Newman is rejected in favor of the Butch Cassidy, Sting and Towering Inferno period.
Ontkean gets an initial yes, challenged by Twin Peaks' greater visibility. — Bill Simmons
Hockey fighting receives enthusiastic support for the era, contrasted with more dangerous modern technique. — Bill Simmons
George Roy Hill is rejected. Sports movies receive a qualified case for 1977, challenged by the late-1980 s prestige wave.
The Hanson brothers lose movie brothers to the Corleones; Crouse loses to The Verdict or House of Games; Martin loses to Cool Hand Luke. — Bill Simmons
Hockey movies is an unequivocal yes. Minor-league sports raises Bull Durham as a competing answer. — Bill Simmons
The Baja Gold 1970 Pontiac GTO and films inspiring a desire to bartend in a remote dive are additional nominations, the latter compared with Goodfellas.
Al Pacino wanted Reggie, but Hill chose Newman; the hosts joke about accommodating Pacino's height.
Jack Carlson's WHA playoff call-up led to Dave Hanson replacing him as a brother and Jerry Houser playing Killer Carlson. — Bill Simmons
According to the performer playing Johnny Upton, Nick Nolte sought Ned Braden, but former university player Ontkean won the role. The hosts prefer the outcome and Nolte in North Dallas Forty. — Bill Simmons
The unranked early movie-nudity roster includes Melinda Dillon, Lacey Underall in Caddyshack, the Shining bathtub woman, the Animal House women, Airplane’s faceless topless woman, Phoebe Cates, Jamie Lee Curtis, Linda Hamilton, Apollonia in Purple Rain, Joyce Heiser (ASR) in Just One of the Guys, Apollonia Corleone and Total Recall’s three-breasted woman. The Shining room number is corrected from 217 to 237. — Bill Simmons
Jim Carr's opening interview with the goalie, including the microphone adjustment and the explanation of penalty-box shame.
The opening crowd insults, national anthem and drunk player immediately establish the team's world. — Bill Simmons
Reggie meets the Hansons, finds their toy cars and complains to Joe, who tells the Eddie Shore story. — Bill Simmons
The players watch television together in the hotel while the goalie demands a trade and Hanrahan's wife calls. — Bill Simmons
Reggie's escalating taunts provoke Hanrahan; the goalkeeper's appearance and Newman's reactions make the sequence especially funny.
Reggie turns Dave into Killer, then unleashes the Hansons. This is called the most rewatchable stretch and one of the great sports-film sequences. — Bill Simmons
The Hansons' attack includes the puck hitting the organist, his later protective helmet and a brother diving toward an opponent behind the net. — Bill Simmons
The pregame brawl and the crowd fight after the keys hit a Hanson are additional choices. — Bill Simmons
McCracken and Carlson's stick fight, Ned punching Reggie, and Reggie's confrontation with Jim Carr are nominated. — Bill Simmons
Ned's hostile interview answers about his father and trouble at home. — Bill Simmons
The Syracuse player introductions delight the hosts, especially their bizarre criminal histories and Jim Carr's delivery. — Bill Simmons
Further nominations include the final bench-clearing brawl, Reggie and Suzanne's intimate conversation, Lily's scenes and Reggie's confrontation with owner Anita.
The unanimous choice is the Hansons being unleashed. — Bill Simmons
Nitpick: Galvin lacks a Boston accent; the defense is that failed accents would distract and Warden is fundamentally New York/New Jersey. A sudden Boston-accented Laura is imagined jokingly.
The clients could fire Galvin for concealing a settlement; his failure to counteroffer is questioned,with 600,000 recalled as the suit's demand.
Neither side pursuing Kaitlin sooner seems implausible,especially the defense's otherwise thorough investigators; uncertainty over which nurse was missing is retained.
Laura keeping Concannon's check in her purse is questioned; constant accepted drinks and the ending imply her own alcohol problem.
The check amount is corrected from 550 to 650,with installments conjectured and the total payment still unclear. — Sean Fennessey
Galvin declining a mistrial after the planted lawyer is exposed is questioned; his insistence that he can win and has nothing else explains it emotionally.
Galvin's belief that Laura naturally wants him is another nitpick,despite Newman's attractiveness. — Chris Ryan
Crouse initially gets this film,but the choice moves to House of Games because she stars. — Chris Ryan
Rampling's Apex remains uncertain given her international career; this film is personally striking,but The Night Porter and 45 Years are alternatives. — Chris Ryan
Film-location bars remain an open comparison,with St.Elmo's Fire suggested and audience replies invited. — Bill Simmons
Boston-film Apex goes to Good Will Hunting because it launched Damon and Affleck,unlike this already-established ensemble. — Bill Simmons
Old Sully’s in The Town and unidentified Good Will Hunting/Departed bars enter the discussion. — Bill Simmons
Goodfellas is considered but ruled a single-film location.
Once multiple films become the criterion,the Verdict/GodfatherII bar receives affirmative Apex. — Bill Simmons
Trial-film Apex remains unresolved between A Few Good Men and 12 Angry Men,with the latter's jury-room-only setting complicating the comparison. — Sean Fennessey
Disco Fever pinball gets affirmative Apex; the same machine appeared in a host's stepfather's home.
Drinking an egg is shared between this film and Rocky.
Keeping six-packs of Budweiser in office filing cabinets is an Apex proposal without an explicit ruling. — Chris Ryan
Bushmills is an Apex proposal; later advertising and personal Jameson preferences qualify the discussion without a clear affirmative ruling.
The alcoholic down-on-his-luck lawyer receives an affirmative early Apex. — Sean Fennessey
Barry Reed's novel supplied a framework, but Lumet reportedly disliked it and the film greatly changed it. — Bill Simmons
Lumet's efficiency and at least three weeks of rehearsal reportedly unlocked Newman, reflecting exacting live-television and Eugene O'Neill work with Mason. — Sean Fennessey
Mamet's script reportedly ended without revealing the verdict, prioritizing salvation; the hosts prefer the released payoff, Warden's upward gesture and Laura's unanswered calls. — Bill Simmons
Bruce Willis is reportedly visible smiling behind Newman after the verdict; an Amazon cast overlay alerted a host to the cameo. — Bill Simmons
Half-assed research identifies the New York Horseshoe bar on Seventh Street,also used for Pentangeli's strangling in GodfatherII and Crocodile Dundee; its former name remains phonetically uncertain.
The host told his surprised father the bar was in New York; Boston's available bars are lamented,while many film exteriors are acknowledged as Boston. — Bill Simmons
Newman reportedly narrowly avoided a falling light weighing hundreds of pounds. — Bill Simmons
Newman proposed eye drops to evoke the redness caused by alcoholism, according to the recalled Lumet account. — Bill Simmons
Mamet first wrote for an Arthur Hiller version; another screenplay by Jay Presson Allen attracted Redford, who brought in his own writer. — Bill Simmons
Redford reportedly sought a more likable,nonalcoholic underdog. — Bill Simmons
Meetings with Pollack reportedly angered producers,who fired Redford and restored Mamet’s script with Lumet. — Bill Simmons
Redford is rejected for the role because his protected heroic image would make a generic film, despite respect for his arts advocacy. — Sean Fennessey
David Brown reportedly said Sinatra offered to play Galvin free,but the producers wanted Newman. — Sean Fennessey
A studio owner’s warning about starting a car is recounted as a half-joking threat,not a verified criminal act. — Sean Fennessey
Lancaster reportedly was intended to play Concannon. — Sean Fennessey
Lancaster might work but would be physically imposing rather than Mason’s professorial,slithering intelligence. — Sean Fennessey
Christie reportedly declined Laura. — Bill Simmons
The role is defended as mysterious and opposite Newman.
A counterargument calls the role underdeveloped and unkind to women.
Christie's Power performance is criticized without calling her an overrated actress; possible poor fit with Lumet is suggested. — Chris Ryan
