Cusack is raised early and cut off as stepping on Casting What-Ifs. — Chris Ryan
The hosts say the director wanted John Cusack, who liked the script but said he had played his last teenage role; a host is glad because Cusack would have been too old. — Bill Simmons
Moyle's interviews stress how young Slater was, but a host notes Slater turned 51 the day before, so he was at least 20 during filming. — Andy Greenwald
The category is loaded: Kiefer is eligible and Lard-Ass has five minutes, but the pick is Cusack. — Bill Simmons
Cusack's appearances as Denny are a cheap thrill that explains his shadow over Gordy; even Ace likes Denny, and Cusack is not too sentimental, a believable quarterback but not a super jock. — Chris Ryan
It is a nice Cusack run between The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead and Eight Men Out. — Bill Simmons
The other participant agrees it's Cusack; with two fewer scenes Kiefer would win, but he feels like the fifth star. — Bill Simmons
Kiefer is almost too good, crossing the line like a bully who scares his own friends. — Bill Simmons
John Cusack is the first vote, with Peter Gabriel raised as an outsider because the song became inseparable from the film. — Chris Ryan
An unnamed nursing-home resident wins one vote for her brief line. — Judd Apatow
Crow receives a vote for launching his directing career, taking young people seriously, and influencing the kinds of films a participant wanted to make. — Judd Apatow
Crow receives a second vote because Cusack has several signature films while this debut made audiences commit to Crow’s future work. — Bill Simmons
The closing places Crow alongside Soderberg, Die Hard, and Harry Metzally in an influential 1989. — Bill Simmons
The dojo also appeared in The Karate Kid. — Judd Apatow
Don “The Dragon” Wilson worked on Cusack’s kickboxing scenes, which reportedly began the actor’s decades-long practice. — Bill Simmons
The iconic boombox is identified as a Tashiba RTSX-1. — Bill Simmons
Crow commissioned the Smithereens to write the theme; he rejected “A Girl Like You” because its lyrics revealed too much plot, and it became the band’s biggest hit. — Bill Simmons
Estevez turned down Cameron; he could have done it, since his Breakfast Club jock has dad problems, but the result with Ruck is preferred.
Estevez, fresh off Repo Man, would have played a punk-rock version rather than Ruck's Cameron. — Chris Ryan
Ruck had auditioned for Bender, which would not have worked. — Bill Simmons
Molly Ringwald wanted to play Sloan; per the hosts, Hughes wanted Mia Sara for her elegance and maturity, and telling Ringwald the part was too small is what you say when you do not want to cast someone. — Bill Simmons
Hughes had only Broderick in mind; the backup is said to be John Cusack, who got his iconic high schooler as Lloyd Dobler in Say Anything. — Bill Simmons
Anthony Michael Hall told Vanity Fair his relationship with Hughes ended after Weird Science and believes roles including Ferris were written for him; one host doubts this, another believes it and calls Hughes vindictive. — Bill Simmons
Bill Paxton was offered the garage attendant, turned it down as too small, regretted it, and was never offered another Hughes role. — Bill Simmons
Paul Gleason was considered for Ed Rooney; as Dick Vernon he would presumably be on administrative leave after the Breakfast Club detention. — Bill Simmons
Gleason would have been distracting; Jeffrey Jones's sitcom, Laurel-and-Hardy energy was the right choice over Gleason's A1-asshole energy. — Sean Fennessey
The hosts say Ringwald was meant to play Allison but wanted Claire, and Hughes initially resisted because it was close to her Sixteen Candles role; switching would have broken her persona. — Bill Simmons
As the hosts relay Ringwald's account, Hughes wrote Sixteen Candles around her headshot, and their mentor relationship changed after she began dating Anthony Michael Hall during this film. — Bill Simmons
Estevez was originally to be Bender but switched when Hughes couldn't find an Andrew; Tom Cruise was unavailable and is called perfect for it.
Nicolas Cage was considered for Bender and is judged too much.
John Cusack was originally cast as Bender and replaced by Nelson for not being threatening enough; it would be a totally different, more sensitive film.
Rick Moranis was originally cast as the janitor and left over creative differences.
Was the movie named Con Air before or after the script? How many people died when the plane landed on the Strip? Would Poe really stay to save Baby O and the guard? Would the plane have been shot down in the first five minutes? Did Billy Bedlam's wife live? Was Denzel asked to be in the movie? Would you tell your daughter not to visit you in prison? Can you drink insulin? Would Monica Potter's character stick around? Why was there no sequel?
Did they name this movie Con Air before or after writing the script? Before: Con Air is the pitch, imagined as someone washing his hair in the shower, seeing a conditioner bottle and realizing it sounds like a flying prison.
How many people actually died in real life when they landed on the Strip? Guesses run to hundreds, 580, or 250 easy; a grisly question.
Would Nick Cage really care about saving Baby O and the female prison guard this much when he could just get off the plane and be with his wife and daughter? No; redemption and his being a good guy are offered, but he should have got off and then made a fuss.
In real life, wouldn't they have shot the plane down in the first five minutes? Yes; Colin Meaney (as transcribed) deciding not to shoot it down before it lands on the Vegas Strip as a fireball should put him on trial, hopefully not before Cameron Poe's judge, with the same lawyers urging a guilty plea.
Did Billy Bedlam's wife live after he killed her whole family, including the dog? Yes: he wanted her to live with the pain, 'heartbreak'; her story is pitched as another prequel, postquel or sequel.
Diamond Dog, Nathan Jones, former general of the Black Gorillas (as transcribed), wrote 'Reflections in a Diamond Eye' in prison, a bestseller and wake-up call that, according to the New York Times, has Denzel in talks for the movie; the hosts wonder whether Denzel was actually asked to be in this film, since Cusack's delivery sounds like a little shot at him. Denzel would have been great, though he would have had to play Cyrus, basically as the Training Day cop, making it a different movie with a different vibe.
Earlier: if you were in prison for eight years, would you tell your daughter not to come see you until you got out? One host would want to see the kids for something to look forward to every week; another counters that it depends whether you want to blend in or run the block, blood in, blood out; Poe's choice is called a little too unselfish.
A self-described dumb question: with no syringe to inject the insulin, could you not just drink it? Nobody knows how blood sugar works, and listeners are asked to answer.
Not to nitpick, but what is the likelihood that Monica Potter's character sticks around for Cage, who went into the Army to grow up, came back and went to prison the same night, showing up on a boat? She is probably married to a realtor in her area by year four, and Casey's new dad is pitched as the Con Air sequel, with Poe killing the real estate guy in Mobile.
Why wasn't there a sequel? Five or six new convicts and a hunt for the Marietta Mangler would do; you could make this movie every two years with new prisoners introduced the exact same way.
"put the bunny back in the box"; "Define irony. A bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song by a band that died in a car crash"; "Sorry, boss. There's only two men I trust. One of them's me. The other's not you"; "it's not difficult to surmise how Nathan here feels about killing guards, and my own proclivities are well-known and often lamented facts of penal lore"
Nominees: 'put the bunny back in the box'; Cyrus's 'Define irony. A bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song by a band that died in a car crash'; and 'Sorry, boss. There's only two men I trust. One of them's me. The other's not you', which gets a vote because it sounds like something one of the hosts has said to another human being in his life.
The host it was aimed at confirms having said that line to several people. — Shea Serrano
Asked how many people he trusts and whether the questioner is one of them, the joke is that, like Cusack at the end of the movie, the questioner has been won over since they first met and is now one of the guys.
Cyrus's 'it's not difficult to surmise how Nathan here feels about killing guards, and my own proclivities are well-known and often lamented facts of penal lore' is admired; his dialogue is really good, which makes it upsetting that Malkovich was upset during the shoot. There are some great quotes in this movie.
