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‘Internal Affairs’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan

March 19, 2024 · Internal Affairs (1990) · Crime · Drama · Thriller · 1:40:10

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Probably Unanswerable Questions

Chris Ryan▶ 22:30Is it Van Stretch like Van Lathan or is it Van Stretch like Keith Van Horn? And they just don't call him by his first name.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 30:39Ramon goes to see Dennis at the taco stand where Peck asks 'Your wife fuck around?' and manipulates Raymond
Bill Simmons▶ 35:49Dennis goes to have a drink with the Orokas where he puts his hand on the wife's thigh
Chris Ryan▶ 32:35Strongly supports the taco stand scene, introducing a new award for Richard Gere's acting performance in that scene
Van Lathan▶ 31:57Agrees with and analyzes both scenes mentioned by another host, particularly praising the manipulation and acting in the taco stand scene

Big Kahuna Burger Award

Bill Simmons▶ 53:43All the styrofoam cup drinking and the Big Pepsis when they're both checking out the girl that walks by

Den of Thieves Benihana Award

Bill Simmons▶ 53:55La Pantororosa (the club) - because of the wide shot when he stumbles out in the morning
Van Lathan▶ 54:06Mentioned the Orocus Malibu place as a good option but didn't definitively pick it over the club

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 57:39The domestic violence scene where the protagonist hits his wife in a crowded restaurant
Chris Ryan▶ 57:48Agrees the domestic violence is horrible and problematic, especially how they reconcile afterwards as if it was romantic
Van Lathan▶ 58:03The toxic masculinity trope that has aged poorly - where aggressive male behavior is justified by obsessive love

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 1:00:25Old police computers with green type - questioning how people could even read computers back then
Chris Ryan▶ 58:51Peck taking away the cop's Raiders tickets, preventing him from seeing Bo Jackson in his prime
Van Lathan▶ 1:01:21The sexually charged scene where Ray puts his power over Amy when she reminds him she's the senior officer

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 1:01:49Cook holding - agrees it's way better known now and that this movie created the 'cook thriller' genre
Van Lathan▶ 1:01:41Cook holding - the concept is much better known now and exists in pop culture in a way it didn't before

Is There a Better Title?

Bill Simmons▶ 1:05:50Cops or Too Fucking Macho
Chris Ryan▶ 1:06:01Rat Squad
Van Lathan▶ 1:06:07Rat Squad

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:07Internal Affairs is a cooler job than it gets credit for in movies - movies always portray IA negatively when they're actually the good guys trying to stop dirty cops
Chris Ryan▶ 1:06:45Dennis Peck's murders versus wives fucks ratio (11 to 5, or 2.2 ratio) - presented as 'John Hollinger Advanced Analytics Award' instead of Stephen A. Smith award
Van Lathan▶ 1:09:51This movie didn't need any more black people - it was the perfect amount of black representation for what was happening in the story

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:49Don Johnson
Chris Ryan▶ 1:11:37Harrison Ford
Van Lathan▶ 1:11:54Christopher Reeve — Christopher Reeve and Don Johnson as top two picks

Overacting Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:15:05John Capella — Carl, the janitor (John Capella)
Chris Ryan▶ 1:15:41Annabella Sciorra — Lolly (Peck's ex-wife)
Van Lathan▶ 1:15:08The Latino actor that gets shot and the cousin in the bar (both 'that guy' actors)

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:16:41Deleted scene with Raymond and Peck in bar talking about cops wanting to be bad, Dennis drives 1963 Chevrolet Stingray convertible, LAPD chief Daryl Gates condemned the movie, Faye Grant was married to Stephen Collins who was later accused of sexual abuse
Chris Ryan▶ 1:17:08Discussed placement of deleted scene, asking if it comes after the beating scene
Van Lathan▶ 1:17:38Commented that Daryl Gates was the worst police chief and didn't like the movie

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:15Richard Gere — Richard Gere - 1990 (Pretty Woman and Internal Affairs), Andy Garcia - 1990 (Internal Affairs and Godfather 3), Billy Baldwin - Backdraft, The Valley - Internal Affairs shows a cool side of the Valley, Slapping in movies - this film has extensive slapping scenes
Chris Ryan▶ 1:18:18Richard Gere — Richard Gere - Pretty Woman is his Apex Mountain (1990), The Valley - suggests this might be Apex Mountain for the Valley rather than Boogie Nights or Magnolia
Van Lathan▶ 1:18:24Richard Gere — Richard Gere - 1990 is his apex year, Cops fucking their partners' wives - this is the apex mountain for that trope, Man imagining wife with another man - Indecent Proposal is probably the winner for this category

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:30:00Wayne Jenkins, Danny Trejo, Catherine Hahn, Steve Buscemi, Sam Jackson, Michael K. Williams, Raymond Ramon, JT Walsh, Byron Mayo, Harley Mays
Chris Ryan▶ 1:30:19Chris Ryan suggests Byron Mayo would fit the 'dirty cop' theme, and then lists a series of names (Raymond, Kathleen, Kenny, Heather, Lolly, Key, Tova, Amy) seemingly as random additions, before pivoting to a tangent about oysters and an unfinished house.

Just One Oscar

Bill Simmons▶ 1:31:04Richard Gere

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 1:33:16Deep Cover (initially suggested) and Bad Influence (also mentioned for weird psycho sex movies era)
Van Lathan▶ 1:33:42Basic Instinct

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 1:34:51Don't talk about wives
Chris Ryan▶ 1:35:44The key to a great villain is they have to be super attractive - attractive villains are the best kind of villains

Movies Referenced (44)

Van Wilder (2002)

6 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons▶ 22:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Heat (1995)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Chris Ryan▶ 21:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Pretty Woman (1990)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Van Lathan▶ 10:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Training Day (2001)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan▶ 5:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Black Rain (1989)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 11:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

4 mentions · Van Lathan, Chris Ryan▶ 24:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Blue Steel (1990)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan▶ 52:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Braveheart (1995)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Van Lathan▶ 1:10:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Untouchables (1987)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 13:23IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bad Boys (1995)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Van Lathan▶ 1:14:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bad Influence (1990)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 28:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bad Lieutenant (1992)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 21:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (4)

Mike Figgis

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Leaving Las Vegas▶ 23:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin Costner

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Dances with Wolves, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves▶ 12:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Neil Jordan

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Crying Game▶ 23:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mel Gibson

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Braveheart, Conspiracy Theory▶ 1:11:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (67)

Andy Garcia

28 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Chris Ryan · Known for Ocean's Eleven▶ 2:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Richard Gere

21 mentions · Van Lathan, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Chicago, Pretty Woman, An Officer and a Gentleman▶ 2:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Alec Baldwin

20 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Van Lathan · Known for The Departed, It's Complicated, Glengarry Glen Ross▶ 14:49IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nancy Travis

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Van Lathan · Known for So I Married an Axe Murderer, The Vanishing, Three Men and a Little Lady▶ 47:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Beach

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Chris Ryan▶ 9:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ron Silver

5 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 52:40IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bo Jackson

4 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 58:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Don Johnson

4 mentions · Van Lathan, Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Django Unchained▶ 1:11:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ray Liotta

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan, Chris Ryan · Known for Goodfellas, Field of Dreams▶ 6:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Annabella Sciorra

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Van Lathan · Known for The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Jungle Fever▶ 8:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bill Belichick

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Van Lathan▶ 42:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bruce Willis

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Die Hard, Pulp Fiction▶ 1:36:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (2)

Henry Bean

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 22:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cord Jefferson

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for American Fiction▶ 1:02:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗