Leo versus Damon; Damon's villain performance; Damon's Boston accent; Damon's contempt for firemen; Baldwin and Wahlberg running SIU; Baldwin's 'go fuck yourself'; Nicholson's death scene; Scorsese's highball-glass record; the 'black guy in Boston' line
Leo versus Damon as generational rivals, like LeBron and Durant, with Walberg compared to James Hardin and then Anthony Davis; the movie catches both at their peaks. — Bill Simmons
Leo and Damon reportedly barely saw each other during production, shooting nights and days respectively, like Heat.
Damon's performance is called underrated: an effortless, unlikable, insecure villain; many of his best roles (School Ties, Ripley, The Informant, early Good Will Hunting) are good jerks.
Damon versus Walberg for the goat Boston accent in a movie, and Damon wins: here it is the accent of someone trying to hide it while climbing, slipping out in the wrong spots; one participant says he knows nothing about the Boston accent. — Bill Simmons
Damon's real contempt for firemen, and the credits arriving 18 minutes in. — Bill Simmons
Baldwin and Wahlberg running SIU with no HR department; questions about why it is state troopers rather than Boston PD, perhaps speaking to trooper incompetence; Baldwin's "go fuck yourself" is great.
The Nicholson death scene is really good, prompting an impromptu best Nicholson death scene: Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining and Batman join The Departed as a Mount Rushmore; Witches of Eastwick is pitched; The Shining maze death is preferred by one participant. — Bill Simmons
His shirt reading Irish in the death scene; Nicholson's own choices (the dildo, the cocaine, the opera) suggest he had carte blanche.
Scorsese officially breaks the record for characters hitting another character over the head with a highball glass, and no bar scene ever works out in a Scorsese movie. — Bill Simmons
The line to Anthony Anderson that as a black guy in Boston he does not need help to be completely fucked is called a subtle, smart Boston touch. — Bill Simmons
Wahlberg and Baldwin grilling DiCaprio; driving range scene; rooftop triple cross and elevator; Frank meets Billy to 'Let It Loose'; Queenan's fall and Dignam quitting; French and Frank's 'reliable' talk; Madeline and Billy's first session and Comfortably Numb scene
The first pod handled this category loosely; this time they are doing it correctly, likened to the third Seinfeld plot when they had figured out how to incorporate Elaine, but not really.
First pick: Walberg's Dignam, with Baldwin, grilling Leo ("lace curtain motherfucker", "double kid", different accents), treated as one long scene that could be watched on YouTube for hours.
Walberg is really good here even if he dials it up; it is called the second best use of him after Dirk Diggler, and his character makes no sense, which the movie turns into a trick that pays off in the last shot; James Badge Dale's character works similarly.
The cranberry juice scene, missing from the last episode: Ray Winstone's "guys you can hit" monologue, the bar patron's "natural diuretic" line, and the later Nicholson callback; the sarcastic reaction is called exactly what would happen in a Boston bar. — Bill Simmons
Borderline pick: Damon's first date with Vera, well written and acted. — Bill Simmons
Leo meets Costello in the bar: a favorite character introduction via the two middle-aged ladies and "Mr. French", like Satan or Michael Myers arriving, then the back-room scene where the undercover cop's pushback leaves Costello wondering what is wrong with this kid.
The "spilled guineas" line is called a weird line that got greenlit and the first 35 minutes pretty racist.
DiCaprio called filming a one-on-one scene with Jack one of the most memorable moments of his life; it is unclear whether he meant the bar scene or the table scene with the drawing and rat noises, which feels improvised.
The Chinese surveillance scene, picked for Walberg's "I'm the guy who does his job. You must be the other guy," called one of the great movie lines, plus Baldwin fired up about the Patriot Act as a snapshot of the time.
The driving range scene: Baldwin's theory on marriage and Damon's "working overtime"; the golf swing is bad; the scene is nearly shot for shot from Infernal Affairs, which had no humor.
The porn theater scene is well constructed, with Nicholson's dildo, leading into the "I got this rat" scene.
344 Washington: Sheen falling to his death was shocking in the theater; the van drives over the body and blood spatters Leo; it leads straight to Walberg quitting ("two weeks with pay") and Boggs as Delahunt. — Bill Simmons
Also listed: Damon calling a dead man's phone, Costello's death scene with Jack running, Mr. French killing himself just before the car blows up, and Leo versus Damon. — Bill Simmons
Adds the random French and Frank scene about who is reliable, with the cutaway to Frank murdering his wife called anachronistic. — Chris Ryan
Adds two Madeline and Billy scenes: the first session ("two pills... give me a bottle of scotch and a handgun") and the Comfortably Numb sex scene, one of the very few good love scenes in a Scorsese movie. — Chris Ryan
Another answer: the movie is most fun when Wahlberg or Baldwin gives someone shit, especially the first Walberg sequence with Leo and Baldwin on the driving range; the rooftop confrontation, triple cross and elevator is the best executed sequence. — Sean Fennessey
Favorite: Frank meets Billy with the Stones' "Let It Loose" playing; the most enjoyed combination is Sheen falling to his death followed by Walberg quitting.
The triple shooting is among the best action Scorsese has shot, shock after shock from Anthony Anderson to Barrigan, forcing viewers to reprocess Barrigan as a Costello mole; seeing it next to Tarantino would be even more fun. — Bill Simmons
Apex Mountain is defined, with Craig asked to correct it, as the point of most objective power in a career, not a personal favorite, given the context of the movie and the movie itself; all four stars and Nancy Meyers are to be assessed.
Cameron Diaz is a firm no: 2006 is the very beginning of her slowing down, her peak being the plateau from There's Something About Mary in 1998 through Charlie's Angels and Shrek in 2001, before Vanilla Sky and Gangs of New York; on this press tour she described going movie to movie without stopping, and she has since retired from acting.
Jack Black is argued as the one yes: this follows School of Rock in 2003, King Kong and Tenacious D, and he peters off afterward into voice work and the Goosebumps movies; another host says his apex is School of Rock, the one movie associated with him, and the panel settles on the 2002 to 2006 run as peak Jack Black.
Kate Winslet is on the rise rather than at her apex: she has had many peaks, Titanic catapulted her, nobody thinks The Holiday is her best work, and she won her Oscar in 2008, after this, for The Reader, called a terrible movie, the same year as Revolutionary Road.
Jude Law's apex of hotness is debated between this movie, as rich, handsome, jazz-loving dad Graham Simpkins, and The Talented Mr. Ripley in a rowboat in Italy wearing linens; his career apex is Ripley, with an Oscar nomination, after which it was a gradual decline through Closer, Cold Mountain and I Heart Huckabees without ever carrying a movie, Alfie being a non-hit during the Sienna Miller scandal.
An argument that Jude Law is in his apex now, doing whatever he wants in The Young Pope, the Harry Potter spinoff and Marvel movies, is heard, but for actual power and hotness it is Talented Mr. Ripley, which should get its own episode at 20 years old this December.
Nancy Meyers's apex is not this but likely Something's Gotta Give, a critical breakthrough with Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Keanu Reeves in 2003 when studio comedies still made money, plus Frances McDormand and Jon Favreau in a really good cast; Home Again is her daughter's movie that she produced; so the only possible apex here, and probably not even, is Jack Black.
Duvall receives yes responses, challenged by Nashville and Annie Hall and by whether the film improved her opportunities; Popeye supports a qualified answer. — Sean Fennessey
Caretakers receive an affirmative response; bartenders named Lloyd are raised without an explicit resolution. — Sean Fennessey
Axe murderers are rejected with So I Married an Axe Murderer mentioned; Nicholson and Kubrick are rejected, with 2001 favored for Kubrick. — Bill Simmons
Danny’s finger motion reportedly emerged in his audition; Nicholson reportedly admired Duvall’s difficult role. — Bill Simmons
The door scene reportedly required three days and sixty doors; Danny was shielded from horror material and replaced with a dummy for one confrontation. — Bill Simmons
Crothers reportedly endured over a hundred takes, then welcomed Eastwood’s sparse-take approach on Bronco Billy. — Bill Simmons
Maze snow is described as salt and styrofoam; Duvall reportedly needed water to keep crying, a claim questioned in discussion. — Bill Simmons
The Elstree shoot reportedly expanded from seventeen to fifty-one weeks, delaying Reds and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Jack’s Playgirl magazine prompts uncertainty about its meaning and presence in the lobby. — Bill Simmons
The hotel reportedly requested changing room 217 to 237, although 217 later became a requested room. — Bill Simmons
The old woman and bear-costume scene are offered as disturbing imagery rather than failed effects; the woman’s identity remains uncertain.
Cutting the snowcat phone call is proposed and its length disputed; leaving the hotel occasionally is defended as making the return more intense. — Bill Simmons
Stories of Duvall’s stress, illness and harsh treatment during repeated takes are discussed with concern and compared with Nicholson’s response. — Bill Simmons
Conspiratorial readings are criticized; Room 237 is defended as a portrait of interpretation, and nostalgia for freer online film discussion complicates the objection. — Chris Ryan
The treatment of Duvall becomes the final reluctant aged-worst selection after a debate about the social danger of conspiracy thinking.
Hallorann’s bedroom paintings and bachelor decor are celebrated, with questions about positioning and a pillow beneath his feet.
The mirror’s murder reversal and Danny’s eerie alternate voice remain effective. — Bill Simmons
Grady’s euphemism of correcting his family is chilling. — Bill Simmons
The maze, casting of the twins and Nicholson’s drooling commitment are praised. — Bill Simmons
The hotel’s exteriors and constructed interiors are admired; the panel would stay at the location. — Chris Ryan
The repeated instruction to check the Snowcat and radio inspires enthusiastic impressions. — Bill Simmons
The Steadicam is praised for ghostlike movement behind Danny, with Garrett Brown and earlier uses in Bound for Glory, Rocky and Marathon Man discussed.
One ranking puts the bedroom first, Steadicam second and Big Wheel third; the other responses favor Steadicam.
The opening helicopter imagery and its theatrical impact are praised; old square television framing diminished it. — Bill Simmons
Jack’s anger at Wendy’s writing interruption is nominated, with her hurt and the warning signs of their marriage discussed.
Jack’s drink with Lloyd is praised for Nicholson’s expressive face and commitment.
The manuscript discovery and stair confrontation are praised for both performances, staging, terror and the revelation of the repeated sentence.
The manuscript’s typing is recounted, with the teardrop-shaped page and quoted indentation singled out. — Bill Simmons
The panel debates how many pages Wendy needs to inspect before understanding the manuscript. — Bill Simmons
The axe-through-the-bathroom-door sequence is nominated as an outstanding horror scene.
The iconic bathroom attack is admired, but prior exposure to parodies diluted its terror for one viewer; Jack abandoning the attack prompts a question. — Sean Fennessey
The killing of Scatman Crothers is praised as shocking: Nicholson is hidden behind a pillar and the long return suggests a larger role. — Bill Simmons
Danny’s maze escape is praised for his preparation and retracing of footprints. — Bill Simmons
The second Gold Room visit and Grady conversation are added, along with the introductory hotel tour. — Chris Ryan
The ice-cream conversation is praised for explicitly acknowledging the supernatural power. — Sean Fennessey
The manuscript discovery and staircase scene receive the final selection. — Bill Simmons
