The Oscar Hangover Mailbag. Plus: ‘Dune: Part Three’ Is Coming!

25:07Which, sure, how do we know that? There's no system in place to allow us to see what that data is. But I think you're right that this shows that they wouldn't make a choice like this if it wasn't good for their business. But it's good for our business. It's good for what we care about. I guess it is. Yeah. Maybe it trains a few more people to go to theaters instead of renting Zootopia or buying Zootopia 2 at home. You know, that's Disney. So it's a whole different one doing Can of Worms. But I don't know. I think it's fine. Good luck, movie theaters. You know? Yeah. Well, we'll be at CinemaCon soon.

25:45Will you shake every theater owner's hand and say thank you for your service? Yeah. You guys are doing great. You're definitely innovating and keeping up. I'll tell you, Universal is going to be applauded. They're going to be really celebrated. I mean, they always are. They always are. Relatedly, Hoppers has grossed$164 million in 10 days. And now a movie that I think I underestimated when we talked about the movie last Monday in terms of its box office performance could end up becoming a sort of elemental or even bigger size hit, $500,$600,$700 million. and once again original storytelling kind of having a little bit of a bounce back moment here in movies take that Avengers Doomsday yeah and box office is up 14 % year over year yeah and we just ran through a whole bunch of the blockbusters that are coming I regret to inform you we are back we're back yeah and especially the little guys like Disney they're back well let me ask you one thing it's great listen that's great We had a great time.

26:46Another thing I was thinking about, Idly, have you had one conversation or mention of Hopper's with your child since you went to see it in theaters? Yes. I was giving Alice a bath last week, and it was after you and I spoke and we mentioned that there was no discussion of the movie on the pod. It was a Wednesday. Okay. She was absolutely filthy. Okay. She's in the bath. She turns to me, she's been in the bath for 20 minutes. And she says, Dad, why was that beaver a robot?

27:22Unprompted. No context. We're seven days away from having seen the film. Keep going. How did you answer that question? I said, well, they created the robot so that people could get closer to animals to understand them, which I think is accurate. Okay, Sam Allman. Well, I mean, you know, this wasn't an AI situation. It was just a cycling. I know that. I just, you know, it's very... I don't support Sam Altman. He was at the Vanity Fair party, I heard. I read that as well. Did you give him your ticket?

27:58Have the Oscar ratings come out? Where are they? Where are the Oscar ratings? I don't know. Do you think this means that they're bad? Because they're being kept for me? It's Tuesday at 11 a.m. I mean, where are they? Has it ever gone this late? Jack, while we're doing this conversation, can you just keep your eye on that data point? I'll stay posted on it. As Brian Curtis would say, the number of people who watch the Oscars will not meaningfully affect your life. Well, as I have frequently said to Brian, I disagree. I think it's a meaningful data point and represents something about how money works in these spaces.

28:34And that actually matters. The amount of money that you can get for a telecast, the amount of money that goes into these systems, which then dictates what kind of movies we see. That does matter. The same is true for sports. That's true, but the amount of money they're getting for the telecast has already been decided, and it's going to a place where... But it's connected to future sales. The ad rate will be meaningfully affected by how many people are watching the show. This is understood. It's a very clever catchphrase that Brian has, but it is actually not accurate, in my opinion. Nevertheless.

29:03Okay, so we don't know the ratings. Yeah. Before we get into the mailbag, any loose thoughts about the telecast, about the results, anything that has bubbled to the surface since we spent all that time preparing for these awards? It's been strange how good the vibes are. Mm-hmm. You know, except for in the comments and on the internet, which is always the case. I liked the show. It was interesting talking to friends, loved ones, people who are not in the Oscar nerd bubble that this show is, and who also seem to respond to the actual movie moments and the wins and this telecast as celebration of this year's films as opposed to an advertisement for movies or, you know, a random celebration of Moulin Rouge.

29:58and that feels nice because that's why we watch the Oscars and that's kind of how we would design the Oscars to be which is these movies that we really liked and you know that's the other thing it was a good year for movies and for the most part the movies we liked were rewarded so I'm trying to make sense of how of the positivity that I feel about all of it it's very strange I was like, we're in a positive time. We are in a - I mean, we're not. We're in a pretty - No, the world is not, but this world? The Oscars. The Oscars are. The movie business is up. Okay. Consolidation is happening and that's terrible, but - David Allison incoming.

30:41Well, I noted this beforehand, but I couldn't think of a time in Oscars history where the two films that were like in a legitimate race for best picture had been as widely seen as both one battle after another and sinners and you know sinners made 400 million dollars one battle made over 200 million dollars i couldn't think of another time when before nominations were announced two movies had made over 200 million dollars at the box office that like actually had a chance to win now there have been many nominees that make over that much money but they're more in the f1 variety your top gun mavericks your barbies where you're like this movie's good everybody loves it has no chance to win.

31:18There was a real sense that these two very widely seen movies had a chance to win. They had big stars in them. They represented something culturally. The Oscars has not been good about representing something that specifically. And there's no way to control it. It just has to happen based on the movies that come out and the swell behind them. But I think that helped a lot. And even though we haven't heard the ratings and maybe they're way down, but my instinct tells me that they're way up. And by way up, I mean maybe a million people. But that would be good. And I think one of the reasons why the vibes are good is because there were a lot more people who were just generally invested in the story this year.

31:52And not everybody liked the ending to the story. You know, not everybody is going to agree that one battle, a lot of one battle takes out there. Boy. Well, sure. Boy. The best one that I got, and I'm realizing now that I forgot to respond to my dad's text message. So if anyone in my family is watching, my dad will never watch this. but he had seen one battle the first time and and he and my stepmom did not like it very much they didn't respond to it and they shared that they said leftist propaganda they said they just kind of sighed and they were like we we had a harder time with this and then zach and i you know just diffused about it and kind of said well this is what we responded to and my dad texted me on sunday night saying you know maybe i'm just getting older but i rewatched it And I was very moved.

32:37Like, what a lovely movie about being a parent. Yeah, no, I know. So maybe some of those people will also rewatch with the spirit inside them and reconsider. Or maybe they'll just keep writing bad things on the internet. Well, I thought it was interesting. There was a reporter who very reasonably asked Paul Thomas Anderson to specifically address some of the criticisms of Perfidia, Beverly Hills. and just generally kind of his point of view around the way that he shaped the characters in the film. And Paul has been very resistant to that, not just throughout this campaign, but really for all of his movies for about 20 years.

33:14Yeah, he got to the point where he didn't have to explain his movies anymore and he stopped, which, you know, may we all get there someday. Yeah, and I've interviewed him multiple times now and many times I've tried to say, what does this movie mean to you and why? You know, like just direct questions that are seeking theme. and he I think has pretty deftly navigated those conversations and when he answered that question in the press conference after one of his wins he attempted to communicate specifically how he saw that character as flawed and how it spoke to the general idea of the movie which is about we tried and now it is about the future and the next generation which I think you and I talked about specifically in our very first episode about the movie we clicked into that idea right away and I mean the the ending of the movie is an incredibly moving letter read uh in voiceover by Tiana Taylor as Profidia Beverly Hills to the Willa character saying exactly that it's not you know we we aren't geniuses it says you know we tried our best I'm you know like I'm sorry I hope you'll make the world a better place.

34:24Do you have love? Are you happy? Yes. All those things. And, you know, of course, I saw a lot of reactions to his response, his answer in the question. He seemed nervous answering the question. I think he didn't want to say the wrong thing. I thought he spoke, seemed to be very honestly about it. And then, of course, there's just the pylon. It's just like, here's what's wrong with that answer. And that was confirmation why you shouldn't answer questions like that. Because when you're an artist and you're asked to explain yourself, you're never going to give people something that is satisfactory in that way.

34:50I say this as someone who loves to interview artists and talk to artists and try to get them to tell me how they feel. But when a movie is as tightly loaded as a movie like this, you're never going to satisfy everybody. It's just not possible. It's a subjective art form. And he'll probably never be in that specific situation again where it's like, okay, you won all the prizes. All our eyes are on you. You have to answer every question that this scrum is asking. You can't control who's in the room right now. Right. And I found it to be interesting, you know, and it's like, obviously, it is the role of journalists to pursue that information as best they can to better understand what matters to the world at large.

35:24But see the reactions. You know, you think he'd like committed a violent crime. Like people are just, they feel so strongly about this stuff, which maybe is good. You know, maybe it is good that people are passionate about art, but I thought it was pretty funny. I do in general at the end of this season, and this is not just specific to the Oscars or to the awards season, but to the internet at large. People just got to think a little bit. while they're typing, you know, we all can see this. We can all see your behavior and it's, it's in public. So just, just consider that, you know, just consider it.

36:03Just consider it. Okay. Do you want to go into the mailbag? Any other thoughts? No, they're good questions. Okay. We can do it. Our first mailbag question is brought to you by Volkswagen. All the actors, directors and artists from this award season have one thing in common. and they've made some of their best work by taking risks, by trying something different and taking control of their futures. Take it from them, from us, from VW, and from all the drivers out there. Grab the wheel. See what you can achieve. Okay, Jack, what is that first question? Our first question is an amalgamation of about 5 ,000 emails.

36:36Is Timothee Chalamet going to be okay? Will he be nominated for Dune Part 3? And is he the next Leo, and will need to wait a painfully long time? Yes, maybe yes, is the short version. He's going to be fine. Our sweet baby, Timothee Chalamet. We never stopped believing, even if we had some notes about delivery. And maybe we all learned something that you do got to think about what you're saying before you say it, whether you're typing it or whether you're saying it on a recorded podcast slash town hall. but on the other hand it's him not thinking before he says things that got him where he was and got millions of people to go see marty supreme in theaters the rest of the time so you win you lose some timmy's gonna be fine timmy we love you they'll never take marty supreme from us if nobody else loves you that's okay because you know that's the lesson of marty supreme and we'll get there I don't know if he'll be nominated for Dune 3.

37:45It does seem like that's going to be... It seems like they're trying to make it an Oscars movie. That they're... You know what movie I thought of watching that trailer that is related to this? Braveheart. Okay. Because of that kind of war imagery and that, you know, that Messiah character at the center of it who leads into battle. And did Mel Gibson get nominated for Best Actor for Braveheart? I don't think he did. I could be wrong about that. you know, the film obviously won, but I don't believe he was nominated. I don't think he's ever had an acting nomination. So sometimes in parts like that, it's a little bit more, it's a little bit trickier because you're just doing a lot of yelling and sword wielding.

38:26We did see some intimate moments with Chani, the Zendaya character in the film. And I'm sure there will be some palace intrigue in that story as well. But as far as Chalamet goes, my only hope for him is that he continues to make interesting choices as an actor. I think he has had exceptional balance of prestige, genre, and franchise. I think he's really, you know, pursuing Dune is very smart. Pursuing Dune over playing a villain in a Batman movie is very smart. And I hope he continues to do that for the big stage stuff. I hope he continues to work with auteurs like Josh Safdie. I hope he, you know, I don't like Wonka, but that was smart.

39:08Yeah. Aren't they doing Wonka too? That I have not heard. Wonka 2. Let's see. You know, my opinion about that is I hope not. No, there's no official confirmation. Okay, wonderful. His next movie apparently is... Started crying when he started singing Pure Imagination. That's just one woman's experience. I thought I was going to vomit. And he helped that little girl, you know? Sure. And they met the giraffe. Yeah, I remember. Okay. It was okay. I think his next movie is a James Mangold crime movie Sick Which sounds great Yeah So I'm hopeful for that I do think Van and Rachel asked us about this When we were on Higher Learning earlier this week What did the Academy make him pay For his hubris essentially And I A little bit I think it's a series of factors right It's an unlikable character you've been pointing out In a movie that not everybody connected to It's certainly his campaign I mean, you know, I think Kyle Buchanan had an interesting piece in The Times this morning about some of the specific things he did during the campaign that maybe voters didn't like.

40:14For example, not going to the Governor's Awards. Okay. That's a place where you're sort of meant to be seen and to shake hands. You know, showing up at the lunch, the nominee's lunch, like very late and not connecting with a lot of people. Kind of like waiting until the last minute to show up and to be a part of the photographs. And, you know, he's a big star and a lot of big stars do that. Leo did the same thing at that luncheon. So it's not like it's totally out of bounds. But when you consider the fact that he's so young that he hasn't, quote unquote, paid his dues. Right. Yeah, maybe he got he might have gotten slapped on the wrist a little bit by people out there.

40:47But we've been saying throughout the season and others have been pointing out this is this is typical for young actors in specifically men in Hollywood. They do not do the ingenue thing. They don't give people. It's weird. the couple of times when they've done it like they did it for Eddie Redmayne and they did it for Rami Malek right those are two examples of two under 40 guys who won best actor but they were such like well and Michael B. Jordan is also under 40 he is but he's been working for so long he started doing his 11 right yeah it feels different for him but those two guys you know they weren't unknown but they were much less known than Timothee Chalamet they were not stars they didn't open movies they were considered fine actors you know the Rami Malek award I'll never understand that but But Eddie Redmayne famously, famously, went to every single event and kissed every baby on that campaign.

41:38Was it The Theory of Everything? Is that what he went for? And so, you know, that's kind of the opposite of what Chalamet did. You know, Redmayne was all humility. He was all presence. He was all, I will work hard to get this. So, you know, we'll see. We were joking around about how he'll have to wait until 52 and now the meme is going around about having to wait for his son of a woman. And he could win in two years. Yeah. We don't know. I mean, he also posted the first Dune 3 image like 12 hours after the Oscars, which once again, shout out to Warner Brothers, who just has this all lined up. Very, very ready.

42:14And he was ready as well. And I think that was the right move. Yes. I also like the Oscars relative to the success of a movie like Dune Part 3 is actually meaningless. Like, Dune Part 3 is bigger than the Oscars in many ways. So more people will end up seeing that movie over time than will watch the 2026 Academy Awards. So I think it's kind of a drop in the bucket to his career at large. Okay. That mailbag question was brought to you by Volkswagen. Like all the nominees and winners, if you want to make waves, you have to follow your own path. Take action. Take chances. Because when you get in the driver's seat of life, who knows what you'll accomplish?

42:48Learn more at VW.com. Jack, what is our next question? with sinners Frankenstein and weapons all taking home Oscar wins have we witnessed a permanent shift in the Academy's official stance on horror and genre films Jack your voice sounds so different oh you are there okay the camera is blocking you I was like was this recorded hi buddy van in the booth that was great that was very exciting van who what's your producer persona like are you more Dr. Dre more DJ premier like who do you who you vibe with Bro, I'm J Dilla, bro. Yeah, okay. You know what I'm saying? God bless. I'm J Dilla. God bless the dead.

43:27Okay.

43:31Okay, that's an interesting question and interesting to hear it from Van. No. My answer is no. Yeah. You know, I don't really... I think it's cool that those movies got... I think it's really cool that Amy Madigan won, but like Ruth Gordon won for Rosemary's Baby in 1969. Like, I don't... You know, what does that mean? Anthony Hopkins, Silence of the Lambs. It's not... I would say that Sinners, Frankenstein, and Frankenstein are definitely prestigy horror. And I think Frankenstein in the categories that it was rewarded, production, costume, makeup, those were old school, very hands-on. Yes. You know, even the costumes are like gowns, beautiful gowns.

44:12So there are horror elements of it, especially the makeup, but I don't know if that's really what's being rewarded. Sinners is a horror movie, but it's also a musical. And it's an action movie. It's all sorts of things. So Amy Madigan Weapons is cool. Yeah, it's not nothing. That's the only nomination that it got. It did not get screenplay. It did not get Best Picture. If it got Picture, I think you could make a stronger case. Because you'd be like, this is a really gnarly witch movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That got a Best Picture nomination. You know, even by Rosemary's Baby, you know, from a European auteur.

44:44Like, you could see there was a kind of prestigious quality to that movie. Weapons is like a witch gets her guts torn apart by cursed children. And spooky children are running around. It's a crazy horror movie. So I don't really feel that way. That being said, you know, Lucas Shaw had a piece about Neon in Bloomberg this weekend because they uncovered some financial information around Neon and how solvent or not solvent that business is because it's changing hands now. A new company is buying Neon. And in the piece, they characterized like the financial wins as like just horror. And I thought that it was sort of like horror movies that overperformed.

45:30And I was like, this is what it's been for 25 years. Like horror movies are fandom and franchise movies. Like they are at the center of the business and have been for a very long time. So I think to underestimate them in that way is slightly mischaracterizing them. Whether or not the Academy can get their arms around that. I think specifically I've been excited about this year because this year, I don't know how many of these movies you're going to connect with or even want to be on the episodes of, but Leviticus out of Sundance, Obsession, Curry Barker's new movie, which is upcoming, Backrooms, Cain Parsons, YouTube to A24 film.

46:07There are several more. There's Sebastian Vanacek taking over the Evil Dead franchise. There's a Lee Cronin making a mummy movie. Like there's a big wave of, of filmmakers under 35, under 40 who are coming into studio filmmaking and kind of like premium, like premium mini studio filmmaking that represents something bigger about the genre. The Phillipo brothers have been doing it the last couple of years of day 24. Like something's going on with the genre that is simultaneously commercial and artistic. One of these filmmakers that isn't Jordan Peele is going to get over the line and is going to get to the place where I think the genre is going to get what this question is trying to get to the bottom of.

46:48And weapons winning an acting Oscar, I think, is like a link in the chain. It's a step towards something impressive happening. You know, you could say like, oh, it felt that way when M. Night Shyamalan came along, right? Because The Sixth Sense got a lot of love. But like that happens and then goes away. I mean, the other thing that you're describing and that particularly Sinners and Weapons achieved, and we know that because we have box office receipts, is that all the films you just named were crossover sensations, right? And some of that is just that they made a lot of money in the box office and they were seen.

47:20But they are genre movies. But people who do not show up for every single horror movie went to see all of those films. and that's they just got they broke containment of of of horror so i think that all certainly sinners and weapons are evidence of the you know the genre finding bigger audiences and i think that's some of the reason they were they showed up at the oscars but that does happen from time to time yeah i think eggers too is an interesting person to think about because he hasn't crossed that Oscars threshold yet, even though I thought if you told me Nosferatu in 2025 was in 11th place, I would not be surprised.

47:59That movie went on to be a big hit. I've heard that the werewolf script is like incredibly violent and gnarly. Like really, like the nasty Iger's thing. Nosferatu being a huge hit, I just would like a case study on it. You were out for that. Yeah, I remember. No, but I did see it. And I think even you, I listened to your podcast with Chris and Rob Mahoney and you guys all admired it, but didn't love it. Yeah, true. And I wouldn't say that experientially it was like a laugh riot. I'm so glad I saw it in theaters type thing. In fact, I think I took a quick nap, which like, please, I was four months postpartum.

48:38Don't judge me. Not even four months? Yeah, not even four months. Yeah, like I was sleep deprived. But so I would like to understand, I would like a breakdown of how that was such a big hit because it is resistant of basically every trend or that I understand with audience horror going, except for that it's a quote unquote horror movie? I thought it was more in the tradition of a lot of del Toro movies. Okay. And I think it actually has a lot in common with Frankenstein. And Frankenstein didn't go into theaters, but I think it would have been a hit in theaters as well, Frankenstein. And I think probably in a similar zone.

49:14Nosferatu made$182 million worldwide. One of the reasons why it's considered such a big hit is one, the budget, which is about 50 million reportedly, and two it was focus and not universal so it had the focus you know it was a really good marketing campaign but it had that so you take that plus the the PVOD that we were talking about and it seemed like a lot of people saw it and liked it and you know it had a lot of big stars and supporting parts and you know it was like Aaron Taylor Johnson's in it for 20 minutes it wasn't he was funny it was very funny I think that that movie also is one of those links in the chain like weapons where it's like something is evolving Frankenstein is a link in this chain something's going on.

49:51Whether or not it will continue, it probably depends on whether or not horror stays in the place of centrality in moviegoing right now, but it is in that place. Good question, and as everybody who listens to the show knows, I'll look forward to tracking it very closely over the next 20 years of my life. What's the next question? Next question comes from Jordan. It really bugged me how aggressively winners were played off during their speeches this year. With the Oscars heading to YouTube in 2029, do you think that change could actually fix some of that. More broadly speaking, what other things could the Oscars experiment with on YouTube that broadcast television never allowed?

50:30Yeah, I think it was quite bad at the show this year. And I don't think it was a well-produced show. We talked about that a little bit on Sunday night, but it was pretty rickety in the moment where Conan didn't know that he was on air and there were some camera angles and things that they didn't quite have nailed down. And the microphone disappeared on a winner. Right, though I thought that that was part of the playing people off strategy, that they didn't think through at all. I don't know that YouTube is going to have... I don't think this was a time limit thing, is what I'm saying. They clearly seem to have agreed back in the room that only two people get to speak or something, and then otherwise you get cut off, and then the communication between the booth and the orchestra was not existent or responding in the moment.

51:22Obviously, the K-pop Demon Hunters, the Golden win, was the absolute disaster. Terrible moment. And the way that the broadcast handled K-pop Demon Hunters and Golden in general, I think, indicates how little they understood their audience and how little they understood what they had. I agree. Making everyone wait for three hours for Golden. When I got home, the first thing my son said to me, this morning, the morning after the Oscars was, it was good. We had to wait a long time for Golden. We were saying it while we were watching the show. Yeah. How is this not in the first hour? And then I don't really think they, I think that the singers and the performers did a great job, but the production of that performance was not what I wanted.

52:05And then the playing everybody but EJ off after making everyone wait three hours and not understanding how significant those performers are and how significant that moment is to the Oscars. That was the most seen movie for anybody watching the show. Yeah, that was bad production. And that doesn't have anything to do with time limits that has just to do with like not understanding the material that you're working with. So I... But that's on the producers. That's not on ABC. You know, that's on the Academy participates in that decision. And I'm not sure what role YouTube specifically will play there because YouTube has never done anything specifically like this before.

52:44Or the Academy guides who is going to be producing the telecast in conjunction with who is airing the broadcast. And they have a lot of say over who is doing that work. So this was the first year for the producers of the show on the show. And it's a hard show to produce. Like it's not easy to do this. But there were a few too many mistakes this year. They were very obvious to the layperson, the naked eye while watching it. And that wasn't great. The speeches thing is always a challenge. I don't really know what the solution is. There are 24 awards. We praised how wonderful the In Memoriam section was.

53:21One of the reasons why it was so good was because it was long. And they let people speak. They did. And that was a good choice. But that means you've just tacked on seven more minutes onto the broadcast than you normally have. So where do you cut? How do you keep the show under four hours? That's what they're thinking about because they know that they are not going to be able to retain audience over a four-hour period. almost nothing on television at this point runs four hours aside from your epic tennis match here and there. So I don't know what the solution is. It's a long ass award show. For me, I'd watch nine hours, but most people wouldn't.

53:52Yeah. And the awards thing in particular, they just clearly didn't have a good plan for the fact that there are some awards where there are many winners. Including a tie. Yes. And they didn't communicate, I guess, to the winners or the people where there are four or five listed winners that there's going to you need to have a designated speaker or time limits or what it's it was a mess and it i was disrespectful and hopefully they'll do better next year i'm with you uh what other things could the oscars experiment with on youtube i i've already said this when the news was announced i think that youtube tv needs to just have an Oscars channel and like, honestly, call me.

54:35Like, I would love to help because I think that there is a whole world of engagement that you could create around your award show to make it a 12 month a year thing. And like, I see what the Oscars is doing on YouTube right now. Some of it is cool. I think getting Amelia DeMoldenburg involved a few years ago was very smart. I think they're going to continue to lean into the creator path, but there is so much archive that they have of so many interesting things. Like the clip shows alone that you could make based on the telecast over the years are fascinating. It's true. I mean, you could just rerun old shows as they do on TCM.

55:12And for people, you know, who can't sleep at three in the morning and suddenly you're watching the weirdest, you know, 1983 opening number or a presenter. I mean, it's a great idea. Yeah. And you could do all the musical performances. You could do all the craziest speeches of all time. You could do the most shocking wins. Like there's so much raw material to work with there. You just have to invest in it. You have to spend the time to curate it and make it viable because it's not just Oscar history. It's just movie history. And when we think about movie programming, like look at what performs on YouTube.

55:45Look at what people actually watch. They actually watch 20-minute videos of people breaking down shots in Sergio Leone movies. Yeah. Those videos have millions of views. This is valuable stuff. So I hope that they take that seriously. I hope they really lean into that. The other thing that YouTube allows is that it is available internationally. And there's no licensing or whatever is going on stuff. You can watch it in one place at the same time. And I think many non-American Oscar nerds have talked for years about what a pain it is to try to watch the Oscars. So there's obviously stuff that you could do in the lead up.

56:24and you could do watch part. You could do all sorts of funny things of just making it more available around the world. Also, call me about the game show. Yeah. I'll host your game show. I'm ready. I've been waiting my whole life. There's so much programming that they could do. It's honestly, they have more at their fingertips for movie history than any other organization in the world and they have money. Yeah. Exploit it. Do something cool. Okay. That's my plea. What's the next question? Next question comes from Daniel. Would you like to see Conan back as host next year? If he took himself out of the running, who would you like to see replace him?

57:01And what would you think of Kumail Nanjiani? I would like to see him come back. I would as well. We're fans. Yeah. I thought he wasn't as good this year as he was last year, but he's really good at just guiding the show. I thought he had a similar skill as Kimmel in that, like, we're in a safe pair of hands, right? He knows how to make a joke. Or, you know, you pointed out when Autumn Daryl Archipalde won that he announced this was the first woman to ever win this award because most people who don't follow these things closely didn't know that. I thought he had a deft touch with some of those things.

57:29The pre-written bits I thought were very funny. And that's his staff and his writing team and his people who've been producing with him for years and years. So that cold open, the YouTube gag, the closing gag with Jim Downey, all that stuff was really funny. I would like to see him be back. However, we did just see Kumail host a show. He hosted the DGAs. He was fantastic. So funny. His opening monologue was amazing. And we also saw live on this year's broadcast that Kumail can keep the show running because he was presenting the Thai moment. And did we get any clarity? Did we find out whether he was tipped off?

58:07It sounds like he was. Okay, good. I heard that he was. But still, even if he was, he knew exactly what to do. He kept it moving. We've seen instances in the past where people don't keep it moving. That's right. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. And was also very funny. His bit was good. His bits at the DJs were really great. So I'd love to see him. The other person that comes up in the context of people we have seen do great bits at the Oscars who could do the whole show is obviously John Mulaney. Field of Dreams forever. I wish John Mulaney had gotten to present Amy Madigan with her Oscar now that I think about it.

58:42Of course. Yeah, it would have tipped it off, but it would be very funny. Yeah. I'm still hoping that Mulaney will do it one of these days. It sounds like he was offered it and he turned it down at one point. I mean, it does seem like a lot of work. Also, he tours all the time. And makes a lot of money doing that. I mean, I understand that. Yeah, I mean, Conan, even, you know, we spoke with Conan's producing team when we were at the DGAs, and, you know, they were like, he's been working on this show for months. Like, it sounds like he starts in the fall. So he's got a six-month window of prepping and writing jokes and kind of knowing what he needs to know.

59:14So it is a lot of work, but it's also a great honor, you know? I will say when Billy Crystal came out to honor Rob Reiner, I felt safe. I felt like, oh, this is like my childhood. And like he just, has anybody ever been more comfortable speaking to that audience, both in the crowd and to us on TV? He was so good at that. Conan is definitely taking a page from him. The opening where he and the weapons kids were running through all the movies is straight out of the Billy Crystal playbook. And again, I felt safe and also old because the nostalgia is now directed directly at me. I know. to Zaptash.

59:46But that's a bridge. Like, that's a bridge from our parents. You know, like, Billy was my parents' Oscars host. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we got introduced to the show watching him. So, I honestly think Billy Crystal can come back and do it. Like, he seemed like he was doing great. Yeah. Okay, what's the next question? Can I throw out a potential one? Sure. We have a question later asking about the 100th Academy Award, so not to step on that too much, but I was texting a buddy about what they need to do for 100. Mm-hmm. What would you think about Matt and Ben? Mm. I don't know if it's worth it to them.

1:00:17Yeah. No, they should. But a dream for us, no? They should present. But the thing is, is if they have to keep the show running, then it's kind of, it's like CR on the watch where it's like sometimes when he has to be the straight man, he doesn't really get to shine, you know? And you need to really let them roam free. So I think they should get. Who is in the Ben-Matt equation? who's CR and who's Andy? Oh, well, I think, okay. See, I think Andy, Ben. You do. I was going to go the other way. Cause I think Ben is more of the takesmith. You know, he's more, and he's more, he's the intellectual, right?

1:00:58He's the one who's got a grand theory of everything. Yeah. Right. And, and Matt's just getting off jokes. You know, Matt's just like, I'm in the Thor movie. I'll show up for a good time. I'll cameo on like in anyone's movie. I'll be in Euro trip. Okay. Yeah. that's fine Mad Bad would be fun I think it would be interesting to see if they lean into a higher wattage of celebrity or a safe pair of hands because that's going to be a big show that's going to be a really big I hope the movies are good that year because if they're not good that's going to be tough because we have dud years all the time and if we have a dud year like Anora wasn't a dud year but it was a much smaller movie it was a much smaller field of movies what year is that?

1:01:36it's going to be airing in 2028 right? because this is 2026 it's the The last ABC year. 2027 movies. So Avengers Secret Wars. Definitely top of the list. I don't know what's actually, what else is on the, Beekeeper 2. Yes. I've got my 2027 list open right now. Okay. Cocomelon the movie. Wow. Frozen 3. Michael B. Jordan's Thomas Crown Affair. Batman 2. Spider-Verse 3. Okay. Only the franchise movies have claimed these dates. Well, I know, but. None of the other movies that. Quiet Place Part 3, allegedly. Yeah. Shrek 5. Superman, Man of Tomorrow. Shrek 5 got bumped all the way to 27? It did. Wow.

1:02:17That's tough for - It's June 30th, 27. That's tough for your generation. Yeah. I don't know. The Lord of the Rings, The Hunt for Gollum. Okay. Where are you at on Gollum these days? Good guy, bad guy. Have you ever told you that my mother did this with both babies, that when they were really little and she would hold them and she would just call them my precious? But was that from reading Tolkien? No. Okay. That was just from my mother being my mother. And I had, I just. My precious, my precious daughter. I know. But also she did once lock me in a room and make me read The Hobbit in one day for summer reading.

1:02:53So at some point. She locked you in? They were like, you can't go back to school until you've read The Hobbit. Your mother said this? Yeah. That sounds like something I would do. Well, and I did it. And it sucked. Ooh, ooh. December 25th, 2027. Nancy Meyers film. That's right. That's right. That's right. You're excited? Yeah, listen. I mean, I saw they recast it. Aaron Doherty of Adolescence, but also Princess Anne from The Crown, real ones now. So it seems like... She went into the Emma Mackey role. I think so. I mean, she was originally... Which I think was originally ScarJo? Is that right? I don't know.

1:03:32So, yeah. Okay. We'll see. But it seems like they're back on track to be filming again. I hope so. I'm protecting my heart. Let's go to the next question, Jack. Next question comes from D. On the show, Sean and Amanda have mentioned how rare it is that their favorite movie of the year actually wins Best Picture as One Battle did this year. That had me wondering, exactly how rare is it? Has their favorite movie of the year ever won before now? If so, which year or years?

1:04:04Um, well, it's very rare. I could count three. Nope. Four. I count four. Okay. Do you have yours? Yeah, I'm scrolling back. I've got two right now. And this is in the modern era, right? I did the whole Oscars. Okay, so I've got three. with the understanding that I haven't seen the full slate of 1930s films obviously but I've seen plenty seen plenty of Academy Award nominated movies from the 30s okay now to me 34 and 35 are two great winners one is It Happened One Night that would be one of mine which is one of the all time Oscar winners one of the three films that have won the five major awards 35 is Mutiny on the Bounty which is a movie I love and I have been doing a bit with my daughter and I'm going to do it right here with you, where Captain Bly, as played by Charles Lawton in the film, has my favorite line reading in the history of movies where he's been cast off by Christian Fletcher onto a boat and sent to the island.

1:05:14The mutant he has occurred and Lawton is standing up on the rowboat with the other men who've been cast off with him and he says, you're sending me to my doom, eh? Well, you're wrong, Christian. I'll see you, all of you, hanging from the highest yard arm in the British fleet. Do you do it that loud? I do, and she laughs every time. I'm just completely blown out my voice. I mean, I applaud you for your commitment. Thank you. We're working on volume control of the other residents in my home right now, so I don't really know whether we could bring that in. It's not the best thing to do at bedtime.

1:05:53Yeah. You know, she gets a little fired up. Yeah. So those are my two picks from the 30s. then you have to go all the way to 1962 damn just absolutely skipping over casablanca uh maybe i maybe i missed that let me take a look at that year yeah no you're right casablanca would be on there for me for sure um is there anything after casablanca between that and 1962 that you so you got sunset boulevard over all about that's exactly right i picked sunset but that's a close race but that is one that's one that all about eve isn't deserving it's just that sunset boulevard It's just the one I prefer. Sure.

1:06:29Okay. Anything over The Apartment? Psycho. Oh, yeah. Of course. Yeah. Okay. So that's a tricky one, but yeah, I went Psycho. What about... Oh, you don't like West Side Story. I like it, but I don't like it more than The Hustler. I like it more than The Hustler. Okay. So that would work for me. Okay. And let's see. What else? So 62 is Lawrence of Arabia. Okay. Yeah. Hard to argue with that. Hard to argue with that one. There's some good movies that year. the remake of Mutiny on the Bounty is that year. To Kill a Mockingbird is that year. But that was pretty easy. And then I think it's pretty easy to go through the 60s and not have to pick one.

1:07:06I like A Man for All Seasons quite a bit. I would take Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf over it, Mike Nichols' first film.

1:07:13And then in the 70s, of course, you have The Godfather. Now, 72 is among, I would say, the weaker years from this glory period in the 1970s. 74, however, for The Godfather Part II, You're doing Chinatown over Godfather Part 2? I think so. I think so. I don't... That's hard. It is hard. I don't know where I'd go on that. Chinatown has been... I think I like Godfather Part 2 more than you do. You always say you like Godfather more than Godfather Part 2. I do. I mean, I think I'm too over Godfather. Godfather... The first Godfather film to me is... It's perfect, obviously. No, I know. Listen, it's splitting hairs.

1:07:52It's a... Okay. It's a Mexican Coke on a sunny day. It is always good. It never, never doesn't work. 75, we just came up. You know, of course, I would take Jaws and Nashville over One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and probably Barry Lyndon and Dog Day. Same. I agree. And I like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. And I've been thinking about Milos Forman, and I kind of want to do a Milos Forman episode. Okay. But because he only had 12 movies. It's five for me on this. 76, Rocky, not my favorite out of that year. No. You might take all the other four. Maybe three of the four. Annie Hall. Star Wars.

1:08:28Can't take Annie Hall. Deer Hunter. Interesting one. I prefer Coming Home. I do too. Kramer versus Kramer in 79. Close. However, Apocalypse Now and all that jazz. Yeah. The 80s is kind of a mess. Not a lot of great 80s wins in my opinion. A lot of fusty stuff. Wasn't very difficult to make this choice. Maybe Amadeus. Yeah, but Ghostbusters is also 84. That's the problem. When you get outside of the nominees in the 80s, there are a lot more popcorn movies that I much prefer. So it's a very good point. I mean, some of that is also just because then we've seen more movies in the 80s than we have 30s, 40s.

1:09:03So we probably could go if we had seen everything in 40 and 41 and 42. Silence of the Lambs? Over JFK. No, I would take JFK. I'm asking. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. Not for me. I wanted to talk about Demi really quickly. you know the win for One Battle After Another reminds me a lot of the Silence of the Lambs win for a variety of reasons Jonathan Demme widely revered amongst filmmakers especially at this period in history he makes this movie in Philadelphia back to back which are two very big academy films Tom Hanks wins for Philadelphia but in general when you look at the totality of Demme's career and as a filmmaker who I was turned on to by Paul Thomas Anderson repeatedly invoking his name when he was a young director and saying how much his movies meant to him which led to me going back to explore all of Demi's movies, which I love.

1:09:52His career is super similar to PTA. And this one is super similar, where it was like, okay, this is the guy who's been doing it for 20 years. We really like what he's doing. You know, he comes from a certain tradition of filmmaking. Every once in a while, he gets material that is right for the moment. And then he'll go back to making his stuff. And I think when you look at the Phantom Thread and One Battle experience, where like really big Academy movies, but then everything else he's done is like Lickers Pizza and her advice, like doesn't totally match up with what they expect. I've just been thinking a lot about how I think Demi would have enjoyed one battle after another.

1:10:29Okay. Let's keep going. I mean, I can't take Unforgiven over A Few Good Men. I just can't. Yeah, no, absolutely not. This is not in my constitution. Schindler's List? No. You would take The Remains of the Day? No, I'd take The Fugitive or Jurassic Park. Jurassic Park, of course. I would too. 94, of course not. Yeah. 95, of course not. No, absolutely not. 96, no. No. 97. Now, I, of course, would take LA Confidential. I was an LA Confidential boy. Titanic is incredibly important, but I would take Good Will Hunting. Oh, okay. I mean, that was... Good Will Hunting, extremely important to me, speaking of Matt and Ben.

1:11:04Shakespeare in love, perhaps you would. I never would. I never in my wildest dreams would. 99 is a car crash with American Beauty. Absolute disaster. Now, 2000 is Gladiator. I think many people would choose that. I personally have both Traffic and Crouching Tiger over Gladiator, though I like Gladiator quite a bit. And this is just of the nominees. It's the easiest way to manage this, right? I think I prefer Bracovic to Gladiator, so. And you have this run here. Yeah. A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, Return of the King. I like Return of the King, but it might be my least favorite of the three Lord of the Rings movies.

1:11:39Lost in Translation Forever. A Million Dollar Baby, Crash, The Departed. Yes. Devil Wears Prada should have won this year. Thank you. Well, no, it's fine. Martin Scorsese won. That's great. Like, The Departed wins. That's great. What's my favorite movie of 2006? Is it The Departed? That's wonderful, if so. Is it? What were Ebert's favorite films of 2006? That's a useful metric. Let's see. Oh, it's Children of Men. Oh, yeah. That should have also won. Also, you know what was in 2006? The Da Vinci Code. Yeah, that movie stinks. I noticed no one's memeing my Da Vinci Code moments. That's fine. I'm going to start my own blog.

1:12:26Yeah. Just saw Lucas pointing in the booth. Pan's Labyrinth is that year, too. Casino Royale? Is that year? It's okay. I mean, fine. It's not Skyfall, but it's pretty good. More of a Skyfall guy. Okay. I know. That's why, despite everything... We're together. Yes. No country? No. No? There Will Be Blood. And probably Michael Clayton, too. 2008, Slumdog. It's not Slumdog. I don't know what it is from that year. There's another movie that year that I like more than Slumdog, which I think is solid. 2008 movies. This is just fun to Google. Yeah, I mean, that was the year of Dark Knight and WALL-E.

1:13:02So you probably like those more. I certainly do. 2009, The Hurt Locker. Of course, I would go Serious Man and Glorious Bastards. And Glorious Bastards. 2010, King's Speech. No. 2011, The Artist. Absolutely not. 2012, Argo. No. I would take a Lincoln over Argo. Eight days a week. I might take Argo on that one. Through all the 2012 films? When did you and Bill and Chris have your Lincoln fight? Which rewatchables was that also Zodiac? Sure. That sounds right. Yeah. And you guys were yelling at him and he was like, nobody cares about Lincoln, which I agree is a strong take. however like I wasn't there at E Rustic when you guys just watched Lincoln silent on the screen for whatever it's it's a good movie I like it a lot it's an American classic important um just the man yeah yeah sure I agree thumbs up yeah Abraham Lincoln yeah I uh I don't I think I liked other movies from 2012 more than any of the nominees though 2013 Skyfall Skyfall Skyfall sure.

1:14:072013 12 Years a Slave no I would take Wolf of Wall Street. 2014 Birdman no I would take Whiplash. 2015 Spotlight no I would take The Martian. I just want to say I'd take Grand Budapest Hotel in 2014. I would as well. 2016 Moonlight. Moonlight. I really love Arrival. Speaking of Denis Villeneuve. Moonlight. Well I was making lists in 2016. Oh brother. Shall I pull it up? Yeah. Will you vamp for me? Yes. Let's see. This is so Moonlight, Arrival. Moonlight wasn't my number one movie of 2016. There's no way. Manchester by the Sea could be in there. It's kind of like too depressing to be your favorite movie of the year.

1:14:48This was a pretty strong year. This is obviously La La Land or Gaga Land. It's known in my house. Handmaiden. Oh, yeah. It's a great one. We were still considering O.J. Made in America film at that time. Sure. I think that's gone. I love 20th Century Women. Love. Yeah. Not my favorite Mike Mills, but that's okay. Hell or Hot Water. Nominated. Nice, guys. Oh, sure. That made it into Sierra Month, right? It did. Okay. It just recorded it. That's exciting. Okay. Let's keep going. We'll finish this very quickly. 2017, absolutely not. Not The Shape of Water. 2018, Green Book. No. 2019, I put Parasite at number one.

1:15:24I know that it was not. I did. I did not. I called it. I had Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But listen, that was also the year of the Irishman, Little Women, and marriage story along with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Banger year. Used to be a proper country. Yeah. 2020 Nomadland. Nomadland was pretty high on 2020 list for me. Wasn't number one, but it was pretty high. I mean, mine too, but sure. I just, oh my God, I just remembered the father. Mank was my fave. Yeah. 2021 Coda, no. 2022 Everything Ever Roll Once, no. 2023 Oppenheimer? No. Killers of the Flower Moon was both of our number ones.

1:15:56That's right. Because we have taste. 2024 Anora. Yes, actually, Anora was my number one, but I was out for a chunk of the year. So I didn't see everything. The Brutalist is my number one, so no. Yeah. One battle after another is the first time in... God. I mean, it's gotta be... We're going all the way back to... I mean, back to the 90s. Okay.

1:16:23Back to... No, we're going back to the 80s. Did you put a bigger splash as your number one movie of the year in 15 or 16? I did. Listen, every once in a while, you're still a real one. Thank you. But that's it. Dee, thank you for asking the question that just had us listing movies for 20 minutes. We appreciate you. This is what it's all about. Yeah. This is what podcasting is all about is people naming some stuff. I, we have to go, God, all the way back. Am I going back to the 70s for my pick? I think I'm going all the way back to The Godfather for the last time. My favorite movie of the year won Best Picture.

1:16:59Okay. Wow. Congratulations. What a historic win that was on Sunday for me. All right. What's the next question, Jack? Next question comes from Brian. We had a largely awesome awards night with worthy winners and a jarringly positive Sean. This got me thinking. What would have been your quote-unquote darkest timeline for the big six? Picture, director, actress, actor, and screenplay. Which choices would have left you with the worst taste at the end of the night? Frankenstein for picture. Yeah. Chloe Zhao for director. Yes. Actress, probably Kate Hudson. Kate Hudson, sorry. And she did a nice job on the circuit.

1:17:42Not her fault. You know? I like her. But especially after doing the Baby Yoda bit, the Grogu bit, excuse me. And then it would just feel a little too industry-y. Actor, there are no bad answers. Yeah. There were no bad answers. I don't, you know, what is the darkest timeline? All five of them. Well, I think probably the darkest experiential timeline would have been Timmy winning and just getting in everyone else's face. You and I would have enjoyed it, but everyone else would have had a full meltdown. And we would still be in a very dark timeline right now. Imagine. I know. Imagine. What a troll that would have been.

1:18:19I know. It's fine. He'll get there one day. Screenplay? Darkest timeline is anyone but Kugler winning. An original? Yeah. and Chloe Zhao and Maggie Farrell winning in Adapted over PTA yeah the Frankenstein was up for Adapted 2 wasn't it yeah that also would have been rough yes this episode is brought to you by Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again Season 2 streaming March 24th on Disney Plus Charlie Cox and Vincent D 'Onofrio are back and Kristen Ritter makes her highly anticipated return as Jessica Jones in an all new season as Mare Fist tightens his grip on New York City he makes Daredevil as his top target.

1:18:59Matt Murdock fights from the shadows, hoping to bring down Fisk's corrupt empire and reclaim his city. Don't miss Daredevil Born Again Season 2, streaming March 24th, only on Disney+. This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods Market. You know, with just one trip to Whole Foods, you can travel the world. First stop, discover the taste of the Mediterranean with big sales on brands like De Seco, or Reos, and San Pellegrino. With Whole Foods prepared foods, dinner is solved. You can roam the world with empanadas, burritos, soups, and more. Maybe expand your snack repertoire to South America with colorful and crunchy Peruvian potato chips.

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1:20:19What's next? Next question comes from Gabe. With Sean Penn winning his third acting Oscar, who do y 'all think will be the next actor to join this exclusive list? I think Emma Stone will surely win another, but is there hope for Timmy? Does Tom Hanks or Denzel have one more in the tank? Well, let's look at the list of two. Yes. There's a lot of people who've won two acting Oscars, many of whom are not with us anymore. So let's talk about who's still with us. Cate Blanchett. Cate Blanchett, sure. Seems very possible. Let's just do the whole list of who's on the board because there's some people who are alive who will never win another one.

1:20:54For example, Kevin Spacey. Yeah. He won't win again. Adrian Brody? I wouldn't take bets on Adrian Brody. Christoph Waltz? Probably not. I would agree. You never know. Quentin Tarantino has one more film in him. You never know. So he says. So he says. Mahershala Ali. I think that could happen. It could happen. He's 50. Because they were so closely grouped together. Two years. He's such a wonderful actor. Yeah. Need a good movie from him soon. Yeah. Hilary Swank? That was a moment in time that I think is over. What about Diane Wiest? That would be nice. The right late career. Though, again, that late in a career, you tend to get the it's time.

1:21:44And it's not really time. That's right. So I think that would be a bit harder. Surprising to me that both Diane Wiest and this other two-time winner, Sally Field, are not even 80 years old yet. Still work to be done. Okay. Renee Zellweger. Well, I was kind of surprised by the first two, so you never know. Yes. Glenda Jackson is still alive. Wow. She's 87. Okay. She has not acted in several years. So, seems unlikely. Emma Stone. This seems like a great bet. It's going to happen. Yeah. It may not be 20 more years before it happens, but it's going to happen. That's what happened with Meryl, right?

1:22:23It's going to be Meryl, Catherine Hepburn. She's in that lineage for sure. Jodie Foster. You know what? Jodie Foster is so great in every movie that she is in. And you watch the movie. I haven't seen the most recent one. I haven't either, and I want to see it. I'm going to watch it before we do our movies that we missed. But basically every time she's in something, whether it's good or bad, you're like, you know what? Jodie Foster. We're on the exact same page. I think her choices have been bold but poor in the last 15 years. I think she's taken some interesting risks because she clearly likes to challenge herself.

1:22:58The movies just haven't worked out. Remember the Mauritanian? Yes, with Shailene Woodley. Yes. That was so strange. And that was meant to be an awards film and it didn't really get there. But she was just wonderful in Nyad. I thought she was so good in Nyad. Incredible. So yeah, you could see that. You could see her having a performance in her 60s or 70s where she gets in. Okay. Jessica Lange. I think if it's going to happen for like one more time for a great Hollywood icon, even though this person doesn't work that much anymore. She does TV. No, no, no. Not Jessica Lange. I think it's going to go to Jane Fonda.

1:23:41Oh, wow. But she's pushing like 85, right? She is still fucking out here protesting. and repping for Redford and giving amazing quotes about CNN and Redford and everything else she was like why did Barbra Streisand get to present she did one movie with him I did four with Robert Redford and I was in love with him and Jane Vonna hasn't won an Oscar since 78 since coming home controversial figure that's true Michael Caine he's retired right he's not keeping me updated on that Anthony Hopkins I don't think we can do it again after The Father okay Tom Hanks I would love it I would love nothing more and I could see this you know if he finds the right part one last go to an American treasure Dustin Hoffman next year at the Oscars for Fokker-in-law

1:24:36the Dustin Hoffman scenes in Megadoc are amazing stuff De Niro you could see it but it didn't, he was nominated for Irishman, Irishman, right? He was. And it didn't happen. No. Irishman blanked. What a mistake. De Niro without three is interesting. Not so. Jack with three and De Niro with two. Well, it's not over. And Pacino with one. Yeah. I don't know what that's about. Pretty weird. Denzel's got two. I could. It'll happen. It could happen. He doesn't seem like he's going to stop working. Yeah. Um, I think that's it. I think that's a list. Okay. Everybody else is passed on. You mentioned Cate Blanchett.

1:25:17Definitely seems like that's a possibility. Yeah. And I think Meryl will get to four. You do? I do. For Devil Wears Prada 2. No, I just think before all is said and done. For Narnia? Who is she in Narnia? I don't know. I made that up. Someone told me that you pronounced the lion in Narnia in a different way than I have been producing it, but now I can't remember how you produce it. Anyone in the booth know? Aslan? No, that's not it. Wait, how do you say it? I'm saying Aslan. I'm saying it, you know, as a dumb American. Asslan? Yeah, that's what it is. I have no idea. I don't either. And someone even spelled it out for me phonetically.

1:25:54I'm going to need the UK people to weigh in at some point. But now I'm psyched out. Now I can't remember what's correct. I don't care. You're going to care. Come Thanksgiving. When the magician's nephew comes to town. Yeah. When the plumber's niece visits Narnia. What's the next question? Next question comes from Nelson. What would it actually take for the Academy to release vote totals? Obviously, the reason they have never done it is because theoretically, it may hurt a nominee's feelings. But vote totals are released for basically every award in every major sport. And non-winners are rarely, if ever, publicly aggrieved.

1:26:33I know the casting or stunt Oscars are actual industry awards for professionals. But do you think a similar sustained push for releasing the votes could lead it to happening? No. It'll never happen. I don't follow the sports voting very much. You know, every once in a while someone posts like, oh, well, there goes MVP or that's it's decided or something or other. And I am just kind of like that's a black box to me. Sure. But my impression is that people do have feelings about MVP and being voted for or not voted for. They're usually voted on by the press. Yes. So journalists vote and then you do see the tallies.

1:27:16Yeah. But then I see a lot of athletes like weeping when they get it. And I all I see are conspiracy theories about Kevin Durant's burner accounts. So I do. Maybe that doesn't count as public. But those things are related. But as we've previously discussed, if you're posting on the Internet, we see it. How many burner accounts do you have? I don't have that kind of time. Here is something I think about, honestly, when a mean comment or something makes its way into my orbit is, except for what I am posting for my job, I just do not post on the internet. I am just almost never commenting, typing into that comment box.

1:27:55And I don't really know anyone who is. It's only the best people that are doing it. I don't know that many people who are just like, now it's time for me to log into my comment box. It's always people who have the most fulfilled and complete lives. People who feel that they are loved and can give love. And people who have kind of realized their potential as men and women. And I find common union with them. Jack, you in the comments a lot? Absolutely never. I don't understand. It's like, you're not a real person. You're a robot. What is the impulse to just click in and take the time? I mean, I know what it is.

1:28:34I deserve to be heard. Sure. That's right. Make your own page, you know? Agreed. Next question. For the record, I like nice community building comments. Listen, we have a lot of nice comments. You know, thank you for everyone for asking where my dress is from. But like, you know what I'm saying? Of course. I don't really spend that much time. Anyway. Next question comes from Cameron. There seems to be a positive energy surrounding the general state of cinema this year, culminating in an Oscars that felt optimistic, exciting, and a bit unpredictable. Most importantly, there was a meeting of movies people actually saw and liked, original ideas, and quote-unquote good films.

1:29:11How do movie studios keep this up and build on what feels like positive momentum? I mean, I try to take some lessons from whatever Pam and Mike were doing. You know, I think if you feel like coming out of this, that taking chances on great artists and letting them have a little bit more so you can get their movie, fucking do it. What else can I say? Don't pay David Zasloff $800 million? Well, I don't think we can stop that, unfortunately. That seems to be transpiring. I don't even think the studios can stop that, but you know. I think it's just investing in artists. I think that's the most important thing.

1:29:45I think it is finding people who have good ideas, putting them in supportive environments, making sure that the other parts of the studio system that really matter to the movie industry, the marketing department, business affairs, how the productions are run, that all of those pieces of the puzzle are still getting, are being fed and getting the attention that they need so that they can best serve the movies that are being made. Because they're always good movies. Good movies are always coming out. I have no trouble making a best of list every single year, even during COVID. It's the way that those movies are platformed and how they're sold to people and then how they go up into the conversation.

1:30:20No guarantee that Sinners was going to work. No guarantee that it was going to work at the box office. No matter how good it is, it's got to be sold properly to the world. Ryan Coogler did a smart thing by taking the reins on that movie and coming up with his own marketing plan and getting out in front of it and being like, here's how you should see my movie and here's why it's important. That helped a lot. And I think that also educated audiences about what moviegoing is all about. This can be done. Just sit down and think about it. And don't treat people like they're five years old. Don't treat people like they just want to fucking eat garbage all the time.

1:30:49We don't want garbage. We want good stuff. We know what's good. We can tell. We're sophisticated. I promise. Just listen to us and listen to the people who are making your stuff. Okay, rant over. Okay, next question Comes from Chase Now that Leonardo DiCaprio has headlined Three best picture winners with Titanic That departed in one battle Something that I believe only Dustin Hoffman Has ever done Where do you view him all time in the pantheon of great stars Do you put him alongside A Brando or Nicholson If not, what else would he have to do To get to that level Hoffman is not the only one Clark Gable also did this Speaking of the 1930s In 1934, he was in It Happened One Night.

1:31:33In 1935, Mutiny on the Bounty, which just blew my voice out. And in 1939, Gone with the Wind. Within six years, he was the lead of three Best Picture winners, which is extraordinary. And Gable, I think, doesn't have the same stranglehold on Hollywood history that some of the people who directly followed him. You know, you're Jimmy Stewart's. But he was Leo before Leo. I think Leo is pretty clearly on the Nicholson level at this point oh yeah you know I think in terms of star power and his acting skills and kind of representing generationally what the movies are he is the generational guy right for sure Brando's different Brando Brando was a great star but Brando was first and foremost a great actor who transformed acting and transformed what people thought acting American acting could and should be Leo has not done that yeah I think he's a wonderful actor but that's not his that's not what he's known for and he probably never will be known for that specifically.

1:32:30And then Brando also very much rejected a lot of the public understanding of him and or expectation of what it means to be a movie star. And Leo has handled it very differently than Jack Nicholson. And I wouldn't quite say that Leo is a statesman of Hollywood and doesn't have any interest in it, but he is very, very deliberate in what he chooses and who he works with and how he is going to be perceived. and then wanted his time to promote a movie. Like, he shows up. He was on this podcast. He was there throughout awards season, even if he was stuck on a yacht. He was also throwing gas at the Oscars.

1:33:09Like, he just, like, I was like, oh, yeah, he's back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The mustache looked cool. He looked cool. He played along with all the bits. Like, he just kind of lived up to the moment in a way that Nicholson would have. Exactly. Yeah, I mean, I love Leo. We've been saying for 10 years, Leo is, he's the guy of the generation without question. I do think that he has a very similar thing, too, which you learn about the more you talk to people who make movies and when a big star becomes involved in a movie they have a lot of opinions. They have a strong point of view about what is a Leonardo DiCaprio movie and then they collaborate with the filmmaker and they make sure that the character that they're playing in the film at large kind of works with that persona.

1:33:44Right. That it fits who they are. You know, if you look in the 90s you see Will Smith doing this, you see Nicolas Cage doing this, of course Hanks and Cruz do this. They have a really, because of all of the power that they've accumulated, They get to collaborate more than your, you know, run-of-the-mill movie star. And I can tell that his influence is very strong and that he is so deliberate, as you say, because he also likes working with people who know how to collaborate with him. So I think Nicholson's a very good comp. Nicholson kind of bent movies around his will because he had such a strong personality.

1:34:19And that personality, very few of his performances could be considered subtle. but the movies were almost always better because he was in them. So that's a unique thing that Leo, I think for the most part, has got his arms around, especially as he has gotten more comedic over the last 10 years. He's really gotten to be a skilled comic actor and you can feel him almost infusing that personality into the movies. This is my favorite thing to think about so I love that question. What's next? Next question comes from Alex. Can the Oscars help save movie theaters? No. is it their job as if well okay here's the thing to do if your movie does not open on X number of screens for X number of weeks you're not qualifying for best picture I don't know if they can do that because small movies like The Secret Agent might not never be able to and that punishes also small movies and that punishes and that that punishes movies rather than helping movie theaters is sort of the issue and I think that...

1:35:22It would help movie theaters. It would help movie theaters if they broke Netflix's will. If they told them either you're signing up or you're getting out of this race entirely. You're either giving up your whole fight for not putting movies on 5 ,000 screens or you have to do it. And then once you start doing it, there can no longer be Guillermo del Toro's $150 million dream project that you can only watch at home. That won't happen anymore. It won't make sense. It won't be logical. It would have to go into movies onto thousands of screens, but it would hurt the secret agent. It would hurt sentimental value.

1:35:56It would hurt. It was just an accident. It would change the Oscars again dramatically. So I don't think that they'll do it. But if they wanted specifically to work with exhibitors, that would help. Then you wouldn't be able to sneak around and be a streamer and get to compete for these awards. But you know what? Streamers still haven't won. Only Apple has won one for Coda. Yeah. In a COVID year. Yeah. So I don't, is there anything else? What else could they do? I mean, you really do have to limit that to best picture because then otherwise you're absolutely kneecapping documentaries and international features, as you said, but even some of the smaller craft movies that don't have any chance of making it.

1:36:37Yeah. I, you know, I, I have a complicated relationship with, the ideas of the movie industry and its attendant parts, quote unquote, saving movie theaters, which are a dependent but separate business and have not adapted in their own ways to serve either the movies or the customer. So, you know. I know. And I respect where you're coming from on that. And I think you're right that the exhibitors can always do more to make it just better for all of us. Yeah. The thing is, is if you're too hard line about that, then baby goes out with bathwater. Right. You know, I mean, I think it's both ways. Yeah.

1:37:15Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're right. Okay, good question. What's the next question? Next question comes from Matthew. Piggybacking on your conversation of what legendary active filmmaker has yet to win an Oscar, what actor or actresses have never won or even never been nominated that you'd like to see win someday? Harrison Ford.

1:37:37I mean, we... Tom Cruise. Real one. Not honorary. Who's never been nominated? because Ford was nominated once but he was nominated once in 1985 I didn't prepare for this question who's the most talented deserving person who's never been nominated for an Academy Award Rachel McAdams got nominated for Spotlight so that's out I'm just thinking of people I've seen recently who don't have Oscars I'm just thinking of directors like who's a director who's been nominated who has never been nominated such an interesting question yeah Denis has been nominated Denis's got to win soon by the way so he's not going to win for Bond it'd be really interesting to see if he's really competing for director that could happen I could see that happening oh I would assume that it would Denis versus Nolan in 27 it's pretty sick John Goodman great one he's never been nominated I mean I just googled it I can do a second fact check That's a great call, Jack.

1:38:45And many people have pointed that out over the years. And he has a supporting part in Digger. Oh, okay. Here we go. It's time. So it might be time. Another guy who you've never seen him pop up in a movie and think, I wish he wasn't there. Makes everything better. Walter Sobchak, of course, the GOAT. I like that. Let's go with that. Never nominated is tricky. There are a lot of people who we like who've never won, but never nominated is rare. Okay, let's do two more, two and a half more. Sounds good. Next one comes from Dean from Australia. The 100th Oscars are fast approaching. What would you do differently during the show to celebrate a century of film?

1:39:27I mean, Sean's earlier point slash pitch was correct, is that you got to build it out over a year so that you're not stuck trying to cram in three and a half, like a hundred years of Oscar history into three hours. I think this is a place where clips could work, but clips of previous awards, acceptance speeches, and great Oscar moments as opposed to movie moments. I think you can't honor 100 years of film in one television broadcast, but you could focus it on the Oscars. And I think this is one place where it's okay to be a little navel-gazy. You got to walk a fine line, but use use the history of the ceremony itself use all the great tape that you have so interesting I don't know a single one of our quote unquote guys or gals who are going to be making movies for 2027 and the 2028 Oscars go down the list of all of our faves okay I can't think of a single one who's going to have a movie out that's going to be competing maybe Jordan Peele maybe Sophia you never know You never know.

1:40:40But it might be smaller. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, it's still a little bit of time. It's early 2026. Not all movies need a... Yeah. But Tarantino Fincher, Soderbergh, PTA... Nancy Meyers. Spike. Nancy Meyers. Yeah, but that's... But I know it's not. I know. That's a total commercial play, that movie. Yeah, I agree. Which is great. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just, you know, Secret Wars is also a commercial play. I don't think that will be competing. But there's not even like a Dune Part 3 where you're like... Oh, an event film that is prestigious but probably will be in the awards conversation or an odyssey.

1:41:14All of the franchise stuff that's been announced is money-making stuff and that's it. And as far as I know, is there a Chazelle movie coming? I'm trying to think of who are the— Yeah, the prison movie. We don't know because these things change over the course of 20 months. But as I think about that race, whatever it is and how it is reflected in the show, does the show have to be more history than contemporary, too, is an interesting question, right? And maybe you're right. Maybe it's kind of how they celebrated. Here's what they should do. Maybe it's how they celebrated SNL 50. Oh, okay. Night before, you have a separate event that is televised.

1:41:55You know, it was a music concert on SNL 50 the night before, which also had plenty of bits and famous people and people who were part of the cast. and history of it. And then the second night was the proper SNL 50 performance of the show. You could do something like that. And then also maybe you'll have, you have six attendant documentaries that are associated with Oscar history the same way that SNL did. I would probably take a page out of that book because I think by and large, SNL 50 was very successful. I'm sure they're already deep into planning a lot of the things that are going to be happening around that.

1:42:25But maybe a film festival. I would probably try to start a film festival that gives you a seven-day run in the January or February before the Academy Awards, which then can work also as like FYC events. I should be being paid for this. Right. I mean, like, why are you still talking? I don't know. Yeah. But if you'd like to call me, you can. What's next? If this is our last question, I'm going to jump down to Ken. Great. Just Ken? Just Ken. Picture this. It's 2036. What are you looking back on from this year's Oscars that turned out to be an indicator or an omen for how the Academy Awards, or Hollywood in general, would change over the next few years?

1:43:05What from this year represents a turning point?

1:43:12Is AI involved in filmmaking? I mean, you know, I was going to say, I hope it's not a capper on the Warner Brothers as a, you know, existing historic studio and or the original filmmakers, you know, making big budget blockbuster works of art that also compete for best picture. I don't think that will be the case. There's definitely a reading that this was the last day of the good times, right? You could definitely say that this is, you know, the funeral pyre for the end of studio filmmaking and its primacy in terms of prestigious filmmaking at scale. but probably not because the Odyssey is coming out you know it's like it's not over Universal is not going to stop making great movies in fact I think studios like Disney and Amazon kind of got to get with the program and they got to start making more mainstream you know real adult movies with original material or adaptations like Project Hail Mary is three days away I think that a movie like that is the future of this stuff and it's not it's not original it's based on something that exists but it's based you know on a book it's based on a book That's a tale as old as time.

1:44:27Yes. Or at least Hollywood. And it also has a lot of touchstones that we're familiar with, which we will get into at large later this week. But it feels familiar but different. I'm going to keep saying that. And that you can't just make the same franchise movie. You can make a movie that is in the same vein as something, but it has to have a spin on it. And I think Project Hail Mary is successful in that regard. and I so I don't think that when we look back at this show we're gonna be like it was the end of something specifically yeah I do think it's gonna seem like an outlier though that PTA got a hundred million dollars to make a movie and then he got to the mountaintop and is invoked with like it happened one night and and silence of the lambs on a podcast that's I would never have predicted that even even if he was like gonna get an it's time Oscar I would have thought okay original screenplay right maybe director in a split never would have thought.

1:45:21I guess so. The run of show. It does seem like this will look like 93 did for Spielberg and 2006 did for Scorsese, which was they finally get, like, you know, a great generational or cross-generational director like gets their moment. He gets to be considered in that vein now. You're right. And I think also that we'll probably look back on this as the year, hopefully we'll look back on this as the year that, you know, Coogler really did become a major presence at the Oscars. You know, I was joking about him as, you know, the new Meryl Streep of the Oscars from a reaction shot. But like a fixture, someone in the audience, someone who is regularly nominated, someone who has a connection to a lot of people working.

1:46:08Because what Ryan Coogler has done in addition to, you know, creating Sinners, winning his own original screenplay Oscar, starting a whole movement, is he has brought up a whole generation of filmmakers with him, right? Absolutely right. Like everyone below the line has won Oscars with him or, you know, started whole careers on his sets. So I think he's going to be there a lot. And that has been happening at Oscars previous, but this is the year it really crystallized. Yeah, what I hope for him, he can lead his career however he likes, but what I hope for him is he makes more sinners. You know, his next two projects are The X-Files and Black Panther 3.

1:46:49I love Black Panther and I love The X-Files. I'm looking forward to both of those projects. I don't think of them in the same way for me personally as someone who loves film the same way I think about something like Sinners. And I hope that that is the direction that he goes and if he continues to pursue that direction, he'll be there every time he makes a movie. You know, he will be Nolan. That's, Nolan is now in that place where every time a Nolan movie comes around, you're like, well, this is the event of the year. And that's where you want to go when you're a filmmaker with that much power and that much skill and that much insight.

1:47:18So it could be. It could be the announcement of him. You could say the announcement of him was Black Panther. You could say the announcement of him was Creed, you know? It's hard to say what was the pivot point. Totally, but he won his first Oscar on Sunday night, and the camera kept finding him because many people associated with him also won Oscars. Yeah, yeah. And it just... He goes from up-and-comer to ambassador now. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you're right about that. Okay, any closing thoughts? we're done yeah good Oscars moderate outlook you want to do anything on 2027 before we go sure what are the Odyssey Dune yep and then everything that's going to be at Cannes there's there's more than that disclosure day yeah I wonder I'm sorry yeah I hope so sorry to our third chair Steven Spielberg for not putting that in the first sentence there's got to be odds right now there's got to be odds on this oh great I'll say I mean Josephine from Sundance Right I think will be in consideration if you're looking for an It's Time person Martin McDonough his new film Wild Horse 9 is coming later this year from Searchlight of course we have Digger Right from Tom Cruise and Alejandro Gonzalez Inaritu we have The Social Reckoning from Aaron Sorkin Okay I'm getting a little We have Michael the Michael Jackson biopic Okay Okay.

1:48:44We have Jack of Spades from Joel Cohn. Right. We have the aforementioned Project Hail Mary. Yes, we do. Anne Hathaway season. Multiple Anne Hathaway films. I hope she gets at least one Oscar nomination. God bless her. Fjord. A lot of speculation about Fjord. You know who looked very good at the Academy Awards is Renata Reinsva. She really did. That was one of my favorites. She was wearing Louis Vuitton. My word. Yeah, the red. Did you see the after party? That was also... Listen, she's very, very hot. I preferred the ceremony look, but I understand what you're responding to. And I think that's great.

1:49:19Ay caramba. And then, of course, Doomsday. Yeah. Right? Great. Jack, you pumped for Doomsday? I could not care less. I don't know. I'm still kind of excited. I want to see it. Show it to me. It's done, definitely. They've figured everything out. You think they'll call me in? So they'll definitely let you see it. Their shitty bit at the Academy Awards was just like everything for me. I'm just like, I cannot wait for this to be over. I know. That was rough. Well, I can wait for this episode to be over. It's ending right now. Okay. You feel good about it? Yeah, sure. Thanks to Jack Sanders. What a run by Jack Sanders.

1:49:56He's been cranking out content with the big picture multiple days in a row. Content never sleeps here on the show. Thanks to Lucas Cavanaugh for his production support on the show. We'll be back on Friday to break down one of the biggest movies of the year so far, Project Hail Mary. We'll see you then.

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