True Grit with Stavros Halkias
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We love to pull the cork. Comedian (and probably the biggest Greek-American entertainer of our time)...
A Serious Man with Marc Maron
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The time has come for us to lock the gates. On the occasion of the end of WTF, Marc Maron joins us t...
Burn After Reading with Fran Hoepfner
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What did we learn, Palmer? That 2008’s Burn After Reading is pretty freakin’ hilarious, sir. Our...
No Country for Old Men with Leslye Headland
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Two Friendos, plus “Masterpiece” Leslye Headland and “I would have had no problems handlin...
The Ladykillers with Connor Ratliff
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We must have waffles forthwith! We must also have Connor Ratliff on the pod to talk about Tom Hanks ...
Intolerable Cruelty with Katey Rich
14 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been exposed. You’ve nailed our asses. Of course we’re going to defend this movie! 2004’...
The Man Who Wasn't There with Jordan Hoffman
07 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This one’s a real enigma - is The Man Who Wasn’t There a film about the alienation of a man who ...
O Brother, Where Art Thou? with Emily St. James
31 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Those Soggy Bottom Boys really know how to carry a tune! Emily St. James joins us to talk about O Br...
The Big Lebowski with Seth Rogen
24 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the episode you’ve all been waiting for - Seth Rogen joins us to talk about the Coens’ 19...
Fargo with Zach Cregger
17 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Did we get the director of Weapons, another “true story,” on our Fargo episode? You betcha. Zach...
The Hudsucker Proxy with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
(Gestures at a circle) You know, for kids! Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger of the Doughboys join us for...
Barton Fink with Chris Weitz
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is John Goodman the devil? Is the studio system good, actually? Is it better to be the director of a...
Miller's Crossing with Ari Aster
27 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a movie about hats, and a movie about giving folks the high hat. It’s also a movie about ho...
Raising Arizona with John Hodgman
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jesus Cock, that’s a hot new episode! John Hodgman returns to Blank Check to chat about Raising Ar...
Blood Simple with Ray Tintori & Jordan Fish
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gather round, folks - it’s time to embark upon a journey through one of the most sterling filmogra...
Vamps with Caroline Framke
06 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our Amy Heckerling series comes to an end with 2012’s Vamps, a film produced too late to have an a...
I Could Never Be Your Woman with Karen Chee
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Michelle Pfeiffer stars as Amy Heckerling and Paul Rudd stars as ????? in a totally normal movie tha...
28 Years Later
22 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Blank Check is going back to the British Isles with Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and one extraordinari...
Loser with Chandler Levack
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The song. The hat. The…casual date rape?!!? In what should have been Amy Heckerling’s “blank c...
Clueless with Heidi Gardner
08 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Okay, so you’re probably going, “Is this like a Noxzema commercial or what?” But seriously, th...
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Griffin, David, Ben, and Marie accepted the mission. They live and pod in the shadows, for those the...
Look Who's Talking Too with Max Minghella
25 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Ubriacco family are back and - can you believe it? - they’re still talking! Actor and filmmake...
Look Who's Talking with Hillary Busis
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In perhaps the spermiest film we’ve ever covered, John Travolta and Kirstie Alley hang out with a ...
National Lampoon's European Vacation with Jon Gabrus
11 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Congratulations! You’ve won an all-expenses-paid vacation with Griffin, David, Ben, and Jon Gabrus...
Johnny Dangerously with Josh Gondelman
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He’s the nicest bad guy in town. His last name is an adverb. And he’s got some pretty wacky bits...
Fast Times at Ridgemont High with Lola Kirke
27 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re grabbing our Vans slip ons and heading to the mall as we kick off our Amy Heckerling series ...
Schindler's List with David Ehrlich
20 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our Early Spielberg series concludes with a movie that is a super fun time and not at all distressin...
Jurassic Park with Sean Fennessey
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates Steven Spielberg. Steven Spielberg makes ...
Hook with Lin-Manuel Miranda
06 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone knows Captain Hook got swallowed by the crocodile at the end of Peter Pan. But what this mo...
Always with Richard Lawson
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Is it possible for Steven Spielberg to make a movie that doesn’t exist? Well, he sure tried with 1...
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with Chris Gethard
23 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if Indiana Jones had a dad who was a “grail scholar" but also his “eskimo brother" and he w...
Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri
16 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our Spielbergian journey takes us to new dramatic heights with 1987’s Empire of the Sun, the film ...
The Color Purple with Kenice Mobley
09 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After inventing the Hollywood blockbuster with Jaws, creating the world’s most loveable alien with...
Blank Check LIVE! at Town Hall (2025)
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
👑👑 A LIVE SHOW OF MAJESTIC PROPORTIONS 👑👑 Podcasters, cinephiles, and freaks—rejoice...
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with Olivia Craighead
02 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Doom” isn’t just describing a Temple here, folks - it’s kind of the overarching vibe of thi...
The Tenth Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a wonderful night for Blankies! Join us and This Had Oscar Buzz’s Joe Reid as we survey the...
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
16 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re putting out a bit of a throwback episode for the most iconic (literal) blankie in film histo...
Raiders of the Lost Ark with Brian Michael Bendis
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You’re a young movie fan. It’s 1981. STEVEN SPIELBERG is teaming up with FREAKING GEORGE LUCAS (...
1941 with Mike Mitchell & Nick Wiger
02 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He invented the summer blockbuster. He inspired millions of people around the world to “watch the ...
Close Encounters of the Third Kind with J.D. Amato
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Five curious tones. A mountain of mashed potatoes. Bob Balaban with a beard speaking french. After t...
Jaws with Timothy Simons
19 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dunnnh dun. Dunnnh dun. Never before had two notes provoked such terror as they did in JAWS, the 197...
The Sugarland Express with Esther Zuckerman
12 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Young whippersnapper Steven Spielberg continues his run of dusty, road-centric films with 1974’s T...
Duel
05 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
2025! Blank Check Year 10! Year of Miracles! In honor of our record 10th year of podcasting, we’re...
Twin Peaks: The Return (Episodes 14-18) with Jane Schoenbrun
22 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What year is it? Well, it’s 2024 - but not for long. It’s our last episode of the year! Director...
Twin Peaks: The Return (Episodes 9-13) with Fran Hoepfner
15 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dougie gets it on (or, more accurately, Naomi Watts gets HER Dougie on), guest Fran Hoepfner pitches...
Twin Peaks: The Return (Episode 8) with Connor Ratliff
08 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This is the podcast. These are the (two) friends. Drink full, and descend. The famous “Atomic Bomb...
Twin Peaks: The Return (Episodes 1-7)
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is happening again - we’re covering TV! Or is it an 18-part movie? Much to ponder. We’re head...
Inland Empire with David Rees
24 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Only on Blank Check would an episode about David Lynch’s deeply destabilizing INLAND EMPIRE turn i...
Mulholland Drive with Leslye Headland
17 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Is it a dream? Is it about a dream? Is it a TV pilot? Is it the greatest film of the 21st century? I...
Here
10 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We apologize in advance if you had a profound emotional experience with the new Robert Zemeckis join...
The Straight Story with Dana Stevens
03 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Walt Disney Pictures Presents A Film By David Lynch. And what a beautiful, expectation-defying, G-ra...
Lost Highway with David Lowery
27 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
1997’s Lost Highway - is it (as David Sims wrote on Letterboxd), “a movie about headache”? Is ...
Joker: Hallie À Goodrich
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if they made a sequel to the Joker movie that was pretty much the finale of Seinfeld but it’s...
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me with Arkasha Stevenson
13 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the more harrowing films we’ve covered on the podcast (and the second film we’ve covered ...
Wild at Heart with Tatiana Maslany
06 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If we told you this was the first time we’d covered a Nicolas Cage movie on the podcast - would yo...
Twin Peaks (Season 1) with Eva Anderson
29 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For a brief shining moment, Middle America went crazy for the surreal soap opera stylings of David L...
Blue Velvet with Jamie Loftus
22 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Lend us your (severed) ears! This week, we’re jumping back into our Lynch series with a trip to Lu...
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
15 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re taking a break from David Lynch to answer one of the year’s biggest questions - Is Burton ...
Dune with John Hodgman
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The sleeper must awaken. The filmography must contain a flop. We’ve arrived at the Planet Arrakis ...
The Elephant Man with Alex Ross Perry
01 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re getting in touch with our emotions this week, as Alex Ross Perry joins us to talk about Lync...
Eraserhead
25 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In heaven (and in podcasting), everything is fine. Welcome to TWIN PODS: FIRE CAST WITH ME, a series...
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
18 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welp, our Kevin Costner series ends not with a bang, but a whimper. With the pulling of Horizon: An ...
Trap
11 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You know the Butcher? That freakin' nutjob that goes around just chopping people up? Well, we’re a...
Open Range with Chris Ryan
04 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Free-grazers and CR-heads - this is your week. The icon, the legend, the Ringer’s own Chris Ryan j...
The Postman with Emily St. James
28 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s movie has everything - fake teeth on Giovanni Ribisi, a mule performing Shakespeare, T...
Dances with Wolves
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a first for Blank Check, we’re covering a filmmaker who has acted alongside our own Griffin New...
Gigli with Jen D'Angelo
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first "G" in "Gigli" is pronounced like the "J" in “Jacques,” the second “G” is silent. ...
Meet Joe Black with Richard Lawson
07 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
He’s hot. He’s got frosted tips. He loves peanut butter. His lil swimmers may or may not look li...
Scent of a Woman with David Krumholtz
30 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Warning - this episode contains an ungodly amount of Pacino impressions. Listener discretion is advi...
Midnight Run with Alan Sepinwall
23 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a first for Blank Check, Ben Hosley produces an entire episode while handcuffed and under threat ...
Beverly Hills Cop with Adil & Bilall
16 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An indelible synth theme by Harold Faltermeyer. A scene-stealing turn from Bronson Pinchot. A banana...
Going In Style with James Urbaniak
09 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After years of citing him as a potential series, we’re finally Brest men. In this inaugural episod...
Furiosa with Kyle Buchanan
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We return to the Wasteland this week with Furiosa, and we’ve got quite the tour guide. Kyle Buchan...
Paprika with Emily Yoshida
26 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Come join the dream parade, folks - we’re talking about Paprika! Mother of the Blankies Emily Yosh...
Tokyo Godfathers with Reece Feldman
19 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
They call them the Godfathers of Tokyo…and we call him the KING of TIKTOK (in an old man newscaste...
Millennium Actress with Hoai-Tran Bui
12 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our Satoshi Kon series continues with his 2003 film Millennium Actress, a moving exploration of memo...
Perfect Blue with Bowen Yang
05 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to the filmography of Satoshi Kon - a thrilling series of funhouse mirrors and puzzlebox nar...
Basic with BenDavid Grabinski
28 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our McTiernan series concludes with 2003’s BASIC - a film that Griffin thinks should instead be ti...
Rollerball with Zach Cherry
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Finally, we arrive at the film that helped put John McTiernan in both “director jail” and “jai...
The 13th Warrior with David Lowery
14 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What if there was a 13th Warrior? What if there was a version of Beowulf so grounded in reality that...
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) with Amanda Dobbins
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A Fiji water bottle. “Sinnerman” by Nina Simone. That Magritte painting with the bowler hat. A S...
Die Hard with a Vengeance with Shea Serrano
31 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
John McTiernan back with the Die Hard franchise after the spectacular flop of Last Action Hero. Bruc...
Last Action Hero with Paul Scheer & Jason Mantzoukas
24 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You either love this movie or you hate it, and guess what - we’re landing all over the LOST ACTION...
Medicine Man with Jamie Lee
17 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Oh baby, this one’s a STINKER! Sean Connery finds the cure for cancer but then he loses it (??). L...
The Hunt For Red October with Jamelle Bouie
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We love da submarinesh! Host of “Unclear and Present Danger” Jamelle Bouie joins us this week to...
The Ninth Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The pomp. The pageantry. The awkwardness of trying to shoehorn any of this year’s Oscar nominees i...
Die Hard with Kevin Smith
25 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thirty-six floors. Thirteen (fake) terrorists. One perfect action movie. Kevin Smith - who was in a ...
Predator with Jon Gabrus
18 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
GET TO THE CHOPPA! Griffin attempts his best (actually, worst) Arnold voice this week as we head to ...
Nomads
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Okay, action freaks! We’re kicking off our John McTiernan miniseries - POD HARD WITH A VENGECAST -...
The Mirror Has Two Faces with Bobby Finger & Lindsey Weber
04 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
If Yentl was about connecting with her absent father, and The Prince of Tides was about forgiving he...
The Prince of Tides with Katey Rich
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Can you hear the crawdads sing? Or is that just our Nick Nolte impression? Our favorite Carolinian K...
A Conversation with Amy Irving
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Surprise! In a first for Blank Check, we're dropping a bonus main-feed episode featuring a conversat...
Yentl with Jordan Hoffman
21 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Podcast, can you hear me?” We certainly can, Barbra! The very menschy Jordan Hoffman joins us to c...
A Star Is Born (1976) with Rachel Zegler
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hello Gorgeous! We’re kicking off our Barbra Streisand series (titled “Podcastl,” naturally) w...
Ferrari with Bilge Ebiri
07 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vroom vroom! Michael Mann is BACK. Bilge Ebiri is BACK. How do you say “we’re so back” in Ital...
Wonkquaman with Marie Bardi-Salinas
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re closing out 2023 with two words - Wet. Chocolate. Join us as we bid farewell to the DCEU, sa...
Maestro with Marie Bardi-Salinas
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The music! The makeup! The MAESTRO! We’re diving into Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein biopic,...
The Boy and the Heron with J.D. Amato
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It took seven years for Hayao Miyazaki and the artists at Studio Ghibli to make THE BOY AND THE HERO...
I Love You to Death
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mamma mia! We’ve got-a some-a sleepy pasta for-a you to taste-a this-a week! In our latest, much-a...
The Killer with Marie Bardi
26 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We’re wrapping up our Fincher series with his latest release - a stripped-down, gig-economy hitman...