The Third Annual Blank Check Awards

Episode #146

The Third Annual Blank Check Awards AKA "The Blankies" (not to be confused with "blankies" who are fans of the podcast) is the third entry in the series of standalone Blankies episodes, where Griffin, David, and guest Joe Reid get to "pick the Oscars!" and reveal their picks for the best in film in 2016.

Summary

An impressive showing from Joe Reid in rattling off the miniseries Ben nicknames, revealing him as a true blankie. And stay tuned at the end for the announcement of Blank Check March Madness!

These guys.... there is so much far-ranging and freewheeling discussion of all these films and performances. Give it a listen.

This episode was sponsored by Stamps.com. Flat Stanley rings the doorbell, and boy is he taken aback when David doesn't immediately recognize him (though Griffin is so starstruck that he can't even say a word, wink wink). Stanley is two-dimensional, so he travels via the postal service - so David tells him about the easiest way to print postage from home without having to go to the post office. Use the promo code CHECK for a free trial and a free digital scale.

Milestones and Ephemera

• new nickname for Producer Ben: The Booker
• Rejected nickname for Producer Ben: The Peach Eater
• new nickname for Joe Reid: Reiding RainJoe
• Could play the lead in The Ben Hosley Story: Caleb Landry Jones
• Should have been the star of Good Time: Ben Hosley
• adding a character into Game of Thrones: bread wench
• Emily Yoshida has a new podcast: Night Call, produced by Ben Hosley
• Burger Reports! Several reports via the hotline!

And The Blankie Goes To...

	Griffin	David	Joe	reddit blankies
Best Supporting Actor
winner	Patrick Stewart Logan	Willem Dafoe The Florida Project	Michael Stuhlbarg Call Me By Your Name	Willem Dafoe The Florida Project
	Michael Stuhlbarg Call Me By Your Name	Michael Stuhlbarg Call Me By Your Name	Willem Dafoe The Florida Project	Michael Stuhlbarg Call Me By Your Name
	Angus Macfadyen The Lost City of Z	Jason Mitchell Mudbound	Jason Mitchell Mudbound	Ray Romano The Big Sick
	Willem Dafoe The Florida Project	Adam Driver Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Lucas Hedges Lady Bird	Patrick Stewart Logan
	Richard Jenkins The Shape of Water	Michael Cera Molly's Game	Tracy Letts Lady Bird	Michael Fassbender Alien: Covenant
Best Supporting Actress
winner	Holly Hunter - The Big Sick	Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird	Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird	Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird
	Laurie Metcalf - Lady Bird	Lesley Manville - Phantom Thread	Lesley Manville - Phantom Thread	Lesley Manville - Phantom Thread
	Ella Rumpf - Raw	Sienna Miller - The Lost City of Z	Tiffany Haddish - Girls Trip	Holly Hunter - The Big Sick
	Bria Vinaite - The Florida Project	Catherine Keener - Get Out	Sylvia Hoeks - Blade Runner 2049	Catherine Keener - Get Out
	Connie Britton - Beatriz At Dinner	Tatiana Maslany - Stronger	Elizabeth Marvel - The Meyerowitz Stories	Dafne Keen - Logan
	Griffin	David	Joe	reddit blankies
Best Actor
winner	Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out	Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out	Timothée Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name	Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out
	Timothée Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name	Adam Sandler - The Meyerowitz Stories	Adam Sandler - The Meyerowitz Stories	Timothée Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name
	Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel	Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel	Denzel Washington - Roman J. Israel	Robert Pattinson - Good Time
	Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread	Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread	Daniel Kaluuya - Get Out	Daniel Day-Lewis - Phantom Thread
	Robert Pattinson - Good Time	Robert Pattinson - Good Time	Ben Stiller - Brad's Status	Adam Driver - Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Best Actress
winner	Vicky Krieps - Phantom Thread	Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird	Meryl Streep The Post	Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water
	Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird	Vicky Krieps - Phantom Thread	Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird	Saoirse Ronan - Lady Bird
	Sally Hawkins - The Shape of Water	Florence Pugh - Lady MacBeth	Rebecca Hall - Professor Marston and the Wonder Women	Vicky Krieps - Phantom Thread
	Jessica Chastain - Molly's Game	Cynthia Nixon - A Quiet Passion	Jessica Chastain - Molly's Game	Meryl Streep - The Post
	Salma Hayek - Beatriz At Dinner	Kim Min-hee - At The Beach Alone	Salma Hayek - Beatriz At Dinner	Rooney Mara - A Ghost Story
	Griffin	David	Joe	reddit blankies
Best Original Screenplay
	Lady Bird	Lady Bird
	Coco	Get Out
	Phantom Thread	Phantom Thread
	The Shape of Water	The Big Sick
	Beatriz At Dinner	The Meyerowitz Stories
Best Adapted Screenplay
	The LEGO Batman Movie	Lost City of Z	Lost City of Z
	Call Me By Your Name	Call Me By Your Name	BPM
	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	Mudbound	Lady Macbeth
	Molly's Game	Molly's Game	Your Name
	Wonderstruck	Blade Runner 2049
	Griffin	David	Joe	reddit blankies
Best Director
winner	Sean Baker - The Florida Project	James Gray - The Lost City of Z	Luca Guadagnino - Call Me By Your Name	Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk
	Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water	Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird	Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird	Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird
	Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread	Paul Thomas Anderson - Phantom Thread	David Lowery - A Ghost Story	Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water
	Julia Ducournau - Raw	Sean Baker - The Florida Project	Dee Rees - Mudbound	Denis Villeneuve - Blade Runner 2049
	Josh and Benny Safdie - Good Time	Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk	Christopher Nolan - Dunkirk	Sean Baker - The Florida Project
Best Score
winner	Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread	Christopher Spellman - The Lost City of Z	Carter Burwell -  Wonderstruck
	Alexandre Desplat - The Shape of Water	Hans Zimmer - Dunkirk	Jon Brion - Lady Bird
	Jon Brion - Lady Bird	Daniel Hart - A Ghost Story	Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread
	Carter Burwell - Wonderstruck	Dario Marianelli - Darkest Hour
	Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time	Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time
	Griffin	David	Joe	reddit blankies
Best Picture
10	Wonder Woman	Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets	Princess Cyd	The Lost City of Z
9	Your Name	Personal Shopper	mother!	Star Wars: The Last Jedi
8	Good Time	Call Me By Your Name	Mudbound	Call Me By Your Name
7	Coco	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	A Ghost Story	Phantom Thread
6	Phantom Thread	Get Out	The Meyerowitz Stories	Blade Runner 2049
5	Raw	Lady Bird	Get Out	The Shape of Water
4	The Florida Project	Dunkirk	The Post	Get Out
3	The LEGO Batman Movie	The Florida Project	Lady Bird	The Florida Project
2	The Work	Phantom Thread	BPM	Dunkirk
1	The Shape of Water	The Lost City of Z	Call Me By Your Name	Lady Bird

Other Awards

2017 Putterers and Murmurers Award

• Robert Pattinson - The Lost City of Z

Honorable Mentions:

• Agnès Varda - Faces Places
• The fish nuns - Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• Joan Didion, Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold documentary

The Bennys!

• The Prodoer (for doing the most efficient impressive work): Ridley Scott for reshoots on All the Money in the World
• The Poet Laureate (actor who made their dialogue really sing): Michael Stuhlberg - Call Me By Your Name
• The Tiebreaker: ironically a dead tie with no consensus
• The Fart Detective (actor who gave most skeptical performance): Lil Rel Howery - Get Out
• The Fuckmaster (self-explanatory): Armie Hammer - Call Me By Your Name
• White-Hot Benny (breakout performance): Timothée Chalamet - Call Me By Your Name
• Hello Fennel (best debut): Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird
• Dirt-Bike Benny (most rough and tumble performance): The kids from IT
• Soaking-Wet Benny (literally for the wettest performance): Doug Jones - The Shape of Water
• Mr. Positive (for being the brightest light): Gal Gadot - Wonder Woman
• The Close Personal Friend of Dan Lewis (for being the closest most personal friend to Daniel Day-Lewis onscreen): Vicky Krieps - Phantom Thread

Ben's Awards

Editorial Note: As ever, we remind listeners that no typed-out description can ever do justice to Ben. Ever. Do yourself a favor and (re-)listen to the episodes!

Films That Should Be Remade With Babies, Animals, Puppets, Fruit, or Clowns

Fanart by @BringDaNoyz on Twitter

• The Greatest Showman - should be The Greatest Showbaby. Cute!
• Baby Driver - no, no, no, should be Fruit Driver. Main fruit is the honeydew melon. Even cuter!
• All the Money in the World - forget Chris Plummer, do a CGI puppet instead. Quicker fix!
• Molly's Game - should've been made with puppies. And re-enact that Dogs Playing Poker painting!
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - what about Clowns of the Caribbean: Dead Jesters Have No Words

Wetter Movies - Slickest Flicks of the Year

• Blade Runner 2049 - some future wet
• I, Tonya - it's frozen, but it's still wet and def slippery
• Dunkirk - soaked to death
• The Shape of Water - title says it all
• Justice League - for My Man, Aquaman, but also because the movie is SO sweaty

Should've Had Jared Leto In It

• Bright - make him an elf or something
• Wonder - to give it some edge
• Get Out - playing himself, a bad white person
• Boss Baby - playing himself, just as the baby
• mother! - playing the baby that gets torn apart

Honorable Mention Pictures

• Good Time - 'cause it's a scumbag romp
• Downsizing - 'cause people are small, but then also people are big

Ummm... No Thank You

• Three Billboards - doesn't drive anywhere anymore, so not interested
• Murder On The Orient Express - too much like LARPing
• Darkest Hour - more like me sleeping in the theater 
• Geostorm - a weather machine movie. What is this, the Cold War?
• The Mountains Between Us - maybe between you, but not between me
• Wonder Wheel - obv