Blank Check with Griffin & David
Blank Check Productions
Not just another bad movie podcast, Blank Check reviews directors' complete filmographies episode to episode. Specifically, the auteurs whose early successes afforded them the rare ‘blank check’ from Hollywood to produce passion projects. Each new miniseries, hosts Griffin Newman and David Sims delve into the works of film’s most outsized personalities in painstakingly hilarious detail. Produced by Ben Hosley.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 29, 2026 • 2h 6min
Gallipoli with Jennifer Kent
Jennifer Kent, Australian filmmaker behind The Babadook and The Nightingale, joins to unpack Peter Weir’s Gallipoli and the history of Australian cinema. They explore Gallipoli’s national resonance, Weir’s intimate anti-epic approach and visual style, Mark Lee’s underrated performance, and the film’s marketing and cultural legacy.
Mar 22, 2026 • 2h 36min
The Last Wave with BenDavid Grabinski
Ben David Grabinski, filmmaker (writer/director of Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice). He dives into Peter Weir’s soggy, mystic 1978 film The Last Wave. They talk colonial law clashing with Aboriginal Dreamtime, the film’s relentless wet imagery, striking blue cinematography, the ambiguous tidal ending, and on-set rain effects and practical filmmaking anecdotes.
8 snips
Mar 15, 2026 • 2h 33min
Picnic at Hanging Rock with Jane Schoenbrun
Jane Schoenbrun, filmmaker and director of I Saw the TV Glow, joins to unpack Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock. They explore the film’s eerie first act, dreamlike cinematography and frame-rate tricks, casting choices and dubbed voices, themes of repression and Australian dreamtime, plus the pan flute’s haunting score.
Mar 8, 2026 • 1h 55min
The Cars That Ate Paris
A romp through Peter Weir's debut and the roots of the Australian New Wave. They trace Weir's early shorts and influences, the film's strange tone and car-crash visual style, and the quirky town economy built on wrecks. Conversation covers casting, the climactic violent festival, and how this wild first film launched Weir toward Picnic at Hanging Rock.
43 snips
Mar 1, 2026 • 3h 4min
The Eleventh Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid
Joe Reid, film critic and frequent collaborator, returns to help hand out the annual Blankies. They riff on Oscar season tactics, debate supporting and lead performance shortlists, salute craft categories like cinematography and casting, and trade playful superlatives and Putters & Murmurs for the year’s quirkiest moments.
Feb 22, 2026 • 2h 60min
Die My Love with Alison Willmore
Alison Willmore, Vulture film critic and cohost of Critical Darlings, joins to unpack Jennifer Lawrence’s career and Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love. They trace Lawrence’s star arc from franchises to daring indie choices. The conversation digs into the film’s tonal audacity, provocative scenes, casting risks, Cannes buzz, and MUBI’s big purchase.
Feb 15, 2026 • 2h 44min
You Were Never Really Here with Sean Clements
Sean Clements, comedian and writer known from Hollywood Handbook, joins to talk about Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here. They discuss Joaquin Phoenix's performance, Ramsay's visual technique for interior life, the film's spare pacing, Jonathan Ames' source material, and the movie's unsettling cultural resonance.
Feb 8, 2026 • 2h 49min
We Need To Talk About Kevin with Jia Tolentino
Jia Tolentino, New Yorker staff writer known for sharp cultural criticism, joins to unpack Lynne Ramsay’s We Need To Talk About Kevin. They dig into Ramsay’s image-first, impressionistic filmmaking. Short takes on casting choices, Tilda Swinton’s performance, the film’s punishing visual style, and how it reframes motherhood anxiety and memory.
11 snips
Feb 1, 2026 • 2h 27min
Send Help
They dig into Sam Raimi’s return to small-scale, pulpy filmmaking and what that means for his career. Conversation centers on Rachel McAdams’ likability and survival skills and Dylan O’Brien’s surprise heel turn. There’s lively breakdowns of the plane-crash staging, boar hunt mayhem, moral ambiguity on a stranded island, and a twisty modernist mansion reveal.
Jan 25, 2026 • 2h 37min
Morvern Callar with Emily Yoshida
Emily Yoshida, writer and critic known for Shogun coverage and hosting First To Breakfast, dives into Lynne Ramsay's Morvern Callar. They unpack Samantha Morton’s unconventional star quality. Conversations hit grief, music as narrative through mixtapes, Ramsay’s visual style and shooting choices, and the film’s moral ambiguity and tonal shifts.
