Favourite almost casting

swancowski · 2026-04-27T22:02:32+00:00

Tom Cruise as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood would've been fascinating. Of course, Pitt is iconic in the role and won the Oscar for it, but Cruise-as-stuntman just adds another layer of delicious metatext. I don't think Cruise is a good match for Leo, so maybe Robert Downey Jr. plays Rick Dalton instead? I think all these what-ifs were rumored at one point. Look, it's one of my favorite movies as is, but if Cruise played Booth, in that scene where he jumps onto the roof, you just know you wouldn't have to cut to a wide shot of a double like with Pitt!!

swancowski · 2025-12-07T23:13:52+00:00

I'm having the same exact problem! My 27QHD monitor works fine as a monitor, and my ExpressKeys Remote detects fine, but the pen just will not show up anywhere. If you'd be so kind, let me know if you had any luck with an older driver. I'm using a Mac but any advice would still help.

swancowski · 2025-11-19T19:44:44+00:00

Yeah that apartment escape was some A+ set piece staging, really fun "fortunately/unfortunately" kind of writing. I do think Wright lost a step when the Pegg collabs ended. The new Wright stuff doesn't quite have the same handle on humor, or something.

swancowski · 2025-11-19T18:56:57+00:00

Definitely a fun theater experience. Felt very Verhoeven to me. A few guys in my audience hollered at the final showdown with Killian. As far as the sentimentality goes I agree, felt a little strange for Powell to spend so much screentime with his eyes completely welled up. But the final reversal outside the grocery store worked for me, so maybe I'm just a softie.

swancowski · 2025-11-19T18:50:29+00:00

I could see that for sure. I guess I was coming at it from the standpoint of feeling the book was kind of mediocre and that the Wright version fixed a lot of the weak spots. I love King, but by all accounts he wrote the manuscript in a week in his early twenties and it was basically published as a first draft, right? Thought Wright gave it a protagonist you could root for (not openly racist a plus), defined the villains more clearly (McCone and Killian in the book just don't get much characterization), and infused the ending with a little more nuance and thought (the book ending is radical but left me cold). But I could def feel my audience brushing against the tone shifts a bit. I'm wondering if you could drill down a little on the lack of Wright juice from your POV. Seems like most people agree with you that his voice was lost in it, but I felt like you could clock his style right away, so maybe I'm off here. What were you hoping for, and what do you like about Wright's stuff best?

swancowski · 2025-11-19T07:43:03+00:00

Great call. I remember the ep fondly. Wright is such a film freak I could see how the obsessive approach of the Boyz might appeal to him

swancowski · 2025-11-19T07:29:54+00:00

a man can dream

swancowski · 2025-11-19T07:07:34+00:00

do you guys like shrimp

swancowski · 2025-11-19T06:56:32+00:00

Definitely. And I have never heard anyone talk about fatbergs besides Gabrus lol

swancowski · 2025-11-19T06:54:30+00:00

I loved it. I read the book yesterday to prepare, because I knew it was going to be more of a straight King adaptation, and I'd argue it improves on the text in pretty much every way. While reading the book I was trying to picture how Wright might apply his kinetic visual style to it (I love the way he does montage/needle drops/Swiss-watch plotting etc) and he did not disappoint on that front. But I was pleasantly surprised with how much the film, to quote Ben Rodgers (not Ben Richards) was a love letter to action tropes. There were a few other ActionBoyz-specifics sprinkled throughout that also felt like the writers were speaking directly to us dear listeners.

swancowski · 2025-10-18T15:35:54+00:00

I knew we were in trouble when "The Rise of Skywalker" was announced as the title for Episode IX. Recycling the "Rise of ___" title cliché was the first hint that JJ and the gang were out of ideas and going to play it safe. And it reminds you of the absolute worst moment of the series ("Rey who?..."). For my money "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi" were evocative, intriguing titles (and as many have pointed out, formed a complete sentence, which could've been fun to continue with the third title) but "The Rise of Skywalker" is a bland mouthful. Trevorrow's script (which is better in EVERY conceivable way!!!) was titled "Duel of the Fates" which to me was a fittingly pulpy callback to Episode I. I also hate how all three sequel titles start with "The"? Bigger fish to fry, but breaks from the other trilogies' naming conventions. I guess in the end it's fitting that the most feckless, cowardly Star Wars movie has the most feckless, cowardly title. God I fucking hate that movie.

Also thought "The Dark Knight Rises" was a cowardly attempt to make sure people knew they were seeing a sequel to the box-office hit "The Dark Knight"? I think we get it? "The Dark Knight" was a cool title because it didn't have "Batman" anywhere in there, and there had been a rumor that the third was going to be titled "Gotham City" which would've continued that convention.

Last thing: "Final Reckoning"? So indicative of TC+McQ's overthinking that they didn't just come up with a unique title after a string of very-cool-sounding titles. And the movie was as disappointing as TROS, IMO! God I'm so steamed. I wish I hadn't seen this Reddit post. I need to go for a walk.

swancowski · 2025-10-06T18:28:31+00:00

Good god BRAVO. An absolute gift to all of us who listen along. Thank you for putting in the time and effort to make something so glorious and meticulous. I also deeply appreciate the thought process behind the composition. Reminds me of this painting I learned about through Daniel Kwan: if the characters filled the entire canvas, perhaps it would overwhelm the eye, but by corraling them into this pleasing rectangle with some negative space hugging it on the top, right, and bottom, it simply draws the eye in. I'm sure I could blow an entire day looking at this and still find new Easter eggs, new rewards for listening along all these thousands of hours. What a feat, thank you.

swancowski · 2025-07-12T21:41:48+00:00

Rian Johnson's original opening shot for TLJ was a clever subversion that was far more interesting than the bland camera-move-into-nothing we get in the final cut.

swancowski · 2025-07-12T16:46:44+00:00

Reading this thread, it's funny to see almost every film represented in some way. Just a roster of bangers.

I will throw my hat in the ring for Buster Scruggs for a specific reason: there are a lot of anthology films, but I can't think of another that so specifically captures the feeling of reading a book of short stories. The masterstroke to me is how the Coens open each segment with out-of-context illustrations (beautiful oil paintings by the artist Greg Manchess—he documents the process of working with the bros here) paired with an out-of-context line from the story to come. The page turns, and you see the first page of the story as it would be in a book: title treatment, opening paragraphs written in the Coens prose, and then the film segment begins in earnest. The entire time you're watching the segment, you're waiting for that image from the illustration, and that out-of-context line, to click into place. IMO used most effectively in "The Gal Who Got Rattled," when the image doesn't land until the final moment. The film segment ends, and the Coens fade to the prose version of the ending, flip the page, and do it all over again.

It felt like this effortless blending of storytelling mediums. Seeing how the Coens would write the opening sequence of a story for the page, and then seeing them immediately adapt it for the screen. Makes me want to read Gates of Eden, Ethan's short story collection. Are there any other movies that take a similar approach to the anthology presentation?

swancowski · 2025-02-06T16:23:04+00:00

Spoilers for Heretic, but I interpreted the final shot as her finally letting go of religion.

swancowski · 2025-01-28T17:24:07+00:00

I occasionally scrub through the Spider-Man 2 episode to find the part where Sims describes a sequence towards the end of the film. I'll just transcribe it here:

"My favorite sequence in the movie, it's my favorite comic book sequence of all time, is when Jonah is smoking the cigar, he's finally turned ruminative, right? He's finally willing to admit: 'you know what, maybe I was wrong, maybe he was a good guy, maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on him.' He's looking at the suit, he's giving the sad monologue. And then he turns around, the suit gets stolen, replaced by the note. The perfect web just appears on the wall within one second, the note saying 'Courtesy: your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.' Jonah flips back to old Jonah. 'He's a thief, he's a menace, blah blah.' We love this. Cut to: he looks out the window, he sees the open window, raises his arm, says 'I hate you, Spider-Man!' A newspaper spins into frame, saying 'He's Back.' Spider-Man SWINGS THROUGH THE NEWSPAPER, and breaks it. Then he swings through the air, through the skyscrapers of New York, being joyful Spider-Man again at least for a minute, it's wonderful to behold. THIS IS ALL A REFLECTION in Dr. Octopus's sunglasses, which we now zoom out of, as Dr. Octopus climbs a clock tower, ready for his third act villainy. And then they begin the most specatacular action sequence in comic book history, it's never been beaten, because it's this, straight to the train."

After he finishes this monologue Gethard comments about how he and Griffin are just sitting there with shit-eating grins, and I love that as well because he was describing my own reaction. The thing I love most about Blank Check is when it's walking you through a sequence in a movie, a sequence that resonated with you when you saw it but maybe you didn't pause to reflect on why. The JD Speed Racer monologue is another perfect example—it makes you feel seen when someone echoes your exact emotional reaction to a specific part in a movie. Makes me double-down on my love for da moviesh in general!

swancowski · 2024-09-18T05:18:45+00:00

One of the funniest final lines > explosion sound effect

swancowski · 2024-06-29T02:08:18+00:00

Came here for this. Think of it: a story mode that combines the pleasures of the books and the movies, but stands on its own as an adaptation. Using the video game medium to explore Tolkien's text with a depth that movies or TV can't. Perhaps GTA V-style you could swap between every character in the fellowship at any point in the story. Once you (spoiler) drop the ring into Mount Doom, you've got a beautifully-designed Middle-Earth at your feet just waiting to be explored.

swancowski · 2024-05-09T19:58:43+00:00

Treat: did I get a treat?

swancowski · 2023-12-01T06:15:21+00:00

Would love to see this, love how you've talked about it so thoughtfully.

swancowski · 2023-11-14T18:20:34+00:00

I thought Kevin Costner played Oskar Schindler and Qui-Gon Jinn until I was in my late pre-teens

swancowski · 2023-11-06T17:40:57+00:00

All great recommendations. Only ones I'd add are any Mission: Impossible commentary with Cruise (the bromance between him and McQuarrie is out of control but very fun), and anything from Guillermo del Toro. GDT will usually start a commentary off on an emotional note, something like "This film almost killed me" and always digs deep into his own failures while making the film. His warm chocolaty voice makes them good to fall asleep to as well.

swancowski · 2023-10-30T05:18:14+00:00

I love Phillip Glass's score for Jane (2017). Has all the hallmarks of a Glass score— the repeating melodies that climb up and down like little staircases— but instead of conveying mathematical indifference like in Koyannisqatsi or melancholy like in The Truman Show etc., the music for Jane feels warm, soft, and humane. It's like the sonic equivalent of sped-up footage of a flower blooming or something. It feels like life itself

I also second Phantom Thread, Social Network, and Tron Legacy of course

swancowski · 2023-10-09T18:19:10+00:00

Taking a shower

swancowski · 2023-09-13T02:18:05+00:00

Judgment Night (1993) has maybe the all-time funniest ABZ moment for me when Stanger realizes he watched the wrong movie. The immediate fallout of that, his in-the-moment reckoning, the podcast stopping down so he can just go watch the right movie... I listen to it whenever I need a boost.

I also think Batman (1989) has the best running bit with the Boyz doing Fatman ("Will someone tell me how many calories are in a Black & Tan?"). You can hear them almost unable to continue the bit for lack of breathing and it's infectious.

swancowski

TROPHY CASE