Blank Check With Griffin & David

You know what ol’ Jack Burton would do on an episode like this? Bring back Jason Mantzoukas and Paul Scheer, of course! The HOW DID THIS GET MADE? guys make their triumphant return to Blank Check to discuss yet another Kurt Russell masterpiece, and lament the lack of Russell-esque stars in today’s Hollywood landscape. There’s some John Landis slander and a shout-out to Kit Fisto - this episode TRULY has everything! 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

Voyager II may be approaching the “Termination Shock” (Ben’s new favorite phrase), but we’re on earth cherishing the otherworldly romance of John Carpenter’s STARMAN! Vanity Fair’s Katey Rich returns to discuss Jeff Bridges’ impressive performance, the illustrious career of Hollywood script doctor “Dinky” Dean Reisner, and the one sandwich that’s actually supposed to have paprika on it (whatever deviled egg thing Karen Allen orders at the diner in this movie). 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

It’s the Blank Check / Kingcast crossover event you’ve all been waiting for! Scott Wampler and Eric Vespe join us to discuss John Carpenter’s “Christine” - the first Stephen King adaptation we’ve covered. What is more terrifying - a sexy vintage car that kills people? Or Barbra Streisand’s basement mall? A difficult question, we know. 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

Here’s the thing about THE THING - it might be the best movie we’ve ever covered? Emily St. James joins us (and joins the five-timers club!) to discuss Carpenter’s Arctic paranoia classic, which was unfairly maligned upon release. Topics covered include the “Brimley COCOON Line,” the film as a trans allegory, and dogs getting their faces peeled back like bananas. Checkout Emily’s podcast What to Watch on the Vox Quick Hits feed or the scripted series Arden! 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

Grab your eyepatches - it’s Snake Plissken time! Karen Han joins the gang to chat Carpenter’s action classic ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - which was actually filmed in St. Louis! Topics covered include NSFW tattoos, Lee Van Cleef’s badass gravestone, the 90s documentary where Ernest Borgnine just drives a bus, and John Carpenter’s rather pedestrian taste in video games. “Fallout 76”??? C’mon, John! 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

A film brave enough to ask the question - what if there was fog? Just kidding - this movie is ACTUALLY about vengeful pirate ghosts and a lady with a sexy radio voice. CANDYMAN’s Nia DaCosta returns to the pod to ask whether or not fog is scary if you aren’t driving through it. Producer Ben wonders if the titular fog should have had a voice. Plus, we explore the history of spooky lighthouse movies. 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

It’s our biggest episode EVER as Alex Ross Perry brings his own dossier of talking points to tackle 1978’s iconic HALLOWEEN. We explore the history of American independent cinema as seen through the lens of the low-budget horror genre, and determine who’d be included in the slasher villain Mount Rushmore (Chucky isn’t carved into the rock; he’d be working at the gift shop). 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

John Carpenter puts his own spin on Howard Hawks’ iconic western RIO BRAVO and Griffin learns about “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” - it’s our ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 episode! Screenwriter and film critic April Wolfe (2019’s BLACK CHRISTMAS) joins us as we discuss the most dramatic vanilla ice cream cone of all time. Is this one of Carpenter’s best musical scores? Gonna go ahead and say YES. 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

Our long-awaited John Carpenter series kicks off with his ultra-low budget oddity debut DARK STAR. Ben goes Hollywood (actually, “Hosleywood”) to record with Emily Yoshida - the Mother of Blankies herself - *in person* in Los Angeles, and the gang debates possible names for the series. We landed on “They Podcast” - which is a departure from Griffin’s far sweatier suggestions. Join us as we set the table for Carpenter’s filmography, and go deep on this film, which could also just be called “Space Dirtbags,” per Emily. 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

What if there was a beach that made you old? Only the mischievous mind of M. Night Shyamalan could conjure such a place! The gang (including Shyamalan Superfan and Blank Check social media manager Marie Bardi) dives into M. Night’s latest offering. Is it a “Glassterpiece”? Does Griffin even know what age he is anymore? Did Ben always have those wrinkles on his face? 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

Welcome to the slam, it’s time to jam - it’s our first in-person recording since the pandemic! Griffin’s brother James Newman returns to the pod to chat BASKETBALL, a topic that Griffin now knows slightly more about after watching The Last Dance. Is LeBron a bad actor? Does anyone really understand the complicated metaphysics of the Warner Bros Serververse? Join us as we discuss! 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

It’s the direct-to-Crackle sequel to our original Clifford episode from four years ago! Clifford superfan and comedy legend Tom Scharpling (“The Best Show,” his new memoir “It Never Ends”) joins us to wax poetic on Martin Short and eulogize the great Charles Grodin. The guys also give pitches for an actual Clifford sequel. Would it involve a prison break? Ben thinks so! 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

Dust off your mullets, because it’s the return of PORCH CINEMA with another Ben’s Choice Blank Check Spectacular! The boys talk David Spade, Kid Rock, and Direct-to-Crackle sequels, as they determine the secret ingredient to Ben-approved content - carry a mop on the poster. 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

John Singleton’s filmography comes to an inauspicious end with “Abduction,” a film that tests the viability of “Taylor Lautner as Action Star.” Longtime friend of the pod Jason Concepcion (Crooked Media’s Takeline and ALL CAPS NBA) joins us as we mourn the untimely passing of Singleton and try to parse why this movie fails so spectacularly. 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

What if there were four brothers? Has anyone thought of this before? Jonathan Braylock (Black Men Can’t Jump in Hollywood) joins us to talk about the niche genre of “snow crime,” the “what ifs?” of Singleton’s career in the 2000s, and the four classic archetypes of brothers.  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

It’s happening - the Two Friends finally devote an entire episode to THE FAMILY. Special guest (and Fast Franchise Devotee) Jon Gabrus joins us to talk about the Singleton-directed second installment in the saga, just in time for the release of F9. No Vin? No problem! We’ve got a very hungry Tyrese! 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

Who says you can’t go home again? John Singleton returns to South Central with BABY BOY and we imagine a trip to Tyrese’s backyard Benihana, a thing that actually exists. Special guest Ayo Edebiri (Big Mouth) returns to the pod with some crackling insights (and an inspired Shrek tangent) as we discuss the legacy of what some call Singleton’s stealth best film. 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

He’s a bad mother...pod your cast! Demi Adejuyigbe (The Amber Ruffin Show) joins Griffin and David to discuss the cultural legacy of Detective John Shaft - most specifically, John Singleton’s 2000 interpretation. Is there enough sex in this version of Shaft? What does Shaft mean when he says, “Giuliani Time!” ? Does Jeffrey Wright put too much paprika on the sandwich? Listen here! 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

Blankie favorite Jamelle Bouie returns to the pod to discuss “Rosewood” - an ambitious historical epic whose failure at the box office (against not one, but TWO Star Wars re-releases) may have necessitated a shift for Singleton towards more commercial fare. The careers of Ving Rhames, Jon Voight, and Michael Rooker are spotlighted, as well as the surprising filmography of Rosewood’s screenwriter Greg Poirier. 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

We’re going back to school with John Singleton, Omar Epps, and...Zangief?! Micah Peters (The Ringer) joins the Two Friends as they discuss “Higher Learning” - an ambitious movie that wrestles with the Big Issues of the American experience: race, gender, sexuality, and the career of Tyra Banks. 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