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Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
L.A. Confidential
Running Scared
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When Harry Met Sally...
When Harry Met Sally...
When Harry Met Sally...
When Harry Met Sally...
Film credit
Billy Crystal
Stats
- Episodes featuring their films
- 3
- Movies in this archive
- 3
Rewatchables episodes featuring Billy Crystal’s films
Displaying all 3 episodes
Mentioned in discussions
Casting What-Ifs
John C. Reilly’s Cal role and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Jean Girard role had several reported alternatives.
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:24:05Read transcript
- Jack Black, Billy Crystal, and Dennis Quaid are reported alternatives for Cal; the panel thinks Black might steal too much focus. — Craig Horlbeck
- Michael J. Fox, Seth Green, and John Stamos are reported Jean Girard alternatives; Stamos is the one the panel can most readily imagine. — Craig Horlbeck
- John C. Reilly had earlier been intended for Brick in Anchorman before a scheduling conflict. — Craig Horlbeck
Recasting Couch
Buscemi and Kevin Pollak are suggested for Sid.
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:33:25Read transcript
- Buscemi and Kevin Pollak are suggested for Sid. — Chris Ryan
- Billy Crystal is preferred if casting a famous star; Larry David is a dream choice because his face was less familiar in 1997.
- Billy Crystal is rejected as too famous; the counterargument prefers him if the part requires a celebrity. — Bill Simmons
- A Sid alternative transcribed as Panow is suggested; the actor identity remains unresolved. — Chris Ryan
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:17Read transcript
- Crystal is the first answer and the undiarized exchange explicitly agrees. — Bill Simmons
- The case argues Running Scared proved Crystal could work as a movie lead despite second billing on the poster. — Bill Simmons
Podcast choices
The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film
Danny–Anna chemistry; Crystal’s Italian Chicago-cop identity
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:52:10Read transcript
- Anna’s willingness to leave her dentist fiancé for Danny feels unsupported because the breakup and lingering attraction are barely explained. — Bill Simmons
- The film offers only the idea that Danny values police work more than their relationship before his Florida plan brings Anna back. — Bill Simmons
- The competing answer questions casting Billy Crystal as Danny Costanzo without acknowledging a Jewish or mixed family identity. — Bill Simmons
What’s Aged the Worst?
Sister's confession and motive; working-class crazy-stalker trope; Frank and Rachel apart in the third section; Whitney smoking; cocky chauffeur line; Robert Wuhl as Oscars host; the bathroom scene with the assassin
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:23Read transcript
- The sister's confession and motive are the answer: paying a hitman she cannot call off and saying she never would have killed Fletcher is confusing, a surprising loophole from Kasdan. — Bill Simmons
- The twist tries to come from someone unexpected; one participant was strangely attracted to the sister on the rewatch, the other was not. — Van Lathan
- The film never shows Rachel mistreating her sister beyond a few stink faces, leaving a chasm between an entitled-star annoyance and a hit; the drunken confession is bad. — Van Lathan
- Why hire a hitman when she could spike her sister's drink? — Van Lathan
- The blond crazy guy reflects an 80s-90s tendency to make janitors and working-class people the crazies, a "minimum wage people bias," with Buffalo Bill as another example. — Van Lathan
- In the film's third section Frank and Rachel go about 30 minutes without a scene together. — Bill Simmons
- Seeing Whitney smoke on the balcony prompts worry about her voice. — Bill Simmons
- Costner's line that the cocky Black chauffeur always dies is a little jarring. — Bill Simmons
- Robert Will (as transcribed) as an Oscars host is odd in an era of Johnny Carson, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. — Bill Simmons
- The bathroom scene where the guy who ends up trying to kill her seems about to choke her makes little sense, and going back to the room to make Frank jealous feels contrived. — Van Lathan
In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:16:09Read transcript
- The first answer is Crystal.
- Asked about Underwood, the reply jokes about the mise-en-scene of 'Ryan Underwood.' — Sean Fennessey
- Kirby is floated as a zag, but it has to be Billy Crystal, a box office superstar and almost an action star in this movie.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Billy Crystal
- Speaker not identified
- Billy Crystal
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:05:52Read transcript
- Apex is spoiled early: this is the Apex for Billy Crystal. — Chris Ryan
- Palance winning the Oscar for this while Crystal hosted is called the ultimate apex mountain moment; it wasn't going to get better for Crystal.
- Billy Crystal: yes.
- Bruno Kirby: no, because he played young Clemenza in Godfather II.
- Daniel Stern: unquestionably yes.
- Cattle vacations get a yes, but another reply says it depends on whether Westworld counts as a cattle vacation, which is called a good call.
- Shooting the running of the bulls in Pamplona for one scene is called a real Hollywood flex, with a joke about a missed Rossellini movie. — Bill Simmons
- Jack Palance: Shane, not this, despite the Oscar. — Bill Simmons
- Helen Slater's apex is The Legend of Billie Jean; she also played Supergirl. — Bill Simmons
- Patricia Wedig gets a 'definitely' with a thirtysomething reference, which is not clearly a yes for this movie. — Bill Simmons
Casting What-Ifs
Billy Crystal, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis as Buzz; Jim Carrey as Buzz with Paul Newman as Woody; Rick Moranis as Rex
In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:03Read transcript
- Billy Crystal declined Buzz, later called it the biggest mistake of his career, and was then offered Mike Wazowski in Monsters, Inc. — Sean Fennessey
- Crystal is judged not rigid enough for Buzz, unlike Tim Allen's chin-out delivery. — Sean Fennessey
- Chevy Chase turned down Buzz; he is judged unable to pull it off because his corners are a little too rounded. — Shea Serrano
- Bill Murray is rejected as too snarky to deliver the "sad, strange little man" line seriously. — Shea Serrano
- A 1995 Mel Gibson is judged capable of the role. — Shea Serrano
- Bruce Willis gets a thumbs up with doubts, and his Look Who's Talking voice work is praised. — Shea Serrano
- Tim Allen has said Pixar wanted Jim Carrey for Buzz and Paul Newman for Woody but could not afford them, meant to reflect new Hollywood taking over old; Newman later voiced Doc Hudson in Cars. — Sean Fennessey
- One should never say no to Paul Newman, but Tom Hanks's Woody is too ingrained to imagine anyone else. — Mallory Rubin
- Hanks and Allen as generational peers, a movie pillar and a TV star, is preferred; Newman fits better as Doc. — Sean Fennessey
- Newman is the only name that could have replaced Hanks, because Woody needs a peach-soft voice; several actors, such as Robert Redford or Denzel Washington, could have played Buzz. — Shea Serrano
- Rick Moranis was reportedly approached for Rex, which would have been great. — Shea Serrano
- An online claim of Jeremy Irons as Mr. Potato Head is raised but unconfirmed. — Sean Fennessey
Who Won the Movie?
Disputed: Billy Crystal and Nora Ephron
In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:52Read transcript
- One participant chooses Billy Crystal for the final speech and the comic material that makes the film distinct. — Juliet Litman
- Another leans Crystal because no other actor could sell the part, while resisting separating him from Meg Ryan. — Bill Simmons
- One participant explicitly chooses Nora Ephron for establishing her later run and the modern rom-com form. — Bill Simmons
- A second explicit choice moves to Ephron because the script could support other compatible lead pairs.
- The discussion wavers back toward Crystal; one view is that the movie does not work without this particular pairing, so the chemistry is the real winner. — Amanda Dobbins
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Billy Crystal
- Speaker not identified
- Nora Ephron
- Speaker not identified
- Nora Ephron
- Speaker not identified
- Billy Crystal
Picking Nits
Harry’s age makeup and locations, the travel time, unshown careers, Emily breakup, post-sex behavior, dual phone lines, missing best-man speech, disconnected friend circles, food-bar hygiene, and compressed dating timelines
In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:44Read transcript
- College-age Harry looks far too old.
- Sally appears to drop Harry and all his luggage in Washington Square Park, and the location complicates assumptions about his final run.
- Chicago to New York should take closer to twelve or thirteen hours than the stated eighteen. — Juliet Litman
- Neither Sally’s reporting nor Harry’s political consulting is ever shown or meaningfully specified.
- Harry’s breakup with the attractive pie-business owner Emily is unexplained. — Bill Simmons
- Harry’s panic and abrupt departure after sleeping with a close friend feel under-motivated without more drinking or bad sex. — Bill Simmons
- Marie and Jess inexplicably maintain separate landline numbers on opposite sides of one bed.
- The film omits what should have been a strong Billy Crystal best-man speech.
- Sally, Jess, Harry, and Marie unrealistically remain in isolated pairs despite overlapping journalism and New York Magazine circles.
- Picky, hygienic Sally uses shared hot-food-bar tongs across dishes.
- Joe says “I love you” after one month, while Harry brings an anthropologist to a wedding within three weeks of sleeping with Sally. — Amanda Dobbins
Apex Mountain
Rob Reiner: qualified yes
In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:05:36Read transcript
- Billy Crystal is rejected because City Slickers and his Oscar-hosting run take him higher. — Bill Simmons
- Meg Ryan is rejected because later signature movies and an uneven filmography complicate the case. — Bill Simmons
- Rob Reiner is proposed and partly accepted, though Misery and Castle Rock/Seinfeld success make a later peak plausible. — Bill Simmons
- New York as a pop-culture setting is proposed and rejected in favor of the 1970s. — Bill Simmons
Half-Assed Internet Research
Rejected titles, Crystal isolating himself, real-couple interludes, Gerald Ford’s son, the original platonic ending, Reiner’s changed outlook, and improvised material
In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:01:03Read transcript
- 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
- Gerald Ford’s son Jack played Joe. — Bill Simmons
- The script initially kept Harry and Sally platonic; Reiner changed the ending after meeting his future wife during production.
- A 2004 stage adaptation starred Luke Perry and Alyson Hannigan. — Bill Simmons
- Reiner and Crystal met playing best friends on All in the Family, and Carrie Fisher knew Reiner through Penny Marshall. — Bill Simmons
- Harry and Sally’s final interview was reportedly improvised from a much longer filmed exchange.
Displaying discussions 1 - 12 of 15 in total
