Nicholson has moments and the Prince-song scene is a candidate, but Keaton’s “you want to get nuts” outburst in the Joker showdown is highlighted. — Chris Ryan
Palance’s dramatic death after being shot is the platonic ideal of overdone dying; he is called bad here, indescribable in Tango and Cash, and undeserving of his City Slickers Oscar. — Chris Ryan
Tracey Walter as Bob the Goon is called a clear winner; Nicholson reportedly negotiated his casting, and Repo Man is cited as a favorite Walter role. — Bill Simmons
He is not a very intimidating gangster, a point saved for picking nits; his was the sixth-biggest part, secured by Nicholson’s juice. — Bill Simmons
Damon Wayans, met by chance, reportedly denied the research claim that he and Bruce Willis feuded on The Last Boy Scout, illustrating the unreliability of casting research. — Bill Simmons
Nicholson was reportedly the studio’s top Joker choice since 1980, and Willem Dafoe reportedly stated in 2009 he had been in talks. — Bill Simmons
Robin Williams was reportedly offered the Joker to pressure Nicholson, released once Nicholson agreed, and then refused Warner roles such as the Riddler without an apology; the apology detail is doubted. — Bill Simmons
Dead Poets Society was 1989’s third-biggest film; swapping Nicholson and Williams would make both films worse, and “he stole my balloons” is called a favorite line.
Nicholson’s reported conditions included top billing, a share of earnings including merchandise, capped work hours, and no work on Lakers home playoff games; his fee dropped from $11 million to $6 million, but he may have made $90 million. — Bill Simmons
Martin Landau reportedly turned down Carl Grissom for Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Jack Palance in that role is imagined as bad.
Sean Young was cast as Vicki Vale and replaced after a horse-riding injury; the Knox actor later claimed she sabotaged a read-through, which is doubted. Her Catwoman costume audition for Batman Returns is recalled.
The Knox actor also claimed Keaton blocked Peters’ choice of Michelle Pfeiffer because they had dated, which is doubted since she is in the sequel. — Bill Simmons
Adam West was publicly disappointed not to be asked to reprise Batman. — Bill Simmons
Keaton’s lower Batman voice; Kim Basinger; Nicholson as the Joker; the Batcave; the rushed Christmas teaser; making a Batman movie; Burton gamble; low angst; Bruce’s armor room
Peters reportedly rushed out a trailer played in theaters around Christmas after reading of fan anger over Keaton; it created huge excitement and is still on YouTube. — Bill Simmons
The role as an exclamation point on Nicholson’s pop-culture career is added. — Bill Simmons
Making a Batman movie at all, and taking a chance on Burton, look smart given how many followed. — Chris Ryan
The relative lack of angst compared with the Nolan, Snyder, and Reeves films is praised. — Chris Ryan
Bruce’s office and armor display room are added, prompting a joke about needing one at home.
Admittedly a stretch: Tony Scott hated Joel Silver so much that he based Lee Donowitz in True Romance on him, played by Saul Rubinick, and Silver went nuts when he saw it. — Bill Simmons
An open question is which Joel Silver movie Coming Home in a Body Bag parodies. — Bill Simmons
Jack Nicholson wanted to play Coach Dale, but a lawsuit sidelined him for six months, so the production went with Hackman. — Bill Simmons
Nicholson later told the director that with him as the star it would have been a mega hit. — Bill Simmons
One view agrees it would have been a bigger movie with Nicholson, then one of the biggest stars, though he would seem to want to get drunk with Shooter. — Bill Simmons
Hackman is more believable, and after 35 years the role can't be reimagined with Jack; Nicholson might have played it scaled back like Terms of Endearment. — Bill Simmons
The Dropkick Murphys are a yes: Papelbon used "Shipping Up to Boston" as entrance music and it became the Red Sox song; the Bosstones missed with "The Impression That I Get". — Bill Simmons
"Comfortably Numb" as a song had bigger moments on its original release, but this Van Morrison live-album version is a yes.
After not knowing "Comfortably Numb", quizzed to name a Pink Floyd song and answers The Wall. — Craig Horlbeck
Combat Zone porn theaters are raised, but the area had been cleaned up years before 2006, making them an anachronism; memories of the Combat Zone and a porn theater near the Boston Garden. — Bill Simmons
Alec Baldwin, no (30 Rock); Southie and extended Boston, no, done better; Vera, no (Conjuring, Up in the Air). — Bill Simmons
Kevin Corrigan is the apex mountain of being a cop-magnet cousin; the back porch view recalls Charlestown.
The "Thief's Theme" drive is called a rare great Scorsese hip-hop moment that should have been put in Apex.
On-set friction; Whitey Bulger basis; The Wire offer to Ray Winstone; Scorsese's surprise at winning; Wolf of Wall Street yacht; X motif; Ballhaus's last collaboration; tax credits; Monahan sequel idea; F-word count; VHS; Psycho shower homage
"Him and Nicholson" reportedly did not get along on set (the referent is unclear in the transcript). — Bill Simmons
Nicholson wanted it to be more than a gangster film, so Monaghan based Costello on Whitey Bulger; the window view behind the rat nods to Little Caesar, Scarface and White Heat. — Bill Simmons
Ray Winstone was supposed to play Jimmy McNulty but turned it down because he did not want to move to Baltimore. — Bill Simmons
Reportedly the director was surprised the film won and never thought about awards, finding it too nasty and violent and a remake; the yacht behind Frank is the same yacht as in Wolf of Wall Street. — Bill Simmons
X motif sightings: airport walkway crossbeams, taped windows where Queenan is thrown, behind Costigan in the elevator, and the carpet when Damon returns. — Bill Simmons
This was the last Scorsese-Ballhaus collaboration; an early attempt to shoot with more Infernal Affairs-style whip pans was dropped; later films with Robert Richardson and Rodrigo Prieto look totally different.
Shot mostly in New York for its 15% tax credit, the film prompted Massachusetts to adopt a 25% credit and 15 years of movies filmed there. — Bill Simmons
Monahan described a sequel set before, during and after the first film, showing off-screen actions; the reply from Scorsese was no thanks; Walberg talked about a Dignam sequel, and Ted Sarandos is urged to make one.
The count of the F word is given as 112 and 238 (unclear which is the answer) with a sense it is undercounted; it was the first Best Picture winner not released on VHS.
The shower shots before Madeline listens to the Costigan tape repeat the three shots of Psycho's shower scene. — Bill Simmons
Recasting Costello is raised early: this is not a good Nicholson performance given expectations, and failing to get an Oscar nomination at his stature means something went wrong.
The part needs real weight and prestige, a Brando Godfather type; Daniel DeLois and Sean Penn are too young, Jimmy Con and Duval too old, and Gandalfini is not Irish.
Nicholson was at the tail end of his career, like Magic Johnson in 1996; the movie might be tighter without his indulgences, but it is hard to conceive without him; in A Few Good Men every choice was perfect, here he is all over the place.
Hackman is proposed and liked: imposing, has played bastards, never worked with Scorsese, though he may have checked out by then; one participant would rather roll the dice with Hackman.
James Badge Dale was not famous enough to register as the guy from earlier; the counterpoint is that it works because it is someone the audience does not know. — Bill Simmons
Ryan Gosling is rejected; Jake Gyllenha and Keith Ledger are floated, but a star disappearing for two hours would be distracting, and Badge Dale is legit good. — Sean Fennessey
The casting what-ifs are called probably the best for any movie they have done, a whole alternate Departed. — Bill Simmons
Pitt bought the producing rights, planned to play the Damon part, then decided he might be too old and went to do Babel. — Bill Simmons
Debate over Pitt: good instincts about roles and a great producer, but miscast himself in Meet Joe Black and The Devil's Own; Damon was the better choice.
Ray Leota was the original choice for Dignam but declined over other commitments, his 2006 films including Comeback Season, Local Color and Even Money. — Bill Simmons
Dennis Leary was the second choice for Dignam but had to make season three of "rest of me" (as transcribed); he would have been great, though Walberg is perfect. — Bill Simmons
Ellerby was offered to Mel Gibson, who was starting Apocalypto; Queenan was supposed to be De Niro, who made The Good Shepherd; the Anthony Anderson role was meant for "the Rizza" (transcript form, unresolved), who was too old or had conflicts. — Bill Simmons
Leo was in The Good Shepherd but dropped out to play Billy Costigan, and Damon then took The Good Shepherd role; The Good Shepherd is called an unexamined movie with a dynamite cast.
The alternate cast (Leo, Pitt, Pacino, Leota, De Niro, Mel Gibson and the Riza) is called pretty loaded and preferred by one participant; Pacino would lose Costello's lumbering physicality but gain CR doing Pacino.
Would-you-rathers: Walberg over Ray Leota, Baldwin over Mel Gibson 100 out of 100 times, and De Niro over Sheen since he can underplay.
Opening background montage; the final rat; Gimme Shelter reuse; blind pocket texting; microprocessors plot device; cocaine opera scene; bad Boston accents; Nicholson's race monologue, dildo and Red Sox hat refusal; confusing final shootout; New York standing in for Boston; nonexistent State House view
The opening background montage is held for this category: it does not work, feels like a different movie, and could be cut from a two-and-a-half-hour film since a later line does the work. — Bill Simmons
Nicholson is saved for last; Nicholson running has aged both best and worst.
The rat is disliked, and the body on the floor in the reverse shot is not Damon; nobody told Scorsese no in 2006, likened to their own Miami Vice pod.
A requested defense of the rat, not fully believed: in a maximalist movie it is the final maximalist note, meaning corruption rises to the top and betrayal lives on in institutions; the reply is that a cool crime movie does not need a grand statement. — Sean Fennessey
Flip phones as a central character are listed, but also called a nice time capsule. — Bill Simmons
Walberg's hair: joking speculation that this was the last movie before he found a hair guy, with a Tom Brady comparison, explicitly labeled speculation; a defense of Irish hair becoming a bouffant applies to the character, not Walberg. — Bill Simmons
Gimme Shelter used a third time after Goodfellas and Casino, looped three times here; it is defended as an intentional sonic-barrage motif as in Wolf, but his earlier uses were more precise and the song became a cliche and crutch.
Damon texting blind in his pocket on T9 would never happen with an iPhone.
The microprocessors plot device is questioned; it should have been a drugs and guns movie, though it may exist to justify FBI interest, as in early The Wire.
The cocaine opera scene is bonkers with no explanation, possibly Nicholson wanting to have fun, or showing Costello as Satan and a pure hedonist.
Bad Boston accents: Leo is okay, Baldwin is a Long Island-Boston hybrid; the bad ones include Vera, who abandons hers after an hour, and Martin Sheen, whose lifer character needed it.
Nicholson items: the race monologue should have been cut, the porn theater dildo is inexplicable, and he refused to wear a Red Sox hat and banned them on set in a Boston gangster movie despite killing people onscreen. — Bill Simmons
Whether Whitey Bulger wore a Red Sox hat is questioned; Nicholson may wear a Yankee hat in one scene; a joke that someone in Costello's crew would shoot him over it. — Bill Simmons
Found a photo of Whitey Bulger wearing a Red Sox hat. — Craig Horlbeck
The shootout that kills Costello is spatially confusing, and some cutting misfires, such as blood exploding from Sheen before he hits the ground. — Chris Ryan
It is not really Boston: they shot only a couple weeks there, and the Chinatown chase is obviously New York.
Costello's scheme to confirm Billy is not the rat is unimpressive, a plot flaw. — Sean Fennessey
John Lennon's "Well Well Well" plays and then Nicholson opens a John Lennon speech, called ridiculous though entertaining. — Sean Fennessey
The State House view from the condo in the last shot does not exist, since Beacon Hill is surrounded by buildings and trees; tied to an old Blown Away complaint about bastardized Boston geography. — Bill Simmons
