One host tried to get creative with picks rather than the obvious ones; the other says this category requires playing the hits. — Bill Simmons
The first armored-car robbery: the truck hitting the armored car is one of the loudest, most terrifying sounds in a theater, and the shaped charge blowing out all the car windows at once is 'the coolest thing in the world'. — Bill Simmons
The robbery crew are clearly professionals until Waingro stares at the bleeding guard and kills him, forcing them to shoot everyone. — Bill Simmons
The Big Boys diner with Waingro ('I had to get it on, man. He was making a move'); a newly noticed detail is Michael moving to the counter while Trejo leaves to ready the plastic-lined trunk. — Chris Ryan
No customers react when Neil slams Waingro's head on the counter; De Niro is called vintage and purposeful in the scene. — Bill Simmons
Eady and Neil's first meeting ('Lady, why are you so interested in what I read or what I do?') is called their scene; it is believable because she is new and lonely in L.A. — Bill Simmons
In the meet-cute she lays out her Scotch-Irish Appalachian family tree and he answers only 'I'm from the Bay Area'. — Chris Ryan
Neil's crew debating the bank job ('The bank is worth the risk ... I need it, brother'); Sizemore heat-checks De Niro, like Reggie Miller against Michael Jordan, and lands 'for me, the action is the juice'. — Bill Simmons
Vincent realizing the crew has turned the surveillance around ('You know what they're looking at? ... Us ... We just got made'). — Bill Simmons
The diner scene between Neil and Vincent is introduced and called one of the most famous scenes of the 90s, or of the last 40 years, likened to LeBron and Kobe guarding each other in a Finals shown only in one-on-ones. — Bill Simmons
Square TVs showed one actor at a time, fueling a ten-year internet legend that the two were not in the scene together; widescreen disproved it. — Bill Simmons
Research cited says the scene was take 11 and was never rehearsed, at De Niro's request. — Bill Simmons
The exchange is compared to the two of them having a podcast; jokes about Vincent commandeering an LAPD helicopter just to get Neil to coffee. — Bill Simmons
De Niro listening and looking away before 'there's a flip side to that coin' is one of his favorite De Niro performances, though 'that's the discipline' is called his only bad acting moment. — Bill Simmons
Asked who wins the scene 25 years later, one host says Pacino and expects the other to say De Niro. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say Pacino later revealed his character was on cocaine throughout, a thread Mann cut from early scripts, which explains his darting eyes scanning the restaurant. — Chris Ryan
The other calls the scene a split decision, 115 to 114, possibly a draw. — Bill Simmons
The bank-robbery shootout is called probably the GOAT bank shootout that every later bank robbery homages; Den of Thieves is a flat-out rip-off and Inside Man the least like Heat. — Bill Simmons
Research cited says military units study how Kilmer and De Niro reload; Sizemore is rarely shown shooting; the hosts say Mann placed microphones to capture the gunfire live. — Bill Simmons
Shootout nits: the masked robber's 'we're not here for your money' reassurance, and Kilmer's slow 25-yard walk while Pacino drives in and gets out, which always drives one host nuts. — Bill Simmons
Neil killing Waingro and walking away from Eady is a tough breakup after she gave notice and packed to emigrate to New Zealand. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say production almost could not shoot at LAX because of a Unabomber threat. — Chris Ryan
Vincent versus Albert: Albert's salt-mine, pit-bull, hot-car-lot hideout and 'where's your empathy?'; Pacino is so off-menu the editing can't keep up, with audio from a different take. — Chris Ryan
Waingro's meeting with Van Zant: Van Zant has been living in his office, and 'I got some moves I can make here' is joked about as an NBA GM's trade pitch. — Chris Ryan
Vincent at BJs on Alvarado at 2 a.m., where everyone dances to silence because the music was dubbed in; Piven's Dr. Bob is also floated. — Chris Ryan
Stated answer: the most rewatchable scene is the diner scene, the second most is the bank shootout, and all other nominations are accepted. — Bill Simmons
Stepping on Recasting Couch early: Bishop is a part for an older, 2001-style Harvey Keitel; Russo is wished for if he had not played Jimmy Jump, but the role should be older; Ricardo Montobahn, a Tony Lobionco or a Cliff Gordon (as heard) are floated.
Annabelle Seora (as heard) is floated; Julian does not work, but the idea of an out-of-place girl does.
Kelly Lynch is suggested, tying to the Chimino connection as the lawyer in Desperate Hours; a second voice says 'That's perfect. That's who it should be.'
Kelly Lynch is a little California, and a New England type unused to rough New York might be better, but she is still called a good suggestion.
The producers doubted Close’s sexual suitability until her hair and chemistry with Douglas helped establish the role. — Bill Simmons
Stone auditioned and was passed over; the panel argues Alex should be Douglas’s contemporary. Field, Alley and Thompson are reported as considered, with uncertainty. — Bill Simmons
Elisabeth Shue’s candidacy is doubted because of her age; Carrie Fisher is mentioned, and Field’s ability to play Alex is debated through Sybil.
Reeve reportedly declined Dan; the panel doubts his fit for spontaneous moral compromise. MacDowell was considered for Beth. — Wesley Morris
MacDowell is described as a later market replacement for Archer, with hypothetical Archer roles in Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Groundhog Day and Short Cuts.
De Palma reportedly wanted Douglas replaced; Carpenter then declined over similarities to Play Misty for Me and objections to the original ending. — Wesley Morris
The face-eating serial killer concept; the James Gumm name; the Lecter mask and stretcher; the elevator-and-ambulance escape; night goggles as a murder aid; the first murder being someone the killer covets; the music; the two endings; the behavioral-science investigation; Jonathan Demme's direct-to-camera close-ups
The concept of a face-eating serial killer still works in 2017; Buffalo Bill's real name, James Gumm (as transcribed), is a favorite, with jokes about interviewing someone named James for a Ringer job.
The Lecter mask and stretcher is called magnificent and underrated 26 years later, prompting an Artest melee joke, and the lamb chop, elevator and ambulance stretch is called outrageous.
Night goggles as a murder aid are the most prominent in any Hollywood film, with Manhunter's dark scene, Patriot Games and Zero Dark 30 (as transcribed) as comparisons; a host who rewatched the last half hour expected it to be dated and found nothing dated except the lack of cell phones.
The idea that a killer's first victim is someone he covets has aged well and changes how one host thinks about murder investigations.
The music is praised: a Bernard Herman (as transcribed) Hitchcock-style score and the song choices, especially Catherine Martin singing along to Tom Petty's American Girl, which establishes her in 20 seconds; the lesson never to help a stranger move furniture into a van is compared with The Vanishing, and the film's two endings, Clarice killing Gumm and then Lecter's call about having an old friend for dinner, both work.
One pick is the music, as a tribute to Demme's use of music and for the creepy, haunting score.
The other pick is the concept of the film's two serial killers, a genius psychiatrist who kills and eats people among them, which many films have gotten wrong.
The behavioral-science investigation feels authentic: the viewer learns alongside Clarice, as when she profiles the killer in the back seat on the drive to West Virginia, unlike older cop films such as The French Connection or Dirty Harry, or Dr. Loomis in Halloween; the covet realization in her scene with Cassie Lemons's (as transcribed) character is an earned light-bulb moment.
Demme is added to the list for making this film and then Philadelphia; the hosts say he won best director for both, which rarely happens.
Demme's actors deliver lines straight into the camera; he did not invent it, with French New Wave precedents, but it makes the viewer feel like Clarice in the cell and the FBI offices, and he reserves it for a few characters, never James Gumm, Catherine Martin or the victims.
Lecter appears 11 minutes and 50 seconds in, right after a credit sequence that follows Clarice through Quantico with men turning to look at her, setting up the sense that she is being watched before Lecter's question about her perfume; she is part of an early-90s run of strong female characters with Thelma and Louise and Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct.
