The Big Picture - The Return of the Big Oscar Bet and the Best Movies at the Toronto International Film Festival

Episode Date: September 16, 2024

Sean and Amanda are joined by film critic, Ringer contributor, and resident “mean pod guy” Adam Nayman to do a speed recap of his favorite (and least favorite) movies out of the Toronto International Film Festival (1:00). Then, they revive the Big Oscar Bet, in which Sean and Amanda predict the nominees and winners of every major category at the 2025 Oscars (37:00). Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Guest: Adam Nayman Senior Producer: Bobby Wagner Video Producer: Jack Sanders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit superstore.ca to get started. I'm Sean Fennessy. I'm Amanda Dobbins. And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about Toronto. Today on the show, we're discussing the Toronto International Film Festival, a major precursor for awards season and also a place for exciting new movies with our Canadian correspondent, Mead Podguy, and show dad in the making, Adam Naiman. Hi, Adam. Hey, guys. How you doing? Oscar bet. Last year, we came up with a very stupid idea where months and months in advance, we would predict all of the nominees in all of the 11 major categories well in advance

and the winners, and then the loser would have to do something not fun. And we never followed through. So this is a double or nothing situation being done even earlier in a season that is more confusing than ever. So we did it in late October of 2023. We're doing it in mid-September before you go on leave. Yeah. And I have no fucking idea what's going on with the Oscar race, which is very exciting. I mean, it will be fun, but humiliating.

Hopefully, Adam, you can shed some light on what is going on you've been in toronto you're always in toronto in a way yeah both physically and mentally yeah it's like purgatory um the big news out of the festival over the weekend was that the audience award winner the people's choice winner this year famously a precursor for Best Picture. The award went to The Life of Chuck, directed by a filmmaker I'm a fan of, Mike Flanagan, noted horror auteur and longtime Netflix TV maker. He has returned to films, thankfully, mercifully, with another Stephen King adaptation. And this movie won. Adam, you didn't see the movie, but it seemed like the vibes were very strong around this movie in Toronto.

Is that true? Yeah, the vibes are very strong. I've also been a fan of Mike Flanagan since his WWE-produced film Oculus. Incredible film. The Haunted Mirror movie, really good movie. And this is obviously the first Mike Flanagan movie as opposed to TV show that's kind of prestige-y, right? This is an interesting arc for him. You know, genre director, really good horror

director, works for Netflix, makes some shows that are seen by a wider audience by the grace of the algorithm, and then adapts a Stephen King property that has not only not been adapted, but which is in that Stephen King sweet spot of not-for-horror-movie people, right? It's a movie that

has a genre element, but maybe a slightly larger audience a sort of audience that maybe wouldn't go to a horror movie might see life of chuck uh words it's the shawshank zone i would say i would say shawshank zone except with the hindsight of shawshank having not done well in the first place now history can you know correct itself right because 30 years ago it's 30 years ago this year that Shawshank Redemption became that incredible redemption story of a movie that no one liked until they realized they should see it.

And now it's like the most popular movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database. It was a surprise win because one of the things at TIFF to be really cynical is like what plays in the biggest theaters, right? So I had not gotten because that's how they do the audience award. It's not a passion index. It's like what gets the most votes. So the two runners up, which were Amelia Perez and Nora, I thought were potentially very likely winners, and they did make that top three. But without having seen it, I can only say it seems that people really like it. The people I know who I ran into who saw it were very positive.

I was just too tired after 10 days to go see it at the repeat screening last night. So I failed you in that regard. But, you know, I'm sure one of us will see it soon. And I'm sure it's fine. It's interesting because it doesn't have distribution. Right. So I don't actually know. It's been 12 consecutive years that the audience award winner

has been nominated for Best Picture. Yes. This movie doesn't, not only does it not have a release date, we don't even know who's going to buy it. Right. How any of us would go see it is TBD at this point.

And if you look at the slates of the various studios, it doesn't really fit in too many places. I think maybe you could make the case that search light because we don't know what a complete unknown is has a potential opening for a feel good movie and this is reportedly a feel good movie it's a movie that had like i would say mixed positive reviews not super good reviews but people just fans who went to go see the movie seem to really respond to it we know what a complete unknown is which is that we have lewin davis at home right but i think that the uh i

think that the thing with life of chuck is a lot of those tiff audience award winners also tend to be victims of backlash which is really interesting when you look at stuff like three billboards and green book no one who made those movies are complaining because they win oscars but there's also the whole like when a second wave of critics sees them, what are they going to say about them? And I thought that Emilia Perez and Onora were right in that pocket of, like, major enthusiasm on the ground in Toronto. Film Twitter is going to destroy these things when they come out. movie that's angling for any kind of backlash because it seems pretty populist without maybe those potentially dangerous edges that some of those movies have. I thought it was a really interesting development. Gut check, do you think someone will buy it and try to quickly get it out

into the world for a qualifying run? Probably just because this slate and the movie year is so desperate. But when you go studio by studio, I mean, you mentioned Searchlight, they have a real pain, which, you know, like most of these budgets do seem to have been decided at this point. And any kind of the last minute grab, and we'll talk a little bit about what's going on at A24.

Hi, my friends. I know you're listening. The last minute rush seems like an attempt to fix and kind of re-strategize because everything is going so differently. So I don't know how many people have enough money and awards budget lying around at this point. Yeah, it becomes like a question of resources where not just how much money,

but even how much time teams can devote to individual movies. So something like this happening, it's just fun for the mix for what we do. You know, the idea that there's a now another movie that's in the conversation that is, you know, for me as a huge fan of Dr. Sleep, I just really enjoyed his House of Usher TV series that he made for Netflix, Flanagan. I'm a fan of the film Oculus. I'm a fan of Ouija too. Like I think he's a really good filmmaker. And so, you know, I'm not, I don't know if I love the, like the lighter side of Stephen King as much as other people do historically. So we'll see, but I really like what Flanagan does historically. So I'm looking forward to that. Let's talk about the movies that you did see, Adam. There were a few major headliners there you mentioned Amelia Perez and Nora

continuing along this festival journey that they've had there are a few others I have yet to see the room next door did you see the room next door yet the new uh Almodovar I did yeah what what did you make of that do you have a second do you have a seven second delay button no I mean I mean this is oh no I i did see it yeah what would you like to know well i mean i think that's it well but this is what's sort of interesting i mean this also at venice the it got a 17 minute ovation won the golden lion and everyone that i trust with uh you know some locked in attention was like oh we like the filmmaker, we like the actors. Yeah, yeah.

This is a little bit, it feels like a past performance situation. Yeah, I mean, he's a great filmmaker and you tend to give the great filmmaker the benefit of the doubts, even as those doubts pile up, right? Yeah. So you have a movie that is about a character

played by Tilda Swinton, who is reconnecting with her old friend played by Julianne Moore while Swinton is in the throes of terminal illness. They have a lot of conversations about the old days. Literally the conversations begin like remember the old days. And it's very hard to tell if the artificiality is Almodovar writing in English or a by-product of how he is as kind of a satirist and his interest in melodrama.

This is a movie that's sort of about the privilege supposedly of euthanasia, but it's also just about privilege, which I think is just like Tuesday for these people, you know, like this is a movie, but incredibly rich, successful, fulfilled people. They hang out at Lincoln center. Everything is a designer brand that they wear. And at a certain point that didn't strike me as critique. It's just the texture of the lives of the people who made the movie. You compare it to something like The Shrouds by David Cronenberg, which looks cheap,

is cheap, is about almost the exact same thing, which is how we try and repress the fear of death and dying and how we kind of go about our business when we lose people or are losing people. And the room next door kind of made me feel nothing. And the Cronenberg movie haunted me to my very core. And that's not just home turf advantage or being contrary. It's because I think Cronenberg is also a great filmmaker and the doubts I have about him are gone. You know,

I think the fact, again, I'm not just trying to be like contrary, but it's like the room next door is designed to win awards. And that's what it will do. Shrouds doesn't have a distributor in the United States, but it is great.

So that's sort of one little comparison I would make. I love when you match the pair of these movies up. Another movie that I've've been anticipating i think amanda a little bit less so is called night bitch right which is it's incredible that for the next three months i'll be able to say the words night bitch out loud frequently but i am saying them this is a new movie from ariel heller starring amy adams in which maybe she does or maybe she

does not turn into a dog because of the um yeah the trials of motherhood. I would say mixed reception to this movie as well. You saw it. Yeah. Mixed reception from, from me. I sent my, my wife,

we have two kids under seven. I sent her the night before with one of my ill gotten tickets. And then I saw it the next day and we compared notes and I was like, I'm sorry, not about the movie, but just about, you know, life. It is very much about things like division of labor and the way that in

certain relationships, you know, dads are celebrated for like literally giving one bath, you know, they're like, I can do this. And, you know,

in the, in the background, Amy Adams characters is trying to smile through her teeth at, at, you know, a certain reality that she's living with. Like, I wish this movie was better because it's good enough that it's not bad.

I think the stuff that doesn't work is the Cronenberg-y body horror stuff, which the movie's heart is just not in it, you know? Like, it doesn't have to be the substance, which is also here in a sort of a movie about, you know, certain biological anxieties and women's bodies and beauty standards and all that. I think Mariel Heller is really smart.

I think she's a good writer. I think she's a good director. I think she's good with actors, but I didn't think that this movie worked. It felt like it was being pulled apart and kind of weirdly safe at the same time. And as for the discourse about whether Amy Adams will ultimately win an Oscar,

she seems so disinterested in that herself that I kind of don't have the heart to write about it. Someone's like, do you care about this? She's like, I don't think about this. And I don't think she does. She deflected it immediately on the red carpet and then it was kind of like, alright, well this campaign is over, which I thought was interesting. I respect it. Yeah, it also, films like

this very rarely attract awards consideration, so probably a smart move on her part yeah how long will it take you to see the film night bitch since you will also be going through the trials of motherhood on leave and negotiating the the separation of of parenting duties um i i mean it's just really i guess i'll have to see it before I come back. If I want to do the job. If there's no award stuff. As I said, every year, well, not every year, every leave.

Every child. Every child. God willing, this is the last one. You know, like science and God, everything we can throw at it. But I give myself one movie that I just don't really catch up on. What was it? It was The Northman. Oh, yeah.

With all respect to Alexander Skarsgård's muscles. I saw some screenshots. That was like when I gave birth. Yeah. I saw the Northman. That was my baby. So maybe it's Night Bitch. We'll see.

Okay. Good to know. Now, you've been a little bit elusive, reluctant, evasive around the issue of Saturday Night. Now, I know you're reviewing it at length elsewhere. Elsewhere, yeah. This is the new're reviewing it at length elsewhere. Elsewhere. Yeah. This is the new film from Jason. I just,

I need, I need a moment with you on this. Okay. I mean, I haven't seen it. If anyone is, I highly recommend anyone read live from New York, which is the shales and Miller oral history of Saturday night live.

It's sort of the literary equivalent of crack. It's a great book. Incredible. Um, a lot of what's in this movie feels if not taken from there as a straight adaptation, it's going to be familiar to people who know the history. So I can sort of diplomatically say that like, the movie only really works if you know and care about the history. And if you know and care about the history, it also undermines a lot of the pretenses to realism that are going on here like there's a running subplot about how Jim Henson is not a good fit at SNL which is true but considering that the movie is like watching a bad episode of the Muppet Show that seems unfair right I mean like Lorne Michaels is Kermit and John Belushi is Fozzie I mean it has

the dramaturgy of the Muppet Show and that that's being nice, because I like the Muppet Show. I'll just sort of say again, diplomatically, I don't know what it takes to make a movie that would want to enshrine Lorne Michaels now. I just don't get it. I don't know why you want to make a movie about how 50 years ago, he's this rascally underdog. This just is a movie that's kind of kowtowing to power in a very strange way for me. There's a lot of circular camera movement inowtowing to power in a very strange way. For me, there's a lot of circular camera movement in this movie, which is what a victory lap looks like. It's like the victory lap around 30 rock and enough.

Like I felt enough when the movie started and 90 minutes later, I kind of felt or an hour, what at 40 minutes later, I kind of felt enough. I will say through my teeth, like it's watchable. It's entertaining. I thought it would win the People's Choice Award, but these are all the same way that there's something just like deeply pernicious inside of it that really bothers me. fire from the gods which is literally what the movie says they literally compare lord michaels to prometheus and i sort of go do we need this i don't need this in my life at all it's i i thought that was really measured and fair uh having not seen the movie adam but i did i wanted to ask you

about the people's choice award because i i again not having seen it but sean saw it at telluride you said you had a great time the first half of what you said, I completely agree with, which is that I love that book and I love those stories and those stories made manifest on screen with really entertaining and compelling actors was more than enough for me. If you wanted to look at the root and the heart of the film and who made it and why they made it, I think it's pretty easy to understand that this is a very small and privileged world that it is hoisting up. Totally.

Didn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie, which I just genuinely had fun watching it. Well, it did seem like a crowd pleaser on a topic that many people, even if you haven't read the Saturday Night Live book, which I have and I recommend, it seems like a people's choice contender. And so I was pretty surprised, Adam, that it didn't even place. And I'm wondering whether that's like a Canadian thing or...

I would have bet, I don't know if I would have bet my children on it, but I would have bet something on it at least placing in the top three. Because this is a festival that's very much a home base for this filmmaker. I mean, the Tiff Bell Lightbox is built in a spot called Reitman Square, right? And there's greater or lesser degrees of honesty around that conversation. But this is a festival where Jason Reitman did live reads of various screenplays and where his films have always played is you know very much fair enough in terms of how programming goes i mean i thought that this movie would kill it in terms of its reception here and it certainly didn't go over badly but again it's a it's a it's an interesting question about just you know what are like the values of a of a crowd pleaser i mean let's just say i would have loved a counter fictional version of this like in glorious

bastards where it ends and the show got canceled. And I would sort of think, well, that's an artistic intervention as opposed to just, well, it changed comedy. And you know, that the sensors were dumb and that the network heads are dumb and that

evangelicals are dumb. And these guys were smart and we're, we're all on the same team here, which is just not really much of a challenge for me as far as it goes. It's definitely not a challenge in any meaningful way. I mean, the other thing to consider is that Lorne Michaels is a Canadian. In fact, he's from Toronto. Is he ever? And there's a great story about David Cronenberg going to Los Angeles in the 70s to look for money to make one of his first movies. And Lorne Michaels is already there

sort of being like, Toronto's over. I mean, talk about conjoined origin myths, you know, all these incredible Canadians running around in America in the, in the seventies. Suffice it to say, I care more about David Cronenberg, you know, we'll talk more about Saturday night. It's coming out very soon. Less than a month. Yeah. Um, let's talk about a movie that did make you laugh. The new, the biggest news this morning was that a 24 after acquiring the brutalist last week, has now acquired Friendship, which, full disclosure, a friend of mine produced and has been raving to me about for a year and is like, this is the funniest movie that has come out in the last five years. I promise you, I promise you. And you know when a friend says something like that to you and you're like, okay, I don't know, man.

We'll see. We'll see. And then, lo and behold, the black-hearted Adam Naiman, just your flower blossomed for friendship. The movie is so goddamn funny, man. Like it's so funny. And I'm very much like in the tank for Tim Robinson. And I like that sensibility. But I want to shout out the film's director, Andrew DeYoung, who has made like a formally disciplined quite polished movie like it even some of the

movies and some of these like really influential movies in the 2000s whatever you think of them like they're quite slovenly like it's just like you wait around for something funny to happen and someone to improvise this is such a well-made well-executed movie it feels loose and spontaneous but it's quite well crafted uh paul rudd is liberated he is so funny in this movie and it's haunted by past roles like there's the specter of anchorman hanging over this movie there's a great running joke about marvel which is just enough plausible deniability that i'm sure rudd would be like oh we're not shitting on marvel but it's pretty funny which is tim rob Robinson's character being like, I hear the new Marvel is nuts, you know? And since his character is basically a psychopath, you know, it's like a very successful work of film criticism. But look, Tim Robinson has, I'm trying to find the

right Ringer analogy. I'm switching to Ringer language. Like he has the juice, the sauce, you know, whatever you want to write about him. He has the juice, the sauce, whatever you want to write about him. He's just so funny. There's a line reading in the first 30 seconds of this movie where I thought I was going to spill coffee all over myself. And it's just, it's a delight. And it's a real film that I think is kind of about some actual stuff. And I could not have enjoyed myself more. I like pairing this with Saturday night because of course Tim Robinson is an SNL cast off essentially somebody who was unsuccessful at the show and probably represents some of the show's inability in the last 10 or 15 years to evolve

to widen or like enlarge in the tent for a certain kind of sensibility it's gotten so kind of calcified and it's like cold open about politics you know here we're doing the news like and tim robinson obviously with i think you should leave like found something a little bit different but a little bit the same and he is on now a natural trajectory from like sketch performer to now comedy movie star that i find fascinating that that still holds and the piece i wrote for for The Ringer about the festival, I actually paired it with The Shrouds insofar as they're both about app developers. And they're to some extent about paranoid conspiracies. It's actually funny how similar they are. And like, you know, it's a big compliment to say it's not a Cronenbergian movie, but there is some sense of like what it feels like when reality

refuses to play ball with you in this movie, which is why all the best i think you should leave sketches are so funny which is just like what happens if this guy drops into reality like reality around him is never weird reality is like what is this guy's problem and the movie elaborates on that pretty pretty pretty brilliantly i think it's like actually very good i would be surprised if i were making if it comes out this year or next year. This is like a year-end list movie for me. That's so exciting. I hope people see it.

I am as well. A mainstream comedy with movie stars that people seem to enjoy. I mean, let's not go... Well, Paul Rudd. Mainstream, sure. But let's hold on to the slight weirdness

that Tim Robinson is getting a 24 platform. It's like, let's... It's great. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it's great. Do you want to speak about Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cloud?

Last time you were on the show, you were talking about Kurosawa because of Chime. The guy has made three movies this year. Two of them are great, and I just haven't seen the third one yet. I mean, Kiyoshi Kurosawa

makes movies effortlessly. He gets out of bed and he makes a great movie. This is a thriller about a really, really funny idea for a movie hero, which is a person without a single redeeming feature. This young guy who's working at a factory and reselling things on the internet under a pseudonym. And eventually the people who he scammed kind of form like a weird online coalition to just go like dox him and then abduct him and torture him it's like if a park chan wook movie came out of a comment thread and just manifested in real life and uh by the end which isn't a spoiler but it's just a celebration of this filmmaker he's taken this kind of like goofy

shape-shifting premise and it's in exactly the same existential category as like cure and pulse and charisma i mean i i interviewed him at tiff for another publication which was a great honor like i i've talked to him before via zoom but this was in person and i i'm not usually starstruck but it's kyoshi kurosawa i mean he's amazing and like asking him about him about capitalism and apocalypse and their essential coexistence. And this is what he makes movies about. It's a really goofy movie.

And if people watch this film, by the end, it's kind of like you're watching someone else play Call of Duty, like it's totally a warehouse shootout movie. But no, it gets to some pretty dark and pretty profound places. And as much as festivals are about discovering stuff and being taken by surprise, nothing is better than sitting down for a movie by a guy who you know rules, a filmmaker who you know is great, and being like, oh, look, another great Kiyoshi Kurosawa movie.

Where do you want to go next? What's something else that vibed for you? I feel like a bad correspondent because some of the movies that you guys are talking about, Life of Chuck, obviously The Brutalist, which I'm sure will take up a lot of oxygen on this pod and other pods because it's like a three and a half hour great American movie in the mode of Godfather and There Will Be Blood. I just didn't have time because I live here. I had to go see Pulp in Concert. I had to parent my children. Who has three and a half hours for Brady Corbett or anybody? But I do want to shout out a couple

of movies that I think are also going to be at the New York Film Festival and that I think are really good. Athena Rachel Tsangari's Harvest, which is a sort of a community portrait in between, let's say, the end of feudalism and the beginning of industrialization. It's about a community somewhere in the Scottish Highlands where, let's just say forces are changing the way that life is lived. It stars Caleb Landry Jones, who is totally credible as like a bizarre person from another era. Like usually,

you know, the people say actors have faces like they've seen an iPhone. I believe Caleb Landry Jones has never seen an iphone i believe caleb landry jones has never seen an iphone i i i believe it and uh you know sangari is a filmmaker i admire a lot uh really good documentary by maddie diop called to home which is about the repatriation of artifacts uh from france back to benin, sort of done as a combination, like kind of a documentary about museum curation, kind of a showcase for community debate over what it means to get culture back. I mean, she made Atlantiques a few years ago, she's a brilliant

filmmaker. Caught by the Tides by Zsa Zsa, a movie made out of repurposed footage from 20 years. So you see him shooting Zhao Tao, who's his muse and partner over a 20 year period. And just, it's an amazing performance because she ages in real time. It's sort of like, like watching boyhood in a way,

except that wasn't the plan. He made the movie when he realized he had all that kind of access footage. And I'm trying to think of something else that i know already has a a release date i mean you guys are going to get to a nora later but on the pod i'm sure but i mean this is certainly an interesting question for whether sean baker's cinema reaches a limit point for just gentrifying it's like the same movie he's always making but now it's about really really rich rich people. And I think the movie works, but it's an interesting discussion about what it means to go from a movie as big as Starlet to a movie as big as Nora. I guarantee you that movie will get multiple award nominations.

And Mikey Madison's pretty amazing. Yeah, we will talk about it a little bit more later in the episode. But that question you asked has been lingering in my mind. I watched Takeout for the first time in a long time last night. I was like, wow, that's a great movie that he made for like three grand. You put it in my ringer piece, which is Ick by Joseph Kahn, who is just a great pop cultural satirist. I forget, are you guys pro or con on Bodied? I honestly don't think I ever saw it, even despite your... No, that's not true.

I did. This is the... The battle rap satire. The battle rap movie. Yes, I did. I think it's a rare time where we really diverted in terms of our take. I think it was really audacious. I'm not sure if it was as insightful as he wanted it to be,

or maybe you told me it was. I don't know if you ever got a chance to see this movie. I don't think I did. Okay. Famous music video director, Joseph Kahn, who wrote Britney Spe, and many, many hundreds of music videos. Yeah. All I'll say is that for anyone who came of

age around the time of American Pie, this is a very funny movie, especially if you've lived the 20 years since. I mean, I don't want to spoil it, and it's kind of a hard movie to spoil, but it's got this 10-minute overture, which is like, what if an American Pie movie just kept going and became like a sad Bruce Springsteen song? Like, the cheerleader dumps you and you your knee goes you develop a drinking

habit and then you're still listening to hubba stank in 2024 while the world is ending around you you know and uh this is a filmmaker of ideas he masquerades i think as a formalist and kind of masquerades as an edgelord and has a certain attitude around his movies that I think people, you know, can find kind of obnoxious, but he's so smart and it is exactly what a B movie should be. It's a, it's an allegory,

like a very good allegory, but apathy and about the need to give a shit about maybe other people's kids and not just your own. And this, I know that this sounds like a big claim for something that looks like, or is being sold like a, like three episodes of stranger things in a row, but like,

it's so much better than stranger things. It's so much better than all of this kind of nostalgia bait, fake Spielberg stuff. Cause he's an artist making it. He's not making content. And, uh, I love it.

Another movie that, you know, in a, in a, in a, in a, in a just world would be on more people's lips after after tiff and kind of got overshadowed by other midnight madnessy stuff i wanted to ask you about one more thing before you go which is uh for amanda's sake hugh grant 35 years after the lair of the white worm has returned to genre filmmaking

uh in heretic which i heard some pretty positive things about and i'm quite interested in Grant, 35 years after the lair of the white worm has returned to genre filmmaking, Inheritic, which I heard some pretty positive things about and I'm quite interested in. And of course, Hugh means a lot to Amanda. Yeah. So what did you... Even in this iteration. Yeah. So what did you think of that?

So this is a movie about how really good marketing can take something old and familiar and make it appeal to a younger audience. So it's an A24 horror movie. And if, and if I knew that it was an intentional allegory, I'd think it's brilliant, but it's not. And it's not,

he's really good. And everybody who has some investment in Hugh Grant is going to watch this and sort of go, I knew he had it in him the whole time. In fact, all the actors are innocent. They're, they're,

they're all, they're all, they're all good. It's sort of, again, not to like, just keep contrasting things, but it's like, it looks really dumb,

but it has a lot of ideas in it. Heretic is literally articulating its ideas to you explicitly through this performance and this dialogue they have about faith and doubt. And by the end, I just, I'm like, this is just a generic B movie, but it talks a lot.

And I didn't have a particularly good, uh, good time with it, but Hugh Grant's very good. You should watch layer of the white worm over and over. Cause it rules. Maybe I'll celebrate the other anniversary this year, which is 30 years of four weddings and a funeral.

It's dead. That's great. Before you go, can we ask you about, uh, about your child's TIFF debut? So very emotional week. Our daughter Avery, who's just about to turn four or early next year, but who was one and a half a couple of summers ago, shot a movie in Toronto called Matt and Mara. You had Matt Johnson on the big picture.

I certainly did. One of my favorite guests of all time. Yeah. So Matt Johnson, the creator of Blackberry, is the co-star of this Toronto film, Matt and Mara. He co-stars with Derek Campbell, who in their review of the film, which was an A, by the way, not an A minus or a B plus. But IndieWire gave Matt and Mara an A and said she's the best actress in North America, not named Meryl Streep, which is a big thing to have written about her. They play old friends who he kind of comes back. He's had a lot of literary success. She's teaching creative writing at a college in Toronto. She's married. She sees this guy without telling her husband.

And then for about 10 minutes of screen time, their adorable one and a half year old daughter, Avery, is played by my daughter, Avery. The critics have called her in the film, you know, incredible raves like Avery is in this movie. But I mean, at Berlin, where the movie premiered, it was very moving because I had a lot of people who either know me or know about her that she's my kid and people all texting me on Berlin time back in February to be like she's great and so this so when the movie did its Canadian premiere at TIFF yeah Avery was invited to the red carpet with Darren Matt and everybody else and she killed it she killed it because my wife Tanya was there she did not want anything to do with me but I did my heavy lifting two years ago when I drove her to set for 11 weeks, you know, once a week for free, you know. But on the red carpet, she actually, right before I went to bed one night, if I was still out, Tanya texted me and she sort of goes, our daughter is a Getty image.

You know, there's like a Getty image of Avery on the. You posted it. She looked quite, she looked adorable and quite natural. She's a sweetheart. And I asked her if she wants to be in a movie again. And she said, no. And I said, do you know what that means? And she says, no.

So, but I wrote a little thing about it for the Toronto Star about being a showbiz dad. Very sarcastically, because this is not a big deal. But, you know, it's very moving to have this record of your kid kind of getting older I mean over the course of that shoot which was only two or three months like her clothes didn't fit her anymore and she almost started talking which would completely ruin the continuity of this cast takes a long time to shoot movies and you know it really does take the edge off a little bit as a critic when you see the human side of movies being made.

And then I just take a deep breath and decide to be mean to everything again, because this is the role I fulfilled for, for, for you guys on this, on this show. Right. Your commitment is unmatched in terms of commitment to the bit.

Yeah. Yeah. Can I say what the best part of TIFF was seeing pulp in concert. If any big picture listeners are pulp fans, try and catch them on this tour. This is an Oasis podcast. I'm not sure if you've heard, Adam. There's only so much Britpop to go around in these parts. Well, I guess Oasis are also getting back together, but that's less exciting.

Right. Would you guys let your kids be in movies? I mean, absolutely. I didn't even have to think about it. Sure. If you want, whatever he wants. No, I had the full, like, shouldn't my kid be like an old Navy baby model face? You know, I mean, he's great. So I think he wears clothes very well. So sure. But I think I would be uncomfortable with, you know, I would moan about all this stuff in the red carpet. But if that's what he wants, I think he's great.

My answer is no. No? I don't really know a lot of people who work in movies who are well. So, I think it's a pretty tough world. And getting early exposure to it and addiction to it, I find a little bit dangerous. I love movies. I don't want them to change in any way, but exposure to it and also living in LA for 15 years, people here, they're a little wrung out. I would say Avery, just take a break, maybe give it 15 to 18 years before reconsidering.

And I just want to say that Nox started tap classes last week. And so anyone planning a movie musical, if you need a time remake, uncoordinated two and a half year old, we are available. Oh, well, I mean, I'm going to,

I appreciate what Amanda said. I'm going to take what Sean said as a tacit critique of my parenting. Sure. Yeah. I'm going to try and balance these two responses in my head as I continue my day here in, uh, in Toronto, which is the LA of Canada.

Yeah. I think, yeah, yeah. Let's leave it. Let's leave it. Let's leave it there. I had so much fun talking to you guys, as always. Adam, thank you so much. It's lovely to see you.

Thank you for coming. Congratulations to Avery. Yeah, thank you. And good luck. Good luck to us all. But good luck to you especially, Amanda. And good luck to the Toronto Raptors.

I really like how that roster is shaking out so far. Good luck, Adam. Oh, would you just not? You know, it's just bad. Bad, bad season incoming. Talk to you guys later. What's in this McDonald's bag? The McValue Meal.

For $5.79 plus tax, you can get your choice of Junior Chicken, McDouble, or Chicken Snack Wrap, plus small fries and a small fountain drink. So pick up a McValue Meal today at participating McDonald's restaurants in Canada. Prices exclude delivery. Okay, we're back. I actually did see two movies that were a tiff, but I didn't go to Toronto. Can I tell you about them real quick? Absolutely.

I'm really jealous of one of them, obviously. Yeah, I'll hold that one. The first one that I saw is called The Order. This is a new film from the Australian filmmaker, Justin Kerzel. Have you seen any of his movies? He made the Macbeth remake with Michael Fassbender. I think I did see that, right? Yeah, what'd you think of that?

I don't have any great memories. What about Assassin's Creed, the video game adaptation starring Michael Fassbender? Oh, yeah. Tough one. That was tough. Yeah. What about the true history of the Kelly gang? No.

Did you see that one? Okay. Missed that. This one's interesting. This one's got, it's a little, how can I make an uncouth comp? It's a little bit like American History X meets Heat. Oh, okay. It's a true story about an FBI agent who goes after a white supremacist group called The Order in the 80s in the US.

It stars Jude Law as a really rough and rugged FBI agent, which is something that comes naturally to him. And Nicholas Holt, I thought, in a standout performance as one of the white supremacist leaders. So Jude Law is an FBI agent. Yes. FBI agent. With a windbreaker? I think he does wear a windbreaker at one point.

Yeah. This is like a very tense, serious, heavy crime drama. A little self-serious at times for its own good, as these things sometimes are. But I thought it was pretty darn good. I want to recommend it. I also, I guess you're going to come back for this.

And so maybe we should wait for our Baby Girl episode and our Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame until you are back. Because this movie is coming out on Christmas. So we could save it until... Until you're here. I gotta tell you, I checked the spreadsheet this weekend. Jan 2nd, you got me back on the docket. You're not messing around.

No guarantees. No guarantees here. I was like, wow, this is bracing. Well, you know, you gotta hit the gym. You know, we gotta get the cardio going immediately after this baby comes. I mean, I do understand that the Golden Globes are on January 5th. We're gonna have to talk about some logistics about that but

um maybe some zoom taping yes I would I'll take care of the baby during the honestly you're really good at that Zach and I still talk about the time we handed Knox to you he was like two or three months old and he just like instantly fell asleep yeah Yeah. Which is not a thing he's ever, he doesn't sleep on us. I had this with our friends. Yeah. You do have a real presence. Yeah. I don't know what that's about.

So that's great. I actually don't like babies. True story. I know. Not a baby person. Like I really do. I'm like, I'm excited to have a baby again

and you look at me like I'm just like allergic but you really, you can't calm them. I'm calm. Well. I am. I'm calm. Until you're not. Well, the only person i'm not calm with ever is you that's out that's the honor that's a god's

honest that's like maybe that's the magic of this show so that is like demonstrably false a podcast coming later this week you were there yeah but you were it wasn't me it was in it was like in spite of me but it was other people who made you upset. Yeah. I think this show is the only time I'm not calm in my entire life. I'm a very even keeled person and I think Baby sensed that. Right. Well, that's the gift that I bring to the listeners of the show.

Anyway, you saw Baby Girl on Saturday night. I did. At like a very glitzy. A star-studded CIA screening. I was very sad not to be able to attend this. I did go. I don't want to ruin Baby Girl for anybody who's excited to see it. This is a new drama from Helena Rain,

who directed Bodies, Bodies, Bodies in a movie called Instinct some years ago. This movie is much more like Instinct than it is like Bodies, Bodies, Bodies. It's a kind of an erotic thriller. I think that undersells it to describe it that way. More of a psychological thriller in some ways. I think it undersells it to describe it that way. More of a psychological thriller in some ways. Not even really a thriller. I think it depends on

who you're describing it to. Yeah. Erotic thriller has, like, a certain audience just primed and ready to go. For Amanda, it is a blatant erotic fantasy about what happens

if Harris Dickinson takes an interest in you. Harris Dickinson... I think, honestly, that would be destabilizing. There's a scene in the movie. I think you'll just spontaneously combust. Like we should just prearrange the funeral

because like you will not survive this one sequence. He plays an intern at Nicole Kidman's company, which is like a, not a machine learning company, but like a robotics company. She's the CEO. She's a high powered woman. Oh, a woman in STEM. Oh yes, a woman in STEM. Oh, yes.

A woman in STEM. This man wanders in to her office and I'll just say he knows what she wants. And I'll leave it at that. Okay. This is a fun and funny and also somewhat like very deep, complicated movie that I didn't love.

Okay. But I have definitely thought about a lot since I saw it. And so there is a real power there. Looking forward to discussing it with you. It seems like it's played very well now at Venice and at TIFF. So I'm curious to see if it's commercial. It's got some stretches to it, some strains of credulity. But there is like, Nicole kidman is simultaneously like an

incredibly commercial moment between the perfect couple on netflix which is like i don't know i didn't fact check this but billions of minutes spent watching what i didn't think was the worst wig that she's worn this year this movie could not be different tonally yeah but but you know like people and then she's doing whatever nine perfect strain, you know, she's just, like, jumping from airport thriller adaptation on a streaming service to airport thriller adaptation on a streaming service. And I say that as someone who loves an airport thriller on a streaming service. But then you do wonder whether the perfect couple people would be like, oh, Nicole Kidman. And also she, you know,

had a different type of intergenerational romance with Zac Efron in Netflix. So I'm curious to see what all those people just clicking on, clicking on baby girl think about the situation.

Yeah. I mean, I think there's nothing more obnoxious than someone saying that an actor's performance is brave. But it takes guts to do what she does in this movie. It definitely, it's way beyond what you would expect someone of her caliber, acclaim, success would be willing to do.

In part because humiliation is a part of the story. And so, I'll leave it at that. Okay. Baby Girl, very interesting movie. We'll definitely spend some time on it. And so I'll leave it at that. Okay. Baby Girl, very interesting movie. We'll definitely spend some time on it. And I will make an effort to wait. In part because her Hall of Fame is so interesting because she has done this fascinating thing

where she's managed to be both commercial and artistic for 35, 40 years and has walked this crazy tightrope that very few leading women have been able to do over their careers. So a lot of what she's done in the last 10 years I've found to be a little junky, but if it lets her make movies like Baby Girl, awesome. That's fine.

It's the same thing as like action stars making Mission Impossible movies so they can make interesting dramas. So I really respect what she's done her entire career. I think she'll come up again as we have this conversation about the big Oscar bet. So we explained it at the top of the show.

I found this to be very difficult because everything is so unsettled right now. I both did my homework. And if I had to like hand in a paper grade right now, you know, on paper at the beginning of this podcast, I would receive an incomplete, which as you know, is my greatest fear in life. So you're going to work through it in real time.

I don't know what else to do. Okay, well, let's start with perhaps your most incomplete category. That's actually not my most incomplete category. Okay, well, you can correct me when we get there. Best animated feature film. I think you've probably only seen one film so far this year that will even compete

for this award, right? Correct. Do you want to go first? I have four out of five. And then I want to say like five minutes ago, I texted our good friends, David Sims and Griffin Newman of Blank Check to assist with my fifth.

God bless them. They've already sent over an entire thing of suggestions. I don't have my contacts ported into my iMessage because of my cloud stuff. So I'm not really sure who's Griffin and who's David here but I well no I think I can tell I think so Griffin all right so here are the four that I had and then I posted them and I said I need a fifth the four that I have are Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot which I feel like very confident about another film that many people

thought would compete for the audience award at TIFF. Right. Did not place, even though I have heard nothing but raves and I also saw the movie and liked it quite a bit. Okay. I have another film called Flow, which is also competing. I believe it's the Latvia submission for international feature.

But it's animated. What's it about again? It's about a cat right that's right because i believe it's david who said there's one there was one at tiff about a cat that people liked and then griffin said that's flow so i this is a really great text conversation that they're still having but i'm not zibbalotus is the name i'm not able to guys i'm going to respond to you after this but if you're listening thank you so much for all of the work that you do in my text messages um so i had identified flow based on tiff conversations and then you know there's piece by piece which you have seen and i have not which is starry in many different ways this is the one that's flummoxing me right so i have those four as well okay on my

list i have piece by piece i swapped it out with something at the last minute i don't want to tell you what that is i'm assuming that because this is a fairly soft year i'm not expecting moana 2 to get in i agree with you the disney movie of this year. Yes. And also because let's not forget that it was for many, for most of its development, a TV show. Correct. That's the reason why. They turn it into a movie and they don't have the Lin-Manuel Miranda songs. Yes. I've been told that the people who wrote the songs in the new film are even better than Lin-Manuel Miranda. I'll believe it when I see it as a true blue Moana dad. There's a bunch of stuff that I know will be interesting or worth discussing,

but I don't think feels very Oscar-y. You want me to list those for you? Sure. Well, there's the Lord of the Rings, The War of the Rohirrim, which is a kind of anime prequel story from the Lord of the Rings, which looks beautiful. Who I believe is Griffin feels that that's unlikely, but he did identify it.

I have it out as well. I also have Transformers 1 out. Griffin also feels that that is unlikely. He put it in the same text message as Lord of the Rings. This is a movie I liked. In fact, I interviewed the filmmaker on the show later this month. He also directed Toy Story 4, Josh Cooley. Long time Pixar guy.

There's a Wallace and Gromit movie this year. It's 79 minutes. They're all pretty short. Griffin does feel that it qualifies, even though it's 79 minutes. It qualifies short griffin does feel that it qualifies even though it's 79 minutes it qualifies for sure netflix will run it that's the thing is that netflix does not have a strong contender right now and they're usually involved in this category so netflix has a wallace and gromit movie from ardman of course one of the great animation studios yeah there's a g kids movie, a Japanese anime called

The Colors Within. Oh, interesting. Which I think is their big push. Okay. But I don't have any of those movies in. Do you have Memoir of a Snail? I do. That's my fifth.

Tell me about Memoir of a Snail. Memoir of a Snail is an animated movie that played to tell you right. I did not see it. I had a few friends who saw it who were really, really touched by it. It's from Adam Elliott

who made Mary and Max some years ago. He uses a kind of claymation style as well and i have been told by friends that this is a heartbreaking movie so that's the one that i have in now flow and memoir of a snail getting in in addition to piece by piece which is not a conventional studio animated movie and is a lego movie that's a pretty wonky slate for animated feature, but that's what I'm sticking with. So my lineup is Flow, Memoir of a Snail, Piece by Piece, Inside Out 2, and The Wild Robot. Okay.

So I think just because you took Memoir of a Snail, I'm going to go with Wallace and Gromit. Okay. This is this. I actually had Wallace and Gromit in for Piece by Piece. Piece by Piece. Well, I guess I'm going commercial. I don't blame you.

I think that's a smart move. Okay. This is a tough category this year. Like I said, I've seen the wild robot. It's pretty spectacular, the animation. I mean, this is the thing

where it does seem like a foregone conclusion of what's going to win. It does. There's like an outside chance that wild robot is the best picture contender. You know, is... Oh, interesting. Okay. There's an to win. It does. So. There's like an outside chance that Wild Robot is a best picture contender. You know is

oh interesting. Okay. There's an outside chance. Okay. It's like a beloved book that parents who have kids between the ages of 5 and 15

like probably read. What happens? I'm not going to spoil it. It comes out at the end of this month. It's a robot who. A robot crash lands

on an island full of animals. And then it just wants to be... It has to figure out how to be. Yeah, that's sad. Well, you'll see. But maybe it's also beautiful

and it learns about life. Well, I'm happy to tell you that I'll be hosting an event screening this film. Really? At our local neighborhood theater at some point in the future. Oh, that's cute.

At a time in which your child can attend it. Yeah, like can we like fucking adjust these things to nap time, please, for the love of God? Well, it's actually not adjusted to nap time, I'm sorry to tell you God? It's actually not adjusted to nap time.

I'm sorry to tell you. Are you kidding? You're doing a 1 p.m. again? Well, my child doesn't nap. Well, that's her fault. No, no, no. I just like— No.

It's my pain is what it is that she doesn't nap. I can't—we have to keep the nap. You know? Sure, yeah, definitely. You're totally in control of that. I mean, like a little bit I am. Until the crib walls come down. You know what I'm saying?

I do know what you're saying. I'm living the pain of that every day as someone who wakes up at 4.48 every morning now. I've been up for so long. It's 10.43 a.m. What do you do from like 5 to 7? Play with my child. But she just like goes straight for the toys? Yeah.

She's like, Dad, let's go play. At 5.12. That's really cute. But like she doesn't... Bob, what the fuck, man? She doesn't want to even straight for the toys. Yeah. She's like, dad, let's go play. At 512. That's really cute. But like she doesn't. Bob, what the fuck, man? She doesn't want to even ease into the day. 512? She's like, dad, let's go play?

It's been years since I've seen 512 when it wasn't for like a flight. I used to stay up till three o'clock in the morning every night for decades. Yeah. Decades. Me too. Yeah. That's tough on a number of levels. But also being that alert that early.

Like Knox is like me where he doesn't have words for like the first 30 minutes of wake up from any situation. That's wonderful. I mean, honestly, I would cherish that. Alice wakes up and she's like, maybe we should read a book. I'm like, what? Read a book? That's reading a book is different than like. It's dark as night until 6 a.m. in Los Angeles.

Anyway, let's keep moving. I think I named all of the hardest omissions for that category. Let's go to best international feature film. Wait, real quick, just to be clear. You guys have to pick the winners, right? Oh, correct. You're both saying Wild Robot. That's what you are.

I'm saying Wild Robot. You are as well. Yeah, so we're both going Wild Robot. Okay, we kind of negotiated our way through that one. I think we should be a little bit more rigorous. I can't. So this is, international feature is my most incomplete. Because in addition to, I mean, I haven't seen that many of the films.

An interesting feature out of a lot of the European film festivals is that American films are being honored. So that's sort of tricky. We don't, the submission lists for countries are not finalized and France once again is up to all sorts of you know shenanigans so I'm a little bit betwixt in between I mean I have guesses I've seen a very small number of these movies sure I have some guesses but I'm just saying it's like France hasn't decided yet. And once again, we have Amelia Perez. And then also on the shortlist is All We Imagine is Light, not from India as it was assumed, but on the France shortlist.

I think it will get in at France. That's what I'm guessing. And you think it'll be another like, there's the commercial Netflix distributes Amelia Perez. I kind of do too. But they were all so mad about that last year which I thought the anger was stupid but then they reconfigured the whole category and everyone was like

oh it should get to win a lot of things I mean all we imagine is Light and Emilia Perez don't have the same like old world versus new world thing

I think they're both more modern seeming the taste of things I think many people felt was sort of like old fashioned style French Oscar french oscar submission silly but um i mean i don't disagree i obviously i love that movie do you want me to just do my list so now if we're doing that if we've talked through the france thing at least i mean that's just my pick though you could you could decide to go

amelia perez for france and have that in that category. I've chosen not to put Amelia Perez in this category. I mean, I think that's right. And I do think that the French selection committee also probably has like a Netflix snobbery. Well, we know that the Cannes Film Festival does. Type situation. I mean, I just. Wow. You're already so anguished over international. You know what? You can't get this category right it's impossible there's no way to do well in this category when you set a task i do my best i mean i'm just like you with this stuff but this category i'm like whatever i don't i don't know i haven't seen any of these movies how do i have an opinion so i just i have okay you go ahead i have so i

have four here because i'll go i'll go with you and you on All We Imagine. I will say my guess for number five is On Becoming a Guinea Fowl from Zambia. This is an A24 movie. This is the biggest reason why. It's been playing a lot of festivals. Well received at Cannes. I think it played at the Fortnite. I am going to see this movie at the New York Film Festival. I'm looking forward to it.

Actually, Adam saw it and I didn't mention him about it. Yeah, well, where will you be when I'm at the New York Film Festival? I don't want to think about that um I've heard great things about that I've heard great things about Santos this is the United Kingdom's entry so I'm putting that on the list okay I've heard even better things about Walter Salas's I'm Still Here which is likely to be the Brazilian uh entrant The Seed of the Sacred Fig is one of the most acclaimed movies of the year out of Cannes. Another movie that I've had a couple of chances to see and haven't had a chance to see it,

but I think it's going to factor into maybe even more than one category here. That's from Germany. Yeah. And then I have All We Imagine is Light from France winning in this category. Okay. There's a few. I have some omissions that I don't know how I feel about. Okay. There's a few. I have some omissions that I, you know, I don't know how I feel about. Okay.

Do you want me to share them with you so you can choose a fifth? No, I'll give you my four. So I have All We Imagine is Light from France because it, you know, obviously very celebrated. I can. As was Seated Sacred Fig. So those two are on there. Kneecap? It's on my hardest omissions.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then. We just saw the Quiet's on my hardest omissions. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And then... We just saw the Quiet Girl recently competing in this category. Right. There's something cooking in Ireland right now with the independent film scene. I don't know if you know about this.

There's a new generation of exciting filmmakers. That's great. Yeah. I can't wait to get over to Ireland to be celebrated. Will they make me king when I return to Ireland, guys? No? I feel like Irelandireland is um pretty anti-monarchy these last 50 or so years yeah will they make me general five-star general yeah that's

that's how you think of yourself well just a really military pro-military guy uh i hate the military and i hate monarchies so uh i don't know what i'm talking about okay so i don't hate the military what am i talking about you know what i don't like generals i don't know what I'm talking about. Okay, so... I don't hate the military. What am I talking about? You know what I don't like? Generals. I don't like generals. You don't like authority. That's right. I don't like authority.

I don't like authority either. The Department of Defense, that's something I don't like. I'm not interested in that. So one way to do this is like which films have distribution, you know? Yes. In the U.S. right now is probably like a better indicator because we don't have the shortlist. So, and kneecap does, Sony Pictures Classics.

I think that for some reason last night in my, you know, my frenzy is really the appropriate term. I did Girl with the Needle from Denmark, which sounds like truly harrowing. And which, listen, international feature, it doesn't always go for the uplift. Zone of interest, the very chill movie.

Being distributed by Mubi, so good for them. I like that pick. Honestly, I don't have a fifth. What should I do? Well, a couple of other possible contenders you've got universal language out of Canada right it was acclaimed at TIFF many people seem to like that oscilloscope is distributing that movie we've got evil does not exist and I don't know

if Japan is going to select this movie right Hamaguchi's latest which honestly as I looked at my top five for the year is still in my top five is still really high on my list very good very very good movie. That's pretty much all I had along with Kneecap. So there's Flow, which was previously mentioned. And I did this last year

where I was like, okay, maybe the... I think I did... It didn't work out, right? I did documentary in International. What was that for? Do you remember?

It's on the tip of my tongue, but no, I don't remember. Okay. This is scintillating podcasting. But it didn't work out. Okay. And then there's another... Oh, the Matty Diop movie that Adam... Daome.

Daome, which is eligible in this category from Senegal, but is also eligible in another category that I'm saving it for. You know what I'm holding against Omi, which I haven't seen but will be seeing in New York? What? 67 minutes. You know, I think that... You asked me if a 79-minute movie should be able to contend for animated. But I think...

This is not a value judgment on Maddie Diop's new movie. I'm saving it for a documentary. And if there's anything we know about the documentarians, it's that they are... Idiosyncratic. Idiosyncratic. And they tend to reject any commercial standards, including an expectation of length, I might guess. So I think it's probably likely or in documentary. So I'm not going with that, but those are two contenders as well in this category.

I don't know. Should I do Crossing from Sweden just to get in the mix? Perfect. Okay, there we go. That's Faith Aiken's new movie. Yes. Okay, I think that's a good pick. Which film to win, Amanda?

All We Imagine is Light, which is like putting way too much in the French international feature selection process committee. It's Faté and My Mistake. Okay. The movie that you picked last year in international feature

that was a documentary was 20 Days in Mariupol. Oh, well, I mean mean i got one right and also that's one of the most incredible movies released in the past in my lifetime so speaking of documentaries let's do best documentary feature film okay it'd be extremely difficult right now to choose this category all right well i said dame so i'm doing that i have dame as well i basically just did uh then i just did sundance movies okay so daughters seems to be like the i have daughters um the agreed upon consensus favorite yeah uh sugar cane i have sugar cane as well frida do not have frida

did not like frida okay uh well i didn't see it because I didn't get a virtual pass to Sundance. Okay. It's on Amazon Prime right now. Yo, why aren't we going to Santa Fe if we got to relocate? Like, what the hell? We didn't talk about that news, but they released the shortlist of new possible Sundance locations and Santa Fe is not on it. Is it just down to three now? Yeah. So were those three, was it Boulder? Yes.

Salt Lake City. Slash Park City. Slash Park City. And what was the third? I believe it was Cleveland, Ohio, but maybe Columbus, Ohio. Let's. Cleveland? It was in Ohio. Okay. That just seems so obviously like it should be Boulder. I mean. Have you been to Boulder? Cincinnati. Cincinnati. Oh, excuse me to the people of. What do you what is this? We're not dismissing flyover country on this. No, no, no, no, no, no. I know they're going to be really mad.

And then the Cincinnati people have like a special chili or something. Correct. It's served over spaghetti noodles. Yeah. And it's downright delicious. OK, this is not Ohio. It's a wonderful state. And I would like to say Cincinnati, great town.

Good ballpark. Cincinnati, Chile is good. That's my official stance. Jesus Christ. The people of Ohio voted for J.D. Vance. All right. My thoughts are with the people of Ohio who are definitely not being represented by J.D. Vance right now. And that's all we have to say about that.

My thoughts are with Joey Votto. Long time Cincinnati Red. Great. One of my favorite baseball players. And then I did The Remarkable Life of Ibrahim because I remember you talking about it. I had it as the hardest omission. Okay, well, great.

I think it's an amazing film. I think it's out later this month on Netflix, The Remarkable Life of Ibrahim. Oh, yeah, well. So my picks are No Other Land, which is a film about a Palestinian man and an Israeli man and their attempts to cover the conflict and what they find between them. Yeah. This is obviously incredibly timely.

Uh, it just played at Telluride to rave reviews. I believe it played at TIFF as well. I'm going to see it in New York. Daomei. I have Will and Harper here. Now, you're right. This was a purposeful, not a purposeful. I haven't seen the film, but like I had it on there and then I was like the documentary branch can be snobby.

I am willing to take the L if this doesn't work out. This is obviously the Will Ferrell story that I talked about a couple weeks ago on the show about Harper Steele, his longtime friend. I just think that this movie makes people feel good and is well-made and is about something that matters to the world right now. And so sometimes those movies, even if they are star-studded, can crack through this branch. But this branch is tough.

I'm really looking forward to it. But they have specifically resisted the Netflix-funded celebrity-driven documentary in surprising ways the last couple years. is tough i'm really looking forward to it but they have specifically resisted the netflix funded celebrity driven documentary yes in surprising ways the last couple years so that's why i don't have it on the list so i have sugarcane and daughters after that and i've chosen daughters to win so do i bob by the way daughters is also a netflix movie available on netflix right now very very sad movie um very well done and And in the tradition of Icarus and American Factory, and Netflix has been here before with stories like this that are both intimate and

about something bigger in our culture. So that's my pick there. Okay. That's the three really tricky ones because we're so early in the season. It almost feels unnecessary to do those three, but we did them anyway. Best adapted screenplay. More chaos. Yeah. Well, so this is another one where we got a little, I mean, screwed is a strong term last year, but. There was some delineations made after the fact. Yes, because this is always in constant negotiation.

So with that in mind, here's what I've got. Go. Conclave. Peter Straughan. Nickelbois. Rommel Ross. The Piano Lesson. Malcolm Washington and Virgil Williams.

I believe Sing Sing would be running an adapted screenplay. It is running an adapted screenplay. Four screenwriters, Clint Bentley, Greg Cuidar, Clarence Macklin, and John Divine G. Whitfield. And then, so number five is interesting because one thing you could see happening is if Life of Chuck gets acquired, this is a place to throw at a bone even if it doesn't make a stronger push.

I could see Saturday Night, which according to people right now is running an original, being Barbie shunted into adapted screenplay. Fascinating. I had not thought of that. I mean, that seems like quite obvious to me. And like Adam even used the word adapted when talking about the relationship between the book and the film. There are lots of stories that are culled. Yeah. But there's no source text for that night. So it would be a real negotiating situation. Yeah, well, there's no source text for Barbie moving to the real world.

Sure there is, on every toy shelf in America. Well, but then she doesn't explain fascism and, you know, the patriarchy to people. And doesn't sing closer to fine. She doesn't control the... The flow, the railways and the flow of commerce. Yeah. Yeah. God bless her.

What a great movie. She's pregnant? Yeah. That's great. Yeah. That's one of the, like, late breaking pregnancy twins that made me feel pretty good. Last time it was Rihanna, which was great. I mean, Rihanna has honestly—Rihanna being pregnant has done more for how pregnant people dress and feel in the world.

I'm not joking. I'm being really serious. I'm very grateful, so that was good. But also, I didn't look as good as Rihanna, you know, so that—it was like a mixed thing. It's a bit of an unfair standard to hold yourself to. That is true. But, you know, sometimes you're just trying to find some pants that work. So, you think I'm joking, but I'm not.

I'm honestly in the same boat. I'm just not pregnant. I really, it's been 42 years of trying to find one pair of pants designed for my body type. Do not exist. And then you walk through the door at Rag and Bone and everything was changed i've been trying you know i've been patronizing their their their stores and still this waistline this leg length we're working on it you know you should honestly probably wear women's jeans that's not something i'm gonna do no no because i think like it's like the way that they make clothes cut, it's all messed up.

And I wear a lot of men's stuff. But you, because like the slim. I should definitely explore it while you're out, for sure. We'll do a whole episode about it. Women's pants and Sean. Yeah. It's going to be really good. I mean, I think they might fit you.

They might. Maybe I'll send you some. That's a Ringer Movies exclusive YouTube video. Thanks to Jack for his work in advance. I'm going full influencer when you go. Okay. I've decided.

I told Bill on his show I'm going to start doing the after the movie reviews walk and talks. Oh, great. I'm just going to do it all. Are you going to get a selfie stick?

I'm going to get all the popcorn buckets and I'm going to be like, guys, it's me here with the alien Romulus bucket. I'm just, I don't fuck it.

It's over. I've already, my dignity's gone anyway, right? Okay, that's great. I look forward to laughing at that fuck it. It's over. I've already, my dignity's gone anyway, right? Okay. That's great. I'm, I look forward to laughing at that. Thanks. When I watch it.

So anyway, there's one spot here, which like, if we, I don't know. We are not matched at all in this category so far. I'm just like,

fucking throwing movies out. I don't know. So I guess I'm going to put Dune 2 in. So I have Dune 2 in. Yeah. I'll read you mine for now. Okay. I don't feel good about this category at all. Okay. I also have Malcolm Washington and Virgil Williams for the piano lesson. Oh, well, who do you have winning? I should ask first. Oh, I haven't thought that far yet. You got to keep talking for a bit. Well, you can't. I don't want you to take the information I'm providing and then

render your decision. I don't know. This seems like one where they could not give Sing Sing many other awards and throw it a bone here. I don't think they're going to be giving it very many awards at all. Now that A24 has acquired the Brutalist, that's just one of my takes. I mean, I agree with you, which is unfortunate on a number of levels. But I do also think that they're probably just waiting for a quiet moment to bring it back, you know? Oh, yeah. We love those quiet moments in the fall when there's 3,000 movies being released.

Yeah, but, like, if none of them are any good, you know? Yeah. An awards season is long. I think there's now too many contenders now. I know, but also, I think, like, so I think the's now too many contenders now. I know, but also I think like, so I think the election obviously played into everyone's strategy from the beginning. And then the late breaking change and the change of the campaign and like the change of the energy has also, I think, thrown like a lot of trying to read what the mood is. You think Brat Summer changed the Oscar race? I mean, Brat Summer changed me.

Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Drove by Tenants of the Drees the other day. You drove by it? Yeah. Is that worth sharing on this podcast? I was just thinking about it again. And I was like, that's really, really funny

that that's where that was. So I do kind of feel like post-election, you'll see the Oscar campaigns ratcheting up and maybe distribution like shifting around a little. So you've, are you predicting a Kamala Harris victory in the presidential election? No, I just, I'm saying that everyone knows that that's going to take up all the air. That's why there's only juror number two currently released. If A24 really want to be legends, they put the brutalist

on November 1st or 2nd or whatever. November 8th. Yeah, that's the day. No, no, no, no. The weekend before. See, if you go the weekend before,

you can have the moment before the election. Yeah. If you put the week of, then you get the chance to be blotted out. That's why there's nothing there on the 8th.

There's still nothing on the 8th because they don't want anything to get sucked up by whatever is going on in America. I mean, you remember in 2020, the news was just only that for seven days. So that's why I think we don't have as many obvious frontrunners. The campaigns aren't going in the same way because everyone's just kind of like, we don't know what's going to happen in November. And honestly, what we think is going to happen in November. And honestly, what we think is going to happen in November

changed pretty recently. And so... I think you're right. And I think that's one of the reasons why Focus just moved Conclave from the 1st to the 25th of October. Because they're trying to... They're now putting like a 12-day bubble around that.

So you're 100% right. And there might be more late-breaking stuff than there usually is because of this. How much more, I'm not totally sure. Still got to make your pick for this category. I said June 2,

and I'm picking Sing Sing. Oh, you're picking Sing Sing to win. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because of what I said. Because I just, I think it's like a weird, weirdly paced election year.

You think putting Sing Sing back on 300 screens will distract America from the presidential election? I think you put it on the, no, you put it on the screen back in December. Okay. Okay.

Because remember, like, the Oscars aren't until March. I'm not saying Sing Sing is dead, but I don't think it's in a good spot right now. Well, that's why I'm only giving it adapted screenplay to win, because, like, you know, that's what happens. I think you've overlooked one thing in this category. Yeah, I mean, I have that as a nomination,

but, like, I don't trust people. You have what as a nomination? Do you know what I'm about to say? Oh, no, no, no, no. You, I mean, I have that as a nomination, but like I don't, I don't trust people. Do you have what as a nomination? Do you know what I'm about to say? Oh, no, no, no, no. You think I've overlooked something in Adapted Screenplay. I thought you were saying I looked,

I'm overlooking something in Sing Sing, but. So, here's what I have for this category. Yeah. The Piano Lesson. Yeah.

Conclave. Yeah. Dune Part 2. Okay. The Room Next Door. Right, sure. Which is an adaptation of a novel, Alma Dovar's. And Emilia Perez is an adaptation.

It's an adaptation of an opera. Yeah. That is an adaptation of another opera. Jacques Audiard wrote the opera Emilia Perez, so this will almost certainly have to run in adapted screenplay. I also have it to win. Okay. Because you think...

I just think this is a big movie with a lot of energy around it. I definitely have it to win. Okay. Because you think... I just think this is a big movie with a lot of energy around it. I definitely think it's a big movie. Now, it's... I wouldn't be stunned if... I have it in... Oh, see, I...

So it's running and adapted? It hasn't been decided yet. It has to run and adapt it. I mean, it's also based on... See, because I have it in original now that I'm looking at it. Yeah. But this hasn't been litigated yet.

I don't think it can run there. I don't think the WGA will allow that. Or the Academy, I should say. Yeah, I was going to say, does the WGA have any say? Because normally, like, their categories are different. Based on what they've done in the past, they shouldn't. It's like when a film is based on a short film. It's basically the same thing.

Okay. So, you know, Nickel Boys was a tough omission for me. Sing Sing was a tough omission for me. Sing Sing was a tough omission for me. I had not realized that A Complete Unknown is co-written by Jay Cox. Off to, you know, venerated screenwriter, former Time magazine writer, longtime collaborator of Martin Scorsese. Could see a world where A Complete Unknown sneaks in there. I don't, that's a movie that I don't know what to do with through these categories.

Nevertheless, let's go to best original screenplay. Okay. You want me to go first? You want to go first? Well, I had Amelia Perez here. You can leave it here with the hope that it gets in. I mean, we do have category confusion in this historically. And it's not like logic is ever applied.

It's not. There's definitely a world where they decided it should be original and we're like, what the fuck? The Barbie thing was total BS, like you said. Yeah. Yeah, you go ahead. Muhammad Rasoolul off the seat of the sacred fig this is my boldest prediction okay i like it brady corbin and mona fastfold the brutalist i also have this a real pain jesse eisenberg i also have this blitz steve mcqueen yeah now you're coming back around well when i looked at the slate i know and i looked at this category yeah and i thought about losing emilia perez i was like what really goes in here

and then winning i have uh sean baker and anora so i have sean baker for anora jesse eisenberg for real pain i i put your man so i noticed that adam nam Naiman said Brady. Is it Corbet like Tarjay? Okay. I liked that he tried to elevate it. But I have that as well. As mentioned, I had Jacques Adiard on for Amelia Perez, but now I'm thinking about that. My other surprise is Justin Kritsky's for challengers, which I think would be fun. So really the question is is am i going to stick with amelia prez i think i feel that unless something goes very well i don't know i mean in terms of winning my gut here is sean baker same and i know, I always fall back on the, they give the screenplay to the cool person

that they don't want to give best picture to. This is what I think could be happening here. Yeah. And it probably could, but sometimes they give screenplay and best picture. Often when a neon film is being distributed widely after winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes. So I'll go with Sean Baker for Anora.

And placing in third in the audience award at Toronto. A lot of people have pointed out that Anora is very closely mirroring the Parasite run so far. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes. So I'll go with Sean Baker for Anora to win. The question is whether I try to sub in Emilia Perez

for something else you want to hear a couple of other ones? I've got a couple myself but you go ahead and do your hardest mentions well I had Karitskis for Challengers yeah I don't really know where Mike Lee's

Hard Truths that is one of my options for Chris and I talked about it when we talked about Rebel Ridge I'm very excited about this movie this also played very well at TIFF. Apparently there's a major Marion Jean-Baptiste performance

in it. Lee's been nominated in this category, I'm fairly sure. The movie is distributed by Bleecker Street? Right. Not the biggest history of strong campaigns there? And then Gil Kennan and Jason Reitman for Saturday Night. Well, I think that one will end up in Adapted.

It's possible. What about The Substance? I think that would be a super cool nomination. Yeah. I don't see it happening. It did also get screenplay at Cannes, which is strange. By the way, I haven't seen it yet. I'm seeing it this Wednesday.

The social experiment continues. I'm so ready. I can't seen it yet. I'm seeing it this Wednesday. The social experiment continues. I'm so ready. I can't believe you're seeing it. I think that there should be like a special award for the movie. Honestly, I'm not saying that facetiously. I think it's something that is like an active. And it also won like Midnight's at Toronto. So it seems to be on the.

Even if you hate it, you can be willing to be in awe of its insanity. I think I need to stick with Odiard and Amelia Perez in original. I think that that makes this more interesting if you do that. Because we don't know where that will shake out. Best supporting actor. Boy, these categories were tough.

Let's see. Okay, I do actually have five in this one. You want to go first? Yes. Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain have five in this one. You want to go first? Yes. Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain. I've got that. Clarence Macklin, Sing Sing. I've got that as well.

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist. I've got that as well. Denzel Washington, Gladiator 2. I've got that as well. And then I should have Googled how to pronounce his last name, but this is sort of my flight of fancy, but also I think everyone should do this. I think it's good for everyone.

Mark Edelstein anora so if you want to go with the other guy he's really good too i i don't have either of them but i do have your borisov the other guy yeah in heart of submissions yeah yeah yeah i mean i see that he's like and I know he's like an acclaimed Russian actor and like he's the guy. Mark Edelstein's so fun. I think that character is a little one note. Yeah, but he's going for it. And it is like a very memorable and they always like a supporting actor nod. That's just like, oh, wow. Look, you know, it's like Javier Bardem and Skyfall.

You know, it's like, oh, let's look at that guy having like a tremendous amount of fun. See, that's what I think, that's the Denzel nomination to me. Well, but Denzel's Denzel. Yeah, but he's doing the like, my man, you know, in the Roman Coliseum. Okay, so I have Denzel, I have Clarence Macklin, I have Kieran Culkin, I have Guy Pearce winning

for the Brutalist. Oh, wow. I think there is a weird like Guy Pearce's overdue situation that could be incoming. I really do love Guy Pearce winning for The Brutalist. Oh, wow. I think there is a weird, like, Guy Pearce's overdue situation that could be incoming. I really do love Guy Pearce. My fifth that I don't feel great about this is Stanley Tucci and Conclave. Yeah, people have been talking about that. Love me some Stanley Tucci. He's got another book coming out, so he's going to be on the rounds.

He's great in this movie. I think he needed, like, one more speech. You know what I you know what i mean yeah to like really push it over the line i'm very flummoxed by this because jeremy strong is remarkable in the apprentice i don't think the movie's going to have the right campaign to get him over but i think he's really good in that movie peter sarsgaard in september 5th september 5th was acquired by paramount right we'll get a proper it's coming out in november we'll get a proper campaign and then i do have yura borisov and i think mark edelstein is perfectly good uh i mean those two together are just karen caragulian too i think the other the armenian uh pastor is so good as well so like that that movie is loaded

with good performances okay who's winning well i win? Well, I don't know. So, so you picked Guy Pearce. I did. I'm seeing The Brutalist on Thursday. No, I know. Thank you to all the people

out there. Thank you to all my homies. Can I, so I just, I, as I said, um, A24,

I love you and I know you're listening and I, other, everyone in my life was invited to this screening but me, which I just,

I know it with interest. I mean, I also can't physically go see a three and a half hour movie with intermission right now, respectfully. You can see it, me. Yeah, but it's just like, it was a real noted with interest situation. I basically begged. Okay. I don't think I'll, well, I'll say more later. It's fine. But they're definitely, they are scheduling screenings.

They're going to put it into play very soon, which is very funny to watch. As I was doing all of my homework for this, you check in with all the various prognosticators and awards pockets or whatever. And I just got to tell you, what's going on on Reddit on Oscar bets for The Brutalist is phenomenal. What's going on? Those people are just like... They're putting all their money down? Yeah, they're just like, it's like sweeping. Like, you know, it is amazing.

Well, I mean, obviously I haven't seen the movie, so I don't have an opinion about it. But it's been a long time since a movie like this came along where everyone was like american epic chris and i talked about this you know i mean i understand all of that but it's like it's a lot of it's it just felt like a very like special corner of reddit where all of these could be such a limited number of people in the world to see the movie if i may all but all my reply guys and shout out to all you guys all my reply guys are straight up like Sean believe the hype

it's real this is real it has come for us a friend of ours who has a slightly different take sent me a recent I believe it was a New York Film Festival

post that was literally a picture of the canister and was like the canister is home on American soil like I'm not joking that is a real post. So it's, I mean, you got to hand it to it from just a marketing phenomenon.

Very savvy. You guys have something. I don't know if that means that I think Guy Pearce will win. You know what? I would like Clarence Macklin to win. So I know I just said I don't think Sing Sing is going to have anything, but I thought he was wonderful.

That's a good Oscar story. I'm just going to pick it to have something to look forward to. I would love it if that happened. Yeah, you know? I would love it. That's one of my favorite performances of the year, and you could see.

Okay. Okay. Best supporting actress. So like right now I only have four, because... This keeps happening. Sure. Well supporting actress. So, like, right now, I only have four. Because... This keeps happening. Sure. Well, I had five.

And then they announced that Tilda's running... Both Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore are running in lead actress. Well, then I only have four. Right. So, there you go. Well, it's not... It's not... It has happened before where someone says they're running in a category and they get

put in a different category. Yeah. But I don't think... I have no idea what the thinking is between making those two run together in the same category in a stacked best actress year. That's wacky. I mean, I don't know what's going on. I don't know what's going on with anyone.

Okay. So I have a lot of question marks and then something I just threw in for fun, but I have four that I feel good about. Okay. I think I know where I'll put my five if Tilda doesn't go in. Okay. Do you want to read yours? I'll go about. Okay, I think I know where I'll put my five if Tilda doesn't go in. Okay. Do you want to read yours then? I'll go first.

Okay. I have Carrie Coon for his three daughters. Yeah. This is actually probably what I should do in my fifth spot. Okay.

Maybe you will. Saoirse Ronan blitz. Oh. Okay, so now you're just like Steve McQueen, I'm ready? I haven't disliked anything he's ever done. So I don't know what you're talking about.

You've just been out here being like, I don't respect the London Film Festival or anyone in the United Kingdom. I never said either of those things. Although what the United Kingdom did to Ireland, I find reprehensible. And so you will take over as king instead as monarch only I can lead you the gaslighting of Ireland

is the name of my memoir no no the brutalist too Sean as king of Ireland I'm just like I'm still really haunted about by something that

David Sims said to us on a on a podcast recording that will be released later this year, where he was just like, it was the most resigned, disappointed dad sigh when he was just like, you guys don't know anything about presidents. And I was like, that's true. There are a lot of things I don't know anything about, but... I was not at all surprised to learn that he is encyclopedic on American presidents. Right.

Okay, so... So, Carrie Coon, Saoirse Ronan, Danielle Deadweiler for the piano lesson. I had Tilda Swinton in the room next door. I'm going to replace her with Anjanue Ellis-Taylor from Nickel Boys. Okay, I have Anjanue Ellis-Taylor in Nickel Boys. And I have winning in this category Zoe Saldana and Amelia Pears. As do I. And I feel confident

about that. Okay. So I have Zoe Saldana. I mean, I haven't seen The Room Next Door, so what the fuck do I know? But it really feels like Tilda should run in this category because she could win. Well, I have Danielle Deadweiler in The Pianist. And she's already one supporting actress. She wants the big one. Yeah. Okay. I have Anjanella Taylor

for Nickel Boys and just to pad things out I've got Isabella Rossellini in Conclave because it's Isabella Rossellini

and because her mom won a late career Oscar for a similar very small again I haven't seen Conclave can't wait she's terrific

in the movie and she's in the movie for four minutes. But, you know, Judi Dench. That's fair. It's happened before. Then I have a lot of question marks. I think Carrie Coon and His Three Daughters is a very interesting one. I had been hearing before I saw that movie, which comes out on September 20th.

I had been hearing that it was Natasha Leone to look out for. The person who left the biggest impression on me was Carrie Coon. I mean, definitely. There's a fascinating choice that either the director or the editor makes that affects all three performances that is very confusing to me. But I mean, Carrie Coon is fantastic and really well-liked. Maybe I'll do that.

Okay. Because... It would be a cool nomination, obviously. The other option, and I really, really like Carrie Coon. The other option is Selena Gomez, who's working so hard. But, you know, if they aren't going to nominate Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers, then they're not going to nominate Selena Gomez. She gets one big showcase performance moment that you could see compelling some people.

I just think from a pure heavyweight acting performance, like acting perception, she's just not quite at the level of the other two performers in that movie for me personally. Okay. Best actress. Just a complete bloodbath here.

Yeah. You want me to go? I can go. I've got my five. Mikey Madison, Anora, Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun, Just a complete bloodbath here. Yeah. You want me to go? I can go. I've got my five. Mikey Madison, Anora. Mm-hmm. Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun.

Mm-hmm. Nicole Kidman, Baby Girl. Carlos Sofia Gascon, Amelia Perez. Angelina Jolie, Maria. That's exactly what I have. Who do you have winning? I didn't think that far. Well, I didn't I

probably Mikey Madison I have Mikey Madison winning yeah so that's the first time we've matched on all five well we've got to consider here all of these names now

that are not included right which I'll just go through them and I'm sure I'm forgetting some too. Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths. That's my hardest omission.

Who I believe was nominated for Secrets and Lies. Julianne Moore, The Room Next Door. Yeah. Multiple nominee. Sure. And winner.

But, and that's also the May-December rationale that we used. Mm-hmm. That's true. It didn't happen. That's true. Tilda Swinton,

The Room Next Door. Tilda Swinton the room next door in the room next door amy adams night bitch which despite the mixed reviews people love amy adams she's many many nominations over the years is also very well liked despite some road bumps some speed bumps in her film choices since roughly 2017 and then demi more Substance. I'm not ruling this out. It's peaking a little early. I agree. But that's because the movie's coming out. And again, I haven't seen it. I'm excited to see it. I have enjoyed

all of the Demi Moore retrospective stuff. I've certainly looked at that Vanity Fair cover in a new light in recent weeks. I mean, that's absolutely amazing. I also recently reread the Vanity Fair diaries by Tina Brown

because sometimes I can't sleep at night and that's my comfort food. Okay. What does that have to do with Do Me More? Well, there's a whole section about the making of that cover image and the decision to do it and what is now,

I think, just like a... If you think of a pregnant person in some ways, you think of that, and like what is now I think just like a if you like think of a pregnant person in some ways like you think of that you know it's so common in our like visual vernacular

but they you know yeah but it was not in the early 90s so good on her and she was great in that very weird documentary directed by Andrew McCarthy

Bratz with an S not a Z she came out smelling like a rose yeah out of that movie she was like let's sit on my deck

and hang out yeah yeah yeah isn't life cool um here's the thing but I think it's just I think it's happening like all those pieces

are being written now and it's September everything I said about Nicole Kidman and Baby Girl also applies to Didn't Mean More they're basically

the same age they've achieved a ton. They're both super wealthy and famous. And their beauty is a big part of what got them into the limelight in the first place because they were such strikingly beautiful women who were cast in these big Hollywood studio movies. And they're both

just doing something incredibly bare. And Demi Moore even more than Nicole Kidman. I mean, just the lengths that she goes to, whether this is your kind of movie or not, is genuinely amazing to me. I don't know. I think other actors are going to see that and feel that way. I think other women are going to see that and feel that way. Now, the movie is gross. Like, gross. Like, as gross as movies get. And I mean

that as a compliment. But that's going to turn people off. So that friction between it's beyond genre. It's in like it's in a I just think like respectfully you went to like

a glitzy party at CAA on Saturday night to see Baby Girl and The Substance is being released by Mubi. Mubi who we love but don't

have the same reach. It's a very fair point. And it's September and Baby Girl's scheduled for December and Nicole Kidman's got two Netflix series. Nicole Kidman is Nicole Kidman. I'm not arguing. Yeah.

Okay. So you both think Mikey Madison is going to win. Can you go through the other four real quick? Because that was pretty quick. Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun. Nicole Kidman for Baby Girl. Carla Sofia Gascon for Emilia Perez. Angelina Jolie for Maria,

which we haven't really talked about at all, but I mean, she could definitely contend for that win too. And Angelina Jolie, or excuse me, and Mikey Madison for Nora. Okay, best actor. Okay. Another tough category. Yeah.

Feels like five obvious ones. I have five. Do you want me to read them? I'll go first. Okay. Daniel Craig for queer. Yes. Timothy Chalamet for a complete unknown

yes adrian brody for the brutalist yes coleman domingo for sing sing yes and rafe fines for conclave correct we're matched i have rafe fines winning everyone seems to think that right again i haven't seen the movie it's time rafe uh emotional rescue came on and I think like whole foods the other day and I was just like gallivanting down the aisle like nine months pregnant yeah get your Hawaiian shirt on um you wanna hear my hardest omissions sure I think Sebastian Stan should be given something okay for the apprentice and a different man I don't know what it is he should be given maybe it's just money. Okay. But. Recognition, continued work.

His, I was thinking about this recently, but the exact thing you should do if you have success with Marvel is just make cool independent movies that play bold characters. Like almost every movie that he's made in the last 10 years is at least interesting on paper. And he's really, really, really exceptional in the apprentice and a different man i didn't love the the apprentice but i am impressed by what he did those movies both feel a little bit too small yeah to get into this conversation john mcgarwin september 5th i told you about that yeah out of tell your ride i loved him and then paul mescal and gladiator 2 i meanadiator 2 I mean yeah we don't know we don't know we haven't seen a star we

didn't mention Pedro Pascal as a supporting actor in Gladiator 2 either and you know he snuck in for After Sun which he's very good in but like people are aware even in smaller

stuff he's got some track record there that's a good point yeah but I think the Chalamet this is gonna be like one of those things where it should have been for Dune

Part 2. Yeah. You know, when he's given the speech. You think Timmy's going to win? No, no, but like, well, I don't know. I don't know. This is an interesting category. You've got Daniel Craig, who people really like, working on doing something really bold,

but in a movie that is divisive. But he's out here also. He's really campaigning. He might campaign. You've got Coleman Domingo, who everybody loves. Yes. And who's excellent in Sing Sing. You've got Adrian Brody

and what is here to for an American masterpiece. Yeah. And all the homies. Me and all the homies talking about the brutalists. Yeah. The thing is, whatever is going on with you and the homies,

you and the boys. What are we doing? We're smoking butts and we're drinking rye whiskey and we're organizing our Blu-rays on our shelves. Right. And we're admiring masterpieces. Can we talk about the dating profile? Yeah. What I need is the follow-up of like, is it working?

I don't want to interact with that. You don't want to know? You want to explain what you're talking about? Sure. You got a text message. DM. A DM that someone saw. Was it a Hinge profile?

Young people, which one's Hinge? Someone where you have to know someone. Okay. You respond to prompts. It's a little bit more interactive than like Tinder. There's like questions or you can leave audio notes. That's also true on Bumble, right? Audio notes? Jesus Christ.

Where you respond to prompts? I honestly don't know. I thought Hinge was that you needed to be friends, like friend of a friend. I've looked on Hinge. Not for me. For a friend. I've done a friend's profile. Earmuffs, Zach. I mean done a friend's profile. Ear muffs, Zach.

I mean, that passed with Harris Dickinson. Like, you know, just put him in GQ, goddammit. You know, just if anyone at GQ is listening, Harris Dickinson. Might be his time in December. I called it. So someone on Hinge, they posted that they put Blu-rays on their shelf inspired by you. Yeah. And your name checked on the Hinge profile.

Correct. Who is this brave man? I would like to know more about the demos, you know? Yes. Who is this hero? And in some ways- Show yourself. It was like really, really familiar.

Not the dating profile part of it, but it's just like- And we should note it was Brooklyn specific. So you're just like 26 years old and you're dating in Brooklyn and they're just, you know, dudes. In my day,

they would just like shout their list of like, you know, best Tarantino films at you. Just like in person. How is that different from now? Well, I was going to say. It was like more in person, but like in some some ways nothing has changed and that's really reassuring but i'd like to know whether it's working to that man in brooklyn and all my homies i'd like to say come

meet me in new york in october at the new york film festival i will be there we can talk about the brutalist yeah and your blu-rays don't actually don't tell me about your and then you guys can all train together to be able to collectively pick up one canister of 70 millimeter the brutalist maybe you can be a part of like maybe you can stage your own like your way training torch right you know and it moves from lincoln center after the film festival yeah down to to bam for its special screening that that would be lovely we need a special brutal eccentric bulking pod, I think. We got to do best director. Did you choose your best actor?

No, but I like the idea of Ralph Fiennes. So let's go with that. All right. Best director. Why don't you go first? I've got four right now. And then a lot of question marks. What are you doing?

I told you. Did you do the work or what? Look at all of the work that I did. But I was also very honest. Well, this is about making choices. Well, I... This is about making choices. Well, I... This is about making choices. I've made a lot of choices. I'm bringing the people in.

You know, this is an interaction. The people are with me. The boys, the homies. It's for everyone else who has a life, you know? Yeah. You're giving real I have a life energy right now. The best episodes of this pod are where there's an exact time code where we lose it. You know, like the dating profile. That's it. We got it where there's an exact time code where we lose it. You know, like,

the dating profile, that's it. We got it. Down to the second. We just lost the end. Like, it just went off the rails. We should have wrapped 10 minutes ago.

I mean, this is about discussion. Exactly. If we wanted people reading lists to each other, then we would just go back to Brooklyn circa 2008. And write a blog. Right.

Okay, best director. Here are the four that I have. Denis Villeneuve for June 2. Okay. Sean Baker. Anora. Jacques Odiard. Amelia Perez. right okay best director here are the four that i have denise villeneuve for june 2 okay sean baker anora jacques odiard amelia perez and brady corbet corbett for the brutalist say it one more time denise brady jack and sean my homies i have all four of them yeah those are your homies um my anxiety both for director and for best picture has been like the overwhelming

Americanness, um, of everything that we have discussed. Jacques Audiard and Denis Villeneuve are not American filmmakers. Well, I understand that, but you know, that those are, that is for Dune 2, the most blockbuster-y of American blockbusters and and the very, like, Netflix Selena Gomez-coded. I mean... That was an acquisition. It's a Jacques Audiard movie.

I know. But so, you know, but so there's one. But at this point, like, one international film in both director and best picture feels under underrepresented according to what the academy often does i agree it would be a turn away from what the academy has been doing the last five years right so you know that could just be a product of this year's slate totally but i do also think we always get into these conversations and then

three months later we're like, oh right, and remember how 40% of the voting body is now international or whatever it is. Let me just throw

a bunch of names at you, okay? I have a bunch of names and all of them are international. Okay, go ahead. So it's like, are we really doing the Almodovar thing?

Like, are we going that far? I don't know. Steve McQueen, obviously. You really psyched me out on Blitz. Steve McQueen is now my fifth. Okay. I mean, one of the great filmmakers of our time. Also, let's not forget what they did to Widows.

So there's the slave one best picture. You know, I know, but you know, that was 12 years ago. And then they just spit in the face of one of the great thrillers of the last 10 years. I love Widows. So, Edward Berger is also international, and the people, they love him. But I haven't seen Conclave, and you made it sound like, you know, the Da Vinci Code, so I don't— It's not the Da Vinci Code. It's better than that. I love the Da Vinci Code, but—

It's just pulpy right and i'm not sure that they'll recognize that maybe they will maybe they will that's staged very well so those are probably my top three alternates for number five scott yeah i mean zach said that last night when I was putting this together. And, you know, I love Sir Ridley, but I think everyone started sort of being a snob towards Sir Ridley. What about Jason Reitman? No. What about Greg Cuidar? Maybe, but I feel like this is where the campaign loses momentum okay because you only have five

spots instead of ten uh that's all the options i have okay i think it'd be cool to see romell ross or someone like that in this or chris sanders for the wild robot now that would be really cool okay let him know i don't think that's gonna happen but i'd really love it if an animated filmmaker an animated filmmaker, an animation filmmaker got their spot on there. And he did How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo and Stitch, and he's been doing animated movies forever. You've got McQueen?

I have McQueen. This may just be a little bit, I think my feelings are that Blitz and Gladiator 2 feel like two big open holes, a complete unknown to a lesser extent in terms of my knowledge to be making decisions about this stuff.

Yeah. Like having not seen those three movies and not even really anyone seeing them makes it really hard. Do you have Almodovar in adapted screenplay? I do. Okay. Adam's exact review earlier in this episode is what has me worried. That there's something lost in translation with his tonal appeal.

Yeah. And that there's something that feels very audacious and melodramatic and insightful in his native language. And then maybe it didn't port over as well, but I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not sure. Right. And I don't know whether I think, I guess I don't have him in adapted screenplay.

And I don't know whether I think that maybe they throw it in director instead. Or maybe the adapted screenplay. I'm talking through my logic at this moment. You have McQueen. I have Denis Villeneuve, Brady Corbett, Steve McQueen, Jacques Audiard, and Sean Baker. I think that you can only be a broodless boy if you call him Brady Corbett, Steve McQueen, Jacques Audiard, and Sean Baker. I think that you can only be a broodless boy if you call him Brady Corbett. Maybe it is Brady Corbett. I don't really know.

Okay. I was told that it wasn't. Why don't you do your research, you know? I'm going to call him. Should I rewatch Michael Haneke's funny games? Do I think he has a cell phone? Yeah. I assume.

He seems like one of those where it's like 50-50, you know? Based on what? He's an adult man in america making films so what like one of my not very discussed conspiracy theories is like i i think like a lot of there are a lot of dudes where i'm like you just seem like the type of person who doesn't have a phone like tom cruise i don't think he has like a like i don't think he's like fully on his phone like, I don't think he's, like, fully on his phone like we are. I think that's fair to say. Yeah. But you're on your phone all day long.

Right. So, he's got shit to do. Yeah. And I also don't think Brady Corbett is, like, he seems, like, sort of like a flip phone kind of guy. You know? I don't really have an opinion. I mean, I guess that's possible. And if he did, I'd be like, that's cool, man.

Like, you know, you're really missing out on whatever's going on in Wordle. You know, like, do you not play Cinematrix on Vulture? Like, what is he missing out on? It's fine. Instagram? It's okay. Yeah. I mean, I'm addicted to all these things.

I like them. But they're fine. Yeah, but that's why I'm like, that's I think he probably doesn't. And I don't know whether he's like taking calls all the time, you know? I think he has a lot of calls to take probably as a filmmaker. Yeah. But like prearranged, you know, I don't think he's going to just answer your phone call. What are you talking about?

No, one of my biggest life goals is to have like a corded phone instead of a cell phone where you just have the tactile satisfaction of just finishing the call slamming it shut when you're done that's where I want to get to in life when you do that then you can say no more calls exactly

exactly hold my phone you would just do what's the we haven't even decided on what the terms of this are yet you just really don't want to lose

what's going on you haven't seen any of these movies you've seen like two of them I've seen it Nora I've seen like two of them i've seen a nora i've seen two don't be a dick but you're like so agonized like no one's gonna be like amanda you really fuck this up to be part of the brutalist boys is that what it is do you feel left out we will welcome you no you won't of course you guys are if you came in and you were

like sean the brutalist touched me to my soul. Do you think that'll be true? It reached into my heart and it showed me the truth. You know one thing about the Brutalist that we haven't really prepared for is like Chris talking about architecture. Which is like worth it. Reads one Wikipedia page. Yeah, which is like worth it for me alone. I think I just realized what's going on here.

What? You just want to be accepted. I honestly really don't. No, you do. This is a shield. Who do I want to be accepted by? You just let your guard down. The gate came up for one minute.

You just said you guys wouldn't accept me as part of the Brutalist Boys and that is, it's all there. It's all clear to me now. I like, you just want to get a Blu-ray shelf.

You just want to carry a canister up a hill. You can do it, Amanda. I believe in you. Join us. Okay. We are so free. So like, I do actually think

even nine months pregnant that I would be better at carrying up a canister up the hill than any of you guys. Like that is a true thing. No, you see, now you put the shield back up. No, no, no, no, no, no. You pulled the gate down.

You wouldn't come in. We opened the door. I just, I, I like, I, I, I want to engage with you and be open, but, like, I really don't want to be part of your group. Like, really, really honestly. Everyone here is so happy. No, you're, no. Yes.

I really. We have what we love. Everyone here is so happy. No, you're... No. Yes. I really... We have what we love. It's in touching distance. It's not some mystical thing that's far away. We can go see the film at the cinema. It exists. What's more free than that? That's...

This isn't some... I'm happy for you. Some lark, some impossible dream. I'm really happy for you. American mastery has returned to the cinema for a film that I have not seen. And it can be yours as well. This is a very good bit. Thank you.

I don't know between Almodovar and McQueen. Time to make a choice. I'm forced to do bits because you won't pick. I mean, I don't think it's going to be burgers. So... I don't know. Do you have a coin? Jack's got to eat lunch. I mean, what are we doing here?

Don't lie! What's happening here? Just make a pick. I don't know. I mean, if I wanted to be interesting, I would do Amadovar. If I wanted to be safe, okay, fine, I'll do Amadovar. Great. Even though I'm pretty skeptical of this.

I don't know, but I do, whatever. Life is about taking chances. You've just taken a big chance. The last chance you'll have to take here will be don't know, but I do. Whatever. Life is about taking chances. You've just taken a big chance. The last chance you'll have to take here will be. Hang on. Wait, wait. We don't have who you guys chose to win. Oh.

Oh, shit. I've chosen Brady Corbett. Okay. Brutalist. That's a really good question. Because I also don't know who I think is going to win best picture. So. I. you know, fine. Sean Baker,

whatever. What the fuck? I don't care. Okay. Sean Baker, best picture. Shall I go? Please. Dune part two. Yeah. Blitz. Yes. A Complete Unknown. Interesting. Conclave. Yes. Gladiator 2. Yes. Saturday Night. Yeah, I demoted it, but go ahead. Sing Sing. Yes. The Brutalist.

Yes. Emilia Perez. Yes. Anora. Yes. Those are my 10. Okay. I have Anora to win.

I also have Anora to win because Sean Baker. All right. So I think we're 8 of 10. And so I have Dune 2. This is in no particular order. Dune 2, Sing Sing, Anoria, Anora, Amelia Perez, The Piano Lesson, Conclave, The Brutalist, Gladiator 2, Blitz, and The Room Next Door. So I found this to be very hard. I went with two very very very obvious picks actually

three obvious studio picks complete unknown gladiator 2 and saturday night yes i got no idea if those movies will stand up to the new academy no i had saturday night and then after toronto i cut it out which is maybe maybe silly, but I was like, if it's not even going to place at Toronto's People's Choice, then maybe it's not registering in the same way. I think that's a reasonable take.

I have left on the cutting room floor, the room next door, Nickel Boys, September 5th, The Piano Lesson, The Wild Robot, A Real Pain, Inside Out 2,

and Hard Truths. All of those movies, if you told me they were in I wouldn't be stunned would not be stunned I think this is a funky year we didn't even mention

The Life of Chuck which remains without a distributor but is now probably gotta be considered right because of the audience award

and you wanna capitalize on that momentum so that's nine movies that's 19 movies and what am I forgetting I mean I'm not mentioning movies like Maria and Baby Girl and stuff like that.

You can't count it out. You definitely can't count it out. It's very confusing. There's a lot going on here. There's a lot going on. Do you think if we'd waited until mid-October, we would have a better sense? We do it before the short lists. But you think?

Once I see stuff in New York, I have a way better sense of what's going on here okay um but that then you then i would have seen the brutalist then i would have seen blitz then i would have seen probably everything except for a complete unknown at that point and i'd feel like i had a handle right now i have no handle and we might look back and be like sean put put Saturday Night on his top 10. What a fucking idiot. I mean, I don't... It is also nostalgia and people doing close impersonations of beloved people. It's the closest thing to Hollywood's venerating itself that we have this year. The Enora pic I feel very mixed on.

I do as well, but Parasite, and also sometimes it feels good to pick a movie you like. Agreed. You know? I do. I am pro-Enora. Let the record show. Okay.

Well, we've made our picks. How do you feel? Awful. Okay. Good. And then I have to go away for three months. So I don't have any, you know, space to avenge myself or defend what's going on. You should send voice notes to the show and we'll play them.

But here's the thing. Like, I don't actually think you will. And then I'll just be sending you unhinged voice notes. Well, that would be funny if I kept deleting them. No, I will. If that's something you want to do, I will play them. Okay. I'll think about it. Right, Bob? We can do that. Do we have the technical

capability to do it? Absolutely. I will only play them if they're all recorded between the hours of midnight and 6am. Okay. I mean, I'm up. That's what I'm saying. Like, if you're going to be up, you're pumping, whatever it is you're doing. Yeah. And then you're like, I have some thoughts. I've seen a real pain here's what i think yeah back below did we

significantly underrate a real pain yes probably i feel like maybe that's the one that i've kind of fucked up on i like that movie a lot that was the movie out of sundance that i was like this is the one you remember yes i do i have it in screenplay and I have Kieran Culkin, right? Same. That's what I have. Okay. Wouldn't be stunned if it got in the best picture. I could see it as well. Okay. Amanda, thank you.

You're so welcome. You feeling good? Um, no, but that's fine. We have roughly like seven more days of recording together. Eight more days. I think it's more like 10 because I, but that's just because I'm literally counting days at this point. Okay. 10 more days. Thanks to Adam Neiman for his insights on this episode. Thanks to Jack Sanders.

Thanks to Bobby Wagner. Bob, what's your pick for best picture right now? Seeing as I've seen quite literally none of these movies, I'll go with Anora okay yeah

a bold choice later this week I'm a brave man I'm a big gambler support risk taking and you love Russia so that's a great choice for you

huge on Russia historically yes later this week we have a very special movie draft we're drafting the movies of George Clooney

and Brad Pitt with a special guest yeah everyone everyone buckle up for that buckle up we'll see you then you