Stay ConnectedNot 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.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Copyright: © 2026
This week, we are honored to welcome Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent to the podcast as we discuss Peter Weir's devastating classic Gallipoli. In addition to bringing much needed context on the history of Australian cinema, this episode also delves into the significance of the Gallipoli Campaign in the Aussie national consciousness, the undersung career of actor Mark Lee, and the genius of Peter Weir's approach to telling this story. Plus, we get to ask Jennifer about her role in Babe: Pig in the City AND we ask her to tell her buddy Justin Kurzel how much Ben loves his Assassin's Creed movie.
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Peter Weir's follow up to Picnic at Hanging Rock - 1978's The Last Wave - deals with similar themes, with colonialism butting against the wild mysticism of Australia's land and people. However, this time...it's WET AS HELL. BenDavid Grabinski - the filmmaker behind the upcoming Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice - joins us to talk about this beguiling film, apocalyptic thinking, Richard Chamberlain's status as the king of TV miniseries, and Tom Shadyac's Dragonfly, weirdly enough.
Watch BenDavid's new movie Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice
If you're in New York, be sure to go to Sunken Harbor Club or Nitehawk Trivia
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On St. Valentine's Day in 1900, a group of podcasters set out to record an episode about Peter Weir's Picnic At Hanging Rock. Some were never to return...because they got addicted to the calming sounds of pan flute! Filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun joins us to chat about this 1975 classic of Australian cinema, and we're getting into the eerie qualities that make this film such an enduring mystery. From Rachel Roberts' wig drama to frame rate manipulation...from the Aboriginal concept of "dream time" to the casting of actual private school girls...there's much to unpack. But don't worry, we also spend a lot of time discussing The Grabber from The Black Phone 2.
Check out Jane's Dream Film Syllabus
Watch the Virgin Suicides Zoom Reunion
Read Australian Gothic: Peter Weir’s ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ at 50 by Tim Pelan
Pre-Order Jane's Book Public Access Afterworld
Pan flute accompaniment composed and performed by Alex Mitchell
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonjour! Erm...we mean...G'day mates! Our Peter Weir series PODNIC AT HANGING CAST kicks off with Weir's 1974 feature debut The Cars That Ate Paris, a film about the guy who plays Napoleon in the Bill & Ted movies getting stranded in a quirky and murderous Australian town. We're getting into the origins of the Australian New Wave, the various "calling card" projects that Weir made in the beginning of his career, and this film's spiky car which Ben has a lot of affection for, obviously.
Check out the Steve Martin Cold Open - Saturday Night Live
Listen to Griff on Comedy Bang!Bang!
Check out Dirty Laundry on Dropout
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Live from our windowless studio in Downtown Brooklyn, it's the 11th Annual Blankies! Joe Reid joins us once again to give out golden Wattos to our favorite films, performances, and craftspeople of the year. Some of our picks are certainly part of the greater award season conversation. Others are Materialists. Join us as we honor the best Putters and Murmurs, the Wettest flicks of the year, and as Griffin debuts his latest Billy Crystal opening showtune.
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our Lynne Ramsay series comes to a close with last year's Die My Love, which brings us to the realization - damn, have we really never talked about Jennifer Lawrence before? Join us and Vulture's Alison Willmore as we do a full career deep-dive on J.Law, and grapple with this film and Mubi's decision to purchase it out of Cannes for a buttload of money.
Read the NY Mag profile of Darren Aronofsky from 2017
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In 2018, Lynne Ramsay released You Were Never Really Here, a film about a completely implausible scenario...a townhouse on the East side of Manhattan houses a sex trafficking operation that implicates high-level government officials in its web of depravity???? Could you even imagine?!! Hollywood Handbook's Sean Clements joins us to chat about this eerily relevant film, the literary career of Jonathan Ames, Joaquin Phoenix's screen persona, and Joseph Gordon Levitt's recently announced follow-up to Don Jon.
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The time has come for us to talk about Kevin. The New Yorker's Jia Tolentino joins us to talk about Lynne Ramsay's depiction of every parent's worst nightmare - 2011's We Need To Talk About Kevin. We need to talk about how Griffin grew up with Ezra Miller, and even auditioned against them to play Kevin. We need to talk about Lionel Shriver's awful politics. We need to talk about Tilda Swinton comparing her performance here to Buster Keaton. And we need to again explain the whole Fantastic Beasts franchise to another guest who is blissfully unaware of Credence Barebone.
Read Jia's Profile of Jennifer Lawrence and her other work at the New Yorker.
Check out the r/HowIsLivingThere
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Almost four years ago, Producer Ben Hosley watched Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" and proclaimed that if he'd been in that scenario, everything would have worked out perfectly. With the gleefully satisfying "Send Help," Raimi gives Ben the ending he's always wanted. Join Ben, Griffin, David, and Marie as they chat about the endless likability of Rachel McAdams, the heel turn of Dylan O'Brien, and how the various employees of Blank Check Productions would fare on a deserted island.
Read "Dylan O’Brien Is Ready to Talk About That Accident"
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mommy's back! Emily Yoshida joins the gang to talk about 2002's Morvern Callar, a surprisingly tender film about grief, starting over, and taking a Jet2 Holiday. We're chatting about Samantha Morton's unconventional star quality, our personal history with mixtapes, and the Fantastic Beasts franchise for some reason. Plus, Ben reveals his love of seaside snow, Griffin adds some context from the source material (or whatever he could translate from the Scottish dialect), and everyone agrees that Morvern did nothing wrong.
Check out the official Shogun podcast
Listen to the Emily’s Traitors Podcast: First To Breakfast
Watch the Romano Tours SNL Sketch
Sign up for Check Book, the Blank Check newsletter featuring even more “real nerdy shit” to feed your pop culture obsession. Dossier excerpts, film biz AND burger reports, and even more exclusive content you won’t want to miss out on.
Join our Patreon for franchise commentaries and bonus episodes.
Follow us @blankcheckpod on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook!
Connect with other Blankies on our Reddit or Discord
For anything else, check out BlankCheckPod.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
