This Had Oscar Buzz - 185 – The Aeronauts

Episode Date: March 14, 2022

We’re taking flight this week with the “women don’t belong in balloons!” heard round the world. In 2019, The Aeronauts’ awards hopes took flight by reuniting The Theory of Everything’s Oscar winning-and-nominated duo of Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in the quasi-true story of a hot air balloon expedition that launched modern day weather forecasting. The film … Continue reading "185 – The Aeronauts"

Uh-oh, wrong house. No, the right house. I didn't get that! We want to talk to Marilyn Hacks. gentlemen to predict the weather could save hundreds of thousands of lives we are scientists not fortune tellers you'll get your chance they'll realize your worth i think they know my worth quite well enough prove them wrong james i'm a really good aeronaut i want to use what i'm good at

women don't belong in balloons and she makes such a show of herself hello and welcome to the this had oscar buzz podcast the only podcast that Jesus loves more than you will know. Every week on this had Oscar buzz, we'll be talking about a different movie that once upon a time had lofty Academy Award aspirations, but for some reason or another, it all went wrong. The Oscar hopes died, and we are here to perform the autopsy.

I'm your host, Joe Reed. I'm here, as always, with my really good aeronaut. Chris File, hello, Chris. Joe, do you even have a balloon? Obviously, I'm sure in the trailer clip that you put in there, women don't have women don't belong in balloons is in there but i gotta say there are some other contenders for equally absurd lines about balloons felicity jones saying do you even have a balloon like she's

you know from the plastics and then on wednesdays we fly in balloons um well the the haughty british men basically saying the same line like they're the gay plastics it's true Have you ever seen in a balloon? There's also the moment in the trailer where Eddie Redmayne says, predicting the weather could save thousands of lives and then it cuts to a shot of him like in the rain, sticking his hand out in the rain, where I was just like, we need to improve this system of weather casting before it was just our hands. And it's...

We cannot walk out into the rain. It is so dangerous. It is a very... To communicate the, like, the life-saving potential of balloons, it's just like, we could figure out when it's raining, which also actually makes me think of mean girls and Karen being whatever, 75% sure that it's already raining. Absolutely. The Aeronauts is just mean girls, listeners.

It's a kind of funny and kind of somewhat iconic trailer for a movie that isn't much of anything, although I will say before we get ahead of ourselves, for a movie that I've already fallen asleep while trying to watch once before, I didn't. hate it the way I thought I would hate it. There are parts of it that I was like, oh, I find myself, like, oddly, like, wrapped up in this story a little bit. I think it is a non-functioning movie. I think at some point with, when they're up in the balloon and whatever, like, I was like,

I cannot deny that I hope that she can wedge her little boot in here because, you know, otherwise they'll just keep ascending and ascending and they'll die. And I would like, I would like for them to succeed. Well, they're going up, up, up to the heaven side layer. Oh, God. The other movie from December 2019, that features an ascent into the heavens via balloon. That's true. The storm cloud that they go through, they crash into Grizzabella.

That's how she dies. Wait, you're saying that all that effort to give, to have Grisabella win the chance. to go to the Heaviside Layer and become the Jellicle Choice was for naught because she got knocked to her death by the Aeronauts? Well, you know why she was the Jellicle Choice. Why? Because she's a really good Aeronaut. Shut the fuck.

Swear to God. You're a menace. You are a menace to me, Chris. I'm just saying you could stitch the ending Grisabella Ascent to the Heaviside Layer into this movie, and they would look equal. is atrocious. I think aside from this movie being

just narratively not good, not working, I think it is so but ugly to look at every second of this movie, every frame is really hideous to me. It's not

great. It's also I mean, we'll definitely talk about the decision to you know, film so much of this movie in iMacs and then release it on amazon and you know the the bafflement there but i i feel like we should ease our way into this somehow is this our second only our second 2019 movie after cats uh no it's our third because once again what else is up up up in the sky oh no Lucy

Right Wow We really are making A whole theme of it With our 2019 films It's amazing that we're already Like three calendar years Past

2019, right? We've changed the calendar Over three times since then Well and we'll maybe Have a pretty momentous occasion To do 2019 against it Who's to say Who's to say

hint hint we've got some plans i will say for like if you are a loyal listener or if you are even just sort of recently coming on to our podcast we've got some interesting things coming down the pike including uh as as you all may or may not know every may we do a mini series and we've got one a cookin as faramone might say i would say our most ambitious may mini series it's true it's It's the one that has required us to mobilize a lot more and a lot earlier than we had before. And there's maybe fewer connective threads between, like, the movies. Right. I would say that we're probably at least, it'll be movies that our listeners have seen at least most of.

Yes. But more on that soon. yeah so stay tuned like I said let us know what you think it might be we've got great movies for March and April as well but like I would I would circle May on your calendar there's going to be some fun ones so yeah some good discussion ahead which is not to say that we don't already have good discussion in the in the in the quiver for the Aeronauts but what is this movie what is this movie about Aeronauts I remember when I first heard about this movie when I was sort of doing research

as I often do at the very beginning of the season because Vanity Fair will have me on for like long look ahead or whatever and so I prepare a little spreadsheet which I am currently doing now for the films of 2022. Cannot wait to send my feverish text to you to send me that spreadsheet?

Yes. Now that I send it to more people I am feeling more and more because initially it was just like it was my little cheat sheet or whatever and now that I'll like I'll send it to Katie, I'll send it to Richard, I'll send it you and it's like now I feel the pressure to have it be as comprehensive and accurate as possible because I will still never forget the year that I sent it out to everybody at VF and we recorded

the podcast and part of their podcast was like which movie do you think is going to go all the way and Mike Hogan picked a movie on that spreadsheet that fully had already been pushed to the next year and I hadn't made that change on the spreadsheet and so like after the fact that I was like, oh, God, like, that movie that Mike picked isn't coming out till next year, and I felt so responsible for, like, of, you know, factual error on that point. And it was just like, oh, God, this is too much pressure now. It's too much pressure. I mean, like, I keep similar spreadsheets, but you're really good at, like, finding things that I hadn't even realized.

Or things that, like, you know, you hear in a headline and then it gets buried among 15 other headlines and you forget about. You would think that I would be very diligent about that. What it actually is is me, like, haphazardly going through as many movie studio Wikipedia pages as possible for, like, upcoming movies or, like, just scouring through all of IMDB under a production company header. And, of course, I don't have a comprehensive list of every, you know, studio, even though most of them, like, obviously the big ones or whatever. This is very boring to say. But anyway, this is all of which is to say is. I am a spreadsheet nerd, and more and more so, getting more and more so every year. And sometimes it is to the benefit of all that I can do this thing.

So anyway, yeah, the Aeronauts, I remember when I first read about it, and my very first thought was, and I think I expressed this on that very Vanity Fair podcast, was, oh, it's going to be like a romance up in the air. and I was like just like that Kate Winslet movie where it was like Kate Winslet and Idris Elba on the mountain Are they gonna fuck on that mountain? And it's like and it's like

Our Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones gonna fuck in that balloon and then you watch the movie And you're like-30,000 feet baby And then you're watching the movie and you're like A I could not care less And B like that's obviously never going to happen Because this movie is not really about a romance Even if there are like hints towards it

It is mostly about a nerdy numbers boy and an adventuresome lady and her essentially being right. Her proving that she belongs in that balloon. Right. And it's like there's no, I mean, this is an easy metaphor because they turn to icicle people by the end of the movie, but like there is no warm blood going on in that movie in that basket of that balloon whatsoever. There's a lack of oxygen up. that high. Well, I also, listen, I'm never going to not at least kind of like a movie where altitude madness comes into play. Like, I like a movie where space madness happens. I like a movie

with altitude madness. Anything where like a lack of oxygen to the brain contributes to you going off of the deep end for purposes of a movie. Cool. I'm into it. So. But on paper, at least initially, this movie seemed like it could be you know fuck mountain in the skies you know adventure romance in hot air balloons and the danger but what it really is

is like what if gravity in a hot air balloon with flashbacks to Sandra Bullock's dead child yes yeah I mean there's a lot there's like gravity kind of made people think oh I

could make that movie because like I think gravity is probably one of the more influential movies on what this movie is trying to be and failing to be I think that's right I think that's right because like even the kind of like action adventure stuff you know the survivalist in like this you know impossible dangerous circumstance sure isn't that good or interesting and partly it's because you're looking at too many pixels yeah and otherwise, just because these characters aren't that interesting. I think that's the biggest problem is that the characters

just aren't that interesting. And we'll get into the true story of it all and what is based on a real, real people and what is fictionalized. Including whole characters, whole thematic elements of the movie. Which is fine

with me. Like, make the whole thing fictional for all I care, but just like make it compelling. Yeah, exactly. It should be entirely fictional. Instead, we get the girl boss of the hot air balloon. That is basically the thing, and that's what a lot of the reviews really focused in on, too, as I was reading the reviews. But you mentioned, uh, sort of the flashbacks and the balloons and whatnot, and you find out that much like most movies made nowadays, uh, the Aeronauts is about trauma and, um, Felicity Jones has a traumatic event in her past.

It took me to looking up the cast on IMDB to realize that her, uh, late husband, from these flashbacks is played by Vincent Perez, who... Really? I didn't even catch that. I know. Like, you wouldn't, because all of the flashbacks are, like, filmed very sort of frantically. And so, like, you rarely get to linger on his face. And then also, he's got, like, a beard situation going on.

And also, I can't remember the last time I've seen Vincent Perez in a movie, but I will say this. He is not somebody who really has much of a presence in films today. He is somebody... If you look back, he was in the crow city of angels. He was the sort of the second guy who was the crow. He was in Cyrano de Bergerac. He was in Queen of the Damned. He's the non-Lastat character, like male lead in Queen of the Damned.

I always, always, always. I've never seen this movie, actually, and I really should. But there's this still from the movie Queen Margo. where it's Vincent Perez. Both of them wrapped in like a... In a blanket. And this like red velvet blanket. And he is...

You should watch that movie. That movie's kind of rad. That's a gnarly movie. I should. Well, also it's like she's one of the most beautiful people who have ever existed, right? And he is also, especially in this shot, like I've never seen a more beautiful man in my entire life. They're both leaning back at this non-human angle and staring into each other's eyes. Literally just go on Google image search.

Yeah, put it on the Tumblr. Go Google image search. Vincent Perez and Isabella Johnny and Queen Margo. They look so pretty. And also please Photoshop them into a hot air balloon and send it to us. And please give us that movie. I would have Vincent Perez and Isabella Johnny fucking in a hot air balloon at 30,000 feet. Today, in 20, like make that movie in 2019, like much less in 1990 when they were at their like scorching.

hot peak. But like I tweeted one time years ago when I was found this still again, I was like gay Twitter would not have been able to handle 1990s Vincent Perez. And it's absolutely true. Like we just would not have had the capacity to, there would not have been gifts of, you know, people melting into puddles in their seats enough for Vincent Perez in the 1990s. And truly we didn't deserve him. Anyway, still hot enough today to give Felicity Jones PTSD for having lost him for being a good husband. A good husband

who will swan dive out of a balloon to save your life, spoiler alert, but also don't watch his movie. Well, and he swando like, I don't know, something, something, swando straight into a gay man, I don't know. What do you say swan dive onto this D?

Is that what you're saying? Land on me, Vincent Perez, is what I'm saying. I don't know. all right um we will have plenty of time to talk about uh other hot men in this movie because himesh patel is also in this movie will get into it um but i think let's do i think this we can we can dive into the plot description maybe a little bit early i know 20 minutes is usually our uh our yardstick but uh listen it's all in flashbacks we're going forward talking about the

movie and then we're going back and forth talking about vincent Perez this movie starts So, this movie starts so much in the middle of a scene that I genuinely thought that I, that like, that like my Amazon Prime had like started me 25 minutes into the movie or whatever. It's an odd, it's such an oddly paste and structured movie. It's weird. It's so weird. All right. But we are talking about the 2019 film The Aeronauts this week. It was directed by Tom Harper, not to be confused with Tom Hooper, who directed again. Another 2019 movie about cats going up in balloons. Written by Jack Thorn, starring Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, A Theory of Everything Reunion, we'll talk about it. Hamesh Patel, Tom Courtney, Anne Reid, with the iconic line reading of Women Don't Belong in Balloons, which I totally didn't clock from the trailer that it was her.

Vincent Perez, as I mentioned, Phoebe Fox, playing Felicity Jones' sister. It premiered at the Telleride Film Festival on August 30th, 2019. It played a very cursory run in select theaters on December, starting December 9th, 2019, before dropping on Amazon Prime on December 20th, the absolute ideal place for a movie filmed with IMAX cameras with stunning panoramic vistas. Yes, you definitely want to watch that on your laptop. Did you just say stunning in scare quotes, or did you mean that? I mean, the panoramic vistas are intimidating. Like, I am a person who is, I would say, easily scared by Heights.

And every time you sort of, like, took a look down, I was like, oh, shit. I wanted to feel that way because I am deathly terrified of Heights. But it just looks so rubbery and blast. Well, but I think that, I think seeing it on a laptop screen does not help that. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like this would, this is just a, it's a, it's a face. way of screening that movie. I just, I read enough reviews that had praised what some of those, some of those visuals

were that I believe seeing it on a big screen would have contributed to it. Like, I just trust them. So, yes, I said breath, what did I say? Breathtaking. Stunen. Stunin, it's stonin. All right, Chris, 60 seconds on the clock, would you like to begin? describing the plot

of the aeronauts. Uh, yeah. All right, and begin. Okay, so Felicia Jones plays Amelia Wren, who is a hot air balloon pilot, even though what? Altogether now, women don't belong in balloons. She partners up, uh, this is also set in like

the mid-1800s. She partners up with a scientist named James Glacier. He is real and real life. She is not. She is a fictional character. But they partner up. He wants to basically do early meteoros. but everyone in the science community thinks that's crazy. You can't predict the weather.

Anyway, they try to ascend as high as anybody has ever gone in a hot air balloon and they do it, but he goes a little crazy in the process and she has to climb to the very top of the hot air balloon to like open the vent thing and save them. Meanwhile, she's processing her trauma because her husband, who was a pilot with her, jumped out of a hot air balloon to save them one time. Anyway, meanwhile, she is saving James the time. 10 seconds. They crash, and then the science community says that weather meteorology is real.

Four seconds to just talk about meteorology some more if you want to. Nope, too late. It's over. Okay. Yeah. Insert in Yara Sophia, oh, I burned my ass. Yes. That's the long timeline of meteorology starts with this. Starts with Eddie Redmayne proving that you can predict the weather, and then the end game of meteorology science. is Yara Sophia. Yep, that is the alpha and the omega of meteorology.

That is definitely for sure. Yeah, so again, this movie starts in a weird sort of like media res, and then they're up in the balloon, and then we are flashing back to all of the moments in Eddie Redmayne's career where people have told him that predicting the weather is akin to junk science and sorcery, and all of the moments where Felicity Jones was told women don't belong in balloons and wouldn't you rather stay home and, I don't know, so or something like that. It's super vague on those points, which is why it's like a frustrating girl boss type movie.

Right. Because it's like, if you're going to completely fictionalize this character, because it was apparently two male scientists, and like not even make it about, you know, a real woman who existed. right like to fictionalize it and then to be as lowest common denominator about it as you can be it's like what you i get that like this movie wants to like talk about like you know power to women and such but like it does it in an entirely vague way in the way that it ports this it portrays this character's life in how it's limited her or like how like how she's had to fight back against certain systems. It doesn't go into that at all. It just assumes that like women don't belong in balloons.

Right. So the real story was there was a real British aeronaut named James Glacier, and he did have a 1862 balloon flight with a man named Henry Coxwell, pause for laughter, and that really happened. And also around that time, there were women. who sort of worked within the general field of balloonage and aeronautics. There was a woman named Sophie Blanchard and a woman named Margaret Graham. And those two women are sort of the composite basis, very loose sort of basis for Felicity Jones' character.

But she's essentially a fictionalized composite, new character. And also, James Glacier is like the very basis of the Red Main character. Like, everything that happens in this movie is fictionalized beyond the fact that there was a balloon flight. And my feeling is the only reason that they kept this character named James Glacier, it's not spelled exactly like the iceberg, but like it's, they wanted to keep the symbolism of this cold and distant man named Glacier and this free-spirited woman whose last name is Wren. And it's just like, we get it. She's just a bird who wants to fly, and he has, like, little icicles in his cold dead heart. And he's portrayed by Eddie Redmayne, who either has the options of, or seemingly makes a choice, of speaking with his mouth entirely closed, or open wide enough to swallow the whole of Lana Waschowski. Those are the two modes of Eddie Redmayne.

Even especially, you know, up in the tropopause. Right. Frozen. The belt of calm, dead air. I dreamed, I went there. Yes. Catch me on any other day watching the aeronauts and, like, in my head, just reciting the Harper Pit monologue from the End of Angels in America. This is how we improve the aeronauts.

We just insert footage from other movies, namely Grisabella, Mary Louise Parker, flying by them. Right. Vincent Perez joining the Web of Souls rising and repairing the hole in the ozone layer And it was repaired nothing has ever gone for good Okay At least I think that's so At least I think that's so All right

Mom, what did you think that was about? Love All right, now we've brought Still Alice into it, I'm happy Okay So I watched the end of that the other day I watched the end of that the other day it again. It's fine. I'm fine. Everything's good. That's great.

You would not have pegged... If I had shown this movie to somebody who had not seen any movies from like the previous decade and I said, true or false, these two lead actors have been in a movie together where they played husband and wife

and were good enough that they both were nominated for Academy Awards. One of them won. I would have gotten like a 95 5% false. False. Absolutely. There is no sense in this movie that these two are like familiar with each other, are like old friends. I imagine there's like a good, I imagine they have a good working relationship if they both wanted to go star in this balloon movie together.

But there is no great chemistry between them in this movie, which is puzzling. I mean, I would ask you in their other screen performances, who has. have either of them had great chemistry with? Well, now you're going to chint. That's the thing. I think that they're just not... Well, you hate Eddie Redmayne more than I do. So let me see. I mean, hate is extreme because I do... Please, it just admit that you hate Eddie Redmayneen.

Then stop gaslighting me that you don't. I... I'm about to make you more angry. But, like, I do think what he is doing in Jupiter ascending is correct from that movie. Well, I do too. I don't love that movie. everybody else has decided to make the movie a secret masterpiece. I think the...

Not secret masterpiece, but I love it. I think he's great in that movie. I think he's exactly right. I think he is on the wavelength that that movie needs. I think it's his best performance. I agree. I absolutely would agree with that. No, I think in his career, it's...

No, like, Eddie Redmayne is not notable for being a smoldering ball of chemistry, right? We're like... But, like, I think in Savage Grace... And again, the chemistry there is supposed to be... be bent and twisted, and maybe that's the temperature that works best for him, and we really haven't seen him do bet and twisted aside from Jupiter ascending. Maybe this is the realization that we all have to make, is that like stop casting Eddie Redmayne as normal non-twisted people and will be fine. The problem with that is, in this day and age, that means that he will be cast as the Joker

if he wants him to play freaks. It's the only bent and twisted role. It's true. It's a bummer. But yeah, no, you're not wrong. It's not like he and Catherine Waterston are burning up the screen in Fantastic Beasts. I mean, less said about the Danish girl, the better. He and Amanda Seifred did not have particularly scorching chemistry in Le Miz. He and Michelle Williams did not have particularly scorching chemistry in my week with Maryland. You're not wrong. You are not wrong on the merits there.

But I will say, I liked both of them in the theory of everything. Would I have given him the Oscar for it? Maybe not, but I don't hate that Oscar win. I think he gives an incredibly committed and physically demanding performance in that movie. And I think it's... Worse could have happened, but... Yes. And I don't think that either of them are bad in that movie.

I think she's better than he is, and that's probably her best performance. But, like... Oh, yeah. Let me look into her chemistry. So, Felicity Jones, I think, fares better in the chemistry department. Let's go through her filmography kind of quickly. Or whatever. whatever, we've got time. We don't need to talk about the Aeronauts for vis-a-vis the Aeronauts too much. Okay.

She had been in stuff like Brideshead Revisited and Sheree, although I don't remember noticing her in those. Her big breakout was like crazy. Right. And so I think the both of you are on the same. She was also in, by the way, the Julie Tameur version of The Tempest that I've still not seen. That one of these days I should. Does she play The Tempest? No, Ben Wichel plays The Tempest. I'm pretty sure. No, right. Spider-Man plays The Tempest. Right. Like Crazy is a movie I think that both of us are sort of united on in that. Like, that was a movie that got a lot of great critical acclaim, and neither one of us liked it very much.

Right? I remember being kind of ho-hum, though, like, I respect what it's doing. And, like, part of the point of that movie is that she has limited chemistry with Anton Yelchen. Like, it's, you know, kind of narratively the point. but, you know, there's something, but nothing at the same time. That was around the time I was really coming around on Anton Yelton. For whatever reason, early in his career, I was very anti, and I don't know what my problem was. But I don't think he's bad in that movie.

Her character is really behind an eight ball, where her character behaves so obstinately stupidly. That movie sort of hinges on the fact that she, her visa ends up expiring because she just stays in the United States too long to be with this guy. and it's one of those things where you're watching the movie and you're just like just go renew your fucking visa like and this will be fine but like and it's so it's very hard to sympathize with her character especially because it's just like this movie could have been an email is basically my feeling about like crazy and um and then so it's like it all feels very contrived in that way and blah blah so anyway she's in the movie the Rafe Fein's directed movie, The Invisible Woman, that got an Oscar nomination for, I want to say costumes.

Indeed, it did. What are those, like, one Oscar nomination movies that I only watched because I needed to see all the Oscar nominees? It's fine. I feel like the reviews were pretty good for it. I don't remember a ton about it. It's about Charles Dickens and the younger woman who becomes his lover, and she's the younger woman who becomes his lover. How did you feel about The Invisible Woman? I did not see it.

Yeah, I think you're fine. She's very, very, very briefly in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, to the point where it's only notable because people thought that that was a character who would become more important in a supposed third Amazing Spider-Man movie that we never got. Which would have had scenes shot for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 with Shailene Woodley. as Mary Jane, that they're like, oh, well, we'll just push this off to the third one that we're definitely going to make.

Yeah, yeah, that it will definitely happen, and it didn't happen. But that was the same year as the Theory of Everything, so that was sort of easy to forget. So Theory of Everything, big breakthrough, Best Actress nomination. In a way we're like, I'm glad they campaigned her in Best Actress

because you could have seen a world where they just campaigned her as supporting and maybe given her, sort of like, do the Alicia Vekander of it all, and just be like, well, she's not the main thrust of the movie as the male lead is, so we are, you know, demoting her. And I'm glad they didn't do it. I'm also glad that she didn't beat Julianne Moore,

because Julianne Moore deserved that Oscar. 2016, a monster call is not really a ton of call for chemistry there. Okay, Rogue One, a Star Wars story. I genuinely really liked the chemistry between her and Diego Luna in that movie. I thought... The issue is the reshoots for that movie overhauled that character so that, like, she kind of, I think, got a little screwed. Because the signs are there that she was supposed to play a harder, darker character. That might have been more interesting, but, like...

I still think that's my favorite of the new Star Wars movies. And I think, like, even all of which, all of what you say is true, but I think on a, just on a pure screen chemistry, level, I think she and Diego Luna sell what they are able to sell in that movie because I think they do have good chemistry together is my verdict on that. Speaking of verdicts,

we should do on the basis of sex sometime soon. I mean, we'll... It's kind of the perfect this had Oscar Buzz movie. It is. We have to dodge the Army Hammer ness of it, so he's like nothing in that movie. We can dodge those bullets. I am

less concerned with landmines of that sort than you are but I mean there's a lot of landmines anyway so it's like we just kind of embrace it throughout and then I genuinely I know I saw the midnight sky and I know she was in the midnight sky

I know she pretty much is the lead she's sort of like the female lead of the midnight sky and yet that awful movie not a good movie and I don't remember a thing from her so I guess you're right in the fact that like yeah she plays the pregnant astronaut right no I know but I just mean

Women belong in balloons and in space. And in space, yeah. What is this movie the last letter from your lover that is her most recent thing? Her and... Oh, wait, it's a Shailene Woodley movie. Shailene Woodley, Callum Turner, Joe Alwynn. Oh, Shailene Woodley's the ad. It is Felicity Jones as the female lead of this movie.

I've never even heard of this movie. I think that's something that was just, like, dumped on Netflix. I mean, that makes sense. weird anyway can we talk up a little bit about their theory of everything nominations and wins because

yeah let's do it I would argue it's a big part of the reason why this had Oscar this movie had Oscar buzz because because they were re-teaming yeah it was such as Oscar success the last time they teamed up well I would argue

and like she I would argue she is last place of that lineup but I don't think she's bad. But, like, I think Julianne Moore was so obviously out in front than, like, second through fifth was probably all close-ish. But I think because Julianne Moore is so far out in front, we don't really talk about this best actress lineup

as being as good as it is, because I think it's a pretty great best actress five. I think at the time, my mental energy was in two places, one of which was, yes, Julianne Moore does seem like she's going to finally win her Academy Award. And emotionally, I needed to sort of feather that nest and just sort of make sure that I was prepared for that. And the glorious moment it was. And but I think the other thing was I was so preoccupied with being annoyed that Gone Girl and Wild didn't do as well in the overall nominations. And it makes it seem like that.

best actress lineup is weaker than it is because those movies somewhat underperform, well, did underperform. Well, and we have been coming off of, I've written about and talked about a lot about how best actress and best picture don't correlate as well as best actor, and it's annoying. And we had been coming off of actually a decently improved run for that particular phenomenon, where in 2013, Amy Adams in American Hustle, Sandra Bullock, in Gravity, Judy Dench, and Philomena, all were representing Best Picture Nominees in 2012, Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings, Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark 30, Emmanuel Riva in Amor, and Covonjevallis

in Beast of the Southern Wild, all representing Best Picture Nominees. So we had been on a little bit of an upswing with that, and then 2014 happens. And not only is Felicity Jones for the theory of everything the only best actress nominee to represent a best picture nominee, but in my mind, at least, Gone Girl and Wild should have been best picture nominees that year. Yeah, absolutely. And they weren't. And I was good and pissed off about it. But you're right. It's a really, really strong best actress lineup.

Do you remember who, oh, God, it's cake, right? Marianne Cotillard ends up edging out Jennifer Aniston for cake, right, making it a much better lineup for that. And I'm glad that she got nominated for two days one night instead of the immigrant, because I liked two days one night better. I mean, that's, I

like the immigrant better as a movie, but as a performance, like that two days one night performance is kind of leagues above the other. Yeah. Yeah, Rosamine Pike for Gone Girl. I watched the second half of Gone Girl on TV the other day.

It's a great, like, flipping through channels, and oh, it's Gone Girl, I'll be watching this. Catch me on the right day, and I'll tell you it's my favorite Fincher movie. I mean, that's a really interesting call. I think it's the active challenger to Zodiac. I mean, Zodiac is my choice. I, again, like, there's so many good Fincher movies to choose from. But, yeah, Gone Girl's phenomenal. And it's almost as if she's the only nominee from that movie, and I almost wish on some days that we could do that.

movie because it's a fascinating thing of like there were the expectations were really high and the the anticipation for it was really strong it didn't get bad reviews but it got different reviews than people were expecting and the movie was good in a way that took people kind of a second to acclimate to the way it was good if that makes sense right well I don't think people realize that Fincher's approach to the movie ultimately was making it a very dark comedy. Right. He really punched up the satirical elements of the novel and, you know, kept the kind of grungy, off-putting parts of the, like, pot boiler, you know, the trash novel of it all. Yeah.

like the book isn't but see like I think a lot of people I love it that book like it is just like trash airport novel but it is actually a very smart book do I really liked it yeah I really like it one of my favorite vacation novels of all time actually I devoured that one in the span of a week long vacation yeah I think I read that book in like two days and it was weird that it got I mean not necessarily like Rosamke's very good in that movie but like that movie is so decidedly like well built around her that it's a little weird

to just boil down to it's the center of its gravity she is but there's so much more going on in that movie beyond her that's excellent it's the one movie I feel like Ben Affleck I feel like if you could ever utter the sentence justice for Ben Affleck and I'm not going to be your guy for saying that sentence but it's for that one

it's if he's going to have an Oscar. It should be for that movie, in my opinion. Honestly, yes. Yes. Because there's nobody in this best actor lineup that I think is as good as Ben Affleck in that movie. And part of it is just, like, him being cast in that role at all, and then him kind of meeting the challenge of accepting, you know, the vulnerability or the, like, self-commentary of him playing that role. Yeah. I know. I think you're right. And also, and it's, you know, down to, like, it's crazy that none of the crafts categories went for that movie

probably partly because it's a contemporary movie and we know that crafts categories tend to value period stuff. I'm trying to think of what were the big... I think it's also somewhat reactionary to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo kind of overperforming

in a way, which is like a lot of that is because that was the year after the social network and that's the only way that that movie gets in praise. That was almost a Best Picture nominee. And like I like that movie and like again, he's punching up the trashiness of

a novel and heightening it, but I do think there was a little maybe buyer's remorse for that, maybe? I think you're not wrong. I think... Because it's definitely a grungier movie, though it's incredibly well made.

It is incredibly well made. Part of me feels almost wants to... No, it's not a one-to-one thing. Part of me, I almost said that, you know, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's nominations should have gone to Gone Girl and vice versa but it's not a one-to-one thing and you're right that that is a

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an incredibly well-made movie but anyway and then Wilde we've talked about I so the feeling of weird we're not the first people we won't be the last people to say if that was a movie

about a man it would be a best picture best director nominee exactly And again, Reese was a producer on Gone Girl, too. So, like, the fact that that Oscar season, that Rees Witherspoon in the 2014 Oscar race was not analogous to George Clooney in the 2005 Oscar race, where he had, you know, a performance nominated, but also a movie where he, in that case, he directed Good Night and Good Luck. But I think, like, Reese as a producer on both Gone Girl and Wild and giving a performance as good as the one she gives in Wilde should have been a story, like one of the major stories of that Oscar season. And it annoys me that it wasn't. Yeah.

So, anyway, still incredibly grateful for that surprise Laura Dern nomination and supporting actress because... Good nomination. One of my favorite moments of, I still remember exactly where I was sitting on the couch that I was sitting on when that happened because I was so happy, and I just sort of like I yelped into the air. Who did she kind of edge out? Well, it was Jessica Chastain in most violent year, which we've talked about, which we've talked about. Which, like, that's a bummer that it had to be that. I mean, again, Merrill should not have been as ensconced in that race for Into the Woods as she was. she should have been the one to get bounced instead.

It is a bummer that that movie is so bad. Eddie Redmayne's win, though. Let's talk about Eddie Redmayne winning, which is like, it's a lot of what Oscar is rewarding in this category that is, you know, boring and frustrating. I don't think he's bad in the movie. It also feels a little bit like, well, this is the award for that movie, you know, in the way that Oscar kind of spreads the wealth.

It was him and Michael Keaton sort of running side by side. Keaton had won the Comedy Globe and Redmayne, the drama globe. Is that how it happened? I do believe, and I think Eddie Redmayne won the rest of everything, the rest of the precursors. But the people talk about Michael Keaton losing, like, well, it's the best picture, best director winner. It's weird that he didn't win.

And I think the opposite is true if that, if Birdman didn't become best picture, best director, I think he would have had a better chance, partly because of that spreading the wealth thing. But like you said about Gone Girl, it's contemporary. And yet it didn't prevent Birdman from winning in original screenplay, which I feel like is in many ways the more puzzling. I mean, I guess not necessarily more puzzling because Birdman's one of those ones where people, if you like Birdman, you think, what a really great idea for a movie. And sometimes that is enough in original screenplay to, you know, to take that award. And, you know, whereas I would have hoped for something like, I mean, I'm not even the biggest nightcrawler fan, but like Nightcrawler there, boyhood, Grand Budapest, all, like.

I would vote for Foxcatcher. I still have such a tough relationship with Foxcatcher. And I guess it's not that movies, that scripts. fault necessarily that I find it so boring, but I do find it boring, unfortunately. But anyway, yeah, other nominees and best actor, Steve Carell in Foxcatcher, which unfortunately I think is the worst performance of the three leads in that. If I'm not voting for Ben Affleck this year, I'm voting for Channing Tatum. Oh, in Foxcatcher, yeah, yeah. Tatum's fantastic.

Ruffalo richly deserved that supporting nomination, but yeah, I'd have nominated Channing Tatum and Best Actor. Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game, which I don't begrudge Benedict Cumberbatch. I really don't. And I don't, here's the thing about the imitation game. And when I first saw it at Toronto, I remember thinking that is a, that's a well-put-together movie. And by the end, maybe a little bit similarly to the Aeronauts, where I was like, I can't deny that I was caught up in the sort of

the plot momentum of the end stretch of that movie hoping that they'll be able to you know break that code and sort of you know win the war whatever but everything about the

prestigeification of that movie was annoying was annoying bordering on offensive and it doesn't make his performance worse but it does mean that like you can't tell me that there weren't

other performances that year that deserved a nomination better than him. I love that he's finally now this year with the power of the dog given a performance. Yeah, he's earned a lot of credit back from people who hate that movie and don't like him that much as a performer. And the

fact that like they're the queer themes that we found so wanting in the imitation game end up being now he's in a movie with like really kind of like sneakily effective queer themes that aren't didactic in the way that

imitation game is well and despite the fact that there are some people who are like steadfastly committed to not getting it with the power of the dog which i hope i wish you well in in all endeavors but also uh hope to never sit next to you on an airplane um what is subtext well and it's not i mean just like there are people being like it's a regressive gay movie because blah blah blah I'm missing the point about masculinity yada yada I don't know I'll talk we'll talk about it off I know exactly um Bradley Cooper an American sniper a real a real piece of flashpaper that movie that burned very very brightly very quickly and I know there are still people there are people I very much love and respect who

really liked that movie and really sort of respected what that movie was doing. And I did not. Yeah, I didn't care for it either. I think it is pro-gun fodder. I think it's Islamophobic. I think it's also, this is my thing about people who want to defend that movie. It is so poorly made. Like, it's one, I just.

See, I've talked to people. The fucking fake baby. well the fake baby yeah I've talked to people who really like it as a film who like beyond what it's saying about whatever who will stick up for it as a film and I don't want to invalidate those critiques but I certainly don't think it's well made enough as a film

to override my... I do not see that movie I was offended by that movie and like I think it kind of squanders what the movie is actually trying to be which is you know this look at PTSD and, you know, the way masculinity comes into it. All of the things that I think are good and are working are in the performance. Like, I don't want to slight that performance. Yeah.

And I would probably argue Bradley Cooper was in second place, just based off the momentum of that movie. Probably the closest Bradley Cooper has come to want to winning an acting Oscar. The fact that that ended up getting a Best Picture nomination, it opened incredibly late. So, like, all of it, all of that momentum was... Famously premiered the same day as Selma at AFI Fest. Right. Both of them incredibly last minute. And Selma was the last minute movie that didn't catch on with Oscar voters, unfortunately,

despite the Best Picture nomination. It didn't get any other nominations besides Best Original Song. So if you look at that best actor category, I think David a Yellow-O for Selma, and then the one that everybody rides for probably a little bit more than I do, is Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. A lot of people feel like that is like a capital B brilliant performance

in like the best of his career and it's a little I feel like it's reductive for me to be like it's a little much, but it is a little much for me. I don't know. The bug-eyed intensity of it is, and I like over-the-top Jillen-hall, but I maybe like over-the-top Jillen-hall

in something like Okja better, and I don't know. how I can defend that, but I can. The shorts, you can defend it because of it. Sure. But, like, a lot of people really, really thought that, like, Jillyn Hall got really egregiously stumped for that. I would

probably say the same for David a Yellowow, who I thought was phenomenal in Selma. I think both of them probably deserve it over people like Cumberbatch and Steve Carell that year. And certainly, the one that we talk about all the time, being baffled by, because the film itself did so well with the

Oscars, is Ray Fines in the Grand Budapest Huchel, which who would be my winner that year? Like, he's my... He could be my winner that year, too. He's absolutely my winner that year. Like, um... You could make, you can make a better... We talk about this in other actors' races, but you could make a better best actor lineup

of this year. Yeah. People who weren't nominated. I think that's right. No, I'd be tempted to keep Michael Keaton, because I do... I'm, especially after his sag win and, like, he gives a good speech, man. Like, why is nobody rooting for this guy enough to give him an Oscar? It was a really good speech. I thought, yeah, I thought it was really good.

So, yeah, you put in, you keep Keaton, you sub in Channing Tatum for Steve Carell, and then you pull in O Yellow O, Fines, and Gillen Hall. Like, that's a really solid, best actor lineup. I agree. All right. Back to the Aeronauts, I guess. Okay, so my thing about this movie, I think that the constant, like, cutting back and forth actively deflates the tension

of both. I mean, I guess, pun intended. It, like, completely dismantles the movie. It cuts off the, like, narrative momentum of the buildup to, and, like, the adversity they face in getting this balloon even off the ground. And then the kind of, like, physical, like, danger, horror of being up in the air as well. Like, it never, they can't create any type of momentum. It feels like it's trying to pull off this real-time thing because the movie's 100 minutes and that's basically what their flight was in total. Yeah. And it just all feels so silly.

And it's so overly pixelated in a way that it's like, okay, you're chasing gravity, but they were in post-production on gravity for years to make it look. Right. To suspend your disbelief, you know. And, like, I always feel like I'm looking at an ugly screensaver every second of this movie. I mean, yes, I think so here's where we should sort of get into the production sort of timeline of it all. Because you would almost be convinced seeing this movie and knowing the fact that, again, it's filmed with IMAX cameras and for, you know, with IMAX visuals and all the sort of stuff. And so knowing that it was

released by Amazon, you would think, oh, stupid Amazon purchases this movie that is so dependent on IMAX screenings and then is not able to deliver that theatrical experience. It's even, it's both

dumber than that, but also like, I think the story is a little bit more interestingly interesting to delve into than that, which is Amazon purchased this film at the script stage as a spec script. So, like, this was an Amazon movie from conception. So, again, a streaming platform then puts into production and, like, finances this movie to be filmed with IMAX cameras and IMAX technology, knowing that it's going to end point this movie being distributed on a streaming platform. But here's where I think it gets a little interesting.

So that purchase of the spec script happens in December 2016. What is happening for Amazon in December of 2016 is the awards campaign and release for Manchester by the Sea. Which was still, see, this is also the transition of Amazon doing their own distribution. This is what I was getting into. Yeah. Is back in 2016, Manchester by the Sea is Amazon's best success at the Oscars by a good margin. And a big part of that, I feel.

like. And a lot of people who were writing about stuff at the time felt like was that got released like a regular movie. It got, it made the festival run. It was released into theaters. It did not make it onto Amazon for, I want to say, a few months. And it kind of, the whole like streaming exclusivity of it felt a little bit more like an occasion. Whereas like when being the Ricardo's dropped on Amazon this year after a small theatrical run, it felt like there was no fanfare for it. Well, and back in 2016, it felt like Amazon was going to just do things differently than a Netflix. Netflix, even at that point, was doing the bare minimum cursory theatrical run to make it so it

their movies qualified for Oscars. And beyond that, it really felt like a begrudging theatrical run. And the real premiere was going to be when it would premiere on Netflix. and Amazon seemed to be kind of intentionally going another way and that, like, yes, these are going to be Amazon Studios movies, but we are going to release them as traditionally as possible. And the fact that... And they were doing it through distribution partners,

like Manchester by the Sea was Roadside. Right. They had different partners for different movies. I believe the strategy was so that, like, they could learn theatrical distribution from various different types of experience. And the fact that Manchester by the sea is such a success, best actor winner, best screenplay winner, best picture nominee, they beat Netflix to a best picture nomination,

which I know stuck in Netflix's crop because like within a year after that, they had hired that, I can't remember the name of the publicist, but, like, the crazy, like, intense and successful Oscar publicist, who, I believe, had been at Miramax? She went from being, like, I think she was from Miramax, but now she is Netflix in-house. She is Netflix's stuff. Right. So, clearly Netflix, like, that was important to Netflix that they be able to break into the best picture rates. And the fact that Amazon did it first, at the same time that Hulu had also beaten them to the Emmys,

which is also like this story of Netflix being like this big behemoth that keeps getting beat by its, you know, braddy little siblings. Netflix's television output, though, is... I mean, they did have the crown. Like, the fact that it took till this season for the crown to get, like, you... We all forget about Orange's the New Black, but Orange's of the New Black was, like, having a hot moment. And, I mean, we all forget about House of Cards, too, but, like, House of Cards was having a hot moment, even though I, you know, whatever, personally. that show was never my thing, but like a lot of shows that are successful. The Emmys are never, I don't know my thing.

But anyway, back to Manchester by the sea. It felt at that moment, like Amazon had done that film the right way, and there was hope that they were going to then take the lessons of that and move it forward. And then they have that disastrous 2017, which we've talked about before, where it's like, Wonderstruck and Last Flag Flying and Wonderwheel and what's the other one that was that year? I can't remember. But, like, all of their prestige stuff really falls flat. And it feels like – and there was also around that time a lot of turnover in management at Amazon.

It's – well, because this is partly where you see the strategy change because they have a corporate change. Yeah, corporate restructure. And the philosophy behind Prime Video was that it wasn't getting enough viewership. And people – like, tons of people had access to it, and they weren't. watching prime video so it became the streaming platform became a higher priority for them right and so screwing over some of these movies that are in development screwing over uh asterix because this movie's bad sure but again this this movie can be bad and also gotten screwed over so right um because again a pun intended on the deflating of this movie because when this movie is first

like announced, it's denounced as being filmed in IMAX it's going to be this big IMAX release, which makes it seem like a bigger contender than it, by the time it's released, it feels like it's a joke that it was ever you know, considered

like, but by the time it's released they have, they have, by the time it's released, they have so fully capitulated to the Netflix style of release that they, again, release it into theaters on December 9th with a very, very small and cursory run. to the point where, like, it's not even listed as having a domestic box office take.

And then they drop it on prime on December 20th. So, Chris, if you have a tab for Amazon Studios films, I would like to close it, because they do have a game for us to play. And I don't want you to have that in front of you while we do it. Before we get into the game, just to wrap it up on, like, the release for this movie. Yes. I do believe that it was, if I'm remembering correctly, there was kind of a little bit of a staring contest between IMAX and them,

and IMAX wasn't willing to give up the domestic screens for it for a streaming movie, basically. So that's why they pulled the stateside IMAX release. Overseas, I believe, that it screened in IMAX. I'm trying to remember what would have been the IMAX screenings in December of 2019. I mean, I could probably look it up. So in theaters on the weekend of December 6th through 8th, 2019, the third week of Frozen 2, Knives out, Ford versus Ferrari, this feels wrong as I'm looking at it. Like, a beautiful day in the neighborhood being in the top five, queen and slim being in the top five.

Like, I feel like I'm looking, because again, it's box office mojo, so I feel like I'm looking at the wrong thing. but anyway Unless everything Just like ran away from Frozen 2 Sorry what was that You were breaking up I said unless everything Just sort of ran away from Frozen 2

Yeah It could have Probably still was Frozen 2 Yeah However However They did do a somewhat Premium release for the Aeronauts

And it's hilarious that they did this but I know they did this because it played at my theater. They released it on some screens in 70 millimeter. Okay. Which when you watch the movie, it's like, I'm sure they shot this in digital IMAX, not film IMAX. Yeah. So is that like, you know, placating the filmmaker or something of appeasement? So the big, obviously, the big December 2019.

release was Star Wars Rise of Skywalker, but that didn't premiere until a couple weekends. By the time that premiered, Aeronauts was already on Amazon. So it really does feel like they were committed to, I guess, Frozen 2, which fair enough. That movie made a lot of money. All right. So, Chris, I made another Alter Egos game for you. I wanted to theme it around the films of Amazon Studios. So all of the answers to this round of Alterigos will be.

titles of Amazon Studios movies. Once again, how we play alter egos is I give Chris the names of three movie characters. And then Chris needs to figure out who played those characters and then what film all three of those actors were in together. Again, all of the answers will be Amazon Studios movies. Chris, are you ready? I am ready. I think you're going to do well with this. I have a feeling you have these movies in your memory banks and ready to go. All right. I have a feel feeling it's not going to be like Cold War. No, I am probably not going to give you Peterloo and Cold War. Probably not. All right. Your first...

Peterloo, good movie. Great movie. Love Peterloo. Yeah, great movie. That movie got screwed. It did. It's too bad. All right. Justice from Mike Lee. Okay. Your first trio of characters are Robert Ford, Ben Burns, and Marilyn Monroe. Robert Ford is Casey Affleck. This is definitely Manchester by the Sea. Yeah, you want to walk me through it. Ben Burns. Ben Burns has to be, oh, I don't know. Ben Burns.

Oh, uh, little Lukie. Lucky Hedges. Ben is back. Yes, and obviously Marilyn Monroe. Uh, Anadarmus. Shut up. Just say it. Listeners want to play along.

It's Michelle Williams. Yes, in my week with Maryland. Okay, next one. Chas Tenenbaum, Pam Beasley, and Tony Blair. Pam Beasley? That's Jenna Fisher from the office, right? Correct. Oh, what Amazon movie was she in?

With Chas Tenenbaum and Tony Blair. Chas Tanenbaum is Luke Wilson, right? Or is it Ben Stiller? No, it's Ben Stiller. And Tony Blair is Michael Sheen in Frost Nixon. This is Brad's status. It is. Very good Brad Status.

The very good Brad Status, when we were talking about last week about how my parents will tell me weird movies that I wouldn't have expected they watched. I managed to talk them into having liked Brad status after the fact. I felt very proud of the fact where they were like, we saw this movie. We didn't like it very much. It was a Ben Stiller movie and blah, blah, blah. And I literally, in the span of like a 20-minute conversation, turned them around on having liked it after all. So you're welcome, culture.

I did that for us. Okay. Next trio. Aurora, Gabby, Gabby, and Neo. Aurora, Gabby, Gabby, and Neo? Yes. Okay, Neo is Keanu Reeves and the Matrix. Aurora is Princess Aurora, the Princess Bride?

Is that Robin Wright? No, that is Princess Bartercup. Aurora is Sleeping Beauty. So what's the sleeping? Oh, is it El Fanning? Yes. In Maleficent. You know, the Maleficent sequel is actually kind of a serve.

I liked it. It's stupid, but I enjoyed it. I had fun. I liked the first Maleficent. Yeah, not a good movie, but a good time. Okay, so El Fanning and who did, oh, Keanu Reeves, this is the Neon Demon. Yeah. Any guesses on who Gabby Gabby is?

Is it to someone played by Jenna Malone or... It's Christina Hendrix voicing a doll in Toy Story 4. Right, right. Christina Hendricks is in that movie for, I think, a scene. Yes. I'm kind of like that movie. Neon Demon? Yeah.

Oh, I had a hard time with a neon demon, I'm going to admit. All right. Next, trio. Dalton Trumbo. Morpheus and John DuPont Dalton Trumbo is Brian Cranston, Morpheus is Lawrence Fishburn

in the Matrix. This is Last Flag Flying. Yes, the unfortunate Richard Linkletter, Last Flag Flying, a movie I definitely saw and remember very, very little about. Exactly. Unfortunately. John DuPont is, of course, Steve Carell in Foxcatcher. We were just talking about him.

All right, next three are Monica Rambo, Simon Phoenix and Tina Turner Tina Turner is Angela Bassett and what's love got to do with it Tina Turner Monica Rambo and who

Simon Phoenix Interesting Monica Rambo I'm assuming that's R-A-M-B-E-A-U Correct Right not not to shoot them up in the jungle of the... Right.

Who would be the Monica Rambo in that movie? Wait, so you're saying a gender-swapped reboot of Rambo called Monica Rambo?

Yes. Jessica Alba. Michelle Rodriguez. Yeah. Okay. I'd probably watch it. I'd probably watch Monica Rambo. I know I should know what

Monica Rambo is. No, Monica Rambo is one of your death spots of culture. Oh. I couldn't find another the recognizable name for this actress and she is the lead of this movie so I wanted to all right let's sub her in for then

with a different actress in that same movie Grizzabella so Jennifer Hudson yes Jennifer Hudson and Angela Bassett what are they in that was on Amazon and let's say Lloyd Dobler

also Lloyd Dobler. I know I should know that. Or instead of Lloyd Dobler, a different character that that actor played. Oh, Lloyd Dobler, that's John Cusack. Yeah. Say anything, right? Yes.

This is Shyrak. It's Shyrak. Monica Rambo is Tejona Paris's character in Wanda Vision and the upcoming Captain Marvel movie. Oh, I love her so much. You will not get me to watch. She's great on that. And then Simon Phoenix is, of course, Wesley Snipes and Demolition Man. I've never seen Demolition.

Oh, it's dumb and fun, I will say. Speaking of Celeste Stallone. Dumb, fun movie, if it's on cable, I would catch it. It's got weird, weird future stuff that is very silly. Good stuff, though. All right, next one. Paul Gagin, Gloria Graham, Enigo Montoya. Okay, so Gugan is Oscar Isaac in At Eternity's Gate, Enigo Montoya, bringing it back to the Princess Bride, is Mandy Patinkin.

This is life itself. It is. And of course, who's the third of that trio? Gloria Graham. Oh, Annette Benning in Film Stars. What's that Liverpool movie? Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Yes, very, very good.

Remember if it was don't die, don't live. I love that you will not get Monica Rambo and Wanda Vision, but you will immediately clock that Paul Gogan was played by Oscar Isaac in At Eternity's Gate. This is why you are special. All right. Next three are King Arthur, Bruce Wayne, and Peter Parker, speaking of superheroes that these movies you don't watch.

Okay. Well, Peter Parker is going to have less options. So that's Toby McGuire, Andrew Garfield. and Tom Holland. Bruce Wayne and then, what was the first one he said? King Arthur. Great. A lot of options.

I think I'll get further with Bruce Wayne. So Bruce Wayne, you have Michael Keaton, you have Val Kilmer, you have George Clooney, you have Christian Bale, you have Ben Affleck, and now you have Robert Pattinson. Trying to create a very elaborate Venn diagram in my head. It looks like a spirograph. Yes. Visual thinker. Okay, so is this Andrew Garf, Tom Holland?

Oh, is this the Lost City of Zed? It is the Lost City of Zed. Because Charlie Hunnam is a King Arthur. Charlie Hottom is a King Arthur. And then it's Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland. Yes, very good. Well deduced, Chris. It is The Lost City of Zed, a good movie.

Good movie. All right. Next three are Anastasia Steele, Carrie White, and Thora and Thessaly Thacker. Oh. I'm going to guess that the Carrie White is actually Chloe Grace Morettes instead of Sissy Spaceac. Uh-huh. I will sometimes acknowledge your correct guesses as you go along, and sometimes I will let you twist in the wind. And you will never know which is which.

Anastasia Steel is a name that is definitely familiar. Yes. And the third one, I do not know. You might not, but you've definitely seen that movie. What's the name again? Playing twins named Thora and Thessaly Thacker. Twins, though. Twins, though.

So it's somebody, one performer who played twins. Yes. Thorad Thessaly Thacker. Which are kind of silly names, and what, uh, whose films can sometimes... With either Chloe Moretz. or Sissy Spacec. No, I had confirmed that you were right about Chloe Moritz. What?

I had confirmed that you were correct about Chloe Moretz. Okay. Huh. I am normally equipped to remember the filmography of one Chloe Moretz, but not going so well for me. What was she in? That was an Amazon movie. I want to give you another name for the Anastasia Steele actress, but it's tough. It won't help you, but she has also played a character named Emily Somerspring,

which I think is just stupid enough to mention. That's funny. Okay, I guess the other thing is these are all female characters. What's another Amazon movie that has mostly women? Instead of Thora and Thessaly Thacker, how about, let's see, what other role for this person? J.K. L. Berenson? That's one that's very situational. It's not going to jump off the page for you. Wait, no, no, no, no, this is so stupid. It's the twins are Tilda Swinton in. Hail Caesar, this is Susperia.

What? Oh, Anastasia Steel is 50 Shades of Craig. There you go. You got it. You figured it out. I hate you. Did you get that from J.K. L. Berenson? No, I was just getting there with Chloe Morrace.

Okay. All right. J.K.L. Berence is Tilda in the French descent. And I was like, oh, all-female cast. Right, right. Okay. Next three. Eleanor Dashwood, Disgust, and Sir Galahad.

Disgust is Mindy Kaling, Eleanor In Inside Out, Eleanor Dashwood definitely then is Emma Thompson, Miss Dashwood. What is that? Is that sense and sensibility? It is sense and sensibility. Yeah, we're talking about late night. It is late night. Sir Galahad was Hugh Dancy in, I believe, the Clive Owen, King Arthur. Yes. Late night, a movie that is fine, but people had their knives out for it because people were too overzealous and said it was an Oscar movie. Yeah, I think people were first too

complimentary of it, and then too, too mean to it. And the Goldilocks median is right in the middle of, for late night. All right. Next one, your names are Ava Gardner, Melanie Greysmith, and Oscar Wilde. What was the first one you said again. Ava Gardner. Ava Gardner. That is Kate Beckinsale in The Aviator. This has got to be love and friendship. It is love and friendship. I would love to do an episode on Love and French. We should. Great movie. I love that movie. Who's Melanie Graysmith? And in what movie? Chloe Seven-Yean something.

Graysmith. Can you get it from Graysmith? Oh, I feel like I should, but... It's her role from Zodiac. It's Jill and Hall's White. Right. Right. And then Oscar Wilde is, of course, the great Stephen Fry. All right. Yep. Next one.

Baby, Lieutenant James Gordon, and Dr. Chase Meridian. Dr. Chase Meridian is Nicole Kidman. Baby is Ansel Elgort from Baby Driver. This is the Goldfinch. This is the Goldfinch. Was that Amazon's, like, last partnership? Because that was like Amazon and Warner Brothers. Yeah, it could be.

Lieutenant James Gordon, you should know, Because, uh... That is Jeffrey Wright in Le Batman. Le Batman. All right. Le Batman. Next ones. Clyde Logan, Lady Macbeth, and Cosme McMoon.

Oh, I think I know what that Cosme thing is. Lady Macbeth, I'm going to guess, is Cotillard, actually. Mm-hmm. So what movie has she made? Oh, it's got to be a net. Yeah. Who's Clyde Logan? Oh, Logan Lucky.

Yeah. Adam Driver. Yes. Cosmee McMoon. Any guess? Is that Simon Helberg in Florence Foster Jenkins? Yes. And can we finally make note of the fact that culture has not yet made note of?

The fact that Simon Helberg is now our foremost player of accompanists on film. After playing Merrill's accompanist in Florence Foster Jenkins and Marion Cotillard's accompanist in Annette? Amazon will never have another movie like Annette because like that movie was put, that movie was from the old guard at Amazon

before the switch over because like that movie was a couple years like in the making. What a fun movie. What a very fun movie. And Amazon will never make anything that weird again. I have a little more faith in the future but we'll see.

We'll see how it goes. your pessimism probably is warranted but we'll see all right next one kingo ruby sparks and ada mcgrath ruby sparks is zoe kazan yep in ruby sparks indeed and then what was the third neda mcgrath uh that is that Nicole kidman in cold mountain that is Ada monroe Ah, Ada McGrath With Zoe Kazan Ada McGrath

Second name that you name So significant role Oh, is the Ada McGrath is Uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, this is the big big sick. Yes, Holly Hunter in the piano is Ada McGrath. Yes. Kingo, you were never going to get it's, uh,

It's Kumal Nanjiani in Eternals. Right. All right. Next one. Harley Quinn, Carmela Soprano, Herb Stemple. Carmela Soprano is Edie Falco. Yes. What were the other two names?

Harley Quinn and Herb Stemple. Oh, Harley Quinn, that's Margot Robbie. Marco Robbie? No, it's not. Oh, okay. So was this like an animated Harley Quinn? Uh-huh. Gotcha.

Only Edie Falco movie I can remember from Amazon is, I almost said landfill, but landline? It is Landline. It is Landline. You're correct. Yes. So then Jenny Slate voices Harley Quinn. In the Lego Batman movie, correct? Oh, right.

Lego Batman and like the Lego movie always on these quizzes. Yeah, and then Herb Stemple is our friend John Totoro in Quiz Show, for which he should have gotten an Oscar nomination. He has still never gotten an Oscar nomination. All right, last question. Angie Dickinson, Pablo Escobar, and Commissioner James Gordon. Pablo Escobar was played by Benicio del Toro in something. And James Gordon, I'm guessing.

saying you're not going to use that twice and I think that's going to be um wait what was the first name Angie Dickinson is this being the Ricardo's yes but talk us through it because Pablo Escobar is um uh Javier Bardem but James Gordon is not Gary old man, it is J.K. Simmons from the, from the Snyder versus that which we shall not speak. How did you get Angie Dickinson, though? Explain the unwell process that got you there. Oh, did you really? So you don't know that Angie Dickinson is the character that Nicole Kidman plays in The Prom? No, I know that. I know that. That's just not how I got it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. All right. Well done. Another fun slash psychotic tour through Alter Egos for Amazon Studios.

What else do we want to say about the aeronauts before we move into Rappos don't belong in balloons? Yes. So Amazon that year, now that we're on Amazon, by the way, I wrote down that they had like other priorities and it's really kind of sad, the meager status of the movies that were prioritized ahead of the aeronauts where, but they definitely were, I feel like. The report, which got a Golden Globe nomination for Annette Benning as Dahan Feinstein. And I remember them pushing Honeyboy decently. hard towards the end of that season. Yeah. Because ultimately, I think their only nomination was for the French submission

Le Miserables. Yes. I think that's right. Which I did not like. Yeah, I don't remember a ton about it. But I don't think I liked it very much either. So, yes. Yeah.

Kind of meager year. to say that this was their most watched movie on Prime, which L.O.L. Sure. I mean, what, again... Pulling out of the Netflix playbook still, because Netflix is always like, yes, this many people watched this movie.

I'm coming back to it again, just like, it really is a bummer that it really felt for a while that Amazon was going to be doing this whole thing differently than Netflix, and they were playing from a different playbook. And it's a bummer that it didn't take very much for them to sort of completely change

tactics and try to imitate Amazon in a way, but like with way less artillery. Like they just like, I don't know. I realize that I am an adherent to theatrical distribution, so I want all of these streamers to play it like Amazon did in 2016 and maybe it's foolish to hope that they would. But it's just a bummer. that they sort of fell into lockstep with this really annoying release pattern that Netflix has that just, like, completely kind of makes a mockery of theatrical distribution. It's a weird thing to talk about now in the guise of the pandemic. I understand, but, you know.

It's also, you know, a lot of the, a lot of, like, distribution chains like AMC don't want to play those movies. so it's like it really becomes a do you live in a city type of thing for people to want to be able to see those movies in theaters or it's like Netflix will forewall which is paying the like basically a rental fee for like independent theaters and then it makes it harder for actually theatrical distributed independent films to get screens I mean you sort of look at what and they're not forewalling the Paris theater when they distribute these, like they're you know, but the fact that they have now sort of monopolized the entire Paris theater does mean that

that theater is not getting the sort of the breadth of independent movies that it used to, which is a bit of a bummer. Again, that theater would probably have closed otherwise, so you know, we take the strange bedfellows

that we get sometimes in terms of keeping the theaters that we love open, but, yeah, that's a bummer. Aeronauts was also on the first bake-off list for visual effects. Yes. And then promptly was booted, which seems correct. Well, but let's look at the nominees that year before we start throwing out terms like correct. I mean, I just, okay, maybe I just visually think that this movie is worse than you do. I think you do.

I just don't think it looks good. I think it looks good at it. Yeah, I think I think it looks pretty good. Um, nominees in 2019 were, all right, first off, right off the bat, the Lion King. Bullshit, get rid of it. I don't want it. I don't need it. Um, the Irishman, if you feel like the de-aging in that movie was a benefit rather than a detriment, you are well within your rights to think that. Um, I didn't. Uh, Rise of Skywalker. Whatever. That's right. You're an Irishman fan. That's so surprising about you. I don't... I adore the Irishman. Are you kidding me? I know, but I always forget that because it does not seem like that should be correct. I don't know. I think that's because you think the people that loved it online were annoying. They were. And I was never one of those people. I know. That's this. It is surprising. Avengers Endgame and Star Wars feel very boilerplate to me. And then 1917, in which visual effects were really conflated with cinematography in a way.

that sometimes happens at the Oscars, but, like, I don't always love. I don't know. That's a movie I don't love. Right, and that's a movie that I do, and I think that movie looks great, but I don't know how much I'm willing to chalk that up to visual effects. I feel like that's a weird category that year. I don't know. You liked the de-aging stuff in the Irishman?

I know you liked that movie. I'll be honest, I didn't really notice it that much. I mean, I did. There's maybe a shot or two that doesn't look perfect, but, like, I love that movie. Yeah, I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't make it there.

All right. It was also the Aeronauts, I mean, was nominated in Best Visual Effects at the Critics' Choice Awards. A lot of these same names, Avengers Endgame wins there. 1917, Irishman, Lion King. It is joined by Ford versus Ferrari, which, again, definitely a movie I saw, could not tell you a thing about that movie like really has just like disappeared from my brain like candy glass it's not a good movie um but i didn't think it was a bad movie like watching it i i feel like i would have remembered more of it i would have been like this piece of shit um that is the that movie's the real titan

it's about how all men just want to fuck their car like all straight men just want to fuck their car my my favorite nominee from this seven nominees which like critics choice come entirely down. Absolutely. But is a movie I loved, although I don't necessarily feel like it's a movie I loved for its visual effects, but Ad Astra, which I mostly love because... I mean, that would be a worthy winner. Sure.

Well, it's by far, I think, my favorite of those movies. But, again, I don't know how much I think about Ad Astra and be like, a triumph of visual effects more than just like a triumph of making a movie I like that also prominently involves a monkey and also at times Natasha Leone. So what a great movie. I love that movie. Love that movie. Justice 4 at Astra entirely.

That got one Oscar nomination, right? We can't do that for our podcast. One of the sounds, hold on, back when we had two sounds. Right. Yeah, it was nominated for mixing. Probably that would have been the last year that we had two sounds, right? Because it got condensed directly after that, right? No, I think we had two sounds last year

No I don't think we did Oh please We had One sound last year You were right I was right I know it's uncomfortable for you

When I am right about things But sometimes It's not uncomfortable for me to be wrong It happens No I am more uncomfortable That in that one sound category last year

Greyhound was nominated that makes me more uncomfortable but they are total sluts for water sounds in that category you know that that's true water musicals right that was that was the fun of having two separate categories is I had finally

figured out the tendencies of the nominators and both of those that in visual effects they like bullets and in sound sorry in sound effects they like bullets they like bullets and in sound mixing they like water and musicals and I was like I finally they like

bullets and explosions and mix in effects and water and musicals and mixing and I was like I've gotten a handle on this and then now they're like nope now it's one category just back to square one so great I think it'll probably make for more obvious winners though

in what explain explain why more obvious I mean you don't have to do that type of hair splitting of like well what could they go here like or you know I think it's just there's going to be the more obvious like thing that they're going to award I think they're just going to now just like now that it's combined I think they're just going to award it to the loudest movie the loudest of the nominees once they get to the part where I think they're still I think that's that's part of it but I do also think that musicals are going to have a strong chance because I think best sound is basically going to, for the most part, look more analogous to sound mixing. Well, I think you're right.

Sorry, I have a pen in my mouth as I'm trying to type as I do this, because I want to bring up the nominees for this year. And we'll see who do we, so who do we think from this year's nominees, which are scroll, scroll, scroll, waste time, waste time. I think Dune or West Side Story are winning. Dune, West Side Story, Power of the Dog, no time to die, and Belfast. I feel like, yes, I think you're right, that it'll probably come down to Dune or West Side Story.

And my theory that they will reward the loudest film means it will be Dune, is my feeling. I feel like West Side Story could, in another world, be considered the loudest movie. I don't know. It's brass sections and strings. I mean, it's not a quiet movie, but I just feel like there's, I feel like the sound in Dune between the, and again, again, it's the general, the gen pop of the Oscar. of the academy membership. So it's like I do feel like at some degree you're going to have voters who are just going to be like,

well, that score was very loud. So like that's sound. Like everything that I hear is sound, which is true. It's the mixing of dialogue and score and everything. But I just feel like the movie where people will look at that and be like, what's a movie that I remember the sound of it all? And I think Dune jumps out of that category is my feeling.

I would rather tune win for sound than score. I do love Han Zimmer. It's going to be tough for me to not root for Han Zimmer in a category. Who's he up against? I have some issues with that score. Plus, I like other scores more. I mean, I want Enkanto to win for something, but I think Enkanto's going to win best song, so I think I'm good there.

I think we both, for sentimental reasons, want Alberto Iglesias to win an Oscar. 100%. I would normally be rooting for Nicholas Brutel in all things, but not for Don't Look Up. And part of me wants to just let the Johnny Greenwood people have it, which is not to say that Johnny Greenwood doesn't do a great score. That score is amazing. Of course it is. But you will agree with me that the Johnny Greenwood people are annoying.

I don't know if I'll agree with you. Oh, my God. You know I don't like Radiohead. You can have that one. You know that that's where I'm like, I don't care. The Johnny Greenwood people are annoying. I'm standing by it. You know it's true.

All right. What else? I'm looking at my list. Aeronaut. Pour one out for women don't belong in balloons. Oh, the part where the shadow of the balloon and has like a circular rainbow around it, and he says that's an oriole, I wanted to go into that more. And the etymology of, he just means that's a like nipple rainbow, right?

Right? That's sort of what he was saying, I think. what about himish Patel who is an actor who is gaining so much more prominence his role makes me so mad in this movie i think it's one of the things that makes me the most mad at this movie put him in that balloon what put him in that balloon i want him in that balloon he literally is like you know he's the one non-white person in this movie yeah who he's like you know some people are just there to support other people and i'm like are you kidding me they're literally going to make him see I am the I am his not white friend who is there to support him like you've got to be kidding me was this the same year that he was in was this movie was this the same year that he was in yesterday uh hold on I don't know I feel like that was his big like breakout right where like uh because that movie made some money in the pre pandemic world right it did it did and I haven't I've been spoiled on that movie but

haven't watched it. Same. Yeah, that's 29. I don't need that in my life. That movie is also 2019. Love him, though. Love him, Ish Patel. He was briefly in Tenet and loved him there, but of course, the thing that I've been annoying people in my life probably about is he's so, so, so good in Station 11. If you haven't watched Station 11 on HBO Max, like, what are you waiting for? I think I was maybe a little oversold on it. I can't imagine. After all of my like giant like It's not just cute And like I don't

I'm not saying that it's bad I didn't quite love it In the way that so many people have Though like come Emmy season Aside from Dan Romer I will ride hard for a Himmish Patel Emmy I mean it's it's a bummer that Score doesn't get a place of prominence

With the Emmys like it does with the Oscars And by place of prominence I mean Presented before the awards Because we're disrespecting things like composers now. But in general, like, the score categories at the Emmys are, like, even more shunted aside than they are at the Oscars. Which is too bad, because, like, Dan Romer composed the score of the year in any medium, as far as I'm concerned, for Station 11. You mean his score for Luca? You know I love Luca. Don't, don't, don't pit me against Loua. No, I'm being a pill.

I'm saying that both are pretty amazing. Yeah, yeah. He's one of our best. But yeah, Hamesh Patel, McKenzie Davis, there's a lot, there's so many great performances, but, like, he in particular is so heartbreaking at so many instances of that show. And I guess you didn't like it as much as I did, and that's fine. But, man, really just, like, murdered me. So good. Highly recommended. Excellent, Caitlin Fitzgerald.

Yes. Not cinema, but, you know. Yeah, cinematic television. We are the arbiters of Caitlin Fitzgerald's career. Exactly. All right. Should we play the IMDB game? We've been talking about these darner knots for a long time.

Yeah. Let's do it. What do you have for me? Well, why don't you explain to the listeners what the IMD game is? Sorry, we're recording this at high altitude. My brain isn't functioning anymore. I can't get the oxygen that I need. Every week we end our episode.

with the IMDB game, where we challenge each other with an actor, actress, to try to guess the top four titles that IMDB says they are most known for. If any of those titles are television, voice-only performances, or non-acting credits will mention that up front. After two wrong guesses, we get the remaining titles release years as a clue.

That's not enough. It just becomes a free-for-all of hints. This is true. All right. That is the IMDB game. Chris... Yeah. Would you like to go for... Forst, what the...

Would you like to guess first or give first? I would like to guess because I've been on a very, very dark streak. You've been on a dark fan? I feel like I've failed like two in a row. So I'm going to try to break that streak by going burst. All right. I wish you all the luck. So we haven't really talked about the director of the Aeronauts.

Tom Harper very much, beyond the fact that he is not Tom Hooper, but is in fact Tom Harper. That same year that the Aeronauts came out, I believe, so he directed Wild Rose technically the year before, but I don't think that got released until 2019. Am I wrong? Correct. It played TIF and I believe elsewhere in 2018 and then was released in spring, summer 2019. Right. So I plumbed into the supporting cast of Wild Rose to come up with an IMDB game contestant for you, and the actress I have chosen is Miss Julie Walters. Julie Walters, okay, so the thing about Julie Walters is she is a Harry Potter performer.

We used to avoid those, but now it feels like the waters have cooled on that. However, I don't think she is getting out of her known for without Harry Potter showing up somewhere. So I might put a pin in that because, do I think it's one or more than one? Which one? Hmm. So, yeah, I'm just going to put a pin in that. I'm going to say Billy Elliott. Correct.

Oscar nominated for Billy Elliott. Yeah. Run Billy and such. I'm going to say, Mama Mia. Correct. The first Mama Mia playing. what's her character's name? Rosie?

Rosie. Rosie. We love her. Okay. I'm going... There could be things that are older than Billy Elliot, but because, like, she had the rise after Billy Elliot. I'm going to guess that they're all going to be after that. I think...

Hmm. I mean, it's not going to be, like, Wild Rose. I should just guess a Harry Potter, and I'm going to say the first Harry Potter. Incorrect on the specificity of that. Last Harry Potter. Correct. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. If you recall, that was the Not My Daughter, You Bitch moment where she zaps Helena Bonham Carter,

which ask anybody, before that movie was made, as people. people were reading that final book. That was the line that everybody sort of coalesced around. I remember reading that one at, I think I was still working at the library when that, and I remember gasping out loud and somebody being like, what? And I'd be like, you wouldn't understand it. It's fine. Yes, Deathly Hall is part two.

So three correct, one strike, one remaining. I'm going to guess Paddington. Is that her in Paddington? Yes, it is her in Paddington. Wait, who is she in Paddington? It's not correct by the... I just know from photos that she's been in Paddington. I haven't seen the Paddington.

Wait. I know that's going to get me so in trouble. Not by me, but like the rest of the Internet's going to eat you alive. I'm so sorry. I don't see the Paddington's. She's Mrs. Bird in Paddington, but that is not correct. So two strikes. So your remaining year is 2015, the year, the year

after Paddington. Oh, it's Brooklyn. Yes, she plays the... See, I thought about Brooklyn, but I didn't guess it, because that role's not that big. No, she plays the boarding house proprietress in Brooklyn. I suppose she probably gets an and credit or something. That's very... Let me look at all the posters right here.

Let me see if I can ask... She can't be second build. I'm pretty sure Donald Gleason has to be second build. Uh, yes, Sersher Ronin, Donald Gleason, Emery Cohen, with Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walter. It's very good guessing the end. There you go. Yeah, yeah. There you go. All right. Sorry, I probably got very close to the mic there, so sorry to our listeners. That's okay.

Why don't you give to me? All right, so we talked about slash shield for Himmish Patel in Station 11. For you, I have pulled his co-star, the co-lead of Station 11. one Miss Mackenzie Davis I do love McKenzie Davis Any television One television I think Station 11's too recent

So I'm going to guess halt and catch fire Incorrect Damn it Great television program though Oh fantastic television program I just watched that dumb Uber show on Showtime With Joseph Gordon Levitt

Carrie Bichet is in that in that show, and it bums me out so hard that she has to be, you know, wasted in something like that and, uh, and not something as good as Halt and Catch Fire. All right. What was the other Mackenzie Davis TV show? I really don't think it's Station 11. I'll give you a nudge along in that she's on here for one episode of this television show. Oh, oh, oh. Oh. thank you. That's a very crucial hint. It's the San Junipero episode of Black Mirror. Correct. Excellent performance.

Performance as she and Guguma Batha Ra are both very good in that. I have not watched much Black Mirror, but I am familiar with San Junipero GIFs. Oh, you should watch that one. The nice thing about Black Mirror is you can just watch individual episodes. You don't have to watch all of it, which I still have not watched all of it. Okay. So, three films with Mackenzie Davis. I'm going to

guess that Blade Runner 2049 is one of them. Correct. Okay. Okay. Two more. I wish it was the movie What If with Daniel Radcliffe and

Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver where she plays Adam Driver's girlfriend and the two of them are chaotic good in that. They're really fantastic, but I don't think, A, enough people saw that movie, and B, that that role is big enough. So, probably not that.

Kenzie Davis. I mean, most... You're missing a big one. I'm sure I am. You're missing an obvious one, I would say. I know you're going to get there. We love this movie. I've seen people dog on this movie, but I know you and I...

Is she the leader? of this movie? No, but I need to stop giving you hints. Yeah, it's true. You need to get another wrong answer before. I'm not giving you anymore. All right, no, no, no, no, you shouldn't. You shouldn't.

All right, McKenzie, Davis. I'm going to just throw the Martian out there. Incorrect. Okay. Your years are 2019 and 2018. 2019 and 2018. All right. Oh, I'm going to kick myself, aren't I?

I know. I can feel it lurking out there. 2018, she's not the lead character, but, I mean... She's a very important character. She's the title character. Yes. Yes. Yes.

What the fuck? How did you not guess this yet? I don't know. You love this movie. We've had conversation. When this movie came out, we were like the loudest people loving this movie. Did we see it at Toronto? No.

Damn it. She's the title character, but she's not the lead. But she is also the lead. Spoiler. What the fuck? Oh, my God. It's not coming to me. What's my problem?

This is a reunion of a writer, director, and star. A writer? Of another movie that we definitely ride hard for. Oh, my God, I'm Tully. It's Tully. Yes. I've seen people dogging on Tully lately, and I just want to say that. Okay, why are people talking about Tully, if only to dog on it?

What a rude thing to do? I don't know. I think because McKenzie Davis, Station 11, blah, blah, blah. 2019, your last movie, it is a franchise. It is a maybe cursed franchise. Is she in one of the Fantastic Beasts? No. Cursed in a different way.

Like, this franchise isn't, you know, it's not problematic that I... Is she in one of the Godzilla versus Kongzzes? No. It's a franchise that just won't die and no one cares and they just keep making movies. God. Transformers. No. Those movies actually still make money.

So these movies don't even make money? Not as much as they should. Oh, so they're good. No, not as much as they should to break even. Gotcha, got you. These are very expensive movies. The past, at least three, there might even be more, have not made enough money to keep justifying sequels.

But they're trying to keep this franchise alive for whatever we're. This installment brought back one of the franchise's most famous players who had been sitting out of the franchise for almost three decades. Three decades. Not three. We'll say 25 years. It's not a bond. It's not bond. That's a long-ass franchise.

Star Trek? You probably could not. If you can name the franchise, I will. accept it as an answer because the past three maybe four installments, I don't think you could name the like subtitle. It's like franchise colon subtitle. Not the mission impossibles. No. Not Star Trek's, not Star Wars. No. What the fuck? Think time travel. Think time travel. Mackenzie Davis was definitely, like, of, I assume she's a new character, of the new characters, definitely, like, the lead of it, but this was also more about reuniting the, like, original two stars. And no one saw this movie.

I don't, I, this, no way this made $100 million. I'm going to look it up and see if it even made $50. Wow. Reunited the two stars from the 90s? The original was in the 80s. The sequel was in the 90s. The sequel was in the 90s. The first sequel.

And they're time travelers? The time travel is integral to this franchise. Well, now I can't stop thinking about Quantum Leap, even though that's not correct. Time travel is incredible. Iconic catchphrases. Part of the problem is... Oh, is it Bill and Ted? It is not Bill and Ted.

I'm so sorry. The lead star was known for these type of movies, and they tried to do, like, a reboot with younger stars. And this one, it's just like... This guy's maybe too old to make these movies. And no, it's not Indiana Jones. is it like like this movie made 62 million dollars are our listeners like totally screaming at their at their

I think they probably are I'm sorry the one before it made 89 million dollars and then the one before that made 125 what the fuck is this like the star that came back were they like totally washed up was it like a Schwarzenegger type thing I mean, I wouldn't, I, washed up makes it sound like, you know, we're in a bargain bin, but it, it is Schwarzenegger. It is Schwarzenegger.

Terminator, of course. Terminator. Of course. She was in the most recent Terminator. She is. She's the one. It's first on her known for it. She's the one with abs, right on the, yeah.

Did not watch it. Has totally fallen out of my mind. All of your clues are correct. The subtitle is Dark Fate. Yeah. Terminator Dark Fate sounds like the Terminator ride, right? Like, that doesn't sound like a movie. No, it doesn't sound like a movie.

But, yeah, Linda Hamilton's back in this one. Right, right, right, right, right. No, I did not see it. I do not acknowledge it. It was one of those... It was one of those things where for a minute there, it seemed like... Because I remember they were really... They had a decent teaser for it.

Well, and the publicity campaign was really going. like Linda Hamilton was like interviewed in the Times and it felt like they were feathering the nest for this being like a back to basics reboot that gets it and it's going to be the thing that we can all go back and then it's the knives were not out for this movie I think people were ready to be in on the Terminator again and the reviews just couldn't get there like they could not drum up the... And people just ignored it. The enthusiasm for it.

Yeah. Well, I think it also might have been the counter-programming to Frozen. Maybe. And, like, Frozen 2 just kind of gobbled up. Did it release that late in the year? I thought it was... November. Was it November?

Huh. Well, anyway. God. Sorry, listeners, for torturing you guys with that. I totally forgot that she was in that. Justice for McKenzie Davis No you know what she's doing well Her career is just going well

She's doing all the right things I think she's making the right decisions And good for her We like her Go watch Station 11 Okay That is our episode for this week If you would like more

This Had Oscar Buzz You can check out the Tumblr At this had oscarbuzz.tumbler.com You should also follow our Twitter account At had underscore Oscar underscore Buzz Chris where can the listeners find you in your stuff You can find me on Twitter and letterbox at Krispy File. That's

F-E-I-L. Woo-hoo! I am on Twitter at Joe Reed, read-spelled R-E-I-D. I am also on letterboxed as Joe Reid spelled the same way. We would like to thank Kyle Cummings for his fantastic artwork. Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Muvius for their technical guidance. Please remember to rate, like, and review us on Spotify,

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