This Had Oscar Buzz - BONUS – NYFF We Love You! We REJECT This BLASPHEMY!

Episode Date: October 10, 2021

We’re back stumping film festivals to bring you this bonus episode on our experience with this year’s New York Film Festival slate! Here Joe reflects on the Oscar potential of The Tragedy of Macbeth and The Power of the Dog, and Chris says Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers features one of Penélope Cruz’s very best performances. We discuss other films in the … Continue reading "BONUS – NYFF We Love You! We REJECT This BLASPHEMY!"

Uh-oh, wrong house. No, the right house. I didn't get that! We want to talk to Marilynne Heck. We love you for watching this evening, but this is for New York. Hello and welcome to the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast, the only podcast that will protest in favor of lesbian nuns. Every week on This Had Oscar Buzz, we usually talk about a different movie that once upon a time had Lofty Academy Award aspirations, but for some reason that it all went wrong. Today, though, we are coming at you with a bonus episode about the awards aspirations of the films that screened at this year's New York Film Festival.

I am your host, Joe Reed. I am here, as always, with the Alice Tully to my Walter Reed. Chris Fyle, hello, Chris. Mary, we love you. We reject this blasphemy. Okay, it does feel like Mary We Love You happened a billion years ago because the New York Film Festival takes a long time. It's nine years long.

And so the very first thing that happened was they screamed Benedetta and it was protested by a bunch of incredibly campy, I would say, Catholic protesters who did more... I think IFC is running a very good publicity campaign for that movie. If that is the case, it would make a ton of sense because nothing brought more publicity and especially sold that movie to the people who would want to see Benedetta better than this tiny little group of sad Catholics holding up signs that said, Mary, we love you, I have put out this call before. All I'm saying is I'm not saying

to steal things. I am also not saying to like financially enrich conservative activists. But what I'm saying is if I could just get my hands on that sign that says, Mary, we love you, just so I could frame it and put it in my apartment, I would be very, very grateful. Because that is camp. All I'm saying is three years from now. I will still be quote tweeting things with Mary We We Love You. We reject this blasphemy. And four people will know what I'm saying. And those are the four people for me. I'm

one of those four people. That is, Mama, that is camp. That is and the thing of it is, I didn't get to see the screening of Benedetta. That's one of the handful of movies at this festival that I would have wanted to see but circumstances aligned it against me. So I'm still waiting to see

Benedetta. This is the new Paul Verhoven movie that you may have heard of, from its Venice premiere is all about lesbian nuns. Yes. Oh, it was Cannes. It wasn't Venice. You're right. God, we've been hearing about this movie for even longer than I thought.

Well, because this movie was filmed, like, several years ago. This wasn't just, like, delayed because of the pandemic. It was delayed before the pandemic because Paul Verhoeven, who is an elderly man, still quite a rascal, made this movie, broke, like, his hip. and couldn't do post-production on it. And so they were still going to hold it for Cannes. And then the pandemic happened. And then it finally gets released. We've been hearing about this movie for a long time.

Well, it's finally at least creeping into festivals. Does it have a 2021 release date yet, do we know? IFC first weekend of December. I see. So, yeah, it won't be too long. I will show up with my Mary, we love you. We reject this blasphemy t-shirt. T-shirts, I want a.

tote, like, I am a very big fan of a cheeky tote, and I would accept any and all tote bags with that sign printed on it. We want Alamo Draft House, themed cocktails. What is in the Mary We Love You, we reject this blasphemy cocktail? Well, I am, if it's Mary, you want it to be like a takeoff on the Bloody Mary, right? So, like, a Mary we love you is a little bit more of an inviting, what would make a Bloody Mary like a little bit more inviting? perhaps a, I don't know, which, is it blasphemy that you would have to reject to have a flavored vodka in a Bloody Mary?

That might be too much. That would be the blasphemy. Yes, right, right. Some sort of a... But do we love you is like, it's one of those crazy Bloody Mary's that has, like, a hamburger on it? Right, like, right, like three bacon strips and, uh, right, a quarter pounder with cheese sort of balanced on top of the, of the Mary We love you. Cocktail. Right. Yes. Get on it, Draft House.

Something. We need this. We need this in our life. So, yeah, so a fantastic publicity for Benedetta at the very beginning of the festival, and good for them. Like I said, that's one of the handful. Let's sort of get past the movies we're not really going to be talking about either because neither one of us have seen them. So, actually, we should lay out. I was able to attend a bunch of screenings in person for this one. and Chris, unfortunately, not being a New York City local, yet... Applied for access when it seemed like it was going to be virtual. And then they really sort of... And I did get to see two things virtually, it's fine.

Right. So Chris saw a couple things virtually. I saw a bunch of things in person. This really felt like for, you know, all due deference to Sundance, who like, I was really glad I was able to do a bunch of online screenings with Sundance. And like, with recognition of the position. the tough position that Tiff was in with having to do this sort of hybrid, you know, virtual slash in-person, this did feel like the first time I was back in a film festival environment since before the

pandemic. And it felt really good. And I was worried that I was going to feel really nervous being back in-person screening, but they were very good about checking vaccination statuses, and they were very good about making sure people kept their masks on. There were a couple film society of Lincoln Center. I'm not sure if they were volunteers or whether they were paid. There was also, by the way, a lot of action with the unionized employees at Lincoln Center who are fighting for. We support the employees of Lincoln Center and their unionization efforts. They deserve a fair and equitable contract because, holy God, they do really good work there. And I can certainly attest to that. They were very good about making sure people

kept masks on, including at least one New York City, long-time New York City personality, who I shouldn't name, was told to have his mask, put his mask on, and I heard he left in a huff. So that's fun. I have a guess on who this is, but you're going to tell me off. We'll talk about it offline. But I felt very comfortable. I felt very sort of taken care of in these screenings. So good on you, New York Film Festival, good on you, staff at Lincoln Center.

So a few things we've already seen that you can go back to both our TIF and our Sundance episodes for whatever assemblage of these. Bergman Island, Chris Files' favorite movie of the year so far. Yes. Flea, which we both love. Which we both loved. Yeah. Passing, which we saw out of Sundance. Saw it a sundance.

I was a little bit mixed on it, but I still really love Ruth Naga's performance in that. Ruth Nica is amazing in it. And the way that that movie has been received in subsequent festivals to Sundance, specifically at New York, I'm more optimistic about her awards chances going forward than I was. I think it's by no means a sure thing, but, like, I feel like her name is going to be in these conversations. Well, originally it seemed like they were going to push her for a lead because, like, whatever, I hate having category placement conversations. But like there's some gray area You know I think both kind of makes sense

But it does sound like They're pushing her for supporting I think she's probably That movie's best shot I do too I do too And then Petit Mamam Which we both loved out of

It was my favorite Tiff movie Yeah Yeah we both loved out of Tiff It is unfortunately Not the French submission We'll talk a little bit more about that I Well it's not on their short list

I should say I was gonna say Have they selected something yet? They selected their three, and I think they're making a huge mistake, just as for Selen Siama, who keeps getting screwed by these selection committees. All right. I think it was probably their safest route to winning, and they didn't include it. Well, when we get to that point, definitely let me know,

because I actually missed the news about what three movies, so I'm very curious now. Joe, what else did you not get to? see. So we mentioned Benadetta. I didn't see another movie that had premiered at Cannes Ahad's knee, which... Which I did see out of Toronto. What did you think of it? I really liked it. I liked Nadad Lapid's films. Didn't like it as much as I really liked synonyms two years ago. It was shortlisted with Israel and it is not their submission. If you've seen the movie, you can imagine why, considering how condemnatory it is towards the Israeli government and the Israeli military.

But it's a good movie. Check it out when you can. I believe it's coming out this year. Fantastic. I did not see the Japanese film drive my car. Dying to see that? I've heard nothing but great things. I think with trying to fit in New York Film Festival screenings around my day job, a 179-minute movie was not

the easiest of slots to sort of work into my day, unfortunately. I did not end up seeing the souvenir part two because I, to date, have still not seen the souvenir part one. I promise I will get to it. I will promise I'll get to both of them. You got to see it for Tom Burke's performance. People really liked souvenir

part two. I heard nothing but good things about that. So good on that. I'm going to wait on seeing Dune until I can see it in an IMAX, essentially. I didn't see a ton of value in going to see this thing at Walter Reed Theater, no shade to the Walter Reed, when I could just wait two weeks and see it in IMAX. That feels like a trade-off I was more than willing to make.

And this way I was able to travel. It's weird they didn't screen it for press at some non-Lincoln Center theater in an IMAX. I think in perhaps a non-COVID situation they might have, but I think keeping everything at one venue for press was probably a problem. Priority. Yeah. Yes. Although I will say, the Lincoln Square Theater has been checking vaccine status now,

which I am happy with. I'm happy with all movie theaters who are actually being rigorous about that. And then the last thing that I just sort of, I didn't see because I didn't think it was going to be a factor in award season, and I figured I could wait on it and see it later, is Memoria. And now I totally regret that because people are freaking out about how good that movie is. Okay. But also, I think if they had made the new.

about its, you know, um, its release plan before the press. They made that news as the press screening was happening. I talked to, I talked to friends who like got out of the press screening and they were like, I tweeted one nice thing about Memorial and I've been inundated with like, but what about this rollout?

And they're just like, what rollout? What are we talking about? What's going on? What happened? Right. So, I, I think that probably would have been a jam-packed press screening for people

trying to get a chance to see it. So explain the rollout thing a little bit because our listeners may not have heard this. The plan for the movie, which is going to make it essentially a little bit more along the line of Director Joe's installation work, is that they say it will only be playing at one theater at a time with an indefinite rollout. and it will never be available on a streaming or physical media of any kind. I mean, I definitely, like, especially right now during COVID, I'm like absolutely experiment with release plans. Sure. You know, it feels like this is the time to figure out what works on a movie, my movie basis.

I think, you know, yeah, access is absolutely important, but this is just one movie. Yeah. You know. It also kind of runs counter to my specific way of watching movies nowadays, which is stock out a very unpopulated screening and go seeing that. This rollout seems very much designed towards like bottlenecking screening. So you're going to have like a small handful of screenings that will all probably be very full. And that's kind of exactly the opposite of how I want things to be. Maybe not on a Tuesday at, you know, one o'clock or whatever.

That's going to be my best, right. That's going to be my best option, and we'll see where it screens. But, like, I am kind of fascinated by it. It is, it feels like this hybrid between his installation work and his, you know, more direct cinema. I am highly, highly skeptical that people won't have a way to see it. Yes. Yes. perhaps through non-sanctions.

Not the means we want people to see it. Because this only applies to the U.S. release as far as we know. Because all of its international rights are with Mooby, which is a streamer. Right. Right. So I'm highly skeptical. And get a BPN and go to town, I guess. Well, yeah.

I'm very curious to see what the reality of it is like because it seems. possible, but, you know, I feel like, it is the Cambodian submission, so are they just going to not, are they just going to hope that Academy members go and see it in the one week

it plays New York and the one week it plays in L.A. and not, you know, provide screenings or screeners for it. So it is the Cambodian submission. I was under the impression that a lot of this was in the English language, but I guess I was mistaken. I guess maybe Tilda Swindon,

and, uh, it was under the impression it was in, um, very little language in that there's not much dialogue, but, I see, I see. Yeah, Wikipedia says languages are English and Spanish. If there's not, you know, if there's not enough that this could be one of those movies that the Academy deems ineligible, right? Who knows? I'm interested in the fact that sort of on a theoretical, uh, basis that if we, if sort of independent and international cinema are going to be as specialized as they are and sort of if the if the movie marketplace is going to be so starkly divided between like the biggest of the big and then anything else is just like by definition small then to have a rollout that sort of gooses the demand in this way I'm interested to see if that works and how that works because that could be you know that's data points that you want to sort of consider for how we're how we're going to theatrically distribute smaller movies independent movies that kind of thing also as much as as many movies like good bad and different things you've never heard of things you have heard of and

then they're gone immediately because they just fall into the soup of streaming and nobody talks about them or watches them like yeah i'm certainly someone who is all for you know access and better programming. Right. But, like, I'm also really into, like, how can we make any movie feel special right now? Right, right. And this definitely, you know, that does that for sure. Yeah.

So, all right. So now let's move on to the things that we did see. And I'm going to sort of go in general order of the way that things screened for me. So the very first thing that I saw at this year's New York Film Festival, I was incredibly excited to see, which because it was the Palm Door winner, it was Titan, which... We are both huge Raw fans.

I think we're probably both people who, the second we left raw, we were excited for whatever Julia DeCournao would do next. So incredibly excited. I heard about this project, and then I immediately decided

I'd heard some rumblings about like, you won't believe what this movie does. And that was like, that's it. That's all I need to know. that's all I want to know. I never watched a trailer. I sort of stayed radio silent on everything. I didn't read the can reviews. My physical senses apparently shut themselves off when Chris, you managed to throw in a

reference to the plot of this movie in our counselor episode because I absolutely, you're like, I'm so sorry I spoiled that part of Teton for you. And I was like, you did what in the when? And you were like, uh, never mind. I was like, nope, nope, changing the subject. I am Homer Simpson, I am backing into a bush. Because I cannot believe... I feel like this movie's been processed enough.

It is in theaters right now. Yes. It's dying in theaters right now. But I feel like we can talk about some plot details about this movie. I think we can. Okay. I was shocked you hadn't heard about the car fucking. I was too, but I was so happy because I really got to experience this thing incredibly.

The only thing I had sort of heard was that there was like gender stuff. And I was like, literally, that was the extent of it. But, like, that's not the whole thing. But, like, neither is the car fucking. The car fucking's not the only thing about this movie either. It is the flashiest thing that happens. And it is, you know. And it happens in the first, like, 15 minutes.

But, like, it's not even the most eye-popping thing that happens or the most, like, because I don't even think that's particularly, like, hard to watch. Like, there are certain things in this movie that, like, you really do have to, like, hide your face from, violence-wise. I think it's significantly, like, less gory than Raw is, but it is violent. But, well, and also, it's filmed in a way that, like, in really, like, classic horror movie terms where, like, the visual, like, you know something's about to happen. I'm specifically talking about the thing with the bathroom.

Bia knows. Teton. God, you're such a weird out. Um, I love it. Yes, it's, it's intense. There's a lot of intensity, but it's also, the plot really, like, goes to some interesting places that you wouldn't necessarily think it's going to go. I think it brings in some sort of, like, illusions to Claire Deney in a few places, and it will remind you... Cronenberg, obviously.

I mean, Julia de Cerno talks about how much she loves Cronoberg. Absolutely. And there are certain parts of this movie where, like, it has, will have detoured into a thing that, like, it was very much not doing in the first, maybe half hour of the movie. And it's like, you're so enraptured into what the movie is doing now. And you almost have to, like, at few times, I sort of. of mentally kind of stepped back and you're like, but this is also still happening. Like this also thing is like still going on.

Like this woman still, you know, had sex with that car and there are after effects and there are consequences. And as much as I gasped over the like more shocking elements of that movie, you know, like Julie de Courantone really knows how to fuck with you. But I was gasping about human elements. That's the thing. In it that, like, as particularly one moment, I wouldn't want to spoil because it builds up to, it's building up through basically the entire movie. Right.

And then when it happens, you know, and it's nothing violent or gory. It is just human level connection and emotion. I feel like we're still being, you know, decently vague about this. But we should say that, like, the lead actress in the film is Agatha Roussel. I, again, am terrible. at French pronunciations, who is playing a person who goes through a few, like, identity shifts as this movie goes along, and comes across a semi-grieving father who is lost, like, literally, like, has a son who was presumed, murdered, or kidnapped or missing. And these two characters sort of find each other and connect in ways that you feel like initially you think you know what's going on because you've sort of seen, you know, movies. What's the movie that Somersby is based on that, like, has the Martin Gare story?

Like, there's elements of that. But, like, it moves, like, these characters are also in and of themselves. there's danger sort of lurking beneath them, because we've seen what Alexia has done. And also Vincent, the father, seems just in his, like, demeanor and the way he carries himself, sort of capable of, we always seem like he's injecting steroids, he's trying to, like, sort of, like, you know, bulk himself up. And it's just like, is this guy a violent guy? Could he be like, could he, you know, react really angrily to, you know,

learning some things are, you know, not the what he thinks he is. Well, they're both incredibly volatile because, and they're opposites in a lot of interesting ways, and they're also parallels in completely different ways that are really interesting on a character level, because Alexia is kind of devoid of emotion, devoid of connection, which is like, it explains her, you know, emotional attachment to machines. The movie opens with her, like, pestering her father, and it results in a car accident that gets a metal plate put in her head. Yeah, by the way, me not knowing French at all really helped me not know about this movie because, like, I didn't even make the connection that Titan is titanium and French. Like, I didn't even make that connection.

So, like, I was really flying blind. You thought it was a Titanic spinoff. I didn't know it could have been a name of something. Yeah, it's exactly. Yeah, French Titanic. Yeah. Woodwatch. Um, but then also Vincent Lindon's character is basically a raw nerve of emotion.

He is like, if she is the metal, he is the flesh because he is nothing but this body of muscle and flesh, but he is emotional to the point of delusion, we should say, where it's like he, uh, you know, is trying to be this tough. exterior person but really he is this emotional mess he's like blubbering all the time he is uh searching for this affection that alexia uh reacts to violently because she can't process it um there's also like parallels of like he is this uber macho image of like mailness because he has all these muscles and he's like Very daddy. Very surprising that gay Twitter has not lost its goddamn. They haven't found the movie yet, Chris. I guarantee you this is going to happen. He is like 100,000 gay daddy memes ready to get birth, no pun intended, into the universe. And but then you have Alexia who, uh, despite, you know, the way that she goes through, you know, a gender presentation, uh, transformation throughout the movie. We meet her as this like auto. show girl where it's like fully emotional detachment of

like sexualized female, right? Yes. So like I think the body horror of the movie and I would even question calling this movie a horror movie. Me too. Is kind of

an extension of the like human dynamic that Julia Dekerno is doing here. I think as far as an evolution as a filmmaker, I think it is fascinating that she makes this after Raw. Raw, to me, is a movie that's about sibling dynamics, and this is about parents and

children in a way that, like, I was very moved by, I actually cried during this movie. Fascinating. Tell me after we're done recording at what point? I cried at the point that I said I was gasping at a certain human thing that happens. Gotcha. Yeah, so, okay, but more to the point of our scope, what's the situation with any kind of

awards chances for this? Like, no, right? I mean, I see a troubled road ahead for this if it ends up being the French submission. So it's one of the three. one of the three the other two are one is this popular i guess cop drama that was like a big box office hit in france and the other is happening the abortion drama that won the golden lion at venice interesting i just like my hunch is that it's going to be happening titan i think i wonder if it would have gotten this far in their submission process if it didn't have the palm i'm thrilled that it's there but I'm also skeptical slash was rooting for Petit Mamon.

I was super rooting for Preet Mamon. I wonder if like its best chance might be like an original screenplay thing. However, I will say if there was a real push for Agatha Roussel and Vincent Lindon, I would be fully on board for it.

They are some of the best performances of the year. I will also say though... Oscar may not go for it, but they are doing incredible work in this movie. I think between the New York Film Festival premiere and, you know, making it into theaters now, the reactions and reviews that I'm seeing

are, like, positive, but with reservations. There's, I'm seeing a lot more, like, it's not this, like, unreserved sort of, like, outpouring of ecstatic reactions. Like, there are, you know, people are, I think, you know, well within their rights to sort of, like, let's, let's maybe unpack what's going on. Is this, you know, everything that we think it is? And I think while I think that's what good movies, that's the reactions that good movies do elicit, I do feel like. Yeah, everybody who watches this movie is going to have a unique response to it.

But I think that's also the stuff of a movie that will eventually get the fuller picture of, like, how we appreciate it years down the line. Do you know what I mean? So, like, I would not expect, I completely agree with you. I would not expect Titan to be like an Oscar movie that rides to Oscar nominations on the basis of an overwhelming wave of critical support, unlike, I would say, another movie that we'll talk about later on in this discussion. I would also say because of what happened at the box office with this movie, which was A, not surprising, but B, I think a lot of people were very, very, very, very. quickly writing this movie off because of its opening weekend. And my thing is, I think a lot of movies that are meant for adults that are going to be, that are positioned for the awards race are going to have similar troubles because of what this fall is going to be. So I think in the

end, that's not going to be one of the things. Anybody who's trying to glean anything from box office this year, I think is playing a fool's game, genuinely, honestly, like with very, very few exceptions. I feel like you can, everything is, has a big asterisk next to it. I think the fact that they're playing Tatan in theaters and doing a theatrical opening at all is great, especially in, not in this sort of like one week at the end of the year for awards consideration way, that like open it in October. Like, yes, thank you. Please. Like, don't make us wait any longer. And I was happy with that. Yeah. All right. So let's move on. Yeah, briefly, because I don't feel like this is going to be a ton of implications

and now we're moving into a bunch of movies that I've seen and Chris hasn't so it'll be a little bit of a one-sided conversation but I'll have lots of questions for you the worst person in the world I really really liked this is going to be I believe so fucking excited for this movie I think you're going to really enjoy it this is going to be Norway's submission I believe for the international film category I'm really rooting for it This is, how do we pronounce Joe Kim's name? Is it Joe Kim Trier?

I think it, I believe. Which, like, I've had some reservations about his movies. Yeah. Which has me, maybe second-guessing my excitement for this movie, but I've been dying to see it. This is the director of Reprise and Oslo, 31 August. Louder than Bombs. Louder than Bombs, which I have not seen, but I have heard very, very, very, bad things about.

But this one has gotten, had gotten really great reviews out of Cannes as well. And it stars Renata Rensiv and Anders Danielson Lye. Now, Anders was also a big fave of ours in Bergman Island. He was, having been in both of these movies at New York Film Festival,

he was a, the talk of that first week, I think, in a lot of ways, in terms of performers. I also realized... We also can't stop talking about it because acting is his side hustle. He is a doctor. A doctor. His job is a doctor. He's a doctor.

Um, yeah, he also played the main terrorist villain in 22 July, and Paul Greengrass is 22 July, which he is terrifying in that. And I enjoyed that movie. He was also a personal shopper. Like, all of a sudden, it's just like, oh, I've seen this guy in some things. He's incredibly handsome. He is, in Bergman Island, he's quite likable if, like, like, with fuckboy tendencies, I would say, maybe. High-key fuck-boy tendencies.

What's that? High-key fuck-boy tendencies. And in Worst Person in the World, you sort of feel like that's the same box that he's going to be in. And then by the end of the movie, he emerges from that box in very interesting ways, I will say. And he, that performance. That clip of him and Renata smoking into each other's mouths. I want to live in it for the rest of my life. It's a really, really sort of sexy movie in a lot of ways.

It is mostly Renata's character's story. She is the sort of, you're supposed to see her as like the titular worst person in the world. But like, I think the movie is almost a question. I think if you put a question mark at the end of that title, it would also work well. It's just like, what, you know, what about this character? Is this how she feels about herself? Is this how, you know, the rest of the world sees her? Her relationship with Anders's character really goes through an evolution and it comes out

at the end in an incredibly, I would say, emotional place. This is being distributed by neon, which... No date yet, which is for rasterating. Well, and I feel like they were, they're probably going to maybe wait and see what the sort of Oscar prospects of this end up being. They also have a very, very busy fall, so they could just do a qualifying release for it so that it can get in. I want to take a look at this again because, like, yeah, they have this fall. Currently, it's not even on their website. Right, because they're distributing Spencer.

they've got flea, they've got Petit Maman, and they also have Memoria, right? Is that them? Teton. I thought they also had a documentary that I'm forgetting about. I think they have a COVID doc. Well, ALE is there.

ALE, which rules. Right. And, oh, yeah, they've got the COVID doc the first wave, which, like, I don't know, man. I believe you that it's good, but, like, I don't know if I want to, volunteer myself for that level of anxiety. You want to watch things like the worst person in the world right now.

Yeah, worst person in the world is great and lovely and wonderful and highly recommended. But I think, yeah, I think it's Oscar Prospects. If it ends up in international film, probably don't see it as a winner. I think a nomination would be the victory here because it's, I think to be an Oscar winner in international film, I think you have to have a little bit of that, like, but is it important, you know, is it saying anything important? And this is ultimately, it's a character study, and it's a relationship story. And, like, it excels at both of those things, I would say.

But probably not going to be a contender to win. But again, if it gets nominated, I think that's a victory in and of itself. So, what's next? Moving on, the big movie of the first week of the festival, this was the big world premiere at Neurofilm Festival, which was Joel Cohen's, The Tragedy of Macbeth, starring Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand and some gorgeous black and white photography and very sort of like stark set decoration. I think those are kind of the stars of the movie. I think I was a little bit underwhelmed sounds almost like brady about it. It's just like, well, I was a little

underwhelmed by Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand. Like, fuck you guy. But like, I don't Those were not the performances that I was impressed by. I think Francis's take, especially on Lady Macbeth, felt sort of neither here nor there in a way that, like, I don't think I saw anyone praising her. I think there was so much expectation because that was the casting that I thought was the most, like, that's a choice. That's a really interesting choice. I'm really fascinated to see what the Francis McDormann version of Lady Macbeth would be, and I think I'm still waiting to see. what that would be, unfortunately. Denzel Washington is not bad as Macbeth at all.

I just don't think he, like, leaps off the screen and, like, knocks me out in the way that, like, again... When people were expecting him to be, like, the frontrunner after this movie dropped. I still think he has a fantastic shot at a nomination because he's Denzel Washington. The Academy loves him. This movie is absolutely still going to be pushed for major awards. It, again, looks gorgeous, and he's, you know, reciting some of the best, you know, best known monologues in, you know, literature, in the history of the world, right? So he's definitely in a contention. And honestly, if they push Francis McDormand in supporting, it's one of those roles that's big enough that, like, I think she could, I could see a world where she gets a nomination to, which I would be kind of bummed out by.

because the best performance the sort of like most across the board acclaimed performance that I saw from everybody else's reviews was for Catherine Hunter who plays the witches, the weird sisters in the film she plays sort of all three of them.

It is fascinatingly interesting. Like the choices that are made. I'm really excited to see this performance. I'm curious though because it's just the witches in Macbeth right. They're not, it's not a huge presence in the movie. I'm curious to see if this will just be like a critics thing or if like that could actually be, you know, a real contender.

I think there's a limit on it. It just seems like the type of thing that it's like we with cooler taste than the Academy know that this performance is great and will be loud about it. But it's just not going to be on their radar at all. That's that's kind of where I'm hedging right now, especially like I said, if they decide to push Francis McDormann and supporting, then I think that kills Catherine Hunter's chance is dead, which is too bad. I think a brave, I could see, you know how, like, New York Film Festival has been like really, really sort of like intentionally bold with their choices these days? I could absolutely see them going Catherine Hunter for supporting actress this year in order to make a statement, which, again, whether that will have an impact on the Oscars, we've seen those statement awards from New York Film Festival, or not New York Film Festival, New York Film Critics. Jesus, I'm so stupid. Yeah.

New York Film Critics Circle. They've gone with Tiffany Haddish and Regina Hall in the past, and those things have not had their impact on the Oscars at all. But it's not always all about the Oscars. And sometimes, you know, an award has value in and of itself. But I could definitely see them going for Catherine Hunter in that way. And that would be cool. I also thought Corey Hawkins was great as McDuff.

Like, genuinely really, really enjoyed what he was doing. and I don't know if there's there's definitely enough of him to support a supporting campaign but I don't know if he ends up being central enough to the impact of the story if that makes sense I think I think the impact of this movie is so much in the visuals that like unless you are a Denzel Washington or perhaps a Francis McDormand you're probably not going to amass

awards talk but you know you're not going to be the story but like it really just like the look of it is very striking and so yeah definitely like go out and see for yourself the next thing I saw oh I loved it so much so I saw I want to say Simon Baker but it's not Simon Baker of course it is um could you imagine no what was his show on CBS I don't care it was no it was the he was the mentalist right he was the mentalist Sean Baker's Red Rocket, which is the film that had screened at Cannes. This is the one where Simon Rex, former MTV VJ, scary movie three star, and

pornography legend. I don't know. Perhaps that's only in my own sad little adolescence. Anyway, he did some porn videos. He is solo porn videos. Anyway. We know. We know. Stars as a

The collective we. I mean, that's not dismissive. That's saying, oh, we're familiar. Oh, we got it. Oh, we've been new. Plays a former porn star returning to his hometown on the Texas Gulf Coast, tries to sort of re-engratiate himself with his estranged wife and his estranged wife's incredibly skeptical mother and basically tries to sort of like land on his feet. But he's always on the, he's always on the come up, right? He's always on the looking for his, break back into whatever version of the high life that he used to have. This is a character who's always sort of talking about his, you know,

how many porn awards he won at, at, oh, I've forgotten the acronym for it, but whatever the acronym for the porn awards and how many he's won and what you got to do to win it and why he deserved it and the women he was in scenes with didn't. And he's like, he's a scumbag, but he's also, the performance is so charismatic and, like, bafflingly likable, even though the, like the performance is also very, very aware of what a piece of shit this guy is. But it's kind of... And it's also set, like, on the eve of the 2016 election. Right.

But the character is also himself supposed to be somewhat of a Trump allegory, correct? Yes, you're definitely supposed to connect the dots from watching the movie, I sort of had this note of, like, we are going to be doomed for the rest of. our lives to watch clips of Donald Trump running for president on television screens in the background of scenes of movies that we're watching for the rest of our lives. Like, it's just going to happen. But you're definitely meant to draw parallels between the fact that you're seeing sort of Trump at this moment in 2016, where this kind of, he was, you know, he was a joke in pop culture and, you know, we didn't really have to take him seriously, but we underestimated just how insidious this person was. And I think you're supposed to bring that a little bit into your understanding of

the Simon Rex character. We're like, yeah, this is a comedy we're watching. Yes, this guy's a joke. Yes, this guy sort of is delusional about his own prospects for success. And yet, even with all of that, this guy is capable of doing real harm to people. And yes, that's definitely a thing you're supposed to be taking from this movie. I have something I feel like I would run from the hills away from, like, I don't want to see that movie, but I think Sean Baker is someone that I can trust to do this in a way that's not going to make me want to, you know, self-immolate. It's an incredibly entertaining movie.

Like, this is not a movie that, like, is constantly doing the, like, makes you think, right thing? I think it's just... It definitely sounds more tangerine than it does Florida Project in terms of the tone of it from what I gather. Well, and it is also... not to, like, spoil, it is perhaps even more in love with the poetry of a donut shop than Tangerine, which, like...

How is that possible? How, indeed. How indeed is that possible? And yet, it exists. But there's also, it'll make you think a Florida project in certain ways as well. And it's just a really entertaining film. It's just like my friend Fran Hoffner, we saw it at the same screening, and she came out. And I think her letterbox review was just like, this is a movie.

This is doing some, like, real honest-to-god movie stuff. And, like, it's true. It's just, like, it's a good time that is, like, it's not empty calories, not to bring it back to the donut metaphor. Donuts aren't empty calories. What are you talking about? All right. Boy, we are taking our time. We should really move through.

Taking our time. Let's speed along. Let's talk about the Velvet Underground, a movie that I actually got to see. It rules. It rules. It's great. It's great. I mean, like, I can't really, like, this is just one of those things where I'm like, just trust me, guys.

the thing of the most one of the most boring genres that are just like everywhere in movies today is a talking head documentary about music yeah so boring so boring there's a million of them they are all the same doesn't matter who the subject is this one does feel different and i think the level of like invention that todd haines brings to all of his movies and especially especially now, it feels like, you know, with like dark waters. I even feel this back with like something like Velvet Goldmine. He takes these genres that are overdone sometimes and brings really fresh perspectives and filmmaking techniques to them that make them very interesting. Like, this isn't just a movie about the Velvet Underground. Like, it's kind of about a whole time and place that this band essentially embodied. And he does such a great job of creating that time and place through, just simply through

people's recollections of it, through archived video, through, like, it's amazing what he's able to do just with that, you know, material and to really, like, immerse you into a subculture that, like, it's not like I grew up being, like, really into the Velvet Underground or that kind of, or like, I was not like a kid who, like, watched Warhol movies to be avant-garde or whatever, you know what I mean? Like, that was not really my thing. And it really gave me a great sense of what this moment in the culture that was also happening while other moments in the culture were sort of parallel to it.

The way it parallels itself to like the hippie moment or sort of what was going on in California at the time in a way that like really, again, gives you a sense of what the ethos of this like New York art scene was, which is like pretty sneering towards the California flower children, right? In a way that I found delicious and absolutely like I get it. Like, you know, I really get what, you know, this mentality was at the time. And for a band like the Velvet Underground that like I was not super well versed in, I thought it was, it told a really strong story. I also thought it really made great use of the fact that John Kale, who is one of the surviving members of the band, has this incredible Welsh voice that, like, is fantastic for narrating. I want this person

to narrate everything. It's such a great, he's got such a fantastic, you know, sort of storytelling voice. I think it's, I think it makes fantastic use of that. Do we feel like this has any kind of documentary feature prospects? I feel like anytime we get a director who's sort of well known for making narrative films and they'll make a documentary and we'll be like well naturally they'll be like a frontrun of her documentary because like they're so great with narrative films but i don't think that ever really pans out i don't think that's always the case i mean but and i'm not sure the thing is oscar loves these music documentaries so maybe but they also don't get Todd Haynes

as much as I would love to see him finally be rewarded as a filmmaker by the Academy. I'm skeptical, but also, like, it could happen. But I also think of all those, like, Jonathan Demi music documentaries that, like, didn't ultimately end up succeeding with Oscars. So, like, it is, they do kind of pick and shoes in a way. And also, like, yes, Oscar

doesn't get Todd Haynes, and yet, like, they're not allergic to Todd Haynes. Carol got a bunch of nominations. Far from Heaven got a bunch of nominations. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's not across the board, nothing. Even Velvet Goldmine, which this movie shares, you know, some title verbiage and very intentionally. I think this movie really made me realize why Todd Haynes called Velvet Goldmine, and based his Ewan McGregor character in that movie, at least partially on Lou Reed.

And Iggy Pop. Right. But there are definitely, you know, you see watching the Velvet Underground, and you'll see those moments where Lou Reed's biography sort of dovetails with the McGregor character in that movie. So clearly, like, this is a subject that is close to Haynes's heart. And I think you see that reflected on the screen. In theaters and on Apple TV Plus, this coming Friday. Highly recommended.

All right. Okay, talk to me about the French dispatch because, like, I feel like every festival run, maybe it's just my, you know, bubble online, but I feel like every festival this movie has gone to, people just don't like it. Did you like it? I did, and I feel like New York Film Festival, from what I was hearing, I think it's boomeranging a little bit. I think the kind of vaguely underwhelmed response it can and then the even more even more underwhelmed response at Telluride, it's it kind of deflated that balloon enough that I think it came into New York Film Festival with a lot of diminished expectations in terms of this is going to be maybe one of the films of the year.

And I think then I was able to watch this movie. with a little bit more like, all right, what's, what's his movie's problem? What's, what's going on? And for a lot of the movie, I was like, yeah, I'm not really, I'm not connecting with this movie for whatever reason. It is very episodic, and one of the early episodes, the one sort of focused on Benicio del Toro and Adrian Brody was not doing it for me. And I was just like, yeah, I'm not really connecting with this movie.

And then as it sort of moves on through its later movements, it kind of snowballed for me, and it accumulated meaning, and it accumulated impact for me. And I think by the time I got to the end of the movie, and you get to this, like, past this, like, fantastic Jeffrey Wright performance, which is in the last sort of major movement of this movie. And he's really fantastic, and it brings in, I think, a lot of times we sort of write off Wes Anderson as a filmmaker without emotions. We sort of think of him as this sort of like aesthetic android, who's all just like, you know, dioramas and sort of, you know, center camera placements and all this sort of stuff.

And I think we kind of forget the fact that, like, Wes Anderson does have emotional ties to these movies he makes. He's just a little peculiar about them. And I think by the time I got to the end of French Dispatch, I was like, yeah, this is the movie that Wes Anderson would make as a love letter. to a free and well-funded press. Do you know what I mean? And I really appreciated it because of that. And I did, by the end of the movie, I'm like, I'm meeting this movie on its level.

And I really was very appreciative of it. Is it one of the best movies of the year? No. But I also feel like by the time I got to it, I didn't need it to be. So I think having lowered expectations helps. And whether that's, you know, movie clearing a lower bar than maybe it should clear if you are being made by a master filmmaker who's like internationally, you know, beloved and whatever. Maybe. But I also just like, I'm more or less like Wes Anderson movies. And I've made my piece with that. And a lot of people really don't. And like that's cool too. And he's a very particular kind of filmmaker. And I think that comes with pros and cons. And it means that like a lot of people are just not going to be into it. And that's fine. There's also cycles with Wes Anderson that he has gone through as a filmmaker where it's like, it feels like everybody dogpiles on one thing, but then he boomerangs back to like, well, he's just universally beloved again. And I'm like, but you're not making the same complaints that you could make about this one.

And like, I think it's just whatever kind of is in fashion. I also have, and like maybe this is weird nuance, but I also feel like French Dispatch is another one of these movies. that is getting an underwhelming response partly because of COVID delays. And it's like people are just sick of hearing about no time to die or tenant. And it's like these movies that in the past year and a half have underwhelmed. And I wonder if there's some psychological thing that it's just like they feel like old news, even though we haven't even seen them. I saw somebody tweet something like that about Dune about like,

has Dune been, you know, about to open in theaters for the last like 10 years? years. And it's like, no, it's actually only been the last two years. And it's because one of those years was there was a pandemic. So like, that's like, it's just kind of, it's, you can't really do too much about that. I think it's, I do think that there is something to the delay of some of these movies impacting how they're received. I think that's definitely true. Because, yeah, it's just like, it's, you know, so much anticipation and so much expectation to like, oh my God, save us, you know, save us from this horrible mood that we've been in for the last two years. And people have also moved on to newer and shinier things to get excited about.

And I also feel like, I think Wes Anderson has also kind of attained this reputation as being a filmmaker of whimsy. And I think if you watch his movies, you see that like there is a kind of, there is, there are whimsical elements to all of these things. But there's also darkness in almost all of them. There's also always this like really, really decided. melancholy. And like, it's, it's not, you don't go to a Wes Anderson movie necessarily to sort of have your faith in the human spirit, you know, renewed, right? And I think sometimes because his aesthetic is so playful that people sort of mistake that for a kind of fancifully whimsical storytelling that like, it's not,

quite that. It's not quite, you know, feel-good cinema. Yeah. But anyway, Jeffrey Wright rules. And if they're, if, you know, he probably will not, I would say, get a supporting actor nomination from this, but if they mount a campaign for it, it is what he deserves because he's quite good in it. What I would say about the French dispatch is my anticipation, and I could be proven very wrong. The thing that I said earlier about some of these, you know, prestige or awards positioned movies in the box office. I think the French dispatch is going to be the one that isn't going to have that concern. I think French dispatch is actually probably going to do well because Wes Anderson has

enough fans that this is probably going to, at the end of the year, be one of the ones that did better at the box office than like Tammy Fay did. Right. So the next movie I saw is I think the one with the brightest sort of awards prospects from this. So I saw the new Jagan-Campian movie, The Power of the Dog. This was my favorite thing that I saw at the festival. It lived up to I would say pretty lofty expectations. By the time I saw it,

it had already played Venice and Telluride, right? That's what it was? Yes. Well, and Toronto. And Toronto, right, but we were not able to see it because we were not special. So, yeah, expectations were high. Cumberbatch was

getting raves. Campion was getting raves. Kirsten Dunst, all this stuff. And I was so hyped for it, and it lived up to my expectations while also really surprising me. I had not read the novel that this was based on. The movie I was expecting from what I had heard about this movie was what I got in, I would say, maybe the first half of this movie. And then it really goes some places that I was very delightfully surprised by. It really, it tells a real, gnarly kind of interesting story that takes all of these characters who you really feel like you have a grasp on and really, you know, moves them into some places that makes them really more interesting than what you think they're going to be. Chris, you've read the novel, but have not seen the movie.

I did. And I mean, ever since I've read the novel, my excitement for this movie, if it already wasn't sky high, is basically out of fever pit. I know that Jane Campion does kind of her own thing and makes a few changes to the novel, which to me is only more exciting because on its face it doesn't seem like the type of thing that Jane Campion does would do, but then when you actually think of like the character dynamics and like, I will just say who emerges victorious from this story, I think it makes absolute sense that she would be interested in. telling this story and, you know, maybe telling it in her own way.

We should, this is something we should preserve story details on. Oh, absolutely. I'm not spoiling anything. But I will say she photographs New Zealand for Montana in a way that is really, really gorgeous. I feel like we're going to be talking about this movie for a while. I feel like this is the movie that I think the critical reaction to this movie is so uniformly strong that that will carry it, awards into award season. And like, this is maybe not like your best picture frontrunner, but I would be, I would be decently surprised if this does not get a nomination for best

picture, just from the way that it's been received so far and just how good it is and how it looks like it's going to be Netflix's big push too. Absolutely. And it does seem like they have a real shot. I mean, and I'll say, like, I've been so, I've been so long disillusioned for like rooting for anybody for anything because, like, I, you know, following the Oscars since as young as I have. I've had my heartbroken too many times. I don't root for anybody anymore, it feels like. But like, I want to see Jane Campion with that best director Oscar in her hand. I would love that. I think she's definitely, and so the way that the best picture and best director categories sort of have been going in the last, say,

decade or more, which is we're seeing a lot more splits than we have been, although the last couple of years, while there were people who were predicting possible splits, Parasite and Nomadland both managed to win both picture and director. But I still do feel like we are in an age where splitting best picture and best director is a lot more common. And the ways that they tend to split are director tends to go to the more sort of broadly, technically accomplished, sort of degree of different. occulty kind of a movie and best picture has turned it to go towards movies that have a little bit

more they you know they capture your heart a little bit more they capture your sort of emotions this is the you know the revenant versus spotlight split this is the um bring remind me of some other green book in roma right yeah right but yes finger quotes crowd pleasers when you know Perhaps they are not actual crowd players. Well, they pleased a crowd that is not us. But, you know, they definitely pleased a crowd. And I feel like you could look at the power of the dog and just be like, yes, this is absolutely a wondrous technical achievement in terms of just what this movie looks like and feels like. And the way it moves and the way the story sort of, you know, slinks and slides around you a little bit.

And I could absolutely see Campion sort of reaping the rewards of that. I think she's definitely a major contender for Best Director this year and good for her. Sight unseen for the movie, I hope she does. As much as I do not like to say that side unseen about things, I hope she does. I really, I mean, I expect you're going to really like it, and I hope you get to see it soon. I think Cumberbatch is absolutely in the top echelons of the discussion for Best Actor. I don't know if I would necessarily, you know, predict him to win this far out, but, like, would not be, would not be surprised. He's quite, quite good.

And in, you know, in some kind of surprising ways. What's that? Cursons is definitely getting nominated, too, right? Like, I, like, I felt like there were some initial reservations and the responses to this movie about her chances. But, like, lately when you see, like, her architectural. campaign. I'm like, she's going to be everywhere. And unless it ends up being like one of those J-Lo situations where people in the industry just don't like her, she's in. So here's what I'll say. I think the fact that they're campaigning her so aggressively is good.

I think the fact that they seem to be positioning her for supporting actress rather than best actress is good. She, I think if you watch the first half of this movie, you feel like she's your, she's your lead character here. And then the movie sort of like moves to other characters. And so she's definitely... Which is true of the book, because the book does, like, in a really impressive way, shift between characters with ease and regularly throughout.

out, but, like, the two that it focuses on the most are her and Cumberbatch's characters. Yeah. So that is definitely the case through most of it. But, like, in the last, I would say probably third of the movie and maybe even more, it kind of moves away from her character a little bit, which is not in any way a detriment to her performance. I think it's a great performance. It's also, though, it's not a super hooky performance, if that makes sense.

So, like, I do feel. like she's a strong contender for a nomination. If it doesn't happen, I'm not going to be the most surprised just because we've been on this train with Kirsten Dunst before. And although we haven't been on this train with a movie that has been in contention on its own before. You know what I mean? Like melancholia kind of self-immolated itself. Bachelorette was never going to be part of any conversation. So she was always like justice for Kirsten Dunst from like the back row or whatever. She's always one of those performers. that I've said sometimes it's about being in the right movie.

Right. She's never been in the range. The closest she's ever come to an Oscar nomination was interview with the vampire, and she was on an island with that movie. Like, that movie was not a best picture contender or in any of the other acting categories. She sort of powered through that on her own momentum. They probably would have had to have taken that movie

more seriously as a movie than as a crafts play to nominate, especially a child's performance. Right. And Marie Antoinette is a similar way where it's just like that got decided early on that that movie was going to be a crafts category movie and not a, you know, picture, director, actor, movie. And, yeah, I think it's just, I think you're right. She's never really been in a movie that has been in the best picture race.

So this will definitely help her. And again, it's a supporting performance that is a hefty supporting performance. So, like, there will be plenty to work with. And she's fantastic. She's really, really great in it. It's just, again, I don't know if there's necessarily. a hook. And sometimes you do need a hook. You know what I mean? So... The hook might be just her career.

But, but... How long she's been in the industry. For the academy, that, that's a hook of enough, I think. My only drawback there is, is Kirsten Dunst's career a hook for us, but maybe not as much for them? I mean, I feel like... Much more to us, young, you know, millennial, Gen X, whatever, gay boys, then. Okay, but I don't want to pull us too far afield, but I also feel like that is going to be part of the hook for Kristen Stewart. And if it works for Kristen Stewart and doesn't work for Kristen Dunn, that's going to be some bullshit. That's all I want to say.

But Kristen Stewart, Kristen Stewart made a whole lot of money for a whole lot of people a lot more recently. A lot more recently than Kirsten Dunst was in those Spider-Man movies. So, like, that, I think, matters. But anyway, yeah, Spencer is a conversation we'll have at a different time, for sure. At a different date. Also... My question mark for this movie... Yeah.

...is Cody Smith-McPhee, because I've seen a lot of people really praising his performance. He rules. He rules. Not that I'm doubting it. Not that I'm doubting that he's great. But this is an actor who, I feel like I've said it on Mike before, has given some really bad. performances. What are you thinking of? In my opinion.

What are you thinking of? I mean, like, again, child performances, and he's an adult now, so different actor, but like, I love the let the right one in remake, but he's really bad on that, in my opinion. I thought he was really, like, movie dismantling bad in the road. But then again, that's when he was a kid. That was when he was a kid, and I also don't think too many people will remember that is the other thing. I don't think... Right. Those are movies. Nobody saw. And this is, his is a character and a performance that does have a hook, which is going

to be necessary for him because he does not have the intangibles that Kirsten Dunst has in terms of name recognition and career and all of that. So, but like, he's so impressive. I went into this movie feeling like Jesse Plemons was going to be the supporting actor to look at. He's the character that really goes away. If it's like the book. Yes, it is.

And, like, he's great when he's there. And this is no shade against Jesse Clemens. But, like, you walk out of that movie. By the end of that movie, you're just like, oh, shit, he's so good. And, but it's also a character who is by necessity a little bit distancing. He's a sort of, he's closed off. He's sort of emotionally unwarm. You know what I mean?

That's sort of, that's the character. So I don't think that's as much of a problem in best supporting actor. I think that's a category that, like, accommodates that kind of a character actually pretty well. And what the hell is going on in supporting actor this year? Kind of, yeah. Yeah. So I definitely feel like if they're going to push him in this category, I think that's a smart call. I think he is so, so impressive.

All right. If not, he'll get a shot next year with the Scorsese. Yes. One of the many black and white movies that I feel like are in contention this year between McBeth or Tragedy of Beth Rether and passing and A portion of French dispatch. Right, yeah, yeah, exactly. Is the new Mike Mills movie, Come On, Come On, Come On, which is, could be subtitled,

What If an Uncle Really Loved His Nephew, which is... This is why I'm gonna fucking lose it at this movie. It's a very, very sweet movie featuring a very, very good performance by Joaquin Phoenix, and you know I am not easy to come by that sentence. So I really enjoyed it. I think so much of the movie is Joaquin Phoenix and this kid. It's not cutesy. It's cute.

Like, it's definitely not like, if you are predisposed to being like grumble, grumble cute kid, you know, whatever, then like, yeah, you'll probably be able to say. This is why I think the New York audience didn't like it. I feel like I saw uniformly, if kindly dismissive, at least dismissive to out. right, disliking this movie. I will say... But maybe it's not for the New York audience. I don't know. It's pretty...

I mean, you know, it... It was decidedly less warm of a response than the telluride response was. That's interesting. It's pretty love lettery to New York while it's here. Because part of the movie, definitely bulk of it, I would say, it takes place in New York.

It's less of a movie than 20th century women was. And if we're talking about the Mike Mills, sort of like filmography. It did not move me in a way that 20th century women did. It is a little more slight. It's quieter. I think it's

very effective. I think, again, a movie can be a great movie without being an Oscar movie. I don't see this being an Oscar movie, really. And maybe it's screenplay contender, depending on how sort of those categories shake out,

how crowded those categories, are. I know they seem to be pushing Gabby Hoffman for supporting actress. She's good, but she's not in any way flashy. And I would be a little surprised if she ends up making it the whole way. I mean, even for Joaquin Phoenix, who essentially, is this his first movie since Joker? It could be like the Oscar victory lap, but it also doesn't sound at all like the type of thing they reward him for. You took the words out of my mouth in both respects. It could definitely be a Halo nomination that's sort of Charlie's Theron and North Country thing, where it's like, yes, we were right to give you an award, and we will prove that by nominating you again so quickly. But it is very, very much not the kind of thing that they've nominated him for in the past. And it is probably why I like him so much. And sometimes it takes less competitive races to get a nomination like that to happen. And I don't think, there's a, yeah, I don't. Best actor is already seeming pretty busy, right?

Yeah. Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Benedict Cumberbatch, there's a lot going on already. So I would not be surprised to see Come on, Come On, Come On, Walk Away with no Oscar nominations, and I don't think that would take away from it being a rather, you know, lovely little film. Again, I didn't, you know, I didn't weep through as much of the movie as I kind of thought I would. I definitely, again, was a lot more moved by 20th century women, but it's a good movie. And I was very, very glad that I saw it. To wrap things up, let's talk about the closing film.

The one that you have seen, and I have not, because I screwed up the digital screening window. And you know what? Sometimes that happens. Pedro Motivar's, parallel mothers, holy shit. I feel like the New York response is even better than the Venice response, and they are right in that regard. I saw people saying that it is Almodivar's best movie. I would not go quite that far because he is too prolific to just say that right away. You can't just see that.

Prominent critics just saying that. Like, have you said, whatever. It's tremendous. I think it is very much in Almodivar in some modes we know him for, Some that we don't. I think it is a tremendously political film in a way that moved me quite a bit. Interesting. What I would more safely say is that it is one of the very best, if not the best,

Penelty Cruz performance. Once again, Pedro has been screwed, finger quotes. He already has this Oscar, but he's been bumped. out of international feature contention. I don't think that's going to hurt the movie's chances elsewhere. I actually think it's going to help. Pedro L. Motivar has already graduated to the level of he's a contender. His non-English language movies are a contender in other categories,

no matter whether they are a contender in international film. Like, he's leaped that troposphere to, you know, he's... And I mean, we talk more and more, and I do think more and more, it is truly going to be a thing where, you know, it's something that people are going to be pushing for and jockeying for in the awards race of getting, if not outright attempting to get a lone director nomination, but to get director nominations for non-English language films. I think this movie could do it. I absolutely think that it could be original screenplay contender. What do you think about Penelope Cruz's chances and best actress? I think they're really good. I think she's that good. Do you think she could win? Again, you talk about the hooks, you know, what's the narrative there?

Aside from the quality of her performance and, like, the type of emotional things that she has to navigate in this movie, you talk about hooks. And, like, when we talk about Pedro and when we talk about her, we talk about their screen relationship together. She's been nominated for one of his movies before. And, like, it's a huge part of her career. she is a major collaborator for him as well. Like that definitely helps. I sometimes think about Penelope Cruz's career and the fact that she's had three Oscar nominations

and her directors for those three movies are Pedro Al-Modivar, Woody Allen, and Rob Marshall. It's so... How many actresses have that kind of a wide terrain in terms of their Oscar nominations? I find that so incredibly funny. All very different performances. And I think that this would be,

another thing that makes it stand out from the rest of those performances too. I'm trying to avoid talking plot details. This was one of the ones that I kind of luckily got to see without

really any plot details other than knowing that it was a, you know, two mothers giving birth at the same time. I didn't watch the trailer, so I don't know what all is out there about that movie. I would say if you can go into this movie, not knowing where it goes, what it's about, do that.

Because not only will it make the movie as impressive as I think it is, but her performance especially. I'm very excited. I'm very excited to see it. People should be excited for this movie. I'm skeptical that plot details won't come out because there's, it's a Christmas week release. Yeah.

But yeah, an incredible movie. Fantastic. I will say, again, this feels like, this felt like I was back at a festival, not only because I was seeing things in person, but I think also just the quality of the films that I saw. I did not see a dud in the bunch. I, you know, and was I, you know, cherry picking? Maybe. But, like, there's always going to be something that you're super excited for that lets you down. And I really did not have that major let down with anything that I saw. I was so incredibly happy with. those films, you know, good on New York Film Festival for selecting a really great lineup, good on them for, you know, putting forth a great festival in really challenging times and, you know, could not be more thankful to have had it at this moment. So, thank you for all of your hard work, film Society of Lincoln Center workers, and once again, we support your unionization efforts. 100% and it really does feel like now it feels like Oscar season is upon us you know what I mean? Now I feel like

all right starting gun has is well and truly gone off and we are off to the races. It's weird that New York feels like the true starting gun of the year because like it feels like you're saying you feel like you didn't see a dud. That has made it feel more like the starting gate

than the three what is usually positioned for Oscar bigger. I think because Toronto did not have that sort of people's festival feel to it yet. They're not quite fully back yet. Telluride is always going to be sort of cloistered off. And Venice is, you know, taking place across an ocean. Do you know what I mean? So this really did feel like for this year, New York Film Festival felt much more of an epicenter than it has in many, many, many years. And I'm

very happy for them. So we'll see what happens with AFI. Absolutely. All right. But that is our bonus episode on the New York Film Festival. If you want more, This Had Oscar Buzz, you can check out the Tumblr at this hadoscarbuzz.tumbler.com. You should also follow our Twitter at HAD underscore Oscar underscore Buzz. Christopher, where can the listeners find you and your particular memorials? You can find the power of my dog at Letterboxed and Twitter at Chris V. File. That's F. E.I.L. I am on Twitter at Joe Reed, Reed spelled R-E-I-D. I'm also on Letterboxed as Joe Reed read spelled the same way, watch me flail about trying to watch

31 horror movies and 31 days for October. It's an incredibly novel concept. Only I have ever figured this out. Mary, we reject that blocks. We would like to thank Kyle Cummings for his fantastic artwork and Dave Gonzalez and Gavin Muvius for their technical guidance. Please remember

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but we hope you'll be back next week for more buzz. Oh! Oops. Okay. And guess what? No one opens the door. Uh-uh.

Our native New Yorker. Here I go. Oh, ha ha ha ha ha.