It's set in Detroit and it did: the community college teacher, maybe one of the sex workers and the two cops are about it, and Naomi Aki (as transcribed) is second billed in the sequel.
The category ran with Van for Friday the 13th, where he did his movies that didn't need black people; this one at least had a couple.
The Ringer ranks fifth on the list of five movies not getting greenlit in 2026. — Van Lathan
Tropic Thunder ranks fourth because the intact film is doubted as a present-day greenlight. — Van Lathan
Juwanna Mann ranks third because a man dominates the women’s league. — Van Lathan
The Birth of a Nation ranks second, specifically the 1915 film rather than the later film with the same title. — Van Lathan
Soul Man ranks first and is considered impossible to make in 2026. — Van Lathan
The film’s anti-racist conclusion is offered as a counterargument, but another speaker argues that viewers cannot get past its premise to reach that lesson.
The Crying Game is proposed as another film likely to be attacked today, particularly because its secret would be deliberately spoiled.
Fight Club is proposed as difficult to release now because preview coverage would expose its twist; the counterdiscussion focuses on lost secrecy rather than whether production itself is impossible.
The Blair Witch Project is rejected as workable under the same modern secrecy conditions. — Van Lathan
American History X is considered still makeable. — Van Lathan
The assigned Van Lathan escape-scenario flex imagines Nick defending his relationship with Catherine as support for a female writer and blaming criticism on insecurity. — Bill Simmons
Van’s explicitly introduced top-five fictional bands are, from fifth to first: Josie and the Pussycats, the Wonders, Spinal Tap, the Five Heartbeats and Stillwater; Eddie and the Cruisers is intentionally excluded from this episode’s list. — Bill Simmons
A follow-up distinguishes best fictional band from best music: the Five Heartbeats, Wonders, Eddie and the Cruisers and Stillwater are compared, with Fever Dog considered a weaker signature than On the Dark Side or That Thing You Do!. — Van Lathan
The Revolution and the Time are excluded as actual bands despite Purple Rain’s fictional framing; Sex Bob-omb is suggested as an additional candidate.
Additional fictional-band candidates include Sex Bob-omb, the EuroTrip band, Hey That’s My Bike, CB4 and Citizen Dick; the Dan Band is distinguished as real and Citizen Dick’s onscreen performance is disputed.
Mina’s early hottest take is that Gosling and Stone have better chemistry here, and a better romantic scene, than in La La Land. — Mina Kimes
An early hottest-take discussion treats Stone’s rise as visibly inevitable, comparing early Streep, Roberts and Cruise breakthroughs; Superbad is defended as an immediate star signal. — Bill Simmons
Van’s hottest take asks whether marriage needs a halftime. The others challenge the analogy because cheating was not mutual consent and one partner might prefer separation; nine partners makes reconciliation harder. — Bill Simmons
The marriage-halftime debate also considers Cal’s complacency and contrasts the film’s reunion with real-life returns after disappointing dating experiences.
Redford and Clooney are additional examples; a debate compares Clooney’s fame and film choices with Gosling’s, then discusses late-blooming actors. — Bill Simmons
Van recalls his father admiring Billy Dee Williams; the hosts discuss men openly acknowledging other men’s attractiveness and remember Colt 45 ads. — Bill Simmons
Weak-link choices include the babysitter plot and the shared bar where Hannah never encounters Cal; the mixed-age pickup setting is doubted. — Bill Simmons
Van and Bill describe discomfort being older than colleagues at bars, reinforcing objections to Jacob repeatedly using the same venue. — Bill Simmons
Phoenix is proposed as a more plausible recasting city. The babysitter’s photos and crush on unkempt Cal are criticized, with the historical framing and online consequences discussed. — Bill Simmons
The hosts discuss changes in dating, fear of public rejection and social-media exposure, while Mina gives a qualified nostalgic defense of Jacob’s approach. — Bill Simmons
Mina explicitly selects the better-title flex, criticizing the title and misleading poster. Carell’s reported objection and working title The Wingman are discussed. — Mina Kimes
Van defends the title’s narrative progression. Alternative titles are The Makeover and How to Pick Up Women, the latter a double meaning for the lift. — Bill Simmons
Van says the film needs a Black David Lindhagen. Idris Elba and Taye Diggs are deemed too handsome, Ice-T rejected, and Keenen Ivory Wayans and Giancarlo Esposito proposed.
Esposito is disputed as too sinister; Underwood, Haysbert and Chris Rock are considered, with age and scene-dominance objections. Bacon’s ordinary likability is defended. — Bill Simmons
Van explicitly selects How Would Van Get Out of This One, inventing a defense of a motel visit as political/cultural outreach with adult college fans; the lengthy story is a comic hypothetical, not an event. — Van Lathan
The Ringer ranks fifth on the list of five movies not getting greenlit in 2026. — Van Lathan
Tropic Thunder ranks fourth because the intact film is doubted as a present-day greenlight. — Van Lathan
Juwanna Mann ranks third because a man dominates the women’s league. — Van Lathan
The Birth of a Nation ranks second, specifically the 1915 film rather than the later film with the same title. — Van Lathan
Soul Man ranks first and is considered impossible to make in 2026. — Van Lathan
The film’s anti-racist conclusion is offered as a counterargument, but another speaker argues that viewers cannot get past its premise to reach that lesson.
The Crying Game is proposed as another film likely to be attacked today, particularly because its secret would be deliberately spoiled.
Fight Club is proposed as difficult to release now because preview coverage would expose its twist; the counterdiscussion focuses on lost secrecy rather than whether production itself is impossible.
The Blair Witch Project is rejected as workable under the same modern secrecy conditions. — Van Lathan
American History X is considered still makeable. — Van Lathan
Van’s explicitly introduced top-five fictional bands are, from fifth to first: Josie and the Pussycats, the Wonders, Spinal Tap, the Five Heartbeats and Stillwater; Eddie and the Cruisers is intentionally excluded from this episode’s list. — Bill Simmons
A follow-up distinguishes best fictional band from best music: the Five Heartbeats, Wonders, Eddie and the Cruisers and Stillwater are compared, with Fever Dog considered a weaker signature than On the Dark Side or That Thing You Do!. — Van Lathan
The Revolution and the Time are excluded as actual bands despite Purple Rain’s fictional framing; Sex Bob-omb is suggested as an additional candidate.
Additional fictional-band candidates include Sex Bob-omb, the EuroTrip band, Hey That’s My Bike, CB4 and Citizen Dick; the Dan Band is distinguished as real and Citizen Dick’s onscreen performance is disputed.
Van explicitly selects How Would Van Get Out of This One, inventing a defense of a motel visit as political/cultural outreach with adult college fans; the lengthy story is a comic hypothetical, not an event. — Van Lathan
The flex proposes an actual Yankees game during the stadium scene. The baseball strike may explain access, but the film could mention it; the Mets’ stadium is another option.
Van explicitly selected flex Paulie Award for Asshole of Film, Paulie winner. Discusses sequel power-of-attorney financial ruin, objection Rocky V never happened; modest defense Rocky IV his best version.
Paulie flex continued: treats sister as commodity, blames her for unmarried life, insults her, destroys Thanksgiving turkey while keeping leg and coerces date. Rocky partly complicit in coercion; exaggerated wished-for retaliation. — Chris Ryan
Paulie flex: no redeeming deep-down goodness; proposed Paulie/Panino why-character-awful naming, neighbors would tire of yelling.
Number three is described as everyone being racist and beautiful, referring to the current film in context; The Help is second and Driving Miss Daisy first. — Van Lathan
