Carell and Apatow are the first calls, followed by a request to make the case. — Bill Simmons
Case for Apatow: a respected writer-producer not yet considered a comedy auteur, this kicked off 10 years of him at the center of American movie comedy, minted stars, earned critical respect, and the movie itself has aged well. — Sean Fennessey
Agreement: Apatow was a high lottery pick whose shows, including Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, were canceled, and this became a massive hit that minted people and set up a comedy revolution begun with Anchorman. — Bill Simmons
Carell's success probably would have happened anyway because The Office became a phenomenon. — Bill Simmons
Counterpoint on Carell: the movie's success may have given The Office runway, with a blockbuster star going back to TV like a reverse Caruso. — Chris Ryan
Producer Craig is asked for his pick; the reply is transcribed as 'Hamilton's probably the right call', which is unresolved, and he is teased as a brown-noser.
Steve Carell, definitely: the movie becomes a smash hit and he has The Office, the pinnacle of anyone's comedy career. — Bill Simmons
Apatow is a no, to be litigated later; one could argue Knocked Up. — Bill Simmons
Catherine Keener: after a decade as a respected indie actress peaking in 8mm, a smash hit makes this as good as it gets; she was also in Capote that year as Harper Lee, which is called a good call. — Bill Simmons
Virgins in general prompt jokes about Last American Virgin, a Virgin Week with Last Temptation of Christ and A Midnight Clear, and making Craig watch with Liz; that movie ends with James Ingram. — Bill Simmons
The Six Million Dollar Man action figures are definitely at Apex Mountain. — Sean Fennessey
Paul Rudd is first a no, but he gets praise: Brian Fantana in Anchorman, carrying stretches of this movie, his SmartTech meltdown and his souls-connected poker speech; one voice says you could make the case this is his Apex. — Sean Fennessey
Counter: Ant Man, from about 2014 or 2015, was great and a huge hit; the other host just doesn't like comic book movies and is teased about Munich. — Bill Simmons
Malco: 'Yeah. Has to be.'
Tech stores like Best Buy are raised as an Apex for that era; the reply calls it one of the speaker's unanswerable questions, with SmartTech badly run like a Boston chain and Circuit City, stores run by jackasses, as with Vince Vaughn's character in Old School. — Bill Simmons
Asia's ironic phase: not the band's Apex, since the speaker says they won four or five Grammys one year, but the move into ironic 'Heat of the Moment' appreciation 20 years later; the hosts joke they are already in their own ironic phase. — Bill Simmons
The soundtrack: generic, predictable songs that are perfectly executed and make sense with the plot, not a Dazed and Confused soundtrack but what guys going to Vegas then would be listening to; the music under the blackjack scene with the numbers is smart, and the T.I. song Live Your Life was huge and still is.
A tangent on which songs from this century have joined the wedding mix: Heya (as transcribed) by Outkast, probably the T.I. song, Bruno Mars, Adele, and 1901 by Phoenix heard at 18 weddings, pitched as a Ringer piece.
Todd Phillips' taste for hard rock, the Danzig song at the start and the Metallica in Old School; the Dan Band has also aged well, with future generations asking why they never played the Super Bowl halftime show, and the 'just the tip' setup turning inappropriate fast.
Rachel Harris as the girlfriend from hell is an incredible character, every stereotype put on steroids to make her the worst character of all time; the 'you fucked a waiter on a cruise' bit and Galifianakis's 'what did she say' after Helms walks away are singled out.
The elevator scene with Todd Phillips' cameo; his habit of going down on a woman in his own movies is his version of Hitchcock walking across the frame.
Alan reading the letter on the roof with 'that's why they call it Sin City'; the subtle cut where he is finishing a description of the Ted Danson and Magnum PI movie as they head to Heather Graham's hotel; and the 'it's not illegal, it's frowned upon, like masturbating on an airplane' exchange ending in 'thanks a lot, Bin Laden', the hardest one host laughed.
'Alan, you're the man' answered with 'you are too, Phil' shows he has no idea how to be one of the guys; his aping of Phil throughout is well done; the two made-up songs are enjoyed, and Ed Helms' piano song while they wait for the tiger to fall asleep was apparently ad-libbed.
Old-school, last-decade Vegas; every Alan line, especially 'this isn't the real Caesar's Palace, is it? Did Caesar live here?', and the pitch-perfect reaction of the woman at the desk.
How high Alan ranks in the pantheon of comedy characters: the criterion is someone who was not the star but stole the movie, so Frank the Tank, John Candy in Stripes, Bill Murray and Ted Knight in Caddyshack, Rick Moranis in Ghostbusters, Matt Dillon and Chris Elliott in There's Something About Mary, Michael Keaton in Night Shift, Steve Carell and Paul Rudd in Anchorman, McLovin, the Wedding Crashers character as the backfire case and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids as the perfect example.
Galifianakis belongs in that conversation as the breakout; John Candy in Stripes was like that for a host who knew him only as Ox and never watched SCTV; Galifianakis is named the big winner.
The movie stood up in total for a host without as much of a rewatchable relationship to it; the actual plot of what happened to them is well done, with Jade, Mr. Chow and the roof payoff; the brevity, about an hour thirty-five with no wasted section, makes it the last comedy before the two-hour-ten Apatow era.
The DVD's deleted scenes were anticipated; the end credit sequence has held up as a convention, 'they pretty much invented Marvel right there', though another host had it for what aged worst.
Casting what-ifs are knocked out fast because the movie cannot be imagined with anyone else; Harvey Dent is called secretly very good casting because the part needed someone who thought he was a big deal but actually was not, which is perfect for Aaron Eckhart, a shot another host, who loves Eckhart, pushes back on with a joke about a Gulf Coast condo built on Eckhart stock.
Actors who expressed interest or auditioned for Harvey Dent: Josh Lucas, not heard from much since Glory Road; Liev Schreiber, judged a little too dark and stormy for a Dent who has to start as a golden boy, though he could have been a good Two Face; Mark Ruffalo, rejected as way too cerebral and neurotic; and Matt Damon, which prompts the question of why Damon just wants to be in a Christopher Nolan movie.
Young, Courage Under Fire-era Matt Damon would have made a great Robin.
Christopher Nolan is quoted as never really having considered anyone but Heath Ledger for the Joker, which is dismissed as what they say after the fact; actors rumored for the role were Paul Bettany (fine), Steve Carell (no), Robin Williams (maybe in a Tim Burton movie, a little too ghoulish), Adrian Brody (as transcribed; 'I can see it') and Ryan Phillippe, who is said to turn up more than anyone in lists of roles he did not get and to have been in the final three for Captain America with Krasinski and Chris Evans, which usually means great publicist, bad agent.
Ledger's performance is so legendary, arguably the most iconic movie performance of the 21st century, that nobody can be put in the role; an actor rumored for it would be wise to scrub that from the internet.
William Fichtner's bank manager is said to have been offered to Dwight Yoakam, who was busy recording Dwight Meets Buck, prompting the question whether that is a Buck Owens cover record; the hosts love Yoakam as a movie actor, a legend in Panic Room and Wedding Crashers with a quiet malevolence on screen, though he would not have been right for this particular role.
