Blank Check with Griffin & David

Just in time for Brendan Fraser’s big comeback, we’re taking a look back at his misguided collaboration with Henry Selick - 2001’s bizarro flop MONKEYBONE. Justin McElroy (no relation to Bridget Fonda’s Dr. Julie McElroy) returns to the podcast after having watched this film a whopping seven times (!!) to unpack all the madness. Why are there no rules or logic to the film’s “Dark Town” underworld? What was the appeal of Chris Kattan’s “Mango” character on SNL? Was this film the nail in the coffin for the kitschy retro-revival genre of projects that dominated the 1990s? Can we write the money we spent to rent this movie off on our taxes? 

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Bugs! So many bugs! And…Richard Dreyfuss?? The Bug Queen Emma Stefansky returns to the podcast to celebrate all the creepy crawlies in 1996’s JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH. We’re talking about stone fruit, Randy Newman, and cinema’s sexiest spider in this episode. Plus, we rank our favorite bugs AND our favorite Roald Dahl adaptations, and we learn about how Ben got his scar.

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We’re wearing our Hot Topic sweatshirts and enunciating every dramatic syllable to pay tribute to one of the greatest animated films of all time - Tim Burton’s (but really Henry Selick’s) THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Academy Award-nominated animator and Blankie Michael Rianda (THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES) joins us to talk about this multi-holiday classic, which is basically just a movie about a creative weirdo trying to fit in at Disney. Is this the boniest movie we’ve covered on the podcast? Does Halloween Town have the best minor background characters since the Mos Eisley cantina? What is the St. Patrick’s Day Town like?

Mixed by: Kyle Joseph

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For the first time in years, both Griffin and David are in agreement on a new Steven Spielberg film - what a picture! We’re playing both film critics and armchair psychologists in this episode as we unpack THE FABELMANS, a movie that is less sentimental and more complex than one would assume based on the poster. What sets this film apart from the ever-growing stack of filmmaker origin stories? Is this the de-facto Best Picture frontrunner? Why the hell was Griffin shooting on super 8 in the early 2000s when MiniDV was available?

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Cruise. Kidman. Kubrick. Ehrlich. We’re concluding our Stanley Kubrick series with 1999’s EYES WIDE SHUT and a trip to cinema’s most famous masked orgy. Indiewire’s David Ehrlich joins us as we discuss liminal spaces, the late-90s ABC sitcom “Dharma & Greg,” Nick Nightingale’s skills as a piano player, and Sydney Pollack’s barrel chest. Are there “more Christmas lights in this movie than there are in an NYU student’s dormroom?” What is the platonic ideal of a Tom Cruise hairstyle? Did making this movie kill Kubrick, or was working to finish it what kept him alive? What can one expect to find where the rainbow ends? And more!

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Alright, maggots, listen up! We’ve got the Action Boy himself - Jon Gabrus - back on the podcast to talk about Kubrick’s bifurcated Vietnam War classic FULL METAL JACKET. We’re retiring the “retired bit” in order to talk about Matthew Modine as Private Joker. We’re getting into the etymology of “poontang.” We’re attempting to articulate what makes a movie feel like an “80s movie” and why this film absolutely doesn’t.  And - we’re gonna end up on a very long tangent about the talking head comedy shows of the mid-aughts. Do we make ourselves clear? SIR, YES, SIR.

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Just in time for Halloween, we’re checking into the Overlook Hotel - a haunted place not unlike the Beachwood, Ohio, Homewood Suites that Griffin and guest Timothy Simons stayed in while they were filming DRAFT DAY! Is THE SHINING about Native American genocide, or is it about how Stanley Kubrick thought ghosts were kinda nice? Is Shelley Duvall the MVP of this movie? Would Ben absolutely thrive as the hotel’s caretaker - taking inspiration from the stocked kitchen pantry to whip up some delicious dishes? Why does the spectre of Tim Robinson continue to haunt our Kubrick series?

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NASA-quality lenses, a himbo canon-worthy performance from notoriously “chill and normal guy” Ryan O’Neal, and some flirty ribbon games all combine to make what we consider to be Kubrick’s warmest and most sumptuous film - 1975’s “Barry Lyndon.” Karina Longworth of “You Must Remember This” makes a long-awaited first appearance on the pod to wonder - did Barry actually end up sleeping with his cousin? What are the rules of dueling? Should children be allowed to ride horses? And more!

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Attention all droogs: grab your Nadsat dictionaries and your bowler hats, it’s time to drink some drug-milk! We’ve got our very own Alex - Ross Perry, that is - on the pod to go long on Kubrick’s controversial X-rated dystopian nightmare, 1971’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. We’re reminiscing about our rebellious teenage years, which for Alex included a trip to New York to see The Prodigy in concert, and for David included a “Pinter phase.” Did you all know that David grew up in England? Plus - Ben learns that Malcolm McDowell was once married to CLIFFORD’s own Mary Steenburgen, Griffin learns about Kubrick’s preferred brand of storage boxes, and David learns that Alex and Griffin have given him a mysterious new nickname.

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Open the pod cast doors, HAL - it’s time for us to talk about one of the most important movies in cinema history. Jordan Hoffman - the friend of the pod who best represents both the “diamond-hard Sci Fi” and psychedelic head-trip factions of 2001 fandom - returns to Blank Check, and we’re doling out the knowledge *and* the giggles. When is the ideal moment to “partake” in order to get the trippiest experience from 2001? Is Griffin starting to change his mind about Kubrick not being funny? Do Arthur C. Clark and Dr. Evil buy their jackets from the same tailor? Is this movie actually all about dick jokes?

Check out Jordan’s writing on Thrillist

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