Jake’s release, the brothers’ reunion, police-car pickup and bridge jump provide a strong opening. — Bill Simmons
James Brown’s church performance and Jake’s epiphany are nominated as iconic, with a stunt double inferred for the handsprings. — Bill Simmons
The Dixie Square Mall chase is loved for escalating destruction, deadpan shopping remarks and its period mall atmosphere. — Bill Simmons
Chez Paul is a favorite and the funniest scene, unleashing Belushi through food and outrageous demands; more similarly unrestrained scenes are desired. — Bill Simmons
The Soul Food Cafe sequence combines John Lee Hooker, dry toast and four fried chickens, and Aretha’s Think; Murphy’s stiff acting contrasts with her performance. — Bill Simmons
Ray’s Music Exchange is praised as the best musical number for its outdoor choreography, compared with Ferris Bueller’s Twist and Shout dancing. — Chris Ryan
Bob’s Country Bunker, Rawhide and Stand by Your Man are nominated; its chicken wire inspires a joke about live television recaps.
Minnie the Moocher, the Palace Hotel performances and Carrie Fisher’s tunnel confrontation are listed among candidates. — Bill Simmons
The 106-miles-to-Chicago exchange is an iconic launch into the final chase. — Bill Simmons
The Nazis’ prolonged falling Pinto, the Bluesmobile collapsing and the surrounding guns are final-chase highlights. — Bill Simmons
Ray’s Music Exchange is explicitly selected for Charles’s timing, the song and dance, and its necessary place in getting instruments; another response favors Chez Paul or the mall. — Sean Fennessey
The film is placed near the start of a Chicago filmmaking revival and praised as a major city love letter preceding Ferris Bueller. The discussion’s mayor identification is not independently verified. — Bill Simmons
Aykroyd reportedly delivered an unwieldy 324-page first script filled with digressions despite never having written or read a screenplay.
The troubled production reportedly included a $3.5 million downtown scene, budgeted cocaine, an on-set private bar and an eventual $27.5 million budget that angered executives. — Bill Simmons
The film is reported to have grossed $115.2 million, ranked tenth for 1980 and sixth among musicals, and launched alongside a concert tour; the claimed same-day Empire release is retained only as a podcast claim. — Bill Simmons
Mixed contemporary reviews and criticism of excess are contrasted with enthusiasm from Siskel and Ebert. — Bill Simmons
The original script reportedly contained separate recruitment plots for eight band members, compressed because they would not make a workable movie.
Aretha reportedly struggled with lip syncing; Hooker is said to be the only singer recorded live. — Bill Simmons
The Colleen Camp poster in Elwood’s apartment prompts a reported Apocalypse Now history: Lynda Carter’s original casting, storm interruption, Wonder Woman conflict and replacement poster recreating her original pose. — Sean Fennessey
Thirteen Bluesmobiles were reportedly bought at auction, plus sixty police cars at $400 each. — Bill Simmons
Forty stunt drivers and more than five hundred extras reportedly worked on the climax; a Pinto was dropped from a helicopter at 1,200 feet with special FAA permission. — Bill Simmons
A Vanity Fair account describes a daily chain of executive anger over spending, eventually reaching Aykroyd as the person responsible for getting Belushi to work. — Chris Ryan
Woodward’s Wired is described as controversial and drug-focused, supplying much production history later reused; Belushi disappearing into nearby homes makes the making-of seem filmworthy. — Bill Simmons
The film reportedly destroyed 103 cars, a record later surpassed by The Matrix Reloaded’s 300. — Bill Simmons
Belushi’s skateboarding injury reportedly required an urgently summoned orthopedic surgeon to keep his knee usable for filming. — Bill Simmons
The Hollywood Palladium reportedly doubled for Chicago; enthusiastic concert crowds are praised, although their initial indifference to the first song is questioned. — Bill Simmons
Aykroyd is quoted as blaming racist Southern theater refusals for suppressing box-office potential. — Bill Simmons
Elwood’s freeze-framed record lists 116 parking and 56 moving violations with orders to arrest him and impound the vehicle. — Bill Simmons
Budget and gross; knife skills; expanded Vaughn role; therapy premise; Bogotá objections; Fight Club shirt; reused helicopter shot; 50 drafts; TV pilot and sequel ideas
A 2007 ABC pilot written by Kinberg and directed by Liman starred Jordana Brewster and Martin Henderson; it was pitched as Married with Children with guns and was not picked up. — Bill Simmons
Subsequent sequel ideas are described as eventually becoming Keeping Up with the Joneses, with uncertainty about whether Pitt and Jolie would have participated. — Chris Ryan
Redford or Hoffman are imagined in a 1970s version, but neither would supply Travolta’s particular lightness and finesse. — Wesley Morris
Travolta is imagined in Tom Hanks’s 1980s roles, Romancing the Stone, Beverly Hills Cop and Amadeus, praising his combined dancing and everyman abilities. — Wesley Morris
Purple Rain is jokingly floated and doubted, while Manhunter receives enthusiastic support as a hypothetical Travolta vehicle.
Travolta in No Way Out and Field of Dreams is imagined; Field of Dreams versus Bull Durham suitability is disputed, including whether he looks like a baseball player.
Travolta in Die Hard is enthusiastically supported; missing an action vehicle around 1986–1988 is considered a lost opportunity.
Nancy Allen is the recasting target despite admiration for Dressed to Kill and Carrie; repeated casting of a romantic partner is compared to Sondra Locke, while Allen is said to improve in the second half. — Bill Simmons
Lange is initially considered the only proposed actor suited to the character’s ditziness; Allen’s apparent dullness is defended as manipulation plus genuine hospital sedation.
Allen is defended through her attentive eyes in the bar scene; the alternatives might project too much intelligence and professionalism, including Lange’s light rather than ditzy Tootsie performance. — Wesley Morris
Sarandon remains a possible alternative, but Allen’s Bronx background makes her believable as Philadelphian in a way Lange may not. — Chris Ryan
Margot Kidder and Carrie Fisher are proposed then rejected as different or too smart; Allen’s lightness is defended as exactly right, while the desire for a new actress persists.
Harrison Ford is proposed as capable of the lead but acknowledged to produce a different performance. — Wesley Morris
Roy Scheider could make it work as a more 1970s film; Redford is doubted as too beautiful and insufficiently East Coast, while Pacino and Gere remain conceivable. — Wesley Morris
Stallone is jokingly the worst case because he would rewrite the material.
The invited producer agrees Allen works better by the end despite disliking her early performance. — Bill Simmons
The cryogenic unfreezing with Gary Coleman and Vanilla Ice is a home-run four minutes: chest hair, the very long pee, the voice-volume side effect, meeting Vanessa, and the penis enlarger inventory gag. — Bill Simmons
Mustafa's Las Vegas scene, where he keeps saying he was shot and asks for the hatch to be opened, is nominated; he was brought back in the sequel.
The introduction of Dr. Evil's crew with bald Bigglesworth and his plan is a phenomenal four-to-five minute sequence; Will Ferrell slays, arriving from SNL, where he was still new and not yet mainstream.
The evil laughing scene, Austin naked while Vanessa eats a sausage, and the returning Mustafa death scene show Myers pushing a bit past unfunny and back; the evil laughing should be a meme, though there may be concerns about Robert Wagner. — Bill Simmons
The group therapy scene with Carrie Fisher is in the running for the greatest four minutes of 90s comedy and is one pick for most rewatchable; the Dr. Evil childhood speech is played in full.
The evil petting zoo line and the dynamic between Dr. Evil and his son are favorites, and the sequel leans into it more.
The dinner-party exchange questioning why Dr. Evil doesn't just shoot Austin, the reportedly improvised shushing scene, 'liquid hot magma' and the honeymoon ending are also cited.
Other nominations: the Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club with Mimi Rogers, the airplane seduction with Austin spinning around, and Tom Arnold's 'showed that turd who's boss' moment.
All agree on the group therapy scene; one is partial to Austin waking up with the long pee and the penis enlarger and calls the two tied.
Fran Drescher as the lead would have been great, though possibly too young if the role needed someone older. — Jimmy Kimmel
Cher (transcribed "share") is floated, with the bonus of fake Hollywood stories about the leads falling in love during filming; the joke headline adds "Sunny, furious." — Bill Simmons
Amy Irving is doubted because she was in Carrie with Travolta and was probably too famous; Carrie Fisher auditioned before Star Wars and would have been better than Gorney. — Bill Simmons
Accent matters most: Gorney's fake New York accent is unconvincing, illustrated by an impression of a Brooklyn aunt. — Jimmy Kimmel
Donna Pescow, from Brooklyn, had to bring her accent back; Paramount executives Eisner and Katzenberg thought her too pretty, so she gained about 10 pounds and auditioned six times. — Bill Simmons
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
Rejected titles, Crystal isolating himself, real-couple interludes, Gerald Ford’s son, the original platonic ending, Reiner’s changed outlook, and improvised material
Ephron reportedly proposed “How They Met,” and a crew contest considered Just Friends, Playing Melancholy Baby, Boy Meets Girl, Blue Moon, Words of Love, It Had to Be You, Harry, This Is Sally, and How They Met. — Bill Simmons
Billy Crystal reportedly stayed apart from the cast and crew in another hotel to find Harry’s lonely mindset. — Bill Simmons
The interlude couples are reported as real people rather than actors. — Bill Simmons
New York restaurants, Sally’s changing hair before the perm, her intricate ordering, and the Knicks drought jokes remain vivid. — Bill Simmons
Carrie Fisher’s “Joe’s available,” Jimmy Breslin, and the warning about sleeping with a friend remain sharply observed. — Bill Simmons
The movie’s frank treatment of sex, different expectations, and Harry’s absolutist friendship theory remains productive and mostly nonoffensive. — Bill Simmons
Nora Ephron is treated as irreplaceable and New York in autumn as permanently beautiful. — Bill Simmons
References to Casablanca and older romantic comedies teach viewers to rewatch and argue about movies. — Bill Simmons
The fake-orgasm scene helped make discussion of women’s sexual experience more open, and “he’s never going to leave her” remains practical relationship advice. — Amanda Dobbins
The Pictionary arrows and phrases such as “baby fish mouth” show how small jokes became durable shared language. — Bill Simmons
