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‘Reservoir Dogs’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan

July 26, 2019 · Reservoir Dogs (1992) · Crime · Thriller · 1:29:26

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 30:33The opening diner scene and Keitel versus Buscemi with the bleeding Tim Roth
Chris Ryan▶ 37:11Discussed the opening diner scene extensively, focusing on cinematography, characterization, and visual references like the two guys pointing guns at each other
Sean Fennessey▶ 36:42Engaged with discussion of both scenes, particularly praising Buscemi's performance in the confrontation scene

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 51:26Young Michael Madsen and the opening credit sequence
Chris Ryan▶ 55:03The juxtaposition of music with violence - using ironic music to offset or amplify violence
Sean Fennessey▶ 55:55Stephen Wright as radio host and the film as a good L.A. movie showing different parts of the city

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 59:20Lawrence Tierney as Joe - calls his performance bad and says Harvey Keitel could have gotten a better actor
Chris Ryan▶ 1:00:38Notes that they purposely kept Tierney out of the third act until the final scene, suggesting awareness of his limitations
Sean Fennessey▶ 59:42Disagrees about Lawrence Tierney being bad, acknowledges production difficulties but thinks Tierney brings presence despite looking like 'fat skeletor'

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:46James Woods — Shares multiple casting alternatives: James Woods was wanted by Tarantino (possibly for Mr. Orange or Mr. White), Tarantino originally wrote Mr. Pink for himself, Michael Madsen auditioned for Mr. Pink, Vincent Gallo turned down Mr. Pink
Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:14James Woods — James Woods would be too old to play Mr. Orange as a young undercover cop

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:31Shared extensive casting trivia including Tim Roth almost playing Mr. Pink, Tom Sizemore as finalist, Buscemi originally auditioning for Mr. White, George Clooney reading for Mr. Blonde, Christopher Walken refusing Mr. Blonde, Robert Forster auditioning for Joe Cabot, Tony Scott wanting to direct, and noted no female speaking parts in theatrical release
Chris Ryan▶ 1:03:42Discussed Tom Sizemore's role in Tarantino universe and Natural Born Killers connection, noted Christopher Walken would be too obvious for Mr. Blonde, speculated Tony Scott's version would have included the actual heist scene
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:03:57Commented on Tom Sizemore's fucked up Natural Born Killers character, noted Clooney later did From Dusk Till Dawn, speculated Tony Scott version would have more cop scenes and Hans Zimmer score, mentioned True Romance connections

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:06:33Michael Madsen — Michael Madsen in the ear cutting scene
Chris Ryan▶ 1:06:39Tim Roth — Tim Roth's boss (the guy with no shirt vest) and the extra who yells 'fuck you asshole' when Buscemi bumps into him
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:09:02The cop telling the story during Tim Roth's commode scene who keeps saying 'buddy, put your hands on the dash'

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:09:27Kirk Baltz — Baltz (the cop who played Marvin Nash)

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:40Michael Madsen — Michael Madsen - this was his Apex Mountain
Chris Ryan▶ 1:13:46Tim Roth — Tim Roth - Pulp Fiction over this movie
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:14:03Chris Penn — Chris Penn - Footloose over this movie

Overacting Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:14:19Chris Penn — Chris Penn - specifically the scene where he's yelling 'Larry, stop pointing that fucking gun in my head!' with spit flying and bulging eyeballs
Chris Ryan▶ 1:15:09Chris Penn — Agrees with Chris Penn nomination and suggests Harvey Keitel in his last 30 seconds as an alternative
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:15:06Chris Penn — Says 'Chris Penn is really great' but unclear if this means he agrees or disagrees with the overacting assessment

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:52How the three-way shootout works logistically - he kills both of them by getting the first and last shot
Chris Ryan▶ 1:18:47Acknowledges the unanswerable question but suggests it just works for the story
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:19:05The logistics of the three-way shootout - there's a vanishing quarter second where Mr. White can turn his gun and shoot Nice Guy Eddie after being shot

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:19:54Left the category empty because the whole movie is quotable; likes 'asshole, you better stop talking, because we got shit we need to talk about' and 'you're going to be okay'
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:20:40Are you going to bark all day, little dog, or are you going to bite

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:27:07Quentin Tarantino
Chris Ryan▶ 1:26:56Quentin Tarantino — Agrees on Tarantino, notes he topped Welles by following with Pulp Fiction; mentions Tim Roth as runner-up
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:26:43Quentin Tarantino — Quentin Tarantino - compared his aggressive career launch to Orson Welles

Movies Referenced (33)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 3:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

True Romance (1993)

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 19:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jackie Brown (1997)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 53:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bad Lieutenant (1992)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 23:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bachelor Party (1984)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 37:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Goodfellas (1990)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 34:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Den of Thieves (2018)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 1:22:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Django Unchained (2012)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 48:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Domestic Disturbance (2001)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 37:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 37:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fatal Attraction (1987)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 0:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 8:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (15)

Quentin Tarantino

58 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn▶ 6:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sean Penn

17 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Mystic River, 21 Grams, Dead Man Walking▶ 0:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tony Scott

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Unstoppable, True Romance▶ 49:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joseph H. Lewis

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 47:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wes Craven

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, New Nightmare▶ 1:09:54IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ava DuVernay

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 27:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chris Corner

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for The Saint, Open Your Eyes▶ 46:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cirque du Soleil

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Spy Who Dumped Me▶ 48:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Woo

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Hard Boiled▶ 37:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Stanley Kubrick

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon▶ 46:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Amy Hulse

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Only the Brave, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot▶ 25:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cecil B. DeMille

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Show on Earth, Sunset Boulevard▶ 53:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (66)

Tim Roth

28 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Rob Roy, The Hateful Eight, Pulp Fiction▶ 1:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Madsen

23 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Hateful Eight, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Species▶ 21:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steve Buscemi

21 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Fargo, Reservoir Dogs▶ 1:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chris Penn

14 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Reservoir Dogs, True Romance▶ 1:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Harvey Keitel

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Reservoir Dogs, Bad Lieutenant, The Grand Budapest Hotel▶ 1:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Woods

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Hercules, The Virgin Suicides▶ 1:02:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Sizemore

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down▶ 24:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gary Oldman

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Dark Knight, Darkest Hour▶ 25:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lawrence Tierney

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Reservoir Dogs▶ 1:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lee Marvin

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for The Dirty Dozen▶ 13:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Forster

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Jackie Brown, The Descendants, Mulholland Drive▶ 1:04:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christopher Walken

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Catch Me If You Can, The Deer Hunter▶ 1:04:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (6)

Roger Ebert

3 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 21:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ali Bathgate

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for F1: The Movie, Enola Holmes▶ 23:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

George Lucas

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, THX 1138, American Graffiti▶ 14:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lawrence Bender

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Reservoir Dogs▶ 21:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Crichton

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Jurassic Park, Twister▶ 1:25:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Goldman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Princess Bride▶ 11:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (1)

Michael Grantland

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Other Guys▶ 1:07:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗