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‘The Program’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Kyle Brandt

December 8, 2020 · The Program (1993) · Action · Drama · Romance · 1:54:32

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 36:55First practice scene, including Darnell's fumble, the coach's 'are you hurt or are you injured' question, Guns N' Roses Welcome to the Jungle sequence, and Latimer in the weight room pressing 465
Kyle Brandt▶ 41:48Enthusiastically agrees with the first practice scene, emphasizing the contrast between exhausted players using pads as pillows after practice and Latimer doing 24 reps of 315 overhead press in the weight room
Ryen Russillo▶ 39:24Agrees with the first practice scene, focuses on Latimer's weight room sequence (clean and jerk, throwing down 315, getting mad at the weights) and discusses the dive bar scene showing Joe's drinking

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 44:35Mentioned multiple rewatchable scenes including Darnell losing football, Latimer's 'place at the table' moment, and Alvin Mack's performance, but didn't declare a winner
Ryen Russillo▶ 42:53Discussed Kyle's pre-game speech scene and Alvin Mack's trash-talking performance, but didn't give a definitive pick

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 50:22How do the fans not charge the field after the big win - what was going on, was it not safe, how did they miss that
Kyle Brandt▶ 48:18What is the deal with Alvin Mack's injury and why is it so bad that he will never play football again when it wasn't violent contact and other players like Jerry Rice came back from reconstructive surgery

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 1:10:16A violent scene that's tough to watch (compared to James Gandolfini scene), James Caan's performance as the coach, and the ridiculous rainstorm in the first game
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:15:15Joe Kane being 32 years old (actually 33) playing a college junior - wins the 'Gabriel Carteris award'
Ryen Russillo▶ 1:11:06The violent scene but argues it was important and accurate for the character development, showing the main character is actually a monster

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:26:04Johnny Depp — Johnny Depp was considered for Craig's role but turned it down because he wasn't a sports fan
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:26:57Questioned Sheffer's 65-yard throw claim, suggesting it was exaggerated
Ryen Russillo▶ 1:26:18Johnny Depp — Commented that Depp not being a sports fan is unsurprising, focused more on critiquing Sheffer's casting story

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:29:24Charles S. Dutton — Two picks: the offensive lineman who became the medical assistant on ER, and Elmo the chef from Vision Quest (who played Joe Kane's dad)
Ryen Russillo▶ 1:29:55J.C. Quinn — Agrees with and praises Elmo the chef, calling him an incredible actor who outshines the room in bit pieces

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:33:22Presents multiple trivia facts including cast connections (Latimer/Alvin Mack in Necessary Roughness, Omar Epps/Christy Swanson/Andrew Brianarski in Higher Learning), filming details (16 minutes to film three games at South Carolina vs Tennessee), character inspirations (Latimer based on Tommy Chalkin, quarterback on Tom Bill), and questions Dwayne Davis's claim about stuntmen injuries
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:33:30Discusses Dwayne Davis as 'that guy' actor who played football players in three movies (Necessary Roughness, Beetlejuice, this film), praises the quarterback passing shots, and analyzes the final play as actually being an incomplete forward pass that should have been called differently
Ryen Russillo▶ 1:35:13Defends the possibility of injuries during filming given the intense physical contact, clarifies USC references (South Carolina vs Southern California), discusses the final play editing decision to keep the fumble/recovery sequence, and comments on the preposterous nature of the play

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:40:00Omar Epps — Omar Epps (yes), Halle Berry hair extensions (yes, because she never did it again), Craig Sheffer (yes), and steroids in movies (yes, peak representation)
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:42:01The Program — Agreed on steroids apex mountain, calling the movie 'steroids porn for two hours' and 'an infomercial'

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:53:24Andrew Bryniarski — Latimer - he has the biggest influence and is the first thing anyone remembers from the movie
Kyle Brandt▶ 1:53:10Andrew Bryniarski — Latimer - makes you want to take steroids and paint your face like a skeleton, also gives shout out to Iowa football
Ryen Russillo▶ 1:52:56Andrew Bryniarski — Latimer - because it's the first thing you think of when you think of this movie

Movies Referenced (33)

Higher Learning (1995)

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Ryen Russillo▶ 22:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Major League (1989)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 22:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Necessary Roughness (1991)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 1:03:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

A Time to Kill (1996)

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt▶ 1:42:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Any Given Sunday (1999)

2 mentions · Ryen Russillo, Bill Simmons▶ 31:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dazed and Confused (1993)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:32:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Friday Night Lights (2004)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt▶ 14:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Heat (1995)

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

Rocky IV (1985)

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Ryen Russillo▶ 1:42:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Spider-Man (2002)

2 mentions · Ryen Russillo▶ 1:02:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Street Fighter (1994)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:03:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Teen Wolf (1985)

2 mentions · Ryen Russillo, Kyle Brandt▶ 27:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (4)

Ben Affleck

7 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Bill Simmons · Known for Argo, Gone Girl, The Town▶ 1:32:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Glenn Danzig

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt · Known for The Hangover▶ 53:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Colorado

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Hancock▶ 36:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Friedkin

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for To Live and Die in L.A., The French Connection, The Exorcist▶ 10:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (56)

Joe Kane

31 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, Ryen Russillo▶ 19:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Omar Epps

17 mentions · Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Kyle Brandt · Known for Love & Basketball▶ 6:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Craig Sheffer

14 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for A River Runs Through It▶ 20:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chris Berman

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, Kyle Brandt · Known for The Longest Yard, Draft Day▶ 1:22:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Halle Berry

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo · Known for Die Another Day▶ 1:04:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Ward

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo▶ 10:58IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bo Schembechler

6 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Ryen Russillo, Bill Simmons · Known for The Program▶ 15:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bill Parcells

5 mentions · Ryen Russillo, Kyle Brandt · Known for Any Given Sunday▶ 37:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

James Caan

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo · Known for Thief, Rollerball, Misery▶ 16:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brett Favre

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo · Known for There's Something About Mary▶ 1:47:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Darin Necessary

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt · Known for Venom, Black Panther, Vanilla Sky▶ 1:03:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jeff Speakman

4 mentions · Ryen Russillo, Kyle Brandt▶ 1:01:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (2)

James Kahn

2 mentions · Kyle Brandt, Ryen Russillo▶ 12:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roger Ebert

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 34:07IMDb ↗Lb ↗