Would watch a prequel about Jim's entire USC film school stint, every class. — Chris Ryan
Did they always have such telling books lying around, like Mailer's Armies of the Night next to the TV, with every title visible; jokes about Bill's own set-dressed books.
Eddie and the Cruisers, definitely, is the best use of an Arthur Rimbaud book. — Chris Ryan
Was Madsen's character a Roger Corman type? Answer: an actual hanger-on in Warhol and Paul Morrissey art porn. — Bill Simmons
Geary's insult and Michael's reply that his offer is nothing, not even the fee for the gaming license, show Michael has gone to another level; the line is often quoted between the hosts.
Hyman Roth starts slowly, watching the real Notre Dame-USC game, before his Mo Greene speech about the man who invented Las Vegas.
Michael pulling his chair close to Roth is a lesson in how men of that era learned a code; pulling a chair uncomfortably close to get the truth is called very effective in real life. — Brian Koppelman
Strasberg, a legendary acting teacher in his first film performance, is perfectly cast as a Meyer Lansky stand-in; Coppola fills the film with figures from movie history, such as Gazzo and Roger Corman. — Sean Fennessey
Roth is Michael's aspirational Vito figure yet lives alone in a small Miami house watching college football and eating sandwiches; a peanut-butter-and-jelly versus tuna fish mix-up is corrected. — Chris Ryan
For Roth it is about power, not money; his "wise and considerate young man" really means Michael is a fool, and the scene plays differently on a second viewing. — Brian Koppelman
Shirtless Roth came from Coppola meeting Elia Kazan, who declined the role but was not wearing a shirt at their meeting.
The banana daiquiri scene shows Michael never saw Fredo as an equal; it is called the most important scene rather than the most rewatchable.
Part II scenes grow painful, so the Geary scene is the most rewatchable, with Michael still the Michael of the first film defending his family. — Brian Koppelman
Pentangeli drunk at the communion, blending Italian and English with "Cheech, aport," is a favorite rewatch that brings the old ways back into the room.
The Havana sequence has Michael realizing Fredo betrayed him at the sex club, intercut with the Roth assassination going sideways. — Bill Simmons
Roth's would-be assassin Bessetta wears one turtleneck outfit the whole film, even in Havana heat. — Chris Ryan
The book tells how Michael recruited Rocco Lampone and Al Neri, and the Havana assassin is assumed to be a Sicilian executioner, like Furio before Furio. — Brian Koppelman
"I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart," with the kiss, is called the number one movie acknowledgment of betrayal; Coppola is the master of big noisy set pieces.
Vito killing Finucci during the festa is praised for the rooftops, the white suit to track him, the oranges, the light bulb and the towel over the gun.
Vito bringing home a single pear after losing his job and sharing it silently with his wife is a wordless moment that brings a viewer to tears every time. — Brian Koppelman
Themes of what comes from the earth, including oranges, the pear, olive oil and wine, are purposeful; Gordon Willis fought with Coppola over actors moving within the frame.
In the Tahoe confrontation, Fredo could perhaps have saved himself by going straight to his brother the night of the assassination, but not by then.
Michael banishing Fredo is almost worse than killing him; another view never felt bad for Fredo, since Johnny Ola's call proves the betrayal.
Killing his brother is called the second-worst thing Michael does, behind having the innocent woman killed. — Brian Koppelman
The abortion scene is defended as rewatchable and Pacino's greatest scene, rewatched almost daily; his face after "it was an abortion" is called the greatest five seconds in a movie.
Hagen must have known about the abortion because he would know the doctor Kay went to, which contributes to Michael's anger at him. — Brian Koppelman
A hottest take calls the abortion Kay's only good scene and Kay the worst character, dumber than Fredo; others defend Diane Keaton as a great dramatic actress and cite her other scenes.
The abortion was Talia Shire's idea, and Coppola thanked her by adding her plea that Michael forgive Fredo. — Bill Simmons
Talia Shire is praised as a smart actress and for looking great in Rocky 3.
The Kay argument continues with Trump-style jokes about how many people agree.
Vito killing Don Chitio with the 18-inch knife prompts questions about whether a knife could do that.
Connie asking Michael to forgive Fredo ends with the hug and the menacing look to Al Neri. — Bill Simmons
Tom and Frankie's prison scene with the Roman emperors story is called perhaps the best acting and writing in the two films, shot through the fence until Frankie is left alone.
The scene ties to Clemenza talking about history and to Coppola's Patton script about warriors steeped in heritage, the idea that the empire ends. — Brian Koppelman
The final three deaths are rewatchable: Roth's high-difficulty murder, Frankie in the bathtub, and Fredo killed on the lake during the Hail Mary. — Bill Simmons
The final flashback dinner is praised; the Sonny actor returned for the same pay, while Brando did not show up and the scene was rewritten, which is judged better. — Bill Simmons
The rug theft by Clemenza and Vito is another pick, as is the Don Roberto rent scene, with a nail in the door that the actor could not open. — Brian Koppelman
The spaghetti scene shows Vito taking over from Clemenza.
The Senate hearing, where Pentangeli recants after his brother appears and Hagen yells for an apology, is highly watchable.
A final pick is the Senator Geary scene, which can be watched thousands of times. — Sean Fennessey
Another final pick is the Havana sequence, specifically the Michael-Fredo cafe scene and the recreation of pre-revolution Havana. — Chris Ryan
Two more picks go to a Fredo and Michael scene; whether it is Cuba or Tahoe is left unclear. — Bill Simmons
Working title Redline; the title was owned by Roger Corman and traded for stock footage; Dom's house is really at 724 East Kensington Road in Echo Park; LA locations including Dodger Stadium and San Bernardino International Airport for Race Wars; the rig heist on Domagoni Parkway (as transcribed); Neil Moritz's Ferrari cameo; the Neptune's Net nod to Point Break; an alternate ending with Brian resigning from the LAPD; 1,500 real drivers at Race Wars; Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez dated during filming; the camera-truck rig for driving shots; Brewster and Rodriguez had no driver's licenses; Vin Diesel and the director chose XXX over the sequel
The working title was Redline, which sounds like a Nick Cage or Timothy Olyphant Netflix movie; redline refers to a car's maximum speed; the title The Fast and the Furious belonged to director Roger Corman, who traded it for some stock footage owned by Universal Studios, a trade jokingly ranked with the Luka Doncic trade.
One host thought the title was bad when it came out and loves it now; it is a running frustration that in all the ridiculous things the series has done nobody has ever said 'the Fast and the Furious', and the hosts script how Dom could have dropped it into the 'Salud Me Familia' toast after the heist before cutting to credits.
A tangent on saying 'Salud Me Familia' at Ringer holiday parties, and on how by Fast Five even people barely in parts two through four were part of Vin's extended family: a touch on the forehead or passing the barbecue sauce gets you in.
Dom's house shows the address 1327 but the real house is at 724 East Kensington Road in Echo Park, blocks from Dodger Stadium and now a tourist place; the hosts plan a field trip to shoot an Instagram video re-creating Jesse getting shot, one as Jesse and one as Vin crawling across the yard.
Key LA locations: the Dodger Stadium parking lot where Brian tests his car in the opening, Angelino Heights, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Little Saigon, and San Bernardino International Airport as the venue for Race Wars, which one host of sixteen years in LA had never heard of; the entire rig heist was filmed on the Domagoni Parkway (as transcribed) on the south side of the San Jacinto Valley.
Producer Neil Moritz made the movie happen and cameos as the bald driver of the black Ferrari who drag races Brian and Dom, as he told the hosts on an earlier podcast; the Malibu lunch at Neptune's Net on the Pacific Coast Highway is a little homage to Point Break, where Lori Petty's character worked there.
Asked whether Brian being a cop was a surprise on first viewing, since the film does not hint at it until the police pull him over, one host already knew from reading that it was Point Break and wishes that had not been the case.
An alternate ending was filmed in which Tanner drops Brian at the Toretto house, Mia is packing to move away, and Brian reveals he has resigned from the LAPD and has time; the hosts are glad it is not in the movie. Over 1,500 real drivers brought their cars to the Race Wars scene.
Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez dated during filming, which delights the hosts, who argue it should have been a magazine-cover story the way Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were and imagine how cool a kid of theirs would have been.
To put the real actors behind the wheel at 80 to 100 miles an hour, the production built a rig: a high-powered truck with a long chassis driven by a stunt driver while the actors steered a dummy car and bounced along; the hosts guess this decade just puts cameras in the car or uses CGI, and recall the chase in Ronan (as transcribed), where the lead actor, filmed beside the real driver, looks terrified and never cool for a single second.
Stepping on research earlier: neither Jordana Brewster nor Michelle Rodriguez had a driver's license before the film and both needed intensive driver training.
Forgotten research surfaced during Who Won: the director and Vin Diesel skipped Fast 2 to make XXX, wanting to own a franchise themselves; the hosts are unsure it was a good career move and place XXX in a weird era of music, video games and sports heroes, X games and Grand Theft Auto; Vin was pulled back for a cameo and did not really return until four.
