Oscarwatch Podcast

We pay tribute to the one and only Burt Reynolds with a look back at his one and only Oscar nomination: PTA's landmark Boogie Nights, a movie so good it obviously wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Joining our intrepid duo this week once again is Shahir Daud of The Only Podcast About Movies, who brings his professorial swagger and learns us a thing or two. We talk Reynolds, the porn industry, the bonds of family and of course, THAT soundtrack. Can we talk for five minutes about a single shot? You bet we can! All that and more on this DD sized episode of Oscarwatch. Thanks for listening. Write us in with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod. In December, we are beginning a listener request Gift month! Listen to the podcast for details and write in the films you want us to review. Our gift to you. Next week, our regularly scheduled program: Five Easy Pieces

To honor the passing of Broadway giant and screenwriter Neil Simon, who died recently at the age of 91, our hosts fall in love with his 1977 romcom, The Goodbye Girl. What more do you need than a script as punchy and witty as this? At long last, a worthy comedy deserving of Best Picture...that happened to be released when one of cinema's greatest comedies also happened to come out! Oh, the injustice! Plus, is Richard Dreyfuss really only 30 in this? Steve admits his ignorance towards Marsha Mason, though says that the kid is one of the few precocious children he can actually stand. And of course, love. How it swoons, how it laughs, how it's messy and how this is one of the most relatable romantic comedies ever made. Listen in! If you don't, I have a lawyer acquaintance downtown...and be sure to write us in with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod RIP Neil Simon

We seize the day with another inspiring, rousing podcast about the 1989 Best Picture nominee, Dead Poets Society. The movie that all taught us a little Latin and reminded a generation of who that Whitman guy was. How has the film held up? And is it better subtitled 'See! Rich White Guys Have Problems, Too!' Plus, we figure out just what seizing the day is NOT (cough Knox cough) and Amy points out a smattering of plot inconsistencies that, Steve admits, don't bother him. Finally, just how would Robin Williams survive in this day of 'teaching to the test'? So stand on your desk! Give a yawp! Your captains are here, and listen in. Remember, we are food for worms. Will your verse not include hearing our discussion? Write in with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week: spader, soderbergh & cannes

There's acting. There's good acting. And then there's Daniel Day Lewis, a man so talented he only needs one limb to wow you in his first of three Best Actor winning films, My Left Foot. A fine film elevated by a great performance...and we don't always mean Mr. Day Lewis, either, for Best Supporting Actress winner Brenda Fricker is every bit his equal. Plus, Amy brings her own personal history into this and we reflect on how it is impossible to remove one's experiences from watching a film. And Steve once again curses that we could've had 'Academy Award winner Tom Cruise' this year, but nooo...all that and the dickishness of artists, bad haircuts and she had how many kids?!?! and so much more. Thanks for listening. We hope you've enjoyed our little stopover in 1989. Almost done! Send us a line with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod

It's hot out there, so what better way to pass the time than with a look back at a snub so great we're still talking about it nearly thirty years later? Joining us for our discussion is special guest Steven van Patten. He helps us break down the music, the culture, the incredible cast, the heat, anything and everything - and yet we leave so much undiscussed! He even drops a theory that further clarifies the relationships between the characters. Plus, we ask: does anyone actually do the right thing? All this and more. As relevant now as it was then, if not moreso, failing to nominate Do The Right Thing remains one of the Academy's numerous wrong things over the years. And that's the double truth, Ruth. So, up you wake! Grab a slice, turn the AC on, dunk your head in a tub of ice and listen up! And as always, fight the power. Drop us a line with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, grab that foot and paint!

The film world has been agog at the recently announced changes to the Academy Awards format. Hosts Amy and Steve break down the new rules, regulations, try to figure out why (hint: money & millennials) and generally try to keep their cool while not breaking their computers. Can we live in a world with a Best Picture and a Best Popular Picture? We'll soon find out; but it's not one either host is ready to be a part of.

We come to it at last: 1989, one of the greatest years in film. Seriously, look up all the movies that came out and tell me that's not a stacked deck? And yet... Driving Miss Daisy has been maligned since the very moment it won the Academy Award for Best Picture nearly thirty years ago. Is the world right to condemn this movie? Amy and Steve, your valiant hosts, aim to answer that very question. Join them through discussions of friendship, cinematic tropes, quite the conversation on race relations in America and a look inside the Academy's head at the time. Did they, in fact, do the...right thing? Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night. Send us your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, a 'Shoulda Been A Contenda' joint...

Our hosts look at the beautiful side of ugly, and the ugliness in the beautiful with a conversation about the 2013 Best Foreign Language film, The Great Beauty. Sure, we all wanted to be artists when we grew up, but would we all end up as insufferable as everyone in this movie? Amy and Steve are split on this one and one is very, very passionate about it! Join us for a trip through the majesty of Rome, the frustrations of age and the sheer absurdity of life...maybe together we can all find something a little beautiful, a little perfect. Now that would make a great book, wouldn't it? Thanks for listening! Send us your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media. Next week, we begin 1989 in earnest. Glorious, glorious, passionate earnest...

Hoo boy, it is hot out! How better to spend a sweltering summer day than holed up inside a bank after a robbery goes spectacularly wrong? Amy and Steve discuss the classic 1975 crime caper, Dog Day Afternoon. But first, they have to get their love of Sydney Lumet out there in the open; few are better, or more unloved these days. We lament the passing of 1970s Al Pacino...but then remember that he's been killing it on HBO these past many years, so I guess it's okay that he hasn't been nominated in over 25 years? Forty years on, just how does the central motivation work in our "enlightened" times? All this, the heat, humidity, a look at America's love for the outlaw and goddamn New Yorkers, this week on the podcast. Thanks for listening! Write us, won't you? The address is oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com, and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod

America! F--- Yeah! concludes this week. What can possibly be more American than unfettered, naked capitalism? So grab a seat - I hope you paid - because you're going to sell us a pen, it's Leo. It's Marty. It's The Wolf of Wall Street. But can you make a movie about such deplorable people and not start to sympathize with the characters? And how is it that a seventy year old man has more energy and life to his movies than all the 30 something mumblecore directors combined? Amy and Steve discuss the excess, the charm, the Thelma! and of course, Beni-fucking-Hana...and more! this week on the podcast. So grab hold of the American dream. Money makes you a better person...right? Write to us with your thoughts at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to follow us on social media. Next week, the dog days are over.

Don your best zoot suits. Glue on that toupee and fire up the science oven, it's our lookback at that ode to 70s excess, American Hustle. The latest entry in the Amy T. Top 100, the film has been a long time coming on this podcast. But how will our hosts respond to each other's opinions? The answer may shock you! We delve into the razzle dazzle of the film - is it too much? Is it only that? The acting - does improv really work when in a film like this? And just what constitutes an "original" movie, as argued by our hosts. This is week three of our four week series 'America! F-- Yeah!' Plus, what he hell does "from the feet up" mean anyways? So bust out the disco soundtrack, we're in for a hustle. Write in with your opinions to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week: what could possibly be more American than wanting MORE, MORE, MORE?

Happy Fourth of July! We continue our 'America! F---, Yeah!' series with a look back at the most American president ever, Steven Spielberg's 2012 Best Picture nominee, Lincoln. Let's pour a toast out to all of those poor bastards who were nominated for Best Actor alongside Daniel Day Lewis, though as we will quickly realize, our hosts are far from in sync about this movie and DDL's performance. Can the first three minutes of a movie really force someone to walk out? Yes, yes they can. Plus, remember when the film came out when all was hopeful? Yeah, neither do we and now this movie is just depressing. Things have changed in politics...but have they really? That and so much more this week on the podcast. So, in the immortal words of Honest Abe himself: "Party on, dudes!" and be sure to tell us your thoughts at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week on our series, America ain't nothing but a con job and therefore, we Hustling this one.

Our two very white hosts discuss a topic that they are absolutely experts in, Steve McQueen's 2013 Best Picture winning film, 12 Years A Slave. The latest entry in our VERY IMPORTANT FILM series. As unflinching and uncomfortable an experience as one may have at the theater, the movie is absolutely designed to make you squirm. Not for its brutality, but for the insidiousness of its story and the mirror it holds up to our world some 170 years later. The more things change, and all that. But is it enough to just show it? And why can't Solomon be half as interesting as literally everyone else around him? Can a good man like Cumberbatch really be a good man in this system? And Patsy. Your worst days are Patsy's best dreams. All that and of course, Brad Pitt, this week on the podcast as we kick off our 'America! F--- Yeah!' series looking back at those films that highlight our true American values. Thanks for listening. Be sure to write us, you don't need to make your own ink out of berries, just send us an ema

Pull up a seat and get ready for a whole lot of not kissing! Amy and Steve go back to the days before Netflix, when the movies were too big for any one screen to fill, to celebrate the 1989 Best Foreign Language Film, Cinema Paradiso. A love story for the ages...not between man and woman, but between man and the movies. Does its quaint, rosy colored Odyssey hold up some thirty years later? Have we finally found an adorable Italian kid that Amy DOESN'T want to take home? And do we need resolutions or 50 extra minutes when the original says so much already? Plus, Steve gets to wax poetic about his second greatest job: projectionist! All that, a beautiful Morricone score and much more. The square is ours. Won't you join us for one more trip to the movies? Thanks for listening. Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we begin a four week stint into the heart of our culture in what we're calling 'America: F-- Yeah!' First up, that most American of pas

HAPPY 100 EPISODES! To celebrate this illustrious milestone, we are throwing ourselves an Incredi-ball and there's only one film to do that with: 2004's Best Animated Feature winner, The Incredibles. Just in time for the long overdue sequel, Amy and Steve take a look back and see just how incredible this film is...or has a decade of superhero glut ruined the magic for us? We also get to trash talk those most vile of vile villains: Objectivists! And the Libertarians who are ruining everything. Finally, isn't this all really Mr. Incredible's fault? And aren't we over this yet? All this and more, including how awesome Holly Hunter is on this, our very special centennial episode! Thank you for being a part of the last 100 and we hope you'll stick around for the next 100...and beyond! Write us an email at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we return to Italy for another tale of tiny adorable kids, love and the magic of movies...

We feel the bitter cold on this, our third journey with David Lean as he takes us to the Russian Revolution with his sumptuous adaptation of Doctor Zhivago. Amy and Steve ponder why the titular actor is not, in fact, the first billed, try to dissect Russian history is about two minutes - to varying degrees of success - and come to the conclusion that the most interesting characters are the two that the film does not pay enough attention to. And how addicting is that score from Maurice Jarre? All that, and just how hard it is to be Omar Sharif caught between two of the most gorgeous women ever. The worst, amirite? Did Doctor Zhivago deserve to win over The Sound of Music? Tune in and find out. Then write us with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and talk to us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week: Episode 100 is going to be INCREDIBLE!

Terrence Malick's sumptuous meditation on combat asks many questions, and Amy and Steve are here to answer them as best we can with this look at (yet another) 1998 Best Picture nominee, The Thin Red Line. Our hosts bunker down and attack the hill of storytelling and what moments matter and are required in your film. What is the strength in asking a question - especially one you never intend to answer? Or, does Malick actually answer it and perhaps we are too thick to see it? Maybe. More likely, we're getting blinded by how beautiful James Caviezel is in this film. Seriously, call us! Finally, who the hell wasn't in this movie?! Of course, we ask: is this the World War II film that deserves the recognition that year? All that and more, this week on the podcast. If you don't write us, let us feel the lack. We hope you do, though. Write us at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we reconsider David Lean...again!

Just in time for summer, Amy and Steve grab the biggest boat we can find and set sail for shark infested waters with a look back at Steven Spielberg's gamechanging film, Jaws (1975. The old adage 'less is more' has never been truer than with the iconic shark, who is still terrifying swimmers 40 years later. More than a sharkfest, the film works because of its three main characters; because who doesn't love Quint (or his introduction?). And no conversation about the movie is ever complete without a long discussion of John Williams' iconic score. All that and a bucket of chum, this week on the podcast. Thanks for listening! Do you think Jaws deserves its place in history, or like Bruce the Shark, does it fall apart under scrutiny? Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week...this great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world?

Join hosts Amy & Steve, along with special guest Brian Hartz, as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick's ultimate trip, 2001: A Space Odyssey. A film so influential in cinema that, of course, it was nominated for Best Picture...right? Wrong! So, in honor of this momentous occasion, we introduce a new category of film: Shoulda Been A Contenda, those films that for whatever reason were not nominated for the big one. Kubrick is renowned for never winning an Oscar...for director. He did walk away with his only statue for overseeing the effects work here; effects that still hold up to this day. We discuss what Steve calls "the sin of tools" and question whether violence and civilization go hand in hand; just what why did HAL go crazy and kill everybody, and Amy gives the greatest summation of the plot in history. All this, and more! Like the legendary music, that brilliant flash-forward and those monkeys... Write us an email with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to find u

Special guest Shahir Daud of The Only Podcast About Movies joins in for a discussion at what the great critic Pauline Kael said was "the greatest movie of all time", Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thieves. Or is it The Bicycle Thief? By whatever name you call it, the influential Italian neorealist film provokes a deep discussion on "poverty tourism", the differences between America and Italy in the post-war environment, how time and tide affect how we view films, the failures of institutions and the morality of stealing... and just how adorable that kid is. Seriously, he's got that face! Be sure to find Shahir on his own podcast, and thanks for listening. Write us in with your thoughts to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we introduce a new episode category and sing Daisy...