Grays Almanac

Home/Episodes/City Slickers

‘City Slickers’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

June 15, 2021 · City Slickers (1991) · Comedy · Western · 1:21:57

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

Categories

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 16:22City Slickers — References this movie as an ultimate Apex Mountain moment and notes it was the fifth biggest movie of 1991

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 20:37Anthony Hopkins — Anthony Hopkins should have been moved to Best Supporting Actor category instead of Best Actor, which would have solved the Jack Palance Oscar win issue
Bill Simmons▶ 23:01Laurence Fishburne — If can't switch Hopkins categories, would give Best Supporting Actor to Lawrence Fishburne for Boyz n the Hood (who wasn't even nominated)
Sean Fennessey▶ 23:30Gary Oldman — Would have gone with Gary Oldman in JFK for Best Supporting Actor

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 34:38Multiple scenes: airplane scene coming back from running with the bulls, Crystal-Tambor pizza ad scene, harmonica scene with Jack and Billy, and 'my best day, worst day' scene (which he calls his favorite)

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 39:56The midlife crisis angle, Curly's shocking death, young Jake Gyllenhaal, the one-arm push-ups Oscar moment, saying the title in dialogue, Billy Crystal's terrible one-liners, his meaning of life monologue, and normal people in Western setting
Sean Fennessey▶ 44:02Fish out of water tale and all the surrounding cast being well cast and fun

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 44:44Why the two drunk cattle guys suddenly become threatening and evil when there was no prior indication they were bad people
Chris Ryan▶ 44:34The drunk cattle guys are inconsistent characters who are nice when sober but become threatening alcoholics, then just disappear from the story
Sean Fennessey▶ 44:53The two threatening ranch hand characters serve no real purpose except to create artificial tension for 20 minutes

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 46:20VCR technology references, Director Ron Underwood's career trajectory, the veal eating message, and City Slickers 2
Chris Ryan▶ 50:32The Mark Shaman score with gospel music during the stampede and the overall softness/corniness of the movie's tone
Sean Fennessey▶ 50:25Billy Crystal getting one extra bad dad joke in every scene and the overall tone of these movies

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:34Robert Costanzo — Robert Costanza (guy speaking to kids) and Bill Henderson (older dentist)
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:54Tracey Walter — Tracy Walter as Cookie and the chef/cook guy
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:01:01Bill Henderson — Bill Henderson (older dentist, the cop from Clue)

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:49Team vote for the Ben and Jerry's guys, Pamer and Mostel
Chris Ryan▶ 1:02:57Agreed with the Ben and Jerry's guys choice, praised their performance in the ice cream pairing scene
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:03:09Agreed with the Ben and Jerry's guys choice, participated in recreating their scene dialogue

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:04:38Shared trivia including: Chris got idea from TV show about middle-aged man on fantasy vacations, borrowed pot from John Wayne's The Cowboys, Billy Crystal's son Jake made film debut, Crystal's daughter Lindsay was his real daughter, 10-11 different cows used as Norman, Norman's birth scene shot in three states, river crossing was toughest scene because cows kept mounting each other
Chris Ryan▶ 1:06:22Participated in discussion but primarily responded to trivia rather than presenting research
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:05:54Made comments about the research quality and noted he didn't know Lindsay Crystal was Billy's real daughter but thought the casting looked perfect

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:28Ron Underwood
Chris Ryan▶ 1:18:24Billy Crystal
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:18:37Billy Crystal — Billy Crystal (agrees with consensus)

Movies Referenced (50)

Night Shift (1982)

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 1:20:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Legend of Billie Jean (1985)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 38:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Home Alone (1990)

4 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 24:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cape Fear (1991)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 21:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Donnie Brasco (1997)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 56:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dances with Wolves (1990)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 24:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 27:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fever Pitch (2005)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 1:21:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Forget Paris (1995)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 15:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Friday Night Lights (2004)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Grand Canyon (1991)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 5:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Neighbors (2014)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 2:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (14)

Ron Underwood

11 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for City Slickers▶ 2:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andrea Bias

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Black Adam, A Simple Favor, The Intern▶ 0:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Colorado

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Hancock▶ 50:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Warren Beatty

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Heaven Can Wait▶ 20:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Diego Pamplona

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Triple Frontier, Mile 22▶ 1:06:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rob Reiner

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for This Is Spinal Tap, The Wolf of Wall Street▶ 47:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ron Howard

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for A Beautiful Mind▶ 1:20:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dead or Alive

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The A-Team▶ 8:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joe Dante

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Gremlins▶ 47:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Cassavetes

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Rosemary's Baby▶ 41:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kosta Jokic

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 1:18:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Penny Marshall

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Big, A League of Their Own▶ 1:21:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (79)

Billy Crystal

56 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Forget Paris, City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally...▶ 2:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bruno Kirby

34 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally...▶ 2:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Daniel Stern

14 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for City Slickers, Breaking Away▶ 2:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Charles Bronson

11 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Once Upon a Time in the West, The Great Escape▶ 58:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jake Gyllenhaal

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Nightcrawler, Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko▶ 30:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jack Palance

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for City Slickers▶ 16:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jerry Seinfeld

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 10:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robin Williams

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Mrs. Doubtfire▶ 9:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Hanks

7 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Cast Away, Big, Forrest Gump▶ 13:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ben Kingsley

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Sexy Beast, Gandhi, Schindler's List▶ 20:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Helen Slater

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Ruthless People, City Slickers▶ 38:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Ritter

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Sling Blade, Problem Child▶ 0:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (9)

Lowell Ganz

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Parenthood▶ 3:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joe Young

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for King Kong, Big Fish▶ 40:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tommy Lee

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Vanilla Sky▶ 23:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Babaloo Mandel

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Where the Heart Is▶ 49:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Elaine May

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Primary Colors▶ 41:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Peter Morwood

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 42:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 25:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Taylor Sheridan

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Hell or High Water, Wind River▶ 45:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Taylor Worst

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 39:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Michael Grantland

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Other Guys▶ 1:16:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗