EPISODES

We're heading to Little Italy's San Gennaro festival this week with Griffy Parm, David Bags, and the great Miriam Bale as we chat about 1973's Mean Streets - a major breakthrough for both Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. Join us as we chat about the seismic impact this film had on American cinema, DeNiro's screen persona, those iconic needledrops, and the ways racism and misogyny permeate the film's atmosphere. Also - did you know this movie was mostly filmed in Los Angeles!?! Listen to Bobby on Off Menu Follow @judis.annie on Instagram Read the Next Scorsese series in Esquire Listen to SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE 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 m...

Knock knock! Who's there? MARTY, THAT'S WHO! Welcome to the first installment in PODCASTFELLAS - our supersized series on the films of short king and Italian-American asthmatic Martin Scorsese. This guy made some pretty good movies, huh. This week, Griffin, David, and Ben discuss Scorsese's Little Italy upbringing and his two first features - 1967's Who's That Knocking at My Door? and 1972's Boxcar Bertha. One feels like a film school parody of Scorsese movie. The other, a not-scuzzy-enough exploitation picture. Neither really feel like his true debut. Check out Mostly True: The West's Most Popular Hobo Graffiti Magazine by Bill Daniel Author Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/nq66a4tb #CashAppPod  Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Bank...

Surprise! In a first for Blank Check, we’re dropping a bonus main-feed episode featuring a conversation with the Academy Award-winning director of the films we just covered. The great Andrew Stanton joins us for a delightful conversation about Pixar, what happened to scatting, and how Elmo messed everything up for everyone. He answers many questions from Griffin (the Pixar nerd formerly known as FlikLover98), and goes in depth on the ending of WALL-E. Enjoy! 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 Twitt...

Woody, Buzz, and Jessie are back - and they're making us freak out about social media! Join Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie as they discuss Andrew Stanton's latest film - this summer's blockbuster hit Toy Story 5. David gets to talk about being a parent. Marie and Ben get to talk about wanting to be parents. And Griffin gets to talk about his special interest - the Toy Story franchise. Special thanks to Nick “Tiger” Wiger (Doughboys, How Did This Get Played?) and Aiko Tanaka (@aikocomedy) for help with the Japanese translations. Read Sucker: My year as a degenerate gambler By McKay Coppins Watch Please take Toy Story 4 away from me by Jenny Nicholson Read: Toy Story Confronts a Nightmare of Modern Parenting By David Sims Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even...

Did you know that Andrew Stanton released TWO movies this year? Toy Story 5, of course, but also the centuries-spanning sci-fi yarn In the Blink of an Eye?! This episode is dedicated to the latter - kind of. Theater critic and brother of the show Joey Sims joins us to chat about a BUNCH of things, not limited to In The Blink of an Eye; Off-Broadway plays, caveman movies, Power Rangers, and the status of the Lost in Space IP. It's a tangent-heavy listen, folks. Listen to Joey’s Pod: House Closed: Theater We Saw Read about how Off-Broadway's PERFECT CRIME and THE OFFICE halted performances due to theft of pipes at the theatre Check out the Hayden Planetarium at the New York Museum of Natural History  Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit...

Sing in us, O Muse, and let us tell the story of four cunning podcasters, wanderers who gained entry into three different large format screenings of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey across three cities and two continents. This week, we defied the gods to record an episode with missing King of Ithaca himself, Griffin Newman, as he continues his own mythical journey of trying to survive this European heat wave. Join us for a sensible two-and-a-half-hours gushing about this incredible cinematic event, breaking down our favorite set pieces and performances, and discussing previous attempts to bring The Odyssey to the screen. That Christopher Nolan really can't seem to bounce a check these days, can he? Read Richard Nilsen’s review of the 1997 Odyssey miniseries. Check out the Picture House in t...

Have you seen Dory? We have! Zach Cherry joins us to talk about 2016's Finding Dory, a film that made a kajillion dollars and set off a run of four Pixar sequels in a row. In this episode, we're talking about Ellen DeGeneres, animating characters without mouths, the success of Modern Family, live action remakes of already live action films, and Zach's proposed future spinoffs for the Nemo franchise. Young Marlin, Old Marlin, Old Nemo - the possibilities are endless! Read: After 30 years of Toy Story, Woody and Buzz face the tech age as a Pixar legend comes full circle in E.W. By Nick Romano. Watch the trailer for The End of Oak Street. Watch 72 Hours when it comes out Check out the last Raaaatscraps show on August 8th  Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even ...

We are going to Barsoom with 2012's John Carter - a film that bounced almost as much as the titular hero bounced around on Mars! Matt Singer joins us to talk about this legendary flop - the cursed marketing campaign, the year of Taylor Kitsch, and Disney's acquisition of Marvel and Star Wars, which effectively made John Carter irrelevant almost immediately. Plus, we spend a lot of time talking about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, for some reason. Read Second-Act Twist By Tad Friend and The Untold Story of Disney’s $307 Million Bomb ‘John Carter’: ‘It’s a Disaster’ by Drew Taylor Pre-Order Matt's Book Read Matt's Writing 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 e...

Put on your pod-day clothes, there's lots of world out there! We're joined by David Ehrlich to discuss WALL-E this week - a film many consider to be Stanton's (and Pixar's) crowning achievement, and a film David Ehrlich's son has watched upwards of a million times. Join us for a long-ranging conversation that includes context around Disney's 2006 acquisition of Pixar, discussion about the film's depiction of humans, and speculation about the mental health of robots. Read: Frankie Muniz Hasn’t Spoken to Hilary Duff in 22 Years, Says Her Mom Interfered in ‘Agent Cody Banks’ Casting and ‘It Pissed Me Off’: ‘I Regret Not Staying Friends With Her’ Check out Erlich’s Review of Lee Cornin’s The Mummy Listen to Griffin on Podcast Like It’s Talking About Monsters Inc. Read Ehrlich’s Interview with ...