THE CATEGORY
CABINET

They moved off Colm Meaney and gave the edge to Gregory Itzin's over-the-top warden.

Charles Napier is favored, but they debate whether his name recognition disqualifies him as a “that guy.”

Gary Cole, Ted Manson, Ian Roberts, Jack McBrayer, and Greg Germann are discussed as different levels of recognizable supporting actor.

Mark Rolston, who plays Drake, is the clear that-guy pick, with Paul Maxwell’s Van Leuwen as a secondary mention.

They settle on Joe Morton as the strongest 'that guy' performance in the film.

They pick Debbie's sleazy boss as the standout 'that guy' performance.

They agreed Clyde's briefly seen cellmate steals the most from limited screen time.

They pick Steven Williams for his indoor aviators and the moment he blocks Trautman from leaving.

After a broad supporting-cast debate, they agree on Molly Shannon. Gary Cole is considered too central to qualify.

Apone gets the Dion Waiters-style vote as the most memorable supporting character.

They choose Walter Cronkite as the most memorable supporting presence.

They again land on Joe Morton as the most impactful supporting presence for the award.

Bill gave the overacting nod to Darby for his greasy, heightened villain performance.

They rename the overacting category for Rambo 2’s underacting and refer back to their earlier discussion.

Her exaggerated performance is the answer, with the hosts stressing that the commitment makes it funny rather than weak.

Paxton’s energetic Hudson performance is treated as the clearest overacting winner.

They single out the Ukrainian brother for the most over-the-top performance.

They explicitly call out Modine's acting as the over-the-top performance in the movie.

They bounced between Clyde's overcomplicated decade-long revenge design and the implausible prison-tunnel logistics without locking one in.

They frame the film’s biggest weak link as the repeated failure to simply kill Rambo when he is vulnerable.

One host has no weak link; another thinks Sacha Baron Cohen’s exaggerated French accent slows his delivery. No shared winner is chosen.

The room settles on Burke’s absurd xenomorph-smuggling scheme as the movie’s weakest logic point.

They agree the weakest part is the movie's need to stretch the ending around the bus-jump physics and extra final-act material.

They view Joan's New Year's Eve involvement with a married man as the weakest part of the movie.

They joked about Clyde Shelton and Nick Rice retaining the names from the original casting, without choosing a best name.

Ricky Bobby wins; the discussion then compares the name’s appeal with Ron Burgundy.

Apone, Bishop, Spunkmeyer, and Vasquez are all nominated, but the room does not settle on one character name.

Bernie Litko is chosen as the most memorable character name in the movie.

They briefly debate a few names, but Handsome Rob is the pick that gets stated most clearly.

Chosen gets the edge because the name is so on-the-nose, though Sato is also mentioned as a strong option.

They frame the supporting dad role as an Andy Richter-type part and settle on that casting lane.

They discussed several possibilities, but Levinson, appearing in the film, emerged as the best-matching casting callout.

They decide the assault sequence needed better handling and that the movie's intimate violence was poorly staged.

They discussed several recasting options but treated Season Hubley as the key successful casting choice in the movie.

They praise the casting, especially for getting Joey Pants as Guido and building a very strong ensemble around him.

When they revisit who truly carries the film, the conversation circles back to Palminteri’s central performance.

The redhead Serena is named the clear Dan Waiters pick because she has the movie-star juice and feels tailor-made for the category.

They landed on Lonigan’s henchmen because the no-lines presence still stands out.

They explicitly give the Dan Waiters Award to Linda Fiorentino from a very deep supporting lineup.

They choose the diner chef as the movie’s best waiter-type presence.

They treat Chris Cooper as the easy choice for the category.

They agree Kristen Wiig is the best scene-stealing supporting performer in the category.

The nerdy supporting guys, especially the Trekkies and reptile guy, are treated as the Dan Waiters-style pick.

The hosts ultimately land on Cool as the odd-name supporting character who fits the award best.

They give the award to Grillo and toss in the front desk gym guy as an honorable mention.

They pick the hooker as the standout waiter-type side character, with a few other bit players mentioned but not favored.

They give the heat-check award to Woody Harrelson for being excellent in a very small number of scenes, with Kelly Macdonald also mentioned.

Oliver Stone is picked as the standout small-role presence, with Bonnie Hunt discussed as the main alternative.

They floated Bradley Cooper as the best then-era replacement for Vince Vaughn, while also mentioning Dave Chappelle as an alternate idea.

They float modern recasts, settling most strongly on Sydney Sweeney for Maddie and Miles Teller for Ned.

They float several alternate casting ideas, but do not settle on a single replacement cast winner.

They imagine a younger star in the Charlie role and favor Leo, while noting Damon and Affleck as other possibilities.

They propose swapping in the Good Will Hunting / Affleck circle for three of the Argo Six roles.

They toss out several replacement ideas for the Area 51 doctor and agree the role should have gone to a much bigger comic actor.

They named Reggie Jackson the clear winner for essentially playing a version of himself in the baseball finale.

Among the real-life sports and media figures in the film, Aikman is the name that gets the strongest support as the clearest 'playing yourself' pick.

Johnny Chan is named as the clear example of a real person playing himself in the film.

They call out the Bush footage as the clear example of public figures just appearing as themselves.

Bill calls Leslie Mann the unquestioned winner for the category, while Mr. Hurley is briefly mentioned as an alternative.

They give the award to Mercedes McCambridge for the demon voice performance, which they describe as an all-time great vocal turn.

Merle emerges as the favorite because of how memorable and scene-stealing he is in the movie.

Laura San Giacomo is chosen as the best heat-check performance in the movie.

They think Hoffman would have been a strong Remick, with a brief mention that he could also have played the Klan villain.

They imagine Philip Seymour Hoffman as an older version of Max Corkle.

They mostly place Hoffman in the Farrell role, while noting he could also fit some of the smaller eccentric parts.

They mostly landed on Hoffman as the poet, though they briefly considered him in Jesse's orbit as well.

They briefly debate a few bit parts but favor Jennifer Esposito for the most memorable underused supporting turn.

After discussing several candidates, Bill and Sean settle on Aretha Franklin as the person who steals the movie most decisively.

Valeria Golino is discussed, but they do not clearly agree she qualifies for the category or name a winner.

Taylor Negron wins for his memorable, scene-stealing villain performance.

Pesci is treated as the obvious pick for the category because of how much he lights up the movie.

They explicitly pick Carl as the movie’s best heat-check performance.

Kevin Dunn is treated as the clear that-guy winner for the movie and its surrounding filmography.

They initially mention Anthony Ramos but then settle on Ron Rifkin as the best "that guy" performance.

After defining the category, they choose Harris Yulin as the stronger then-that-guy who became a true that-guy.

They floated several recasts, including Joaquin Phoenix and Courtney Thorne-Smith, but did not settle on one definitive answer.

They suggest Ben Affleck for the Liev Schreiber role, with Jason Lee floated as another possibility.

The hosts decline to recast anyone because they think the movie is already perfectly cast.

They identify Beth Grant as the weak-link-style overacting choice, saying she feels like she is in another movie.

They single out the manager character as the movie's most overcooked performance, even while noting the actor may not fully fit the role.

They agree Luther is the clear overacting standout and give him the award.

This is treated as an easy win for Spielberg.

The room unanimously picks Spielberg over Scorsese for this movie.

They test the idea against several movies and generally favor Scorsese for crime-heavy titles and Spielberg for more tonal fits.

Jerry is treated as the obvious person you would least want to be around.

Kate is nominated as the least relaxing hang, mostly because of her procedural rigidity and arguments about how things should be done.

They decide Ace would be the most exhausting hang, though Melissa is also described as a poor conversational option.

They like Flanagan’s scarred enforcer best, while also noting Ilya’s memorable presence.

When discussing weak villain work, they favor Grant Heslov’s character over the main terrorist leader.

They note how hard the role was to cast, but do not identify a real casting miss in the final discussion.

They argue the friend group is thinly drawn and that some casting choices, including Brancato, are a miss.

Tracy Camilla Johns is identified as the standout minor role and the clear winner of the category.

The hosts eventually agree that Madsen's brief but loud party-host turn takes the award, with Randall Park also nominated.

The hosts debate the category and ultimately land on Anna Deavere Smith as the best fit for the role/player-position notion.

They settled on Val Kilmer because his one-scene comeback is such a remarkable acting moment that it outweighs everything else.

Michael Bowen is the strongest answer, though the hosts also mention Julianne Moore and Tom Cruise as contenders in the broader category chatter.

They explicitly crown Roxy as the character making the biggest heat-check move in the film.

The hosts agree Richard Pitino is the cleanest example of a person essentially playing himself in the movie.

The panel sides with Wilbon and Kornheiser as the best example of excelling at playing themselves.

Craig's director-choice answer is a Wes Anderson Robocop version.

They never firmly settle on a director-city winner, but discuss Dominique Dunne and the boy as possible candidates.

They answer Spielberg as the clear directorial fit for the material.

They note that Bob Fosse was once circling one of the early screenplay versions as a possible director.

After debating Candy, Bacon, and Sutherland, they choose John Candy for delivering the most startlingly effective one-off role.

They choose the machine-gun attacker for his brief but high-energy Terminator-style run, while noting Clive Owen as an acceptable alternative.

They pick Annabelle as the unusually attractive, independent love interest who owns a bar and cheerleads on the side.

They invent this category and give it to Nancy Travis for playing a very attractive butcher despite the job seeming wildly improbable.

They pick the teenage kids as the weakest family element in the movie.

The room lands on Lily Taylor as the weak link, though Joanna also praises her performance while criticizing the character’s fit for the moment.

They nitpick the plot mechanics, especially Ace's trust in Ginger and a few implausible action beats.

The hosts nitpicked Ricky’s final run, arguing the escape logic and some football details were hard to buy.

They toss out fantasy recasts for a few roles, but do not land on a serious alternate-cast winner.

They float a few recast ideas, but none gets enough support to count as a clear winner.

They crown Peter Stormare for leaning into his own distinct performance style as the eccentric eye surgeon.

They pick Ken Jeong’s intense doctor performance as the most excessive side-character turn.

They single out Shue’s glamorous-but-brilliant scientist casting as the classic Rewatchables stretch that somehow works.

They pick 23-year-old Nicole Kidman as the neurosurgeon as the most implausible casting choice in the film.

They name the opening prison scene as Rambo’s best character entrance.

They treat Bundini Brown's first entrance as the standout introduction because it instantly sells Foxx's energy and the character's importance.

They joke that Zodiac is a bad serial killer because he fails to finish murders and leaves too many identifying clues.

They call out the FBI's readiness to trust Billy and send him back in as the questionable job performance pick.

Miramax is picked as the one whose handling of the movie raises the biggest 'was this a good job?' question.

They question whether Rooker's killer would really be competent enough to keep avoiding capture, with some side doubts about Frank's police work too.