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‘Eyes Wide Shut’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin

August 15, 2023 · Eyes Wide Shut (1999) · Drama · Mystery · Thriller · 1:34:29 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 36:55'Stoned Kidman' confronting Cruise — the bedroom fight where she turns on him ('that would be the first one').
Chris Ryan▶ 39:37The stoned Kidman–Cruise fight (backing Bill's pick): 'absolutely iconic scene, one of my favorites period... one of the great couple fights in movies' — perfectly calibrated couple-fight dynamics, plus the first of Cruise's three claps.
Mallory Rubin▶ 37:08The dance with the 'weird Hungarian guy' — Sandor Szavost (Sky du Mont) seducing Alice at the Ziegler party — 'a few of the sexiest minutes in movie history... it's not about him, it's about the way he makes her feel.'
Sean Fennessey▶ 38:10Praised both leading candidates without declaring one: dove into the Sandor Szavost scene via a Sky du Mont bio deep-dive ('this guy is just an absolute legend,' four wives listed), and called Kidman's delivery in the fight scene 'musical to me... rhythmic and strange and very memorable' (Frank Ocean sampled the speech).

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 50:21Do you think Nick was pretending for Tom Cruise that he didn't know what was going on, or did he not know but then worked out a deal with those guys?
Chris Ryan▶ 44:46How rich are Bill and Alice? Are they getting invited to Ziegler's because of their social circle or is this high altitude for them?
Mallory Rubin▶ 46:03They have money based on how much Bill shells out during his night out - every transaction involves extra hundreds on top of what's needed
Sean Fennessey▶ 45:02Ziegler is worth like 500 million and they're worth like 15 million - they're wealthy because he does house calls to rich people

What's Aged the Worst

Bill Simmons▶ 51:25The scene where Alice tells Bill about her dream, specifically her explicit dialogue about being with other men
Chris Ryan▶ 54:04Kubrick's reputation preventing proper criticism of his methods, like shooting Full Metal Jacket in England instead of a Vietnam-like location
Mallory Rubin▶ 52:13Alice's dream speech to Bill, which she reads aloud and questions why the actors agreed to say such dialogue
Sean Fennessey▶ 53:05How Kubrick exploited actors, calling it an indictment on how dumb actors are for agreeing to work with him despite his destructive methods

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 1:02:36The movie's timeless quality - it doesn't take place in a specific year and could be right now, except for minor details like caps and his wife texting
Chris Ryan▶ 1:02:50Agrees with the timeless quality but jokes about how social media would change the secret society scenes

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:07:56Harrison Ford — Lists multiple alternate casting possibilities: Woody Allen in the 70s (would have been disaster), Steve Martin (1980s sex comedy version), Harrison Ford (top choice at one point), Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, Jennifer Jason Lee and Harvey Keitel, Johnny Depp
Chris Ryan▶ 1:09:31Val Kilmer — Val Kilmer sent 30 unsolicited audition tapes to Kubrick and would have gone full frontal
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:08:27Harrison Ford — Notes Harrison Ford connection to character name 'Harford' but says she couldn't have handled that casting
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:09:02Harrison Ford — Harrison Ford in the late 80s would have been really interesting and better in some ways

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:09:47Rade Serbedzija — Lee Sobieski's dad (Rada Serbidesha)
Chris Ryan▶ 1:09:54Todd Field

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:10:20Alan Cumming — Mandy and Alan Cumming at the hotel
Chris Ryan▶ 1:10:25Alan Cumming — Alan Cumming at the hotel
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:10:42Alan Cumming — Alan Cumming (praising his facial expressions)

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:12:01Cate Blanchett voiced the mysterious masked woman at the orgy; Cruise and Kidman sued Star Magazine for claiming they had a sex therapist coach them; various rumors about Harvey Keitel's departure that he won't mention
Chris Ryan▶ 1:12:30Sydney Pollack was brought in as Warner Brothers' spy and as the 'Cruise whisperer' after Keitel left; Gary Oldman's story about Keitel losing it on the 88th take of opening a door

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:15Eyes Wide Shut party/orgies in general, and movies filmed in London pretending to be in New York
Chris Ryan▶ 1:13:20Big orgies with masks

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:49Alice's bad stoned acting - she acted drunk instead of stoned; Domino having a roommate is unrealistic for someone in her profession
Chris Ryan▶ 1:16:07The apartment being an unrealistic shithole - looked like a depression era jail cell that they didn't bother to tidy up; unnatural dialogue throughout the movie
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:13:41Alice getting too high from a couple hits of one joint; Domino's roommate knowing details about Bill but not knowing they didn't sleep together; Dr. Bill wearing UGGs at home
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:16:49The generic beer ordering scene - Bill asking for 'a beer' without specifying, likely due to product placement issues with the Budweiser-like bottle

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:33:38Stanley Kubrick — Kubrick - because this movie never should have worked in a million years, it's so weird, and it was his last contribution to cinema
Mallory Rubin▶ 1:33:50Stanley Kubrick — Kubrick - agrees with Bill's pick, noting his last contribution to cinema was having Nicole Kidman say they had to fuck

Movies Referenced (25)

The Shining (1980)

8 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 13:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 30:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Top Gun (1986)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 24:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 32:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dead Calm (1989)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 24:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:11:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Reality Bites (1994)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 12:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

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

Aliens (1986)

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 33:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Apocalypse Now (1979)

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 25:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Deja Vu (2006)

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 16:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Doctor Strange (2016)

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 34:28IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (4)

Stanley Kubrick

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon▶ 8:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andrea Bias

1 mentions · Mallory Rubin · Known for Black Adam, A Simple Favor, The Intern▶ 0:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Cronenberg

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Fly, eXistenZ, Dead Ringers▶ 47:35IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tony Scott

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Domino, Unstoppable, True Romance▶ 32:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (11)

Tom Cruise

3 mentions · Mallory Rubin, Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Top Gun, Mission: Impossible II, Minority Report▶ 6:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Harrison Ford

2 mentions · Mallory Rubin, Sean Fennessey · Known for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, The Fugitive▶ 1:08:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Nicole Kidman

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Moulin Rouge!, Rabbit Hole▶ 7:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ryan O'Neill

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 53:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Alan Cumming

1 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 1:33:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chris Denison

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Avatar: The Way of Water, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever▶ 1:08:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Starks

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Forget Paris▶ 1:32:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kaiser Chiefs

1 mentions · Mallory Rubin▶ 0:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kansas

1 mentions · Mallory Rubin · Known for The Suicide Squad, Pitch Perfect, Final Destination 5▶ 0:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Peter Sellers

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Being There▶ 53:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Steve Martin

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Roxanne, The Jerk, The Pink Panther▶ 1:08:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (1)

Arthur Schnitzler

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Mallory Rubin · Known for Eyes Wide Shut▶ 8:49IMDb ↗Lb ↗