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Blank Check Productions

Not just another bad movie podcast, Blank Check reviews directors' complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them the rare ‘blank check’ from Hollywood to produce passion projects. Each new miniseries, hosts Griffin Newman and David Sims delve into the works of film’s most outsized personalities in painstakingly hilarious detail. Produced by Ben Hosley.

Blank Check with Griffin & David

Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie accepted the mission. They live and pod in the shadows, for those they hold close, and for those they never meet. They also have a few notes for Tom Cruise and Chris McQuarrie with regards to Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Join the crew as they break down all the problems of this latest (and final???) installment of the beloved franchise. Join them as they rave over some of the most incredible sequences ever to grace the silver screen - ALSO in this movie. It’s a mixed bag, folks. But speaking of bags - we still love popcorn. And movies.

If you’re in NY check out the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE—Story and Spectacle at the Museum of the Moving Image

Read Owen Gleiberman’s Review

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 

pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.

Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 

Buy some real nerdy merch

Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord

For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

The Ubriacco family are back and - can you believe it? - they’re still talking! Actor and filmmaker Max Minghella joins us to talk about Look Who’s Talking Too, the contractually-obligated, quickly produced sequel to Amy Heckerling’s surprise hit. We’re talking about Mr. Toilet Man (he eats your pee pee and poo poo), Elias Koteas’ Mr. Scary Uncle Man (he has a gun), and Mr. English Man (David Sims, who grew up in London). Plus, Ben continues to flesh out his “Look Who Hath Talked” prequel, and Griffin becomes the first person with the courage to ask, “Who was the first baby?” 

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 

pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.

Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 

Buy some real nerdy merch

Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord

For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Look Who's Talking Too with Max Minghella

In perhaps the spermiest film we’ve ever covered, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley hang out with a baby voiced by Bruce Willis and Amy Heckerling gets revenge on Harold Ramis. As David Sims says early in this episode - Look Who’s Talking is a VERY RICH text. Vanity Fair’s Hillary Busis joins us to talk about this 1989 “forgotbuster,” a film that made a bozo amount of money and dared to ask the question, “What if baby talked??” We’re going deep on Travolta lore, grappling with Kirstie Alley’s later career, and following numerous tangents on everything from the rules of the Rugrats universe to advancements in crib safety. Look who’s podcasting!

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.

Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 

Buy some real nerdy merch

Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord

For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Look Who's Talking with Hillary Busis

Is it possible for Steven Spielberg to make a movie that doesn’t exist? Well, he sure tried with 1989’s Always, a film where John Goodman plays Monterey Jack of the Rescue Rangers, Richard Dreyfuss riffs to no one as an annoying ghost, and Holly Hunter falls in love with the most dull hottie at the Plane Depot. Our beloved Richard Lawson joins us to talk planes, boy bands, Marlboro merch, and the enduring mystery of what happened between Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, and Fran McD in that famous apartment. 

Listen to Little Gold Men

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Always with Richard Lawson

Our Spielbergian journey takes us to new dramatic heights with 1987’s Empire of the Sun, the film that brought us Christian Bale (discovered by Amy Irving!), unexpected Joey Pants and Ben Stiller appearances, and a perfect use of John Malkovich. Bilge Ebiri joins us (and the Five Timers Club) to chat about how underrated this film is within the Spielberg canon, and how this movie evolves Spielberg’s perception as a serious dramatic artist.

Read Bilge's writing at Vulture

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri

After inventing the Hollywood blockbuster with Jaws, creating the world’s most loveable alien with E.T., and resurrecting the classic adventure serial with the Indiana Jones franchise, of course the next logical step in Steven Spielberg’s career was to…adapt Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the survival and strength of queer black women in the American south? Duh! Obviously! Comedian Kenice Mobley joins us to talk about 1985’s truly baffling and seismically important The Color Purple in our latest episode. We want to thank Quincy Jones for discovering Oprah and producing this movie. We want to yell at Quincy Jones for his awful, treacly score.

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Color Purple with Kenice Mobley

It’s a wonderful night for Blankies! Join us and This Had Oscar Buzz’s Joe Reid as we survey the year that was 2024 in cinema. Not to spoil too much, but some things that happen in this episode: Griffy Crystal sings a tribute to The Brutalist to the tune of “Bootylicious,” Nosferatu wins zero awards but shows up to present every category, Griffin is obsessed with Hundreds of Beavers, David hates The Bikeriders, Joe invents an incredible new bespoke category, and as always - Ben ranks his wettest films of the year. 

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tenth Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid

We’re putting out a bit of a throwback episode for the most iconic (literal) blankie in film history - this week’s E.T. episode is guestless, with Griffin going rogue off the dossier, David making fun of Griffin for being an adult who likes toys and animation, and Ben getting emotional over a family film…decade of dreams, baby! Join us as we gush over the child performances, creature creation, and authentic emotionality of Spielberg’s canonical hit. Did you know that the Italian guy who designed E.T. kind of looks like E.T.? Or that Researcher JJ wrote his doctoral dissertation about the Reese’s Pieces product placement in this movie? Open the schools! But please - no frog dissections.
﻿Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

You’re a young movie fan. It’s 1981. STEVEN SPIELBERG is teaming up with FREAKING GEORGE LUCAS (!?!?!) to make a movie with HAN SOLO…can you imagine how hyped you’d be?? Marvel Comics legend Brian Michael Bendis joins us to recount the colossal impact of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK in this rollicking adventure of an episode. Jewish mysticism and weird Nazi stuff! Alfred Molina getting covered with a bunch of live spiders! Karen Allen coming up with an incredibly detailed backstory for Marion and Spielberg being like, “sure, whatever”! Danny DeVito almost being cast as Saleh?!?! You bet we’re getting into it, snakes and all.

Check out JinxWorld
Check out Brian’s Comics

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis

He invented the summer blockbuster. He inspired millions of people around the world to “watch the skies.” And now, he has sent Griffin Newman into an existential crisis over the question “what is comedy?” Our friends Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger of The Doughboys join us to talk about Steven Spielberg’s infamously unfunny 1941. Why IS this film - loaded with so many comedic superstars - boring as shit? Is the opening scene one of the most embarrassing exercises in hubris ever committed to screen? Would this movie be better if they just inserted the entirety of Dumbo into it? Why does Eddie Deezen keep getting banned from dining establishments? Someone has to ask these things.

Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your 
pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook! 
Buy some real nerdy merch
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

1941 with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger

Writer and director Alex Ross Perry (Christopher Robin) returns to Blank Check to discuss 2009’s Taking Woodstock. But is this a comedy tho? Did this film win AARP’s Movies for Grownups Award for Best Grownup Love Story? Is the portrayal of an LSD experience accurate? Together they examine the career of Demetri Martin, a mysterious bucket of glitter, Sha Na Na and straight trippin’ boo. Plus, Griffin shares a Martin Scorsese Woodstock story and Alex brings the chocolate milk!
And look our for an upcoming screening of Alex Ross Perry’s new film, Her Smell, starring Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne and Dan Stevens!

Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and X! 
Buy some real nerdy merch.
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord.
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taking Woodstock with Alex Ross Perry

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