Blank Check with Griffin & David - The Killer with Marie Bardi

Episode Date: November 26, 2023

We’re wrapping up our Fincher series with his latest release - a stripped-down, gig-economy hitman thriller - THE KILLER. Is Michael Fassbender’s unnamed hitman actually good at his job, or a total goober? How do your friends at Blank Check feel about The Smiths? Where do the Two Friends put MANK in their final Fincher rankings? And - is Griffin okay, or has he fallen too deep inside the Gaylor Swift rabbit hole? This episode is sponsored by: AuraFrames.com (CODE: CHECK) Uncommon Goods (uncommongoods.com/check) Hatch (hatch.co/check) Join our Patreon at patreon.com/blankcheck Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter and Instagram! Buy some real nerdy merch at shopblankcheckpod.myshopify.com or at teepublic.com/stores/blank-check

Stick to the podcast. Anticipate. No bits. This is good. Thank you. Today's going perfectly. Yes. Great day. It's going as well as the opening hit we see in the movie The Killer. David Fincher's The Killer, where everything goes perfectly.

So good. One of the things that's happening is a fun return of an old recurring character on this show. Construction in the building. Mr. Drill. Now, it's not... Previously, it was construction at the building next to us, which now is quite erected. There's a lot of it. Quite erect. It's getting there.

It's getting hard. Yes, it's getting hard. It's past the semi-flaccid stage. I told you. Did I say on mic what was happening in that building? Like, did I call the guy and they were like, yeah, we're destroying a foundation with, like, something I call the hammer. Like, a vehicle so powerful it smashes skyscraper foundations. We are obliterating fossils. He literally called it the hammer.

We are fucking up dinosaur bones. That's so funny. He was like, that's the thing. Once that's gone, nothing makes noise like that thing. Yes, which is true. Like, that that yes like that thing shakes the earth because now it's like in the last whatever it's been six months nine months whatever it's been uh i have no sense of time anymore now there's like half a building erected and it's been quite as a mouse yes but there's some uh work happening in what sounds like the unit right next to us well there's no unit right next to us but there might be above us somewhere near us near us and it's no unit right next to us, but there might be above us. I don't know.

Near us. Near us. And it's not as overwhelming. It does feel like a Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross score. Does it not? There is just that sort of

like uncomfortable. Is the score up for this, Parker? No, I was trying to fucking listen on the subway here because I was reading this fucking the world's heaviest

comic book. The Complete Killer by Jacquemin and Matz. Mat Killer by Jacquemin and Matz. Jacquemin and Matz. And I was like, I should listen to the score while reading this and it's not out there. So I just listened to Dragon Tattoo. Oh, you didn't listen to, you know, every song

in the Smiths catalog? Could have done that. You know what? I could have done that. Are you a Smiths boy? I like them. Me too. But this is like, we were talking about this the other day, the Lynch thing where I'm like, I feel like people think I'm being cagey.

If I'm like, I like the Smiths or I like David Lynch. Cause it's like, no, either you hate them or your life at some point was built around. You're saying it as someone whose life was never built around. Right. And I was like,

anytime I hear the Smiths, I like it. Sometimes I choose to put it on. I don't go deep on it. After watching this movie, maybe it'd make me better at shooting people. Or worse. Nothing in this movie you're like, if I could only be

like him, I'd be good at my job. He's pretty good with like a nail gun. There's stuff he's good at. Anyone would be good with a nail gun if they were inches from a person's torso. I've never used a nail gun. You overrate my ability. I would fuck that. Anyone would be good with a nail gun if they were inches from a person's torso. I've never used a nail gun. You overrate my ability. I would fuck that.

There's like a nail in your head. Yeah, I'd nail myself. This is Blank Check with Griffin and David. I'm Griffin. I'm Marie. Hey, Marie. Ben is not here, unfortunately. Life circumstances. Marie is jumping behind the console.

She's on the ones and zeros. She's on the ones and twos. It is. Yeah, ones and twos. Oh, sure. If this episode sounds like shit, please direct all complaints. If the episode sounds like shit,

it's only the fault of the construction. Okay. Perfect out. I don't know. Perfect out. Perfect cover. Marie. Empathize.

Don't improvise. Oh, wait. I'm messing up the line. A genius Empathize. Don't improvise. Oh, wait. I'm messing up the line. A genius thinks of ten ways they can catch you. I'm not a genius. You only need to think of one. Right?

What's the fucking line he has? That's a good line. You know what I'm paraphrasing. I do. It is perhaps said better in this movie directed by David Fincher, acted by Michael Fassbender,

and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. Drill studio. Yeah. When was your Smiths phase? It was high school into college. When was your... I very clearly remember getting dumped by a guy named Blake in college

and then walking along 14th Street at night listening to I Know It's Over on my iPod and crying to myself as I walked past the Taco Bell. First of all, Blake on Blast. Yeah. Second of all, RIP to the 14th Street Taco Bell, which I recently saw, is no more. What? It's gone.

One of my favorite fast food locations in Manhattan. Oh, my God. Totemic. No, no, no. To be fair, there are still Taco Bells. There are, but that one. No, but that one. That was the birthplace of the Taco Bell Drawing Club, which I don't know if you're familiar with that, but that was like a Jason Pollan thing.

R.I.P. R.I.P. the Great Jason Pollan. I think it literally just moved to like 13th and 3rd. I think they're getting rid of all the old Taco Bells and just doing the cantinas. And that was one of the last Taco Bells that was like held together by duct tape. I mean, there was a Pizza Hut in there at one point as well Taco Bells that was like held together by duct tape I mean there was a pizza hut in there at one point as well

there was very briefly a barbecue chain that my dad went all in on and then got kicked out he invested in it? or he went all in on me and he like parked himself in a seat he was like gentlemen where do I invest that's the kind of thing my father would have done

sir we don't and he's like I'm leaving the money here invest? That's the kind of thing my father would have done. Sir, we don't. He's like, I'm leaving the money here. I'm opening up a franchise location in my apartment. My dad's still paying off 20 years later. What was the barbecue? I think it was called Stubbs Barbecue. Oh, yeah. Oh, sure. Well, that's, um, there's, you can get a, like, bottled sauce.

Yeah. Yeah. But I think they briefly tried to make it a restaurant. My dad was like, I'm putting my money down Stubbs is the next great chain restaurant why are we fucking talking about this there's a lot of chains in this movie

there was the other there was the Taco Bell that got replaced by a piercing shop next to the IFC that was a really great one as well and the one near UCB those were the last three like Mos Eisley Cantina Taco Bells rather than the upscale Taco Bell Cantina. I do love Taco Bell.

Me too. But to me, it's like the moment has to be right. Yeah. And then when I do it, I'm all in. I'm not getting two things. I'm getting like a bag where they're like, this is your one? And Taco Bell a little bit like the Smith's break glass in case of emergency.

Did I just get dumped? I'm buying 12 things from Taco Bell today. Right. Am I allowed to wallow? Or am I like being a teenager? Am I like playing video games all day with my friend or something? My Taco Bell time is, you know, when I go to a 9 or 10 p.m. screening,

didn't eat dinner because I was stupid. Yep. Get home. I'm kind of drunk because I did get drinks before the movie. I am too drunk. Yes. And Taco Bell on Seamless. Oh yeah.

Does deliver to my apartment after midnight. Is it the one on the Nostrand? I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Good Taco Bell. Yeah. My old Taco Bell.

I love a Crunchwrap Supreme. You've been there. I know. Way to post-docs yourself. I don't live there anymore. Post-docs! But I think that one's a cantina. It was, but then I think it uncantina. They were quick to cantina, and every time

we went there and tried to take advantage of the cantina, they were like, we don't do that here. I would say that location, that whole, that little Fulton and Nostrand, you don't want a cantina there. People are out all night in that area. You don't want someone walking in at three in the morning and being like,

give me a, you know, whatever they do. Mojito. No, but this is part of the cantina thing, is that people don't have to talk. You just, much like the killer, you just tap, tap, tap, tap. Well, that's what we're talking about. It's true. It's a podcast about filmography. Directors who have massive success

early on in their careers and are given a series of blank checks to make whatever crazy passion projects they want. And sometimes those checks clear and sometimes they bounce baby. This is a mini-series on the films of David Fincher. We're concluding our series. Bye-bye, David. The Curious Pod of Benjamin book cast. Today, we're talking about The Killer.

His new release. His new Netflix picture. His new film that prompted this series. Yeah. A mini-series, if you will. I think it's more of a maxi-series. A limited maxi-series. I agree.

It's a limited maxi-series. It's 40 minutes and over. Yeah. If we're submitting to an awards. Uh-huh. You know how, like, fast food, it used to be be like, you know, walking up there and be like, hey, can I get number six? We used to talk to people.

But like, it's like you couldn't go up there and be like, listen, here's what I want. I want 10 nuggets. I want a cheeseburger with extra pickles. I want, you know, another cheeseburger with no pickles, but extra onion. You know, like now you can just do your sick little order on the computer. I disagree know like yeah now you can just do your sick little order on the computer i i disagree you disagree that you can't do your sick i know well you can but i was just at a whataburger at dallas lovefield airport yesterday and i said a whataburger should i wave the lone star flag ye freaking ha uh but i had a full conversation about uh adding ketchup and mayo to my burger

because what a burgers are mustard forward and i don't like that so i need to have on the train i mean this was burger king's whole thing for so long have it your way the south people are nicer they talk to you more yeah but i do like that i can just kind of be like i want something really awful and i can't tell you i can put it tell you. I like not having to talk to me. Yeah, that's why at the CVS, the self-checkout kiosks are so successful because people don't want

to have to talk to the people when you're buying condoms. Yeah, you know. So we all were rushing towards the same thing. Shave purchases. You just want to cut out

the middleman. Show up with 20 boxes of condoms. The middleman. Get a mega lube. These don't expire for another decade, right? Because I might be sitting on them for a while.

Do these age actually? Like, it'd be good if they actually get stronger. Yeah, that's what I'm looking for here. I'm going to be building up to using these. I bought condoms in bulk

from Costco once and it was one of the most arrogant things I had ever done. Yeah, that's inviting a drought. I was, yes. So lame.

Yes, it was underlining a failure to come. It was the reverse of Babe Ruth calling his own shot. It was Babe Ruth pointing to the garbage can and saying, this is where those condoms are going. No, or it's Babe Ruth pointing to center field and then he gets hit in the head with a ball and has to retire from baseball. The guy's like, fuck you pointing at the center.

I'm going to hit you in the head. Came with a collectible 10. But the killer is set in a world we might recognize, given that it is our world. Right, where it's like you barely have to talk to anyone anymore to arrange very complex things. Yes. From

gym memberships to assassinations. One could argue the film is a comedy about how we've created a world that is ideally suited to sociopaths. Right. You could question whether it helps read sociopathy, but the people who already

have those tendencies, boy, are they fucking feasting. Yes, gig economy. Murder gig economy. Murder gig economy. Jesus. Giga comedy. I've been reading...

That's a new Pokemon. I've been reading The Complete Killer. Looks like Andrew Dice Clay, but he's got you know. I've been reading The Complete Killer which is 750 pages long. It looks like the Alan Moore From Hell volume or you know, Craig Johnson's Blankets or whatever. It's a big sucker. It's a big ass home.

And I knew that the movie is fairly loosely adapted. Craig Thompson, not Johnson loosely adapted. Not Johnson. Yeah. Fuck. Craig Johnson directed Skeleton and Twins? Sounds right. I hate sometimes just how quickly my brain, like, fucking ties the red string from one thing to another.

Yeah. Yeah. But this, yes, this book the size of my butt, that is the complete killer. Your butt is not that big, my friend. Killer. This book that's five times the size of my tiny flat ass. This book has more curves than my butt does. You're reading that book, and yes, that book is not set, obviously, in 2023. No, I didn't realize this comic started in 1998.

Oh, what a time. And I was saying to Murray, I think Fincher did not even glance at any of the volumes past a certain point. I'm trying to figure out where the cutoff part is, but it feels like everything from the movie is basically taken from the first 200 some odd pages. And they've continued doing new volumes of The Killer up through 2018.

I think there's also a new one coming out to tie into the movie. Wasn't this optioned a while ago? Yes. Yeah. So I saw this. There's a dossier. I can there's also a new one coming out to tie into the movie. Wasn't this optioned a while ago? Yeah. So I saw this. There's a dossier. I can look it up. Oh, we have a dossier for this episode? JJ will make you a dossier for your fucking bowel movements

if you ask him to. He's the killer of dossiers. He just goes, I can figure out how to do this. I saw this film last week. I went to a screening where one David Fincher was in attendance. I can figure out how to do this I saw this film Last week I went to a screening Where one David Fincher was in attendance Along with Andrew Kevin Walker

And the editor And the sound designer Forgive me for forgetting their names I've talked to a very nice man Sound designer Ren Kleiss I believe so Talk to him too He's really awesome Ren Kleiss is believe so Talk to him too for Manc He's really awesome

Ren Kleiss is very cool Sound guys are always cool Because you're like what did you do And they're like let me tell you They're always so excited to tell you about whatever baffling shit they did to get a sound I talk about this with my dad Sound guys and Marie I wonder if you have the same assessment Sound team almost always uniformly

The best people on the set. Cool people. Cool. Always cool people. Yeah. And cool in some ways that are commonalities across all of them

and sometimes they surprise you but it's always cool surprises. Where did you see it? Where was this theater? Whitby Hotel. It was a fancy... That's a very nice screening room though.

Did you get the little candies? I got a little popcorn. No candies? No. There was no moderator. Oh, shit. What?

And David Fincher was like, we have no moderator, so just we're opening it up. And you're like, dangerous. Dangerous. And then it was mostly sort of like guild members from different guilds.

It was an award screening. Right. But it was like, first question was like, hi, I'm also a sound mixer. Super detailed question. Amazing. This fucking Q&A rules.

Everyone was asking questions that weren't like, how many days do you take to shoot? Is there any improv in the film? In our modern generation, how can stories be told for younger audiences with no attention span? One dumb question I'll maybe get to, but it was like a real brass tacks screening. That's awesome. And Andrew Kevin Walker was like, you know, we worked together a lot, but he had not gotten a proper screenwriting credit on any of his films since

Seven. Their first on-screen collaboration, right? He's like, I'm always happy when Fincher calls me. Sure. He calls me in like 2008 and he's like, I read a comic book I really like. He sends it to me. I read it. We get coffee. He's like, I think backstory's overrated i think

there's a spine of something interesting here here's how i'd structure the movie it's like five things right and he's like one two three four five andrew kevin walker's like okay write it down wrote down the notes of his five-point plan of what the movie is just reduce it to basically these five chapters these five like movements, five actions, right? And he's like, and then line went completely cold. Presumably they continue to work together in little capacities. Let's think, like, I guess he wasn't really involved because he was very involved, I feel like,

in a lot of the earlier stuff. Yeah. But right, I don't think he took a pass on like Social Network or Dragon Tattoo, obviously. No, but maybe maybe developing you know they're friends yeah and like they worked on one of those uh love sex

love death and robots they worked on one of those uh but he just says for 10 years it never came up in conversation once again that's so funny and then 2018 he goes do you remember that killer thing I do want to do that and he's like here's my approach to how I would do it. And Fincher recited because I still had the notes. I could check it

word for word, verbatim, 10 years later, picking up the thread. The movie is these five things. And he was like, and now I'm set up at Netflix. I want you to start working on it. So that's when they like really crack into it. But there's 10 years between him identifying it, picking the co-writer, not commissioning the script,

a word not being written, and then him being like, let's go, let's do this. That's crazy. I don't know what JJ found in his research, but that's how Andrew Kevin Walker told it. Who knows what swill he's dredged up for us. No, that's awesome. I mean, that is certainly what you hear

about Fincher is right. It's like, it's just in his brain, whatever the idea is, or then, yeah, and then It's like just in his brain. Yeah. Whatever the idea is or then yeah and then it's just sitting in there until you need it. Like some kind of mad computer. Yes. Yes. Just in case no one can hear it.

A friend of mine, friend of the podcast, Ben David Grabinski, who watched it last night texted me and he's going what a burger. He's hanging with Ben David Grabinski. We're texting. Oh texting. are you jealous so jealous he was like fucking killer rules you guys must be so

excited that you get to end on a on a rad one I was like yeah and he was like it's Fincher and Soderbergh land yep so true and it's it's not just like stylistically but it's like even the attitude of him being like haven't done a hitman movie yet right let me strip it down. Let me like play with just actual craft.

There's something to, it's not like this is a minor movie. No, but I think it's going to be taken as one. Totally. By fools. Soderbergh, who works so much faster, will be like, you know what? I haven't done an erotic thriller. I haven't done a this. I haven't done a that.

Right. But now he's kind of like, all right, take your clothes off. And then I'm going to shoot this sunset. Right. And I think we're done. I'm going't done a that right but he now he's kind of like all right take your clothes off and then i'm gonna shoot the sunset and i think we're done i'm gonna just send that over to hbo i'm sure they'll do something with it yeah there is so much more meticulous and process involved and so long in development that even when he's making something like panic room that's a bit of a genre riff it it feels like well i have to load as much into this as possible and this feels like him being like let me just fucking strip it down in a way that is very cool. I agree with that.

I think the Soderbergh mode thing, totally true. Marie, where did you see it? They're obviously very good friends. I saw, yeah. Well, wasn't Soderbergh watching, like, several cuts of this? Well, he logs it all the time. That's my favorite part of the log is seeing, like, 20 cuts of a Fincher movie. Like, rough cuts of this? Well, he logs it all the time. That's my favorite part of the log, is seeing 20 cuts of a Fincher movie.

Like rough cuts of a Fincher, right? Absolutely. I saw this movie at a 10.40 a.m. screening at the Alamo Drafthouse with a bunch of fucking sickos. Well, Marie, I assume you mean the Alamo Drafthouse in New York City. It was, I believe.

Yes. Oh, I thought you saw it in Texas. No, I was thinking about seeing it in Texas, but then I decided Draft House in New York City. It was, I believe. Yes. Oh, I thought you saw it in Texas. No, I was thinking about seeing it in Texas, but then I decided to see it in New York before I got on the plane to go to Texas. To be clear, you flew to Texas

for a Toy Story-themed birthday party. That is correct. But with one Cars? It was a Toy Story slash Cars hybrid second birthday celebration. Which I, look,

I made it very clear to Marty's nephew that I thought he was muddying the cannons a little bit and he should try to keep them clean. But we'll talk about that later. There's no Whataburger in New York, right? Did they attempt one once?

I don't think so. I don't know. I just wanted to go there. It's growing on me. It's good. Your wedding, it was invoked many times at your wedding. Yes, because my father-in-law does not... Who, by the way, is charming as hell. He is. He's great. That was a charming thing because my father-in-law does not... Who, by the way, is charming as hell.

He is. He's great. That was a charming thing. Your father-in-law rules. Yeah, he's great. His name's Manny. He looks like Mexican Charles Barkley. Yep. I mean, yeah.

Not wrong. Yeah, but his speech was about how, you know, I'm great, except I don't like Whataburger. You're not like an automatic fan of Whataburger. Right, but I'm like, as I said, mustard-forward burgers. They don't like Whataburger. You're not like an automatic fan of Whataburger. Right. But I'm like as I said, mustard forward burgers. They don't, it's not a natural fit

for me. So, you know, it's taken time. But you just have to learn the language to make the adjustments to have it work for you, I guess, which it sounds like you're doing. Yes, I am. Yeah. I saw this film at the Paris, Netflix's own Paris Theater. Part of, technically part of New York Film Festival. Right.

It's a screening I was supposed to go to and it literally got like rained out of making it in time. It was wet. It was a wet night. Yeah.

In Midtown. But I did see it there sitting next to, you know, Jeff Wells and all those fun folks. Jeff Wells was about six years from me.

The killer of the online film blogging community. He recently called me like a Marxist or something in Hollywood I can't remember which thing he called me right he identified me as part of right like you know like the sort of Maoist

so over at Gotham so shout out to you Jeff I saw it loved it yeah was so excited for other people to see it I'm sad it's not getting a you know 3000 screen release although it's getting a Was so excited for other people to see it. I'm sad it's not getting a, you know, 3000 screen release.

Although it's getting a slightly wider release than other Netflix movies. It was playing in the Dallas metro area. So I could have seen it outside of New York. Yes.

I wanted to, which is cool. So you saw it with Dangass Venture Freaks, like first thing in the morning, first thing in the morning on Friday. Yeah.

Was there a pretty healthy crowd? I would say there were maybe like 20 people there. Okay. All with bucket hats? No bucket hats. There was one guy I thought might be Todd Field. Okay. Because you know how like Todd during his...

He's got a big hat though. Yeah. Well, he was a guy wearing like a really big baseball hat. And I was like, is that the main baseball or whatever he was wearing? Yeah. Was not Todd Field. But yeah, I was the only woman. And it was just a bunch of,

you know, freelance people. I had two iced coffees and one order of apple cinnamon donut holes. Are they any good? Yeah. Well, we all saw it disparately. I felt so privileged

to see it in a theater because I, you know, regret for all to see it in a theater because I, you know, regret for all of you people watching this movie on Netflix, but the sound design is really spectacular. You texted me

after you saw it and you said, it's a great way to end our series because it's so autobiographical. Well, yes. I think so. I think my enjoyment of this movie

is like at least 60%. Fincher making fun of himself. Fincher making fun of himself. That's how I look at it. Being completely immersed in Fincher. Maybe making fun of himself, but making fun of how we perceive him. Or how he thinks we perceive him.

You want my reductive, like, quippy take on this movie? Sure. Well, can I just not go to your letterbox? I have a post. I saved it for the episode. I'm joking. It's a little joke about how some people use their letterbox, including me. Yeah.

What a waste of the platform. Sick. It's sick that I won't write 1,200 words for every movie I see. Here for serious criticism! And instead I say, like, whatever. You know, X person, you know, more like hot person. Right right right what was

your zodiac redo david dot tumblr on two separate times without thoughts yeah i didn't know that i was doing basically i praised mark ruffalo's bow ties and elias kodias's necktie right right because they're both great yes yes my Yes. My letterboxd type clip on the movie is a psychological horror film about David Fincher imagining a reality where he's only allowed

one take. Oh, that's so funny. Right? But I like, the moment when he misses the shot in the movie, I was like, that's what this is.

That's his nightmare. He wakes up in a cold sweat. To the thing that he obviously feels some frustration about his process being reduced to or focused on. Yeah. But it's like, this feels like a self-admission where he's like, you know why I do so many fucking takes? Because if you only get one, sometimes you shoot the mistress.

So you don't accidentally shoot the high-end dancer. Yes, exactly. No one can get it in one. That's insane. The killer. I didn't bring this up in the episode, but when I watched the dragon tattoo with the commentary, there's a moment where

Daniel Craig walks back into his house. Oh, is it when the bottle falls? Yes. I was wondering about how they did that. The bottle falls off the fridge and he catches it underhand and throws it over to the other hand

and then kind of has a little moment of Ihand and like throws it over to the other hand and then like kind of has a little like moment of like, I nailed it. And then walks over to the table and the cat is in the perfect position in the frame. And Fincher was like, it's one of those takes where like there's no digital aiding there. There's like no setup that actually just happened. Everything lined up perfectly. And you're like gripping onto your armrest being like, is something going to blow this take didn't and i was like holy shit that was a miracle let's do two more wait was the bottle so was the bottle falling intentional no okay it just happened at one time and craig nailed the catch and then turned into such a movie star moment and then the cat performs the right way where the cat was apparently always like temperamental on that movie and fincher says the story as a sort of like self parody of like I wasn't even happy with that take yeah right and then I did two more before I went like what the fuck am I doing

I got it yeah I'm definitely using that there's no miracle better than that and this is the movie where it's just like this guy's like I don't improvise I come with a plan I prepped I've storyboarded I hire the best crew I have the best equipment. Fuck.

What if I fuck up? I won't shoot until I'm fucking 60 BPM. I've, you know, right. All that shit. Okay. Listen.

Yeah. David Fincher is the filmmaker we're covering today. Yes. He made Mank. I mean, it came out three years ago. Mank the Mank. He's been in this Netflix stable for five years. I feel today. Yes. He made Mank. I mean, it came out three years ago. He Manked the Mank. He's been in this

Netflix stable for five years, I feel like. Yeah. Like, he's had this deal for five years? That sounds right. Like, I know that this is,

like, technically the last year of a deal he signed. But that's only for features? I think it was just... he's had a Netflix deal, like, forever. He's been working

for Netflix. Right, yeah. But, like, I think they were, like, they gave him some like he's been working for Netflix but like I think they were like they gave him some sort of overall deal and Mank and the Killer have both come out of that

he jumps to HBO and sets up the three shows that don't go there and Video Synchrocy and the third one I'm forgetting that didn't get very far at all

he sets those up after House of Cards then he does Mindhunter and then I think he like signed specifically a movie deal, which makes sense with 2018 being the year he goes back

to Andrew Kevin Walker and says like, time to get the script done. I can make the killer at Netflix. Right. Well, he also had one other unrealized project, a prequel to Chinatown

that he's been working on with Robert Towne. Like, which, I mean... project a prequel to chinatown that he's been working on with robert town uh um like i which i mean i mean god bless david fincher and do what you want but i don't know if you should do that the two jakes is like kind of good right but that's a sequel right but i'm just saying that is like a universe that has been expanded but But like that stars Jack Nicholson from Chinatown. And people hated it at the time. Yeah. And it's largely forgotten.

It's a pretty flawed movie. It's interesting. I think people still think of that as like an untouched one and done masterpiece. They just ignore. Yeah. Yeah. And there is no young Nicholson. And I also just, do we need to be?

No one fills that role. No, and even in the way that like, you know, there's increasing talk about Heat 2, a movie we hopefully will get to cover in some years. Yeah, I mean, I'm pro Heat 2. Right. But like everyone's sort of like wishlist casting is like, well, you just do it with Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac. Yes.

And it's like those guys are not one-to-one with De Niro and Pacino, but you're like, that works. Serious actors with tons of integrity. And they kind of have a similar, like they've circled each other for a while sort of thing. But like, there's no one analogous to Nicholson right now. No one.

No. I don't know how you do that. It would specifically be a Jake Gittes. Yeah, it's his time in Chinatown with Lou Escobar. Of course, then the other thing he did was that VAR show. We talked about that. So he's done other stuff for Netflix as well. But instead,

the killer, he also gave some interviews. He was like, we're working on this Chinatown thing. And then he was like, I'm also playing with adapting this French graphic novel about the assassin that I've always liked. Paramount initially had the rights to this. Back in 2007, Fincher told them to get the rights.

In his Zodiaciac Benjamin Button double feature. Correct. Yeah. And yes, the book was released in 1998, but it wasn't released in English until 2007. So that's when he noticed it. Yes. The other thing, in France comics,

Ben des Désignés. Yeah, Bon Désigné. Yes. Bon Désigné. David pronounced it better than I did. des Désignés. Yeah, Bon Désigné. Yes. Don Désigné. David pronounced it better than I did. Bon Désigné. France, basically, their main medium for comics

is like the midway point between a single issue and a graphic novel. Right. They are like thin, hardback books that, yeah, are not like 30-page issues,

but they're also not like 150-page compendiums of a run. So I think there are a series of the Ben Désigné before it finally then gets adapted over here into like the first volume, which is maybe the first five chapters, which I think seems to be the thing that Fincher really read and took to. When I lived in France,

I was really a big comic book reader, and that was the best thing about France was it was like, my comic book consumption is not interrupted whatsoever. Yes. This is a country that understands me buying my weekly comics.

I used to go to the store and buy eight comics a week or whatever. Tremendous long- standing appreciation for the art form like comics were taken seriously in France decades earlier than here it's always like some guy who's actually called like Jean Jacques

it's like what's your actual name Mets Mets actually apart from being a comic book artist had also worked on video games at Ubisoft he's got credits on Rayman 3 good game Splinter Cell Chaos Theory not one I've played

he came up with the character he thought about it maybe as a novel but then he was like well it's all silence and monologues so visually it would be interesting so he starts working on it as a comic book his notion is just like imagine what a hitman thinks about while he's

waiting to do his job there are a couple plot points shared in broad broad strokes but this is one of those things where Fincher really could have been like I'm writing an original screenplay and not option the rights or giving credit if he wanted to play Dirty Pool.

Yeah. Because it really feels like the main thing he's jamming on like is movie in the head of Hitman dealing with the mundanity of it. Right. That's the thing,

the biggest thing he's taking from the book. The character in the book, I would argue, is quite different. Okay. First of all, in the Q&A.

No bucket hat. Burn the book. I don't even want to hear about it anymore. Throw it in the fire. In the Q&A, no bucket hat. Burn the book. I don't even want to hear about it anymore. Throw it in the fire. In the Q&A, the one stupid question was this woman was like,

Michael Fassbender is so good in this. And the accent, I cannot believe the accent. How did you get that out of him? And Fincher was like,

well, I saw Prometheus. I said, that guy's a good sociopath. Write that down for later. I'll find a use for him. He has these card catalogs in his head like,'s a good sociopath. Write that down for later. I'll find a use for him. He has these card catalogs in his head, like,

romantic lead, sociopath. Like, he's just like throwing people. Maybe a second movie he listed, but his line was truly, he went like, there are many movies

that you could watch and think like, wow, this Fassbender guy is giving sociopath. His line was, he says like, he gives jobs.

Yeah. Fucking Assassin's Creed. I mean, like, the list goes on and on. He's like, I go to see Prometheus and I go,

hmm, sociopath. Write that down for later. Like, he's one of those actors, though, like that when it was like Fincher's working at Fassbender, you're like, yeah,

well, they work together all the time. Right. And they're like, right. No, they haven't. They haven't. Because Fassbender kind of got big

after Fincher stopped making a lot of movies. Yes. And then also, Fassbender... But they do seem a match in terms of process. This and Next Goal Wins, which I think is, by the time this comes out, a lot of movies. Yes. And then also, but they do seem a match in terms of this. And next goal wins,

which I think is by the time this comes out, probably the most acclaimed film of the year, right, is marching its way straight to an Oscar sweep or like his first movies

in almost five years. Yeah, well, he's he's gone. He's gone all in on racing. He said he had to structure the shoot of this movie around like Le Mans.

Yeah. Like what's the down season for racing where we have a very specific window where he will do this. gone all in on racing. Pinterest said he had to structure the shoot of this movie around like Le Mans or whatever. Like what's the down season for racing where we have a very specific window where he will do this. He is 100% into car racing. I believe Porsche

is actually his manufacturer. Oh, when I said Ferrari-ing I meant just the movie. You more meant like masculinity as a prison. I do this insane thing and risk my life.

No, he's been Ferrari out of control. We haven't talked about Ferrari yet, but that is the vibe of Ferrari. It's not like, ooh, Cargo Fast, how fun. It's more like, why do we do this to ourselves?

A little bit the vibe of Michael Fassbender these days, too, of masculinity in crisis. Yeah. I guess he's got, well, he's in Next Call. As I said, it's probably... Wasn't that movie filmed like what

Like 15 years ago But before that what was his last Film before these two Before Jesus Is it that far back There's like basically a five year gap Oh oh fucking Dark Phoenix

2019 He's all over that movie. He is so in that movie. It's insane, Murray. He's definitely in every act of it. It's that clever thing they do where you're like, well, Fassbender's in the whole movie. And you're like, well, sure. For five minutes at a time every 25 minutes.

Because they do like the budget version of Krakoa where he's like, I built a city. I built a city. See, there's six people here in this field. And I can be on set for five days and we can distribute these scenes across the entire length of the film. And then there's the insane action sequence in the movie where they cross the street.

Yeah. Like literally an entire set piece of them crossing a street. Yes. In Manhattan. Yeah. He's part of that. Yes.

Don't really remember. I don't even remember what like his goals are in that. Okay, but that's four years ago. Wait, and then what was right before that one? Light Between Oceans? Oh, no. Oh, Harry Hole. Yeah.

Yes. He had two movies really break him in a row, and I'd say Light Between Oceans to a lesser degree. Well, Light Between Oceans was even before. That was before Assassin's Creed. Yeah, because he's gone in Covenant in there as well, which is, you know, he's very good in that. And he joined the Creed and gave...

He joined the Creed and he trespassed the performance of a lifetime. Post-Steve Jobs, no good. Steve Jobs felt like the level-up moment for him where it was like, he finally got the Oscar nomination that people thought he was snubbed for for 12 years a slave in supporting. Sure. And then he gets the lead nomination in Steve Jobs.

And even though that movie bombs, it's like, welcome to the club, Fassbender. Yeah. You're one of our serious leading men. If you're going to do a big performance, we're going to pay attention. Right. And then he's like,

the X-Men movies at that point are less unstable where it's like, he's got a franchise. That's still going. He gets to make these movies. And then, yeah, the wheels really fall off. He's good in the first X-Men. He's good in the first five. He's pretty fantastic. Yeah. Don't really remember what he does in

Days of Future Past at all. I don't either. That is a movie I'm so curious, if you were to watch it now, would it completely disintegrate in your hands? Yes, it sucks. I've rewatched it. I'm not a fan of that movie. Apocalypse, he destroys Auschwitz and goes like that but i don't remember anything else that he does in that one like that's that's his big

moment wild that he made four of them but it's wild that any of them did correct like you're like well jay lauren jay and for lawrence dropped out of the fourth one right no she's in it yes she dies none of them bailed ever and then they all gave those interviews where they were like we were just so happy to work with a new director on this film yes and that's what's important right they all very much made it sound like kinberg was the guy who was vaguely keeping things calm for three movies in a row so we all felt we owed it to him to repay the favor for the one where he was actually director. And it worked out great for everybody. Well, don't worry,

because they're going to rescue the MCU. Yes. Okay? Yeah. That's going to happen. Yeah. David and I have been texting back and forth, and I keep on going like,

here's a take on how you could save the MCU. What if you did this? And I'm like, I don't know, man. Band-aid for a bullet hole. Yeah, nuke it from orbit. Kill them all. Molotov cocktail runaway. I just keep watching Loki and keep being like, I don't even know who is good or bad.

And I'm not saying that in a morality has law. I'm literally like, I don't know what the goal is. So I don't know who to root for. Do we want this to go away or stay and also who wants that to you know and that's just like what like what are these movies about anymore nothing what are they about they're about nothing okay um the killer nothing the movie's about nothing it's a franchise about nothing they got no stays multiverse you can bring anyone back for the multiverse about nothing i i'd say your seiniverse. You can bring anyone back to the Multiverse

about nothing. I'd say your Seinfeld impression is pretty bad, Griffin. What are you talking about? What's the deal with my impression?

It's pretty good. B-movie. So, Finch, he's got his deal with A-plus movie. His deal with Netflix. He likes the graphic novel.

He says he likes the nihilism. He likes the self-loathing. He likes the inner monologue. All these things he tells himself. And much like... You know, make him feel ostensibly better. Is his monologue reliable?

Should we take it as gospel? Is he negotiating with himself? Much like Soderbergh's HBO Max deal, where it's like... You mean just Max? I'm sorry. Now it's a Max deal. But the deal he signed with HBO Max, where it's like you mean just Max I'm sorry now it's a Max deal but the deal he signed with HBO Max where

it's just like so I don't have to go through the process of pitching these over and over again yeah trying to put too many commercial elements together can I just like pick a simple thing and load it with a couple stars and you get off my fucking back if the number is small enough Killer kind of feels like Fincher trying to do the same

thing right if like if I get one bankable name for you and it's in a genre if the number's small enough. Killer kind of feels like Fincher trying to do the same thing. Right. If like, if I get one bankable name for you and it's in a genre that kind of makes sense as a thumbnail image and the movie's less complicated than what I usually make,

will you just let me be? Right. Can I just like give me the money and I'll give you a movie in nine months? Yeah. You know, whatever.

I'm all for it. I mean, I just wish it was in 3,000 theaters. Here's my take. Give me six weeks in 3,000 theaters. No, my thing is, yes, I would prefer that he was making movies

that were put into 3,000 theaters and given proper runs. Apple TV is currently, Apple Plus is currently the one doing it right, where they make the thing, they know they'll own it forever, but then they make a deal with the distributor and you're like normal.

Free money. Right. It is free money for you. But also the thing they all find, Netflix has different business strategies, i.e. They want to destroy theaters. And also diminishing the meaning of money.

Sure. Obscuring what money is. They want up to be down and left to be right yes i can't imagine how this movie is going to play on netflix i can't either it'll be boring because you need to be locked in you need to be locked down um it's terrible both the movies he made for netflix it's like he's like i'm making these because they'll give me the money to make them they're both uniquely bad for streaming. Yeah. Like, yes. Okay.

What I was going to say, the upside of, like, the Soderbergh HBO deal, right? Max deal, which I wish more of those films got theatrical releases other than Magic Mike, is that, like,

he works fast. Right. He accepts that he works in genres that people won't finance as theatrical films anymore. And he's like, you know what?

Great. HBO, I get to make three of these a year. The trade-off is they're not going to get to go to films anymore. And he's like, you know what? Great, HBO, I get to make three of these a year. The trade-off is they're not gonna get to go to theaters, but I can keep them going and I have stability. Fincher works too slowly for him signing a five-year deal at Netflix to be worth it, I would argue,

from our vantage point as the audience. Where I'm like, if the trade-off was these don't go to theaters, but I don't have to wait three years between Fincher movies, it's not like that's an artificial break because Fincher can't get things off the ground. It's because he takes time to do things right. He doesn't care for it. So, I'm like, if it's five years of him taken off the board only to have his shit go to Netflix.

And as you said, both of these movies are him making things that he knows the studios wouldn't greenlight, but that specifically don't play well at home. Yeah, like, Mank, I want to hear that sound in the theater. We still, we talk about that on the episode. Here, if I have this on, how am I, how is my mind not going to wander? How are you not going to check your fucking phone? And then you're no better than the killer himself. Exactly.

What you should do is you should watch it sitting in like, you know, a sort of like a lotus pose with a BPM monitor. Yeah. And if it goes above 60, you pause the movie. Yes. In a WeWork. Yes, in a WeWork. In an abandoned WeWork.

Funny. The thing I was going to say before I distracted myself with six other points. This woman who was like harping on the accent, right? And Fincher says like, good sociopath. Yeah. And then she was like, but like he's, do you know he's Irish? Like, that's not how he usually talks. Like, how did he do that?

Fincher's like, you're kidding me. What? What's going on? Yeah. I think he did that bit. Right, right. But this woman was acting like she has never heard anyone speak in a voice different than their own speaking voice before. But she was like, but was that your decision to make the character American?

What is he in the book? And Fincher was like, that's a good question because I read the English translation. I guess I never considered it. Yeah, like what is... The book,

this is the Frenchest motherfucker of all time. This is the most Parisian looking dude in history. You were asking if he has the bucket hat. He's like a man

filled with ennui, tiny little glasses, half smoked cigarette, constantly dangling off his lip, thin mustache, sitting outside Parisian cafes, keeps on saying like, I gotta go back to Paris.

There's no ambiguity about how French this guy is. Whereas this character in the movie is, he's like an American from nowhere, right? Like that's the vibe. That's the other thing. This guy, as much as you're living in his head,

in his internal voice, this guy is, like, pontificating on shit more. There's slightly more backstory, which Fincher was like, I want the experiment of, like, is that necessary? Can we make a movie

where you only know about the guy in the present? We don't fill any of this in. But it's more that, like, this guy's inner monologue is closer to Edward Norton in Fight. But it's more that, like, this guy's inner monologue is closer to Edward Norton in Fight Club. Where he's making, like,

value judgments of the broken society around him. Sure. Whereas Fassbender's sort of just going, like, excusing himself and saying, like,

the whole world's bad. This guy's, like, stewing on it and is like, I have landed in this position as a moral consequence of. Fincher's thing sounds better to me. Yeah.

Yeah. The book is fun. I mean, you know, it'll take me six more years to finish reading it. But yes, it's like, this guy is, you get a lot more emotion out of him. Yeah. You have a lot more of a real, like, vantage point and personality.

The thing that it shares with the book is the sort of Venezuela kind of Hamlet, his dream away from this job. Right. It's Dominican Republic. In the book, it's Venezuela. OK. Sorry.

And it's like he has the place, but he's much more consciously working towards like five million is the number where when I hit that, I leave this behind and I like retire there forever. Yeah. And there's like a woman he's involved with, but it's not as clear cut a relationship as this. This is his. And the book does have the thing, or at least this first chunk that Fincher adapted of like the one hit that goes wrong and the

ripple effects of it. But the way all of it plays out is different. All right. So yeah, that's all that's really kind of shared in common. It's good. No, it seems pretty good. I like french comics uh i read all of them if i very loose kind of pulling surface elements kind of thing fincher has acknowledged that uh they selected a bucket hat early on because they wanted the idea of like this guy wears everything that could just be bought in an airport right like also he had the had the dreamer's disease. A joke I made 10 different times on this podcast.

Well, that's our Vanilla Sky joke. It's an important joke. It's an important joke. Because in that, he actually does have the dreamer's disease. He caught the dreamer's disease. Right. And then he saw Bullet Train. And, you know, Pitt had already told him,

like, I wear a bucket hat in Bullet Train. He's like, okay, well, you're stepping in our sandbox when you do that, but fine. Well, I mean, when this... Bucket hats have had, like, a cultural resurgence our sandbox when you do that, but fine. Well, I mean, when this... Bucket hats have had like a cultural resurgence. Who's responsible? Gen Z. God, them again.

Yeah. But TikTok, like... Sorry, guys. TikTok boys. I mean, like, bucket hat. Yeah. Because it's like, you know, we're bringing back the fashion from the late 90s, early 2000s. Yeah.

I'm just here to tell you, Gen Z, it wasn't good then. No, it was never good. Yeah, like that wasn't a good time. No. The world wasn't singing with life around 2001. 2001, no, but 99? I mean, look, I was 13 years old.

Well, that was peaky radical. Yeah, I mean, I was having a good time, i.e. playing Gold golden eye like i had a chair in my room marie mark i that i blew up as did i my friend mine was blue what color was yours mine was yellow smiley face pattern hell yeah yeah and i had also had a lava lamp the thing about i was more of a beanbag guy i had a beanbag too. The thing about my blow-up chair, which I assume cost $15 because at the end of the day, it's just a bunch of plastic.

It was surprisingly durable. It didn't deflate. No, those things were great. We used to be a proper country. We used to make things. Things to last. I was probably leeching all kinds of things into my system, but whatever.

I think the killer could have had an inflatable chair. That would be funny if he's like, all right, I'm here to stake out. But I like the two-pronged thing of yes. Like everything comes straight from the airport for him. This man exists in transitional states. So he looks like nothing. But also he says at some point that he based his look specifically on a German tourist he saw who he identified as the guy that

people would least want to talk to. I mean, that's the joke in the movie. Once I look like this, no one wants to talk to me. Half anonymous, but anyone who would notice him was like, that guy seems a little annoying. A hundred percent. People are always ignoring tourists. He's not James Bond. Our guy's a fly's coach.

This is a Fincher quote. Another one is basically just like he's James Bond by way of Home Depot. Kate Adams is the costume designer. She was an assistant on costume designer Mindhunter, but that's her only other credit. So Andrew Kevin Walker, as you say, they had been close collaborators.

So like, right. Andrew Kevin Walker literally worked on the Game and Fight Club. I think he might have also had some role in Panic Room. He's in that movie as a joke, you know. When the cops were all named after him. Right. And then, like, he also, like, worked on Fincher's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie that never happened.

He worked on a dragon tattoo sequel script, I think, that, you know, they took a first, like, glance at or something. The girl with two dragon tattoos. Yeah, we're swerving away from the books. Yeah, it's just about her getting more ink. I was told the second book, there's a major plot line where she gets breast implants. She sure does. Yeah, it's a real sign of how the books are

definitely good in every single way with no problems whatsoever. Romley just saw it, and we were talking about how good the ending was. She had never seen it before, and she was like, so what happens in the sequel? And I was like,

they didn't make it. And she was so convinced culturally that three of them had happened. Because they feel like there's been so much of them. Yeah. And I guess it's that weird

combo of like, well, we talked about that. We've talked about it. But I understand that now they're doing... after we record it. Yeah. They're doing...

Oh, the TV. TV show. Is it on Amazon? I forget. One of the... One of the worst... is now doing. Yeah. They're doing Oh, the TV. TV show. Is it on Amazon? I forget. One of the one of the now doing like

the Millennium Trilogy again as a TV show. I'm sure that'll be good. It'll be so good. And I'm going to commit here to covering every episode. Fincher credits

Walker with the sort of like contemporary consumerist angle that this movie has, right? Like all that stuff, like him interfacing with modern technology today. That was his idea. Things like the, you know, key fob copier. Sure. I mean, the technology is not in there, but the attitude very much is of the book is very like there is no ethical consumption under capitalism.

All of us are complicit in this. How am I doing anything worse than anyone else? But yeah, I think the way technology opens up the process, which is obviously a thing Fincher is interested in, of like, how would you actually do this?

Wow. Right. I just typed key fob copier into Amazon Prime. Get one tomorrow no that's the thing yeah fincher literally said to aventure kevin walker like that's a thing right and he's like oh i don't think so well let me check on amazon put it in he was like wait you can just buy one for like any fucking day delivery right exactly

it's so wild i mean that's we're jumping out but that's my favorite sequence of the movie where you're just like him spending the two days figuring out how he's going to get into Arliss Howard's apartment. So good. Yes. Okay. So Andrew Kevin Walker brings in this sort of modern tech angle. So that's cool. Very clever idea.

I think Andrew Kevin Walker, obviously, you know, I think he had some of that in Fight Club too. Like the idea of the name tags. The book is very similar to that and the book is also very caught up in the tedium of like people think this job is flashy a lot of it is boring a lot of it is waiting but I think Fincher brings to it the energy of the

the film production thing of like the hurry up and wait energy specifically of you're like laying in wait trying to maintain concentration for the one moment things need to count. The Samurai, cited. Yes.

As a obvious. Very Melvillian film. I love that film. Do you guys like that movie? The Samurai? The Samurai. He's a cool. So fucking good.

It's cool, but it's also like this movie. It's like, this is a bummer. This guy's life sucks. He's an idiot. Even though he's so hot. He's got a great hat. The Samurai, this is a bummer. This guy's life sucks. He's an idiot, even though he's so hot. He's got a great hat.

Well, that's not right. He has a better hat. That's the best thing about this movie is that this guy is an idiot and he's not particularly good at what he does. He's better at killing than I am. Yeah, he's not bad, but he has a somewhat inflated opinion of himself.

He's not great. But maybe no one is great at this because that's just such a weird job. I'm going to say maybe no one should be good at this. I mean, so Linklater's Hitman, which is not coming out this year, but will come out sometime soon, also on the Sterling streaming service Netflix.

I'm going to see it in a fucking theater. Is kind of like about like, that's not, that doesn't exist. Right, that is such a good take for a Hitman movie. There's no such thing as a Hitman. I think this is purely a construct of fiction. Right, like sure, people occasionally will be paid to kill someone, but it's not like there's someone who's like,

that's my job, call him and I'll go do it. Right. But because people think it's a job, someone can pretend to be one. Yes, that's such a fucking premise. And, I mean, it's an incredible movie. I think Marie just thought it was okay, but she's wrong. You thought it was just okay?

No. Someone else just thought it was okay. No, it was just okay? No. Someone else just thought it was okay. No, I thought it was good. It was very enjoyable, but I'm like, we used to make these kinds of movies all the time, and I think it's just like a scarcity thing where we're so excited to see this kind of movie. I disagree with that. I don't care.

I'm really excited to see that kind of movie. On the record, I disagree with that. It's a very Linklater-y movie to me. It's him doing a noir, which is like a weird blend of things. I was surprised.. It's a very Linklater-y movie to me. Like, it's him doing a noir, which is like a weird blend of things. I was surprised. This isn't a dig against him. It was just more my expectations for the movie. I was surprised at how sexy it was. Fucking sexy.

That was like my favorite part. He hasn't made Glenn Powell just... Aggressively sexy films. Yeah. Linklater. No. Like, before Sunset is... But I'd say those are romantic movies and they're filled with tension, but I wouldn't say sexy in the way that I get what movie's coming from. Definitely not sexy in this, the way that this, this movie's kind of horny. That's maybe the word.

Yeah. Yeah. Like that his other films are not so much. Yeah. It scratched the out of sight itch. A little bit. Which is a really good itch. Look, Glenn Powell is an inherently sexual actor and I'm very excited to watch him in. out of sight itch which is a really good itch that doesn't always get scratched

an inherently sexual actor and I'm very excited to watch him in let me see here sober erotic thriller anyone but you that's what it seems to be from the trailer yeah yeah yeah yeah clearly this is the way you cut a trailer for a movie

with no jokes the trailer is bananas it's some kind of survey that was done clearly that was like The way you cut a trailer for a movie with no jokes? The trailer is bananas. What the fuck is going on there? It's some kind of survey that was done clearly that was like, this will trigger some auto-response in young people. Like, that has to be what it is. You know, fucking responses from CinemaCon, trust them as far as you can throw them, right?

But the two of them come out, everyone's like, they're fucking chemistry. Are they fucking in real life? And then they played clips from the movie, and people were describing scenes where everyone's like they're fucking chemistry are they fucking in real life and then they played clips from the movie and people are describing scenes where it's like he gets stung by a scorpion and she has to suck the poison i'm like yeah classic fucking comedy oh yeah it's like kissing some fucking hijinks yeah and then i see this trailer and it's like fucking four shades of gray is what they're selling not even a full full 50. Well, maybe it'll be good. What the fuck is going on here? I hope it's good.

Or else it's going to bomb my fucking Vulture Movie League draft. Oh, really? How much did you spend on that? I don't know, but it was a big bet for me. Alright, so Fassbender, as we know, he basically just drives cars now. But he did like the idea of this movie,

like a slow drip suspense thriller. He had not made a movie since next goal wins which he made before lockdown right that film was shot in 2019 yeah so he was ready to go back to work I will say his performance next goal wins is he feels scared in that movie Fassbender just feels like

not in a good way it just feels like he's like what am I supposed to do here yeah and like he's like the worst match i mean i've said yeah it's like for like taika humor imaginable yes yeah has he done comedy he hasn't and anytime he thinks about doing it again he should watch next gold win like obviously he's like funny in like prometheus or what like there's like a weird oh and I think this movie is funny. And this movie is funny and like Inglourious Bastards. Like he can be funny. But he's also, he's a perfect example of a star where if they announced he was hosting SNL,

I wouldn't be like, that episode's going to be good. And sometimes they announce a dramatic actor and you're like, you know what? I bet fucking Adam Driver's going to cut it up. And he gets in there and he does. And I don't feel like Fassbender could like get goofy Adam Driver for when he did work on Girls which was done out now comedy

he's 100% funny he's maybe not the right example no no I think he's a solid example but you know that thing sometimes where they'll announce like a totally serious actor and you're like they might show us a side we don't know about them I mean I didn't watch anything with Pedro Pascal in it except The Last of Us.

He was so fucking good on it. He was so funny on Saturday Night Live. So I was like, oh, I didn't know you were a silly boy. I'm trying to see the last serious actor. I mean, Brendan Gleeson, but that guy can be funny, obviously. But that was one where when they announced that episode, you're like, this is going to rip.

Putting that guy in any wig is going to be funny. I mean, Walken is kind of the most extreme example. And Baldwin, to a lesser degree of like, neither of them were doing that much comedy before SNL. It did kind of totally shift there. They'd done a couple comedy things. Well, Baldwin was funny in Married to the Mob and Beetlejuice is like a light comedy. Yeah. But he's doing a different type of funny in those.

You're right. I mean, he was more funny. Fassbender does not strike me as funny. Fincher said in the Q&A that like halfway through filming, Fassbender came up to him and said, I think I finally get what you're looking for. Yeah.

He said, what? And Fassbender went, precision modeling. Oh, wow. And he said it with this tone of like yeah I get it now I can do that for you and Fincher was like that kind of makes me feel like shit that makes him feel like he's you know playing Warhammer or whatever

but he said like I think it was the editor was the one saying this of like he is so incredibly still in this movie. And for so many like long held shots where he needs to be like maintaining his head in the exact same position of the frame for an extended period of time and just giving you like micro expressions. And that is like kind of really extreme, tough, technical shit. He says Fincher says he's like Daniel Craig. Both of them are kind of like that

and are like, I can do better. I can do better. Like, you know, like the lots of takes. Like Fincher says, like I can tell him to stop a third of an inch shorter and he'll do it. Sounds crazy to me. Precision modeling.

I was very impressed by his yoga posing. I imagine he's a guy who does a lot of that. Yes. Right? Yeah, but imagine having to do that over and over again. Probably get in great shape. Obviously, Tilda Swinton is also in this film. He's collaborated with her before. She's fantastic in the film. He's bringing back

Carlos Howard. He's bringing back Carlos Howard from Mank. Charles Parnell. God, I love this guy. Where the fuck did he come from it's incredible because when he's in maverick you're like yeah he's from the original movie right no he's not and you're like i've seen this guy in like 20 things over the last and you're like no not really yeah like he's done tv he's like they discovered a new like alternative fuel you know what i'm saying but or it's like Jeremy Lin or something, where you're just like,

where did you get this guy? He was just available? But also, like, did this guy just not register until he turned, like, 42? Was it a thing where, like, he needed to hit the right age and the right level of gray?

And he's very different in this than he is in Maverick or in the small part in Mission Impossible, which I was like, look, let this guy be like the chief kind of arms crossed, stern disciplinarian, exposition giver.

Maverick! Right. This, he's very different. He's so good. Good Lord, does he have one of the greatest voices working in movies today. He should narrate everything.

Everything. He does do a lot of narrations. The other actor we have to shout out is Sala Baker who plays the brute, the giant assassin who he fights in Florida.

That is Sauron. He is Sauron. From the movies? From the Lord of the Rings. Yeah, he's a stunt guy. The Fellowship of the Ring. He's also various other, like,

he's, I think, the voice of, you know, the mouth of Sauron in the third movie or whatever, and he's like various orcs. Is he a New Zealand actor? Correct. But he's best known as, like, the physical embodiment of

Sauron in that opening fight that they do. A big chungus. He's gigantic. This guy's huge. But I just love that he's still, I mean, that movie's 20 years old. Still gigantic, still in great shape. Throw Michael Fassbender through a wall, like, no problem. If you asked me, I would guess that this guy still, I mean, that movie's 20 years old. Still gigantic, still in great shape. Throw Michael Fassbender through a wall, like, no problem. If you ask me, I would guess that this guy was like

26 years old now. The fact that he did Lord of the Rings 20 plus years ago kind of blows my mind. Right. Yeah, he's almost 50. That's wild. He's also darkly lit in this film, but. He is, but he looks good and he's, yeah. Alright, 80 Day Shoot, Paris, Illinois. They shot it during COVID. Fin. All right. 80 Day Shoot, Paris, Illinois.

They shot it during COVID. Fincher hated that. Never want to make a movie through a visor again, he says. That's another part of the movie that feels very autobiographical of him filtering his experience

in film production is like this guy's traveling to like places both glamorous and semi-mundane. And then all of them, you're like going to these real locations it's like okay what's my fucking work i have to do like he barely registers where he is where he's getting off the plane when he's in paris all he eats is shitty fast food

right it's just like i'm here to work yeah yeah i'm a big fan of quick i've shouted out anytime we talk about french fast food yes what. What is Quick? It's like French McDonald's. And they obviously also have McDonald's. In this movie, he's eating McDonald's. Yeah, right. Yeah. I like Quick. He eats an egg McMuffin and he takes the muffin part out and just eats a fried egg between two slices

of boiled ham. Fingers. Yes. Quick had a Star Wars time where they had a black Darth Vader burger With black buns That made everyone spend I thought that was A Burger King thing

Burger King then did it They stole Quick did it first And got a bunch of Fucking backlash A king doesn't steal Everyone was taking pictures And then Burger King was like

We should do this too And then America Got funny colored poops as well Anyway Quick good chain Eric Messerschmidt Shot the movie Same guy Who shot Mink. Won the Oscar for Mink.

He sure did. And he shot Ferrari this year. He was recommended to watch a little film called The Samurai. We might have mentioned it by David Fincher. You know, they're not making it look like a comic book, obviously.

No, the comic is very kind of like graphic pop art-y. Cool. Yeah, it's good. But yeah, it's a very different look from this. The Smith's Heavy soundtrack, Fincher was immediately like, well, we have to use How Soon Is Now.

That was in my head from the start. And do we then go a full kind of like 80s, you know, gothy kind of... Do we just have lots of things or do we just do all the Smiths? He said there were like 10 different versions. There was like a Dusty Springfield version of the movie. There was like a playlist of different artists adjacent to or era compatible with how soon is now.

And they just kept on trying all of them out and the Smiths felt like the right one. But he also was just like, I just think it's so funny for a hitman to have a playlist. It is. To have like, here's the movie that gets me in the mood, the music that gets me in the mood to kill people.

So the killer begins in Paris. Yeah. We basically have like 15 minutes of him. You're watching him in an abandoned WeWork, staking out an apartment across the place, watching a couple days of him just like studying his target,

making sure he's prepped, talking about the process and the psychology. Sitting in front of a little heat machine. Right. And talking about like I'm not a genius. What I do is incredibly complicated. It takes some skill. Like he's both undercutting himself and also telling you what he's good at.

Yeah. And it's like 15 minutes of wind up. He says he's never missed. The only job he didn't have to go through on was the one where the guy ended up dying through his own bad health before he got the chance to pull the trigger. And it's like 15 minutes of just like, here is my life. I don't improvise. I stick to the plan. I get it right. I keep it

simple. This is why I never fuck up. Pulls the trigger, misses the shot, shoots the guy's mistress. It's so funny to spend 15 minutes winding up. I'm explaining to you why I'm such a professional. And then the first time you actually see him do the thing,

it goes wrong. That's the funniest part. And once it happened, I was like, right, of course, given how long this has taken, this had to happen. Right. We weren't just going to watch him, like,

pop the guy in the head. Easiest target in the world, he's, like, sitting there. Right. It's not like his prey is so complicated. It's like sitting there. Right. It's not like his prey is so complicated. It's like I'll wait for him to come to his apartment and then I'll shoot him. He also just straight up

fucks it up. It's not like a fly starts buzzing around his head and he gets distracted and he gets off by an inch. He just like calls it wrong. He's off by a second. He's off by an inch. Whatever it is. He shoots the wrong person. Right. Which is not cool. Right. And you see him trying to time it out. It's not like she moves that suddenly a second. He's off by an inch, whatever it is. He's the wrong person. Right. Which is not cool. Right.

And you see him trying to time it out. It's not like she moves that suddenly. No. He had plenty of opportunities to take the shot before. And he just picked it wrong. He fucks up. And yeah, I was just like, again, like if we just watched him do his mantras and then he just did it right.

Yeah. Then you're like, right. What is this next question? I'm like, yeah, who cares? Sure. David Fincher can make that kind of movie. I believe it. Like that he can make a movie about a guy with ice in his Black. Right. And then the next mission, I'm like, yeah, who cares? Sure. David Fincher can make that kind of movie. I believe it. Like that he can make a movie

about a guy with ice in his veins. Yeah. But, you know, I don't need to see that. Instead, he messes up and I'm like, oh, we get to watch how this guy reacts

to him messing up. That makes sense. And you sort of watch the way he like dismounts everything, gets himself out of a situation, goes to the airport. Like how he is able to sort of, like, factory reset himself.

Which I love. And you get the sense that this is basically the exact same thing he does when the hit goes right, but just he's doing it with more pressure and more stress. But yes, the absolute, like, how do I... What's the... When he sprays the sink after he washes his hands

to, like, get rid of any remnants of what he's washed out. Yeah. And then goes back to his pad in the DR. His humongous mansion. Yeah. Which versus the book where the guy's like, I'm just trying to get to five million so I can retire. And it's like, I have a tiny house. There are women here.

I pictured the life I want for myself. He's got it fucking made he should have retired already so this is to me the core of the movie yes it's like john wick yes it's like the more realistic version of john wick and john wick you know it's these like ancient samurais basically being like why do we still do this right what is the drive yeah and it's like well they live in a world where everyone's an assassinator but this is like there's the moment with tilda that's the key to the movie and it's the best scene in the movie but see it's like well they live in a world where everyone's an assassin but this is like there's the moment with Tilda that's the key to the movie and it's the best scene of the movie but it's like

why are you even doing this buddy just sit in your house you're fine and it's such a key part of the movie that like he does not particularly like doing this he is neither like this is soul sucking and it's wearing down on me which the book gets to the guy's starting to like some conscience is

creeping in if not conscience there, some conscience is creeping in. If not conscience, there's some guilt seeping in, right? This guy neither seems haunted by it, nor seems to get any perverse thrill from it. He's just like, this is my fucking day job. And also, by the way, I have enough money to, like, have this

beautiful, like, paradise home with, like, a beautiful girlfriend. To have, like, storage lockers all over the world filled with like jason bourne you know suitcases right like when is enough for you dude but he gets back to the hideaway and he finds a bunch of blood a bunch of broken glass we're still as the audience like so discombobulated right especially because he's not talking right he's like okay go go go right like he's not like oh shit oh shit what do i do you know i mean there's a little of that really keeps

kind of talking mantras to you but he's not like in voiceover explaining uh his psychology and you're like is this another job he's going to is this like him reporting to his superior because you've heard the charles Parnell character on the phone. You know, that's the guy who's giving him the marching orders. You know, he called it that he fucked up. And the guy's chewing him out. And I'm like, I foolishly am thinking, until he goes to see Charles Parnell,

I'm like, yeah, well, now he's like 52 and 1. I mean, we all make mistakes, right? And suddenly when Charles Parnell, he's like, you know that once you get it wrong, that's it. Right are you not gonna get hired again but you're dead yeah like he's like i'm offended you think otherwise i'm offended you're even here this is a zero failure you should be dead yeah like i'm offended you didn't just sit down and die right but what you realize after yes being like totally discombobulated. He goes to the hospital. This is the woman he is romantically involved with.

Her brother is there. The brother clearly doesn't like him. And like whether or not he knows exactly what's going on is just like, you're a fucking untrustworthy guy. You have a ton of money. My sister loves you. I have always been worried that you're going to cause her damage. Right. And she has been like a beat within an inch of her life. It seems sexually

assaulted as well. They have no clear kind of answers on what happened other than a green cab pulled up. Two guys got out, beat the shit out of her, and the brother is like, they were fucking looking for you. They were looking for you, and

she got the brunt of it. She got in the way, right. Yeah, yeah. And he now locks in. Once again, he doesn't verbalize this, so it takes a while to figure out what he's doing. But he's basically, he promises the brother, like, this will never happen to her ever again. And he just feels like, I can go up the chain, work up the chain of how this happened and kill everyone responsible until the threat is obliterated.

Right. And he's almost putting out of mind like, no, this happened because you're now like a liability. No one wants you around. Right. Killing these specific people isn't really the point, but he locks into this idea. It's funny because, again, you know, his whole

mantra is like, don't improvise, no empathy. And yet, basically, the rest of the movie is a revenge mission. Yes. Like, yes, he is technically tying off any threat to himself. Yes.

But it is also like, yeah, you... Emotionally driven. Right. It is the Fincher... But it doesn't really say that. It's the Fincher people use language to lie. Yeah. And what you were saying in whichever episode it was that we recorded.

It was Gone Girl. That he almost always uses narration. Apart from Button and even Button a little bit, his narrators are always deluded. Yes. Like they're lying to you, they're lying to themselves. Right. Like they're not being, they're not telling you the story. There is an active tension between what you're seeing on screen and what they're saying to you how they're framing it

so he continues to like repeat the mantra and you're watching him go against what he's saying over and over again but without him saying like shit fuck i fucked up he's just like or i love her how could they do this to her right whatever any of that like i'm just doing my job and you're like no you're doing the exact thing you say you shouldn't do. And you keep on being a little sloppy about it. And like, right, he goes to Charles Purnell with this nail gun to be like, I need your fucking

files. I need everyone involved in this. Well, that's, first he does the taxi cab driver. Right. Yes. That's next. He tracks down the cab driver, Leo. Uh-huh. Because, right, that's all he has is like the color of the car taxi it's a green car with a light on it so he says it's a taxi he finds the taxi makes him drive to like the driver goes to the dispatcher right yeah yeah yeah yeah gets the

records finds who like drove from an airport right flies out finds the, tries to get answers out of him. He finds out it's a man and a woman. Right. Big guy, older woman with white hair. Big guy and a woman look like a Q-tip. Q-tip. Yes. Q-tip lady. Which is just so funny, considering, you know,

I watched Benjamin Button for the first time, and Tilda Swinton is described as plain as paper in that movie. I'm like, is this like an in-joke that they have, where he just like negs her over not being conventionally attractive? Well, I'm just like, even if you don't find Tilda Swinton attractive, there is nothing like kind of anonymous about the way she looks. No, she's very striking.

She's one of the most distinctive looking people on the planet. But yeah, this guy is just like, I was not part of some criminal conspiracy. These two people hired me and told me to stay parked there for an hour. I pick people up in a cab. I'm a cab driver. Too bad, Leo. Bam. And Fassbender, like, you know, trying to say, like, I stay unemotional.

That's my secret. Even, like, Belize, the sort of, like, why didn't you ask questions? Yeah. Like, he's applying this sort of logic to other people that he prides himself on not having. He would never do that. Right. I'm just doing what I was paid to do. But he kills Leo

I think because one he's comfortable killing people yes he's the killer yeah it's right there in the title Wendy Williams was trying to warn us

give us all the clues but also you know I'm tying off every loose end I'm cauterizing every loose end like there will be no person who knows

that I was part of this of course so Leo is dead. Then he goes to New Orleans. Yes. And again, I just love it that they're just like,

he's like, and now I have to crack the next biggest mystery. How do I get through this door? Yeah. He's not like, now to New Orleans where I will interrogate

my handler and solve the mystery of who he hired to kill me. I like that the film, like, has him do things without explaining it and then you just have to kind of like, like, the film like has him do things without explaining it and then you just have to

kind of like like with the why is he sending a FedEx package? What is the point of that? And then it's like oh so he can follow the guy

the FedEx delivery guy inside the building. Yep. And I'm like gee oh man that's so smart. In his like Ben Hosley recycling uniform.

It's a real It's just like put a fucking you know some arrows on my green shirt and now everyone's like oh it Hosley recycling uniform. It's a real. It's just like, just put a fucking, you know, some arrows on my green shirt and now everyone's like, oh, it's the recycling guy. Yeah, I like that he goes

to Home Depot to buy all of his shit, but like people help him put the stuff in his van. Look, congratulations. It's had amazing growth in the last couple of years. Ben's fashion line.

Yes. I wish we were like three years further along where there was an official collaboration X the Killer collab. I wish we were like three years further along where there was an official collaboration X the killer collab. Because it feels like they could have done something. I'm so sad that Ben is not here right now. I am too.

There's a lot of, you know, Michael Fassbender. We might ask Ben to drop in. He's not here for good reasons. If he has any thoughts, he can always drop them in. But you know what I'm saying? You're like three years from now, Fincher might be like, you know who I want to collaborate with? Ben Hosley. I'm a big fan of his work. I want congratulations to Riff

on the bucket hat, on the recycle symbol. The man who buries jeans. That's the kind of commitment to the craft that I'm looking for. He's showing the buried jeans video to Brad Pitt or whatever. He's like, get a load of this guy. Fincher would hate Blank Check,

love Hosley. He'd have no patience for Blank Check, Blank Check love Hosley. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He'd have no patience for Blank Check. No. All right. So he goes to see Charles Parnell, who, yes, is not in Ramrod Maverick mode.

No. He's got kind of tufty hair and a bow tie and a bunch of books. A David Tosca bow tie. I agree with you that the Tilda stuff is like the best stuff in the movie,

but I... It's kind of like what ties the movie together. The sequence. I loved the New Orleans stuff. Yeah. Because that was like, I love the firm.

I love like, these like, shitty southern law firm with like, you know, shady business dealings. Sure. I loved everything about how shitty

and like, not technological. Right. It's a shitty office. Right. And it's like a card catalog because it's like, you know, the laptop is the only thing with any records

on it. It's not like in the cloud. Right. He smushes the laptop. Then he... The assistant, like paralegal. The poor assistant Dolores. I don't know who that actress is but I thought she was really good

she's amazing her name's Carrie O'Malley I looked her up and you know she's like mostly a theater actor like but she's done

a lot of TV and stuff her immediate resignation like when it gets to the scene where you expect she's going to beg for her life instead she lives in a world

of such understanding of what she's gotten into where she's like oh my god she's Mike O'Malley's sister of guts really? yeah of Sully yes but also such understanding of what she's gotten into where she's like... Oh my God, she's Mike O'Malley's sister of Guts. Really? Oh! Yeah. Of Sully. Yes, but also, what was the

sitcom? Jesus. Yes, dear. Yes, dear. There you go. No, I love that you're like ready for her. She starts saying like my kids. Yeah. And you're like, she's gonna plead for him to keep her alive. Right, and then she's like, I'm begging. I can hear it. Like, she has that line where she's, I said I wouldn't beg and now I am. No, but beyond that, she says,

I'm just, basically her ask is, don't make me disappear. Right. My kids need to get the insurance. Right, I need to be dead. Stage this in a way where my body is found. Yeah. Which is just like,

everyone exists in this world of, like, bizarre pragmatism. Everyone else has maybe less of a handle on their emotions than he does, although he's rapidly losing his handle. You're watching people negotiate through this shit in real time. But they also all kind of like went face to face with Fassbender, go like, I guess this is what I signed up for. You know, like Bill is going to come do at some point, whether they survive it or not.

And the thing with him, like taking the nail gun to Charles Parnell's chest to try to get the info out of him. And he starts the narration of like, man. Calculate six minutes. Right, 47. Right. No smoking habits. Well, I have like, right. And he's dead immediately.

Fuck. It's so funny. This guy's like kind of losing it. He's kind of losing it. Or maybe he's just, I mean mean maybe it's just insane to think like yeah i nail gun a guy he'll have x minutes to live it's like yeah there's a lot of variables where we're driving nails into organs like right but also he's trying to be the terminator right and yeah he's just maybe not that good the thing that is like the guy is not seemingly having like

a mental breakdown or an emotional crisis but the, one of the most sociopathic things about this character is that he remains undeterred that he is so good at what he does. And he has all the answers despite taking a bunch of L's in a row. There's no part of him that goes like, am I losing it? Right. He's just like, okay, next plan. Yeah. Yeah, Pernell's just like wonderful he's wonderful

and she's really good yes she's the one character you have the vaguest empathy for because she doesn't just be like the office person right yeah but she does know the in she knows she's culpable in a assassin bureau or whatever

but yeah you know when you know when he says like, you know, no empathy, right? He has to like repeat it to himself. He says no empathy right before snapping her neck,

throwing her down the stairs. Yes. And it's like, he doesn't explain the decision, but he's like, look, I'm giving her 5% empathy in a way that doesn't make

my life any messier. Yes. But even still, he's breaking his code. Um, a little bit, a little bit. He's not disappearing her like you know.

His logic it's like you should never factor those things into considerations. Do the cleanest thing possible. But you know. He's showing her kindness. She fell down the stairs. Yeah. He's showing her kindness of a thoughtful murder. Then he goes to Florida.

Gets into a fight with Sala Baker. So what does he have to do here? He has to drug the dog. Yes. And then he has to fight this guy. And it's like Soderbergh's Haywire or whatever. It's just like they're just going to be throwing each other. That was the other movie. I forgot Fassbender

was in Haywire. He sure is. Until I just looked at his filmography. He's the first guy in it. he's the opening guy yeah that was the other movie that Fincher cited he said it was Prometheus and Haywire

which makes sense like sociopath but also he does the big extended opening fight in Haywire where you're like I could watch this guy just do this silently

for 10 minutes he clearly it also makes sense is able to pick this up that Fincher was like yeah two movies from 11 years ago yes

that's how I that's how speedy I am. Well, yeah, he gets this graphic novel in 2007. In 2011, he pins the two movies. Fastbender.

Right. And I'm a slow maker. Yeah. He's a fastbender. Yeah, he's a slow, slow maker. Slow straightener.

This fight's just great. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Yeah. How does he kill him eventually? Shoots him? I don't remember.

There's so many, like, There's the part with the shower. There's part with the TV. He finally does shoot him. He gets the final shot. I wish this was on Netflix now, so I could have watched it a second time before recording this. While watching it,

I was struck by the, is that like the longest fight sequence in anything he's done? I mean, probably just because it's comically long. It's one of the longer fight sequences. Yeah. I think he said it was five days of shooting, but it was five weeks of rehearsal.

Which makes sense, because it's like so much choreography, and it's so much chaos. Like, you know, shit falling off of shelves and all that. Marie, did you watch Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning? No, I did not. Okay. Kind of had that vibe.

Yeah. There's that one sporting goods store fight that is so fucking good where the guy is just so huge and he keeps on pulling aluminum bats off the rack and throwing them at the guy.

And none of it's flashy. Like, it's kind of sloppy in the way that this is. But you're just like, I just need to keep on, like, doing anything I can to slow this guy down. And he's huge, but he also doesn't feel

he only feels lightly supernatural in his pain tolerance. You're like, he is like accumulating injuries. He's not invincible. But he's still not good. I just still feel like his approach to this situation was not ideal.

No. Because like, yes, he drugs the dog and you're like, clever, great, sure. Get the guard dog out of the way. Yeah. But then he's just kind of like rummaging around this guy's house. And I'm like, you're going to get like rumbles. It also doesn't seem to work right away. The drugging of the dog.

No, it doesn't work right away. He throws like three things of meat at it before it stops barking. Yes. But I think of movies like Gross Point Blank, right? Where it's like Cusack going to his therapist and being like,

Doc, I think I'm losing it. I'm getting sloppy. Right. And this guy just never accepts that he's not doing it very well. Is Gross Point Blank good? Gross Point Blank is good. Because in my memory,

it's amazing. Yeah. Big movie for me as a teen. Yeah. I was a good? Gross Point Blank is good. Because in my memory, it's amazing. Yeah. Big movie for me as a teen. Yeah. I was a big Cusack fan. Of course. You know, he's a hit man.

Yeah. Dan Eckhart is the grocer. Mark Innes is therapist. Right. You know, like, Mini Driver, Joan Cusack,

Hank Azaria, should we just name him? Jeremy Piven. Jeremy Piven. Have not seen in 25 years. Yeah, I watched it maybe four or five years ago. I contend it's still good.

I believe it. I just haven't seen it. George Armitage. Yeah. George Armitage? Yeah. Gross pod. Who also did Miami Blues,

which is a similarly good crime comedy. Miami Blues rocks. Yeah. I have not seen any other movie he made, including The Big Bounce which bounced him right out of Hollywood. Although that's one where he like contends

there was a PG-13ification of a movie. It was getting fucked up during production and then it was fucked up even worse in edit. Right. Vinnie Jones is in it.

Any movie Vinnie Jones is in I'm interested. That's a wild like poster lineup That film Morgan Freeman Owen Wilson Gary Sinise Sarah Foster Who's a weird like failed

Star heiress Vinnie Jones Charlie Sheen Willie Nelson The poster is just all their heads like poking out from palm trees on the beaches if I remember correctly yep

it's a really terrible poster um but yes I just think that I wouldn't say it's like a well-worn trope

but you've seen movies about like the the hitman or the criminal starting to have the crisis and being like what's it all about right

I can't do it anymore. And this is a movie where the guy just like never accepts that he's struggling in any way. Not outwardly. No. Not in any definitive way. We're living in his head. Sort of.

But are we? I feel like Fincher wants us thinking about that. Right. Or is he talking to us, but what we're hearing isn't really what he's thinking right yeah or like or he's talking to himself in that way of calming himself down it's like no no you got this bro

like it's all fine there's the um I'm good all these Fincher quotes I'm trying to like slip in before we finish this series but there's the one I think you might have invoked it in a previous episode where he said, like, I am Da Finch, man. I am Da Finch, man.

Where he says, like, I'm never the guy who's gonna say whatever's easiest for you. Right. And so much of this, like, don't improvise, stick to the plan. The bullheadedness that people, like, ascribe to Fincher. He always talks about, like, my budget's like, there's no wasted money.

I can, like, account for every penny. I'm just telling you exactly what I need to get this right. This is what it will cost. Well, that's too much. Well, that's what it costs. And he's like, I need six backup guns all in, like, silicone bags. Like, I just need it that way.

Right? And, you know, I think a lot of it is, like, you're gonna face so much opposition, I just need it that way. Right. Right? And, you know, I think a lot of it is, like, you're going to face so much opposition, not just in, like, a development process for a movie with money people, but also on set, where, like, you're fighting against the elements and so many people and time,

where people are going to keep on saying, like, can't we just cut this one shot? Or can't we just do it this way? Because we're up against it, we must cut the corner. Right. Fincher is like, I don't want that situation to arise.

Not only that, but it's like, you have to imagine as a director, he has developed this kind of internal monologue, which is like, stick to the plan. You do exactly what you came here planning to do. At least get it that way.

I'm sure they improvised a little bit though, right? Sure, but it's like for him, that's additive. It's not like, I'll accept this replacement plan. It's like,

stick to what you came here to do and get it done that way. People are going to try to break you, dissuade you, make you compromise. You can't do that. And the guy keeps on repeating this

even though he's... This is the thing though. Yes, that's what I find funny. He's a buffoon. Right. So when you're saying, like, is he talking to us or is he talking to himself? I do think to some degree

this is how Fincher talks to himself on set. Right. Right. Right? Of just, like, don't accept okay. But then he's, like, self-aware enough to be like... Yes.

I'm such a dumb motherfucker. Yes. He'll make the joke before anyone else does about the notion of how serious and exacting he is so good it's such a funny duo this and Mank

yes like because Mank as well is like it's like directors are these like poncy assholes who like show up and yell at the screenwriter and all that you know mink is like such a celebration of this like cantankerous fuck yeah who the director is like i gotta deal with

you you know and like it's fincher mocking himself a little bit and then this is fincher mocking himself again well here's the other uh it's just so funny that when fincher made a hollywood movie yes he made it about a screenwriter. He's never written a movie. He constantly is like shooting down, you know, whenever someone brings up the auteur theory. Yeah. And then like this. Boost all of his collaborators.

This feel, I was my joke on Letterboxd. It's fucking Sidney Lumet's making movies. It's like, always eat a banana. Like all of his advice. Take a nap. All of the killer's advice is basically just like,

just remember to have an Amazon account so you can clone a fucking fob. But then this weird sociopathic, like if you're going to make great movies, you have to stick to your guns about shit in a way that sometimes makes you look bad. The other quote I don't think we've invoked in this series, which I'm going to paraphrase here,

probably butcher to some degree, that he, it's one of his great lines is like, people say there are like a million places to put the camera and the hard part is choosing where I think that's wrong. I think there are only two places to put the camera and one of them is wrong. Right place in the wrong place. And it's like that's this movie that the the inciting incident is the shots wrong. Right.

Like he's off and it's nothing interfered but his judgment was wrong right but you have to go into it being like I think I know when to take the shot and nothing can throw me off that so you have to keep repeating to yourself stick to the plan okay so after Florida he goes to Beacon then he goes to Beacon

he goes to Dia he goes to the Storm King sculpture park he has a lovely brunch right he goes to Dia. He goes to the Storm King sculpture park. He has a lovely brunch on Main Street. He goes to the record store. He does all the stuff he can do in Beacon. No, he goes to Beacon

and he's like, I don't get it. The last assassin I killed was a gigantic seven foot tall ent that lived in, you know, God knows where, Florida.

He was an ornate. That's actually weird. It's just funny. It's just like this, like, you know, like this where, Florida. He was in Oregon. That's actually weird. It's just funny. It's just like this, like, you know, like this, that shirt, that makes sense.

Terrifying, kind of brutal force. Mount of a man. Who's this woman who lives in a bedroom suburb and like her job is basically like, yeah,

I go to my nice restaurant and they bring me like food and I'm like the classiest woman alive. Right. She eats Haagen-Dazs. She does. So my,

my drinks whiskey fight. She's likeagen-Dazs. She does. She drinks whiskey five. She's like the higher class version of Charles Purnell, but also she's a worse manager than Charles Purnell is. I suppose so. That was sort of my read on it, right? Like, she's more sophisticated

and smarter than he is, but he hires smarter people. And she's just like, hire a big guy and have him punch through shit. And she gets herself more directly involved a big guy and have him like punch through shit because she even, and she gets herself more directly involved

in this shit rather than Charles Purnell is like, distance, distance, distance, stay low key, have a shitty office. I don't need to go do tasting menus and shit.

Well, the orc is the muscle. She's the brains. You kind of need both. But she does, I mean, I... She's a parody of a classy super assassin as well obviously there's a point where we see that she had been like

holding a knife she was like we're gonna talk about it yeah I mean I'm sure Swinton could throw down but when they're together he's just not talking so she's just monologuing she's so good she has such poise

right whiskey flyer she orders a flight of whiskeys So she's just monologuing. She's so good. She has such poise. Yeah. Right? Whiskey flight. She tells this, she orders a flight of whiskeys. She tells this story about the bear, you know,

and the hunter tries to kill the bear and every night, like, he fails and then at a certain point, the bear... Well, you're forgetting the part about him

getting fucked in the ass. The deal is, you can try to shoot me and if you miss, I get to sodomize you. And... And he keeps missing. The get to sodomize you. Yes. And he keeps missing. The bear keeps sodomizing him.

He keeps coming back the next day. At a certain point, the bear is like, why are you actually coming to the woods? I forget what the actual punchline is. He says, you're not here for hunting, are you? Right. Yes. Which is a good joke. He likes bear sex.

Yeah. But I feel like she's also just sort of saying like, you know, why are you still doing this? Right. You know, what is in this right you know what what are you what are you what is in this for you it's not money you have that right and you also yes the weird thing of him not seeming to enjoy it right because the end of the movie he seems to enjoy it but i feel like he doesn't right he's like i am now enjoying i'm sitting in the chair

the last shot of the movie yes I'm still chewing on the ending well stop chewing on it Netflix needs to put it on its streaming service we can't get it out of his mouth if it weren't streaming now I would have rewatched the ending immediately just like those final seconds but the Tilda I mean

hell yeah once again she's playing incredibly well and I think with more depth than we've seen but like this type of scene we've seen in crime movies before where the person's like i knew this day would come all right so this is it huh okay one last drink for me right right but then you feel her testing like she's like maybe i can get away with this is there any way for me to win this and at other times she's sowing more vulnerability than you're used to in this type of scene where it's like maybe this is it she's really getting sloppy like you really see

the panic in her but um which is great she plays those little moments of panic really well but yeah you do like the longer it goes the more she's probably thinking like well he's not done it yet right so maybe i can kind of trick him why would you come to the restaurant like you're right you could just fucking push me or yeah, exactly. Poison me. What the fuck you're doing? Right.

What is he doing? What is he doing? He's lost his compass. He's kind of lost his whatever. I think he's lonely. His rule book. He's lonely. He's never actually gotten to talk to anyone who does this job before.

Yeah. So there's something in that. That's the gig economy, man. Yes. You're on your own. The other part of it is like, in certain ways, this is also Fincher doing a man,

Michael Mann type riff of like, you know, your great line about Michael Mann movies of like, every Michael Mann movie is about a guy who has one feeling. Right. And Thief, that one feeling is kept in your wallet tight. Right, right, right.

But it's like this guy has one feeling that he won't admit, which is, I like this woman. And then when that feeling is threatened, the guys are like completely miscalibrated. I don't think he wants to kill her, but he knows he has to. Yeah.

And it's also kind of a game-recognized game thing of like, if he doesn't kill her, she's going to kill him and she probably wouldn't even respect him for not killing her. Right.

Right? Right. She's got the little knife. It's a great little reveal. Yes. She would have done something with it if she could. Of course.

But he has enough wherewithal. And he was trying to prey on her sympathy to help her up. Yeah. How embarrassing. I slipped.

Right. I think he does know like, no, no, no. This is, she's going to try something. Yeah. So he shoots up. Yeah. How embarrassing. I slipped. Right. I think he does know like, no, no, no. This is, she's going to try something. Yeah. So he shoots her. Yeah.

With gun. Yeah. He shoots her with gun. Killing her. And she'll never be seen again until the blankies episode maybe. Yeah. I mean,

this feels like a real blankies bait performance. For me, certainly. Yes. And also I'm just a simp for Tilda. For me, certainly, yes. And also, I'm just a simp for Tilda. Yeah. Hard not to be.

Simpton? Tilda Simpton, that's me. Yeah. And then he goes to Chicago, the Windy City. Well, I mean, you want to talk about blankies bait performance?

Arliss? Yeah. In his little beret? In just a fucking... It's a slouchy beanie. Yeah. A sub pop t-shirt. Just a one scene heater performance.

I mean, I already told the story on Mank about how his Pinterest casting agent is like, he is my favorite actor alive. Yeah. Arliss Howard rules. He can play this version of a guy in any country. Yes. You know what I mean?

Like, bored asshole businessman. But he can give you every flavor of that. From the 50s. From Britain. You know, like, where do you want it? Arliss will give it to you. Now it's just like, yeah, this kind of, like, tech guy. He's kind of like the killer.

He feels like he's like, yeah, I live in this, you know, weird apartment palace. Totally. I don't even know what to do with myself. And this is so much of, like, Fassbender, the first 15 minutes, him saying, like, in the grand moral calculus of the world, what I'm doing doesn't matter. He recounts those numbers of, like, how many people live and how many people die. Right, right. And he's like, it's a rounding error. Yeah.

Right. And if I don't do it, someone else does. Like, there's no great, like, harm to this. This is a guy who, like, as much as he likes to think of himself of, like, no, I'm, like, a cool billionaire.

I wear the sub-pop t-shirt. I'm not, like, an elitist. Right. He's, like, absolutely doing things in the financial market that fuck more people over than the individual people

that the killer is killing. What are you talking about? The innovation drives the economy and that saves lives. Benevolent. Right? You agree, Marie. You want to sign on to my thought? No, thank you. We don't even know what he is, right? I mean, he's just sort of like some kind of property.

He's complaining about some deal and he's got fucking Jim Cramer running on the TV in the background. Like you're like, this guy just sucks, but he's like, no, I'm not got fucking jim kramer running on the tv in the background like you're like this guy just sucks but he's like no i'm not like one of them right that's i kept thinking about him as some guy who's like if he's eating like takeout chinese food in his incredible apartment he's like am i wasting this evening should i have gotten something more expensive like he doesn't know what he has too much money to know what to do with all his money all the time he tried to kill someone because he was like well i have much money to know what to do with all his money all the time he tried to

kill someone because he was like well i have enough money to kill someone should i do that yeah and then he ordered it and then when he went wrong he was like okay well no big deal extra for the insurance plan yeah exactly which didn't seem it was only an additional 15 grand or whatever like you know that's okay i don't care right and then and like i was just hoping no one would bring it up this is what people told me you're supposed to do when you're in a position

where like the entire stock market can swing on your actions right you have to kill people right I the thing that I really like about this movie

is that it's so stripped down you can kind of like map your own experiences onto it so like I'm a lot like all the characters in this movie actually yeah

but Griffin I know you're like your the characters in this movie, actually. Yeah. But, Griffin, I know your take about it being about filmmaking is, you know, spot on. But also, like, I just felt so... I felt reminded

of my experience working in advertising. Specifically the term the client. Yes. That fucking dude is like every guy who's like the client who thinks that he's like

hipping with it. Yes. He's not, but he's not. He's not an artist. And at the end of the day, he's the one who's calling the shots. And you're still in service of him. I've done shoots where you have a special bathroom for the client. And everyone else has to like...

The people that are working 12 hours, more than 12 hours, have to use like the shitty bathroom like far away from set. It sucks. But the many versus the, was it the many versus the few that he talks about in the movie? But... I also think like this guy,

this like meeting with God, right? Basically like here's the guy at the top of the mountain of my like pain right he gets in and it's like Fincher is getting a face to face meeting with like the creative exec who fucked Alien 3

and he's just like why did you do this to me I don't know I do a lot of stuff I'm sorry which movie that was like one of seven things I gave notes on that day I mean I'm sure I remember doing that, but I don't really care. So can we forget about it? Okay, whatever. Like, what are you fucking talking about?

And the guy's like, neither. He's like, not apologetic. Yes. But he's also like, much like Tilda, there's a certain energy where he's like, I guess if you're going to fucking kill me, I don't know. What can I say here? You snuck into my home you're gonna shoot me this is like i genuinely don't know what you're doing here he thinks he's a robber right right and he's like i paid for all the security and still people can like come in and mug me right and then like fastbender starts saying like the bally and he's like what the fuck are you talking about and then

he's like oh the fucking people i hire and they told me it went wrong and they said we can do this and i said sure why not right which was him being you know erased right and fast bender has that line where he says something like i walk in here with a gun and like nothing came to mind of what i would be here and he's like no and fast bender at that moment looks at me he's like fuck we're exactly the same on different scales. My approach to how I look at the targets is no different than the way you think of me as the person you hired

and the person you then paid someone else to clean up. There is the grand irony of like, this guy's actually unkillable because killing him would be a huge thing. It would attract attention. It would be hard to like you know do it clean even though he is the most killable character in this movie yeah the one who probably deserves the die the most correct like the one who like the killing of him might actually improve the

world in some way so andrew kevin walker and he's like i can't shoot you because like it's a big fucking deal but i will shoot you if you fuck with me again. See you later. KW had a really fucking good line. Which is? He said they went back and forth so much on do you end that scene with him shooting our Liz Howard or not? Will it feel frustrating?

Are we depriving? If he doesn't get the final revenge, right? Right. And it is that moment of recognizing like, oh, his relationship, his business is exactly the same to mine. I'm hypocritical if I like hold that against him when I've been saying this mantra the whole time of like, this doesn't

mean anything to me, right? But he was like, ultimately the thing that finally cracked it for me of like, that has to be the answer is I asked, from this character's perspective, in this moment, does killing him help anything? Right. He's like, it does not improve

his situation at all. It makes it worse. There is no difference by leaving this guy alive. And it's for the first time where he makes the decision rather than like, I have to kill everyone as a default to leave no trace. He's just like, it probably makes it worse. It definitely doesn't make anything better. There's no

catharsis. Meeting with this guy helped me 0%. Coming face to face with him, I got no confession. I got no atonement. I barely got recognition. Basically didn't. Yeah.

But the whole lead up to Arliss Howard is my favorite of the process chunk of the movie. The equinox gym and the... But it's not equinox. I know, I know. Which is funny because he goes through pains to have everything else be a legitimate... of the process chunk of the movie. The Equinox gym and the... But it's not Equinox. I know, I know. Which is funny because he goes through pains to have everything else be a legitimate brand. I know, a strong Equinox did not want to be associated

with this movie. I know, but it's so close. But it's so much funnier to also have it be like weird spiritual Equinox. Right, zen bullshit. Yes. Yeah, it's Equinox with a slightly more obnoxious twist. That's true.

It's not just rich. It's like, right, Buddhist or something. We didn't even mention the fucking sitcom names. Oh, yeah. Someone on Reddit, I think, said, like, do they get more obnoxious as the movie's going on? Like, do they, you know,

by the time it's George Jefferson, it's like, is he pushing it at this point? A little bit. Like, you know, like, or is it just a joke? Yeah, I don't know. My favorite is when he uses like the full proper name of a sitcom character i'm forgetting the examples here but when it would

be like sam yule malone right it also like for me and that's archibald bunker yes yes exactly yeah um in that fincherian way it makes perfect sense where it's like if you're making up fake names all the time and trying to keep track of different identities, best to pick iconic characters where you'll be able to remember it. Right? You're like, if it's Sam Smith or whatever, bad example. Yeah, that's a person. If it's Jim Thompson, right?

You're like, that fucking generic name I made up. Which one was it again? Wasn't that the Basketball Diaries guy? Fuck! You are correct. If it's Tim Thomerson. Fuck! He's a killer inside me.

Oh, okay. Who was I thinking of? I know who you were thinking of. You know what I'm saying, though? Jim Carroll. If that card is under Stefan Urkel, he's going to have a visceral memory of like, that's the card I associate with hot Urkel.

Right. Yes. Stefan Urkel would be be good that's a good one let me look up stefan orkel actually he was hot yeah he was hot he was like my problem is i don't remember the names of sitcom characters like the full names well look marie it sounds like some of us had a more productive pandemic than others and that i watched sitcoms in bed and did nothing else like i'm trying to remember like what is wait i'm trying to remember like what is wait I'm trying to think if I can name all the last names on friends

name the last names on friends Rachel Green Monica Geller Phoebe Buffay Joey Tribbiani Chandler Bing I mean Ross is he's right there for you Geller yeah

okay so friends is a bad one, but like, I don't know. Cheers. Sam Malone. Frazier Crane. Cliff Clavin. Yep. All right. Woody Boyd. Yep. All right. But then like Norm. Don't know Norm's last name.

Peterson. And then like Diane. Chambers. Oh. Coach Ernie. Penn. Penn Fuso. Yeah. He's, Diane? Chambers. Oh, I think I did that. Coach Ernie. Penn. Penn Fuso. Yeah. He's coach, though. Rebecca. Fuck, Rebecca's...

Rebecca is... How, apparently. Did not know that. Yeah, H-O-W-E. Yeah. Lillian's last name is... Lilith, I'm sorry. On Frasier?

Isn't it? That's when she takes his man name. She's introduced. Sternin. Yes. Yes, that's it. Okay she takes his man. She's introduced. Stern. Yes. Yes, that's it. Okay. Let's not do this all day.

The killer is good. Okay. Yeah. So he flees. The killer is good. He's morally good and right. He's good in what he does. He goes back to the DR. His Magdala,

played by Sophie Charlotte, his partner is there. They're sitting on deck chairs, and he's like, I guess I'm retired. And then... I'm not special. And then what happens, Marie? His face twitches a little bit.

His little twitch. What's your take, Marie? That he's just itching to get back to doing his job. That's how I took it. That's how I took it, yeah. That he's giving us a false happy ending to the audience being like, see, I did it. I got away. I'm good. It's like, no. What Yeah. That he's giving us like a false happy ending to the audience being like, see, I did it.

I got away. I'm good. It's like, no. What do you mean? He doesn't know what to do. I found the ending a little pat, but I perhaps was not. What did you want the ending to be?

I guess. I don't know. I thought the Arliss Howard scene was so fucking good. Right. And then I was just like, I'm all in. How does he wrap it up?

And the ending, it's also very quick. This little kind of code attack. It is. It is kind of like, all right, get out of here. Right. And I guess wrap it up? And the ending, it's also very quick, this little kind of code attack. It is. It is kind of like, all right, get out of here. Right. And I guess if he shot Arliss Howard,

that would be more of a like, poof, ending. I prefer that he doesn't. I prefer that he walks away. I think it strengthens the movie. But then it's kind of like, what is the final scene now? That downbeat thing there.

And then just like him being like, well, okay, I guess I'll sit in my chair. Yeah. And I'm like, no, you're going to go insane, bro. In like two minutes. I've been in your brain.

Yeah, it sucks in there. Yes. It's really bad in there. Good for a movie. Like, you don't seem like someone who can hang out. No. Like, you know, imagine going to the bar with him and I'm like, so what's up with you? You reading books or something?

Like, what's going on, bro? What are you going to talk? Got any goss?? Got any goss? You got any goss? You'd go crazy trying to milk goss out of this guy. That's a fucking brick wall, that guy. I don't think I'd have anything. I think it's a great film.

I can't wait to watch it again. Real corker. And I just would love Fincher to continue making films. Immensely watchable. It's one of those movies where you're just like, man, just fucking top shelf craft. Yep. That's the thing. Right. All that stuff is, man, just fucking top shelf craft. Yep. That's the thing.

Right. All that stuff is interesting to watch everything this guy does. As usual, the reaction to it has not been negative, but it's been a little tepid. The Venice reaction was somewhat negative, but that's I don't know. Hitman totally hurt this movie. Right. I mean, I'd say the two prong thing is like this movie is caught in this like exact midpoint between it being like really pulpy where people are like, this is just fucking lurid fun. It's Fincher like getting his rocks off or it being quote unquote elevated serious Fincher. And it's like this is in this midpoint between like Zodiac and Panic Room, let's say. Right. let's say, right? Which I think makes people,

especially in a film festival context, not totally know what to make of it. Especially when there was a little bit of a kind of mystery box on this movie until it was seen. The information was very vague. My thing is,

I think that's what hurt it. It's like, it got a Venice launch to tap interviews because that's not really a place to launch this movie. Yeah. Because this is a very American movie.

Yes. Like as much as it has a lot of European stuff in it or whatever. It's about an American sensibility. Yes. Like as much as it has a lot of European stuff in it or whatever. It's about an American sensibility. Yes. A.K.A. buffoonish and self-inflated. And then like, it's like, it's at Venice.

And then they kind of like half-heartedly added it to New York. And it did a couple screenings. It didn't build up any festival buzz. And then it's the classic like, it's out on Netflix in November. Okay. And it's in theaters in the end of October, I guess.

Yeah. Where? Some. Some places. And it's like, okay, well then how am I supposed to even like get people

excited for this movie? Now I feel like I'm like nudging people to like the art house to see the fucking David Fincher assassin movie with Michael Fassbender. It's kind of bleak.

It's like not a hard sell. But I do think, as you guys said, like the premise of the Linklater movie is deflating the entire notion of a hitman.

And that plays festivals and it's such a fucking down the line crowd pleaser. It's a fun movie with a crowd. Where people are like, this is like,

this movie is raising the roof. I do think it hurts this film a little that these are like playing at the same festivals next to each other. Both like kind of totemic 90s auteurs of the last generation will get to like build their career really their way. Yeah, but is the average moviegoer aware of the festival buzz of Hitman?

I'm only saying it dinged the launch of this movie in the festival circuit where I think the reviews were like a little like yeah it's good and people were like but fucking Hitman you're gonna come what was that? Gene Shalit's pull quote for Hitman was yo jizz out of your seat

Leonard Maltin three and a half stars, come worthy. Yeah. The box office game. You're right. In the wash, it will not be anything. But I do think in terms of

the launch of this film. It's Netflix. It's Netflix. I agree. Well, I'm glad Netflix has both of the Hitman movies that can live next to each other. I'm sorry.

And I like, they make good movies sometimes. But sometimes. Allison wrote this piece for Vulture that's like, just said what we were all thinking, which is when Netflix bought Hitman, everyone was like,

oh boy. Oh great, here we go. Now no one sees it. Now it doesn't matter. The Killer came out on October 27th, 2023 in some theaters. Obviously it's not on the box office. It's on November 10th? I don't know.

It will have been streaming when this episode comes out. That's the other thing. November 10, you're correct. Yeah, it's just annoying in us scheduling these episodes. Yeah, well. There's like this three-week gap between it getting like a fart of a theatrical release and being on streaming and you're like, which date do we time it to more? Oh, the woes of being a podcaster. Yeah, we're doing fine.

October 27, 2023, Griffin, what's number one at the box office? Five Nights at Freddy's. $80 million! Yeah, David sent a series of absolutely flummoxed texts to the Doughboys and I, where you seemingly were just not engaged with Freddy at all as a thing. I didn't know. I had no idea what this was until I saw a trailer for it. This has been so big for 10 years.

I was aware that this film, which I was aware existed. This is like if first wave of Sonic or Mario ended with the most faithful movie possible when it was like the generation that first grew up with it was still the right age to enjoy the movie. Truly. No idea. I'm the right age to enjoy Sonic. How dare you?

But no, no. I was aware that this movie was tracking big. Yes. And I was like, oh, it must be, I don't know Some horror movie And then like, it opens huge And everyone's like, yeah, Gen Z video game movie And I'm like, ooh, it's a video game? What's the game?

And people were like, well, opening day is huge But it's front loaded And then it just like, kind of kept exceeding The projections It's huge. I'm pro. I'm pro anything doing well. I heard it stinks.

And nobody likes this movie. I've tried playing the games. I mean, they in theory should be some real griff shit. You're trapped in a Chuck E. Cheese. Like a haunted Chuck E. Cheese. I like the concept of it. They are like pretty experimental in gameplay. And they're also a really fascinating like,

they're kind of like the Blair Witch of video games where there's this like feeling of like oh he's like redefining gameplay around budget limitations uh huh these like indie games yeah which it's interesting I've never gotten into it a lot of it is the weird like deep

lore shit that's like subtextual hidden in games and people do three-hour videos. But all of this has made kids very involved in this shit for 10 years. Hutcherson employed. Hutcherson employed? We love to see that. Yeah, we do. there is this other weird angle to the Freddy's thing which is like you have kids who are all in on the games watching these fucking explainer videos digging into the

lore reading the novels that exist in the universe all this guy who is like maintain total creative control Scott Cawthorne sort of Twilight style and kept on killing versions of the movie where it was like a Gil Keenan version and a Chris Columbus version and he was like I

get full kill rights. You're not making it until it's exactly what I want it to be. Right. But simultaneous to all of this, the characters kind of just established

this almost like Hello Kitty value as just iconography where like they're so big on like T-shirts and backpacks and shit. I think with a contingency of kids who don't even know

what the fuck it is, where they're just like, oh, like the bunny and the bear. Anyway, huge, huge fucking... I'm glad that... I gotta say it. Things are selling. I gotta say it, David.

I mean, it's a very impressive box office for a day and date streaming release. Yeah. But, I mean, Halloween weekend, well-timed. Oh, good. Bookmarks around the month of October. Jason Blum has like the biggest fucking whiff of his career.

The one time he basically Allah the killer strayed from the plant, improvised, did things wrong. And on the other side, Five Nights from Freddy, by making the Peacock deal the film was already net even 20 million from Peacock covered the budget and they were just sort of like no one's gonna watch it on Peacock it'll do well in theaters and then it did like three times better than they thought in theaters what's coming out next week next week is like nothing

yeah I know I'm waiting to take my cousins to see Wish and Trolls which are back to back weekends those are Thanksgiving and then right yeah yeah does Marvels come out this weekend

no Priscilla is going wide I'm sure that's gonna make you know 80 to 100 Marvels is the following weekend and then Hunger Games

correct so you have like and I could see Hunger Games kind of like surprisingly eating second weekend of Marvels is lunch I think that kinda of has to be

the one that pops. I think it might be. Wish is tracking really well. Wish is tracking well? Yeah. Interesting. I think it looks like a pile of dog shit and I would be very happy to be surprised. Well, I'm not saying it's tracking well quality wise. No. It's just like tracking to like a 50 mil opening.

Wish is the origin story of the star that is wished upon. I bet you wondered where... I didn't wonder that one fucking bit. Stars come from that Disney character. You're kidding me.

That's what it's about? Yeah, David, you didn't know this? No, but I don't watch these trailers. I don't want to do that. For Disney's 100th celebration, they're finally answering

the question, how do those stars get the power to grant wishes? And this movie has a little anthropomorphic star who falls out of the sky. Ariana

DeBose and the talking goat have to shepherd him back to some fucking place. Fine. Great. I mean, Napoleon's coming out. That looks like fun. Some dad content. I mean, obviously, I'm super excited. Dad and Marie Barty content. Yeah, exactly. Well, let's go together. Dad and Marie Barty.

You know, the part where oh my God, Vanessa Kirby, she lifts up her little dress Yeah, exactly. Well, let's go together. The Beyonce movie, obviously. Boy in the Heron, Wonka. And then just like a crush of stuff at Christmas of like overloaded. I'm sorry. You can't just gloss over Wonka like it's not the biggest movie of the Christmas season. Marie was pushing us to do a Wonka episode or to combine Wonka and Aquaman and call the episode Wonkwaman.

That was kind of funny. That was very funny. That was funny. We have full credit to that. That was very funny. I really funny. We have full credit to that. That was very funny. I really think that people are going to want to hear our takes on Wonka. Wonka, man. I don't care.

Timmy is wearing a hat. Yeah, well, he should be. He's Wonka. If he wasn't wearing a hat, that would be a serious oversight. He's making chocolate. He's making chocolate. Hugh Grant? I just feel like I know what that movie is

and the ceiling is three stars and the ceiling is because Paul King can give it like the oomph. Would you have said the ceiling for a Paddington movie is three stars? No. This is the most frustrating aspect is that he fucking isn't doing Paddington 3

to do Wonka and you're just like what awful fucking sliding doors timeline are we in where he jumped ship for this yeah I mean like a Paddington movie I'm like yeah Paddington has a built in story that's very involving a Wonka prequel I'm like never have I asked why he

you ever wonder how Willy Wonka started making chocolate I don't know I think the movie feels. And also, I don't care. I think the movie feels very politically charged from the trailer. It seems like it's the movie for the moment. That's the kind of shit I don't care about. I feel like Wonka is the proletariat icon we need right now. David is looking at me with a Kubrick stare.

He wants to rip my throat out. This is my whole thing where they're like, do you want to know what Wonka did before he became Willy Wonka? I'm like, no. I just want to guess. He ate chocolate and said I could make this shit. Wanted to make Chocolate Factory?

But there's not just chocolate. It's magic in the chocolate. Disgusting. They're like, also, it'll be an allegory for whatever we need there to be an allegory right now about. Number two at the box office is Taylor Swift's The Eris Tour. Did any of you see it?

No. Have you seen Marie? No. I couldn't get tickets. Yeah. The whole Thursday to Sunday thing kind of fucked me. Like, because the weekends are tough for me, I was like, oh, sneak in on it. Oh, no.

It's just kind of like a weekly show to Sunday. I don't go out in public on the weekends because I have a flexible schedule. I do all my movie going during the workday. Well, you're wise. I mean, I don't know. I kind of want to see. It's also like three hours long. I was talking about my lack of interest to you.

And you said, well, you never really liked Taylor Swift. And then I like, it was like a repressed memory came back. And I was like. You don't like Taylor Swift, Griffin? I don't really like Taylor Swift. Yeah, you've never been. Well, that's what you said. And then the memory flooded back. And I was like, wait, I? I don't really like Taylor Swift. Yeah, you've never been... Well, that's what you said. And then the memory flooded back and I was like,

wait, I was like really into her for two years. I liked Red in 1989. I think I talked about it on Mike in several episodes. And then I remembered I got in a big fight with a girlfriend over her. And I think I not only stopped engaging with her, but like blocked out of my memory that I ever gave her headspace. You like painted over your Taylor Swift wallpaper. Yes.

Wow. I like Taylor Swift just fine. I got in a fight with an ex-girlfriend where she was upset that I was getting too invested in Taylor Swift narratives online and not listening to what she was saying. Wow. And it like clearly... It sounds like you were in the wrong on that one. I concede.

She was right. But clearly there is some wound there where I was like I never want to think about Taylor Swift ever again I was caught thinking about her too much

and not in a sexual way in a like oh my god people are looking at the lyrics of the new song and they think yeah

it's a sick sick world do you know about do you know about Gaylers no we're not doing this okay number three at the box office

number three at the box office number three at the box office I think that's the narrative that I What the thing I was looking into. Number three at the box office. I think that's the narrative that I was looking into. Number three. And we have to do venture rankings and then have to go pick up a pack and play. That's exactly what I want. I'm going upstate with this girl tomorrow.

Oh, yeah. And four other people. Yeah. So, David Sims, David Ehrlich, and my husband, David Salinas. Yeah, three Davids. Three Davids. That's true. And their families are going upstate.

I went to the same hall. The three Davids and their women. It's a new, you know, Mussorgsky film. I filed a name change position and it didn't fucking... David Newman? It didn't settle in time for me to get a fucking in. Oh, boy. Oh, boy.

Okay, look. Number three is... Oh, it's a new film from one of the great American filmmakers. Killers of the Flower Moon. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A masterpiece, in my opinion.

A great film, I think. Right. We're recording this episode a little far in advance. We're talking about the box office from four days ago. Correct. I'm struggling to pull it. But you like to, I believe. Yeah, rules.

Are you going to see it again? Yes. I've been pondering seeing it again, but it's like, you know, again. Prepare yourself. And I'm back to, I have a lot of catching up to do on other movies. You gotta get held over. It'll be on Apple Plus during Thanksgiving. I want it up there in that

big screen. I saw it on the big screen, but I'm just thinking, you know, it might be really educational Thanksgiving viewing for the whole family. I've been watching a Rick Burns docu series on the plight of the Native American

called We Shall Remain with PBS Passport. Cool. I'm ready to... Genuinely cool. I've been watching a Rick Sanchez documentary

called I'm Pickle Rick. You have to say the joke. Say the joke. You can't start laughing in the middle of it. The documentary is called I'm Pickle Rick.

We can't talk about that anymore, right? Sure we can. You guys already fucking brought up Gaylers and Hunter Biden. Now you draw the line at Rick and Morty? He's played by some other guys now, and no one notices the difference. The show's exactly the same. You're starting to sound like Trump.

Weird vibes. No one notices the difference. Rick and Morty. They got no voices. They changed the voices. Terrible what they did to Roy. Number four. It's not terrible. No, it makes sense. It was the right decision. Unequivocally.

Number four, a new film this week. A Christian film, I believe. It's not called The Chosen, right? It's called The Blind? No. Fuck. It's about what happens. It's called The Something? No, it. It's about what happens. It's called The Something? No. It's about what happens. I guess it's not explicitly Christian.

Although it's by like Angel Studios. It's by the guys who did The Chosen. It's about what happens in Vegas which stays there according to scientists. Well, unless you accidentally marry Cameron Diaz. But no, it's like it's like talking to people who've like witnessed the afterlife

or whatever because they you know near death experiences and scanning the brain when you die what's this movie called after death sure opening to five million dollars great yeah it is great okay well maybe you're not in I mean it's from a little studio that brought

us a hit called sound of freedom so maybe number five of the box office it is a I mean it's from a little studio that brought us a hit called Sound of Freedom so never heard of it number five of the box office it is a sequel a legacy sequel in a horror franchise the exorcist part no just the exorcist part the exorcist believer yes

Justin Bieber has haunted these two girls has either of you seen it I like to think that Reagan would have been a believer. No. No. I've seen it. I felt disrespectful to... Billy?

To the late William Friedkin. Yeah. Well, I like the idea that he like actively cursed this movie on his deathbed somehow. Yeah. But it's not a successful film. I had plans I was going to go see it

with a past and future guest friend of the show, Whitney McIntosh. Sure. And then I went, I think I'd rather have diarrhea tonight. And I bailed on the movie and I stayed home, sat in the toilet. And I think I had a better time, arguably, based on some responses I've seen. I think you would enjoy things about the failures in the movie. I will find it interesting when I watch it on a plane

four months from now. Like things that don't work where you're like, what was the choice here? This thing sometimes happens where David's like, you don't need to see it. And then six months later,

I watch it on a plane. I'm like, David, I need to talk about this right now. Right. And I'm like, God, we all wanted to forget that one. I think he wants you

to make the decision on your own. Like he doesn't want to feel like he's forcing you to endure it. Like you have to arrive at that conclusion. Or David Gordon Green feels that way. Sims. Okay. Yeah. Number six, Paw Patrol, The Mighty Movie.

Just, you know, making money. Number seven, Nightmare Before Christmas. Do you have a Paw Patrol thought? Yeah. I was at Walmart in Texas with my husband, and he was like, what is this thing? Didn't know. What Paw Patrol was? I'm like, it's Paw Patrol. That was his Five Nights

at Freddy's. He was like, he knew all about Five Nights at Freddy's. Paw Patrol, no idea. He was like, wait, are they cops? One of them is a cop. I was like, yes, they are. No, just one. One of them is a cop. It's like one cop, one fireman, one construction worker, one paramedic or some shit. They're all

first responders. I've never seen shit. They're all first responders. I've never seen it. I'm holding the line. I'm really waiting until... I just do not want it in my house. I forget why it came up in conversation with my mom, but James, my little brother, was like a kid who loved Postman Pat and Fireman Sam and all the British

shows. Bob the Builder, I guess, was a little after his time. Bob the Builder! like we fix it vehicles and like person with a job that helps the community kind of stuff right and she was like what's pod patrol and i was like they made a show where it's all of them but each of them is represented by a dog my mom's eyes went by and she's like that is so... So smart. Yeah. But it was like, that is so smart and so evil. She was like, I'm so grateful that didn't exist 20 years ago, 30 years ago when James was little.

That would have like ruined our household. I haven't seen any Paw Patrol, but like, are there criminals? Like, is the cop arresting bad dogs? I mean, there's maybe like robbers in like black and white, like Hamburglar outfits. Like I told you in the Spider-Man show. Did I tell you what Dr. Octopus wanted to do? Right. This is, David's daughter started watching a Spider-Man cartoon where the bad guys are bullies.

Yeah. I mean, like, you know, it's still Rhino or Green Goblin or whatever, but they're not committing murders. Oh, that's fun. But do you know what Dr. Octopus... It's called Spidey and Friends. What's it called? Spidey and his amazing friends. I don't know.

They're always called that. But do you know what Dr. Octopus tried to do? What? Ruin Mother's Day. It's fucking dark. This is how Feige saves the MCU. Literally someone was like,

Dr. Octopus is going to ruin Mother's Day. This is how Feige saves the MCU. You were saying the problem is nothing means anything in the MCU anymore.

Here are stakes. Fucking Mother's Day ruined? Mother's Day is in my grasp. Number eight of the box office. Is it Taka Aka woke queen on this show? Yeah, she's's Day is in my grasp. Number eight at the box office. Is it Taka Aka Woke Queen on this show? Yeah, she's a lady. Woke by a virus. Number eight, a new film starring John Cena. Got a zero percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Freelance is the name of the film. It's called The Contractor. Yeah. Right. Have you seen it? No. You didn't rush to that one? A real, this wasn't released, it escaped movie.

Alison Brie? Is she in it? Yeah. She's the female lead. I feel like it has... Alice Eve is in it? It looks like they were trying to pull a Sound of Freedom with it, where my friend sent me a screenshot of the Century City screenings,

and every screening had sold out. And it's like, that didn't happen organically. That was fake. Director of Taken, Pierre Morel? Yeah, Pierre Morel, who made the first Taken

and then like From Paris with Love and Peppermint. He's kind of a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes King. He really, he really likes that zone there. He's a zero star general.

It's just crazy to me that there's a Cena movie and then everyone was like, no, because like Cena, I'm not saying he makes good movies, but he's usually kind of like charming enough

that you're like, yeah, it's, you know, sure. This is a movie where it's genuinely astonishing that it got a theatrical release

and it must be because of some contractual deal where you're like, it's a lion's game. This is the thing that gets like sold off to, no, it's relativity.

I'm sorry. Paramount Plus. Yeah, I think so, but whatever. Number nine at the box office. He's made $50 million. We love him. We respect him.

He's right and good. Jigsaw himself. SawX has done so well that I'm assuming they're now trying to be like, okay, so what do we do now? I don't know. It was kind of a failed meme, but Saw Patrol has been quietly

helping the theaters. Those two movies are chugging. Yeah. Number 10, The Creator. The Creator. Which has, probably gonna sneak to 40. Domestic, a little over maybe. Did you see it?

A good movie. It's just not that successful. Yes. A movie that is deeply frustrating. Looks cool. In the exact level of quality it is at. Where you're like, this needs to be better or worse. And it's close to both. We have a lot of series wrap up.

I know. That's why we got to be done. Okay. But we don't. Fuck. Okay. I just want to say, I've really enjoyed my David Fincher journey. What?

Yeah. No, I'm just agreeing with you um highlights for me were uh I actually really liked

Alien 3 yeah rules I thought it was very transgressive and fun agreed uh I love how bleak it is

um thank you for saying this before people get mad at my rankings um it's gonna be up there for me uh

I loved rewatching Panic Room. Hell yeah, me too. I totally shot up in my rankings. That's also kind of why I like The Killer. I like when he just does the stripped-down genre exercise and really gets stylish with things. And I sobbed uncontrollably

at Curious Case Bedford Button. Me too, bro. Me too. Right there with you. Yeah. But it's, yeah, it was fun to revisit Fight Club for the first time in like 15 years.

And, you know, it's always a pleasure to revisit Zodiac. And I think as a fan of the podcast, you guys have had some of your best episodes in the series. That's very nice of you to say. And, you know, here's the check you asked for. Thank you. Actually, you don't have to pay everybody.

Do you want to go first, Griffin? No. Okay, fine. I'll go first. Your favorite movie of David Fincher's is The Social Network, correct, Marie? No, it is not. Wow. Wow. What is it?

Gone Girl. Yeah. Yeah, well, that's also good. Do you have Social Network over Zodiac? Is that it? I put Social Network at two and Panic Room at three, Zodiac at four.

Wait, you're fucked up. That's weird. What's the one you're missing? Weird and insane. The game. I see what's going on. Okay, go on. There's 12 movies.

Here are my rankings of adventures. Number one, Zodiac. Number two, The Social Network. Number three, Gone Girl. Those are sort of right up there. The top, one might say. Number four, I have The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Number five, I have The Game.

Dog game. I feel like people are probably already a little grumpy with me, but whatever. I am what I am. I'm disagreeing with you right now. Number six, I have Seven. At number six, you have Seven? And at number seven, I have his great film Six, where he filmed

that Broadway musical with his cell phone. No, actually, it's Panic Room. But wouldn't it be funny? Number eight, I have The Killer. Wow. And that could kind of go higher. I don't know. We'll see.

I kind of put it there safely right now. Number nine, I have Benjamin Button. To be clear, these are all outstanding films to me. Number 10, I have Fight Club. It's a very good movie. Yeah. And I have it at 10 of 12. I have Mank at 11

over Alien 3 and that feels rude but I just didn't want Mank to be last well old Manky boy he probably should be Alien 3 should probably crawl over him imagine what Mank would think of Alien okay here's my list

number 1 Zodiac, number 2 Social Network, number 3 Gungor alright so we're right in the same there number 4, 7 okay here's my list number one Zodiac number two social network number three gone great ding ding ding lined up number four seven okay okay interesting

seven I mean the film is called seven well you put it at six my friend so fuck you number four seven very solid

horse you wrote in on number five Alien 3 I just love it that's acceptable I'm a fucking dang ass freak it's just like it's I love it it's se a fucking dang ass freak. It's just like it's

seared into my brain. And then here's where people start getting really angry at me. Number six, Benjamin Button. That's great. Number seven, Fight Club, which I do put higher than you. Yeah. But I think most people are throwing chairs through windows. Maybe they should

go to a Fight Club and work their feelings out. Number eight, Dragon Tattoo. Number nine, Killer. feelings out. Number eight, Dragon Tattoo. Number nine, Killer. Although, you say too low on Dragon Tattoo. A film that really grew in my estimation

on this rewatch. Killer I've only seen once. I could see it moving up. Number ten, Panic Room. Number eleven, Doug Game. Number twelve's

gotta be Meg. I understand the move you're making. I almost had him over Fight Club and I thought people would actually be too mad at me. Yeah. I just think... Yeah, I'm putting him over Fight Club. You don't like the optics of it? I thought people would actually be too mad at me. Yeah.

I just think... Yeah, I'm putting him over Fight Club. No, no, no, no. Fight Club's more... Fight Club's a better movie. Yes. Yeah, it is. It is.

It's good, though. Yeah, but even for a dyed-in-the-wool Manc defender like you, you have to admit he's made at least 10 movies better than that. What do you want from me the guy doesn't make bad movies the question is only if that movie's 11 or 12 like if we ever do scorsese i'll be like you know doing my like where i'm like number 22 casino but to be clear i love casino you

know you know what i mean i'll be like fucking cornetto trilogy thing yeah well yeah for me wow i actually have casino at 21 i was close do you have Cape Fear dead last on your Scorsese? Someone said you did. I think I said once, like, is that Scorsese's worst movie? But I was kind of saying it in this way of, like, pretty great movie to be maybe the, like, least essential. I like Cape Fear. Of course. He hasn't made a bad movie.

Like, if someone came to me and was like, I don't like a Martin Scorsese movie, I would kind of be like, show your work, bro. I'm not with you. Right. Like, I don't really buy it. Haveese movie, I would kind of be like, show your work, bro. I'm not with you. Right. Like, I don't really buy it. Have you seen Boxcar Bertha? Yes, I have. Boxcar Bertha is awesome. Rocks and rolls all night long.

Are you kidding me? Yeah. Like, don't throw Boxcar Bertha at me. I've written in the boxcar. I know Bertha. I haven't seen Who's That Knocking at My Door. I have. I've never seen Kundun.

It's pretty good. I have. I need to watch Kundun. I need to watch Kundun. It's pretty good. I have. I need to watch Kundun. I need to watch Kundun. Kundun is actually excellent. Yeah. See, here's what I can complain about. Back in the day,

we used to have Kundun. Now with Netflix, we have Tadum. That didn't work. Goodbye, David Fincher. But can you blame me for taking this one? What we're doing next is a bunch of new movies first.

Yeah. Say what's coming. Well, next week is a Ben's choice. Should we announce it? Yeah, we should. Because people need to find this movie. I'm sad that Ben can't announce it himself, but he'll explain himself thoroughly

next week when we discuss his choice. The poster to Maureen, she said, what is this poster you photoshopped? I did not know this was a real movie. What is this movie you made up? But of course, Ben, he of the most

predictable taste in the world, zero zags with this man, chose, when given the power to program an episode, Lawrence Kasdan's pizza murder comedy, I Love You to Death. He did. And we discussed it. It's been

recorded. It's a great episode. Everyone's not unhinged at all. Wild and wooly episode. Kevin Kline plays a Serbian? No. He's Italian. He's married to a Serbian. He plays an Italian and it's very accurate. He plays the horniest pizza maker.

It was hard judging the accents from the trailer. Well, it gets no easier with the future film. That's a movie where context makes it more confusing. Then we're going to do Bradley Cooper's Maestro. Maestro. Then we're going to do

Hayao Miyazaki's staggering masterpiece, The Boy and the Heron. Can't wait to see it. Which is on the level of Maestro and I Love You to Death. And then we're going to do Aquaman 2,

unless I'm stopped for some reason. Aquaman! Griffin has this insane thing. We can't even talk about it right now. I think I should say that. Don't say it on mic. I think we gotta do Joker 2. That's Griffin's thing and I'm like, I kind of just don't

want to. I agree to Aquaman 2 on the schedule if we do Joker 2 next year. I might take Aquaman off the schedule. That's the thing. Well, I think you gotta decide how much you want Aquaman 2. I don't think I want it that much. I don't think I want it

Joker 2 level. That's been my thing. What about Wonkaman? Well, then we have to see another movie. I mean, I'll see Wonka. Like you weren't already going to see Wonka.

I'm gonna see Wonka. I'm just, poor Ben has to go see Wonka or whatever. Ben will probably love Wonka. Ben will actually, Ben will cry during Wonka. He might have his heart tickled see Wonka. I'm just poor Ben has to go see Wonka. Ben will probably love Wonka. Ben will actually cry during Wonka. He might have his heart tickled by Wonka. He might.

I just love, he like made chocolate. Griffin's whole thing is like Joker, is like a blank check. And I'm like, of course it is. I don't care. I don't wish to discuss Joker. We had a bad time doing it last time. This time it's a musical.

And the people who talk about that movie piss me off often. Not always. So I'm like, you know, do we need to go? Why, you know, why watch the Ring videotape? Look, it's in flux,

but we should say our next miniseries, which will start right at the... Well, then we're also doing Ferrari. We're doing Ferrari tip of January. The reason the schedule's a little wonky here is because... And not wonka yet. Is because we have a short miniseries coming in next.

We didn't want to start it, interrupt it. And also we have these new movies to discuss. Exactly. There was a weird kind of chunk of time here. But starting in January, Michael Mann's Ferrari. And then we are covering the films of Barbara Streisand. Oh, my goodness.

Including her Star is Born. We're including her Star is Born. She did not direct, but she was creatively. Yes. Exactly. Star is Born, Yentl, Prince of Tides, Mirror Has Two Faces.

Mirror Has Two Faces. And on Patreon, we will be covering her mall in some form yeah we have a special episode planned we have a really special episode of two very left turn compatible themes because i don't know there's like a half hour video of her mall or whatever we'll watch that i think or something like that i think oprah did a mall tour yeah something like that and by the way if anyone listening here works at the mall and you want to give us a tour we're down sure or at least like you know

sort of give us a an accounting of what life is like in the mall I think David are you saying if we got the invitation to go you would not go enough enough enough enough who are you Jennifer Lopez yes I've had enough Michael Apted is supporting

me Jim Caviezel's in that movie no he's in Angel Eyes who's in enough um and then Are you Jennifer Lopez? Yes, I've had enough. Michael Apted is supporting me. Jim Caviezel's in that movie? No, he's in Angel Eyes. Who's in Enough? And then, if you can guess it, I'll give you a kiss. I can almost pull it. I can almost pull it. Oh, you're not going to pull it. I want to get out of here with a kiss.

Yeah, you're not going to pull this one. It's not, it's not, it's, fuck. It's not Billy Campbell. It is Billy Campbell. Oh my God, how? That's crazy. I knew it was like a fake leading man like that. You know what? It was a handsome McJaw dude.

I mean, no ill will to Billy Campbell. He's great in The Rocketeer. Yes. He's a totally fun actor. But he kind of became that guy where you're like, wow, you really needed somebody, huh? I was doing the math in my head and I was like, it's too early for Michael Weatherly. Right. It's someone, I like knew the type in my head, and I was like, it's too early for Michael Weatherly. Right. It's someone,

I like knew the type of guy it was. Not Billy Burke. No. Who isn't? No, he's got a little too much character. Right, he's got a little grit to him. Yeah. Billy Campbell,

that guy's just a walking smile. Perfectly cast. Although I assume he's a villainous person. Yeah, he's the abusive husband. He's the abusive husband, right? She's had enough. Yeah.

Yeah. Anyway, check out our Michael Aptett miniseries where we will discuss enough. Podnuffcast. Committing to it here. You know my new thing I want to do on the Reddit anytime anyone says, any chance of a blank miniseries? Just go, yes, we're doing that next.

Some chance. Yes, that's what we're doing next to every single suggestion. Because what I need to do is post on the Reddit more. Yeah, that's what you need to do. That's what I need to do. Goodbye, David Fincher. Make another movie and we'll talk about you again.

Or make another movie. That's my challenge to you. Or make another movie. Make two. Make two. Still making. Colin, Joe. Oh, oh, make Legacy Joe?

Yeah. That'd be cool. Joe Origins. Joe Origins. Yeah. Doing an All About Eve movie. Yeah. Be Yeah. That'd be cool. Joe Origins. Joe Origins. Yeah. Doing an All About Eve movie. Yeah. Be fun.

Be fun. Marie. Yes. Just a TCM movie. Ben Mankiewicz. Yeah. Josh Mankiewicz of Dateline. Sure.

Bring him in. I'm sorry. Wait a second. Is Ben's Fincher miniseries name Ben Mankiewicz? Yes. Sure. That's too funny not to do even though it doesn't actually make any sense.

No, but we gotta do it. Sure. Okay. So Ben has graduated to a new miniseries title. I just foolishly went to Ben Mankiewicz's Wikipedia page to check if he was in Mank. You mean his Mankopedia page? His Mankopedia page to check, oh, is he in Mank in some jokey way? Oh. And then I

control F'd Mank on his page and it lit up. What? I don't know. It seems like the word Mankowitz is all over this fucker. Okay, so Ben. And he is in that movie.

He's the broadcaster of the Academy Awards. He's the voice. Isn't that sweet? That's sweet. Yeah. Ben, we love you. We miss you. Sure.

We'll be back to be clear. You'll hear him next week. Yes. Your new miniseries name is Ben Mankiewicz yep thank you all

for listening please remember to rate review and subscribe hell yeah David okay but I want you to remember what's on the docket

when you get out of the bathroom go take care of your business but then you got business when you get out of here again thank you for our social media and helping to produce the show

today more than usual you're welcome Griffin but you're always doing heavy lifting aww thank you for our social media and helping to produce the show today. More than usual. You're welcome, Griffin. But you're always doing heavy lifting. Aw. Thank you to AJ McKeon, Alex Barron for our editing, Pat Reynolds, Joe Bowen for our artwork, Lane Montgomery, The Great American Owl for our theme song, JJ Birch for the very quick killer turnaround dossier.

Tune in next week for I Love You to Death. Go to blankcheckpod.com for links to some real nerdy shit, including our Patreon, Blank Check Special Features, where we do commentaries on film series, finishing up Brosnan, going into...

Can we say it here? I think it'll be announced at this point. Yeah, it was already announced in the most recent Brosnan episode. Yeah, we're really up against it with that one. Austin Powers. Yes. Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby. It's going to with that one. Right, Austin Powers. Yes. Yeah, baby.

Yeah, baby. It's going to be a very shagadelic miniseries. Right. And as always, David, you owe me a kiss. Wait, I have to kiss you on mic? Kiss me on the cheek on mic. Wait, why are we...

I kissed Billy Campbell. Oh, my God. He said I couldn't do it. I need to get a picture of it. Wait, no, no. Go back. I need a picture. Go back.

I need a picture. And make it louder I did it. Wait, no, no. Go back. I need a picture. Go back. I need a picture. And make it louder for the mic. Oh, that was beautiful, guys.