‘Focus’ With Bill Simmons and Wesley Morris
November 16, 2021 · Focus (2015) · Comedy · Crime · Drama · 1:34:35
Categories
Apex Mountain
Bill SimmonsWill Smith — Questions whether Will Smith could have had a Denzel-like career with more artistic choices, mentions Six Degrees of Separation, Focus, and Pursuit of Happiness as examples of his potential, expresses interest in King Richard as a return to more serious work▶ 17:50
Wesley MorrisWill Smith — Discusses Will Smith's career choices and potential, noting Focus as interesting because it shows Will Smith in a different light - his first R-rated movie in 12 years, showing sexual chemistry with Margot Robbie that he doesn't usually display▶ 15:03
Most Rewatchable Scene
Wesley MorrisDiscusses multiple scenes including the Super Bowl scene positively despite criticizing the fake Super Bowl production quality, and praises the thief audition scene on Bourbon Street▶ 44:38
Casting What-Ifs
Bill SimmonsRyan Gosling — Discusses the original casting of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, then Ben Affleck and Kristen Stewart. Questions whether Ben Affleck and Margot Robbie would have had off-screen chemistry. Notes the casting timeline where Kristen Stewart dropped out after Will Smith joined.▶ 1:08:56
Wesley MorrisKristen Stewart — Analyzes why directors would want to work with Gosling/Stone again after La La Land. Discusses Kristen Stewart's subtle sexual energy compared to Margot Robbie's externalized approach, citing The Clouds of Sils Maria as example.▶ 1:09:03
Half-Assed Internet Research
Wesley MorrisSpeculates about scheduling conflict, notes the actress was busy making a movie or two per year during that period▶ 1:13:35
Joey Pants Award
Bill SimmonsBD Wong — Initially picks Adrian Martinez as Farhad, then changes to BD Wong after discussion▶ 1:13:52
Probably Unanswerable Questions
Bill SimmonsFocus 2 sequel concept - Will Smith older trying to get out, one last heist, Margot Robbie bigger star▶ 1:26:07
Wesley MorrisContributed to Focus 2 sequel idea - divorced couple with kid, kid involved in preschool heist▶ 1:26:23
Who Won the Movie
Bill SimmonsMargot Robbie — Margot Robbie - because she goes toe to toe with Will Smith and pulls him out of a movie coma▶ 1:28:23
Wesley MorrisBrennan Brown — Farhad/Horst (Brennan Brown) - the character who performs the car crash stunt sequence▶ 1:27:06
Movies Referenced (46)
| Title (year) | Links | Mentions | Mentioned by | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wall Street (1987) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 7 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | ▶ 27:13 |
| Bad Boys (1995) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 5 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | ▶ 16:52 |
| Lincoln (2012) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 5 | Wesley Morris | ▶ 13:20 |
| Men in Black (1997) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 5 | Bill Simmons | ▶ 8:43 |
| I Am Legend (2007) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | ▶ 5:42 |
| Intolerable Cruelty (2003) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Wesley Morris | ▶ 23:11 |
| King Richard (2021) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | ▶ 4:20 |
| Out of Sight (1998) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | ▶ 21:49 |
| Casino (1995) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 3 | Wesley Morris | ▶ 31:17 |
| Fargo (1996) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 2 | Bill Simmons | ▶ 37:55 |
| Goodfellas (1990) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 2 | Wesley Morris | ▶ 31:22 |
| Hitch (2005) | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 2 | Bill Simmons | ▶ 10:14 |
Directors Referenced (8)
| Name | Links | Mentions | Mentioned by | Known For | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Affleck | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 9 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Argo, Gone Girl, The Town | ▶ 1:10:27 |
| Steven Soderbergh | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 9 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | ▶ 39:53 | |
| Tony Scott | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 6 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | Unstoppable, True Romance | ▶ 20:24 |
| Richard Williams | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 5 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | ▶ 4:20 |
| George Clooney | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Wesley Morris | The Ides of March, Michael Clayton | ▶ 23:15 |
| Martin Scorsese | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Wesley Morris | Taxi Driver, Killers of the Flower Moon, Mean Streets | ▶ 32:08 |
| Michael Mann | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Wesley Morris | The Insider, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans | ▶ 58:19 |
| R. Kelly | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Space Jam | ▶ 40:44 |
Actors Referenced (63)
| Name | Links | Mentions | Mentioned by | Known For | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Smith | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 50 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Men in Black, I Am Legend | ▶ 4:15 |
| Margot Robbie | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 27 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Suicide Squad, The Wolf of Wall Street, Barbie | ▶ 15:03 |
| BD Wong | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 12 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Jurassic Park, Jurassic World | ▶ 44:18 |
| Kristen Stewart | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 7 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Twilight | ▶ 1:10:27 |
| Spencer Tracy | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 7 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | ▶ 1:09:36 |
| Ving Rhames | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 6 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Pulp Fiction, Bringing Out the Dead | ▶ 1:14:50 |
| Catherine Zeta-Jones | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 5 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | ▶ 22:50 | |
| Linda Fiorentino | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 5 | Wesley Morris | Men in Black, Dogma | ▶ 29:55 |
| Martin Lawrence | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | ▶ 1:32:54 | |
| Russell Crowe | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Bill Simmons | Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind | ▶ 9:45 |
| Ryan Gosling | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Bill Simmons, Wesley Morris | Blue Valentine, La La Land | ▶ 36:38 |
| Sidney Poitier | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Wesley Morris, Bill Simmons | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night | ▶ 12:17 |
Writers Referenced (5)
| Name | Links | Mentions | Mentioned by | Known For | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Ebert | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 2 | Bill Simmons | ▶ 37:39 | |
| Damien Chazelle | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Wesley Morris | Whiplash, La La Land, First Man | ▶ 1:09:22 |
| Glenn Ficarra | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Bill Simmons | ▶ 34:44 | |
| Michael Thomas | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Wesley Morris | ▶ 1:23:00 | |
| William Goldman | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 1 | Wesley Morris | Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Princess Bride | ▶ 25:46 |
Cinematographers Referenced (1)
| Name | Links | Mentions | Mentioned by | Known For | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Grantland | IMDb ↗Lb ↗ | 4 | Bill Simmons | The Other Guys | ▶ 4:05 |