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‘Ghost’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Amanda Dobbins

July 28, 2020 · Ghost (1990) · Drama · Fantasy · Romance · 1:22:29

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Amanda Dobbins▶ 43:43Agrees with pottery scene discussion, emphasizes the ending goodbye scene between Sam and Demi Moore where she says 'ditto'
Bill Simmons▶ 36:50The pottery scene, Sam gets shot scene, Willie breaks into Molly's apartment, Whoopi comes in the movie 40 minutes in, Sam gets revenge on Willie and Carl dies and goes to hell
Chris Ryan▶ 44:00Agrees with pottery scene as crucial to sexual education/awakening, highlights Sam inhabiting Otome's body scene as potentially most rewatchable

Joey Pants Award

Amanda Dobbins▶ 57:03Stephen Root — Steven Root - nominates him as the detective, calling it 'the birth of that guy' in his pre-fame stage
Bill Simmons▶ 56:54Rick Aviles — Rick Aviles (Willie Lopez) - argues he's the ultimate 'that guy' because he's only known as Willie Lopez from Ghost
Chris Ryan▶ 56:34Rick Aviles — Rick Aviles (Willie Lopez) - makes the case for him as Joey Pants Award winner

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 59:31Multiple trivia facts: dark shadow ghost sounds made from babies crying played slow/backwards, Swayze chewed ice to prevent visible breath during cold chase scene, video/Laserdisc sales figures, 20 ghosts appear in movie, Biggie Smalls credited with popularizing 'I'm Swayze' phrase
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:56'I'm Swayze' has huge hip-hop ramifications as a way of saying 'I'm out' or 'I'm leaving the verse', transcending Ghost itself and proving post-structuralism

Apex Mountain

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:02:24Patrick Swayze — Agrees on Swayze, argues Vanity Fair cover for Demi Moore's apex, Sister Act in 1992 for Whoopi Goldberg
Bill Simmons▶ 1:01:30Patrick Swayze — Yes for Swayze, Yes/Maybe for Demi Moore (this movie or Vanity Fair cover), No for Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act instead), No for Tony Goldwyn (Scandal instead), Yes for Jerry Zucker, Yes for Unchained Melody, Yes for depiction of going to hell
Chris Ryan▶ 1:01:41Patrick Swayze — Agrees on Swayze, mentions Point Break as his last best work, questions the going to hell premise

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:04:23Discusses the afterlife rules and explains that Carl and Willie aren't criminal masterminds, commenting on the logistics of their poor planning and low payout ($80,000). Questions whether there's choice in negotiating with the light versus the shadow demons.
Bill Simmons▶ 1:05:41Multiple questions: Was staging a street crime really the best way for Carl to get passwords? Why would Willie return to break into Demi Moore's house after being sketched by police? Why doesn't Demi Moore ask more questions when communicating with Sam through Whoopi? Why can Sam touch Willie Lopez but not Demi Moore? Does Carl really deserve hell for unintentionally causing Sam's death?
Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:43What happens to okay people in the afterlife - do they get trapped in purgatory forever since it's either shadow demons or light beam? Also explains that Carl is clearly a coke addict involved with the mob, which contextualizes his poor decisions.

Who Won the Movie

Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:19:36Whoopi Goldberg — Whoopi Goldberg - cites her Oscar win and calls it the biggest and most memorable performance
Bill Simmons▶ 1:20:01Patrick Swayze — Patrick Swayze - argues he's the only male actor from that era who could have made the movie as successful, citing his unique physicality and presence
Chris Ryan▶ 1:19:29Acknowledges strong cases can be made for each of the three leads but doesn't commit to a specific pick

Movies Referenced (44)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

10 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Bill Simmons▶ 6:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Titanic (1997)

8 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan▶ 6:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Pretty Woman (1990)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan▶ 4:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

An American Pickle (2020)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 0:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Back to the Future (1985)

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 5:47IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Point Break (1991)

4 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 8:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sister Act (1992)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins▶ 1:02:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Goodfellas (1990)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 16:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gremlins (1984)

3 mentions · Amanda Dobbins, Bill Simmons▶ 26:49IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jaws (1975)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 3:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

A Few Good Men (1992)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 59:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dances with Wolves (1990)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 31:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (5)

Jerry Zucker

5 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Airplane!, Ghost▶ 28:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Costner

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves▶ 9:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

George Clooney

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Ides of March, Michael Clayton▶ 24:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mel Gibson

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Braveheart, Conspiracy Theory▶ 55:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steve Nash

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 20:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (57)

Patrick Swayze

56 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan · Known for Dirty Dancing, Ghost, Point Break▶ 6:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Whoopi Goldberg

28 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Amanda Dobbins · Known for Ghost, Sister Act, The Color Purple▶ 2:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Demi Moore

27 mentions · Bill Simmons, Amanda Dobbins, Chris Ryan · Known for Striptease, Indecent Proposal▶ 18:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Naked Eyes

4 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 28:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Hanks

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Cast Away, Big, Forrest Gump▶ 8:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Bacon

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Footloose, Hollow Man▶ 54:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Kline

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Wild Wild West, Dave, A Fish Called Wanda▶ 55:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Seth Rogen

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for This Is the End, Superbad, Pineapple Express▶ 0:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brad Pitt

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, Mr. & Mrs. Smith▶ 24:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bruce Willis

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Die Hard, Pulp Fiction▶ 19:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gwyneth Paltrow

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors▶ 24:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Travolta

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Saturday Night Fever▶ 55:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Roger Ebert

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 35:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bruce Joel Rubin

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Ghost, Deep Impact▶ 27:49IMDb ↗Lb ↗

George Lucas

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, THX 1138, American Graffiti▶ 52:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mark Bulow

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Molly's Game▶ 33:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Adam Macbeth

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 1:16:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗