Blank Check with Griffin & David

If “Spider-Man 2” had the reputation of being the greatest superhero movie of all time, “Spider-Man 3” had the inverse - a bloated mess with too many villains, and a very goofy Peter Parker going to the darkside, if by “darkside” you mean a trip to Men’s Warehouse and Hot Topic. But is that reputation justified? We’re gonna air on the side of…not REALLY. Notable Spidey 3 defender Jamelle Bouie (The New York Times, his podcast “Clear and Present Danger”) returns to Blank Check to praise this film’s focus on interpersonal relationships and quiet character moments. What else do we like? Griffin likes the “Editor’s Cut” (on Amazon Prime!). Ben *obviously* loves The Sandman. We all can agree that the much-memed sidewalk strut and jazz club sequences are a ton of fun. What doesn’t work? Let’s just say we have some issues with a lil guy named VENOM.Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a while, “Spider-Man 2” was considered the high water mark for superhero movies - but does it hold up 14 years deep into the MCU? We’ve got two words for you - ALFRED MOLINA. Self-professed “Blank Check rabble rouser” Chris Gethard returns to the pod (and apologizes to the Blankie Community) as we trace the history and legacy of this iconic Spidey sequel. We love this movie so much, David doesn’t even care that the subway sequence isn’t accurate to New York! Other topics covered - why Aunt May should always be elderly and fragile, Tobey’s near-firing from the franchise, Mr Ditkovich Memes, our comic book villain rankings, and more!Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Upside down kissing, Bonesaw McGraw, and a soundtrack featuring not just one, but TWO of Avril Lavigne’s ex-husbands…it’s SPIDER-MAN! Screen Crush’s Matt Singer (who literally wrote a book about Spider-Man) joins us as we take a look back to a much different Hollywood landscape; a time when Marvel was a struggling comics company, when both Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire were considered odd choices for a superhero adaptation, and when no film had yet to open to $100M at the US Box Office. Is the hyphen in “Spider-Man” crucial to the film’s themes? Was it a mistake to cover Willem Dafoe’s already goblinesque visage with a mask? Does Joe Manganiello look too old to be a high school student? Join us as we discuss those questions and more!Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Katie Holmes in a lazy southern accent asks, “What’s the matter? See somethin’ bad?” and we are immediately transported back to the year 2000 when the trailers for this movie were EVERYWHERE.  Writer and podcasting icon Starlee Kine joins us to talk about Sam Raimi’s “The Gift” - a film with an incredibly stacked cast of actors who were eager to sink their teeth into a Southern Gothic Billy Bob Thornton creation. Do we buy Keanu as a wife-beating redneck? Is Cate Blanchett actually a terrible psychic? How does Giovanni Ribisi’s performance in this rank among his most deranged screen outings? Folks - we apologize in advance for bringing up “The Other Sister”.Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is this not America? Is baseball not America’s favorite pastime? Is “For Love of the Game” a Sam Raimi movie? Technically speaking, sure! It’s about a guy who’s trying not to lose both his hand and his lady - some very Raimi-esque themes. Gawker’s Olivia Craighead returns to the pod to talk about Kevin “Straight Outta Compton” Costner, and we go long on crackerjacks, Vin Scully’s screenplay notes, and the cinematic pleasures of baseball. The crack of the bat, baby!Plus - the boys open up about their little league days (Ben obviously loved to steal bases).Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmaker Kevin Smith joins the podcast to talk about his favorite film 'A Simple Plan' and pay tribute to the late producer Jim Jacks. They discuss Sam Raimi's directing style, Billy Bob Thornton's acting, and what they would do if they found a stash of money in the woods. The podcast also explores Jim Jacks' role in bringing indie filmmakers to the mainstream, the impact of 'Evil Dead 2', and the unique energy and discomfort of 'A Simple Plan'.

Considered a bit of a “blank check” for actress Sharon Stone (she used her clout to bring Sam Raimi, Russell Crowe, and a babyfaced Leonardo DiCaprio to the project), “The Quick and The Dead” may have been too quirky for mainstream audiences and too earnest for the post-Tarantino generation of cinephiles back in 1995. But boy, does it slap in 2022! Roman Mars - The golden-voiced host of “99% Invisible” - joins us as David offers his definitive Russell Crowe performance ranking, and as we finally get an excuse to go long on the screen persona of Gene Hackman.Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

KLAATU BARADA NIKTO - did we get that right? Writer Eva Anderson (WeCrashed, You’re the Worst) joins us as we attempt to answer several questions related to the final entry in the Evil Dead trilogy - 1993’s Army of Darkness. Why was this film not called MEDIEVAL DEAD? Did Embeth Davidtz and Liam Neeson talk about Sam Raimi on the set of Schindler’s List? How does Ben feel about the concept of a town pit? And most importantly, we introduce a tantalizing Hollywood mystery - was there a falling out between Silver Lake roommates Sam Raimi, Joel & Ethan Coen, Frances McDormand, Holly Hunter, and their sixth roommate…Kathy Bates? Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who’s Darkman? A man of a thousand faces! A walking fleshwound who probably smells awful! A dude who probably would be into night eggs! Filmmaker Chris Weitz joins us to geek out over Sam Raimi’s homage to the Universal Monsters - a film that establishes the comic book style that Raimi would later perfect with his “Spider-Man” trilogy. We discuss the early 90s run of pulpy comic book films (“Dick Tracy”, “The Shadow”), the shock of seeing Frances McDormand in what she describes as a “bimbo role,” and the unbelievably true story of how Sam Raimi swapped in his own cut of “Darkman” when the studio tried to release their own version. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s the definitive Sam Raimi film - a “symphony of silly” with a bravura performance from Bruce Campbell, and a prevailing sense of, “the more gore the merrier!” John Hodgman - who, believe it or not, was Bruce Campbell’s literary agent! - joins us to chat about the magic of “Evil Dead II” and what puts it in the pantheon of “sequels that improve upon the original installment.” Also in this episode - we imagine the time when Sam Raimi, the Coens, Frances McDormand, and Holly Hunter were all roommates in Silverlake; a behind the scenes look at the publication of Bruce Campbell’s best-selling memoir “If Chins Could Kill”; and an unrelated but very involved tangent about the Peanuts comic strip. Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X!Buy some real nerdy merch.Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or DiscordFor anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices