Blank Check with Griffin & David

Honey, we’re buzzing about Bugonia with Marie Bardi-Salinas! The movie surprised us with its appeal to Oscar voters, but maybe it shouldn’t have: Director Yorgos Lanthimos and star, frequent collaborator Emma Stone, have proven themselves Oscar favorites with strong showings from their past films, especially The Favourite and Poor Things. 

We discuss the film, but first, a Sundance report from Richard before digging into Lanthimos and Stone’s history with the Oscars, and why this somewhat prickly, political movie succeeded with the Academy despite a relatively weak showing upon release. Then we discuss the movie itself, get into spoilers, the future of the Stone-Lanthimos collaboration, and finally discover whether or not Richard is an Andromedan.

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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 the various employees of Blank Check Productions would fare on a deserted island.

Read "Dylan O’Brien Is Ready to Talk About That Accident"

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.

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On today’s show, Richard and Alison hop on a boxcar and stare wistfully as the 20th century passes them by with Best Picture nominee Train Dreams. They discuss director Clint Bentley’s lush, if somewhat sanded-down take on Denis Johnson’s novella about a lumberman haunted by his past, starring a very quiet Joel Edgerton.

Train Dreams is one of Netflix’s Best Picture nominees this year, but the film was not an original production. It was acquired by the streamer at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. On the occasion of this year’s festival (which is happening as we speak) we also discuss how Sundance works, and what, exactly gives a movie that ineffable Sundance flavor we have come to associate with small-scale American indies like Little Miss Sunshine. 

We also discuss Netflix’s seemingly endless quest to win Best Picture, why the Academy is so resistant to giving them the big prize, and why the most popular streamer in the world is so desperate for Academy validation in the first place.

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.

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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 source material (or whatever he could translate from the Scottish dialect), and everyone agrees that Morvern did nothing wrong.

Watch Shogun Season 1 

Check out the official Shogun podcast

Listen to the Emily’s Traitors Podcast: First To Breakfast

Watch Carnival of Souls

Watch the Romano Tours SNL Sketch

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.

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It’s Hollywood’s biggest morning! Join Richard and Alison (plus a vacationing Producer Benjamin Frisch) as they pick apart the biggest snubs and surprises of the year: Sinners breaking the all-time nominations record! The Secret Agent surging out of Neon’s international power lineup! The complete collapse of would-be frontrunner Wicked: For Good! Plus we take a conversation detour with Apple’s F1, the surprise blockbuster pulling up the rear amongst the Best Picture lineup finds alongside Train Dreams, Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, Bugonia, Sentimental Value, Hamnet, and One Battle After Another in the Best Picture category despite being a popcorn racecar movie about Brad Pitt going fast vroom vroom. 

Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, Premiere Party, and read Alison's work 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
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