The Bill Simmons Podcast - Ep. 166: Cousin Sal and Wesley Morris

Episode Date: January 23, 2017

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons calls on Cousin Sal to discuss the Pats-Falcons Super Bowl matchup (5:00), the disappointing NFL playoffs (13:00), whether Tom Brady is the best QB ever (18:00), Tony Romo's trade value (20:20), the Pats' continuity (25:00), Matt Ryan's MVP candidacy (28:00), the Super Bowl LI line (30:00), and Kansas-Kentucky this weekend (33:00). Then, Wesley Morris of The New York Times joins to discuss his Oscar nominations (40:25), the Best Picture buzz surrounding 'Deadpool' (53:50), Tom Ford's directorial taste (58:00), the category fallacies (1:01:00), O.J.'s best movie bid (1:05:00), subplots of the Oscars (1:14:00), and whether weird movies are on the way (1:17:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the BS Podcast is brought to you by SeatGeek. That's our presenting sponsor. That's the only fan-friendly app for buying and selling tickets for sports and music. The Washington Post recently wrote that with SeatGeek, quote, you're sure to find excellent deals. Its app is fantastic. I agree. With the NBA, NHL, and college basketball heating up,

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Features a star-studded lineup of judges, including Snoop Dogg, Sarah Silverman, Jason Sudeikis, and the Roastmaster, Jeffrey Ross. It's a battle you do not want to miss. The four-night event begins January 26th, 10, 9 Central, on Comedy Central. And don't miss the live finale on Sunday, January 29th, also at 10, to see who gets crowned the king or queen of cruelty. And we are brought to you by The ringer.com that's where i wrote not one but two columns last week i had a piece about the nba all-star game starters bow and

another nfl playoffs mailbag go there and read the words that i wrote and read our pieces about the nba's mid-season awards oscar nomination predictions the woman's March and Super Bowl 52. And I had three podcasts last week. The one on Friday with Seth Meyers and Mike Shore was a good one. And we put it up on Friday afternoon. It was a three-man. It was good. It was a little different. I think people will like it. And if you missed that one, go back and listen to it.

Coming up, Cousin Sal, Wesley Morris. Let's roll. All right, on the line right now as he is every Monday. Sometimes he's in the office. Sometimes he's on the line. But I know he's excited. Cowboys Patriots Super Bowl. It's finally happening. Super Bowl I know he's excited. Cowboys, Patriots, Super Bowl. It's finally happening.

Super Bowl 52. Our teams are going. Oh, no, they're not. They're not. Are you sick because you have a fever? Not only did you get the teams wrong, you got the Super Bowl number wrong. It was almost a good joke. It was almost a good joke. Thank you.

Son of a bitch. You did it again, you son of a bitch. You guys got back. I know. How did you do it? Are you sick because you have a fever, or because you watched the Packers Falcons game yesterday and just

thought the whole game about how your team would have made that a very close game, and you really blew it a week ago? Yeah, there was a lot of that. I had to smack myself in the face and let go of that sometime around the third quarter, but yeah, it makes you sick, but the one thing that's better is i've been a

room full of giants fans so they must really feel sick because they're awful by comparison right yeah well it's hard to say whether the packers just kind of stumbled in there and shouldn't have or whether they ran out of gas because they were so banged up and they reached the point of no return i thought we both thought at thought Atlanta was just better and faster and, you know, at home, indoors, bad matchup. But you could tell from the first drive, like, not only were they faster, but the guys opened every play. They could run for 7 to 10 yards.

It seemed like in the beginning every play. And Green Bay was either going to get killed with running or passing. And I don't know, when did you lock out of that game? End of the first quarter? You know, I locked out, and to further your point, like Matt Ryan was in a rare situation where he was quarterback of the better team. He's staring an MVP award in the face, and all the talk is about Aaron Rodgers. And, you know, he's home and favored,

and it was somehow perceived as the underdog, I thought, the more people you talk to. So, yeah, and then they just went there and took care of business. They're just too fast, and they beat you any way you want. And from that empty setback field, he just lights out Matt Ryan. And, yeah, they were just better. And, you know, we could pick for both of these games. I think we could pick one play that was a turning point,

but they were blowouts. They beat the second-best team. Both home teams beat the second-best team handily. So you can't really say anything about that. Yeah, I think I agree with you. There were plays in each. The Brady fumble, which I still feel like might have been a fumble, and then the Packers with the missed field

goal and then and then the big white guy fumbling inside the 10 yard line but I still feel like the Falcons were gonna put up 50 points in that game if they had to they're gonna get to that number and I think my team would have put up over 40 we had I think we had 26 first downs and we had seven plays of 20-plus yards or more. And that was really in three quarters because in the fourth quarter they were cruise control trying to just end the game. But I thought that was Brady's best playoff game he's ever played that I've seen. Oh, really? You think so?

Yeah, I really do. I think he's had chunks of games like that in the playoffs, and he's done it against lesser teams. But, you know, he made Pittsburgh just look like a cream puff, and they aren't. You know, their defense is pretty good. They're physical. They hit them a few times.

He just did – he made every right play. The Chris Hogan thing they just took advantage of, you know, to make it look that easy without Gronk, and that's why the Steelers fans would be like, oh, Le'Veon Bell, we didn't have him. It's like we didn't have Gronk for the last two months. You've got to adjust if you don't have your best offensive weapon. I was surprised the Steelers couldn't really adjust on the fly

because D'Angelo Williams is a good running back. It seemed like that took the piss out of him. But these are by far the two best offenses, and to me it's the Super Bowl matchup that makes sense. Don't you agree? I agree, and I know I'm going to take a lot of shit. I get tweets and everything for kissing Bill's ass. I was like, well, you know what?

I'm sorry. That's what's going to have to happen. They're in the Super Bowl again. Their quarterback was suspended the first four weeks. they deserve all the credit in the world i apologize but um yeah they couldn't they couldn't adjust and uh you know you kept what was a weird game because none of the four main running backs did anything in uh in the game but um but i i thought didn't you think someone else was going to have to be a factor other than Brady? Like, I thought Lewis for sure was going to have to be a factor,

and Blount didn't even get going until, like, the fourth quarter. So it was strange for me. And no one completes more catches where the receiver is backpedaling, staring at the ball, backpedaling 12 yards than Tom Brady. I just thought if you don't hit him early, and the same goes for Matt Ryan, I think, if you don't hit him early, it's going to be trouble. And that's what happened. Yeah, I was optimistic going into the playoffs,

and we talked about it about – I sound like Phil Simms right there. We talked about – Sal, we talked on this podcast about, you know, there wasn't an AFC team that I felt like could really pressure Brady. And, you know, it's really not that hard to figure out after 16 years of watching it when he has time he's pretty much unstoppable and when you just throw a zone at him like Pittsburgh did and you're not going to rush him it's I I feel like that's a suicide mission I don't understand that game plan at all we have 16 years of evidence that you shouldn't do that and that there's. We have 16 years of evidence that you shouldn't

do that and that there's a specific way to beat the Patriots and Brady. And they just did the opposite of it. I thought it was a really weird game plan. I thought they were sloppy. I don't think they should have been that thrown off by the bell injury. The Packers thing, you know, you look at the Packers and it's probably, it was almost a miracle that they got to the Final Four with how banged up they were. The Steelers were a good team. And I also – I'm not scared of Roethlisberger when the Pats play them. Like I don't – I feel like he's good, but their throws he misses. I never feel like he's not one of those guys that all of a sudden he goes on this

this giant run where he's just carrying them for a quarter they're not that good in the red zone i i don't know i i i thought he hurt them in that game as weird as that sounds it's not like statistically he had that bad of a game but i i just felt like he wasn't that good what did you think and if you take if you take a look at his playoff numbers in general they're underwhelming they really are you'll be surprised by them. But in both of these games, here's the two things you can't do. You can't rush three against either of these four quarterbacks. You can't do it. And even the Patriots got bit a little bit when they rushed three against Roethlisberger. Eventually, he was going to find Eli Rogers, and he did.

And then they mixed it up again. You can't rush three if you're Green Bay, Atlanta, any of these teams against the four quarterbacks have played. And you have to, if you're playing Atlanta or New England, you have to turn the threes into sevens. And that was huge before the half. What was the score? Was it 17-6? Pittsburgh's driving.

Now, as a Patriots fan, Jesse James, they called a touchdown at first. Then he's down at the, I don't know, one-foot line. As a Patriots fan, you're probably hoping they called that a touchdown, right? Because you want to save as much time in timeouts as you can for the Brady drive to get the field goal back the other way. And for them to not punch it in three plays and have to kick a field goal, like I said, I don't want to say one play or one series swayed the game because these were blowouts, but that was huge, huge for Tomlin and the Steelers to not convert there.

Yeah, that and not getting the Brady fumble. But if you can't score from the one-foot line in the AFC Championship game when you have a little bit of momentum, that's pretty bad. Why is the Patriots the only team with a successful quarterback sneak in the league? I don't understand. Roethlisberger is like 325 pounds. How come he can't stick his head in the football? I don't understand it.

I was sitting there going, please throw the fade route. Please. Just do it. Please throw it because we're going to shut that down. The Pats are good. Defensively, they do this bend but don't break thing where they're fine with you getting, they, they do this bend, but don't break thing where they're fine with you getting whatever you want between the twenties, but in the red

zone, they kind of turn it up. And the problem with this Falcons game is I'm not sure that's going to work because the Falcons have a really good, they're really good at the red zone. So, you know, as cliched as it sounds, i feel like it's going to be a whoever outscores who game and i don't know if defense is going to be that much of a factor in this game and you know i don't know if you can make the what's the over under what did they say it was i think it's 60 59 and a half or 60 it's the highest in super bowl history yeah that seems fair we had a couple of bets yesterday we we parlayed the Falcons and the Pats, which won.

Congratulations to us. And then we did a Falcons with the tease of the over. We teased it down to 55. So they had to score 56 points. And at one point late in the first half, it was 17-0. And it was like, wow, say goodbye to that bet. And then they got the end of the first half touchdown, which, by the way, at some point,

these teams are going to start tackling the receivers at the end of the half, right, on that play? Yeah, I think so. You have one chance left to throw an eight-yard touchdown or whatever, three-yard touchdown, whatever it was. Just commit pass interference. Why not? Especially like if Julio's on the right side by himself,

obviously they're going to throw it to him. Just tackle him. So it's 24-0 at halftime, and now we're relying on some Rodgers garbage time. They can't make these overs high enough. I mean, yeah, you're right. It was like 7-0 late in the first quarter. Like, oh, this is going under. This is very strange what's happening. But, yeah, they're tired of getting destroyed on these over-unders,

so they have to make it like 60 or so. Can't we say that Vegas got probably murdered in this playoff so far? I would say they did. Oh, yeah. I think the viewers got murdered, too. I mean, there were two good games. If you want to count Pittsburgh-Kansas City as a good game, I thought it was boring.

Of course, my team had to play the most dramatic game against Green Bay and lose. But otherwise, yeah, they were decided on an average of 14 points. Both conference championships decided by at least 19 points. Hadn't happened since 1978. Crazy. We had eight double-dig digit out of the 10 playoff playoff spreads and then you're you're the cowboys packers was one of the best playoff

games of this decade i think the giants packers had the end of the half hail mary which was great and then right other than that, crap. First round was crap other than the Hail Mary. Second round other than Cowboys Packers. And this one, I was watching going, we're screwed. And I picked in my column, I picked the Steelers plus six just because I thought they could keep it close and maybe get a garbage TD.

I thought the Pats were going to win, but usually you have the blowout first. Then that means the second one's close. And that wasn't close either, and then all of a sudden we're in the Super Bowl. It's weird. I would say it's a very, very, very disappointing postseason. I looked around, too.

I was watching with people I was watching with, and I said, you know, because Atlanta had run away with it. I said, this second game doesn't have to be close because the first one was a blowout. Just remember that. It doesn't have to be like that. But somehow it always seems like that's how it plays out, and I'm sure that's

not true. I'm sure statistically it doesn't play out that way. Well, the one thing Vegas had, you know, I'm sure there was a lot of Green Bay Moneyline, Pittsburgh Moneyline, Pittsburgh Teaser. Both overs hitting was not good for Vegas. Green Bay and Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh money line, Pittsburgh teaser. Both overs hitting was not good for Vegas. Green Bay and Pittsburgh in the second half were losers. Green Bay was minus 4.5.

Was it 24-0 at half? You would think minus 4.5 for Green Bay is good in the second half. Pittsburgh was like minus a half a point in the second half, and they just got brutalized. It was like 16-0 in the third quarter for New England. So those are big Vegas winners there. But overall, you're right. We screwed up twice this year. We had the Pats and the AFC East before the year that we teamed up with Hillary Clinton.

That became a loser. I don't know yet. I don't know about that yet. Are you thinking it overturned? Okay. We were talking about the Falcons for all of December, about them as a Super Bowl bet, and if they get the two seed, they'd have two games at home.

Why not? I remember they were 10-1 for a good chunk there, and then all of a sudden people all, it seemed like a lot of people realized the same things we were talking about, and it dipped way, way down. But we should just remember that going forward. You have the two seed at home. They're really good. All you need is something funky to happen with the one seed in round two.

And all of a sudden, the Falcons just have two home games. And now they're in the Super Bowl playing in a dome indoors. This played out perfectly for them. And it reminds me of the Saints that year when I don't know if the Saints were the best team in the year they won the Super Bowl, but they played three playoff games indoors and it worked out for them. And New England, before the divisional

round, New England-Atlanta Super Bowl matchup was 4-1. That's high even for them because you figured New England was going to beat Houston and we loved Atlanta to beat Seattle. If you could just get to yesterday with 4-1 odds, that was pretty sweet. But, yeah, we didn't jump on that enough. So the Patriots right now are 15-3 against the spread this season.

Incredible. I don't remember that before. I'm interested. Like, if anyone out there who is a nerd who loves this stuff can remember a team being better than 15-3 against the spread going into the Super Bowl, if that information is online, email it to us because I just find it hard to believe anybody beat that. Do you have to be 16-2 against the spread to beat that?

That seems impossible, right? I don't think anyone beat that. I think that Bears team was, I don't think anyone beat that. I think the Bears, that Bears team was, I don't know, I remember reading, I think it was 14-4 or something for the Super Bowl or something. Yeah, because everyone they play would end up with three or six points or, you know,

nothing big, and they wouldn't even have to score that much to win. But, yeah, 15-3 is, that's what they should do. They should do the champagne toast if anyone ever beats 15-3 against the spread, like the undefeated Dolphins do. Let me ask you some questions. So if the Pats win the Super Bowl, your objective, you don't care,

is Brady with five Super Bowls, is that now unassailable? He is the best quarterback ever. Yeah, I guess. See, here's where I get into trouble. I should really put up a big good fight against you and everything and bring up players that neither of us ever saw. But, yeah, why not? How much do you have to see?

How much does anyone have to see from this guy? 11 conference championships, seven Super Bowls, and has a chance to win five and he's 39 years old and doesn't seem to be getting worse which is insane how about that part there's no signs of deterioration really

if they sign him to a four year deal tomorrow it wouldn't be a favor it wouldn't be like one of those Emmitt Smith favor deals he'll last the four years most likely well i think there was one like tiny little subplot that nobody wanted to talk about is if he looked old in these playoffs then maybe garoppolo well do we really want to trade him is that does that make sense like right there's there's there's signs that this brady era might be ending.

And the way Brady's rolling right now, I think it's a mortal lock that Garoppolo gets traded. And you're looking at Garoppolo and Romo on the market. Those are potentially, I wouldn't say top five quarterbacks, but maybe in that they could climb into that next tier next year. And you watch these quarterbacks that are in the playoffs, like if Kansas City had Romo or Garoppolo, could they have beaten Pittsburgh?

If Garoppolo does what we think, like Lombardi thinks Garoppolo is better than Alex Smith, like just point blank. But I don't remember having two available QBs in the trade market that could actually swing a playoff team. It could actually be Kirk Cousins, too, if you want to lean on, let's say, fool this franchise thing again. But, yeah, it's going to be very interesting. I counted like 18.

I took a lot of shit for saying that Romo might get a two. You can get a two for Romo. But I think there's about eight teams. There is some leverage there. Eight teams that would use quarterbacks, right? When you say you took shit, you're saying you took shit from anonymous people on Twitter? Or did you take shit like you're at dinner and the waiter's giving you shit? What kind of shit?

There was the waiter. I had Jim Brown himself called me and said, what are you, crazy? You're nuts. Yeah, Kellyanne Conway. Everyone was weighing in on it. But, yeah, no, but I don't know. I think there is a big market. I think you could get like a second rounder for a Romo,

and I'm sticking by it. I think Garoppolo, Garoppolo I think has to go for a first. When you watch how important quarterback play is and you look at the market of what some of these other guys get, it's just going to be a question of how Goodell figures out how to come up with some fake reason to make us lose that first-round pick. I'm sure he's working on it. So the Browns were the big winner in the Steelers in the blowout yesterday, you're saying, right? Well, if you're the Browns, do you trade the 12th pick for Garoppolo, or do you roll the dice with some quarterback that's not quite good enough

to be a top three franchise guy, and now you're taking a guy who's in that Blake Bortles range of, you know, Mays and I were texting about this a couple weeks ago. That range, when you go from pick eight to pick 17 in the first round with quarterbacks, it is not good. You go back, it's like, ugh. There's a lot of Blake Bortles. Not Blake Bortles.

Blaine Gabbert. There's a lot of Blaine Gabbert type of picks in that range. If you're Cleveland, you're like, all right, there's a quarterback. We already have the number one pick in the draft. Here's number 12. Here you go. I don't know. I agree with you. I think Cleveland, and there's a quarterback. We already have the number one pick in the draft. Here's number 12. Here you go. I don't know. I agree with you.

I think Cleveland, and that's what I'm saying. Yesterday's game was big. The Patriots might have said, and they should have before yesterday, said, well, Brady's good for another three years. We can't part with Garoppolo. And the Browns, on the other hand, yes. Do you have to get the fans excited about something? Find somebody who has actually played well in an NFL game.

That's A number one. Why not? Bring Garoppolo in. But here's the interesting thing. Will we learn lessons from last year's draft? Will we ever see a Sam Bradford type get a first pick? It was a first and a third, right? They got for Bradford?

Yeah, that was a panic. Bridgewater had gone down. They felt like they had a Super Bowl team, and they overpaid for Bradford, in my opinion. And it seems like they'd still go with Bradford over Bridgewater, but who knows? That remains to be seen. But the other thing is,

are you totally right about the quarterbacks in the 8-17 range? It looks like Trubisky's going to be the only first-rounder, but maybe Dak Prescott screwed that up a little bit. Maybe he's going to roll the dice a little more. Or maybe Connor Cook didn't screw it up. Dak was like kind of a unicorn with that whole thing.

But if Kansas City gets one, like if Kansas City just looks at it and says, this is stupid. We're going to run back Alex Smith and Andy reed again we're not winning the super bowl with that combination we need a better quarterback and they trade for romo and i really think kansas city is the most logical romo team if you really think about it like they are the closest um offense defense everything to winning a super bowl and they need a better

quarterback than alex smith so yeah let's say they trade for him. Let's say the Browns trade for Garoppolo. Now you have Alex Smith out there available too. And maybe he goes back to San Francisco. But I think there's going to be a lot of quarterback movement. He should go back to San Francisco. That's a fun punishment for Alex Smith. I'm back, guys!

But for those of you who want one more offering of praise towards Tom Brady here. Thank you. For those of you who are unsure if you're watching the best, consider that you're not watching a game that you're used to when he's playing. Consider the guys. I don't want to read into it too much,

but with the Edelmans and the Chris Hogans, and maybe they're not your typical kind of receivers that Brady is making not good, but great on a Sunday. These guys, they play for Monmouth. Like I said, they just run precise routes, and he rewards them for it. I don't know if you'll ever see anything like it. Well, Chris Hogan was basically let go by Buffalo.

Sure. They were like, eh, we don't know what to do with this guy. I mean, we've all seen Buffalo's receivers. That's a pretty big leap of faith. I think getting to the Super Bowl without Gronkowski pretty easily is way, way up there. You think about if you just took Julio jones off the falcons just take them off in october what what kind of team is left you know and it's basically the situation the patriots are in edelman i think i wouldn't say he's a top five wide receiver but i think he's

on that next level right you'd put him you wouldn't put him with des and julio and odell and guys like that but maybe second tier other. Second tier for sure. Yeah, other than that, these are just puzzle pieces that these guys move around. There's certainly – you wouldn't say they have any blue chippers. They have a very good offensive line this year, which I think has helped. Well, what about this? Do you think they have the best defense they've had as a Super Bowl team? Because I think they're facing the best offense they've ever faced as a Super Bowl team.

No, I think the 0-3, 0-4 defenses were really really really good i mean they were better yeah we we beat manning i think maybe four times in two seasons something like that when he was when that that team was a juggernaut offensively i i i'm still a little bit nervous about this defense. As I said, I think Roethlisberger maybe missed a couple plays that could have helped. Jesse James getting tackled on the one-inch line definitely helped, but they had a great goal line stand too. But the coaching is so good, and the continuity I think really helps them too. The Brady, McDaniels, Belichickick and then all the guys they have on the defensive side be when people have been together for a long time it's just an advantage like i'm sure the tv

show i'm sure jimmy's show is like that where you have all these people who've worked together for a long time you just kind of know what to do and you become a machine you don't have to think about it and you think about like with the super bowl coming up the pats have been there so many times and so for somebody like brady it's the seventh super bowl it's like he's not even faced by one thing whereas like everyone in atlanta this is basically the first time they've been there except for dwight freeney and a couple other people coach has never been there qb has never been there none of their skill guys like nobody it's nobody. When you have that two weeks, it definitely is a little overwhelming, and I think that's an advantage for the Pats. It sounds like

we're making a pick, and I don't think we are. No, we're not making a pick. I think this is an advantage. So, what do we say for the Lions? You want to add to that? You want to add to that? You know, Matt Ryan on February 4th, Saturday, will probably be named MVP, right?

That's, well, two good things could come of that. If he's named MVP, that's extra incentive for the Patriots. Let's beat the best. He's named the best. Let's show him. Let's show him we have the best. If he's not, if it's Tom Brady, then Goodell has to hand him the trophy on the 4th and then maybe the 5th of February.

That would be tremendous. But something else, yeah, what about the Goodell thing? Don't they want to beat him more than they even want to beat the Falcons? Like this is crazy how it's all stacked up. Well, yeah, this is the storybook ending. And, you know, I couldn't tell whether CBS toned down the audio, but I know the Where's Roger chants were going for basically from near the end of the third quarter all the way through the fourth. It's a big thing.

I think people, look, the Boston fans, I get it. There's been a lot of success. I get all the reasons the shots are taken, all that stuff. I do think people don't understand how personally you take this if the beloved quarterback on your favorite team just gets wiped away I do think people don't understand how personally you take this. If you're, if the beloved quarterback on your favorite team just gets wiped away and there's never really been any proof why that's right. So the chance to have the revenge of Goodell handing Brady the trophy after

wiping him out for these first four games. I mean, it's really, you know, these are really higher than usual stakes. Like for Brady, the ultimate revenge, he goes down in history. For Belichick, five Super Bowls. He passes every coach who ever did that, and they are some of the legends.

And, you know, pretty high stakes. Yeah, it's almost like the Falcons, like Brady and Belichick, like, sorry, Falcons, you're just in our way. Don't take it personally. We just have to settle this other score, this bigger score. But the stakes for the Falcons are, let's say they put up 40-plus on the Pats. They might go down as the best offense of all time. They win the Super Bowl and they have another thing.

You really have to start we always think like they always say the greatest show on turf there was that one mannings bronco season like there's but there's been like great offenses but to for them to do this from beginning to end and put up 600 plus points i think they're over 600 now, right? Yeah. They're well over 600. And Julio, I think, goes up another level. There's some good... I think this is a really good Super Bowl. Plus, Atlanta's only been there once.

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All right. The Super Bowl line. What did you have for a line? Well, you went a little high. I had New England minus three and a half. What did you say? I said six and a half. I was way off.

I think you had a lot of bravado. You were watching with Patriots fans. You were like, we're the best. We can't be beat. No. Vegas has it at three, and it stayed at three. And as we mentioned, 60 is the over-under. I was off.

I really thought the Pats, the pedigree, was worth an extra field goal. But I think the Falcons obviously want a shitload of respect these last two weeks. I just thought the history of this stuff is you have the famous proven team, and then you have the upstart team and the famous proven team always usually seems to get the extra field goal in the super bowl but not this year we we get it we get a little bit of a cheat because you know we we monitor the afc versus nfc super bowl you know the last few weeks at least we have and it was three it was three and a half actually week. The AFC was favored over the NFC. Now you have to assume that's assuming that both favorites went out.

They kind of even lost a half a point to New England after yesterday. I don't know how that is. If home field advantage gets you three points typically, what should seven Super Bowls get you for a quarterback? That should almost be five points, shouldn't it? Yeah. I think the only hesitation that people had with this Falcons team, which led to that Seahawks line in round two, oh, here come the Seahawks, oh, the veteran team.

And the Falcons are just good, but it seems like nobody totally wanted to believe it. And I really think it's because of Matt Ryan. I think there was something about Matt Ryan, and I would say partially to somewhat to mostly justified, that people just kind of wanted to see him do it. And meanwhile, he was really good in that Seattle playoff game four years ago. You know? It's not like he's been Andy Dalton in the playoffs. I think he's—

I think, you know, we were comparing him to other teams in the past that rams offense was tremendous for kurt warner but i'll be more surprised if this offense is shut down by you know remember that what was the tampa score was a stupid score like 14 12 or something would the rams be tampa in the nfc championship yes it's really stupid i'd be even more surprised if this Atlanta team was shut down as much as that Rams team was years ago. Yeah. I think the difference

between that Rams team and this team, other than the fact that football is played completely differently now. And probably if you put the 99 Rams in 2017, I don't even know what the hell would happen but it just seems like this falcons team can put up points whether julio jones is good or not and that's that's like a pretty special quality like he was unbelievable yesterday i think

it was funny in the first half he had a couple of those crossing routes and it was like oh man oh he's gonna he's gonna get one of those like you just you can feel it and then the second half boom and he's just off and it's a little like odell you know it's like oh the day oh he's gone seven year pass and yeah and he beats guys up within the rules it seems and throws him around the next thing you know he's open and he's tiptoeing down the sideline. He's tremendous. I think he's the scariest receiver the Pats have ever gone against

in a Brady Belichick playoff game. I was thinking about that. And they've gone against some really good ones. Owens would have been the best one, but Owens was coming off a broken leg. Nobody knew whether he was even playing or not. But if you just go through all the all the seasons like isaac bruce marvin harrison they never went against randy moss at his apex steve smith tate threw out sorry tate i wouldn't put it up there. But Julio is, you know, just a monster.

And fortunately for the Pats, like they, Eric Roden didn't have a good game yesterday, but they at least have a couple cornerbacks with size that can make him think. So we have a lot of time to talk about this. We need to take a Don Julio shout of the week, though. You have anything? Let's do it. So next week is when we do one of my favorite podcasts of the year, the Super Bowl Prop Podcast.

Yes, I'm excited. The Henry Hanosky Memorial Super Bowl Props Podcast, which we'll do on Monday, you think? Okay. Or do you want to do it on Tuesday or Wednesday? Yeah, we may have to do Tuesday or Wednesday because I don't know if they come out until Tuesday. All right, so we'll do it midweek next week, but we're going to do Don Julio's Shot of the Week,

Don Julio, the world's original handcrafted tequila with multiple unique tequilas, including Don Julio 1942, the best luxury tequila you'll ever drink. We're going college basketball this week. We have Tate here, the host of Teed Up on the Ringer Network, and there's a big Kansas-Kentucky game coming. I'm trying to find the line. Well, where's the game, Tate?

It's in Rupp Arena. It's in Lexington, Kentucky. Okay, it's in Kentucky. So I'm guessing Kentucky is going to be favored over Kansas. Yeah. All right. Tate likes Kansas. I think we'd get like seven points if we took Kansas over Kentucky.

So we're going to take Kansas with whatever points we get in that game. All right. And if Tate's wrong, you'll see him sitting on the corner of Hollywood Vine. Hollywood Vine with his suitcase. If Tate's wrong, he has to run our wins pool again next year. Whatever pool. So you don't have Cousin Sal's sure thing this week on Facebook, but next week you will have the sure thing with a Super Bowl pick and some other stuff, correct? Yes,

and I came back. I'm up 41% money-wise on the year. You and I both had both favorites and the favorites on the teaser, and there you go. Yeah, next week we're going to have a prize. $5,151 to the winner of the prop challenge for Super Bowl

51. Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jake Bird at the presidential inauguration tonight. You love that. Oh, my old friend Jake Bird. I love that guy. It's always a good one. Dennis Quaid and Bill Burr on also. Later in the week, Matthew McConaughey, Martin Short, Lady Antebellum, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Yes. That's fantastic. The Cuz, we will talk to you next week for the big Super Bowl props podcast. Good job by you. Good job by you, Billy. Okay, we're going to talk to my old, old, old good friend Wesley Morris. But first, let's talk about my friends at Harrys.com. They sent me some razors over a year ago and it changed my life.

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for a close, comfortable shave. That includes a weighted ergonomical razor handle, five precision-engineered blades with a lubricating strip and a trimmer blade, a rich lathering shave gel and a travel cover. Oh, Harry's is so confident in the quality of their blades. They want you to try their shave set for free. You heard that right. Just cover shipping when you sign up.

That's it. Plus, as a special offer of fans of this show, you go to harrys.com right now, enter code BS at the checkout and you get a post shave balm that's also free. Once again, harrys.com code BS. Alright, here's Wesley Morris. Alright, on the line right now, my old Grantland teammate now at the New York Times,

my friend Wesley Morris, how are you? Hi, Bill. Oscar nominations this week. It's a weird Oscar. I know. It's, you know, people are simultaneously kind of bummed out that the movies aren't a little more mainstream but on the other hand this is where we are with movies right it's either capes and superheroes or it's like it's smaller scale movies and there's no middle

anymore what do you think i totally agree no i mean there's no, there's no middle. There's no middle. Jenna Wertham and I were just talking minutes ago about just how everything this year we're going to get is probably going to be a sequel or something. And it's not just the movies. It's TV, too. For no reason, we're now getting, like, Training Day and Lethal Weapon as television shows. You know, I feel like it's really sad actually and it's it i think nobody really wants to acknowledge how bad it is yeah because it means that these hollywood executives have to account for the the total rejiggering of their priorities and these shameless rejiggering their priorities so that you get from like january until september there is almost literally nothing that isn't a sequel, a franchise, something that wants to be either one of those things.

And also things that are just coming back to life for no reason. Like Jason Bourne, that had to happen. Who was asking for that? You know, a Ghostbusters remake. Who wanted that you know i was thinking about movies that came out at the end of the last decade so you take a movie like the town ben affleck or gone baby gone gone baby gone i think still comes out in the same way and i still think it's i still think it made it's probably more of an indie movie maybe they don't

maybe it's just casey affleck and it's nobody else you'd ever recognize. But to me, The Town is a great example of a movie that I'm not sure would do as well anymore. And The Town did well. Yeah. Well, let's just look at 2010 in general.

2010, what else happened in 2010? Inception. Inception might happen now inception the 2016 inception was i guess arrival which should tell you where things are actually at right um yeah toy story 3 uh the social network we got in 2010 um well so black swan happened Black Swan happened right so Black Swan is now like Jackie you know but like Social Network even that one Social Network

Moneyball those type of movies maybe they happen is a studio that patient with a movie like Moneyball five years later that took forever to get made I think they just scrap it at this point they don't want to deal with it I don't want to deal with it. They look at it and they go, it's too big of a risk.

127 hours? Yeah. I mean, but this, but you know, to be fair to somebody, I guess, this was a thing that was already underway even in 2010. I mean, in 2010, you also get like, I think that's the year the fighter happened. The kids are all right also happened. Easy A.

Yeah, it has that also up in the air. You had Inglourious Bastards. You had The Blind Side. 2010 was a good movie year, precious. There's a lot of big ones, but I think the difference 2010 and now, people saw some of those movies and they watched the Oscars

and they had opinions on them. And now you're looking at the major movies that are going to be in the Oscars. And I can't remember an Oscars and they had opinions on them. And now you're looking at the major movies that are going to be in the Oscars. And I can't remember an Oscars where the average person might not have seen any of any of the five movies that got nominated. You know, it's kind of, I also think that it does this, this weird thing where like there's this expectation now, at least according to the people who write about our entertainment, where if Moonlight only makes $15 or $16 or $17 million, it's kind of considered a stalled movie. Yeah. Like, let's think about what Moonlight actually is for one second. one person told in three chapters played by three different actors directed by a black man

that has no stakes no car crashes no it's just human drama it has made 15 million dollars as i'm sitting here talking you were maybe 16 at this point yeah the idea that that movie needs to make more money from an it from an extremely independent studio, by the way, that the idea that that movie is somehow past its prime or a failure or something because it only made that much on virtually no money to make in the first place is insane to me. But they're still

using these even 2010 ideas of what financial success for a quote-unquote Oscar movie. Wouldn't you say, though, that it's almost like the goals of a movie like Moonlight are different now? You're not even talking about what that final box office figure is, but just the process of people eventually seeing it, whether it's in the theater, on demand, on HBO, on a streaming

service, wherever. I think anybody who likes movies will eventually see Moonlight. I just don't think the process is like, I got to get to the theater in the next three weeks to see it. I saw it by accident. My wife and I needed a date, and we wanted to go on an old school date

and have a dinner and go to a movie. Otherwise, we would have just waited until we either got a screener or or we got uh on demand but that's the way it works now i don't know right and i and i have to say like it's an it's a catchy thing you know it took me i'm kind of i've spent a lot of my time basically at this point being a moviegoer i get invited to things still but a lot of the time i just go on opening weekend or like at some point i'll see it. This was a year for me that was really interesting in terms of what people have chosen to pay attention to.

Martin Scorsese releases, I think, it's not a great movie, Silence, but it is good by one of the world's great filmmakers. Nobody's really seeing it. Or at least, you know, again, this is the entertainment writers reporting that it's sort of been underseen and considered a flop. But, I mean, relative to cost, it is not making the money it cost me. Right. Pedro Almodovar made, I think, a beautiful movie called Julieta. It's kind of doing okay, but this is like one of the world's greatest filmmakers making a movie that nobody is seeing. But like 10 years ago or 15 years ago, everybody, many, many more people would have been going to see.

There's another, I can't remember the other person I was thinking about. Like, oh, I think Sully is the other thing. I mean, Sully people saw. That was a hit. Sully people saw. And it's not getting nominated. And it's also a perfectly good Oscar movie, but for whatever reason, they have rejected that.

And I don't know if it's a political thing, but I mean, I actually don't know. And this idea now that something like Deadpool has become part of the best picture conversation, it's just really telling to me i would i would call it alarming what the fuck deadpool's gonna get nominated for an oscar like what the hell's going on i thought there might be a little i thought there might be a hidden figures groundswell

a little bit because of the moment and it's a good movie people like it a lot of people saw and i think if it gets nominated it could get a little momentum like i you can't rule it out i never thought sandra boak was gonna win an oscar yeah i know and you're correct i actually think it's really interesting that i mean the movie is a huge hit both based on how much it cost to make and just like looking at what the money is hidden figures Figures is a huge hit. And it's just, the word of mouth is really strong on it. And it's going to keep making money

the way it is for probably another three weeks or four weeks. Yeah. I don't know whether the Academy will like it enough to get it a Best Picture nomination. I'm guessing maybe. But think about what it would mean

for a movie like Deadpool to be a Best Picture nominee and not hidden figures. And what that says about what these people's priorities are. And just who's in the Academy to put things in order to become a best picture nominee. As we've talked about before, the way the voting is set up, enough people have to have made Deadpool their top movie of last year to get a Best Picture nomination. It has to be like, I think it's

5% of all voters have to say it's number one. That's crazy. Yeah, it's not happening. I can't imagine it happening either when you really think about what it takes for it to happen. And by the way, if there's 5% of those people think Arrival was the best movie they saw in 2016, you lose your vote.

Just take it away. That's outrageous. I texted this to you. I'm going to say it now on my podcast. I like Amy Adams. I think she's good. I think she's Alex Smith. I think you can go 10 and 6 with her. I'm not winning the Super Bowl with Amy Adams or Alex Smith. I'm sorry.

But you know what the thing is, though? She can get you to the Super Bowl. I think she can get you to the Super Bowl. She can get... She can get to the... I think she can get you to the AFC Championship game. No, listen. I just don't think she's had a Super Bowl role. I think... Here are my top three.

Okay. Yeah. Enchanted. Yeah. The Fighter. Okay. And American Hustle. Those are my top three, Amy Adams. Okay. And American Hustle. Those are my top three Amy Adams.

Okay. Also, The Muppet Movie. If nobody's seen her in The Muppet Movie, she's fantastic. That's my number four. Great. I think she needs... She gets you in the playoffs. Well, I think the problem with Amy Adams, especially in this movie, and especially, especially,

especially, especially with Nocturnal Animals, which I think is the worst movie I saw last year. It's pretty awful. I could also get a Best Picture nomination, by the way. It's awful, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I just, I couldn't believe. No, I enjoyed it because the whole time I was like, why did they do this? Why did they make this?

Why did they do this? Why does Jake Gyllenhaal, he just plays three different types of roles and just alternates. He either plays like the kind of slightly brain damaged guy, he plays the wimp, or he plays like the charismatic, you know,

bravado guy. And he just kind of, he looks at these scripts and just goes into one of those three corners. Yeah, I don't exactly know what the appeal of this part was. I think that Tom Ford has tricked all of Hollywood into believing that he's a talented director. He is a total hack. He's a total Almodovar Hitchcock ripoff. Nothing original happens in his movies.

And he basically makes two hour and five minute cologne commercials that don't smell very good i agree with i agree with everything you just said but they're very pretty to watch it's a very pretty movie it keeps you the colors are nice it does if you want to fall for that if you want to fall for a catalog movie that's fine to yourself listen i want a movie movie i never i fine to yourself. Listen. I want a movie movie. I never really lost attention. Now, granted, I watched this movie on a screener as I played poker on my iPad, so maybe I'm not the best audience for it.

But, yeah, the Jake Gyllenhaal's IMDb choices at some point need to be studied just really carefully by all of humanity to wonder what's happening. Let's go back to Amy Adams for one second. What is Nocturnal Animals asking her to do? It is asking her to perform reading by taking off and putting on a pair of extra large glasses so that people in the audience can know she is actually reading this manuscript.

It is a movie made about smart people by a stupid person. It just doesn't make any sense. And it's another one where when people are like, you know, there aren't enough good roles for black actors and actresses. It's like, that's a role that any person could have played because you don't have to do anything. You could have had Serena Williams play that role.

Serena, Serena, just pretend you're reading something here. It could have been the gimmick of the movie and Serena Williams in her most dramatic performance ever. Um, how much, how much weight guilt are we going to get with these Oscar votes this year?

In your opinion? I don't know. It's a great question. I mean, I think, listen, I don't think they really believe in the question. I mean, I think, listen, I don't think they really believe in the guilt. This is the problem, right? This is how a movie like Crash can be best picture,

because they don't think that's a guilty choice. They think that a movie like Crash is really speaking to what it's like to live in Los Angeles as a white person, on behalf of people of color, by the way. Yeah. I think that the whole, and you and I have talked about this before, but I actually think the most important shot in any American movie, I think maybe ever,

is the hug that Sandra Bullock gives that housekeeper at the end of Crash. I think that it tells you everything you need to know about that town, this country in some weird way, and what those people in the academy think is representative of their values and their views. Like, you can just hug your housekeeper and all things will just be, it'll be okay. And I'm sorry. I think that that to me

is part of the problem. But I also don't think that it's the guilt that they might feel from last year to the extent that they feel any at all. I don't think it's really going to manifest in any way beyond something from Moonlight and Viola Davis winning Best Supporting Actress. But those are things that would happen anyway, like with or without White Gill. You know, I just feel like Viola Davis, because they dropped her down as supporting actress, she should be in the best actress category. That's just like, I mean, you'll have a perfect metaphor for this, but it really is kind of like, I don't know, Serena Williams going and playing on the ITF for a couple weeks. It's like, of course she's going to win all the titles. She's Viola Davis.

She's going to clean up in Best Supporting Actress because she's giving a lead performance that has more screen time than any of the other people that will be nominated with her. But you're in on Michelle Williams. No, I'm glad Viola Davis is going to win the Oscar because she's a great actress, but she's not a supporting actress in that movie. And, you know, the bottom line is nobody cares and we can make up whatever rules we want.

Like the OJ thing, Ezra, that was phenomenal. It was developed for TV. It was always supposed to be a TV thing. And now it's a movie because they released it in a theater for a week. They just make up their own rules with this stuff. Wait, I, wait.

I want to go back to this OJ thing because we disagree on this. Okay. I think that it might have been conceived for television by somebody, but my experience with it was as a movie. And I think many other people, I mean, the majority of people who've seen OJ

have seen it on television, it's true. But I think the reason that it's been playing in movie theaters all year, or since it came out in the summer, is because it actually does work as a movie. It is primarily, for me at least, a movie. And I think that a lot of rep houses across the country have played this one night a week. And they've been doing that pretty much all year, and they haven't broken it up into parts. They played the whole thing.

And I think that is sort of what's incredible about this as a sort of achievement in terms of structure, is that you can break it up into parts, but it also just works if you sit there for seven and a half hours or however long it is. I don't know. I don't really care. I know.

I mean, I don't really care what category it's in. I would care if I was one of the other nominees, you know, and I would care if I'm Michelle Williams and I have like four scenes in that movie. And two of those scenes are like two of the best scenes anyone's had this year and are two of the

most emotionally wrenching scenes that we've had in the last five years and then you see viola davis in fences and she's a lead actress and she's equally in that movie with denzel i don't know what the minute breakdown is but i know she's not a best supporting actress but to put her in that category ultimately who gives a shit i would care if i was nominated and I would care if, if I'm in the documentary category and I'm going against Ezra's OJ movie, that would be what I grasped onto. Like that's seven and a half hours that was developed by ESPN. What the hell? The point is, it doesn't seem like there's anybody monitoring this stuff and people can

do whatever they want. Like Denzel could have put himself in the best supporting actor. He could have, right? Oh, do you think he would have? Do what? He would have? But to your point, yeah. I just said nobody's monitoring you. You can do whatever you want.

Like Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar. He was in Silence of the Lambs for 16 minutes and he won Best Actor. So at that point, it's like, who the fuck knows? Yeah, but I think, I mean, a lot of this for me, and I guess as a person who's just been like really, I don't know, environmentally trained to pay attention to this stuff, I actually think it comes down to what you believe. I mean, if I'm a voter, what do

I believe this person's value is to this movie, either in terms of what the plot has them doing or in terms of their overall effect on my, either memory of

or enjoyment of that movie. And I actually think, I mean, Hopkins is a great example of what happens when, right, he should have just won. Yeah. I mean, Hopkins is a great example of what happens when a – Right. He should have just won. Yeah, and I think Viola Davis could have won for best actress.

That's the thing. I agree. Why didn't she just put her in that category? Yep, she totally would have won. I think that the people who demoted her just thought it would be a lock, and I think that she – I don't want to think for Viola Davis, but I do think that there was a little bit of whiplash on behalf of, if not her, then people around her,

where Meryl Streep won for the Iron Lady and she lost for the help. I think the assumption was that she was going to win, and she didn't. And I just think that there's somebody out there looking out for her who doesn't want her to go through that again. To be nominated for Best Actress, be the frontrunner, and have Emma Stone win Best Actress. I just think that this is a safe bet. Don't get me started on Emma Stone, Best Actress. Right. Don't get me started on that one.

How about this? Should we get started on it? No, if you're in a musical, have a voice that's above average. If it's a big budget musical, just have an above average voice. You just have to. Yeah. And I think Anne Hathaway is probably has to be medicated every day that she didn't get that part. It just got to drive her crazy.

Did she audition for it? No, it's just she had to have seen La La Land and been like oh my god that would have been the part of my life and I hate everything and give me some pills taking pills to forget my pain I actually think that she I mean first of all I think Anne Hathaway is fine

I think second it depends on how you're watching this movie right I think I accept the convention i think i accept the average person doing x thing convention i accept the idea that she that emma stone and ryan gosling aren't supposed to be nobody who says the point supposed to be good at singing right i think that is part of of what's supposed to be charming about it. I think that what is unfortunate about Emma Stone is she really doesn't sound that great from song to song. But I also think that she sort of is disturbed by all of the attention the

movie is getting and the idea that she's going to win an Oscar for it is, is a little distasteful for some people, given how little there is for her to do as an actor, I guess. She obviously is the person who gives the performance can dispute that read, but I think she's really wonderful in the movie. I think that her

I think the only person of the five women likely to be nominated on Tuesday is the only person, the only clear winner, the only person who is inarguably great is Isabelle Huppert, which you should see that movie, by the way, if you haven't already seen it.

That was one of the only ones I didn't see. I really liked Hayley Stanfield in Edge of Seventeen who's not going to get nominated. You told me about that. I really liked her. And I watched that movie and I was shocked. That is a good movie. It's a good movie and she's great in it and I think she's going to. I really liked her. And I watched that movie, and I was shocked. That is a good movie. It's a good movie, and she's great in it,

and I think she's going to be a really good actress. I think Keanu Reeves has to watch all of this very carefully because when John Wick 2 gets all the nominations next February, I think he should nominate himself as Best Supporting Actor. I think he would have a better chance. Even though he's in every scene of John Wick, why not? You'd have a better chance of Best Supporting. in every scene of John Wick. Why not? You'd have a better chance of best supporting. Here's the other thing with putting yourselves in categories. Why isn't O.J. – if O.J. is going to be a movie, why not just be in the movie category?

Isn't that a better, more memorable movie than any movie we had in 2016? Just go for the fucking home run. Listen, I think – well, this should tell you a lot about how this process works, right? I mean, I am with you. I think it is the best movie I saw last year. Me too. If it's a movie,

it was the best movie I saw last year. I think there's an obvious, I heard that. I think that if you're, I mean, there's any number of ways to answer. I think the one way is just the way things work now. Nobody campaigned for it as a Best Picture nominee. Or nobody made a credible enough or strong enough campaign for it as a Best Picture nominee.

The thinking with these animated films and documentaries is that there's a category for you, and it's very hard to get out of your Oscar category ghetto. So the idea of O.J. being a legitimate Best Picture nominee isn't the fault of ESPN, and it's not the movie's fault. It's the limited thinking around the way the Academy thinks of a Best Picture nominee and a Best Picture winner. The same is true for, pick the animated movie you've loved most in the last, you know, 20 years. Do you want to hear the Simmons kids for this year?

Wait, which movie? No, just the movies they loved this year? Oh, yeah. Like, what? Moana was second. Sing was third. And what was the other movie that came out like six, seven months ago? Zootopia.

No, that wasn't. That wasn't. That wasn't it? No. Maybe Moana was one. Finding Dory? It's the glory time for animated movies. That's kind of the irony of 2016 is that the actual, those middle ground movies are disappearing,

but kids movies are more fantastic than they've ever been. And seeing as— But they're also adult movies. If you've seen Zootopia, you know that, like, the middle—I mean, that's a great point, actually. Zootopia is as much an adult movie as it is something for kids. They master them. Well, just like the concept of, hey, somebody was in a room and said, hey, what if the animals sang and there was a contest it's like pitch perfect with the animals and somebody else was like done get the animators going it's like

that's a home run and that's how they're thinking all the time and my kids saw the first preview that they were like we're going when's that coming out animals are singing i'm in that's all they needed kids are easy yeah we've mastered how to make kids movies I think OJ was if you know it's the best thing I saw

in 2016 I don't know how that gets properly commemorated but at the very least the best documentary Oscar

seems like a fair way to do it I don't know does this mean it's not eligible for the Emmys it's not right no it's eligible for the Emmys? It's not, right?

No, it's eligible for the Emmys, too. See, now I'm confused. Now I'm confused. No, I mean, this is all about positioning, and I think they can position it as both. I mean, there are several movies that have either won both the Oscar and the Emmy

or have been nominated for both. And won one or won the other. Oh, you would ask, wouldn't you? Yeah, I don't ever remember it. both the Oscar and the Emmy or have been nominated for both? Like what? Which one? Oh, you would ask, wouldn't you? Yeah, I don't ever remember it. Wait, hold on. Let me think about this. Tate's going to Google as we talk.

Okay. Wait, um... So anyway, go on. I would say also, I think if you're a best... If you're in the director's branch of the Academy and you've seen the O.J. movies, I don't know. I feel like that is also one of the best directed movies I have seen all year.

It's also one of the best edited movies, obviously, I've seen all year. I know one thing that's happened with the Director's Guild that I haven't heard anyone talk about that I know because a little birdie told me? After what happened last year, the Directors Guild has – I think they beefed up the Guild from a diversity standpoint, which they should have done years ago, obviously. But I have a feeling there's a more diverse group of people maybe in all of these places voting would be my guess the academy the director's guild the writer's guild whatever and for something like uh like the oj that's

that's good for if if the director's guild is voting on that that's a good thing right yeah just old white guys yeah but there's i mean it's still gonna be mostly it's still gonna be mostly that yeah um quick break to talk about our friends at zip recruiter are you hiring do you know where to post your job to find the best candidates well posting your job in one place isn't enough anymore for the perfect hire you need to post your job on all the top job sites and now you can with ziprecruiter.com post your job to 100 plus job sites including social media networks like facebook and twitter and you can do it all with a single click find candidates in any city or industry just post once and watch your qualified candidates roll

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What subplot are you the most excited about heading into this Oscars? Because right now it doesn't feel like there's a signature subplot, which is weird. Well, I mean, obviously Trump is going to somehow be a subplot. So that, yeah, I mean, that's going to happen. What if he tweets during the Oscars? He's going to tweet during the Oscars and you know, Jimmy's going to be on the case. Jimmy Kimmel is going to be on the case.

He is ready for that moment. I also think that he might be the perfect host for this year's show. And I'm not saying this because you guys are friends. I actually think, and I just claimed my enthusiasm for his Emmy hosting. Because I think that was some of the best award show hosting I've ever seen. He worked the whole time. He was funny the whole time. The writing was there for him.

And he's just really, he's good at thinking on his feet. And he felt very comfortable in that room. Yeah, and he's comfortable with celebrities. I think he's, you know, we've seen people who host the Oscars, either they perform and then they go the Billy Crystal route, or they just try to be a stand-up comic and they have a lot of they they work on stuff ahead of time and they don't really audible and i think like carson was the best ever at it and carson kind of read the mood as the night went

along and and ebbed and flowed with it and i think that's what jimmy has a chance to do you know it's a really it's it's a big stage for him but he's had a lot of reps and I think he's ready for it. And, you know, I think he's going to celebrate it and be funny, but at the same time as stuff happens during the night, he'll be ready. And it's a long night and it's, it's boring for huge chunks. And you need somebody who's can kind of have a feel for what the audience is going through. Not, not just in the room but on tv so um yeah i think you're right i think trump is as crazy as it sounds probably probably the

lingering subplot and i don't know what movie will remember the most in five years from now but i think for me personally having seen all of them except for, I think, two. The scene with Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams is the one that's going to stick with me, I think. Out of everything. I think the phone call in the third part of Moonlight, when the phone rings and Trevante Rhodes, who plays the last Sharon, when his jaw drops, that is some of the best directed non-acting acting that I've ever seen.

I agree. And I think that was the best... I thought it was the best... Any question, by the way? I think that was the best movie that I saw this year, if O.J. doesn't count. Yeah. I mean, it counts. It's just not going to be saw this year, if O.J. doesn't count. Yeah. I mean, it counts. It's just not going to be an Oscar nominee in that category.

Right. Scared Straight, double Oscar winner, double Emmy Oscar winner, 79. Oh, Scared Straight. Other nominees. Yeah, Scared Straight, of course. Who could forget? If nobody's seen Scared Straight, by the way, you should totally watch the movie. It's now a comedy.

Bill, no, it actually still works. Really? Yeah, it still works. It's scary. Yeah. It's probably on YouTube. It still works. It's still a little bit racist, too.

But it actually, it's effective. Five Broken Cameras, Paradise Lost,, Purgatory, both nominees. Oh, Paradise Lost. Nominees in both characters. Yeah. Yeah. The Loving Story. Oh, they didn't.

No, no, no, never mind. Let's just stick with Paradise Lost. That's a good role model. All right. Quickly, because you have to go. Oh, by the way, we should mention your broadcast. Still processing with Jenna Wortham. Still processing with Jenna Wortham. I made an appearance

a month ago. Jenna is one of the best people. You were correct. So the March, did you go? I did not go. I can't go. I'm not allowed as a New York Times employee. I did watch a lot and receive texts. I was on Twitter and looked at all the pictures.

I would like to have been there, looked at all the pictures and I would like to have been there, but I also am not really into that many people being around me. Yeah. But I support, you know, obviously I'm, I keep, the amazing thing about the marches to me as an American is that this is the sort of thing that happens in other people's countries all the time or not with time, not infrequently. And the idea that now we live in a country like many South American countries where people protest all the time.

We're protesting as a way of life. We could finally be on the verge of becoming one of those countries as a result of this election. And to see as many people in as many cities turn out the way they did was just, it was amazing. It was moving. And also to have it aimed at a specific problem, which is the incoming administration, is maybe the most major response to what happened in November.

And I don't know where we go after this. You know, I mean, I think that the importance of doing that march in all the cities around the world where it happened is that that march is speaking his language, right? It's speaking a language he refuses to acknowledge is his language, right? Which is, you know, the number of people in a crowd. But I think that he understands what those people coming out for him mean. He could misinterpret it as being a kind of supporter, like I'm someone who warrants this kind of outrage.

But, you know, when you've got Madonna singing that song or, like, you know, giving that speech that she gave about him and then just being like, you know, fuck you on behalf of all of us. I mean, this is going to be an interesting and scary and I would say unprecedented four years. It's certainly been an interesting first week. I was

fascinated by my daughter's 11 and a half now and she went with my wife and just Do they stay in LA or do they go to DC? No, they went to the LA one, although we did know some people who went to DC before it became clear that there was an LA thing. Some people had made arrangements that we know to go to DC,

but I'm watching the impact on that generation. And I think that the, the kids from maybe the kids old enough to understand, I would say it'd be seven years old. Maybe they don't understand, you know, the issues, but they understand something and they want to be a part of it. That seven all the way through, I would say like 10th grade, 11th grade, that part's fascinating to me because I think the previous generation just stuff wasn't on their radar at all, you know?

And you think like my 11 and a half year old daughter, who's not exactly online reading stuff and knowing what's going on, who actually now is starting to think about things, you know, I think that's, that's to me is, is the hidden cool thing about stuff like what happened last weekend is to get people just thinking, you know, and whether, whatever the conclusion they want to come to, come to that conclusion. But at least just to get thinking and, you know, when you have kids who are like, especially

now they're in their own little bubbles and they have their friends and they're on Instagram and they're on Musical.ly and all these, all these devices, these social things. And it's like, this is way more important than that. And I was psyched that they actually were thinking about it. If that makes sense. I also think it's really important that it was women who did this, that it's women standing up to this person. Yeah. I think that energy means so much more politically than it would be if it was just a bunch of people. I think that because these protests were driven by women, that's another thing I

think that people paying attention to this are likely to hear. I also think it's really important in the sense that, I don't know, there's a Hillary component to this that I haven't really processed, but I think it's not absolution, but it really is, I think, aiming, there's something aimed at those 53, at that 53% of women who voted for him. And this idea that, like, women didn't show up for Hillary and all of this stuff. I reject that. I mean, the numbers speak for themselves. I'm not here to dispute those. I'm not Sean Spicer.

But I do think that there's another energy. And I think that, you know, she did win the popular vote, not insignificantly. And I am curious to see what kind of energy this creates around women in American politics and where where where that energy goes because I mean what we're talking really about now is energy it's like you create the will to stand up to this administration whatever it is it's going to do is it gonna is it gonna roll back women's reproductive rights is it gonna is it gonna further it going to help further destroy the environment? What's it going to do for immigrants and immigration? You know, what's it going to

do for any number of civil liberties scenarios? Voting rights. I mean, there's just so many things. I mean, you know, health care is the ticket thing it is on it is it is on the slab perhaps doomed um and i think that it's going to require kind of vigilance i'm actually really curious to see what happens to art is really the the other thing i think that there there's all of this i'd like to see like imagine if mad max came out now, if Mad Max Fury Road came out like in July as opposed to like two Julys ago. Yeah. Well, and music too is another thing where you think

you had this whole great era of rock music from 68 through 75 basically. And a lot of it was about the discord that was going on in this country and around the world because of all the things that were happening. And it produced some of the best music we've ever had. And I'll be interested to see if, how that,

how that kind of unfolds in 2017 and 2018 and beyond. And maybe it won't, maybe it won't do anything. Maybe we don't have the people, um, from a movie standpoint, from a movie's TV standpoint, I think, I think you're going to, 18 and beyond and maybe it won't maybe it won't do anything maybe we don't have the people um from a movie standpoint from a movie's tv standpoint i think i think you're gonna it'll be like about six nine more months and then we'll start to see fantasy now we're talking about whether you remember there was that weird stretch of movies in the mid 70s where it was like a lot of three

days of the condor type of movies it was a lot of it about the government is evil. Capricorn one. There are all these different movies that came out during that stretch. And you could kind of feel what was going on from the Nixon white house. And then after, and even all the way through like Silkwood, but it was like this eight year run of just, you could feel whatever's going on in the country seeping into these movies.

And then you had all the Vietnam movies like deer deer hunter apocalypse now um i'll be interested to see if that happens with movies and how that seeps in and is there going to be a paranoia is the paranoid thriller going to come back costar this might be great for him costar might have yeah no way out too might be might be in the script development. But yeah, who the hell knows? It goes right back to what you were talking about, Bill. There is now no movie-making apparatus to handle what is going on in this administration. Do you know what I mean? There's no middle, which is where all those movies in the 70s were.

It's true. There was a middle. There was a large middle to handle being able to handle Nixon-era paranoia, to handle the war, to handle any number of isms and ism movements. You know, the idea that a network

could happen in 2016, it's inconceivable to me. You know, but network is now on TV basically. This is the on TV. Basically, this is the last thing. That's how it works. I'm leaving you with this.

Then we have to go. I took my son to see the bye-bye man on Saturday because I'm a terrible father and he loves horror movies. Yeah. It's PG 13. I thought it was defensible. Uh, he just loves horror movies. What am I going to do?

Faye Dunaway is in it. I'm going to leave you with that. Faye Dunaway is in it I'm going to leave you with that Faye Dunaway Faye Dunaway is not happening in 2016 They have to go see an old lady in a house Who knows stuff about What's going on in the movie And it's Faye Dunaway

Yeah So there you go You just never know how your career is going to play out down the line Faye Dunaway top of the world Mid 70's now making a two scene cameo In the Bye Bye Man So there you go. You just never know how your career is going to play out down the line. Fade down a way. Top of the world. Mid-70s. Now making a two-scene cameo in the Bye Bye Men. Wesley Morris, we can read you in the New York Times.

We can listen to your podcast, Still Processing. And I'm excited to see what you say about these Oscar nominations. I'm sure something will make us mad, right? Yeah, we'll talk about them after they happen tomorrow. Alright. Or Tuesday. Alright, sad everyone in New York. Thank you. Okay, see ya. Alright, that's it for the podcast.

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