The two choices are Robert Duvall in James Kahn's coach role, coming off Days of Thunder, or a young Ben Affleck, big and the right age after Dazed and Confused, as Joe Kane. — Bill Simmons
Affleck is the choice for his athletic size and connective tissue to the story. — Kyle Brandt
Duvall is the choice because Khan mails in too many scenes; Kane's age matters less since people age differently. — Ryen Russillo
Coppola, as with the first film, confirmed as one of the ten most important filmmakers. — Brian Koppelman
De Niro announced himself as the next major movie star, doing it all in Italian. — Brian Koppelman
Lee Strasberg, a teacher who had not performed, lays down a performance that never seems overmatched next to Pacino, like Brad Stevens climbing onto the court. — Brian Koppelman
Pacino, called the greatest performance ever seen and the first thing thought of with this movie. — Bill Simmons
A tangent asks whether Pacino resented De Niro becoming Brando's heir, comparing their later careers. — Sean Fennessey
A zag picks Cazale and Duvall as the soul of the movie. — Chris Ryan
Kay Corleone; the dead sex worker used to frame Geary; Pacino's on-set demands; Willie Cicci; "Was it a boy?"; Rocco's Roth hit plan; cut Fabrizio revenge scene; Vito walking away from the Fanucci threat
The dead sex worker is read differently now than in the 70s and is called the thing that holds up the least; Michael has an innocent woman killed for leverage. — Brian Koppelman
The Geary dead-woman idea is called what has aged worst, though Duvall's part in the scene is praised. — Bill Simmons
Pacino was reportedly difficult: he nearly dropped out, wanted a massive salary, complained about the script and the slow pace. — Bill Simmons
A tangent argues whether Serpico has aged poorly and whether Prince of the City is better; the Prince of the City take is rejected. — Brian Koppelman
Willie Chichi is called a scumbag and the true betrayer; the actor is Joe Spinell, also in Rocky 2 and many grindhouse movies.
Michael asking "Was it a boy?" after hearing about the miscarriage marks him as evil. — Bill Simmons
Rocco's plan to kill Roth has no exit strategy; theories include a terminal diagnosis and an internet theory that Rocco left the drapes open.
A deleted scene where Michael takes revenge on Fabrizio should have stayed in the movie. — Bill Simmons
The opaque Roth-Pentangeli blame early on is raised, then defended as what makes the film rewatchable, and the objection is dropped. — Brian Koppelman
Aiello's ad-libbed hello-from-Michael line is called the worst moment because it makes no sense, though it may twist the knife and it deepens the mystery. — Brian Koppelman
Vito lets Finucci hold a knife to a girl's eye and walks away, which a modern hero would not do. — Brian Koppelman
Young Pacino and young De Niro together; Merle; drapes shooting sequence; 'In my home' outburst; all things Fredo; Johnny Ola; Michael's IBM stock; Pentangeli's brother; Rocco Lampone; oranges; Gordon Willis photography; bathtub Roman-history scene; Talia Shire
Young Pacino and young De Niro in the same movie; De Niro spent four months studying Brando, learned Sicilian and speaks about eight words of English. — Bill Simmons
De Niro had been cast as Paulie in the original and read for Sonny.
Merle asking for a drink in Michael's office and Michael saying "I don't know this Merle" in the third person; the hosts speculate about what Merle does for a living.
The drapes-and-gunfire sequence, Michael diving for cover and finding Rocco alive, is great. — Chris Ryan
Pacino's "In my home!" outburst shows his volume changes in their pure form.
Michael's advice about trying to think like the people around you is great life advice. — Bill Simmons
All things Fredo: his outfits, hot drunk wife, hair and fishing; he gets wins left and right unlike Kay. — Bill Simmons
Dominic Cheney as Johnny Ola starts a Sopranos lineage of casting from these films. — Bill Simmons
The Geary dead-woman scene is praised for Duvall, though one view says the idea has aged worst; Duvall is argued as possibly the best actor of his generation. — Brian Koppelman
The scene shows the family is now doing the killing themselves, unlike the horse in Part I.
More entries include the daiquiri, Vito and Signor Roberto, and Michael's IBM stock. — Bill Simmons
Pentangeli's brother flying in from the old country and staring is the most Italian part of the movie.
Tom telling Michael he is staying, met with Michael being mean to him again, and the "anyone can be killed" line three years before JFK. — Bill Simmons
Rocco Lampone is underrated for two high-profile mob murders, including Roth. — Bill Simmons
The oranges are a literary echo; oranges reportedly represent memory and nostalgia to Sicilians.
Gordon Willis's photography, turn-of-the-century New York, the Ellis Island arrival and the recorder. — Chris Ryan
The top pick for one participant is the bathtub scene and its Roman history.
Another pick is the look of the film with Willis, plus De Niro and Pacino in their prime. — Bill Simmons
The 2012 Thunder comparison casts Kendrick Perkins as that team's Kay Corleone. — Bill Simmons
Talia Shire is added late: much better than in the first film, with an arc.
Redford, Glenn Close and Duval (as transcribed) are all no, and it might be no one; Darren McGavin might have been at his apex here if he had been credited.
A small case for Kim Basinger is rejected since LA Confidential, where she was nominated and the hosts are unsure whether she won, came at the tail end of her career, although this film moved her career to the next level.
A case is made for Brimley, which would stab Chris Ryan through the heart given The Firm; the hosts settle jokingly on his chest hair being an Apex Mountain.
Screenwriter Roger Towne is floated and met with 'didn't do much else', drawing only a 'sure, that was the best I could do'; Batboy Bobby is floated as a joke; Levinson's apex is Rain Man or Diner, and Redford's was judged All the President's Men in that earlier episode, though he won a directing Oscar for Ordinary People.
Basinger is in the final eight of a most-beautiful-woman-in-a-movie bracket, and her constant lip licking raises whether it is deliberate or just her essence; Diane Lane in Unfaithful is a similar case.
Brimley and Farnsworth as Pop and Red are perfect and some of the best stuff in the movie; it is sobering that Brimley was the same age as one host is now yet seems 78, and only about two years older than Redford in real life.
Hobbs played semi-pro ball for the Hebrew Oilers, prompting a hunt for t-shirts on Cafe Press or Redbubble; the Randy Newman score was Oscar-nominated, is instantly associated with the film, and gets yanked for NBA and World Series montages.
Basinger is named again, with a nod to Alec Baldwin and their handsome couple; Max Mercy, who never played sports but makes it more fun to watch, is a model for sports media, and the hosts imagine him resisting digital media at the New York Daily News, still drawing cartoons, before being wooed by Sirius for Mad Dog Radio or a podcast.
John Rhodes, the Pittsburgh lefty who is a Roy Hobbs spitting image with a good throwing motion, is great casting, and the slow-motion shot of the guys flying out of the dugout after the homer is an all-time favorite.
Roy Hobbs is a three-true-outcomes player for the modern era, homering, striking out or walking, like 2003 Bonds or a nine-WAR player with a 184 wRC+, though his defensive value would be poor since he is slow and unwieldy and his side hurts every time he reaches for a ball.
The old-school baseball fashion and aesthetics, especially the Cubs uniforms, have aged wonderfully, even though the heavy fire-retardant uniforms look as warm as wildling furs.
Iris as an independent spirit and trailblazing feminist: Roy gets her pregnant in the barn, proposes romantic bullshit and never returns, and she raises the boy alone in Chicago with a nice apartment, a job and a drugstore where they know her name, can get an usher to deliver a note, and still gets the guy at the end.
The final pick is Red and Pop, with a wish for 30 minutes of deleted dugout ad-libs or a mic'd-up game, or else the iconic score.
Hobbs versus the Whammer is fantastic; Joe Don Baker is the best Hollywood Babe Ruth, with the size, nose, gut and swagger, compared favorably to John Goodman; the scene dates to 1923, Ruth's 14-WAR MVP season, and both hosts prefer the Whammer as a cover rather than naming Babe Ruth, partly because a lefty would have been needed.
The foul tip taking out Duval (as transcribed), or rather the poor old catcher, with nobody wearing masks is noted, and Duval backing up twenty paces, to the Whammer's protest about how he will call it from there, is a classic moment.
Hobbs' first batting practice, with the Wonderboy clip played, is wonderful for three reasons: the sheer spectacle like Josh Hamilton in a home run derby, Brimley guzzling the filthy water he had complained about, and the 'I've been here every day' line that shows Roy is kind of a dick, entitled and owed something; Redford's swing was modeled on Ted Williams per the Roger Angel New Yorker piece (as transcribed), and he and Costner both looked like ballplayers.
Roy storming out of the meeting, deflowering Iris and immediately falling for the bad-luck niece after Pop's warning, then slumping, shows poor judgment with women and no understanding of birth control, which is excused as 1923.
Third on one list is Hobbs' first at bat, tearing the cover off the ball as the rain comes at the perfect time; the 'is this team alive' exchange between Red and Pop captures the rhythms of a baseball season when a team gets hot; Roy's batting-practice pitch and Max Mercy sprinting from his seat raise whether he could still pitch with the bullet in his side, answered with pain tolerance and no Toradol.
Other nominees: the lady in white scene with Glenn Close standing up, Hobbs' homer breaking the Wrigley Field clock, which did not exist until two years later, Brimley crossing Hobbs out of the lineup, Roy's last at bat, and the lightning bolt splitting the tree to forge Wonderboy, with the glowing stump called good special effects for 1984.
The 'losing is a disease' speech, comparing losing to syphilis and the bubonic plague, is hilarious, and the newspaper headline montages are praised for propelling the pace like Twitter or push notifications, though that is ruled to belong in what's aged the best.
One pick is the walk-off homer, the greatest chill scene of any sports movie, except perhaps Rocky getting up in the 14th round of Rocky 1; everything leading up to it, breaking Wonder Boy and 'pick me a winner, Bobby' with the Savoy special, is iconic.
The other pick, after 35 years of watching, is Hobbs showing up for the final game while Brimley shaves, with the 'suit up' clip played twice; a dad who calls whenever it is on to quote 'you're the best damn hitter I ever saw' is recalled.
Wilford Brimley's chest hair in that scene, and every scene, is like a forest, a peninsula, a platypus bill, a pelt; the hosts wonder how he does not trim it, whether it is a masculine calling card and whether he is still alive at 84.
