Blank Check with Griffin & David

We are going to Barsoom with 2012's John Carter - a film that bounced almost as much as the titular hero bounced around on Mars! Matt Singer joins us to talk about this legendary flop - the cursed marketing campaign, the year of Taylor Kitsch, and Disney's acquisition of Marvel and Star Wars, which effectively made John Carter irrelevant almost immediately. Plus, we spend a lot of time talking abo...

Put on your pod-day clothes, there's lots of world out there! We're joined by David Ehrlich to discuss WALL-E this week - a film many consider to be Stanton's (and Pixar's) crowning achievement, and a film David Ehrlich's son has watched upwards of a million times. Join us for a long-ranging conversation that includes context around Disney's 2006 acquisition of Pixar, discussion about the film's d...

Welcome to PODD-C, our series on the films of Pixar stalwart Andrew Stanton! This week, we're kicking off with 2003's Finding Nemo, a film that ushered in nearly two decades of Ellen DeGeneres supremacy and made millions of children remember the exact address of one "P. Sherman." Writer Rebecca Alter joins us to chat about Nemo's immaculate screenplay, the Finding Nemo attractions within Disney Pa...

This is "Spielberg Face: The Movie." This is radical empathy. This is Emily Blunt Supremacy. This is DISCLOSURE DAY. Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie break down Steven Spielberg's latest offering, his first sci-fi film and his first contemporary-set film since War of the Worlds in 2005. It's bound to be divisive. We mostly love it. We've got trains, Fableman dynamics, car chases, Janusz Kaminski poo...

We're talking about a very long walk this week as Alex Ross Perry joins us to discuss Peter Weir's final film, 2010's gulag escape drama The Way Back. Remember those couple of years when Jim Sturgess was everywhere? Remember when Peter Weir could barely get distribution for his follow-up to Master & Commander? Dire times. As is the case with most ARP episodes, expect some wild takes about everythi...

Beat to quarters, men..and nice Brazilian lady holding an umbrella! We're sailing the high seas with John Hodgman this week as we unpack one of David Sims' favorite films - 2003's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. We're talking Crowe. We're talking Bettany. We're talking James Cameron's Mexican water tank. We're talking soused hog and we're talking Saluting Day. And yes, we are talk...

The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first new Star Wars movie in 7 years. It was also directed by Jon Favreau while he was making grilled cheese sandwiches. What the heck is going on with our favorite franchise? "Bad Boy of Blank Check" Chris Gethard returns to the pod to discuss The State of Star Wars: the deal with Dave Filoni, the Male Loneliness Epidemic, how watching Andor felt like texting your...

Good morning! And in case we don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night! JD Amato - often the Christof of Blank Check - joins us for a super-sized episode about Peter Weir's The Truman Show. We're getting into the history of reality entertainment, the implications of Christof's methods, the insanity of this movie's Oscar snubs, Jim Carrey's historic 1990s, and Matt Gaetz's childhoo...

Peter Weir's Fearless is about a man who survives a plane crash and finds that he is no longer allergic to strawberries. It's also a deeply affecting, soulful exploration on what it means to be alive. And, as David Sims says - it's the "final boss" of plane crash movies. "Hitmaker" Timothy Simons joins us to chat about Jeff Bridges, Rosie Perez, "pink cloud syndrome," and aerophobia in this episod...

Most filmmakers dream of making ambitious, big-budget epics once they're able to cash in their "blank check." Peter Weir wanted to make Green Card. Writer and romcom expert Esther Zuckerman joins us to talk about this 1990 oddity, released the same year as Pretty Woman, but centered around the star persona of Gérard Depardieu instead of Julia Roberts. We're talking about the romcom genre, the many...

Boys and girls, please open your textbooks. Rip out the pages. Carpe Diem. We're seizing the day and talking about 1989's Dead Poets Society with filmmaker Nia DaCosta in this episode, but don't get too wild and change your name to Nuwanda or anything! This week, we discuss House MD, prep schools, the fact that David Sims played Puck in a high school production, and Robin Williams' Oscar legacy. O...

We all have those moments where we just want to disengage from conventional society. We often yearn to go "off the grid." But, would we ever want to go to the Mosquito Coast? HELL NO. Sean Fennessey joins us to chat about Peter Weir's 1986 film that tests the limits of Harrison Ford's likability to the extent that Ben Hosley would describe it as "anti-smile." Allie Fox is a bad hang. The Mosquito...

Strap in, DobMob...we're going to Amish Country! The Big Picture's Amanda Dobbins joins us to talk about Peter Weir's Witness, perhaps the zenith of Harrison Ford's hotness, and the film that garnered him his sole Oscar nomination. We're talking Rumspringa, birds and birdhouses (Amanda is not a fan), Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, and young Viggo (which naturally lends itself to LOTR discussi...

Tracy Letts - Pulitzer and Tony winner, but most importantly The King of Physical Media - makes his much-anticipated Blank Check debut on an episode about a film that has no legitimate BluRay release. The irony! This week, we're discussing Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously, a romantic drama set against the backdrop of Indonesian political unrest. We're discussing the star-power of Mel Gi...

This week, we are honored to welcome Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent to the podcast as we discuss Peter Weir's devastating classic Gallipoli. In addition to bringing much needed context on the history of Australian cinema, this episode also delves into the significance of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Aussie national consciousness, the undersung career of actor Mark Lee, and the genius of Peter...

Peter Weir's follow up to Picnic at Hanging Rock - 1978's The Last Wave - deals with similar themes, with colonialism butting against the wild mysticism of Australia's land and people. However, this time...it's WET AS HELL. BenDavid Grabinski - the filmmaker behind the upcoming Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice - joins us to talk about this beguiling film, apocalyptic thinking, Richard Chamberlain's stat...

On St. Valentine's Day in 1900, a group of podcasters set out to record an episode about Peter Weir's Picnic At Hanging Rock. Some were never to return...because they got addicted to the calming sounds of pan flute! Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun joins us to chat about this 1975 classic of Australian cinema, and we're getting into the eerie qualities that make this film such an enduring mystery. From R...

Bonjour! Erm...we mean...G'day mates! Our Peter Weir series PODNIC AT HANGING CAST kicks off with Weir's 1974 feature debut The Cars That Ate Paris, a film about the guy who plays Napoleon in the Bill & Ted movies getting stranded in a quirky and murderous Australian town. We're getting into the origins of the Australian New Wave, the various "calling card" projects that Weir made in the beginning...

Live from our windowless studio in Downtown Brooklyn, it's the 11th Annual Blankies! Joe Reid joins us once again to give out golden Wattos to our favorite films, performances, and craftspeople of the year. Some of our picks are certainly part of the greater award season conversation. Others are Materialists. Join us as we honor the best Putters and Murmurs, the Wettest flicks of the year, and as...

Our Lynne Ramsay series comes to a close with last year's Die My Love, which brings us to the realization - damn, have we really never talked about Jennifer Lawrence before? Join us and Vulture's Alison Willmore as we do a full career deep-dive on J.Law, and grapple with this film and Mubi's decision to purchase it out of Cannes for a buttload of money. Read the NY Mag profile of Darren Aronofsky...

In 2018, Lynne Ramsay released You Were Never Really Here, a film about a completely implausible scenario...a townhouse on the East side of Manhattan houses a sex trafficking operation that implicates high-level government officials in its web of depravity???? Could you even imagine?!! Hollywood Handbook's Sean Clements joins us to chat about this eerily relevant film, the literary career of Jonat...

The time has come for us to talk about Kevin. The New Yorker's Jia Tolentino joins us to talk about Lynne Ramsay's depiction of every parent's worst nightmare - 2011's We Need To Talk About Kevin. We need to talk about how Griffin grew up with Ezra Miller, and even auditioned against them to play Kevin. We need to talk about Lionel Shriver's awful politics. We need to talk about Tilda Swinton comp...

Almost four years ago, Producer Ben Hosley watched Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" and proclaimed that if he'd been in that scenario, everything would have worked out perfectly. With the gleefully satisfying "Send Help," Raimi gives Ben the ending he's always wanted. Join Ben, Griffin, David, and Marie as they chat about the endless likability of Rachel McAdams, the heel turn of Dylan O'Brien, and how...

Mommy's back! Emily Yoshida joins the gang to talk about 2002's Morvern Callar, a surprisingly tender film about grief, starting over, and taking a Jet2 Holiday. We're chatting about Samantha Morton's unconventional star quality, our personal history with mixtapes, and the Fantastic Beasts franchise for some reason. Plus, Ben reveals his love of seaside snow, Griffin adds some context from the sou...

We need to pod about Glasgow. We need to pod about the arresting inner lives of these complicated protagonists. We need to pod about every incredible project Lynne Ramsay has been attached to over the past 25 years that never actually happened. So yeah, WE NEED TO POD ABOUT CASTVIN! Join us as we discuss Ramsay’s debut film Ratcatcher, a striking study of a young boy on the precipice of adolescenc...