No recasting is wanted for Simmons or Teller; a bigger father actor such as Robin Williams is considered unnecessary, leaving Reiser in place. — Bill Simmons
Andrew's father-son scenes and Reiser's presence are aged-best choices; Benoist is considered effective despite being used mainly to advance Andrew's story. — Sean Fennessey
Fletcher's cruel first-chair remark and using a backup drummer as motivation are discussed, with a joking proposal to put an intern behind the podcast producer. — Bill Simmons
The possible connection between Fletcher making arrows fly and preparing the next Bird is admired as an interpretation, explicitly uncertain as authorial intent. — Bill Simmons
Simmons reportedly continued filming for two days with two cracked ribs after Teller tackled him; Tár's similar stage tackle prompts an influence comparison. — Bill Simmons
Casting Teller is an aged-best choice; Chazelle reportedly wrote with him in mind. — Sean Fennessey
Taggart and Rosewood are named first, with a wish that Beverly Hills Cop movies had kept coming every two years, seven in all, to add more of them. — Bill Simmons
Brigitte Nielsen is raised next, and this is judged the best part she ever had, better than her earlier Schwarzenegger film and definitely better than Cobra. — Bill Simmons
An opening song thematically drawn from the movie is praised as something no longer done. — Chris Ryan
Shakedown was reportedly meant for Glenn Frey until his voice gave out, so Bob Seger sang it; Harold Faltermeyer’s score is compared to 48 Hours, Escape from New York, Miami Vice, and Fletch. — Bill Simmons
Shakedown is called Bob Seger’s only number-one hit, a late peak after Springsteen pulled ahead of him around 1981. — Bill Simmons
George Michael’s I Want Your Sex is called an amazing ‘80s song used perfectly. — Bill Simmons
A scene at the villains’ apartment revealing their strange relationship is wished for, and the debt-driven alphabet scheme is called too cute by half. — Bill Simmons
Simpson and Bruckheimer have aged best; Simpson reportedly had Paramount pull writer Larry Ferguson off The Presidio to work on this film. — Bill Simmons
A deleted gun-club scene where Axel, Rosewood, and Taggart sneak past lasers should have been kept. — Bill Simmons
It was reportedly the first movie filmed at the Playboy Mansion after Hugh Hefner had long refused. — Bill Simmons
The Alphabet Crimes concept could be a Fincher-style limited Netflix series with one letter per episode; the crimes ran through the jewelry store, Bogomil, City Deposit, and the racetrack, and should have reached J. — Bill Simmons
Paul Reiser appears to be reading a Playboy’s Sisters magazine in several scenes, possibly a payoff for mansion access. — Chris Ryan
The short scene of Bogomil being gunned down after Brigitte Nielsen’s car cuts him off opens the category, including the wig removal and Mercedes convertible getaway. — Chris Ryan
Axel commandeering the Andersons’ house under construction is nominated, with the foreman’s exasperated no-right-angles reaction and the flow into Johnny Wishbone as highlights.
The gun club scene is praised for the Monique and Unique bit and Nielsen’s introduction, though shooting the screen with a real gun seems odd and the villain lineup feels overcrowded, including Dean Stockwell’s character.
The 385 North strip-club bit presenting a man as former President Gerald Ford remains funny, helped by the outfit and the crowd’s applause.
The fish-tank fingerprint visit to Rosewood’s apartment, with its Cobra poster, could have lasted twenty minutes. — Bill Simmons
The City Deposit armored-truck robbery is Tony Scott flexing, ending with a cement truck and Chris Rock as a valet; the whole Playboy Mansion sequence is called one of the most ‘80s scenes of the ‘80s. — Bill Simmons
The racetrack robbery is chosen for Tony Scott’s cross-cutting with running horses and Brigitte turning on her partner. — Chris Ryan
The Detroit scenes with the returning cigarette salesman and Paul Reiser’s strung-out Ferrari payphone calls are also named. — Chris Ryan
The final choice splits by genre: City Deposit through the Playboy Mansion for action, and the Andersons house scene for comedy, which the other host matches with the gun-club bag bit as an alternative. — Bill Simmons
Stephen Elliott as the chief dialed it up, whether the first time he comes in or the second; pick a time, he is bad.
Earlier, after praise for Paul Reiser in the locker sequence, the only time someone goes over the top of Murphy is credited to Cobb (as transcribed) and James Russo, the two actors going higher than Icarus to see what happens.
Victor Maitland's reaction to Mikey's death is so bad that Stephen Burkoff (as transcribed) should have spent several weeks in character.
Nothing in the first 20 minutes is exceedingly rewatchable to one host, who flips channels waiting for Axel to reach Beverly Hills; another disagrees, saying the chase is really good, and would watch an hour and a half of the cigarette deal as a Jim Jarmusch movie, and loves the Mean Streets moment that takes it out of 80s blockbuster territory; without the title you would not know what to make of Axel.
Axel arriving in Beverly Hills and checking into the hotel, claiming to be a Rolling Stone reporter in town to interview Michael Jackson, might be the funniest thing he has ever done; he cries racism without saying racism, playing an entitled white person and an affronted black person at the same time, which gets the manager to give him the room at half price; he overhears the no-reservations phone call so he has an opening line, and the wordless take at $240 a night is an all-timer.
From there it goes straight to Jenny Summers and the $130,000 piece with Serge, an almost impeccable nine minutes of comedy; an 80s trope of the pop song over the montage being turned down for a scene and brought back is noted as Stir It Up returns when he passes the two Michael Jacksons; the Serge part is compared to Shawn Michaels making any wrestler better, and Bronson Pinchot got a whole career and a sitcom out of two scenes after Risky Business.
Other nominations: the banana in the tailpipe, ordering the shrimp sandwich room service in the suite where the Rosewood and Taggart interplay starts, and the strip joint scene leading into the Super Cops monologue where everybody is cracking up; the 'Billy, you don't have to be embarrassed' bit and the Phil, Vanity Six exchange are recited.
The first team's 'not gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe' outside Maitland's house became an iconic Little League taunt with no idea of the context, and Tiger Woods talking like the tailpipe guy in 1997 gave it five more years; the ending is enjoyed for the inept guards hailing bullets without hitting anyone in the age of the poorly deployed Uzi.
Axel getting chewed out by Cobb (as transcribed) over the truckload of cigarettes from the Dearborn hijack, with Paul Reiser's 'this is not my locker', is nominated; Cobb and James Russo are called the only two people who go over the top of Murphy, going higher than Icarus.
Asked for 30 seconds on James Russo and granted 45, the Michael Tandino thing is framed as a weird love story at the start of the movie that sets everything up. — Chris Ryan
The setup is a 24-hour working-class man using his vacation to solve a murder instead of going to Hawaii; an aside confirms Beverly Hills is its own city with its own police department, expensive, good schools, safe; the pool, bar and apartment sequence with Tandino is one host's rewatchable pick, and 'before he dies, they're doing it' is raised and saved for later.
Why the movie happened is saved for half-assed research; Axel at the customs facility asking about the Porsche and 'then you're my fucking problem' is added; the final pick is checking into the hotel all the way to Serge.
During the super cop scene John Ashton is visibly fighting laughter with his head down like a Carol Burnett show sketch, Ronnie Cox can be seen fighting it too, and Judge Reinhold reportedly pinched the inside of his thigh to keep from laughing at Eddie's ad libs; one host says it changes how he will watch the movie forever.
The Joey Pants Award goes to the 'hey, it's that person' actor, and this movie has a lot of them; Stephen Lang is considered, since most people still could not recognize him, especially here with the beard, hat and mud-covered face looking like a homeless man rather than his Avatar look.
Dana Wheeler Nicholson (also transcribed 'Dana Willard-Nickerson') is the answer: the girl from Fletch, 'can I borrow your towel, my car just hit a water buffalo', where everyone aged 30 to 50 has a massive crush on her as a platonic ideal; one theory for why she did not become a massive star is that Elizabeth Shumacher (as transcribed) took that same lane; her other credits recalled are Bye Bye Love with Paul Reiser, The X Files, Friday Night Lights as the mother of one of the main characters, and Nashville.
She is one host's Joey Pants winner because the film casually tells us at the end that she died of a drug overdose, a bad beat for a character who has to be on laudanum the whole time while everyone else balls out; the running joke of the same cough-syrup bottle, obviously not the same bottle, and the scene where Wyatt returns from Dana Delaney and tries to make her into Dana Delaney while she cries because she is so high.
Another host thought she was miscast and not subtle, drooling mucus and crying for her laudanum in her first shot, which draws a defense of 'Gail Stanwyck', as the hosts call her after her Fletch character, and leads into the overacting award.
