or what, you know, it was probably a lot of, like, fifth or sixth leads.

2:17:51David Sims:I'm sure there were very big paydays she turned down and things where she was like, I don't want to fucking do that again. You know, like worse versions of the white man can't jump character and dumber big budget things, whatever. And it does feel like she tried to use her clout to get smaller films made that didn't really hit. When she locked the gates, her episode of WTF is incredible. Not surprised to hear that. It's like very emotional. And she talks about how traumatic her childhood was. And she basically didn't process any of it.

2:18:19Griffin Newman:She had a crazy childhood. You should listen to the WTF to talk.

2:18:23David Sims:Right. Right. And that it was fearless was one of the things where everyone was just like, are you OK during the scenes? Like when they called cut and she was like, yeah, why? And they were like, that seemed like something really extreme was happening within you. And she was like, oh, really? I don't know. You know that she like started only kind of after this movie doing the work to be like, why are my emotions like this? Right. She was Jeff Bridges-ing throughout the entire production of Fearless. I mean, kind of. That's the way she sort of talks about it. She was just sort of like, I just accepted everything that happened to me my entire life as normal until other people made me realize it wasn't.

2:19:03David Sims:Very complicated family situation. She's an incredible actor.

2:19:06Griffin Newman:She's still around. I feel like she's also just kind of a New York celebrity. I mean, she's in highest to lowest. As for herself. Rosie Perez. Like, it's just like, she's like a forever personality, but she was on The View for a while. You know what I mean? where it's like she will always be Rosie Perez, but it does feel like a major missed opportunity that she did not have a crazy career. Or even like whatever, just yeah, like more blockbusters, more kind of like mainstream shit. Maybe she turned some of it down. I don't know. I'm sure she did, but it's also,

2:19:43David Sims:it's like, it's not a fait accompli where you're just like, why aren't the 10 hottest directors in Hollywood writing shit for her right now? she's one of those people I feel like you talked about when you interviewed Rian Johnson for Glass Onion. Sure. And asked him about Day Batista.

2:20:03Griffin Newman:Right.

2:20:03David Sims:And he said like one of these days like Paul Thomas Anderson or someone is going to write a part that gets them an Oscar and they're going to look like a genius. And I use that term a lot in my head now where I'm like actors who are kind of just right there and someone just needs to write like the Frank T.J. Mackey for them and it's not like oh my god I didn't know they could do that it's like you build the right frame for them and you look like a genius for having them do the thing they always were capable of yeah yeah and she's one of those where you're like she's right there there's no one else like her and I think she still got her fastball um Benicio de Toro we have not even mentioned oh my god no I mean it's that early

2:20:41Griffin Newman:run of his young mumbly even this is pre-usual suspects it's post obviously like license to kill and stuff like, but yeah, I think he was still just like this young guy with a really interesting face. Yeah. That people kept being like, okay, like what do we do with this guy? Because he's so beautiful. Yes. He's always been tired. Always tired. Always tired. He's been tired his whole life. He makes you look like Kelly Ripa. He, he, he looks, I got a few pounds on Kelly Ripa. I think she's pretty tiny.

2:21:14David Sims:I just meant terms of time.

2:21:15Griffin Newman:I know what you're saying. I know what you're saying. It was a good line. Thank you. It was a good line. He is, his voice is interesting. He looks interesting. And emotionally, he is compelling even just standing there. I think the thing with him all the way to traffic, like, you know, especially things like Usual Suspects, is he is like a Philip Glass score in a movie where you're just like, he's almost too interesting. I kind of can't stop looking at this guy. I'm not paying attention to this story now. You had to limit

2:21:41David Sims:how much of him you could put in a movie because he would overplay.

2:21:44Griffin Newman:In this, he's pretty subdued. But like sometimes he would just be like this kind of like wild, interesting, you know, energy like and just like fuck it's benicio he has had pretty good year it's been pretty incredible

2:21:55David Sims:yeah uh we're talking about the guy is 2025 i remind you oh my god it's not like benicio ever left our hearts we've always been here for benicio but like a kind of transcendent 2025 for him um he i'm trying to remember who it is but someone who went to drama school with him who also became, of course, but of course, who also became a successful actor tells the story of seeing him like do a scene on the first day and being like, Jesus fucking Christ.

2:22:23Griffin Newman:What am I supposed to do now?

2:22:24David Sims:Yeah, truly, just being like, immediately, this guy's the most interesting performer I've ever seen. And not just that he had an intelligence and a skill and a facility and whatever, but you're just like, I cannot look away from this guy. And it did feel like in the 90s, he was almost like Plutonium or something. Right. Where they were like, you got to really like kind of quarantine him and put him in a specific box and knock him out of the plot at a certain point. And he also does a lot of like very big stylized performances. This is like an early kind of him playing a normal guy kind of thing.

2:22:56David Sims:And especially when so much of his work is kind of so heavy and haunted. It feels like in a lesser version of this film, one that probably isn't directed by Peter Weir. This guy is a lot. This character is like a dirt bag. Is it dirt bag? A basic dirtbag looking for the paycheck. Right. A hundred percent. And there are just these little brushstrokes in how the character is written and how he plays it where it's like he's got his eye on the payout because this is amount of money that would change their fucking lives. And they're living through a horrible, horrible incident. Yeah. And they do deserve some sense of compensation for this.

2:23:35David Sims:And he doesn't want to get screwed. They're the types of people who often don't have the proper representation in these types of situations. And he's trying to figure out how to support her emotionally. But he is so out of his depth on it. And I just think he plays that incredibly well. Absolutely.

2:23:51Griffin Newman:He's very good in the movie. Everyone is good in this movie. Everyone's good. John DeLancey. My beloved John DeLancey. The look on his face when Bridges leaves the seat really gets me every time. The scene where he goes. Weird that he didn't use his Q powers to save the plane, but whatever. The scene where he goes to Deirdre O 'Connor, that's mostly kind of extended one. Q, the Star Trek character, not the conspiracy theory Tim believes in. Yeah, of course.

2:24:15David Sims:He's movie Q-pilt as well. The Q takes are completely different than the... My Q movie takes are completely different than the MAGA movie takes.

2:24:25Griffin Newman:Right, that's a different mode to go in. That's a different mode.

2:24:28David Sims:Yeah. What were you going to say, Griff?

2:24:29Griffin Newman:Sorry?

2:24:29David Sims:The movie MAGA night was the same night, David, because we all, we got dinner in LA, right? I wasn't there. But you were on the group text leading up to it. Sure. Where Tim was freaking out claiming.

2:24:39Griffin Newman:Like, I'm late guys, save me a seat. Excuse me. Oh, oh. We were all in the same car. And were you late in the car to get to the car? Not too bad.

2:24:50David Sims:Not too bad.

2:24:50Griffin Newman:Sure, sure, sure.

2:24:51David Sims:Tim, that was the day of Tim's freak out of, is this a psyop? You guys can't tell me that Lily Collins has been famous for 15 years. Oh yeah, you were really insistent. Not that Lily Collins was an industry plant, but that he was calling bullshit on us knowing who she was. I was, it started with all capitals. Lily Phillips is... Got her name wrong. Wait, fuck. Is he intentionally doing... Lily Collins is her. Lily Collins is her. Like, all capitals. All caps and terribank. And everybody was like, yes, she has been famous forever. And I said, this is a lie. Yeah, you were like, that is not true.

2:25:25David Sims:And we were sending you movie posters from 2010 where she's above the title and you were saying these are fake movies in a fake movie.

2:25:32Griffin Newman:Here we go. Lily Collins is Phil Collins' daughter. I reply, yes. Any other cues? Not QPIL. Griffin replies, Jane Fonda is Henry Fonda's daughter.

2:25:44David Sims:Pretty good joke from Griff. Yeah, that's pretty good. Griff dot coming in hot.

2:25:47Griffin Newman:And I kind of started hitting you with like, she does kind of look like Phil Collins. Her father.

2:25:54David Sims:I mean, it's like they have the same face. This is also not a thing that's kept under lock and key. And we're like, she's been famous for 15 years. this has always been a talking point.

2:26:02Griffin Newman:But, I mean, the thing that I found funny is that, like, I actually like Lily Collins. I think she's got eyebrows for days. She's been in some movies I enjoy. But the thing she's most famous for is a hit Netflix show, my friend. She's in Paris. She was the previous hit maker under the Big Red A. Exactly. Her ass is in Paris.

2:26:20David Sims:We're also, like, we're sidebarring and going, like, why is he getting worked up about this now? Where'd this come from? What spurred this? Nothing was happening in the news to bring this on. She hadn't gone on like a killing spree. My wife was listening to a lot of Phil Collins at that moment.

2:26:35Griffin Newman:Uh-huh. And in one of the songs, you say, And my daughter will be in rules don't apply.

2:26:41David Sims:We're throwing out Mank and Mirror, Mirror. Right, right. She was in fucking Warren Beatty's probably last movie ever. And you're like, none of this is real. You guys are lying. You guys are lying. It just feels like if she has been famous for this long, it would have come up. Yeah.

2:26:56Griffin Newman:It would have come up that she's famous? Yes. Okay. Like someone would have just approached you in your gym, maybe. We're ready to go to dinner.

2:27:04David Sims:And I go to my girlfriend. I go, I just got to give you the heads up. Tim's coming in hot. Tim's full of beans about Lily Collins. I speak of you often, but she's never met you before. And she's like, oh, no, did something happen? And I was like, no, I'm just saying.

2:27:18Griffin Newman:Well, in 1989, she was born to Phil Collins and Jill Tabelman.

2:27:21David Sims:I'm just saying Tim's going to be on one tonight. And then we get there. And within five minutes, he's unleashing movie manga.

2:27:27Griffin Newman:Well, you know what also came up, David? What's up? Malibu's Most Wanted. Yeah, Malibu's Most Wanted. This is the fakest controversy. To my core. I still think about it. I don't like that movie. It's fine. And I don't have a vibe that I do. You like other bad movies that are on Comedy Central. That's really all it is, my friend.

2:27:50David Sims:Ben's face is bright red.

2:27:52Griffin Newman:I also don't think that movie is that bad. I remember it being kind of a two-star general. Interesting. So, baby, you're the Ben Hosley of the group. I'm rejecting much. I've only, isn't it fine? I may not have even seen it. Every accusation is a confession. I didn't realize this was something I had to confess. Wait a second. David Sims went to the Juilliard School of Film Criticism? Fucking assholes. Give me a B+. Have you seen Malibu's Most Wanted, Griffin? No. No, I haven't either. Griffin, you cannot be scandalized. You do tend to see studio comedies that were released in theaters. I only see masterpieces.

2:28:27I could honestly see three weeks from now Griffin coming in and guys, him being like, you know what, Malibu's most wanted kind of a masterpiece.

2:28:34Griffin Newman:Kind of a two and a half, three star. I don't know that I've seen it. Three discs. I've seen a Jamie Kennedy film. Did he have others? A Kicking It Old School? That I might have seen. I've definitely seen one of them. What's going on in Kicking It Old School? Kicking It Old School, he's a B-boy. Oh, God.

2:28:53David Sims:has a breakdancing incident in which he falls into a coma, I think trying to do a head spin. Okay. And then he wakes up 20 years later and still thinks it's the 80s and comedy ensues. Hey, I mean, sure.

2:29:08Griffin Newman:I suppose it's similar to has a plane crash and is no longer allergic to strawberries. It's kind of the fearless of the 2000s, yeah. He's not in the Benchwarmers? No. That's Swardson and other?

2:29:21David Sims:Yes. But Swartzen co-wrote Malibu's Most Wanted. Okay.

2:29:25Griffin Newman:Okay. I've definitely seen the Benchwarmers.

2:29:27David Sims:Yeah.

2:29:27Griffin Newman:Matt Lovitz is in that.

2:29:29David Sims:Benchwarmers is... It's like it's passable. It's Happy Madison B team. It's Schneider, Spade, Lovitz, and then they try to work John Heater in at the time where Hollywood couldn't figure out, is this a thing?

2:29:42Griffin Newman:And then they figured something out. No, he's not. Because he's in Blades of Glory. Yeah. And I remember that was one of those things where everyone was like, you know what's great about this movie? Will Arnett and Amy Poehler and not John Heater. Nobody cared about John Heater.

2:30:00David Sims:The entire run of post-Napoleon Dynamite movies all flop.

2:30:05Griffin Newman:Yeah, Just Like Heaven, he's in that one.

2:30:07David Sims:And Blades of Glory was the last one in the can and was a big-ass hit.

2:30:11Griffin Newman:Yeah, because of Feral and Wright.

2:30:13David Sims:And even still, I was like, so are they going to have to back around and give him another shot? And they were like, no, no, no, no. We feel settled in this. he's never starring in a studio movie.

2:30:22Griffin Newman:He like took those like tickets to the front desk and they were like, these are no longer legal tender. Like, yeah.

2:30:29David Sims:You're back down to zero. Right, yes.

2:30:32Griffin Newman:I just remember the Just Like Heaven trailer. He's like the funny friend or whatever.

2:30:37David Sims:It is Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, and Napoleon Dynamite's John Heater. And he has some line where he's like,

2:30:45Griffin Newman:feeling a little parched, I'm going to need a cola. Like he had some weird line like that.

2:30:50David Sims:But that moment of...

2:30:51Griffin Newman:And it's just every time, crickets.

2:30:54David Sims:That was, I think, the first one post-Napoleon Dynamite. And they were like, we have to... No one knows his name, and they're not going to recognize him. We have to, in the trailer, announce that he's Napoleon Dynamite.

2:31:06Griffin Newman:Right.

2:31:06David Sims:Because he won't be dressed like him. He won't be voting for Pedro.

2:31:10Griffin Newman:Before we do the box office game, anything else we want to talk about in the Fearless? One thing that I want to say... It'd be funny if we hadn't mentioned the plane crash yet or something. Yeah. one thing that I really loved about this movie was that when I was watching it I couldn't really get my head around it and some of the pieces don't feel like they fit again this is like a Jeff Bridges holy fucking shit moment when he is brought back to life right to the end of the movie of course he eats the strawberries again and says like I think I need you to save me or something like that and then he has the allergic reaction Isabella Russell and resuscitates him and you get the feeling that he is back to normal.

2:31:49Griffin Newman:And they roll credits right there. Yeah. But it's like he is engaged with his human body again in fear of losing it. That moment is so incredibly brilliant on a performance level, but also in this way that it was, and I just want to, like this is I think like a Peter Weir thing. It was like there were just puzzle pieces spread out over the table. And in that moment, He just shoved them all together and they all locked into place. Like it was like, I kind of didn't really get the movie that moment happens. And now everything has been perfectly clear. And I loved that part about it, how like it kept me guessing.

2:32:33And then all of a sudden he just fucking locked it in so hard. And then was like, here are the fucking credits. It is a really brilliant, incredible.

2:32:43David Sims:And that's very well said. And for a movie that's not about like plot mechanics and doesn't have big story pushes is another experience I love while watching a film where you're like, how the fuck is this thing going to resolve itself? And to resolve itself quickly at a point where.

2:32:59Griffin Newman:Very. Yeah. It feels like there could be 20 more minutes and they're like, no, it's over.

2:33:02David Sims:And be like, that's perfect. And in fact, it's the only way it could have ended. And I can't believe how exquisitely you built up to this moment without letting me see what you were doing. Yes. It's not a twist. it's not like it's some crazy overstated moment but it's just like that is how it ends did you buy the blue? I did so did I Warner Archive I have it on my desk

2:33:21Griffin Newman:me too

2:33:21David Sims:got it in the pile Alan Davio shot this film the first American cinematographer that Weir had worked with he mostly kept his like above the line Australian crew John Seale and guys like that but coming off the fucking E.T. what he did E.T. Empire He might have also done Last Crusade.

2:33:42Griffin Newman:He worked with Spielberg a lot in the 80s.

2:33:45David Sims:Slocum does all the indies, but there was another. Color Purple. Sure. Those are the three, and we'll disregard Twilight Zone, the movie. But this film looks incredible, and this is a movie that needs to just look good because it's so much about absorbing textures of things and the space and the feeling in the air. Yeah. There is one particular shot that I want to call out, which I feel like is, I don't want to say it's a lost art, but it feels like Peter Weir in this sort of like studio system gets this script and, you know, I didn't know about the history of it, but I was like, I didn't know exactly its developmental process, but, or its development process.

2:34:27But when he first sees Rosie Perez, the entire frame is filled with the shadow of, of Jeff Bridges standing in the doorway. and it is slightly overtaking her. And I love that moment of like visual storytelling of her being consumed by shadow. Like it basically is like a black stain that takes up and almost engulfs her in the frame. And it's a really incredible shot. And I just love that level of artistry in what is essentially studio fair.

2:35:01Griffin Newman:Sure. You know what I mean? Right. And what is a, I mean, I guess it's crazy. It has a crazy plane crash sequence. So it's not just like a domestic drama. Like it is a heightened crazy, but like, you know, it's largely about people dealing with their feelings. Yeah. I'm trying to find this quote. Ben, what did you want to say though? Before I forget. The plane wouldn't have crashed if you were on it. No, I'm not going to claim that.

2:35:25David Sims:If this were you, you would have eaten raspberries.

2:35:29Griffin Newman:The car crash scene. Yeah. There's a U2 drama.

2:35:32David Sims:Oh, thank you for bringing this up.

2:35:34Griffin Newman:There is a, yes, a wonderful U2. There's also wonderful music hearing the plane crash at the end. I have to give it up. I think that it was really effective. And what I liked about it is that it's totally unhinged. And I think using U2 in an unhinged context, it really opened that band up and that music for me in a new way. Are you anti-U2? Yeah. You know what, man? I'm going to throw a little MAGA music take. I'm with you. There we go. This would be a MAGA movie take. This is the kind of thing we're talking about. Like, yeah, fucking you two get out of here. It gives this shit. Yeah, just wear those big glasses.

2:36:10Griffin Newman:Great job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I love you two very much. I love their music. I love that song. It's where the streets have no name, I believe.

2:36:17David Sims:It uses a non-vocal part. Most of the music in this film, there's a Maurice Juret score that's very good, but it's a lot of classical pieces.

2:36:25Griffin Newman:Yeah, the big classical piece is the Henrik Garecki Symphony of Sorrow's songs, which is playing over the plane crash montage. Which is fucking incredible. It's pretty good. I mean, maybe you could have thrown in like, you know, uno, dos, tres, catorce, like that. That would be good. And like maybe just like an Apple ad during the plane crash.

2:36:46David Sims:I'm not cringing when the song starts. Everyone gets an album. What's this on my phone? Such a specific register musically. And then Streets Have No Name, which is so recognizable. It is. And it's one of those songs that has been so omnipresent for 30 plus years now that obviously when this film is made, it's more of a recent song. Jesus Christ. you're just like well whatever the intended use of this song was in 1993 is it abstracted now to a point where you can't listen to it and not think of car commercials or football games or whatever the fuck it's one of these songs that's everywhere right and I kept watching it being like is the use gonna get cringy at any point and it just it is it is a transcendent use of music it is like it's really well done yeah it's just like a perfect kind of no you couldn't actually write an original piece of score for this that would work as well as both the way the music syncs up and like the power you gain from the recognition of what's playing and it clearly just feels like the kind of thing that only comes out of listening to the album and being like oh you know what you could construct a good sequence too listening to that part of

2:37:56Griffin Newman:the song and visualizing something building um this film came out october 15th 1993 Can I ask a question about the box office game? You sure can. Do you prefer or not, and maybe this is to Griffin. Griffin, I'm going to direct this to you. Do you prefer or not when the guests try to also guess with you?

2:38:17David Sims:I'm open either way. Okay.

2:38:19Griffin Newman:I don't think Griffin really minds a guest jumping in.

2:38:22David Sims:I'm not competitive, especially when I'm struggling. I love to be relieved of my misery. Okay.

2:38:27Griffin Newman:Number one at the box office is a film I like a lot. and I think you enjoy but I think it's more of a Sims favorite it's an action film a sci-fi action film

2:38:37David Sims:is this an era where you feel like you might be quick to guess some of these was this like peak movie going time for you to hit maker

2:38:42Griffin Newman:fall 93 I mean you would have been you're not that much older than me you're like 4 or 5 years older than me maybe you're older than me I would have been I would have been a freshman in high school probably okay so you're a fair bit older than me this was like prime fucking movie going You may well have seen this film. It stars two action stars. Oh, was it Independence Day? No. 93. Nope. I suppose that would have come out on Independence Day. Yes. Sorry. It's a Sims favorite. I'm not going to jump in anymore.

2:39:11David Sims:Which studio released it? It is a Warner Brothers picture. It's a Warner Brothers sci-fi two-hander. Two stars. Is it based on anything? No. It's original.

2:39:23Griffin Newman:Yeah. Based on some crazy idea somebody had. It's a good movie. It's sort of the, we're approaching the final years of one of the stars' original kind of A-list career, I would say. More common for him to link up with another star, maybe to help out. And the other guy's younger, up-and-coming action star. He's in the middle of a hot run in the 90s. He has his own flame out later on. I love him, but, you know. He seems like a complicated guy. Momentarily, I was thinking like Rumble in the Bronx. No. Is it a big Two-Face poster? They're looking at each other. Oh, they're looking at each other.

2:40:02David Sims:Broken Arrow. No. It's not enemy mine. No. That is a real. Oh, it's Demolition Man. There we go. There he is.

2:40:10Griffin Newman:It's one of the real Sims favorites. It's a real favorite of mine. I love that movie so much. It's a masterpiece. Thank you.

2:40:15David Sims:I feel like those are the two different types of. I don't like it, but you just don't have the passion. But it's the two different types of Two-Faces. There's the sort of Broken Arrow, two half faces. Two half faces. And then there's the face-to-face. Yeah. It's on.

2:40:27Griffin Newman:Absolutely true. So that's number one for the second week in a row. Okay. Number two is new this week.

2:40:34David Sims:It is a comedy film based on a TV show. 1993.

2:40:41Griffin Newman:It's a very popular TV show. I think this movie did okay.

2:40:44David Sims:Is it a continuation of that show? You know. Or is it kind of a reboot or reimagining?

2:40:49Griffin Newman:And I cannot speak. I cannot answer that because I don't know the show very well beyond very, very basic information. and I've never seen the film. But it's not a Saturday Night Live. No, it is not. No, it's based on like a hit sitcom that ran for like 10 years in the 60s and maybe early 70s. It's directed by a woman. Relax, Tim. Jesus. It's not a Betty Thomas, is it? Do I have to go back to the notes?

2:41:15David Sims:Is it a Betty Thomas? It is not. It's not Brady Bunch movie. It's not Beverly Hillbillies. It's not Leave it to Beaver.

2:41:21Griffin Newman:It is Beverly Hillbillies,

2:41:23David Sims:which was directed by Penelope Spheres. I always think that movie is later.

2:41:28Griffin Newman:1993. And of course, Diedrich Bader, Dabney Coleman, Jim Varney, Chris Leachman, Jim Varney. Is it a continuation or not? I have no idea. It's just, it's just like, it's like the Addams Family. It's like, let's just do this as a movie.

2:41:41David Sims:Yes. Have you ever seen it? No, I never have. Saving it for when we do Spheres.

2:41:45Griffin Newman:You like Beverly Hillbillies? I don't remember anything about it. Yeah. I mean, I feel like they find oil probably. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Number three. You know what? There's fun. Yeah. Number three, The Box Office. It's a family-friendly, modern, you know, hit movie, comedy. It's the movie that, like, the video store rental guy would recommend to every parent, I feel, when I was a kid.

2:42:10David Sims:This is actually a good kids movie? Like, that kind of tone of...

2:42:13Griffin Newman:It's a good movie.

2:42:14David Sims:But, like, the video store guy is like, you want a good family movie? Is that the tone of the recommendation?

2:42:19Griffin Newman:I guess so. It's just a movie where it's, like, it's pretty harmless. Everybody kind of likes it. Straight Down the Metal, 93.

2:42:24David Sims:It's not the Sandlot. No. It's a sports movie, though. It is a sports movie. It's not Little Giants. It's not Little Big League. It's not Rookie of the Year. No, but I mean... Angels in the Outfield?

2:42:35Griffin Newman:These are all movies I saw in theaters.

2:42:38David Sims:Yeah. It's not The Big Green. No. Mighty Ducks. No. Great movies. Not D2. No. Certainly not D3. Definitely not. If you tell us the sport, will it give it away? It will. It will. So it's a specific sport. Very specific. Air Bud? It's Cool Runnings. It's Cool Runnings.

2:43:00Griffin Newman:Which is... Yeah, a fun movie. Totally fun, right? I mean, I haven't seen it in 25 years. I showed it to the kids, I think when they were a little bit like this, probably would have been five years ago. And they fucking loved it. Yeah. It's fun. Yeah, it'd be funny if I'm like, no, it's a Bob Flood movie. There's plenty of those.

2:43:15David Sims:I just watched the Colin Hanks, John Candy documentary. Yes, I'd like to watch that. Sure. Is it on Netflix or Prime? I think Prime. You got to Prime it up? Well, not today.

2:43:25Griffin Newman:No, not today.

2:43:27David Sims:And maybe never again. But they talk about how the final couple of years before his very untimely premature death, that it felt like the movies were starting to, was the guy overexposed, really tired. They show a lot of interviews of critics being like, so you've been in more turkeys than a fucking Thanksgiving dinner.

2:43:46Griffin Newman:He was kind of similar to Belushi, where he felt kind of less healthy. like you could see him sort of

2:43:52David Sims:although he's less of a party guy he wasn't doing hard drugs he was just in poor health and he was overworked and he was doing like four or five movies a year and they were like is this too much of this guy and that I was like but wasn't like Cool Runnings like a late hit and it's one of the last movies had he died?

2:44:11Griffin Newman:I'm not sure

2:44:12David Sims:I think it's maybe the last one released while he was still alive

2:44:15Griffin Newman:no he was still alive yeah because he died early

2:44:16David Sims:and Canadian Bacon Wagons Easter the two after his death and I was like did he not get any credit for Cool Runnings being a hit and then I looked it up and he's not on the fucking poster

2:44:27Griffin Newman:no because the poster is that cool Jamaican kind of cartoon of the bobsled

2:44:34David Sims:he's certainly the most proven movie star in that film and it felt like Disney was like maybe he's actually a deterrent at this point that we need to hide him in the marketing and also Cool Runnings is a lot to explain to its audience

2:44:47Griffin Newman:Jamaica's got a bobsled team Well, I mean, I don't want to negate what you just said, but it feels like that's not a lot to explain. You actually just explained it. The bobsled team, and so you need to engage with that news. It's a fun movie. Judd Candy is really good. He is really good, and it's a good movie. I mean, like, it's a fun movie. One of the best. One of the best? He's so funny. I mean, I grew up with him. One of my faves of all time. Number four at the box office is, and this might shock you to hear this, this is a film where Alec Baldwin plays kind of an intense guy. In the 90s? Can you believe it?

2:45:20Griffin Newman:It's not The Edge.

2:45:22David Sims:Nope. Is it Malice? There we go. I'm telling you, this is like prime fucking time.

2:45:29Griffin Newman:You know, it's a neo-noir Harold Becker thriller. Kidman is the love interest, and Bill Pullman's in there and stuff. But it's the one where he gives the I Am God speech that Eric Sorkin wrote.

2:45:44David Sims:Have you ever seen Malice? No, I've never seen Malice. I've seen that clip. Yeah. I feel like I remember it being good. I haven't watched it recently. Solid, yeah. Solid 90s thriller. Baldwin kind of an interesting counterpoint to the Bridges discussion. Obviously, Bridges started so much younger, right? Had been a movie star for longer. But in the 90s, I think they were like, Bridges has found his place. This is where he is. This is where he lives. And Baldwin was another guy you went to if the top 10 turned it down. But the difference was Hollywood was like, is Baldwin one movie away from becoming one of the 10?

2:46:21Griffin Newman:Yeah, no, it kept being like, isn't he an A-lister or is he not? Isn't he like an inch away from it? Right. Yeah. And then it'll, you know, movies like Malice, it'll be like, yeah, rack up 50 mil for it. Like, it's not like a nothing burger. Yeah. But it's not quite. Number five. This is a thriller, an action thriller. Okay. I feel it is 100 % best known for its soundtrack. It has an iconic soundtrack. Is it Judgment Night? It is the film Judgment Night movie in which, of course... Emilio? Yes, directed by Stephen Hopkins, in which, of course, Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gunning Jr., Jeremy Piven, and Stephen Dorfer are on the run from Dennis Leary?

2:47:05Griffin Newman:You could have just said The Boys,

2:47:06David Sims:and we would have known the cast. You didn't have to name them one by one.

2:47:09Griffin Newman:It's just one of those things where you look at the poster, and it's like Emilio and Dorf and Cuba looking stressed out. Yeah. And then behind him in silhouette is fucking Dennis Leary smoking a cigarette. I'm like, the man was everywhere. Like, he was out there saying, like, whatever, coffee shouldn't have sugar in it or whatever. And everyone was like, ah! Right? YouTube weirdly... He's also in fucking Demolition Man. Yeah.

2:47:31David Sims:YouTube algorithm stirred me up the Rich Eisen show, my favorite show, which I complimented Tim for being on, and Tim said I was never on that show, and then I sent him back his own clip.

2:47:40Griffin Newman:But Rich Eisenstein, he seems like a good interviewer. I love Rich Eisenstein. He was actually. It was a good time. Yeah. I remember it now.

2:47:46David Sims:I have fond memories from him being, him and Stuart Scott being my favorite guys when my brother James, he was watching SportsCenter. Right, the SportsCenter.

2:47:52Griffin Newman:Iconic. Those two guys I found him. Stuart Scott, absolute legend. Rest in power. Do you remember when we were, we're going to bring him back to draft day. Remember that night where we were. He's in the movie. He's in the movie. Yeah. And there was this night where Griffin and I were like sitting looking at our phones and he came in and was like, everybody's on their phone these days. Nobody talks anymore. and immediately Griffin and I like put our phones out we're like fuck Dennis and then we're like what's going on man and he was like oh I didn't really have anything to say so we kind of like well fucking tell us a story man come on you're Dennis Leary you've definitely told this story before it's a great story

2:48:23David Sims:and this story apparently inspired the Fox sitcom where he's a military general yeah did that keep going it's still on the air is that the story that he told the creator of that show listens to this podcast and was like oh someone should write a show where Dennis Leary has a reason to yell at people all the time I mean he is good at it what if he's a drill sergeant or whatever I guess he's a general I don't know I don't fucking know rude sorry I'm sorry no I'm being rude yes thing I was gonna say Rich Eisen had Jeremy Piven on and he asks him about the Larry Sanders show and that's a show he quit a season and a half in because he thought they weren't giving him enough material right and he keeps asking him but like what was it like Larry Sanders And he keeps going, like answering anything but Larry Sanders and being like, and I'm on that show and I get cast on Seinfeld.

2:49:15David Sims:And I've never even watched Seinfeld because I don't even own a TV. And they're like, right, but Larry Sanders. And he won't answer it. And I think he's trying to talk around how much of a brat he was on Larry Sanders. And he goes, look, I was just so young. I was so green. I'm right out of college. And suddenly I'm on a TV show. And it was crazy. And then I was like, do the years line up for that? I look it up. He's 27. He had been in seven movies.

2:49:38Griffin Newman:Jeremy Piven, yes, I'll just say.

2:49:41David Sims:What is this story?

2:49:42Griffin Newman:I feel like he massages the truth once in a while.

2:49:45David Sims:Unfortunately, not the only thing he massages without permission. I think that you are right. For all the credit that the Hot Ones guy gets for his questions, I feel like Rich Eisen is not a softball guy. He's a really good interviewer. And he loves movies and TV. He's a real nerd about it. I don't watch his show when he has a fucking athlete on Why not? Anytime he has an actor on I'm like he's asking really good questions He's good When he has Ray Liotta on And he's got that signed Goodfellas poster And Ray Liotta's like I never signed that It's not my signature Make him smash it open and sign it It's good shit Ben Hosley is fully checked out

2:50:29Griffin Newman:Ben have you You know the Judgment Night soundtrack? If not Queued up on Spotify You're gonna love it Great hip-hop soundtrack from the early 90s. I'm serious. All right, I'll check it out. I'm serious. You will. I'm not like... The Sims. Cosby's got the Sims posture right now. He does.

2:50:47David Sims:And Sims is leaning in. Sims is leaning in. Sims is wide awake. The side of Sims. What is happening?

2:50:52Griffin Newman:Number six at the box office. It's because of Amazon. Yeah. Amazon. It's turned everything off. Jesus, we almost spent three hours on Fearless. On Fearless, hell yeah.

2:50:59David Sims:An excellent film. David, what's number five at the box office?

2:51:03Griffin Newman:Number five is Judgment Night. Number six is The Good Son, Macaulay Culkin Thriller. Number seven is... They had to overdub him swearing because they didn't want it to. If they wanted to be able to say he's still, like, he is not sullied by the swear words.

2:51:16David Sims:It would have broken America. It would have broken America. So they overdubbed it when he was like, don't fuck with me.

2:51:21Griffin Newman:Number six is, yeah, I said already, Good Son. Number seven is The Joy Luck Club. Great movie. Number eight is... Go away. Age of Innocence. pop-up. Age of Innocence, great movie as well. With Hunter Reiner, Oscar nominated, of course. Number nine, The Fugitive, which we love. Number 10, A Bronx Tale, which was a flop at the time and has become quite a beloved classic, obviously. And there's that scene where Chaz Palminteri fucks up the Hells Angels in the bar. The TikTok is like, you want to watch this scene? I'm like, I fucking watched it yesterday. And they're like, give it another ganda. At dinner last night, having this conversation about how he eats dinner.

2:52:01This guy. I do all sorts of crazy shit.

2:52:03Griffin Newman:What dinner were you eating? Just like a dinner in the lobby of the hotel. I was in New York at a hotel. So lazy, he can't even leave his lobby. New York needs tourism. I just heard anything he says on him. Take the long legs out for a walk. Gotta move that butt around. NYC needs to see those gams. Exactly. A sidewalk isn't good enough for you? I need a four-inch inseam on your shorts. We really gotta get all the gams out. How are people gonna know if you're walking here? what else does one do in new york that like they're now doing it they'll do it with like the shitty horror movies that were made in like 2011 that you've never seen where it's like the man wants to go into the bathroom but he does not know that there is another man behind with a knife you know what i mean like where they have like a shitty ai right but they're starting to do that with like titanic and like movies that everybody like they've been doing it with good Goodfellas, they tried to enter the bar, but instead of going through the front door, they go through the kitchen where they...

2:53:04Griffin Newman:Actually, I'm intrigued, and I will be clicking on your link. Sounds like they might have fixed Goodfellas. Giving it a clearer title. I don't know. What is it about pizza? I don't understand. Tim, you're the best. Guys, I love this so much. It's so nice that we got to do this because you're not in town that often. That often. And hopefully you'll be back in town soon, though. And we don't have to do a podcast, maybe. And I love New York City. and like there are there are dreams that I have of staying here for longer periods of time all include and this is 100 % true all include my ability to be on this podcast more often I would love you to have you on more often but unfortunately we're booked up so no no no yes we but also I'd love to just get dinner with you yeah here tell of a dinner you guys all got in LA get on a plane it was a nice dinner it sounds nice pizza it was fun it was a fun time we shut it down they were like changing the lights bulbs in the restaurant.

2:53:59Somebody had a ladder out. Like, we had to apologize. Like, thank you so much for letting us.

2:54:05David Sims:We were supposed to go see Mars Attacks of Vidiots and we ran past that by like two hours. You arrived while the credits were rolling.

2:54:10Griffin Newman:Yeah. Sounds good. Fantasy made fun of me. He's like, you're wearing linen pants and drinking orange wine? Who are you really? That sounds awesome to me, my friend. That was L.A. Benny. L.A. Benny. Well, I don't wear a lot

2:54:22David Sims:of linen pants, but orange wine, I mean, like, you know, let's do it. Love it. what used to be several different group texts we combined into sort of a mega, not mega, mega group texts that we call news and deals that's ostensibly designed for us to share physical media announcements and discounts and becomes a bit of a garbage plate of every other opinion we have. But my favorite thing is when, because we'll all gang up on each other and everyone gets their turn in the barrel to be the butt of the joke, right? Lowry seems to be broadly unscathed. How can you make fun of David Lauer? You can't.

2:54:57Jesus Christ.

2:54:58Griffin Newman:He's like a creature from another universe. He's got the eyes of an angel. Exactly.

2:55:03David Sims:Beautiful. People will pile up on Sims, and then David will go like, I'm sorry. In my defense, I'm the only one in here who has to raise twins. And like three times he's dropped this. And you go like, excuse me. I have never done that. It has happened.

2:55:19Griffin Newman:I do have you beat, though. And you go. I didn't have met other twin parents. I meet more twin parents now. my kid's in school with two twins, right? Like, where the other kid's in another class, right? Because they split them up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'll be like, I have twins too. And they're like, oh, you do? Where's your sibling? And I'm like, no, I have twins in addition. And they'll go, oh, fuck. Like, literally, other parents have been like, Jesus.

2:55:40David Sims:The reason I remember that this did in fact happen is you said this, right? And Tim was like, I have twins as well. And you were like, I was like, take a hike. Yours aren't babies. Yeah, take a hike. Well, it's true. Yeah, they're 13. Famously easy age. Famously easy age to parent.

2:55:56Griffin Newman:Well, before you got here, you were late.

2:55:58David Sims:I was getting coffee, and Amazon was down.

2:56:01Griffin Newman:Griffin said the best, best excuse ever. Usually his excuse is the train is late or whatever. So they had to brew a new pot. They did!

2:56:12David Sims:I said three cups for me and my friends, please. And they said we can only give you one. It'll take us so long here at the coffee shop. The POS is down. The coffee shop's on fire. I couldn't place a mobile order.

2:56:23Griffin Newman:Tim and I were talking about this. Yes. I have immediate child problems, which are feed me, change me. I can't sleep, whatever. My teeth hurt. You have complex emotional problems dealing with teenagers. I have like the Jeff Bridges in Fearless level of problems with mine. Like, I don't know if this is solvable, man. Maybe stop driving your car into a wall while your kids are in the car. That is not the best way to address every issue.

2:56:49David Sims:That's how you teach lessons. Yeah. It works. I've got an idea. Nothing else is working. Oh, boy. Just blast where the streets have no name. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Make your twins hold on to their toolboxes for dear life. Give them a little kiss. Yeah. And just pedal to the metal. What a pleasure. Yeah. Nobody wants this string now on Netflix.

2:57:12Griffin Newman:Thank God you did this today and not tomorrow when you were, like, sandwiched between Kelly Clarkson and whatever other, like, you know.

2:57:17David Sims:You're truly going to have to do it in between two fucking talk show appearances. Yes. And I was I was stressed out about getting to this point of being like, we haven't even spoken about the movie. And I now have to leave two and a half hours. Which is a disaster. Yeah. Thank you all for listening. Is there anything else you want to plug? No. No, I think we did it all. Great. Nobody wants this came out six months ago. Huh?

2:57:40Griffin Newman:I mean, sorry, a podcast. Oh, yeah. That is a good thing. I do a podcast with Matt Walsh where we now cover movies that have presidents or vice presidents in them. And it's called Second in Command. You can find us on Patreon.

2:57:51David Sims:I did an episode on Dave. The penis question, the big central penis question of the Ivan Reitman film, Dave, was discussed in depth. In depth. I'm going to get into it. Yeah. Thank you all for listening. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. Tune in next week for... Is next week Truman?

2:58:11Griffin Newman:Yeah, this is the thing about Peter Weir. you're like damn fearless like this rocks he's really hitting this amazing hollywood stride and it's like truman show master and commander way back like his career's almost over well and we'll

2:58:22David Sims:talk he's gonna make great movies we'll talk about it next week but the whole thing with truman is they're like great news jim carrey wants to do the movie bad news he is actually booked for the next two years straight right he will do it but you're six in line so he has like two years of prep on that movie right which is part of why that movie i was gonna say it's so good it probably

2:58:42Griffin Newman:helped right yes who's your guest

2:58:44David Sims:J.D. Amato I think J.D. is going to be

2:58:46Griffin Newman:on that one barring the great J.D. Amato return to the show over on the Patreon tomorrow we release an episode on Devil Wears Prada 2 that is true we will definitely be doing that that schedule right in general assuming no release date changes no that thing feels like it is going to eat at the start of summer right that thing is going to crush destroy and we're going to

2:59:07David Sims:have a special guest yeah my sister Romley Newman longtime sister returned to the show for the first time in many years. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, and as always, movies are great again. Now I go.

2:59:30Griffin Newman:Blank Check with Griffin and David is hosted by Griffin Newman and David Sims. Our executive producer is me, Ben Hosley. Our creative producer is Marie Barty Salinas. and our associate producer is A.J. McKeon. This show is mixed and edited by A.J. McKeon and Alan Smithy. Research by J.J. Birch. Our theme song is by Lane Montgomery in The Great American Novel, with additional music by Alex Mitchell. Artwork by Joe Bowen, Holly Moss, and Pat Reynolds. Our production assistant is Minnick. Special thanks to David Cho, Jordan Fish, and Nate Patterson for their production help. Head over to blankcheckpod.com for links to all of the real nerdy shit.

3:00:09Griffin Newman:Join our Patreon, Blank Check Special Features, for exclusive franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us on social at Blank Check Pod. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, Checkbook, on Substack. This podcast is created and produced by Blank Check Productions. Thank you.