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The Rewatchables

‘Snake Eyes’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan

122 min episode · 2 min read

Episode

122 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Career Growth, Product & Tech Trends, Philosophy & Wisdom

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • De Palma's Technical Mastery: The opening sequence uses a 12-minute steadicam shot through a boxing arena that appears continuous but contains four hidden cuts. De Palma achieved this by having actors pass in front of the camera at strategic moments, requiring precise staging and coordination with hundreds of extras to create the illusion of one unbroken take.
  • Cage's Career Trajectory: Between 1996-1999, Cage transitioned from Oscar-winning dramatic actor to action star with The Rock, Face Off, Con Air, and Snake Eyes. This shift represented a deliberate choice to play morally ambiguous characters with baggage rather than traditional heroes, establishing a unique screen persona that mixed sleaze with charisma in ways few actors could replicate.
  • The Tidal Wave Ending: The film originally concluded with a tidal wave sequence created by Industrial Light and Magic that was cut in post-production. De Palma removed it believing the movie was about intrigue rather than spectacle, but the existing film builds toward this climax for 90 minutes without payoff, creating a deflated conclusion that weakens the overall narrative structure.
  • Late-90s Filmmaking Economics: Snake Eyes had a $73 million budget and made $103 million, representing an era when mid-budget thrillers with movie stars could succeed theatrically. This business model disappeared after 2000, as studios shifted away from original adult-oriented action films toward franchises and streaming content, fundamentally changing what gets greenlit.
  • Character Actor Ecosystem: The film features Louis Guzman, Stan Shaw, John Heard, Mike Starr, Kevin Dunn, and Michael Rispoli in supporting roles, representing a 1990s ecosystem of working character actors who could elevate material. This tier of recognizable supporting players has largely migrated to television, as mid-budget theatrical films no longer provide consistent employment for this talent level.

What It Covers

Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan analyze Brian De Palma's 1998 thriller Snake Eyes, examining Nicolas Cage's performance, the film's technical achievements including its famous 12-minute opening shot, and how late-90s action cinema differs from today's filmmaking.

Key Questions Answered

  • De Palma's Technical Mastery: The opening sequence uses a 12-minute steadicam shot through a boxing arena that appears continuous but contains four hidden cuts. De Palma achieved this by having actors pass in front of the camera at strategic moments, requiring precise staging and coordination with hundreds of extras to create the illusion of one unbroken take.
  • Cage's Career Trajectory: Between 1996-1999, Cage transitioned from Oscar-winning dramatic actor to action star with The Rock, Face Off, Con Air, and Snake Eyes. This shift represented a deliberate choice to play morally ambiguous characters with baggage rather than traditional heroes, establishing a unique screen persona that mixed sleaze with charisma in ways few actors could replicate.
  • The Tidal Wave Ending: The film originally concluded with a tidal wave sequence created by Industrial Light and Magic that was cut in post-production. De Palma removed it believing the movie was about intrigue rather than spectacle, but the existing film builds toward this climax for 90 minutes without payoff, creating a deflated conclusion that weakens the overall narrative structure.
  • Late-90s Filmmaking Economics: Snake Eyes had a $73 million budget and made $103 million, representing an era when mid-budget thrillers with movie stars could succeed theatrically. This business model disappeared after 2000, as studios shifted away from original adult-oriented action films toward franchises and streaming content, fundamentally changing what gets greenlit.
  • Character Actor Ecosystem: The film features Louis Guzman, Stan Shaw, John Heard, Mike Starr, Kevin Dunn, and Michael Rispoli in supporting roles, representing a 1990s ecosystem of working character actors who could elevate material. This tier of recognizable supporting players has largely migrated to television, as mid-budget theatrical films no longer provide consistent employment for this talent level.

Notable Moment

The discussion reveals how De Palma predicted the future of filmmaking in a 1998 interview, stating conventional moviemaking was over and the next evolution would happen on the internet with inexpensive video cameras and home editing, essentially forecasting YouTube and streaming platforms seven years before their emergence.

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Episode Transcript

This episode is brought to you by United Airlines. Here's something worth watching, the award winning United Airlines app. On every trip, you can flip through time saving travel hacks, like a personalized airport map with door to gate directions, Binge watch real time flight updates, like a live calendar boarding, even if your home screen's locked, and watch it automatically move you from a middle seat to an aisle or a window if one opens up on your flight. Get it before your next trip at united.com/app. The rewatchables brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network where you can find the big picture with Sean Fantasies. You can find Higher Learning and the Midnight Boys with Van Lathan. You can find the Ringer Fantasy Football Show with our producer Craig Rolbeck. Bill Simmons podcast? Right? That's happening too. De Palma. Yeah. This is our fifth Okay. Brian De Palma movie. It's called Snake Eyes. It belongs to another era, an era that I love very much, and it's next. This episode is presented by PayPal. Let's talk holiday shopping. Make the most of your money with PayPal. They give you the flexibility to pay in four. No fees. No interest. Save the offer in the PayPal app to get 5% cash back when you pay later. So whether you're shopping for an ugly sweater party or work gala or whatever else, PayPal helps you make the most of your money this holiday. Expires 12/31. See paypal.com slash promo terms subject to approval. Learn more at paypal.com/payin for PayPal Inc, n m l s nine one zero four five seven. Snake Eyes, 1998. It's under a hundred minutes. It's in Atlantic City. It's Nick Cage. It's Brian De Palma. They say the title in the movie multiple times. There's a fixed boxing match. There's an assassination. There's a cover up. There's a dirty cop. Sean, they just don't make them like this anymore. No, man. You know, I was thinking about this rewatching it last night. There's a certain kind of movie that's that I like to call the waterslide movie, where once you sit down, like, you can't stop. Right? You just go down. It doesn't mean that the end of the ride is gonna be the best part, and this is a situation where the end of the ride may not be the best part. It may not be the best fall, but the slide down in this movie is so fucking fun. So I'm excited about this one. DePalma. A lot of craft and care. Yeah. Nick Cage had a great point in his career. I threw this movie at you and wasn't surprised that you were excited about it. Loved it. Saw it in theaters. It's back to back years of going into a movie thinking that I knew what the movie was going to be. And then in the first act going, wait a minute. This is different than what I thought it was …

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  • Brian De Palma's 1998 thriller Snake Eyes, examining Nicolas Cage's performance, the film's technical achievements including its famous 12-minute opening shot
  • Between 1996-1999, Cage transitioned from Oscar-winning dramatic actor to action star with The Rock, Face Off, Con Air, and Snake Eyes.
  • Between 1996-1999, Cage transitioned from Oscar-winning dramatic actor to action star with The Rock, Face Off, Con Air, and Snake Eyes.
  • Between 1996-1999, Cage transitioned from Oscar-winning dramatic actor to action star with The Rock, Face Off, Con Air, and Snake Eyes.

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  • The film originally concluded with a tidal wave sequence created by Industrial Light and Magic that was cut in post-production.

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