Dunnnh dun. Dunnnh dun. Never before had two notes provoked such terror as they did in JAWS, the 1975 classic that invented the summer blockbuster, catapulted Steven Spielberg to Hollywood legend status, and inspired generational trauma about water. Actor and recognizable famous person Timothy Simons joins us to talk about this classic shark tale, and we go long on Scheider, Dreyfuss, Shaw, and the career of journeyman director Joseph Sargent (?). Which member of the Blank Check crew would be le...
Jan 19, 2025•3 hr 56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Young whippersnapper Steven Spielberg continues his run of dusty, road-centric films with 1974s THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS, and were along for the (surprisingly chill) ride. Writer Esther Zuckerman joins us to discuss the cinematic persona of Goldie Hawn, William Athertons strange period of leading-man roles, the harmonica stylings of Belgian jazz legend Toots Thielemans, and Spielbergs brief but fruitful collaboration with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. Note - we recorded this episode a few months...
Jan 12, 2025•2 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2025! Blank Check Year 10! Year of Miracles! In honor of our record 10th year of podcasting, were doing something weve never done before - going back to fill in the gaps on a filmography weve previously only partially covered. And what a filmography it is - folks, welcome to PODRASSIC CAST. Were starting our exploration of the first half of Steven Spielbergs career with his remarkable 1971 debut feature DUEL, a movie that was originally made for TV but later released with extra footage for a the...
Jan 05, 2025•2 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast What year is it? Well, its 2024 - but not for long. Its our last episode of the year! Director of this years I SAW THE TV GLOW Jane Schoenbrun joins us to talk about the conclusion of Twin Peaks: The Return, and, by default, the conclusion of our David Lynch series. In a show that intentionally defies the very concept of resolution, how do we put a bow on things? Well, we try! Shout out to Freddie and his glove. Oh, and Merry Christmas. Trauma is originary and unending. Stream I Saw The TV Glow ...
Dec 22, 2024•2 hr 27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dougie gets it on (or, more accurately, Naomi Watts gets HER Dougie on), guest Fran Hoepfner pitches her artisanal slime for adults (dont steal the idea), and we relitigate LOST for the hundredth time in this penultimate episode of our Twin Peaks: The Return coverage. Can adults get mono? Why is it so hard for Lucy and Andy to buy a chair? THAT is the Audrey Horne plot? Will someone please have sympathy for David Sims, who isnt going gray yet and desperately wants a cool subway-themed videogame?...
Dec 15, 2024•3 hr 37 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the podcast. These are the (two) friends. Drink full, and descend. The famous Atomic Bomb episode of The Return stands as one of David Lynchs most defining works, an origin story for Twin Peaks, and one of the most experimental hours ever to air on narrative television. In a rare moment of double dipping, Twin Peaks S2 guest Connor Ratliff joins us again to discuss this landmark episode, offering a David Lynch impression that is superior to Griffins, which you probably thought could not ...
Dec 08, 2024•2 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is happening again - were covering TV! Or is it an 18-part movie? Much to ponder. Were heading back to the Pacific Northwest (and Vegasand New Yorkand the Red Roomand outer space?) in our first of four episodes covering Showtimes 2017 series Twin Peaks: The Return. So far, weve got tulpas, Caleb Laundry Bag, three distinct versions of Dale Cooper, Dr. Jacobis gold shovels, Michael Cera doing a bad Marlon Brando impression, creamed corn barf, Matthew Lillard, a cryptic final message from the L...
Dec 01, 2024•2 hr 22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Only on Blank Check would an episode about David Lynchs deeply destabilizing INLAND EMPIRE turn into a heartfelt celebration of creativity and the human experience. David Rees joins us and brings receipts - including literal receipts for every movie ticket he purchased in 2007 and his high school newspaper review of Twin Peaks (a pan) - as we gush about David Lynchs singular position in American culture. Plus, we delve into tons of Laura Dern context, discuss dreams where you inhabit a different...
Nov 24, 2024•3 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Is it a dream? Is it about a dream? Is it a TV pilot? Is it the greatest film of the 21st century? In any case, Leslye Headland returns to the podcast to talk about David Lynchs endlessly fascinating 2001 masterpiece MULHOLLAND DR. We may not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of thoughts about Hollywood, about Billy Ray Cyrus, about actors being shoved down audiences throats, about diners, about Patrick Fischlers eyebrows, about the diner owned by Patrick Fischlers dad, about Naomi Watt...
Nov 17, 2024•4 hr 49 min•Transcript available on Metacast We apologize in advance if you had a profound emotional experience with the new Robert Zemeckis joint - HERE felt like more of a Here?? What???? Why? to us. Dinosaurs, Benjamin Franklins cuck son, a man dying from laughter, a horny couple who invent the LA-Z Boy, airplane man (who does NOT die from airplane), and the double whammy of the Black Lives Matter movement and Covid all come together to create a strange boomer diorama that misses much of the quotidian beauty of Richard McGuires graphic ...
Nov 10, 2024•2 hr 55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Walt Disney Pictures Presents A Film By David Lynch. And what a beautiful, expectation-defying, G-rated, cold-glass-of-beer film it is. Dana Stevens joins us to talk about 1999s The Straight Story, a film that showcases Lynchs fascination with Americana and his deep empathy for characters on the margins. Join us on a journey through the Midwest (Griffin cant drive, but hes a great passenger), where we talk about braunschweiger, cheese castles, bundles of sticks, Chicago theater actors without ph...
Nov 03, 2024•2 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast 1997s Lost Highway - is it (as David Sims wrote on Letterboxd), a movie about headache? Is it David Lynchs most visually beautiful film? Is it a dry run for Mulholland Dr? A radical reimagining of Bill Pullmans screen presence? A psychogenic fugue? Lynchs 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 Lynchs deeply haunted ne...
Oct 27, 2024•3 hr 43 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if they made a sequel to the Joker movie that was pretty much the finale of Seinfeld but its also a half-assed jukebox musical, and EVERYONE hated it? What if Michael Keaton had a 35-year-old pregnant daughter, but he also had precocious 9-year-old twins and a Los Angeles art gallery on the verge of financial collapse? Both scenarios lay the groundwork for two of the most they dont make em like this films of the year, and BOTH conclude with the same Daniel Johnston song. You cant make this ...
Oct 20, 2024•2 hr 19 min•Transcript available on Metacast One of the more harrowing films weve covered on the podcast (and the second film weve covered in 2024 with a memorable gobble gobble line), 1992s TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME was not the quirky, enjoyable plotline wrap-up fans of Twin Peaks wanted. David Lynch instead challenged the audience to identify with Laura Palmers humanity and pain, making her a real person - not just a girl wrapped in plastic. THE FIRST OMEN director Arkasha Stevenson joins us to talk about how this film (and WILD AT H...
Oct 13, 2024•2 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast If we told you this was the first time wed covered a Nicolas Cage movie on the podcast - would you believe us? Well, baby - its true. And what a movie it is! The luminous Tatiana Maslany returns to talk about David Lynchs smokin hot outlaw romance WILD AT HEART - a film that won the Palme dOr and took Lynch away from the set of Twin Peaks. Get ready for lots of Cage career discussion (a favorite topic of Griffin Newman), a bunch of actor speak, and multiple hey, did you know David Lynch was a fa...
Oct 06, 2024•2 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast For a brief shining moment, Middle America went crazy for the surreal soap opera stylings of David Lynch and Mark Frost. Were talking ABC, primetime, airing against Cheers-level mainstream. And then it all came crashing down. Listen as we take our first step into the intoxicating world of Twin Peaks - one of the most influential television series of all time and the project that would come to define Lynch for the rest of his career. Eva Anderson - who literally grew up in the town Twin Peaks was...
Sep 29, 2024•3 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Lend us your (severed) ears! This week, were jumping back into our Lynch series with a trip to Lumberton, USA, as our beloved Jamie Loftus joins us to chat about 1986s BLUE VELVET. Were going deep on the star persona of Kyle MacLachlan, David Sims obsession with Dean Stockwell, and David Lynchs unironic obsession with Americana. How does a movie that deals with such deeply disturbing themes end up being so watchable? Thats that Lynchian magic, baby! Be sure to listen to Sixteenth Minute (of Fame...
Sep 22, 2024•3 hr 52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Were taking a break from David Lynch to answer one of the years biggest questions - Is Burton Back, Baby? Ummmmkind of! Grab your Handbook for the Recently Deceased commemorative popcorn tin and join us as we attempt to untangle the very messy BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE. Which sequences wowed us with their sparkling ingenuity? Which plotlines would we excise from the script? What song would you possess people to lipsync to and why is it Bloodhound GangsThe Bad Touch? And - the most important questi...
Sep 15, 2024•2 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast The sleeper must awaken. The filmography must contain a flop. Weve arrived at the Planet Arrakis aka the Desert Planet aka DUNE (1984) - David Lynchs attempt at wrangling Frank Herberts space epic into a single studio blockbuster. Did it work? Not really. Do we have fun talking about it? Hell yeah, we do! John Hodgman joins us to talk about all things spice - including the infamous glossary of Dune terms handed out in theaters, and a wild anecdote about Peter Berg reading Dune on an airplane.We ...
Sep 08, 2024•3 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Were getting in touch with our emotions this week, as Alex Ross Perry joins us to talk about Lynchs deeply-felt, sensitively-rendered 1980 classic THE ELEPHANT MAN. Is this the most normal movie in Lynchs filmography? What does normal mean, anyway? As with all Alex episodes, questions are posed and hotly debated, such as: What filmmakers, aside from David Lynch, made their most important work in the later part of their careers? What is the Lynch film that young people vibe with most strongly now...
Sep 01, 2024•3 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast In heaven (and in podcasting), everything is fine. Welcome to TWIN PODS: FIRE CAST WITH ME, a series on the films of David Lynch - former Eagle Scout and totally normal human man. With his 1977 debut feature ERASERHEAD, Lynch burst on to the scene somewhat fully formed as an artist, confused by normal social interactions and motivated by a seething hatred of Philadelphia. The last part of that sentence is only partially a joke. Join us as we discuss where Eraserhead fits in the pantheon of first...
Aug 25, 2024•2 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welp, our Kevin Costner series ends not with a bang, but a whimper. With the pulling of Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2 from theaters, we are left to only speculate what the future holds for Costners self-funded crazy passion project. What we can tell you is that Chapter 1 doesnt really feel like its own self-contained movie. Plotlines are established, characters are introduced, and thenGiovanni Ribisi shows up. Watch Kev on The Rich Eisen Show Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries a...
Aug 18, 2024•3 hr 37 min•Transcript available on Metacast You know the Butcher? That freakin' nutjob that goes around just chopping people up? Well, were about to spend nearly three hours talking about him! Join us as we unpack TRAP - the devilishly entertaining new thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, with special insights from our own David Sims, who spent much of this year interviewing Night at his compound in Philadelphia. Were talking about a bunch of things - dads, serial killers, how much we dont like going to concerts, the sexy elephant mascot of ...
Aug 11, 2024•3 hr 58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Free-grazers and CR-heads - this is your week. The icon, the legend, the Ringers own Chris Ryan joins us to talk about Kevin Costners understated 2003 western OPEN RANGE. Were finally doing a deep-dive on the Taylor Sheridan empire (aka Chris tells us what Mayor of Kingstown is actually about) as we set up the later part of Costners career in the run-up to Horizon. We spend a good amount of time lauding the consistent greatness of Robert Duvall and Annette Bening. You can practically hear the re...
Aug 04, 2024•2 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast This weeks movie has everything - fake teeth on Giovanni Ribisi, a mule performing Shakespeare, Tom Petty, Kevin Costners irresistible spermyou read that correctly. This film has a major plot line that revolves around Kevin Costners sperm. Our beloved Emily St. James joins us to talk about Kevin Costners colossal 1997 flop, the post-apocalyptic ode to the US Postal Service - THE POSTMAN. There are parts of this movie that are truly moving. There are other parts of this movie where Kevin Costner ...
Jul 28, 2024•3 hr 33 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a first for Blank Check, were covering a filmmaker who has acted alongside our own Griffin Newman! In our premiere episode covering the directorial career of Draft Day co-star Kevin Costner, were unpacking his 1990 Best Picture winner, DANCES WITH WOLVES. Costner as personal mythmaker, Costner as movie sports guy, Costner as hot guy who women all want to sleep with (?), Costner as man who decided - at a crucial (and early!) point in his career - to take a huge risk by making a 3-hour epic in ...
Jul 21, 2024•2 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast The first "G" in "Gigli" is pronounced like the "J" in Jacques, the second G is silent. Rhymes with "really." Now that thats out of the way - we conclude our Martin Brest series with the turkey of all turkeys. The Bennifer original sin, the project that should have gotten Justin Bartha put in prison. Thats right, folks. Were talking about one of the canonical Worst Movies Ever Made - 2003s GIGLI. Screenwriter Jen DAngelo joins us to talk about this fascinating cultural object, and makes a case t...
Jul 14, 2024•3 hr 55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hes hot. Hes got frosted tips. He loves peanut butter. His lil swimmers may or may not look like skulls. Hes death, baby! And were meeting him this week! Vanity Fairs Richard Lawson returns to the pod to chat about 1998s three hour long symphonic metaphysical romance MEET JOE BLACK. How does this film play in a post-Succession, eat the rich context? How do we feel about the infamous Jamaican patois scenes? What are our memories of the weekend the Phantom Menace trailer came out in theaters? All ...
Jul 07, 2024•3 hr 41 min•Transcript available on Metacast Warning - this episode contains an ungodly amount of Pacino impressions. Listener discretion is advised. Actors actor and local boy from Queens David Krumholtz becomes the second cast member of Oppenheimer and first person immortalized in Griffins beloved Disney Emoji Blitz to guest on our Martin Brest series as we talk about 1992s dire SCENT OF A WOMAN. Would this movie be less terrible if it were at least 40 minutes shorter? What if the original first choice for Lt. Col. Frank Slade - Jack Nic...
Jun 30, 2024•2 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a first for Blank Check, Ben Hosley produces an entire episode while handcuffed and under threat of legal action. What else would you expect from a MIDNIGHT RUN episode? The great Alan Sepinwall returns to the pod to talk about Martin Brests fantastic cross-country buddy caper, a film that proved that DeNiro could do comedy and that Charles Grodin might be the funniest man alive. Were talking about the unofficial Larry the Cable Guy sequel (?), the famous casting what-ifs (Cher!), and the mag...
Jun 23, 2024•3 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 
