Categories & segments

Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

The eyelid student, Pat Roach’s two doomed bruisers, Katanga, and the Cairo swordsman are all heat-check candidates without a settled winner.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:23:05Read transcript
  • The eyelid student makes one memorable appearance, while wrestler Pat Roach dies twice as two different giant opponents.
  • Katanga brings late energy and the Cairo swordsman creates an iconic moment, though his elaborate preparation ends in an immediate gunshot.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Recasting Couch

The panel proposes stronger villains and debates Kathleen Turner, Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Kidder, Deborah Winger, and Sean Young for Marion.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:04Read transcript
  • Any stronger actor than Paul Freeman is the bronze change and John Lithgow as Toht is the silver.
  • Kathleen Turner is the primary Marion recast for greater sexual energy with Ford, though others object that Romancing the Stone later supplies exactly that pairing.
  • Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Kidder, Deborah Winger, and Sean Young are alternate Marion ideas; the conversation ultimately leans toward Winger or Young while still defending Allen.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Half-Assed Internet Research

Research covers profit participation, production shorthand, Tunisia, animal work, reused footage and sets, props, stunts, costume origins, and the physical cost to Ford.

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:37Read transcript
  • Lucas reportedly received between one and four million dollars plus gross participation, while Spielberg received $1.5 million plus participation.
  • The script described the Ark opening only as “all hell breaks loose,” leaving the effects team to invent the sequence.
  • Tunisia stood in for Egypt in extreme heat; widespread dysentery spared Spielberg because he ate imported canned food.
  • The monkey salute reportedly required about 50 takes and a grape on fishing line; depleted stunt staffing led producer Frank Marshall to pilot the airplane for days in severe cockpit heat.
  • Stock footage came from Lost Horizon and The Hindenburg, while the canyon location and hieroglyphs connect visually to Star Wars.
  • Indy’s bullwhip sold for about $43,000 in 1999, and the Well of Souls occupied the same soundstage set footprint as the writing room in The Shining.
  • Vivian Kubrick reportedly halted production over snake handling until additional protections were provided.
  • Ford performed many stunts, bruising ribs, tearing a knee ligament, and narrowly avoiding worse injury under the airplane.
  • The German-mechanic fight was largely improvised as Spielberg kept adding ideas, and Indy’s clothing was based on Charlton Heston in Secret of the Incas.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Apex Mountain

Harrison Ford is the decisive Apex Mountain selection; John Williams, Karen Allen, Nazis, Cairo, fedoras, and even bad movie monkeys receive secondary cases.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:28Read transcript
  • Ford’s concurrent Star Wars position and the freedom unlocked by Raiders begin a roughly two-decade summit.
  • Karen Allen, Denholm Elliott, Cairo, movie Nazis, and failed monkey comedy are floated as playful subsidiary peaks.
  • John Williams’s immense run makes any one apex hard to isolate, while the fedora is placed below its everyday 1930s–40s high point.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Picking Nits

The panel questions effects, Indy’s durability and repeated survival, Marion’s alcohol tolerance, muted reactions to finding the Ark, the eye-closing rule, snake ecology, and the Nazis’ occult plan.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:01Read transcript
  • The dead-Molina dummy, Indy absorbing many punches, and villains repeatedly failing to kill him strain belief.
  • Marion’s ability to win extreme liquor contests despite her size becomes a long-running physiology question.
  • The Nazis underreact to proving the biblical Ark exists, and Indy somehow knows closing his and Marion’s eyes will protect them.
  • Thousands of snakes appear to lack food or habitat, while Hitler’s occult interest and the decision to open the Ark are only loosely explained.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Open questions cover Marion’s bar, exploding-head fame, alternate casting, E.T.’s origin, Indy’s satchel, archaeological ethics, changing outfits, emotional reactions, and Indy’s motivation.

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:43:06Read transcript
  • The economics and regular clientele of Marion’s isolated Nepal bar are unknowable.
  • The panel asks why Belloq’s exploding head did not become the dominant reference instead of Scanners.
  • They ask how much worse the movie and its box office would be with Tom Selleck, and whether E.T. exists without Melissa Mathison and Spielberg discussing it on this set.
  • Indy’s bag prompts a satchel-versus-man-purse debate, and his treasure-taking is questioned as looting rather than archaeology.
  • Marion’s frequent wardrobe changes and Sallah’s subdued response to her presumed death are treated as unexplained behavior.
  • The largest question is what actually motivates Indy beyond holding and donating history, since neither money nor romance explains his risks.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

The fedora is the consensus practical answer amid interest in the Ark, medallion, satchel, bullwhip, white turtleneck, and giant boulder.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:49:22Read transcript
  • Katanga’s white turtleneck, the Ark as coffee table, the medallion, satchel, bullwhip, and boulder all receive pitches.
  • When forced to choose among the fedora, bullwhip, and satchel, the conversation settles on the fedora despite its limited real-world wearability.
Raiders of the Lost Ark The Rewatchables
Raiders of the Lost Ark poster
Raiders of the Lost Ark

Who Won the Movie?

Harrison Ford takes two of three final ballots over Steven Spielberg and wins the movie by majority.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:50:22Read transcript
  • One vote goes directly to Ford.
  • One vote goes to Spielberg for reclaiming the top of Hollywood after 1941, securing participation, developing E.T., and becoming effectively bulletproof.
  • The last vote returns to Ford because Indiana Jones became a four-decade costume, icon, and Disney attraction.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Harrison Ford
Speaker not identified
Steven Spielberg
Speaker not identified
Harrison Ford
What About Bob? The Rewatchables
What About Bob? poster
What About Bob?

Roger Ebert's review

The episode states that Roger Ebert gave What About Bob? three stars and called it Bill Murray’s best movie since Ghostbusters; Gene Siskel’s opposing criticism of Dreyfuss’s anger is also discussed.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:26:33Read transcript
  • The movie is reported to have cost thirty-nine million dollars and earned sixty-four million.
  • Roger Ebert is reported to have given the movie three stars.
  • Ebert is reported to have called it Bill Murray’s best movie since Ghostbusters.
  • Gene Siskel is reported to have disliked the movie because Dreyfuss’s anger felt excessive.
  • The panel understands Siskel’s objection but disagrees because Dreyfuss’s anger powers the comedy and trailer.
What About Bob? The Rewatchables
What About Bob? poster
What About Bob?

Most Rewatchable Scene

The therapy meeting, diner call, sailing, puppets, diving, dinner, television interview, Leo’s expulsion of Bob, attempted explosion, and several Bob-Siggy exchanges are nominated; dinner and Leo’s “never gone” breakdown are final favorites.

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:27:55Read transcript
  • The opening credits are praised for quickly establishing Bob’s instability but explicitly withheld as the final choice.
  • The opening therapy session quickly establishes Bob’s fears and the Neil Diamond marriage joke.
  • Leo’s face on the Baby Steps book cover makes his narcissism part of the therapy scene.
  • Bob waiting for Leo’s call at the diner introduces the Gutmans’ anger toward Leo.
  • Bob sailing is an early favorite despite questions about how readily Anna includes him.
  • Leo using puppets to order Anna away from Bob exposes his own instability.
  • Bob teaching Siggy to dive turns into a successful moment of encouragement.
  • Bob’s delighted groans over dinner and question about hand-shucked corn make the family meal a favorite.
  • The family gravitates toward Bob after he helps during Leo’s choking episode.
  • Bob interrupting the television interview and the Gutmans celebrating deepen Leo’s public humiliation.
  • Leo’s attempt to expel Bob culminates in the “never gone” breakdown.
  • Leo trying to blow up Bob only to destroy his own house is included in the final run of scenes.
  • Bob finding Leo by shouting his name in town is praised for its absurd efficiency.
  • Bob and Siggy’s bedtime conversation and Tourette’s exchange gain force on adult rewatch.
  • Dreyfuss’s “never gone” explosion and the dinner scene are the final personal favorites.
What About Bob? The Rewatchables
What About Bob? poster
What About Bob?

What’s Aged the Best?

Leo’s reaction to Bob’s reported suicide, the spoken title, the Wagoneer, Julie Haggerty, Leo’s clothes, the local shirt, family conferences, the psychiatry satire, Bob’s humanity, and compact movie-star comedy receive praise.

In the discussion (14)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:05Read transcript
  • After hearing that his patient committed suicide, he calls it horrible and then says not to let it spoil the vacation.
  • The movie’s spoken “What about Bob?” title line remains a crowd-pleasing device.
  • Leo’s Wagoneer is praised as an important 1980s comedy vehicle.
  • Julie Haggerty is praised as a durable comic performer from Airplane! and Lost in America through Marriage Story.
  • The wife character is the family member who can tolerate and understand Leo.
  • Albert Brooks and Gary Marshall’s casino negotiation in Lost in America is recalled as a favorite scene.
  • Dreyfuss’s vacation clothes are praised as perfectly chosen for the character.
  • Bob’s local shirt remains memorable.
  • The family conference and puppets efficiently reveal that Leo’s home life is less controlled than he believes.
  • The movie satirizes a period of branded celebrity psychiatry built around slogans and gimmicks.
  • Bob connects with Leo’s children by listening and encouraging them, while Leo repeatedly fails to connect.
  • The discussion argues that the film targets Leo’s fame-hungry narcissism more specifically than all therapy.
  • Dreyfuss’s thighs and trimmed beard are nearly included as an Aged Best answer.
  • The panel misses compact high-concept American comedies built around major movie stars.
What About Bob? The Rewatchables
What About Bob? poster
What About Bob?

What’s Aged the Worst?

The panel tests the movie’s sympathy for Bob, Leo’s attempted murder, older comedy’s indifference to extreme violence, and its period skepticism toward psychiatry, while disagreeing over whether the target is therapists generally or celebrity hucksters.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:20Read transcript
  • A modern reading can see Bob as a sociopath who invades Leo’s family and helps drive him into a yearlong collapse.
  • The movie goes off the rails when Leo tries to murder Bob.
  • The attempted murder is compared with older comedies that used kidnapping, threats, or mass violence as jokes.
  • Bob is described as trying to reach the next day, while Leo is more interested in figuring people out than helping them.
  • One reading says the movie treats psychiatrists as hucksters and punishes Leo for caring more about television fame than patients.
  • The counterargument is that the script respects therapy but mocks a specific fame-hungry practitioner.
  • The movie is placed in the period’s “from hell” lineage, where an unwanted person enters a transactional relationship and will not leave.
Displaying discussions 3169 - 3180 of 3876 in total