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‘Blow Out’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris

November 15, 2022 · Blow Out (1981) · Crime · Drama · Mystery · 2:01:21

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 56:45The car accident, the owl under the bridge, and the first five minutes (Coed Frenzy opening)
Chris Ryan▶ 56:55The first five minutes of this movie, comparing it favorably to Goodfellas opening
Wesley Morris▶ 57:12Praised the title sequence and opening, but no specific scene pick given

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:04Multiple scenes including Lithgow murdering the hooker on the train, Nancy Allen's extended murder scene, and the process of cutting photos/making video
Chris Ryan▶ 1:07:07The 30th Street Station sequence of Bert killing the wrong girl and taking Sally
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:07:24The 30th Street Station sequence through Sally's death with fireworks and hard cut to theater
Wesley Morris▶ 1:05:35The perfect scream and ending sequence - the perversely moving rightness of using the dead woman's scream

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:40Referenced having a best quote pick but didn't state what it was

Den of Thieves Benihana Award

Chris Ryan▶ 1:16:1630th Street Station - noted De Palma's love for train stations and referenced its use in other films
Wesley Morris▶ 1:16:2830th Street Station - praised it as like Grand Central but smaller and less confusing, with a great statue

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:17:55John Lithgow's character being too crazy/sociopathic - goes beyond what the plot requires into serial killer territory
Chris Ryan▶ 1:18:29Agreed with concerns about Lithgow being too extreme but noted the plan ultimately works; also mentioned smoking in the ER as aged poorly
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:19:14Defended Lithgow's performance as part of De Palma's pattern, didn't offer a clear weak link pick
Wesley Morris▶ 1:17:35Initially suggested Nancy Allen, then criticized Travolta's 'I saved your life, least you could do is have a drink with me' line as problematic male behavior

Is There a Better Title?

Bill Simmons▶ 1:24:19No better title, but mentions original title was 'Personal Effects' which is bad
Wesley Morris▶ 1:24:29Likes that 'Personal Effects' appears on the character's office door but doesn't propose better title

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:24:37This movie contains Travolta's best performance - better than Saturday Night Fever because it combines energy with craftsmanship
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:25:08Grease might be Travolta's best performance because he's irreplaceable in it and it wouldn't be a phenomenon without him

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:30:12Susan Sarandon — Suggests recasting Nancy Allen with Susan Sarandon, Deborah Winger, Glenn Close, or Jessica Lange for 'more firepower'
Chris Ryan▶ 1:30:45Nancy Allen — Supports Nancy Allen, noting she fits geographically (Bronx/Philly) and that the character needs to be 'a ditz' who gets manipulated
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:30:33Nancy Allen — Agrees Nancy Allen works because only Jessica Lange from the suggested alternatives 'could play a ditz' but supports Allen's casting
Wesley Morris▶ 1:31:55Nancy Allen — Defends Nancy Allen's casting, argues the other suggested actresses are 'too smart' and that Allen has the right lightness for the ditzy character

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:34:09Travolta had insomnia the entire shoot; Liberty Parade sequence was stolen and had to be reshot for $750,000; Missy Cleveland (Playmate April 1979) screamed in shower; car water scene required 60-foot dam; Liberty Day Parade used 11 cameras, 1,000 extras, 25 stunt drivers; Manny watches De Palma's first movie on TV
Chris Ryan▶ 1:34:49Added details about cinematographer shooting the ending because Vilma Sigmund moved to another movie, and observed that Liberty Day sequence feels out of place with rest of film
Wesley Morris▶ 1:34:17Commented on how Travolta looked washed out which helped his performance, and noted the movie's subtle expensiveness despite not looking like it cost a lot

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:36:22Brian De Palma — Dressed to Kill for De Palma - he can basically do anything he wants after that, movie made a shitload of money
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:36:48Dressed to Kill — Agrees people loved Dressed to Kill around town, discusses how Blowout wasn't as well-received and lacked De Palma's signatures from previous movies

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:44:52Wayne Jenkins, Danny Trejo, Catherine Hahn, Steve Buscemi, Sam Jackson, J.T. Walsh, Philip Baker Hall
Chris Ryan▶ 1:45:02Initially wanted to suggest Wayne, but struggled to find a role for him in the movie.
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:45:16J.T. Walsh — J.T. Walsh as Manny and Catherine Hahn
Wesley Morris▶ 1:45:00Philip Baker Hall — Philip Baker Hall and Steve Buscemi

Just One Oscar

Bill Simmons▶ 1:47:23Brian De Palma — Mentioned 'who gets it to Palma' but immediately moved to other topics

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 1:50:24Dressed to Kill — De Palma triple feature: Dressed to Kill, Body Double, and Blow Out back to back for seven hours, finishing with Coed Frenzy

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 1:56:03If you record an assassination, make sure you make multiple copies
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:56:16When you're casting your scream queen, make sure she can scream

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:56:26Brian De Palma — De Palma
Chris Ryan▶ 1:56:31Brian De Palma — De Palma
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:56:46Discussed Travolta's performance and compared it to other roles, suggesting Harrison Ford could have done the part, but didn't give a clear pick for who won the movie
Wesley Morris▶ 1:57:04Praised Travolta's performance as one of the great movie star performances and discussed his underrated movie star quality, but didn't explicitly pick between De Palma and Travolta

Movies Referenced (56)

American Gigolo (1980)

9 mentions · Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 10:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Carrie (1976)

9 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons▶ 7:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dressed to Kill (1980)

9 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris▶ 1:02:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Body Double (1984)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chariots of Fire (1981)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 50:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Grease (1978)

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 31:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Trading Places (1983)

6 mentions · Wesley Morris, Chris Ryan▶ 1:49:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Field of Dreams (1989)

4 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons▶ 42:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Halloween (1978)

4 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons▶ 48:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Prince of the City (1981)

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan, Wesley Morris▶ 1:23:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Wesley Morris▶ 9:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 31:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (15)

Brian De Palma

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Body Double, Dressed to Kill, The Bonfire of the Vanities▶ 2:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Clint Eastwood

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, Unforgiven▶ 29:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mark Rydell

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for The Long Goodbye▶ 52:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Oliver Stone

3 mentions · Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey · Known for Born on the Fourth of July, Platoon, JFK▶ 24:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Fincher

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Se7en, Gone Girl, Zodiac▶ 8:08IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Francis Ford Coppola

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II▶ 9:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Hugh Hudson

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Chariots of Fire▶ 52:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Woo

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Hard Boiled▶ 33:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Mann

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Insider, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans▶ 1:10:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Warren Beatty

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Heaven Can Wait▶ 51:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Amy Hulse

1 mentions · Wesley Morris · Known for Only the Brave, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot▶ 35:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dead or Alive

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The A-Team▶ 31:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (65)

John Travolta

65 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Chris Ryan · Known for Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Saturday Night Fever▶ 3:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nancy Allen

23 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey · Known for Dressed to Kill, RoboCop▶ 2:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sally Field

15 mentions · Wesley Morris, Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Lincoln, Forrest Gump, Steel Magnolias▶ 22:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Henry Fonda

11 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for 12 Angry Men▶ 52:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Carrie Fisher

9 mentions · Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi▶ 7:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dennis Franz

9 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for City of Angels▶ 59:08IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Lithgow

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for The World According to Garp, Cliffhanger▶ 1:01:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Richard Gere

9 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Chicago, Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman▶ 31:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dave Roberts

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Sean Fennessey · Known for Blow Out▶ 1:26:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jon Bernthal

7 mentions · Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons · Known for The Wolf of Wall Street, King Richard, Fury▶ 1:45:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Samantha Mathis

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Broken Arrow, American Psycho▶ 33:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jessica Lange

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris, Chris Ryan · Known for Tootsie, The Postman Always Rings Twice▶ 1:30:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (5)

Andy Greenwald

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Paul Schrader

3 mentions · Wesley Morris · Known for First Reformed, The Card Counter▶ 10:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Bridges

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The China Syndrome▶ 38:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Noah Baumbach

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Squid and the Whale, Marriage Story▶ 5:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 55:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗