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
The framing of Vicki Vale is flagged as weird and reserved for this category. — Bill Simmons
Some special effects, like the bat plane flight, feel very 1989. — Bill Simmons
The film is too dark and literally hard to see in places; The Batman is said to be darker still. — Bill Simmons
The Keaton-Basinger scenes feel rough; a defense says they convey chemistry and that the Joker is crude and after her. — Sean Fennessey
Keaton’s Bruce is an odd, untraumatized weirdo, so the romance raises the question of why she likes him beyond his money; he is compared to a tech billionaire with a Steve Jobs look, though he had great chemistry with Michelle Pfeiffer in the sequel. — Sean Fennessey
The uproar over casting Keaton, with a reported 50,000 protest letters, is hard to explain today and is contrasted with modern tweet-based hate. — Chris Ryan
The Prince soundtrack is named, while Trust and Party Man are defended as good songs.
The importance of the Gotham Globe newspaper has dated; the setting feels like both 1989 and 1948, and Gotham is a composite of many cities.
Robert Wuhl as Knox is the worst part: he is in too many scenes after Bull Durham, which is called the most unfortunate part of the movie. — Bill Simmons
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.
Rubber-plant condom joke; young Dean Norris and Nestor Serrano; blond Hitler-haired henchman; South African accents; Joss Ackland; Patsy Kensit; Eric Clapton soundtrack; decision not to kill Riggs; Pesci's introduction; nail guns
The condom material with the daughter paying off in the rubber-plant joke is classic cop humor. — Bill Simmons
Seen on cable as a kid, a dad laughed with his entire soul at the condom scene; the joke only made sense years later; a room full of cops is the right setting. — Van Lathan
The bad guy with the blond Hitler hair; a wispy mustache would have been too on the nose. — Bill Simmons
The South African accents get special applause ('who is the dickhead now, eh?'). — Bill Simmons
Asked why no South African accent was attempted, the reply is that South African is hard to do. — Chris Ryan
Joss Ackland, the Russian diplomat in Hunt for Red October, is good with a variety of accents. — Bill Simmons
Patsy Kensit does a great job, though notes follow about her character having no apparent culpability for working there; she looks great.
She faced a tough crowd in Michelle Pfeiffer's golden age, with Greta Scotchy and Meg Ryan also around; a high-school argument over Scotchy versus Kensit is recalled. — Bill Simmons
Kensit married Liam Gallagher and was originally a singer in a band. — Chris Ryan
The soundtrack: Eric Clapton does the guitar work and there is a George Harrison song. — Bill Simmons
The decision not to have Riggs die, financially. — Bill Simmons
The introduction of Pesci, like a microwave scorer off the bench, injects adrenaline and breaks into the Riggs-Murtaugh chemistry.
Nail guns: this was the first time seeing one, and with Snoop in The Wire nail guns aged really well. — Van Lathan
Michelle Pfeiffer in the "Dary and" (Darien) part takes the movie up a notch because the character should be older and has been around the block. — Brian Koppelman
Demi Moore is asked about and Melanie Griffith suggested, then doubted as lacking a Greenwich Academy background and having the wrong energy; Pfeiffer looks like a New York prep-school kid. — Brian Koppelman
A Pfeiffer story: at a party she brushed off Don Henley while Nicholson watched, and Henley wrote The Last Worthless Evening about her. — Brian Koppelman
The hosts report that Robert Redford came up with the premise "the President elopes," selected Sorkin's treatment and was to star, then dropped out for unclear reasons. — Bill Simmons
Redford would be too cool for the goofy, sentimental material and the speech, and The President Elopes would have been a more solemn marriage story.
The hosts report that the Sidney actress and Douglas were to star in Disclosure until her pregnancy gave the part to Demi Moore; the casting should be kept as it is. — Bill Simmons
For about 20 years the answer would have been Pfeiffer sight unseen, but Raul won the movie. — Bill Simmons
Raul is the most important character, threaded through with most of the best moments, while Luann is not throwing a no-hitter and bails when it gets tough. — Bill Simmons
The kids experience deaths and pregnancies as a regular semester, while she finds it too much; "So Raul wins." — Bill Simmons
One participant does not buy Pfeiffer as a Marine, contrasting Demi Moore in G.I. Jane and Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor; another buys it because she does not back down.
Why she has no friends or dates is answered in-film: a recent divorce from an abusive husband, and a fellow teacher as her only friend. — Bill Simmons
Why she chose the fussiest French restaurant is questioned; one reading says it reflects treating whiteness as the center of everything, another that it pushes the kids out of their comfort zone, as in The Wire.
The third dinner invitee misses the dinner and gets no leftovers while Callie does; it is noted Callie told her ahead and Raul told her he could not make it. — Shea Serrano
