Lost Highway with David Lowery
27 October 2024 - 2 hours 44 mins1997’s Lost Highway - is it (as David Sims wrote on Letterboxd), “a movie about headache”? Is it David Lynch’s most visually beautiful film? Is it a dry run for Mulholland Dr? A radical reimagining of Bill Pullman’s screen presence? A psychogenic fugue? Lynch’s commentary on the OJ Simpson trial? An excuse for David Sims to go off on the concept of “free jazz”?? Folks - we are pleased to tell you that it is all of the above and more. The great David Lowery joins us to talk about Lynch’s deeply haunted neo-noir nightmare - a film that dares to ask the question, “What if you woke up one morning as Balthazar Getty?”
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Schindler's List with David Ehrlich
Our Early Spielberg series concludes with a movie that is a super fun time and not at all distressing to watch in our current political climate! David Ehrlich joins us to discuss 1993’s Schindler’s List, the film that defined the visual language of the Holocaust and finally got Spielberg his Oscar. We’re getting into the critical debates about this film’s “watchability,” the fact that this was only Ralph Fiennes’ second screen performance, and our (likely controversial) definitive ranking of Spielberg’s full filmography. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 hours 49 mins
20 April Finished
Jurassic Park with Sean Fennessey
God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg makes 1993’s Jurassic Park and changes movie history. The Big Picture’s Sean Fennessey joins us to talk about this totemic blockbuster, and we’re spending three hours talking about the bad boys of the Jurassic era (velociraptors), the bad boys of ILM (Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams and Mark Dippe), and the bad boy of movie scientists (Dr. Ian Malcolm). Note: this episode was recorded last fall, so some of the takes you’ll hear are a bit…frozen in amber. Yup, you guessed it. Hawk Tuah Talk again. Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
3 hours 22 mins
13 April Finished
Hook with Lin-Manuel Miranda
Everyone knows Captain Hook got swallowed by the crocodile at the end of Peter Pan. But what this movie presupposes is…maybe he didn’t? Let us go back to a time when the coolest thing a kid could have was a clubhouse that looked like a skatepark…when the worst thing a dad could do was own a cell phone…and when the craziest thing a filmmaker could do was agree to make a movie that started off as a child’s drawing. Lin-Manuel Miranda - most famous for starring as Captain Hook in his sixth grade production of Peter Pan - joins us on a trip to Neverland as we unpack Spielberg’s 1991 fantasia Hook. Bangarang, Blankies! And RIP Rufio. Check out Lin's Warriors Album and the Hook Ultimate Edition Soundtrack Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 hours 31 mins
6 April Finished
Always with Richard Lawson
Is it possible for Steven Spielberg to make a movie that doesn’t exist? Well, he sure tried with 1989’s Always, a film where John Goodman plays Monterey Jack of the Rescue Rangers, Richard Dreyfuss riffs to no one as an annoying ghost, and Holly Hunter falls in love with the most dull hottie at the Plane Depot. Our beloved Richard Lawson joins us to talk planes, boy bands, Marlboro merch, and the enduring mystery of what happened between Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, and Fran McD in that famous apartment. Listen to Little Gold Men Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 hours 37 mins
30 March Finished
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with Chris Gethard
What if Indiana Jones had a dad who was a “grail scholar" but also his “eskimo brother" and he was played by James Bond and he had a funny little hat? We are so glad Steven Spielberg dared to imagine this scenario because we got Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade out of it! Chris Gethard - The self-proclaimed “Bad Boy of Blank Check Guests” - joins the crew to talk about this delightful film, considered a fulcrum point in Spielberg’s career where he switches perspectives from son to father. We’re talking about daddy issues. We’re asking if Kazim is the Kit Fisto of this film. We’re wondering if Elsa looking hottest when dressed as a Nazi is a weird psychosexual thing Spielberg is exploring. We’re realizing in real time that Indiana Jones might be a terrible archeologist. Basically - you should hand in your blimp tickets and join us on a very fun ride. Listen to Gethard's Special A Father and the Sun Listen To Beautiful Anonymous Checkout That Show monthly at UCB NY LIVE and LIVE STREAMED Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 hours 47 mins
23 March Finished
Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri
Our Spielbergian journey takes us to new dramatic heights with 1987’s Empire of the Sun, the film that brought us Christian Bale (discovered by Amy Irving!), unexpected Joey Pants and Ben Stiller appearances, and a perfect use of John Malkovich. Bilge Ebiri joins us (and the Five Timers Club) to chat about how underrated this film is within the Spielberg canon, and how this movie evolves Spielberg’s perception as a serious dramatic artist. Read Bilge's writing at Vulture Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes. Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! Buy some real nerdy merch Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2 hours 57 mins
16 March Finished