A present-day remake is considered, but no comparably famous comic cohort is found; Tim Robinson is discussed as talented but insufficiently famous for the same premise. — Chris Ryan
Jason Segel is favored as a digital replacement for James Franco because of his ties to the group and likable quality.
The party is considered five or six minutes too short, while Craig Robinson’s departure could be shortened. — Bill Simmons
James Franco’s centrality and onscreen friendship with Seth Rogen are uncomfortable in light of their later estrangement and Franco’s disappearance from major films.
Emma Watson’s discomfort with improvised material is discussed with Seth Rogen’s later acceptance that communication failed.
3D televisions are identified as a dated technological fad. — Chris Ryan
The movie’s heavy marijuana culture is judged less funny after legalization and saturation. — Chris Ryan
The proposed Hitler scene remains disputed rather than a unanimous missed opportunity. — Bill Simmons
The guests dying in rapid succession after the apocalypse begins is proposed. — Bill Simmons
Jonah playing with the gun and the Milky Way argument are proposed. — Bill Simmons
Danny McBride's breakfast entrance is proposed as the point when the film rises to another level. — Bill Simmons
The homemade Pineapple Express 2: Blood Red is proposed. — Bill Simmons
The group's conversation about Emma Watson and her armed departure is proposed, with the scene's sexual-threat humor acknowledged as potentially harder to stage later. — Bill Simmons
The Green Goblin actor reportedly did 90 percent of his own stunts. — Van Lathan
Hugh Jackman reportedly flew to New York for a Wolverine cameo that was dropped because the Wolverine costume was unavailable. — Van Lathan
Four costumes were stolen; Sony offered a $25,000 reward, and they were recovered after 18 months with a former studio security guard and an accomplice arrested. — Van Lathan
James Franco reportedly joked about the lead's frog-like features, starting a lasting rivalry. — Van Lathan
Octavia Spencer's wrestling check-in role was reportedly offered to Tig Notaro, who was then asked to audition and lost it. — Van Lathan
Elizabeth Banks reportedly sought Mary Jane, was called too old, and got the Betty Brant role instead; James Franco reportedly auditioned for Peter. — Charles Holmes
The unnamed newsroom friend who tells Iris nobody is friends with an ex who cheats on them is liked for extreme real talk; Ed Burns, Cameron Diaz's ex, is added to the list with an explicit 'I would say he wins it', and Eli Wallach is also chosen as so great in the movie.
The award is explained as the heat check, coming in for a short time and going off; Kate Winslet has three men, the ex Jasper (Rufus Sewell, a waste of time), Arthur and Jack Black, but Jack Black is billed as a star and Eli Wallach is not on the poster, which becomes the new eligibility definition.
Dustin Hoffman is questioned since he is in for five seconds, and it is hard because these people are in it so briefly; one pick lands on Lohan out of a soft spot for her.
The guest's pick is Katherine Hahn, out of love for her: the character name Bristol Farms is such an L.A. name, and her small part here looks tiny next to all the later work; there are a lot of great small roles for extremely famous people. — Kari Simmons
Scheduling nearly forced Bardem to withdraw, with Mark Strong on standby. — Bill Simmons
Heath Ledger was offered Llewelyn and declined to spend time with his daughter; James Franco also read, while Brolin’s audition was shot by Robert Rodriguez.
Ledger could have carried the Texas role, but the panel prefers Brolin’s less star-coded fit. — Bill Hader
Brad Pitt is imagined regretting the overlap with his Jesse James role, though his visibility would weaken the character illusion. — Bill Simmons
Garrett Dillahunt auditioned five times for Llewelyn and instead became Bell’s deputy. — Bill Simmons
Kate Winslet was approached for Mal before the part went to Marion Cotillard; the hosts think Cotillard, who often plays a stormy femme fatale, is a very different actress, and that a French rather than English woman is what the crazed dream wife needed, since Winslet would not have been as frightening.
Nolan's films are said to keep returning to a dead woman who lets the leading man discover his emotional vulnerability; the casting is seen as letting him pretend something more complex was going on with the character, and a joke in a producer voice notes that Kate with Leo would have added twenty million.
For Ariadne the considered names were Evan Rachel Wood, Emily Blunt, Rachel McAdams, Emma Roberts, Jesse Schramm (as transcribed), Taylor Swift and Terry Mulligan (as transcribed), to disbelief around the table; Ellen Page is judged perfect for combining intense intelligence with wide-eyed vulnerability, something clinical and nurse-like, where Evan Rachel Wood would be too tall, beautiful and imperious.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Arthur was also offered to James Franco, who turned it down over scheduling; JGL's blankness and deadpan are liked for the part.
Don Johnson was considered for Peter Browning, the part Tom Berenger took; Johnson's ruined-man quality might have worked, Berenger was a shock to recognize, and Browning is not an essential character so Johnson would have been fine.
JT Walsh gets an 'Apex for me for sure' and a second yes calling it his most infamous role, prompting a joke about how seriously the question was taken.
Aaron Sorkin is close but not the apex, a nice view but not the top; the first season of The West Wing and The Social Network are his apex, this film is likened to his 63-point Michael Jordan game with not a bad scene in it, and Moneyball is set aside because he rewrote somebody else's script.
Kevin Pollack is a no because of The Usual Suspects, which another agrees with.
Kevin Bacon is a no from one panelist, who calls him great and underrated here but notes how many films he has made, with The River Wild mentioned; another says no too, theorizing his bad haircut was deliberate so he would not distract from Cruise, like Kiefer's haircut, and puts his apex at Footloose, also liking him in Mystic River.
A third panelist disagrees with both and says this is Bacon's apex: not a meaty part but memorable, likable, with a dash of unintentional comedy, and hard to imagine anyone from that era, such as Matt Dillon, playing it without competing with Cruise.
Bacon was taking smaller parts in bigger movies then, as in JFK; though he is on the prosecuting side backing Jessup, he has some morality, saying he does not think the guys deserve jail but does not make that call; after an aside that his leaving the pickup game is unforgivable, a 'yes' for him is restated, possibly by the same panelist.
Wolfgang Bodesen (as transcribed) is a yes: 'that's the Apex for Wolfgang. I wish him well.'
Jack Nicholson's career overall draws four 'No' answers; then 'Late Jack Nicholson. Yes.' is offered, with one voice naming As Good as It Gets, and challenged over The Departed the late-career yes holds, because the Departed performance with its accent as a Whitey Bulger figure is called out of control and the weak link of that film.
Tom Cruise gets two yeses, with this chosen over Cocktail and a 'this or The Firm' aside; no one else in 30 years could bring this mix of unintentional comedy, good acting, sarcasm and bravado, Leo DiCaprio could not, though Matt Damon ten years later might have.
A TV version is planned for next year with Alec Baldwin, who is called amazing, but Caffey has not been cast; James Franco was rumored, a terrible idea, since the part needs an airhead who is really smart, a lawyer who plays softball, attractive but not a romantic lead; Demi Moore is left off the list as the nadir of her career.
