The Big Picture - The Oscar Winners Draft: 2000s Edition

Episode Date: April 21, 2021

It's Oscars Week, so it's time for a special Movie Draft—Chris Ryan joins Sean and Amanda to pick their favorite Academy Award winners from the years 2000 through 2009, in the eight big categories. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: Chris Ryan Producer: Bobby Wagner Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chef David Chang and the members of The Recipe Club sift through millions of search results to find the very best way to make the food you want to eat. Each week, they cook three recipes for the same dish, debate them, and ultimately declare the winning recipe. Check out Recipe Club on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Sean Phenasy. I'm Amanda Davins. And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about our favorite Oscar winners.

It's Oscars week, which means we have a different sort of movie draft for you today. It's an Oscar winners movie draft, our first ever. And CR is back, fresh off his resounding L on the movie auction. How are you, CR? I'm doing okay. I'm putting together the pieces. I was thinking about starting a Super League podcast to break away from you guys, where it's just me and people who draft as bad as me.

There could be something to that. There's been a lot of movie drafts lately around here on The Big Picture, but this one is very special, and we'll get to it shortly. Before we get to it, lots going on in the movie world only good stuff it's only half it's all happening in hollywood it's all happening and i'm delighted about it so first we saw a trailer and the news that laos carex's annette will be opening the can film festival and coming to amazon later this summer this is a film a musical a musical film, starring Adam Driver and Marian Cotillard. Adam Driver is playing

a singing stand-up comedian. Sounds wonderful. Amanda, are you excited? You know what would be a great addition to this podcast? Is that, like, if you revealed on air that I, Amanda Dobbins,

get to go to the Cannes Film Festival and to see the premiere of Annette, and, like, you didn't tell me, and you're like, Amanda, the ticket is booked. Off you go. The only thing

that would be better is if I interrupted that and I was like, actually, Bill said I'm going because the French truly appreciate my drafting technique.

You know, this show is becoming increasingly like a game show week to week, but unfortunately, we do not have wonderful prizes at the end of every episode. so you're not going to the Cannes Film Festival, but you will

get to see Annette. You also will get a chance to see, it seems like, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This is the new Marvel Cinematic Universe entrant coming in September. CR, I know you're a big Mandarin guy. You've been a big Mandarin guy for years now, so this must be exciting for you.

Yeah, they're revamping that character. Have they done that before in Marvel? Or is it like they're going to have some explanation about how Ben Kingsley wasn't really the Mandarin? It's Tony Leung. Well, they kind of sort of already did that in one of those one shots. Remember when they would make the Marvel short films where they kind of explain the origins of a character? Amanda, you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. You look absolutely mystified. You look Mandarin-esque, frankly. In Iron Man 3, they introduced a character. Amanda, you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. You look absolutely mystified. You look Mandarin-esque, frankly. In Iron Man 3, they introduced a character

played by Ben Kingsley. That character is not actually the character that they introduced. The character they're introducing is going to be the villain of the forthcoming Shang-Chi, which looks pretty exciting, honestly. It's a pure martial arts movie

starring Simo Liu and Tony Leung, who we just talked about on the Wong Car White Pod episode recently. So, the only other exciting piece of news that came across the transom today was that there's a release date for

the film that is currently titled Soggy Bottom, which is probably not going to be the final title, but that, of course, is the ninth feature film from Paul Thomas Anderson. It's coming in limited release on November 26th and in wide release over Christmas.

This is the best day of my life, guys, until Soggy Bottom is released. I just want to share this with you. Do we have to redo the auction? I think auction part two is coming. Well, the thing is

that I would have loved to have seen whether you still went for all the Joe Popcorn blockbuster claptrap if Soggy Bottom had been there. I guess we'll never know. Maybe I'll just have to win two drafts in a row,

I guess, in this respect. I really thought that you were going to at the very end of the draft instead of doing the Clint Eastwood. I really thought that you were going to come with the Paul Thomas Anderson. And I was going to take it from you, just so you know. Oh, me too. I would have just bid

$700 for it. You know, I think it's safe to say now that I didn't want to take all of the films that I wanted with the expectation that we would probably have a second draft. And here we are plotting a second draft. I feel good about my strategy, though. You know, Joe Popcorn, that's fine. I'm

just the man of the people. Chris claims to be the people's champ, but in fact, there can be only one champion, and that is me, at least on these draft pods. Speaking of which, should we just go right into our Oscar winners draft pod? Why not? You want to tell the folks like what era we're drafting too, because I think we had talked a little bit about

should we be picking our favorite brandos? Are we going all about Eve here? But we've decided to condense this a little. We did. I figured we should narrow it down because it's already going to be difficult to generate a lot of tension for an Oscar winner's draft

because a lot of these films are good. Most of them are good, in fact. And many of the winners... Crash, dope. Yeah, I know you're very excited to draft Crash. Crash and A Beautiful Mind, Chris, they're both going to be there for you. We skinnyed it down to the 2000s.

So all films released between 2000 and 2009 are going to be eligible for this draft. So if down to the 2000s. So all films released between 2000 and 2009 are going to be eligible for this draft. So if we have a chance to do it in the future, maybe we can do the 2010s or the 1950s or the 1970s TBD. But for now, let's stick to the 2000 to 2009 range. Bobby, you ready to draw that order? Yes. I'm spinning the magic wheel that none of you can see, so I could be making all of this up. The first pick is Sean Fennessey. Fuck. Okay.

Picking second will be... Amanda Dobbins. Oh, okay. So that means Chris Ryan has the third pick. Chris, do you feel you're in the power position here? Well, my big board only had two picks so no I'm just kidding I'm excited. So rather than our six

traditional categories in our movie drafts where we pick you know dramas and blockbusters and sequels we'll be picking from the Oscar categories the eight key Oscar categories so those categories of course are best original screenplay, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress best supporting actor, best actress, bestplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor,

Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture. 2000 to 2009. Do you guys think this was a wonderful time in Oscar history? Amanda, as you looked back on the lineup, were you feeling excited about this? Not totally. I was going to ask you why you picked this decade. I mean, and I think I know why

because there are a lot of Sean Fantasy pet favorites in this, though, not necessarily the winners, but why, why this one? Well, I felt like it was recent enough history, but not so recent that it was, you know, that it just happened. Um, and so there could be a little bit of nostalgia about some of the picks, a little bit more strategy with hindsight. We've seen some of the films that won have aged very poorly. Some of the films that have won have aged very well. And then there are obviously some films... Million Dollar Baby really kind of grew, my estimation, over the years.

What's up with you turning on Clint in the last couple of episodes of this show? I'm not turning on anybody. I love Clint. Clint is like 99 years old. He's still cranking out films, one film a year. Absolutely crushing it in the world and you insist on canceling him. What's up with that, Chris?

Do you watch Million Dollar Baby a lot? When's the last time you watched that? Every night my wife and I sit down and we check out Million Dollar Baby. All right. Okay. We get it. We watch it in 11-minute increments every night,

which I think is how Clint would want us to watch it. I think that they should replace Quibi with just 11-minute increments. Bite-sized babies. Just one minute of swank. See, there obviously are some movies like Crash, like Million Dollar Baby, that maybe are not our favorites.

What do you think about this slate that we're going to draft from? I mean, I think there are some gems in here. I had no problem coming up with three to five of my, like, I'm down to take this. And even some that I haven't revisited in a while or that I'd kind of forgotten about. So I'm excited to maybe talk about some movies that we haven't chatted about in a while. Are you comfortable doing voice work on this episode?

Yes, but only for every character from Gosford Park. Amanda, what about you? Any voice work in the offing offing no no not even a little not intentionally anyway who knows what can happen okay so should we begin I don't know what the right strategy is here I have no idea so I'm excited because there's somewhere I'm like wow the the the pool isn't that big so do you take somebody that you like from a small from from the fewer amount of of candidates or do you just go for the ones that you're just like put this on my tombstone i love this movie i love this this performance whatever i don't know i

don't know the answer i think that there are three solid winners in every category it's based on my approximation which means this will ultimately be about personal idiosyncratic taste and and then the people can decide who has the best idiosyncratic taste okay so for my first pick there's there's only there's really only one pick for me this first pick it's daniel day lewis for there will be blood best actor obviously my favorite performance of the decade my favorite movie of the decade i I'm a flutter with PTA anticipation today. So it seems only natural that I would go DDL in There Will Be Blood. Okay.

I like it. That was my number one draft pick as well. That's the Zion Williamson. Was it really? Yeah. Oh, well, it wasn't for me. No, of course not. But now I'm trying to decide

what I think the number one draft pick is versus what I think Chris is going to do. Because there's one that I really want that I'm nervous about leaving on the board for you. Even though I think that there's probably one really obvious one, but maybe I should just take the one I want because I say this with all the love in my heart and with a great affection for you, Chris Ryan, um, David Harbour's everyone fan.

You don't always do the obvious thing. So, so we'll see. All right. So I'm going to do what I, I guess I really want, um, which is,

uh, in best actor and it's Denzel for training day. Fuck. Oh, I'm going to do what I guess I really want, which is in Best Actor, and it's Denzel for Training Day. Fuck. Oh, no. I'm sorry. Oh, wow. Well, once he took Best Actor, like Daniel Day,

and you said that that's what you wanted, and I mean... Okay, so here's... You want to talk a little bit about why you love Denzel before I interrupt with my seething? I mean, sure. And I'm sorry, because everyone loves this. We did a whole Denzel before I interrupt with my seething? I mean, sure. And I'm sorry because everyone loves this.

We did a whole Denzel episode a few months ago. Was that a few months ago now, Sean? It was, January of 2021. With Shay. And I love a lot of things about Denzel, including his range and his presence. But this is his charm and his ability to turn everything that you know and like about Denzel on a dime and be in control of it and have a great time.

And it's one of those Oscar wins also that he also should have won for Malcolm X, but he won for this one. And it's an amazing performance. And actors we love don't always win the oscar for the performance that we love and you just can't look away from him in training day so chris the floor is yours and i'm sorry no i mean this is tough because that means there's also like now we have a run on actors right so you know on one hand i can save my actor pick for later you know or do i feel like sort of like boxed in and now I got to take my actor too.

So it's, it's, you're not boxed in. You can take whoever you want. That's why. So that's why for, um, best picture I'm going to take with my first pick,

uh, no country for old men. Yeah. And then. Would you like to speak about the Cone brothers masterpiece from 2007? This is just, there's a couple of no brainers. Like when, And then... Would you like to speak about the Coen Brothers masterpiece from 2007? Look, this is just... There's a couple of no-brainers. Like when it happened at the Oscars and 10 years later,

you're just like, that was the right pick. This is a legendary movie or a legendary performance. You really would have a hard time finding anybody really to quibble with it. And I think in the grand scheme of things, DDL for There Will Be Blood and No Country and the sort of coronation of the Coen brothers with this, probably in some ways, the least Coen-y movie that they made was just right. And this movie hasn't aged a second since it's been put out.

So I'll take No Country for Old Men as best picture. And then I think what I will do, I'm just in the mood to do it. And I feel like he's kind of like the avatar for my drafting style anyway. I'm going to go Heath Ledger, Dark Knight, supporting actor. Just so you know, that was the obvious one. And for once, and you did it.

So that was good. Good. I feel good. Okay. It's great because you made two good picks and yet still you were utterly foiled so so far good outcomes amanda it's up to you okay i'm scrolling through here i think what i'm gonna do and this is i'm i'm picking the actress and the movie here more than this being the performance that is rewarded,

even though I think it's a great performance, but it will be in Best Supporting Actress and it will be Till This Went In for Michael Clayton. Yeah. Which again, I guess this was the Clooney episode when Sean and I just yelled like Michael Clayton at each other and Michael Clayton. And then I think like before we did that, we texted Chris a bunch of times being like Michael Clayton. And then I think like before we did that, we texted Chris a bunch of times being like Michael Clayton. And, you know, when you were talking about No Country, that year, 2007 is No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Michael Clayton all nominated. It was like, maybe we should have just done

a 2007 Oscars draft. But a tremendous performance by Tilda Swinton, especially since she is very against what we think of as Tilda Swinton type in this particular film. That great climactic scene and watching her face melt, which just kind of brings the movie home in a lot of ways. And I am also a huge fan of Tilda Swinton and of Tilda Swinton having an Oscar. So that's my pick. And now I'm going to watch Michael Clayton again. One of my favorite character introduction

first scenes in like movies is her in the bathroom mirror sweating, you know, putting water on her armpits and doing their speech. Amanda, I got to say I'm shocked. Why? I'm stunned even that this was your pick. Why? There's a name that this was your pick. Why?

There's a name on the board that you have. There are quite frankly two names on the board. If you want to take them, you can have them if you want to do it. I'm going to get at least one of them. I know that. Okay. And I'm frankly amazed. You've pledged your heart to one of the people who won in that category.

And you've pulled it back here. Well, go ahead if you want to have it. Well, it's not the time, I don't think, necessarily for that pick, but we will get there. How's that for suspense? Okay. I have two picks. I'm a bit betwixt and between on all of them.

So many good options. Let's start with Best Director. Anytime you can take Martin Scorsese in a movie, you got to do it. Marty! Marty. Marty and I don't always see eye to eye. Frankly, he's never seen me and doesn't know I exist.

But we do see eye to eye on The Departed, which is not his best film, but an incredible film for any filmmaker in the final third of their career obviously another movie that i think just turn it on and let it wash over you at any time one of the most rewatchable movies we've seen this century and long long long overdue win for best director here for martin scorsese so i'm going scorsese for the departed best director um okay how about a curveball let's go best original screenplay okay and i'm going with one of my favorite movies of the decade

and that is cameron crowe's almost famous you motherfucker which is a movie of course that i love and of course chris ryan loves him and he Almost Famous I don't know if we've ever discussed it this isn't my number one pick for reasons that are obvious to anyone who's ever had a conversation with me but yeah sure this was a this was on the short list for me truly a great movie um gosh when will we talk about Almost Famous in a real and sustained way on this pod someday not today but someday so those are my two picks scorsese and crow and amanda it's back to you sonarberg baby don't even like this movie he won for traffic he was nominated for two and he won for traffic and he recently shared with the people who watched the academy press conference that he was extremely drunk when he won, which is pretty obvious to anyone who watched him win. I am a big fan of Steven Soderbergh and all of his work,

and I'm glad he has an Oscar, and I'm pleased to be drafting him. He directed the shit out of this movie too. So Chris, we actually ranked traffic somewhat low in our Soderbergh rankings last year when we talked about Let Them All Talk. I feel like you are a bigger fan of that movie than Amanda and I. I hated it when it came out. Why? Because I thought it was a pretty vapid take on the consequences of the war on drugs. And that it saw the war on drugs primarily through the pain of incredibly rich men like the Michael Douglas character.

But since then you've joined the DEA and now you fully understand. Yeah, it's just like, no. But I think I've come to love what he accomplished in that movie, which is essentially doing a huge Hollywood drama with tons of movie stars in a run-and-gun guerrilla way. And like all these, like all the Mexico stuff is just unbelievable in that movie. Like from the helicopters landing to to all the Benicio stuff,

he just did such a good job. And that film has so many discrete vignettes and chapters. And each one of those chapters has a distinctive visual style, but the film itself has a coherent visual style. And it's kind of like Departed where you're like, well, this isn't my favorite Soderbergh movie. It's not my favorite Scorsese movie, but it's competing against five of my favorite movies.

So what are we talking about here? It's still better than most people could ever dream to accomplish. Yeah. It's an interesting thing with him in the history of the Oscars too, because I'm not even sure if he's been nominated since then. I don't believe he has for best director, even though he's gone on to make 10, 12, 14 fascinating movies. And sometimes a filmmaker will get an Oscar early on and then essentially be looked over time and time again. I wonder if

he'll have like a basically a back half acknowledgement, you know, now he's obviously, as Wesley pointed out to us earlier this week, Amanda, he is making a lot of movies that it seems like Hollywood doesn't necessarily care about right now. So that could be an issue. Making a crime drama like No Sudden Move doesn't necessarily put you in line for Oscar. But I wonder if he'll have more like a John Huston-esque career where there are like distinct phases and he is acknowledged at each of those phases. Maybe though, I think the Academy will have to come to him at this point, which, you know, in some ways this year it already has. He is, in fact, producing the Oscars and while otherwise seeming willing to. I mean, he's not working outside the system, but in terms of reinventing what we expect from a director of his caliber, even the types of projects and where he is releasing them.

He seems less interested right now. But he's also, he's a guy who seems to move through interest quickly. So you never know. Okay. So CR, I believe you're up with two picks here. Okay. I'm going to go with my first pick. I'm going to take in the best supporting actress category,

Cate Blanchett in The Aviator. This is an interesting case where you could make the argument that she is essentially doing a wonderful impersonation of Catherine Hepburn. She is. It's awesome. It is awesome.

I don't know if people have revisited The Aviator recently, but I was watching through clips of a bunch of stuff to get ready for this draft. And it's a real like, wait, stop everything you're doing. What's that? What's happening? She just commands the screen and kind of blows DiCaprio off of it when she's on it. It's just a great, great performance. So somewhat of a limited, personally for me, limited category here at this Best Supporting Actress award so I wanted to grab one that I felt passionately about

so I'll take Cate Blanchett there for Best Supporting Actress and then my next pick will be hmm I'm gonna go Best Director

and I'm gonna go Catherine Bigelow for The Hurt Locker yes I knew you were going here which is awesome it's just

you know that was obviously a historic win when she beat Jim Cameron for Avatar that year. But this movie actually is just one of the most white knuckle thrillers you'll see. A great war movie, a great psychological thriller, and just one of the most intense movie going experiences I've ever had.

Question for you. Can you tap into the mind, the psyche of Big Jim on the night when he lost to his ex-wife? Because I know you've been thinking a lot about Cameron and Cameron's really at the forefront of all of our imaginations as we prepare for Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5.

So what do you think Big Jim was thinking? Deep sea exploration. Just getting in the trench. Fuck. You know, I hated that for him. I'm sure that there was a lot of conflicting feelings for him.

You know, like kind of pride but also like anger. I mean, he really thought he had that shit sewn up. You know,

if you catch his vibes earlier in the night that night in the Oscars, like he's like, the run is on. Avatar is just going to sew it all up. relate to jim cameron in

a few ways can i talk about that sure so uh you know i'm on this incredible run of victories recently on these drafts we've been having and it's like hit after hit you know it's like aliens the abyss true lies terminator 2 titanic you, Jim and I, we get hit after hit. Now, and like Jim, one of my biggest personal failures, one of my struggles, one of my flaws, is just an utter lack of humility. You know, I'm just happy to lord it over you guys. In the same way that I think Jim every day,

he wakes up and he polishes his Oscar, you know, and he goes to boxofficemojo.com, bangs his name into the search bar, looks at it, gazes upon it. Where does he go? He goes to message boards about people creating their own fire retardant foam. Him and Susie Amos just trying to save that Malibu house, man. The fires come over the highway. You got to watch out. Chris, let's say we get to September, October, November of this year.

You're out one night. You're walking the streets of Los Feliz. You happen upon a cafe. You're like, I need a bite. You sit down. In walks Jim Cameron into the cafe. Yeah. And he turns and he says, CR?

I've been listening to your work for months. Can I say Big Jim? Yes. And he says, CR, you really, you got me through the pandemic, bro. All of your work, all of your audio work carried me through. But everything you said about you got me through the pandemic bro you all of your work all of your audio work got carried me through but everything you said about me hurt me and you'll be hearing from my

lawyer what's your response i i would say you've misunderstood me mr cameron because it comes it's i have nothing but respect for what you do you you believe in a couple of things you believe in deep sea exploration you believe in protecting your home from forest fires and you believe in big action set pieces and i'm your guy i'm your fucking chamber of commerce for big action set pieces right who loves them more than me now i'm just imagining like the chris ryan chamber of commerce and he goes you know what? You're right. You're right.

I misunderstood. Why don't you come on board and rewrite the last four avatars? I swear to God. I swear to God, I would pay a million dollars for a reality that I don't have for a reality show of you and Jim Cameron in a room writing avatars, the next four avatars. Do you want to pitch some ideas while we're here? Chris, any thoughts on where to take the Navi next?

One Navi guy takes down scores and then the other Navi guy stops guys like him from taking down scores. And then they meet in an underwater diner. I mean, Heatvatar needs to happen ASAP. That sounds fantastic.

Okay, so you took Catherine Bigelow and I mean, heat Vitar needs to happen ASAP. That sounds fantastic. Okay. So you took Catherine Bigelow. Yeah. And you took Cate Blanchett in the aviator. And so now it's to Amanda. Okay. Can we read? What do you guys have so far?

You always want to do this. Yeah, sure. Why do you always want to do? Why do you always want the mid game recap? Because I'm trying to understand the lay of the land, Sean. I'm trying to make informed decisions. All right, man. I have your back.

I'll read everything. You ready? Okay. Thank you. I chose best original screenplay, Cameron Crowe for Almost Famous. You chose Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton for best supporting actress, and Chris chose Cate Blanchett for the av Aviator in the same category. Chris chose Heath Ledger in The Dark

Night for Best Supporting Actor. I chose Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood in Best Actor. You chose Denzel Washington in Training Day for Best Actor. I chose Martin Scorsese for The Departed for Best Director. You chose Steven Soderbergh for Traffic

for Best Director, and Chris chose Catherine Bigelow for The Hurt Locker for Best Director. You chose Steven Soderbergh for Traffic for Best Director. And Chris chose Catherine Bigelow for The Hurt Locker for Best Director. And Chris chose No Country for Old Men for Best Picture. Okay. I believe that's everything, right? Yes. I'm going to do something here

that I don't want to do, which is hurt Chris Ryan. You've already done it once i know but like this is this is um you and i always get put right back to back with one another and we always run the risk of really hurting one another but i want you to know you can't hurt me because i believe in you i'm pulling for you here that's really beautiful and thank you and i've spoken like a couple of losers. Okay. Well, you know, I am, it's going to be in best adapted screenplay and,

uh, I will be taking, uh, Brokeback Mountain, uh, adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Osana. That's fine. Okay.

Well, I just know that you really love Larry McMurtry. I do. And you shared that love with my husband and it was just like the summer of, or the year of Larry McMurtry. I do. And then you shared that love with my husband and it was just like the summer of, or the year of Larry McMurtry. Yeah. And we lost Larry McMurtry recently. And I,

you know, I just, I don't want to take things that you love from you, but, um, I thought that that was a beautiful film and well adapted. Well adapted would be an amazing poster quote feel free to put it on anything that is why they pay a man of the big bucks it's that kind of commentary way to go um chris do you want to

recommend a non-lonesome dove non-brokeback mountain larry mcmurtry novel for listeners of the big picture oh sure i mean i think anybody, the gateway drug for Larry is All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, which is his sort of coming, not coming of age. It's like hanging out in Austin, Texas in the 70s, late 60s, early 70s. It's an amazing novel about somebody who I think is basically his alter ego, this character, Danny Deck, who's just trying to make it as a writer. Falling in love, crushing tacos, getting drunk. It's just a wonderful book. Amanda, would you like to talk about any of McMurtry's work? No, I haven't read any of the novels. Come on.

Okay. I'm going to make my picks. That was just me vamping to get some time to figure out what it is I wanted to do. I guess I'm just selecting best picture. And one of the most triumphal best picture winners of all time. Talking about the Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Such a cuck. Wow, you're a nerd. Remember that? You guys remember when that happened?

Is that real? Wow. Oh my God. Do you like this? Do you think that this is the best Lord of the Rings movie? No, no. I think the first, I think the Fellowship of the Ring is the best. But I'm a huge fan of that trilogy.

Are you not a fan of that, Chris? Well, you should know I'm a fan because you and me usually spend Christmases seeing fucking Hobbit movies. So yes, I am a fan of those movies. Amanda, do you like the Lord of the Rings? No. I've told this story to you on a podcast before about what happened to me at a young age with The Hobbit, which I had to read in a podcast before about what happened to me at a young age with the Hobbit,

which I had to read in a day for summer reading. No, I didn't do it for summer reading under protest. One of my only school related protests ever in my, you know, otherwise goody goody life. And my parents found out and were like, you have to spend the day before school starts the last day of summer. One of the most sacred days to Amanda Dobbins sitting in a room reading the Hobbit. I'm out. Wow. Sounds like you are not interested in the world of imagination that J.R.R.

Tolkien was able to craft. And then I tell you about how a professor tried to teach me Elvish in college as well. That seems like it was like a short conversation. So I, I'm not into it. Apparently, uh,

Tolkien modeled Elvish on Greek and I was taking a great class. And so one day she was like, fun day, we're going to learn Elvish. And I was like, once again, see me out. I'm going to leave this academic setting.

It seemed. So that means you did not watch the film Tolkien starring Nicholas Holt. Um, no, I didn't. Because that very data point you just shared is basically the core of that film. How he created this whole world

and how he used the world of language to build it. I'm just vamping again. Chris, you called me a cuck for selecting The Return of the King. Which I think is over the line. For my next pick, I'm going to go Best Adapted Screenplay. And I'm doing this for two reasons. One, I feel great about this pick.

I'm picking Joel and Ethan Coen's script for No Country for Old Men, their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's fantastic novel, which I believe I read at Chris Ryan's recommendation many years ago. It might be Hest. Yes. I was like, this is going to be a hot property. Check it out. Yeah. You were on the horn and between me and Bobby Sony, you were able to get somebody to read it, thankfully. Amazing screenplay, amazing interpretation, I think, of that book, which leaves a lot of blank space. And as you said earlier, Chris, it's not necessarily the most classically Coen's movie. And so there's something fascinating and impressive. And also it feels like it's kind of a sister film to their first film, Blood Simple, in terms of the tone and the setting

and the way that they tell that sort of noir-ish murder mystery story. And the other reason I picked this one, aside from loving No Country for Old Men, is I'm looking forward to Chris's pick in this category because I want to hear him talk about it. So those are my two picks. So we are back to Amanda. Okay. I think...

I'm a little torn here in this category because there are two very good options. But I think in best supporting actor, I will take Javier Part M for No Country for Old Men. I too like No Country for Old Men, even though I have not yet gotten to draft it in any of my categories. And I remember this performance having like a deeply chilling effect on me. He is like very scary and has real, a singular presence in this film. So I think it is a great performance. Do I still wish that he had also won for Skyfall? Yes, I do.

But I love Javier Bardem. And this is probably his signature, at least English language performance. So Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men. I've said this before, maybe on the No Country Rewatchables. That's not that interesting. But I was like, when they announced the casting for this movie, I think I was either midway through the book or something. But it was a real bang, bang, like the book came out and it was like,

the Coens are making it, if I remember correctly. And I was like, it is maybe the most perfectly cast movie I can think of. It's like, they pick Bardem

and then as you're reading the book, his face just appears every time that character is on the page. It was just such perfect casting and he's just so, it's up there with like, Hopkins and Silence of the Lambs

in terms of that kind of villain role. Is the haircut in the book? It's more of a Prince Valiant. It's pretty pronounced in the book. Because the haircut is also... Has really stayed with me. CR, you've got two picks. Okay, so I got to do adapted screenplay.

I got to do actor, actress, director. No, I got director. Actor, actress, director, and adapted. Boy, I'm thinking here. Let me give you some potential exciting options, okay, Chris? All right. The pianist? Don't forget that all of the incredible victories for Beautiful Mind are still on the board. Listeners may not know this, but when Sierra and I go to do karaoke together,

and it's just us, it's just me and Chris solo. We rent out a room and the two of us sing to each other. Chris exclusively sings songs from Chicago which I have always thought is weird

but I think it's nice to have a passion. I got my pick and you know what? I got a pick and I'm split. This is a split decision

but I am going to go with my best actor pick is going to be Sean Penn from Mystic River. Yes. Is that my daughter? He's 50-50 with Crow. But fucking Penn coming through with the Vax in the late innings. I don't feel like we can take the full context out of it.

We can't remove that. So I'm going to go Sean Penn, Mr. Griver, best actor. I was praying that you would choose that. Is that my... If I do that, I think my wife will actually have to barge in and just be like, what's wrong with you? If I do the full bellow of that. Chris, what do you think about Sean Penn's personal style

post-Finding El Chapo? So you're talking the cargo pants, the two utility vests and six Marlboro Reds always burning and like his face turning into like an Easter Island statue as we speak. Have you noticed that that guy has aged hard and a, and a surfboard under his surfboard. Right. And is also fucking diesel.

He's jacked. Yeah, right. It could snap me in half if you heard me talking about him on a podcast. Maybe like, I don't listen to podcasts. You know, I mean, I think he's living his best life,

whatever that is. Amanda, do you like Sean Penn as an actor? I wouldn't say that I have an extremely strong connection to him as an actor. You know, I'd like to say whatever he did to with the vaccine. Thanks.

Like I'm appreciative, but other than that, I don't, I'm not, I'm not up on this. He's behind a core curative. So he, he's been responsible for a lot of testing and,

and vaccinations out here. I think he runs the Dodger stadium. So yeah, that's his organization. Oh, wow. He administers them all by himself. He's just there administering. And every time when you go get the shot,

he says, what famous line of mine would you like me to do for you as I give you this shot? So I go, I've gotten four vaccine shots because I love hearing him do different, you know.

Does he modernize it? Is that my needle in there? Every time he... Yes. Okay, I think you have another... I'm the only one who asks him to do his part from The Gunman, though. I think it's pronounced The Gunman. The Gunman?

Yeah, I know. I don't think it's The Gunman. I could be wrong. Who can say? It's like Phil Spiderman, The Gunman. Phil Spiderman. Okay, so I got actor. Yeah. Congratulations.

I gotta go Departed for Best Adapted. I gotta go for my guy Bill Monaghan. Yeah. Just speak on him. Well, look, I don't authorship's tricky. I don't know where Alec Baldwin ends and William Monaghan begins or where Jack Nicholson ends and William Monaghan begins or where Jack Nicholson ends and William

Monaghan begins. I've read the Departed script, but it's unclear whether or not that was like dictation after the fact or whether or not that's what they had going into it. But what a ride the Departed is. It's secretly like a hilarious movie. It's incomprehensible plot-wise in many respects. Part of that is because Scorsese just has the pure cocaine vapors in the direction. But I think he did a really good job. I mean, this movie means a lot to me emotionally. So I think he did a really good job. Characterization and the dialogue is out of sight.

Who do you relate to more, Damon or Leo? I think Leo. I think, yeah. Amanda, who do you relate to more, Damon or Leo? It's weird if you say Damon, isn't it? Okay. It is weird to say Damon, even though it's definitely like kind of the hottest that Damon is in a movie since Good Will Hunting.

Well, I guess Jason Bourne too. I recently was asked by a friend and colleague to watch the HBO Max series Wall Street and was so bored out of my mind that I spent a lot of time thinking about that Mark Wahlberg is good in The Departed and that's my favorite of the Mark Wahlberg performances. So I choose Wahlberg for that moment only. I, of course, relate most securely to Ellerbee,

which is Alec Baldwin's character. Yes. Everything he says in that film, especially you have an immaculate record. Some guys don't trust an immaculate record. I do. I have an immaculate record. That is my energy in a big way. What happened to Bill Monahan, Chris? Where's he at? He's made a couple of films that didn't really get off the ground, like London Boulevard

and the movie where Oscar Isaac and Garrett Headland are in the desert. What was that one called? I believe it's called Mojave. Yes. And so, I don't know, hoping for the best for him because he had that run with Kingdom of Heaven and this. He was the guy. So little known fact. And The Gambler.

The Gambler remake. Yes. He wrote The Gambler remake. He also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming film, The Tender Bar, which is an adaptation as well. The J.R. Moe Ringer book,

which is going to be directed by George Clooney and starring Ben Affleck. So William Monaghan, back to you. Hold your stock. Very soon. Love it. Good pick. Amanda, I believe it's back to you.

The time has come for me to draft Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation in Best Original Screenplay. I didn't really think that chris was going to take it away from me even though i've taken nice things away from chris several times already in this podcast i guess just like shared interests um i am a huge fan of sophia coppola and uh this is a you know we talked i talked a little bit about how this movie and really this oscar speech is actually how i learned about learned about Wong Kar Wai because um she thanked him in her Oscar acceptance speech and talked about the influence that In the Mood for Love had on Lost in Translation um so I both

owe this movie like my love of cinema through Sofia Coppola and everything that I know about Wong Kar-wai but you know I think it's um a beautiful Bill Murray performance and kind of unlocks what I am drawn to about Bill Murray which is like clearly Sofia Coppola sees something in him and has kind of made a career out of seeing something in him and building movies around it. She said that she couldn't have done Lost in Translation without him. But I think it's moving. It's the great dialogue, great observations about like the Anna Faris character and our relationship between two people who don't quite know what to say to each other.

And I feel like the actual absence of dialogue in this screenplay, obviously famously the ending, but everything else in it is really like purposeful and well-crafted and it moves me every time. So Sofia Coppola, thank you again. So I was talking to Bill about doing another Bill Murray movie on the

rewatchable soon and was thinking about his career. And this was the film that we're talking about doing was is before this and i was like what is it that you think that she sees in him what is it that you think that she unlocked in him that kind of set him a bit on a different trajectory i think in terms of the way he was seen as an actor i mean i think that she both sees him as like a very funny person i genuinely think that she thinks sees him as like a very funny person. I genuinely think that she thinks there's no one funnier on earth than Bill Murray. And even if you watch like the behind the scenes of Lost in Translation, like she's

just very excited. Like, I can't believe that Bill Murray is coming to say my lines and wants to be in his presence and thinks that there's something specifically kind of about like his deadpan rye sense of humor as that just makes her laugh. But also, I think kind of understands how to open up like the the emotions that perhaps underpin that that otherwise Bill Murray would like to keep locked away. And it's not like too much. Right. Too much, right? Like it never gets too sentimental because that's not really where anyone is comfortable or at least not where Sofia Coppola or Bill Murray is comfortable. But kind of like adds a depth to it

while still letting him like be dapper, charming Bill Murray in the moments that you want that from him. Sarah, I feel like you don't have a big Bill Murray thing. You're out of your mind. What are you talking about? You love Bill Murray? a big Bill Murray thing. You're out of your mind. What are you talking about? You love Bill Murray? I love Bill Murray. Bill Murray, a formative figure in my life.

I spent most of my childhood re-watching Stripes and Ghostbusters and other films by him. The Razor's Edge, for example? Yeah, where the buffalo roam. No, and then I think that she really did capture a kind of tragic quality in him, a kind of pathos that then he kind of used again in the Wes Anderson movies he's been in since.

So yeah. Okay. I think I have two picks now. Three picks left total. Two picks to make at this exact moment. There's one category that we have not touched. It's not a great. It's one category that we have not touched. It's not a great. It's not great.

It's not great. And it's a whole conversation kind of unto itself, I think, which we can have as a group. I'll get ahead of that and I'll talk about a performance that I know that I absolutely love. And I'm just delighted it's still sitting here for me, which is Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Bastards. Best supporting actor. Of course, Inglourious Bastards, simply one of my favorite movies ever. I think all three of us agree. It is one of Quentin Tarantino's best.

This was an introduction for almost all English speakers to Christoph Waltz, the immensely gifted actor who plays the downright evil Hans Landa, the hunter in the film. And what an amazing combination of charm and wit and also this sense of gleefulness over doing the worst things possible in the world. Obviously, he is gifted and amazing screenplay and an amazing character from Tarantino. But no surprise that this was only the first of two wins in Best Supporting Actor for Waltz. He also won for Django Unchained a few years later. I don't know that he has necessarily lived up to the promise of this introduction as a performer. I think in some ways you can get a character like Londa, who is almost too good, who's almost too good to be true.

And Chris, we talked about this a lot on the Inglourious Basterds rewatchables, but I'd love to see a second act for Waltz too. I'd love to see him get a chance to sink his teeth into something really cool because this is just one of the most entertaining performances of the century as well. I mean, he was almost spoiled by his early days here. You know, it's like, it's tough to watch him

in like Alita Battle Angel or whatever after seeing him in Inglourious and Django. I remember Jamie Foxx, I think on Stern or maybe a round table around the time of Django talking about Waltz and kind of alluding to this idea that Waltz is almost like the perfect Tarantino actor because he's very focused on the script, but will do any line reading Quentin wants, like however he wants it said, and nails it. But it almost seems like, I wouldn't say dependent on Tarantino's writing,

but maybe isn't like a, hey, turn on the camera and I'll just do it, I'll play. You know, like not that kind of performer. He's been in like a lot of shit, you know what I mean? Like horrible bosses and stuff. Like it wasn't even one of those movies. Like I just, I don't know what happened, but yeah, hopefully Tarantino will write him into a movie before he retires yeah it felt like he

picked up the tim roth mantle in a lot of ways in terms of like the flexibility of the kind of character that he could play um correct me if i'm wrong but when when inglorious was first like in development or being talked about wasn't dicaprio supposed to play Landa? Wasn't that the rumor? I think it was discussed. I'm not sure how far into it they got. Yeah, the last few years are just very strange for him. Although he is going to be in Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, which I know Amanda is really excited about, and the French Dispatch, which is... Oh, that's nice.

That might be a nice fit. Everybody's in the French Dispatch. I'm in the French Dispatch. He's running... That'd be so exciting for you. Who are you playing, Chris? Edward Norton. No, there's a cast of thousands in that movie, though.

That's true. He's also running back Blofeld in No Time to Die. That wasn't super successful. Is he really? That's what it says on his IMDb. They killed the golden goose with that. Sitting right there. Could have been so cool.

Okay, my second pick. I've got two categories left here. One of those categories is best supporting actress, and I guess I'm going to go with a performance that I truly love that I'm surprised is still on the board, which is Rachel Weisz's work in The Constant Gardener. This is my second choice. Yeah, this was my maybe. No, it was my third choice, but. You would have taken Blanchette over Rachel Weisz as well? No, I would have taken Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls.

Oh. And that one scene in Dreamgirls, which I just have been. I rewatched it, I believe, for our Eddie Murphy podcast and then was just singing like, no, no, no, no, you know, to myself over and over again for like three weeks at all time.

Wow. Okay. That's cool. That was an amazing performance. Rachel Weisz, I think, is quite something in this movie. This is Fernando Morelos'

adaptation of the John le Carré novel, The Constant Gardener, which is a really good film. It's kind of lost to time, right? I was just going to say that. I feel like this is not a movie that gets talked about a lot.

I don't even really know what accounts for that. This was, I think, the first or second film that Morales made after City of God. I think it was his first English film. It was the first one, I think, yeah. Quite good and kind of a hit. This was a $25 million movie that made

$82 million. Ralph Fiennes was the star. Incredible cast. Bill Nighy, Pete Postoway, Danny Houston, and Rachel Weisz very much at the center of this story and was wonderful. And probably was the, this was probably the film that, well, I shouldn't say that. The film that probably introduced our audiences more broadly was The Mummy. Okay. Are you guys familiar with the young millennial love for the mummy is that a wave that you're aware of no i is this like a is like a the month like people are just

watching it on a streaming service or a lot or what yeah i mean do you have any idea i know you're not on twitter these days but like in the last six to twelve months steven summers i think it's 1999 film the mummy is much beloved the bre. The Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz movie. I remember liking it when I was 16 and saw it and have not really thought about it much since. But every few months, there's some sort of weird campaign to be like, this is actually the one true mummy. So it's like a meme movie now for millennials? Is it like film Twitter millennials or just people? I don't know. All I know is film twitter millennials or just people i'm i don't know i i all i know is film

twitter millennials that's like my whole life during the pandemic unfortunately for me i know it's tough um but i'm i'm kind of fascinated by that a movie like that emerging as this like that generation's virgin version of nostalgia like yeah it is in many ways like it's like they're kind of yeah uh but i don't even think that there's any kind of like ironic detachment i think people are they're legit like what a great adventure brendan frazier guest king exactly which is interesting it's a little bit like me listening to the baby now where i'm like cool like i get it i like the baby i love rap i clearly am like a little bit on the outside

we got a clip sean just saying i liked a baby i love rap next on the big picture i liked a baby i love rap a very normal man speaking very normal sentences i just i try to show myself to you guys and this is you wonder why it's all braggadocio for me. This rap shit is just don't worry about that man.

You got it. There are very good reasons why I don't talk about rap anymore. Okay. So those are my two picks. So that leaves.

Do we have are we all open on the same category right now? I got a couple more openings. Chris. I got actress and I have original screenplay right

um yes okay so amanda you're up next and i have actress and and best picture but since you guys have both chosen on best picture i think i'll start actress let's talk about it okay a lot of people that i like a lot of people that i like in this category. The performances are here. I'll name some of them. Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon, Helen Mirren, Marianne Cotillard, Kate Winslet, and Sandra Bullock. I like, I'm a huge fan of almost all of those individuals. And I don't really need to, you know, say who I'm a huge fan of almost all of those individuals. And I don't really need to, you know, say who I'm not like a huge fan of,

but it's like, I think we all know that I ride pretty hard for Reese Witherspoon. That just what Reese Witherspoon is bringing in terms of just type a energy and like a weird Southern accent that comes and goes is like really speaks to me. And also that I love walk the line, but I wouldn't, I actually really do. I love walk the line, but I wouldn't, I actually really do.

I love walk the line, but I don't know if that's my favorite of her performances. Julia Roberts finally wins for Aaron Brockovich. I really like Aaron Brockovich, but I also don't know if it's my favorite. I mean, maybe that's a dumb one to give up, but I don't think I'm going to do it.

I think I'm going to go with my heart. Kate Winslet in the reader. Oh no. Oh, am I going to reader oh no oh am i gonna do this i'm gonna do this am i gonna regret not doing something else it's fine i'm gonna do helen mirren in the queen gotta do it of course yeah i would be shocked if you didn't go there i know is that what you thought that i was gonna pick yes well i it's not at the top of my list but i assume i meant like early morgan come on i meant earlier i mean yeah of course so the queen is peter morgan's uh film feature film about the days after the death of princess diana and it's really it's like a test case for for the crown so if you have watched the crown and somehow have not seen the queen like fix that it's really good and Helen Mirren plays

circa 1997 Queen Elizabeth II and is uncanny and it is a little bit of like what Chris was saying about Cate Blanchett like kind of going towards impersonation but because we don't actually hear the real queen speak very often especially as as Americans. Like, I barely know what this person speak, you know, sounds like. But she's not she's a figurehead. She's not a person. And so Helen Mirren is kind of the first of now aton in the next season, trying to give character and life to this person whose face is on money, but who you've never actually seen, who you know nothing about. And she does it really well and kind of sets the standard. And also just a tremendous

Oscar campaign from Helen Mirren. That was really, really fun when Helen Mirren was just out and about having the time of her life a great like a great Oscars hang sounds like we'll next see Helen Mirren in space in Fast 9 you guys excited about that why why is the mom in space I don't know I don't know that's just that's the vibe I got Dom's mom in these movies no she's Statham's mom yeah she's Statham's mom. Statham and Luke Evans, I believe.

They're brothers. You don't have to make that face. No one's gonna make you watch it, Chris. Who, me? Yeah, no one's gonna make you go watch a reasonably fun movie, even though I thought Hobbs and Shaw was trash, involving cars going to space.

No one is asking you to let that into your heart. So you just keep going. I just want better for Helen Mirren. Okay. Well, she won an Oscar. She's doing fine. I feel like we each deserve one franchise we should never be asked to discuss on any platform. I'm not sure what mine is yet, but I'm going to think about it. Isn't it Fast and Furious? Well, you've claimed that one. I'm not a fan of the Fast and Furious films, as you guys know.

I don't think I hate them. I just, I don't get the cult. I feel on the outside of the cult. Mine is Zack Snyder films. Sucks to be you, Bobby. Because, hey, we're going to Army of the Dead marathon. Yeah, Army army the dead pod coming up amanda you excited about army the dead no i'm not okay uh okay chris i believe you have two picks now so uh to go off of what amanda was just talking about um both in terms of helen mirren but also in terms of if you like this show you might want to check out this movie is best original screenplay julian fellow's gosford park

i chris have had very few experiences in a movie theater where i was as utterly destroyed by a scene in a movie as i was a certain helen mirren scene in this film that involves Clive Owen. And it is a remarkable movie, partially because I think Fellows' script is amazing. He's the master at these upstairs, downstairs kinds of dramas, as we've seen in Downton. But it's directed by Robert Altman. So Altman brings, I think, a level of cynicism and maybe a little bit more probing into the true venality of human beings that maybe Fellow sometimes doesn't always have apparent. And this is just a remarkable movie that I do not think it's talked about nearly enough, given the quality of performances and writing in it. But Gosford, for Best Original Screenplay,

Amanda, you love this movie, right? Yeah yeah this was my backup if if one of you took loss in translation for me this is it's a great movie and it really like it does pave the way for downton abbey in a lot of ways but it's also like if you like you know if you want some grown-up downton abbey if you want some grown-up Downton Abbey, if you want some real stuff, then Gosford Park. But just a tremendous cast, an excellent screenplay, and just equal parts acid and devastating, as you said. Yeah. I wouldn't go into this with any preconceived notions. I think some people might see this and think, oh, it's just masterpiece theater, and it's not. It's very funny. It's very dark. It's got a mystery. It's really awesome. So I'll take Gosford Park for best original screenplay and then I'm going to go Julia Roberts for Ibrahim Brockovich for best actress. Not very complicated. I think she's dynamite in

this movie. I think this movie is super enjoyable. It's an example of a movie that doesn't really get made anymore, which is just like kind of like a mid-tier legal procedural. This would just definitely be like an HBO Max series right now or an HBO series. But awesome movie. Soderbergh's second Oscar-nominated film from that year. And she's delightful. And her sort of palling around with Eckhart and Albert Finney is just... She's rarely been better, I think. So Julia Roberts, best actress. Chris, I believe that completes your slate. Yes.

Do you feel good? Yeah. I feel like I didn't do enough for content, but I believe that completes your slate. Yes. Do you feel good? Yeah, I feel like I didn't do enough for content, but I did well for the draft. You know what I mean? I didn't pick some wild... You didn't pick Gladiator? I don't think that would have been that wild. No, I mean, I was definitely thinking

about taking Crow for actor because it is like a dynamite movie star performance. Before we let Amanda make her last selection, do you want to swap in Nicole Kidman in The Hours for Julia Roberts instead? So would that have been the most controversial pick? That's a good conversation. Because the nose plays.

Would you be really into prostheses if you were an actor? Would you wear a lot of... I honestly feel like not very many people have worn prostheses since Nicole Kidman did The Hours. Or since Charlie's Throne and Monster.

You don't see a lot of... Rami Malek's dentures have something to say about that in Bohemian Rhapsody, Chris. That's true. Amanda. Yeah. One more pick and it's a big one.

I know, it's Best Picture one I know it's best picture and I'm just there are two options here and they're both honestly really good options and that I was hoping that one of you

would back me into a corner on this one because I don't know how to pick and it's a little bit am I doing it

for content and am I doing it to win what does winning even mean like am I trying to please some and am I doing it to win? What does winning even mean? Like, am I trying to please some people who click things on Twitter? Like, I don't, you know. That's not how you play.

You've never played that way. That's true. How many burners do you have, Amanda? I don't have any burners. Did you get involved in like the whole Lakers controversy last night with the catfishing? It's a long story. Okay, but they all have a lot of burners? No, there was just like a catfishing situation with like

a woman who's like supposed to be a Lakers podcaster but turned out not to be okay no I didn't get involved in that I don't have burners

what I'm trying to do is spend my time elsewhere you know like I told you guys about the ladybug hijinks like I'm just trying to be away from my

computer and my devices when I don't have to be no one in the rest of the world listening to this podcast knows what the ladybug hijinks is. That sounds like some sort of bank heist that you organized. Would have been great. Like a PG kids mystery show.

Maybe in a way it was. Maybe for the ladybugs it was. Okay. Short version. Gotten into gardening. Have some beautiful rose bushes. They have aphids. So I purchased some ladybugs in order to eat the aphids. In order to try to preserve the rose bushes they have aphids so i purchased some ladybugs in order to

in order to try to preserve the rose bushes you know what sean like that's actually according to garden like internet that's like a very controversial thing that i did even though the ladybugs were sold at the gardens where a lot of people are like you don't want to release the ladybugs that aren't like native to your particular area oh you got so you got some mercenary ladybugs that aren't like native to your particular area. Oh, you got some mercenary ladybugs. No, I didn't. I bought them from a wonderful local nursery, Lincoln Nursery. I believe it's been there for more than 100 years. So I like I'm trying to be responsible. I like the idea that you got the ladybug version of the guys from Predator, though. They're just like, I'm floating.

Like, I don't really know. I'm trying to imagine a world in which the reason the big picture has been finally canceled is because Amanda bought some ladybugs and the gardening community was like, this will not stand. This show must be destroyed. This ladybug propaganda. Well,

I mean, who can really say anyway, but it's so, do I want to be a departed person or do I want to be a hurt locker person? And I feel like that's my internal movie struggle also all of the time. Right. What do you mean by that? Well,

the hurt locker as Chris, it's just like absolute, like masterful filmmaking. And I remember once again, a movie I saw alone in, I want to say the quad cinema in New York, but one of those like small kind of uh I think like theaters in the village and as a person who is prone to anxiety just an intense amount of

stress that just keeps being ratcheted and ratcheted and ratcheted up and just actually holding like the sides of that um those like really old you know theater seats um like precise i love bigelow i love that she defeated james cameron again all respects to chris um i like that whole narrative it was a cool thing but i mean the number of times that i've watched 20 minutes of the departed like when it's on cable the number of like you know references to the departed the argument over are you a leo are you a damon are you a like the departed is kind of like film culture the departed is like a film hang which is like a messed up thing to say given like what happens in the departed which is like a like that's just like really screwed up but it's it's kind of a movie for how

we all like to talk about movies you know so if the departed came out in 2020 i would have done like 74 podcasts yeah totally um i don't know where they would have been published. Are you sure you're absolutely positively sure you don't want to pick Crash here? I'm I am. I'm really positive, but I would like to shout out Justin Charity's wonderful piece about Crash on the ringer, which I recommend. One of many reasons why I won't be picking Crash. One other one other film before you make your pick that has not come up one time that also feels as if it never happened is Slumdog Millionaire.

Yeah. I think it has no reputation. It is neither beloved nor loathed the way that so many Oscar winners are over time. Why do you guys think that is? I mean, are we sure it's not a little loathed? Is it? In retrospect?

I think people were like, you know what, let's move on from this. You know what was a rough Oscars year was 2008. Here are the nominees from that year for Best Picture. The Reader, Milk, Frost, Nixon, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,

and Slumdog Millionaire. Jesus. That was no fun. That's tough. Okay. So you can make your pick, Amanda. Chris, what do you think I should do?

I think you should pick The Departed. Okay. I do too. We think you should pick the Departed. Okay. I do too. I'm going to take the Departed. We got her locker on the board. We talked about Bigelow. I don't have her locker on the board, though.

I know, but we did. But I also don't have the Departed on the board. So take the Departed. Sean has Marty and you have... You know deep down that you love the Departed more than her locker. And I don't think anybody's going to take... I don't even understand the plot of Departed totally.

I still sometimes don't understand what's going on, but I do love it. And so I will take the Departed. Do you want me to explain the entire plot plot of Departed totally. Like I still sometimes don't understand what's going on, but I do love it. And so I will take the Departed. Do you want me to explain the entire plot of the Departed? Yes, I do actually. Three, two, one, go. There's this guy named Colin, okay? Okay, so final pick of this draft.

As previously alluded to, best actress. You had a lot of time to sit with this fantasy. Yeah. I think there's only one pick for me personally, and it's a historic Oscar win. It's Marion Cotillard for best actress in La Vie en Rose, which I believe is the first French language Academy Award win in an acting category. And I think it's also the first and only foreign language win in Best Actress,

which is kind of fascinating. And that's something that, you know, this year, there are very few foreign language performances that are nominated, although Yajun Yun, who is nominated for Minari, is likely to win. And so I think that she could make some history here by becoming the second person

to win for a foreign language performance for actress or best supporting actress. So Marion Cotillard, of course, I think was relatively unknown to American audiences before this film. This is a biopic of Edith Piaf, the French singer. Incredible film. Kind of breathtaking. I think it does violate a lot of the sins of the biopic that we talked about on episodes past Amanda, but it is anchored fully by this overwhelmingly committed physical transformation that Cotillard brings to the table. And she basically, you know, with the exception of, I guess, Rustin Bone and a couple of Darden Brothers movies has become kind of a fixture in Hollywood. You know, her work now is primarily in things like Christopher Nolan films.

But if people haven't seen La Vie en Rose, I would highly recommend it. It's very, very good. I'd still step in from a bus for her. What a lady. Yeah.

One of my personal favorite Oscar speeches as well. It is true that there are angels in this city tonight. Great stuff. She's great. Sierra, why did you get, you got hooked up to her,

her, her juice early on what was it about that uh she just has like an intensity that i think transcends um maybe even her facility with the english language which i think sometimes is like pressed you know especially in like inception stuff like that but like she brings uh like a kind of like you can't teach it quality soul maybe like she just seems like a very very deep deep person and i respect it what do you think about um her work as rosal ghouls oh i thought you were gonna ask me what do i think about some of her posting because she's big into posting yeah we're don't do it we're just gonna go to the side of the posting but i know what

chris is talking about she's got some steel beams energy. Okay, we want there. You don't know about this? I do. I don't want to talk about that on this podcast. Okay, so we have full rosters. Should we run through the rosters really quickly? Okay, let's go.

We'll go category by category. Starting with best original screenplay, Chris selected Julian Fellows for Gosford Park. Amanda selected Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation. And then I selected Cameron Crowe for Almost Famous. That's a dynamite category right there. Best adapted screenplay, William Monaghan for The Departed.

Chris chose that. I chose Joel and Ethan Coen's adaptation of No Country for Old Men. And Amanda selected Larry McMurtry on Diana Osana's Brokeback Mountain script. For best supporting actress, Chris chose Cate Bl Osana's Brokeback Mountain script. For Best Supporting Actress, Chris chose Cate Blanchett's work in The Aviator. I chose Rachel Weisz's work in The Constant Gardener.

And Amanda selected Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton. Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight, a performance we probably didn't talk about enough. Chris chose that. I chose Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Bastards. And Amanda selected Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men,

another just killer collection of performances there. Best actress, not so killer. Not bad, though. Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich. That's Chris. I chose Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose. Amanda selected Helen Mirren in The Queen. Best actor, CR chose Sean Penn in Mystic River.

That was his daughter in there. That's the real CR moment. That's the one. Denzel and Daniel were's the real CR moment. That's the, that's the, that's the one I chose. And Daniel were off the board though. Like let's, let's be real. Amanda and I had superlative picks. Daniel day Lewis for there will be blood for me.

Amanda chose Denzel in training day, best director, Catherine Bigelow for the hurt locker was a Chris pick. I chose Marty Scorsese for the departed and Amanda selected her boy, Steven Soderbergh for traffic. Best picture. our final category, CR chose No Country for Old Men, I, the Lord, chose The Lord of the Rings,

Return of the King, and Amanda selected The Departed. Okay. Now, this went about according to the way I thought it would, and most of your picks were in my two or three rankings. Was there anything you guys were surprised to not see chosen? Sure.

I mean, like we said, we skipped Gladiator, right? I was surprised that nobody picked Eternal Sunshine. Me too. And yeah, other than that, I think that's it. Eternal Sunshine script and Joel and Ethan Cohen

best director for No Country were the two highest ranked in the in the categories that were not selected on my board um I think Halle Berry for Monster's Ball is also was pretty highly ranked I was choosing between that from for Marion Cotillard Amanda what about you anything else jump out yeah so Philip Seymourymour hoffman for capote which you know i think would have been more for philip seymour hoffman as an idea but hard to do with this best act supporting actor cat competition was the actor supporting actor he was actor he's actor yeah but even that even so hard to hard to put him above denzel and uh daily list and yet you chose sean penn over him so well i i like mystic river more than

capote i mean i was i was picking the movie and the performance and the first couple times i've seen mystic river i was like this is amazing i think in since then it's become kind of hysterical but pretty pretty awesome i loved the mystic river moment the novel the the film what else anything else i'm surprised there's no hurturt Locker in Best Picture, which I know that I made that decision ultimately. So that's on me. But pretty much as you said, Sean, otherwise the three that I had for each

category are the three that are on the board. And it's just kind of like the order that they were picked. Did you think this was a good approach to this draft or was it too broad? I think that we probably would be curious to see what would happen if we did a 20-year span. Did you think this was a good approach to this draft or was it too broad? Or did we just pick too good of a decade? I probably would be...

I would be curious to see what would happen if we did a 20-year span. So if we'd done this 21st century, I think that would have been interesting. And I personally, just for S's and G's, would love to do a Golden Age draft with you guys. Like a 50s or a 60s draft. So...

S's and G's stands for shits and giggles in case anybody didn't know what I was saying. Thanks for filling that in, bud. Thanks. We did change this strategy. Like, we didn't change it, but I had started thinking about this, thinking we were doing all best picture winners ever

before we'd narrowed it down. And it was like both complicated and sort of fun because you were less against the other people though i think honestly like there are a couple categories where we would have faced each other down particularly in the 70s so we should probably do the 70s um the 70s would be the most fun yeah but otherwise it was fun it was kind of like okay what what like 40s movies right you know what kind of what's the the story that i want to tell to quote Steven Soderbergh, who I drafted for best director. So that was fun in its way, too. But I guess it would have been

less competitive. More opportunity for Chris to be weird, though. I don't think there were any winners or any losers in this draft in particular. This was just a fun exercise ahead of the Oscars. I do think that there I mean, this is probably a longer conversation than the one you guys want to start at the end of this podcast, but it is interesting how Oscars either get it really right or really wrong. Yes. So that's a good segue, Chris,

I think, into where I wanted to end this conversation. So Amanda and I, later this week, will be doing our final Oscar predictions. But I kind of wanted to get a sense from you. I know you caught up on a couple of movies over the weekend that are in the race right now. Where do you think the Oscars is going? And do you think that it has a chance to be an Oscars that we look back upon and say, hey, they got it right? Or do you think it has some

car crash potential? So in terms of the actual broadcast, I think that I may be looking more forward to this one than I have in the last four or five years, both because of Soderbergh's participation, different setting, Union Station. It sounds like they're going to approach this as a different kind of TV product. I'm genuinely rooting for several of the movies. I hope that more people get to check these films out this year. There's a lot of, whether it's Nomadland or Minari or Judas and the Black Messiah, I'm hoping that the platform that they get and the fact that they're also readily available on streaming right now and whether you have to pay for them

or get them on a service is really cool. People can click right away and go watch Nomadland if it wins Best Picture. And I just think, I don't know whether or not we're going to go back in 20 years and be like, man, Judas and the Black Messiah. Put that on my draft board.

I'll be in my 60s at that point, so I think I'll probably have been farmed out of this business. But you'll be in a Na'vi body at that time, so it'll be okay. Are there any movies or performances, but I'll say movies just to keep it more broad, that you're just like,

I really hope this doesn't win. I think Amanda and I are probably dreading a Promising Young Woman conversation at lunch. Oh, yeah, right. I think we probably prefer to not. I mean, we already had one. Yeah. Wouldn't say that we had the best time

having the conversation and then to have to do it again. I think the culture also just re-litigating that movie for a few months in the aftermath just seems not fun. Well, I saw that somebody was telling me that chicago seven's odds got slashed for for deep for what reason was it was there a reason cited well for picture like it was just that like the odd like that people were betting it heavily so the odds

were getting slashed and so i wonder whether or not that would be the like we all had so many high hopes for this year and they wound up giving it to like an ensemble issue studio drama you know that feels more like i i don't sean if i can speak for you i don't think we're enthusiastic about that either that just feels like letting the air out of the tires of a year that already didn't have any air in the tires of the oscars it it's like that is the quote traditional quote Oscar Beatty movie in all the negative senses of those words for this year. So for it to win and just be like, okay, well, why did we go to all the, you know, great. Like we don't need to talk anymore. I think the thing that we've been hearing a lot, especially as we read anonymous ballots and we hear reporting from the folks who cover this stuff so closely at the trades and elsewhere is that the voters more so than ever are not watching these movies they do

not seem to have an interest they're not spending the time on it they don't understand the streaming services they're not logged into the academy portal there seems to have been some real struggles to get people interested but they're still voting uh potentially i mean i think a lot of people will sit it out. I think obviously new members and younger members are going to be very engaged, and this is a very diverse slate. But the older members,

and there are still a lot of old people in the Academy, may not participate. Or if they do, they may participate with more of the like, oh, Carey Mulligan, I like her, rather than a vote for Promising Young Woman. And so that is historically what has caused damage at the Academy Awards is people voting for reputation and history instead of the films themselves.

So if we got a trial of Chicago 7 win, I wouldn't be stunned. Aaron Sorkin is beloved in the Academy. He's obviously immensely gifted. And it did win some Guild Awards, right? Well, it just won Ensemble, which is not necessarily historically predictive, but it does indicate that there's support

for it. That being said, Nomadland was not nominated for Ensemble. And it's won a couple of other awards. I want to say, did it win Best Editing? Yes. Which is also not necessarily predictive, but does show more guild support from Crafts

folks. So, I don't know. It's, you know, Amanda and I will get into it a little bit more at the end of this week, but it has the potential for a what the hell happened here kind of year. But also people will be saying that because of the pandemic about this year, no matter what anyway. So maybe they should just lean into the skid there. I'm just hoping for a really creative, interesting production and show. You know what I mean? I think that it's been a really tough year for movies as you guys have so well documented over the last 12 months. There are some really worthwhile films that are

nominated. I hope they get a bigger platform, but I mostly hope that it's like an Oscars that unlike any we've ever seen before that can pave the way forward for a more inventive show once we're all able to be like having more traditional gatherings. Well said. CR, thank you as always for joining us on The Big Picture. This was a lot of fun. Like I said, Amanda, you and I will be back later this week

and then we'll be back after the Oscars on Sunday night. Oscars week rolls along. Thank you for listening to The Big Picture. Thank you, of course, to our producer, Bobby Wagner, for handling this draft as always. And we'll see you soon