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Founder and Managing Director, The Ringer

Bill Simmons

Founder of The Ringer and a regular voice on The Rewatchables. Appears in all ten episodes selected for this pilot.

Also referred to as Bill, Simmons

Stats

Episodes credited in this archive
437
Movies in this archive
419
Attributed podcast choices
99

Across the table

Appearing on these Rewatchables episodes

It Follows

2014 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Joanna Robinson

Aired October 20, 2026

Friday the 13th

1980 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Van Lathan

Aired October 13, 2026

13 Going on 30

2004 film

Bill Simmons · Juliet Litman

Aired September 29, 2026

Law Abiding Citizen

2009 film

Bill Simmons · Van Lathan · Craig Horlbeck

Aired September 22, 2026

Aliens

1986 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Sean Fennessey

Aired August 31, 2026

Apollo 13

1995 film

Bill Simmons · Amanda Dobbins · Rob Mahoney

Aired August 25, 2026

Speed

1994 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Sean Fennessey

Aired August 18, 2026

About Last Night

1986 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Mallory Rubin

Aired August 13, 2026

The Italian Job

2003 film

Bill Simmons · Chris Ryan · Van Lathan

Aired August 11, 2026

Displaying episodes 1 - 12 of 437 in total

Mentioned in discussions

GoldenEye The Rewatchables
GoldenEye

The most 1995 thing

BMW Z3; post-Soviet Russia; internet cafés; computers; workplace flirtation; theme-song team

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:49:11Read transcript
  • Most-1995 choices include post-Soviet Russia, internet cafés, computers, workplace flirtation and the theme-song team; BMW Z3 is the leading choice.
  • The Z3 marketing debut prompts Bill’s dislike of the design and a joking car-podcast/personal driving digression. — Bill Simmons
  • The driving anecdote concludes and the Z3 period answer is reaffirmed.
Zodiac The Rewatchables
Zodiac

Scorsese or Spielberg?

Split: Scorsese; Spielberg (Bill favors Scorsese)

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 02:28:27Read transcript
  • The panel runs Scorsese or Spielberg as a named category. — Bill Simmons
  • A Spielberg version is argued for through procedural clarity. — Bill Simmons
  • A Scorsese version is argued for through obsession and moral decay. — Sean Fennessey
  • No unanimous choice is reached. — Bill Simmons
What Lies Beneath

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

All-Black cast, tentatively; prestige television with flashbacks.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:40Read transcript
  • An all-Black cast version is proposed and receives tentative interest as a Tubi movie. — Chris Ryan
  • A prestige television version is proposed, with the amount of flashback and supernatural material left as key choices. — Mallory Rubin
  • Fergie the Florist, Wayne, Buffalo Bill, Byron Mayo, Dan Orlovsky, and William Brimley are proposed in a joking cast. — Mallory Rubin
Sneakers The Rewatchables
Sneakers

Probably Unanswerable Questions

The NSA’s eventual surveillance powers, San Francisco status, hypothetical rewards, and Redford’s hair.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:48:05Read transcript
  • The panel questions the heroes’ victory in light of later real-world NSA surveillance. — Bill Simmons
  • Sneakers is called a top-tier San Francisco movie, with a wish for still more recognizable city footage. — Bill Simmons
  • Geographic discontinuities in other movie chases lead to questions about Giants-ballpark appearances on film. — Bill Simmons
  • Liz declining a reward prompts hypothetical requests, including stopping Jordan’s baseball retirement. — Kyle Brandt
  • Access to private screenings of new films is proposed as a reward. — Bill Simmons
  • Bill speculates about whether Redford wore a wig; others suggest hair dye, and no conclusion is established. — Bill Simmons
  • The speculation becomes a joking proposal for a podcast about actors’ hair, wigs, and cosmetic changes.
Good Will Hunting

Picking Nits

The new car creates ending inconsistencies.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:34:46Read transcript
  • The hacking possibility is weighed against the script’s pre-Internet origins.
  • Bill is considered a bland character name, with more local-sounding alternatives proposed. — Ryen Russillo
  • Why do friends collect Will for work after giving him a car, and why not notice that car is missing? — Sean Fennessey
  • Taking a paycheck and flying to meet Skylar seems more practical than the drive; other criminal/gambling paths are jokingly imagined.
Crash The Rewatchables
Crash

Picking Nits

Coincidences; police behavior; public racism; trafficking expertise

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:25:08Read transcript
  • Picking Nits all-of-them joke/Bill top10intro but no formal ten-item ranked list: Bullock shouting racist locksmith claims within earshot, implausible recurring encounters across giant LA—Dillon/Newton, Phillippe/Howard then Cheadle brother.
  • Interconnected vignette films rarely work, Magnolia and Playing by Heart defended; latter cast/architecture monologue appreciation.
  • Nit Dillon might let assault witness die to avoid lawsuit/job loss; darker cigarette-drop murder imagined as better movie.
  • Nit carjacking aftermath cops fail search car for slouching Ludacris; discussion distinguishes neutralizing advancing Howard first versus searching once controlled, no full agreement on procedural timing.
  • Nit Cheadle collision where brother killed coincidence, rebuttal he may have been responding to scene.
  • Nit van keys left12hours untouched, chop-shop operator instant expertise selling trafficked people despite earlier blood-spatter caution; joking chop shops most evil.
Before Sunrise

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Sex; romantic grand gestures; Jesse’s writing; literary interpretation

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:03Read transcript
  • Whether the couple had sex is raised, with the later film said to supply an answer. — Chris Ryan
  • The hosts wonder how many first dates copied Jesse's grand romantic gestures. — Chris Ryan
  • Bill says he made similarly grand gestures when he was younger. — Bill Simmons
  • Jesse becoming a novelist makes it puzzling that he never shows Celine any writing during the night. — Bill Simmons
  • Jesse's distrust of the poet is connected to his difficulty surrendering his own vulnerability.
  • The discussion turns into a question about a participant’s attraction to literary, metaphor-seeking characters despite his resistance to being one. — Sean Fennessey
Before Sunrise

Jesse in Before Sunrise Award for the Character Who Should Have Smoked but Didn’t

Jesse; probably Céline too

The panel proposes a new category here.

Flex pick · Chris Ryan

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:37Read transcript
  • Chris explicitly selects the category as his flex after Bill invites him to restore a cut category. — Chris Ryan
  • Chris remembers Jesse as a smoker and argues that Hawke's real-life smoking makes the omission puzzling. — Chris Ryan
  • The 1995 European setting and the smoking poet make the absence of cigarettes especially conspicuous.
  • The lack of smoking now makes the movie feel unexpectedly modern.
  • Julie Delpy is also proposed as someone who would plausibly smoke. — Bill Simmons
Displaying discussions 13 - 24 of 143 in total

Flex picks

F1 The Rewatchables

Flex pick · Bill Simmons

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:06Read transcript
  • The invited top-five flex ranks Joe Clark confronting Sams on the Lean on Me roof fifth, with the dangerous method questioned.
  • Fourth is Rocky beating Tommy Gunn, whose provocation is said to justify the confrontation. — Van Lathan
  • Third is Shep beating Kyle Watson one-on-one in Above the Rim; the deceased-friend subplot prompts a tangent. — Van Lathan
  • Second is a tie between Yoda teaching Luke at Dagobah and Obi-Wan defeating Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. — Van Lathan
  • After the rank is clarified as second rather than first, the top slot goes to the park-bench speech in Good Will Hunting, contrasting experience with intelligence. — Van Lathan

Flex pick · Bill Simmons

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:13:55Read transcript
  • The gambling-again declaration is proposed as an underused Pacino GIF or meme, alongside his established memorable screen moments. — Bill Simmons
  • The choice is confirmed as Most GIFable Moment; Best Line is floated as another possible home for it. — Bill Simmons
Minority Report

Best Dick Ever: Best Philip K. Dick Movie Adaptations

Blade Runner best; Total Recall most rewatchable

The panel proposes a new category here.

Flex pick · Bill Simmons

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:03Read transcript
  • An invited flex asks for the best Philip K. Dick adaptations: Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Blade Runner and The Adjustment Bureau are nominated. One ordering begins Blade Runner and Total Recall; another specifies Blade Runner, Minority Report and Total Recall, while Scanner is especially faithful in spirit. — Bill Simmons
  • The Adjustment Bureau is defended by its proposer but rejected by two responses. Blade Runner is agreed to be best, whereas Total Recall is preferred for desert-island entertainment and rewatchability.
Blue Chips

Kevin Spacey Limo Scene Award for Craziest Foreshadowing of a Real-Life Event

Pete’s tirade and San Diego State’s UNC loss

The panel proposes a new category here.

Flex pick · Bill Simmons

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:31:38Read transcript
  • Craig’s flex compares Pete berating the team at halftime to San Diego State’s coach against UNC; the ensuing discussion says SDSU lost by 27 after trailing by about 38. — Bill Simmons
Blue Chips

Best Possible Starting Five from the Actual Players in the Movie

Penny, Houston, Lynch, Cheaney, Shaq; Hurley sixth man

The panel proposes a new category here.

Flex pick · Bill Simmons

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:22:01Read transcript
  • The flex asks for the best starting five from the actual basketball players appearing in the film, clarifying that the players rather than their fictional characters are eligible. — Bill Simmons
  • An initial lineup includes Shaq, Penny, Bobby Hurley and Calbert Cheaney; Allan Houston joins the core. Pre-accident Hurley is praised, but wanting Penny to handle the ball pushes Hurley out.
  • The final proposed five is George Lynch, Allan Houston, Penny, Shaq and Calbert Cheaney, with Hurley as sixth man. The lack of a conventional power forward is defended because Shaq anchors the team. — Van Lathan
  • Ricky is suggested as a floor-spacing reserve; the lineup is criticized for insufficient shooting without Hurley, and Ricky is jokingly called a locker-room liability.
Wayne's World The Rewatchables

Flex pick · Bill Simmons

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:30Read transcript
  • Zane’s World is reported as an existing parody, featuring Biff Malibu, Tom Byron, Madison and Trixie Tyler. — Bill Simmons
  • A fourteen-minute plot-only edit with the sex removed is described as unexpectedly entertaining; the Peter North casting question is a joke rather than a reported credit. — Bill Simmons
Displaying flex picks 13 - 22 of 22 in total