The Oscar Noms Mailbag: Is ‘Sinners’ vs. ‘One Battle After Another’ a Race? Plus: Best Picture Power Rankings.

19:06Sean Fennessey:That was our last one. So that is just about timing and a lot of, hey, look over here and maybe you should check out this movie. And I guess, I don't know whether you can say that Surratt like took the place of no other choice, but I think I don't I predicted it the other way I think and you're right that I think Neon had like a certain number of of slots and No Other Choice just didn't get it well one of the reasons why it's surprising to me is there's something that happened with No Other Choice where what I'll describe as the kind of like hardcore cinephile critic grouping of which our our buddy Adam Naiman is a member he was pretty cold on No Other Choice and has been a fan of Park Chan-wook's movies in the past.

19:54Sean Fennessey:But I think he and some other critics that I've been reading felt it was a little iterative or like a little bit too cute in terms of how it went about the work. You know, it's very flashy and very formally inventive and showy and that that might have turned some people off. I loved it. It was one of my five favorite movies of the year. We've talked about it on the show already. But when that happens, usually when a film breaks with that crowd, The opposite tends to happen, where the Academy tends to get on board with a film, like one film too late, as they might see it. Right. You know, where it's like it's kind of safe for the normies now.

20:28Sean Fennessey:And we're seeing that in a way because the movie's doing really well at the box office. Like it's probably going to end up making like$10 million in America, which is very good and is, frankly, a lot more money than any of these other Neon movies that are being nominated for Academy Awards. I think Sentimental Values topped out at like$4.5 million. It was just an accident. It's made about$2 million. So it's connecting with audiences. is it's connecting with us um and some people i know not all critics but like i said the sort of like the more hardcore critic seems to be a little bit disinterested in it and so it falls into this kind of nether space that i can't remember a lot of movies being in where it's like it's obviously kind of formally brilliant park's been making movies for decades he's never been recognized his country i think is being increasingly recognized in time as a real hub of creativity In fact, Begonia is adapted from a South Korean film.

21:19Sean Fennessey:So it's just, it is a stumper. Like the reason that so many people are asking is a good question. That being said, we have known that this was going to happen. I think that it was not going to get in the best picture for like months. Like we never even considered it. Well, so let's talk about release dates and let's talk about Testament of Anli. Because I do think that there is something there, but I don't know which is the cause and which is the effect. where I agree, we've known for a few months that it was not really hitting. You know, it's another one that premiered at Venice and was received well.

21:54And I was one of the best things I saw there, but like didn't really get the festival bump that I guess, I mean, Frankenstein didn't either. Frankenstein was saved by the New York Film Festival, I suppose, but we knew. And so as a result, Neon dated it way later than its other films. And so Sentimental Value got the October-November push. I think Sentimental Value was November, but they were prime award season and rollouts. And it was just an accident, was even earlier.

22:28Sean Fennessey:That had a more limited release, but those were the two that they really put their arms around. Yeah, exactly. And, you know, Serata's still not available. February 6th, apparently, is when it's really going out there. after the shortlist and after everyone was like oh okay Surratt this is something that like we need to pay attention to which for the record is not that unusual like that is something that has happened a lot historically and I think it's smart for them so I guess February 6th Surratt will be available in New York and LA and then the 13th going more wide we will talk about Surratt on this show hopefully people will get a chance to see it it's a really interesting movie and kind of like something interesting to chew on there's a lot in it to take apart but it does feel like the point you're making is right which is like no other choice got sandwiched between those three other movies.

23:13And purposefully. So you kind of, when you're looking at, you can look at those dates to kind of assess Neon's strategy, I think, and see that Neon thinks, okay, this is probably, we'll do it for an awards qualifying run.

23:27Sean Fennessey:Well, I think they saw it as a commercial play. That's why it's a Christmas movie. They saw No Other Choice as a movie that can make some money as opposed to get some awards consideration. And like, it pretty much worked. Right. So I think they're probably ultimately happy even though the No Other Choice team is really bummed out about this. Ann Lee is a different kettle of fish. So Ann Lee, which has been in the works for some time, but was only acquired by Searchlight after the festivals and a little late after the festivals too. And like a while after the festivals. It was like, who is going to, is someone going to pick this up?

23:59We hope someone's going to pick this up. This is really deserving. I hope other people are going to be able to see it. It just was a little too late. Yeah.

24:05Sean Fennessey:You know, and Searchlight picked it up and I'm glad that they did and it opened more widely this weekend and it did not perform very well at the box office, I think in part because of the weather, in part because it didn't get any Oscar nominations, in part because as you mentioned, when you first saw it and people walked out, it's like, it's a weird movie. You know, it's a different kind of movie. It's cool, but it's weird. But so that film, which as we both said, has this insanely great Amanda Seifert performance that I think is probably gonna end up going down as one of those like historical, how did we not recognize her for kind of things?

24:33Sean Fennessey:Assuming enough people see the movie to have that opinion. Right, right, right. Right. But if that movie had gotten picked up in August, but pre-festival, and they started that campaign and they made it a November movie like Sentimental Value and they let it slow burn through the season. Yeah. More and more people see it. More and more people will watch it on the portals. More and more people will go to, you know, screenings that are hosted by amazing actresses telling Amanda Seyfried how great she is. I think it would have had a different fate. Or at least she might have had a different fate.

25:02She might have, yeah. I don't know. I do think part of what we like about the movie is how strange it is and how unlike anything else I've ever seen. And I mean that in a positive way, but I understand why it did not make it into Best Picture. It is sort of, it's not, unlike The Brutalist, it is not wearing the clothes of, you know, great prestige, like great man cinema. it's just it's about some weird people who like shake around a lot while forming a cult of personality

25:35Sean Fennessey:yeah I mean I think the musical aspect of it is a little bit off-putting for some people I think Anne Lee's kind of fortitude in the face of a lot of terrible things that happened to her and then this hard philosophical pivot that she makes as a character is going to be bracing for audiences and then the movie ends in this kind of fascinatingly quiet contemplative way that I wouldn't say is satisfying per se you know it makes you think but there's no uplift, but there's also no like, well, that was the point of that. You know, like with The Brutalist, which of course is like the kind of companion movie, people had a lot of issues with the second half, yourself included.

26:09Sean Fennessey:No, I had issues. Well, that's true. I guess I had issues with the one plot twist and then the coda. Right. Yeah. But the first half is like - It's dynamite. It's very classic. Yeah, exactly. You know, it's very like man comes to great land to conquer and learn about the space and then finds out the reality of what it's like to be here. Anne Lee, as you said, is just a little bit more divergent from that traditional structure. The other what if here is that if they actually could have coordinated Anne Lee and the housemaid and those press cycles a little more, which they did their best. They did their best.

26:46And Amanda Seyfried was really out there working and I watched a lot of great content. And that movie has also been a slow burn. and it's made a tremendous amount of money, but not like immediately on opening weekend all at once. I mean, it was successful.

27:03Sean Fennessey:It is exactly like anyone but you in 23 into 24, where it came out, it did pretty good business in its first weekend and it has just held on and people are going back and going back. Obviously, I'm sure a strong female contingent of audience there. And that movie's made$250 million worldwide in a month. That's amazing. And it does kind of confirm, I think Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried can share credit for that. But it's also just the material. And that material could not be more different from Ann Lee. Right. Like, there's not a lot of crossover there. But it's like, you know, in prior years, we've seen this before, if you had bumped Housemaid up or you'd bumped Housemaid and Ann Lee up a month.

27:45And so the success of Housemaid is a little more established before voting. It's a very classic, we'll nominate her for Ann Lee to really reward her for the trashy thing that we would never nominate. And again, I do think timing and release dates was just a little bit too late. And Searchlight was just, purchased it too late, started it too late.

28:10Sean Fennessey:Yeah, Damien here also asked around the Testament of Ann Lee shutout, not just, there's a lot of Kate Hudson questions. We can kind of talk about Kate Hudson and why she got nominated there. But Daniel Blumberg, who just won last year for his work in The Brutalist, who I think very quickly has established himself as a very powerful composer in Hollywood and, you know, helped write some of these songs and kind of restructure these old hymns to, you know, seem like more modern film score. I have been listening to that score a bit recently. It is a major achievement and it is very unique. And to me, it's not as off-putting as the actual, like, content of the film.

28:46Sean Fennessey:So that's another place where like they didn't campaign it that well. Well, listen, we know what we think of this. The score branch. They're just really, really, really on notice. OK. Yeah. They they need to contacted you since you made that. No, I haven't heard from them. OK. I think that they're ashamed. And Jim and Janet score. Jim and Janet score need to have a meeting with themselves. OK. Re-evaluate their priorities. Let modern music into their lives. Yep. and then maybe next year for everyone sounds good Kate Hudson yeah so two things about this okay I said on Thursday you love this movie yeah you like it that's fine I actually preferred Hugh Jackman in the movie as I said on the episode I thought he was the best part of the film I heard some people say they felt he was miscast which I don't understand it's like you need a song and dance man who's got gravitas there's only one in Hollywood he's the one he's the guy you have like a Hugh Jackman weakness you love Hugh Jackman I do I do I think he's extremely versatile.

29:47Sean Fennessey:And that being said, I've never seen The Greatest Showman. Never seen it. Should we do a Greatest Showman pod? You think people would enjoy that? Like a watch along? Yeah, yeah. Well, it would be a first time watch for me. Well, who says that a watch along can't be a first time watch? I guess you're right. We make the rules. Avatar was a first time watch for Chris. As Taylor Swift once said, we can leave the Christmas lights up till January. This is our house. When did you say that? We make the rules in the song. What song is that? Jack? I have no idea. Come on, help me out. No, thank you, Jack, for not knowing.

30:20Lover, I think. I think that's Lover. Lover. Yeah.

30:22Sean Fennessey:Cool. It's about Joe Allen. Star of Hamnet. I see. Poor guy. Kate Hudson. Let's talk about this quickly. Okay. One thing that you'll, if you listen to a lot of punditry about the Academy Awards, you'll hear a lot of people say, Kate Hudson worked it this year. Yeah. That she pulled every string that every friend that she has, she's obviously very well-liked. in the community of Hollywood. She's part of a legacy family. Her mother is Goldie Hawn. She has a big party in Aspen every New Year's. Yes, I'm sure. I learned that from you. They play the bongos? Yes, she's evidently a good time. She's fun.

30:56Sean Fennessey:And people like her and she's been very successful over the years. And she is also capable of great work. If you've seen Almost Famous, you know she's super talented. But she, for whatever reason, has not spent as much time making quote-unquote prestige movies. Song Song Blue is not really prestigious, but it is quite serious and in fact more serious than you would think if you just watched the trailer. and she has to deal with a character who has had an amputation and who has to sing and dance and struggles with addiction and kind of like tic-tac-toes. And wears ugly sweaters. Yes, there's some Midwest camp aspect to it in terms of the accent.

31:30Sean Fennessey:So the character that she's nominated for is doing a lot and does feel like a little bit more of a traditional nomination. I tend to favor the relationships angle, especially in this category. You know, the Andrea Risborough nomination, famously was born of this kind of like, you know, handshakes and baby kissing. And Gwyneth Paltrow and Edward Norton posting on social media before that was quote unquote outlawed. Yes. No, I agree with you, but I do think it's a little bit of both. I think that there are a lot of people. It does just have that really famous glossy person, you know, dressing themselves in ugly clothing and doing something sad.

32:13And then everyone's like, oh, bravo. You know, this this is acting. This is this is why we show up. And I think many of those same people are also friends or want to be friends with Kate Hudson or they like Fabletics. I don't know. She's very well liked.

32:29Sean Fennessey:Sure. You know, what does that be in the world? I don't know. You think it's fun? She also likes Aspen, which I'm just on the record. I'm not interested. Can't make me care. it's just just full of weird opinions it's cold you don't like being cold you like mountains but you don't like being cold I like to ski I love mountains huge mountain no I know but you like I love a mountain but you cry every time you go back to New York now and you're like I can't do it anymore I'm broken but I think adventure cold is different from trudging to work at 9am cold yeah and I have a different relationship to adventure cold I don't I don't like gear you know gear yeah but you like like apres-ski?

33:10No, not. I mean, not really. I mean, I like a drink, but you know.

33:14Sean Fennessey:What about just a warm mug of cocoa by the fireplace? I'm working on... Bearskin rug. I like coffee, but like otherwise I'm working on my relationship to warm drinks. Sonos, you know, just snuggling up. Yeah. Jack, no? What do you think? It's not my vibe. I don't really have anything to add here. Yeah. Like, you know how Zach's always making like a toddy around the holidays. And I'm like, I don't need a toddy. I just want my Negroni and I just want to go home. I know that's everyone else loves a toddy, but not me. It is delightful. Yeah. Is there anything else around and Lee or no other choice, Jack, that you feel like we should talk through?

33:52Sean Fennessey:Because you're right that it is. We heard from a lot of people about this. I don't know if there was anything specifically. I'm looking through the doc now, but it was just a lot. It was just a lot of people being like, what the hell? I don't understand this. And I was surprised that that was the most popular email. Like, I found that to be the most common. Our listeners, people who will send an email to us in 2026 are devoted. And they're cinephiles. This is an award season podcast, but it's a cinephile podcast too, right? It's like, if you really care about movies and you go see 100 movies a year, no other choice is definitely going to be one of the best movies you see this year.

34:26Like, Park Jan Wook is, like, mainstream cinephile. Like, there was a decision to leave joke on last season of Industry, which I thought was very funny. Like, shout out Mickey and Conrad. but you know there is

34:37Sean Fennessey:he's made movies in America he's made American TV series the people who know know yes yes I think he does he fits that Venn diagram for film lovers he's not quite Paul Thomas Anderson but he's not Lav Diaz you know what I mean like he's not you know a slow cinema artist who's barely known outside of festival circles so you're right about that okay let's let's go to the next question which is really the biggest question of this entire race I forgot to mention before I ask it briefly is that people started following your request, Sean, of leaving their age with their email. Oh, cool. But it was like probably 18 % of emails and the only people were doing it were my age or younger.

35:15So that's honestly

35:16Sean Fennessey:wonderful. Yeah, I appreciate that. And thank you for the to the 20 somethings for sharing their age. I wonder if it's the 30 somethings and 40 somethings and 50 somethings are not sharing their age because they're ashamed of themselves for listening to this podcast. Thank you to the 20s. Okay, what's what's what's the big question? Everybody was asking, do you think sinners now has a legitimate shot at winning best picture over one battle after another? My answer is yes. Okay. And I've been wondering about what your answer to this question is since I saw this question in the document. So we've both been steadfast that we feel that this would be one battle after another all the way through.

35:53Sean Fennessey:In the aftermath of the Golden Globes when Hamnet won best drama over Sinners, we had a conversation and I was pushing the idea maybe this is a moment to kind of, you know, pierce the armor. that One Battle has had throughout this season, maybe just in an effort to keep ourselves entertained through what we thought could have been very boring. But I think it's hard to say, and you may disagree, 16 nominations, just a profound number of nominations, by far the most in the history of this awards for Sinners, means that there's just overwhelming support for it throughout the entire body. And it's preferential ballot.

36:34Sean Fennessey:and with preferential ballot, anything can happen when it comes to two movies that are both really well liked like these two. So my answer is yes. What is your answer? My answer is no. For a few reasons. Everything that you said is true and I think I would be shocked but not surprised if it did win, if that makes sense. And also like excited. It would be great if Sinners won. I think we're choosing between two worthy films here. Even if one battle after another was our number one, Sinners ranks very high. Like, I mean, like, this is a good thing. So, but you look at the last several years, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Oppenheimer and Inora, you know, decided pretty early.

37:15And we've second-guessed ourselves, and I think people try to make the race interesting, but in the end, those movies were dominant. And -

37:23Sean Fennessey:Inora's track, though, was somewhat similar. Yeah. Because I think that you and I both were pretty confident about Inora. as confident as you could be about a Sean Baker movie because nothing really rose to the surface that we thought was going to be able to get past it. And some sort of the weird Sean, it's Sean Baker's time narrative kind of took off, which is fascinating. I love him as a filmmaker, but he's an unusual version of person. But that was more about the field that year. And then The Brutalist won at the Golden Globes that year. And we did move The Brutalist ahead of Anora for like one month in our rankings.

37:58Sean Fennessey:but all along it was it was a Nora but I think that that was a similar feeling that I was having where I was like is something shifting here or is this just a smokescreen which I think is legitimate and I and we did feel that way and I understand feeling that that way about sinners now but you know then not only did a Nora win best picture and did Sean Baker win best director but and he won screenplay and then he won editing which we didn't expect and Mikey Madison won best actress which we didn't expect so it was a romp these in in the past few years at least and the Academy is changing quickly enough that you really can only use the last few years as like a really predictive sample size.

38:35Sean Fennessey:I have a thought about that, but keep going. In the last few years, once we've decided on a movie, you know, and a little bit to our chagrin as award season podcasters, it kind of has been decided. So I do think there are those aspects of it. It's one battle had 13 nominations. 13 nominations, yes. So it's like that's a lot. That's now the third most all time. Yeah, so it's not like there's not a huge amount of support for one battle after another. I do think that the Paul Thomas Anderson, it's time narrative is very strong. And you think about where we do think he's going to win Best Director.

39:10Sean Fennessey:Well, I think we should talk about it. Okay. You think Kugler could? Well, I think that that's kind of baked into a lot of this conversation. Now, part of this being such an extended season means there is time for everything to change. So from a national perspective, the second biggest moment of award season is last Friday. And the headline out of that award season was Sinners, 16. It was not One Battle, 13. No, most people don't know how many nominations one battle has, but 16 was the first thing you saw if you visited CNN.com or the New York Times or wherever you get your news. Right. And you're kind of a general consumer.

39:46Sean Fennessey:Now, obviously, the people who vote on the Oscars are going to have more information about that. But I think when you see a number like that, even if you are a voter in the Academy, it makes you sit back and think like, well, what is it that I'm voting for? Am I voting for a movie that made me feel something? Am I voting for the movie that I like the most? Or am I voting for the movie that feels like the biggest accomplishment? Now, Sinners, one of the reasons why it has so many nominations, is one, it overperformed in the acting categories. Wunmi Misaku and Delroy Lindo getting in was really interesting.

40:17Sean Fennessey:And one little wrinkle to that is that those are both UK-born actors who might be recognized at BAFTA. So you might see another big Sinners BAFTA number coming soon. Now, historically, Black American performers are not recognized at BAFTA, but this could be a little bit of a wrinkle. So there's that. And then secondarily, you've got a film about music with score and song recognized. You've got a period film, so costume and production design are being recognized. Plus, you've got the entire legacy team of Black Panther, some of whom are Oscar winners. Ruth Carter, an Oscar winner for Black Panther.

40:52Sean Fennessey:Hannah Buechler, an Oscar winner for Black Panther. So these are people who are like, they're the new Colleen Atwoods, you know? Like they're the new, like the class of people who are always recognized for their work or always nominated for their work. Kugler has kind of brought this whole group of people. Autumn Dorald-Archipaugh was not the cinematographer on the last Ryan Kugler movie, but she is now like a part of that class. And she's a strong favorite to win in that category in cinematography. So when you start looking at the board and you're like, oh, well, maybe it'll just be Kugler in screenplay or maybe it'll be seven wins for Sinners.

41:24Sean Fennessey:Like there's a world where that exact math that you were describing with Sean Baker, it could move for this film, too. It's totally possible. It could also be that we're there on March 15th and Sinners hits in every single below the line category. And we have that Mad Max Fury Road moment. And then as you get into the deeper categories, the voters have thought, OK, well, I've acknowledged, you know, the cinematography. I've acknowledged the production design. I've acknowledged the score. I've acknowledged the screenplay. and, you know, now I'll do other things. Could be wrong. I think both things are totally in play.

41:59Sean Fennessey:And that's kind of what's fascinating to me about this because I just would not have said this. Now, one of the things that I think is working... I don't even think Thursday morning we said that we thought... Sinners could win. We didn't. We did not. We talked about it. Multiple people texted me on Thursday that were just like, are you changing your mind about this at all? And I'm sure that there's recency bias to this level of information. And just people being like, are you sure, buddy? Tends to always have an effect on me. Yeah, CF1. I know. I would still favor one battle after another, but I do think that the Sinner's case is strong.

42:29I do think that it would be another interesting example

42:33Sean Fennessey:of like Kugler going ahead of PTA does remind me a little bit of Bong Joon-ho going ahead of Quentin Tarantino, you know? Yeah, yeah. You know, the apprentice becomes the master kind of thing. The other thing that we didn't talk about at all, which is really interesting, I think Matt Bellany got into this a little bit on the town. They're both Warner Brothers. I was going to ask you, yeah, what if they weren't funded by the same studio? So what does that mean for the campaigns? What does that mean for how one film is favored over the other? I mean, you know, One Battle After Another is the smaller film in terms of box office and the number of people that went to go see it.

43:06Sean Fennessey:But it is historically more in line, I would say, with Academy Fair, you know, a dramatic film about historical violence, I guess, for lack of a better term. Like Sinners has that vampire aspect. but you know sinners being a bigger box office sensation it would be a way for hollywood to kind of rubber stamp what it means to take a chance on original material and make success on the other hand the film didn't travel as well and black films don't always play as well overseas sometimes depends on the film that's the at least that's the you know the phrasing that you hear from executives about why they're not marketed as well overseas so you've got there's just a lot of noise in this very particular race.

43:49Sean Fennessey:And we're not even talking about Hamnet because it underperformed a little bit on Thursday. But I'm not totally ruling it out because you could definitely see a like one battle sinners ethic kind of canceling each other out. Right. And then a movie with all this, all the Spielbergs of the world. Yeah. I mean, what do you think about that? I don't, I don't look forward to that podcast. We have to just start recording. I think we'll say some things that will get us in trouble. Yeah. And it's not impossible. It's not impossible. It's not where I would put my money, but this is not a betting podcast.

44:24Sean Fennessey:Preferential voting will be really interesting this year. Hamnet is still not as widely seen as those other two movies. I'm sure most people in the Academy have had a chance to check it out because it's been so touted. But it's doing well overseas, and it still just didn't do that well in the United States. I don't know what impact that would have on the Academy Awards. It's interesting. We have something to discuss. you know we do I was I was a little bit bored a month ago and now I've had my my my engines have been refired where it is sentimental value sit in terms of preferential ballots and can't other things canceling each other out good question I said I think I said on Thursday that it got a nomination eight nominations but I was wrong it got nine nominations sentimental value which is more than Hamnet and it's the same number as Frankenstein yeah and people love that movie yeah I love that movie.

45:11You do.

45:12Sean Fennessey:I respect that movie. Your husband loves that movie. Everyone I know. You know, I think, I don't think it has any chance to win Best Picture. But where does it sit on the preferential ballot? I don't know. It could be four. It could be seven. It really depends. Again, release the votes. Agree. Release the votes. Release them over the course of the broadcast. Just do that. Yeah. Who says no besides everyone who's nominated and or votes? We say yes. Okay, what's the next question, Jack? Next question comes from Andrew. He says, help me understand why it's not Leo for best actor. He just does not understand.

45:49Sean Fennessey:Personally, Leo cleared Timmy for him performance-wise, but is there any reason other than the time of release states that Leo isn't been taking that seriously? Did Andrew leave his age? I don't believe so, but I'll go check. What was it? From at Leonardo DiCaprio at gmail.com? or it's just curious you think Leo uses Gmail I think he's old school you think he's at Mac.com no he's AOL AOL don't you think does AOL still exist I know but people still have the addresses they do I guess it does yeah um Earthlink does Leo email uh I mean no chance I don't know how much time Leo spends on a phone in general you know carrier pigeon or Pony Express how do you think he gets messages out I mean I don't know whether he's using like a a smart phone, you know?

46:37Like, what's Leo Googling?

46:38Sean Fennessey:You think he's got, what, a flip phone? It could be. Blackberry? Listen, like, you saw the end of One Battle After Another, you know? The most underrated part of the One Battle After Another promotional campaign was in Interview Magazine. PTA and Leo interviewed each other for the film. And in that discussion, which I think came out before the movie was released, they talked about beepers and whether beepers were for drug dealers or not. And I would encourage people to go out and look into that content because it was very relatable as a kid who had a beeper at 14 years old on Long Island in the 90s.

47:12Sean Fennessey:You got a beeper? Certainly. Everybody I knew had a beeper. My dad had a beeper and I knew the numbers. So whenever I needed him, I could beep him, but I didn't get one. My, I mean, my dad had a beeper because he was a cop. Yeah, he needed a beeper. Beeper. What an amazing moment in technology that was. Jack, you know what a beeper is? No idea. Are you serious? Yeah, I have no idea. What? Wow. You have no idea. Okay. So So this is great. Let's try to explain what a beeper was. So it was a little... A little rectangular device. Yeah. Square digital device that had a small, narrow screen on the top of it.

47:44Sean Fennessey:Right. And you could... And it was an attached to a phone number. So in some ways it was like pre-phone and you would call the phone number and then the beeper would just display the number that called. It was like a, hey, I'm trying to get your attention. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sounds really cool. And they were almost always attached to your belt. But these were designed to be used by doctors, by firefighters, by people who needed to be contacted in a moment of emergency. And police officers all had them for a stretch. They became like something you might even find on a TV show. You'd watch a cop or something and they would have one right next to their holster.

48:23Sean Fennessey:This was for seven years maybe in history. Yeah, like 90s. Like 91 through 99. Is a beeper a pager? A pager, yeah. Okay, that I'm vaguely familiar with. Okay, sure. You don't know about the phraseology beeper. That is correct. Because it beeped when it went off. That's why it was called a beeper. We're basically working our way back to it. Like people are trying to brick their cell phones and make them unusable for anything other than like call me right back. Yes. So let's bring them back. I had one. Yeah. Why did I need one at 14? Why didn't I need to be beeped? Who was beeping me? I don't really understand.

48:59Sean Fennessey:And also, if you press star 911, that indicated it was an emergency. So get in touch with me immediately, which kind of obviates the idea of even being beeped in the first place. It's like, you got beeped. So like, was it not an emergency? Why did you contact me? Anyway. Yeah. Just some campaign lore. Check out that interview. Right. Leo, beepers. That's how we got there. Why isn't it Leo? I have given my spiel on this. I think it's weird. I think it's weird that it's not him. Because it's not about who's more worthy. They're both great. Both of those movies are great. Their performances are amazing.

49:27Sean Fennessey:We love both of them. It's not it's actually not an interesting thing to debate like, well, this was a more textured performance or he really embodied this or he made me laugh here and he didn't. I know, but that's not what it is. Campaign wise. I mean, some of it, I guess the the Leo performance is more comedic and the Chalamet performance is more classical, like actor putting it out like going for it. This is, you know, he gives a speech where he's like, I have a purpose, you know. and so maybe it's just like the roles themselves the Chalamet the Marty role reads as a little more like traditional Oscar and certainly the campaign has gone with it I mean Leo has definitely been out there he was on this podcast he was also on Travis Kelsey's podcast yes like so he's been doing his version he did actors on actors yeah that was great with J-Law he talked about DVD players but hell yeah I mean it is not That's campaigning on the level that Timothy is.

50:27You know, Leo's not a Bourne poster. So that could be part of it just in terms of like attention. But I agree that that doesn't really.

50:34Sean Fennessey:What he's doing is unorthodox. I agree. And Timmy has had to roll it back. I guess, you know. It's a really interesting thing that has happened. I don't know if it's completely without precedent. There have been young winners before. But it's unusual for someone who is, for lack of a better phrase, very modern. getting recognized in this way. So we had a question later on about the best Oscar speeches of all time that we'll get to shortly. Yeah. And I went back and I watched one of them from 2010. And I was looking at who was nominated in one of the categories and there was a standing ovation moment and the composition of the crowd.

51:11Sean Fennessey:And it felt, and I don't mean this pejoratively, it felt old. Yeah. It felt like a bunch of 50-somethings, 60-somethings. It felt like, and you might be able to look back at it and say this is kind of the last gasp of a certain time for this award show, for the way that we understand movies, for the place that the Academy Awards holds, which is like not a place to recognize, at that time, it was not a place to recognize massive hits. It was a place to recognize great art from people who were overlooked in their 20s, 30s, and 40s and given them prizes in their 50s and 60s. And this is a bit of a sea change.

51:44Sean Fennessey:You know, Mikey Madison is not as much of a sea change because younger actresses do win more historically. but I mean when's the last time I mean I guess Eddie Redmayne was very young when he won and Rami Malek was very young when he won so it's not like there are never young guys and those guys were both fairly but they were not well known they were not stars like Chalamet is a star and he's probably going to win at 30 years old so over Leo who's the star of his generation that's right and I haven't really been able to figure it out probably three or four times on the show over the last six months.

52:21Sean Fennessey:I've been like, why is Leo not winning? Do you think anything of it has to do with the fact that the critics associations and all of the early chatter, I mean, we all kind of take for granted that Leo was very good in it. And instead I've been talking so much about Benicio del Toro and a lot of people are Sean Penn and Chase Infinity and Teyana Taylor who, you know, won at the Golden Globes. And so just some of the acting attention has been dispersed or like focused elsewhere in that movie? Possibly. I'm getting the impression maybe that even though the performances are some of the best things about it, that One Battle isn't necessarily being seen as a performance movie.

52:56Sean Fennessey:Yeah. It does have four nominations for its performances, but Chase Infinity missed. And we have kind of come to this conclusion that it feels like Stellan Skarsgård is going to win in supporting now. So maybe Tiana Taylor has a chance to win. But what that movie is being recognized for is kind of its cultural import, PTA's vision, some real creativity in terms of the execution cinematography of the film and so it's just not the first thing that comes to mind I think the way that you explained Marty is is on point which is like he's in the middle of the movie and it's a movie about a striver you know meeting his moment and then the other thing too is that Marty just came out later and people love it and it's a hit it's like a real old fashioned he put it on his shoulders and carried it he's going to carry it to like 180 million dollars which is awesome and I think there is a little bit of like maybe one battle didn't be too early in the grand scheme of things, but it might have peaked too early for this particular category.

53:47Sean Fennessey:I don't know. I'm kind of talking through every potentiality here. We don't know is the answer. It's not what you would pick. Yeah. Would you say we don't know to every single question that's being asked here? No, I felt like I had pretty strong opinions about the best picture odds. Everything else, I don't know. Got it. Jack, any thoughts about that race? I think also part of it is just like the, quote unquote, it's time factor. Like if Leo doesn't have an Oscar for The Revenant, it's hard for me to imagine they're not giving it to him here. And also PTA not having an Oscar. It's like you said, the attention's elsewhere.

54:20Sean Fennessey:Yeah. But if the thing, it's a fun sliding doors. If Leo doesn't get an Oscar for The Revenant, he does get one for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Brad Pitt doesn't because he's giving a more interesting performance than Brad Pitt in that movie. But Brad Pitt got it because it was his time and he's a little bit older than Leo anyway. So, you know, we could play that game all day. Maybe one day we will. It's true. Oscar sliding doors. Sure. You're down? I love it. Okay. What's the next question? Next question comes for Christian, who is asking about how to throw an Oscars party. He writes, I've thrown Oscar parties before, but wanted to ask the professionals what's the best viewing party, how it should go.

54:55Sean Fennessey:Drinks, food, Oscar bets. How many people should I invite? Even the right sound system for it. I want advice from the professionals. So here's the thing. Yeah, we are professional people who watch the Oscars. So here's the thing is that we watch this for work. So it's not a party. And in fact, the reason that we'll never host an Oscar watching party is that we have very particular conditions, which are don't talk at all. Like, honestly, like, don't talk. The only person I know in my entire life who's ever allowed to talk to me during the Oscars is Sean Fentasy. And that is like the closest I will ever come to saying I love you to Sean Fentasy.

55:35That is so true. That is like, it's literally. We've never discussed that. But you can speak, and honestly, Jack, I love you so much. Like, you're not really allowed to speak when we're watching the Oscars. It's okay. Like, you do so much for us. I'm so grateful to you, but we're not there yet. So, I...

55:53Sean Fennessey:But we have never talked about that. But it is true. Well, we don't talk about the things, you know? We know when to talk and when not to talk. But so... That's so funny. So an Oscars party, like, we don't know, is the answer. However, I can answer this as like a not as a professional, but as a person who likes throwing parties. And imagine if we didn't have to be psychotic. You know, I've seen what other people do. Should we almost like remove the Oscars and just make it the Emmys or something or the Globes? Or like the Super Bowl or something where, you know, like an event thing, a viewing party where we don't have like our entire careers on.

56:33Sean Fennessey:But you also need to like kind of gamify it because people are asking here about the betting or any sort of like boxes you might have. So ballots for sure. I think that you should do ballots and someone should be tallying during the run of the show to keep people interested. Get those spreadsheets going. Yeah. Also, like we have always wanted an elimination process to be part of the broadcast or the show and they'll never do it. But you can do it at home. I love that idea. You know, like vote people out. I don't know. I don't know what they lose. Maybe they have to take a shot or something. Once you're eliminated, you have to leave the party.

57:05Sean Fennessey:You can't see this picture. How many people you should invite? It really depends on seating. Size of your home is a factor. Right. And the size of the screen and how comfortable people are sitting on the floor. Can I throw a number at you? Yeah. 12? That's good. I feel like 12 is the right number of people. It's enough that you've got, you can have like multiple islands of conversation, but not so much that it feels like it'll get too noisy that you won't be able to watch when you want to watch. That's great. Okay. One pro tip that I would give as a professional is to make sure you know what time the Oscars start.

57:38If you're hosting an Oscars party, our friend Izzy recently went to an Oscars party as she showed up on time for PMPST. The hosts and everyone else thought that the Oscars were still starting at 5 p.m. Oh, that's right

57:49Sean Fennessey:because they've moved it up. They've moved it up. So make sure that you're clear on the time. That would be my note. Amazing. Let's see. So the food, people really like to do the puns and all the foods and stuff. I'm not a pun person, but like, who doesn't love a theme? Yeah, like Marty Supreme Pizza, you know? Sure, there you go. Yeah. One quesadilla after another. Yeah. What else can we do? I just really like dips and potato chips. So I just, people should have more potato chips. Yeah, ham and cheese in it, you know? Like, keep going. It's really, really good. We can keep doing this. Give me some more titles of films.

58:23Sean Fennessey:I can't think of any. Begonia? Burgonia. Burgonia. Sure. Sliders, there you go. We need some kind of sinners themed cocktail, right? Because they're in a juke joint and they're serving up. Sure. They're serving up illicit drinks. I'm really focused on like Frankenstein. So like what can we do with Frankfurt or Frankenstein? You just, well, yeah, you did. There's going to be a lot of like pork themed items on this menu for whatever reason, you know. I, you know, I think that's fine. I think if you've got the wherewithal. sentimental value meal and everyone just gets, you know, then you're sponsored by McDonald's.

59:02Sure. Lock in that SponCon partnership. Okay. That is my advice to you. Get people to sign, get it sponsored. I like drinks. So have drinks. If you don't like drinks, you know, don't, or don't have alcoholic drinks. Where are you on sound system?

59:20Sean Fennessey:I think you, if you, if you've got some sort of Sonos surround, lock in, you know, or I, You know, at worst, a sound bar. Yeah. I think that'd be helpful. Are you allowing people to talk? Okay, so thank you for asking. Now, I would never do this. Now, I think we did watch. We've done Golden Globes. Golden Globes. Did we not watch Oscars in like the 15, 16, or 16, 17 era pre-show? When Chris Rock hosted, yeah. Yeah. At my house. We have watched together, but I think it was only like four people or six people at your house. Right. And you and I both were like, no talking please. And I think our spouses were like, these sociopaths should be examined.

59:55Sean Fennessey:to me it's very very similar to a Mets playoff game oh great few and far between though they are not annual experiences of course we know they've only been in the playoffs twice in the last 10 years however I can't watch that with anybody I can't even watch that with loved ones in my family I actually need to just be alone because it's very painful and it's not fun the Oscars is not painful but it is like I'm observing the presentation of my science project after months of preparation. You know? I definitely have an unhealthy relationship to observing what's transpiring, but in a way that I love.

1:00:35Sean Fennessey:Like, I love watching the Oscars. To this day, we joke around and we're like, they suck. They don't suck. It's my favorite thing. I love it. The reason we spend so much time on the show is it's a lot of fun. Super nerds, yeah. So I think it would be hard to do a proper party in that way, but a we should maybe even consider a Golden Globes yeah I would because I don't really care about the Globes anymore that's true I'm officially now like these don't really mean anything to me and there are also breaks for the the TV awards which like I really don't care about right exactly you know you can chit chat or whatever great point there's plenty of time to socialize and then we can just pause everyone and be like I'm so sorry we need to know it's international feature please this matters you know who's getting on stage will it be Cleber Mendoza Filio and people can be like why are you guys so weird about this Yeah.

1:01:22Sean Fennessey:Good question. I hope you have a great party. Yes. Christian, good luck. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Life is all about choices. You know, I was thinking about recommending Radiance Films to my buddy Chris Ryan, a physical media company, because I knew he had a real taste for Italian crime films, and no one does it better than Radiance. And of course I was right. Chris got involved in Radiance, and now he feels great about it. At State Farm, their goal is to help you make decisions that you feel good about. That's why with the State Farm Personal Price Plan, you can choose the right amount of coverage to help create a competitive price.

1:01:57Sean Fennessey:Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. Okay, what's next? Next question comes from Vince. Actually, this is going to be a little bit of a two-parter. Okay. Vince is asking, while I was incredibly happy with the Best Picture noms, it's been heavily discussed how we've seen to reward five of the same movies. Do you think this is a product of going to 10 nominations?

1:02:29Sean Fennessey:And the follow-up question is from Ryan saying, since the Academy has expanded Best Picture from 5 to 10, should they also expand the acting nominations from 5 to 10? With so many more movies being made and more opportunities for acting, shouldn't they expand the acting categories too? Let's do the first one first. It's interesting. We have been circling this idea a little bit of late. Right. I do think that the ecosystem of awards campaigning and awards identification around films has gotten extremely strong and extremely skilled at putting big red circles around titles as early as January. For example, I got a text from someone that we both know about the film The Invite, which premiered at Sundance over the weekend.

1:03:11Sean Fennessey:And that text said, this film will be nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Oh, okay. It's January 25th. So one, that happens all the time. Two, Cannes is now considered a major precursor, which starts in May. That gives you a runway of several months. Three, we have a major kind of active and vocal cinephile culture that when a big auteur is coming with a moment, in the example of one battle after another, people will be like, well, this certainly feels like it's an Oscar contender. And if the film turns out to be good, then in fact it gets that five-month treatment where it gets to be identified.

1:03:46Thank you.

1:03:47Sean Fennessey:I don't think this is a great thing, but I don't think it's because of 10 nominations. I actually kind of wanted to come out in defense of 10 nominations this year because it kind of is doing exactly what it was supposed to do. Which is getting more movies that people have seen in the conversation. Yes. The reason that we're rewarding only five of the 10 same movies is because all the other categories are still five nominees, including every single below the line category. Well, but is it working in reverse where people know what the best picture contenders are and then they're putting all those movies in those other categories?

1:04:20Sean Fennessey:Because in the past, if you look, there are historically there were have been more funky like, whoa, this movie in production design or this movie in cinematography. And that is changing a little bit, I would say. It's there's there's more concentration at the top than there was 25 years ago. Yeah, I think that's true, though. You know, makeup design is one this year where I learned about two movies. I knew about them. Visual effects. There are still places where things that are not anywhere near best picture make it in. And you're just seeing that in the movies that are, as you said, and I think you're completely right.

1:04:57They're identified January, February, May. As soon as we're guessing what's going to be at Venice, then we're guessing, okay, which are the two, what's the Telluride nomination? What's the Venice nomination? We're gaming it out before schedules are. And I think that studios are gaming that as well as they're figuring out releases and festival stuff. So you're right. But then I do think also just the limited number of slots. It is a little bit like Best Picture has five real contenders and five like happy to be here.

1:05:27Sean Fennessey:It's been that way pretty much since they went to 10. I I'm happy that all of those films are there, you know, even even even F1, which like I thought was silly and should have gone to something else, but it's fun to have a big budget film in Best Picture. I totally agree. And I kind of like the balance that we're getting there, where it's not just the film like Sentimental Value maybe creeping into the top five, but that The Secret Agent is kind of firmly there. And it's a part of the race. And because it's a part of the race, I feel like it does get recognized in other categories that might not otherwise get recognized in, like Wagner-Morrah, for example.

1:06:01Sean Fennessey:That feels like a change and a good change. So I like that. And then on top of that, as you say, films like F1 getting in, it's not a bad thing. There are movies that I personally prefer. I would have preferred Weapons to get in. I would have preferred No Other Choice to get in. I would have even preferred The Testament of Ann Lee to get in. There's probably 10 other movies I like more than F1. But F1, as I said on Thursday, is a representation of another aspect of filmmaking that doesn't necessarily always get recognized by the Academy, that I think actually should be recognized more frequently.

1:06:33Sean Fennessey:So I actually love what 10 has been able to do. But if you expand the other categories to 10, I don't know how I feel about this. What do you think? So I think we just need to add more acting categories. I mean, we've talked about breakthrough for forever, but I think that's like a really easy one. And that, you know, Chase Infinity could absolutely win that this year. And that would be a nice way to recognize a performance that we both think deserves a nomination. Comedy, comedic performance. I don't know how I feel about this. but you know it's it's a little bit like the Golden Globes box office achievement award you know you just wish that actor and actress would actually recognize comedic performances every so often and they don't well there I have seen some I don't think I would want to break it down by genre yeah because I think too many films are already operating in category fraud and it's like is one battle a comedy or not you know we talked about it with the Globes I don't want to do that yeah so but one thing that I would love to see that we've talked about versions of in the past is the kind of like one shot award where it's like you get one scene.

1:07:34Yeah, cameo, yeah.

1:07:35Sean Fennessey:You know, like kind of an elevated cameo where it has to be critical to the part. It can't be... Matt Damon and... Well, he's... Matt Damon and Interstellar for sure. Yes. You know, that's an example of like he gets one sequence. All of his cameos that are like pretty essential. I don't want to spoil any of them. No, he's somebody who would frequently be nominated in this cameo. But like, I mean, Peyton Manning is this thing on this year. Like, I didn't think that was a very effective use of him or idea. I thought it was more distracting than effective. I thought that was funny. Okay. But that's an example of someone who could be nominated in that spot.

1:08:09Sean Fennessey:And every year, there are 10 examples that are really cool. That would be another way to recognize more performances so you don't have people, you know, it would be the Beatrice Strait Award from Netflix. From Netflix. From Network. Netflix is the new network. Yeah. So, that would be cool. I'm trying to think of what are some other... I mean, I think having more performers and more top line or recognizable people, both like on the broadcast and getting awards is, I think, good for the awards, good for the show. Can I give you another idea that I had that is sort of related to this? I was wondering if they could revise the Lifetime Achievement Award and make it more of a vote within the body.

1:08:51Sean Fennessey:And it doesn't mean that you would there would be a vote, but that vote would not just be among the people on the governor's board. It would be amongst the entire academy, but it wouldn't the prize wouldn't be the prize would be given out at the awards, but it wouldn't it would be revealed before that. So like there would be 20 eligible nominees. OK. Who have had a body of work that is longer than 30 years. So you're sort of rock and roll hall of faming it. Yes. OK. And then you get to identify who is the most deserving person in the academy who does not have an academy award and who maybe won't get one.

1:09:25Right.

1:09:26Sean Fennessey:And, you know, we saw Tom Cruise receive a governor's award this year and he's never won an acting academy award. But it's I mean, it's tricky when you're using that award to make up for the all of the times that the academy has overlooked very deserving people. And then you're going to let them vote on it once again. This idea comes directly from baseball because the Baseball Hall of Fame is voted on by the writers. And oftentimes there are people who go up for that nomination. And if they have, for example, a bad reputation amongst the writers, they won't get as much love as they maybe should get.

1:09:59Sean Fennessey:And sometimes that very thin margin of dislike will keep them out of the hall. And then they'll come up for what is called the Veterans Committee some five or ten years later. I don't know what the threshold is of time. And that committee has kind of changed a lot over time. But basically their job is to correct the sins of the writers committee. And so they'll place Pete Blinn some years after their career has ended as a sort of like, hey, we're sorry, but Gil Hodge is, you know, very legendary first baseman and Mets manager should actually be a Hall of Famer. And then they go in. I always thought that was kind of interesting because it's a different perspective on a person's career and the work that they did at some distance.

1:10:36Sean Fennessey:This would be kind of an interesting way to change things. This is like my 900th idea for the Oscars. I think it's true. I still, you know, the honorary ones don't mean anything to me. Like, let's make it real. Well, but if you made it more of a race, you know? Sure, but still, no. So then you could say, like, the entire Academy agrees that this person should have an Academy Award. Tom Cruise deserves a competitive Oscar. You know? That's just, I won't be satisfied until that happens. I agree. But what does Joan Allen deserve? You know what I mean? Like, there's going to be some people who are like, they'll never win now.

1:11:07Sean Fennessey:You know? They've been Academy Award nominated. Well, that's why you need other acting nominations. You know? But you can't be like, there's a geriatric award for performances 70 and older. You know, another one could also just be ensemble. Just take it straight from the actor awards. I also think that should happen. If we've added casting, then we could also... I know. They're little, same, same. It's kind of close. But also, if you want to crystallize what casting is and how that is different. If you're trying to recognize the casting directors versus the performances, you just add an ensemble.

1:11:33And then you get more people there.

1:11:35Sean Fennessey:I like that. There you go. I don't know. Just, you know, more awards. Awards are good. We've already made up, what, 20? How many are we giving out now? 23 or 24? I think fewer precursors, more Oscars. Make the Oscars a two-day event. I've pitched this idea. 48 Oscars over two days. It's a kind of a Lollapalooza situation. Sure. You got to buy a ticket. I don't think that that's a good idea. I think that you need to have it in one night. I think you have people's attention. You've grandfathered in a certain amount of respect and history for the Oscars? I am available for freelance awards consulting.

1:12:09Sean Fennessey:I have more ideas than I know what to do with. And I'm just screaming into the void all the time. I just don't think that like you alone just giving out Oscars in a marathon for like five days is great programming. And we want to bring the audience in. I said two days. Okay. Just two days. I think that's enough. This episode is brought to you by Hotels.com. Save Your Way is a new feature on Hotels.com and it's as simple as it sounds. When you book a trip as a Hotels.com member, you decide how to use your savings. Take the instant savings now or bank the savings as rewards for later. It's your call.

1:12:44Sean Fennessey:Only at Hotels.com. Save Your Way is available to loyalty members in the U.S. and U.K. and hotels with member prices. Other terms apply. See site for details. This episode is brought to you by Volkswagen. There is such a thing as becoming too comfortable in your day-to-day. but our favorite films with stories that make us change the way we think that weren't made by people content to just sit back and watch the world pass by. This is your sign that you shouldn't either. From us, from VW, and the other drivers out there, grab the wheel. Do what you love, even if it means taking the road less traveled.

1:13:18Sean Fennessey:Learn more at VW.com. All right, Jack, what's next? Next question comes from Cole. What was a performance from this past year that you knew had no chance of being nominated but would have been in your personal nominations. Okay, we both picked two. Yeah. You want to do yours first or me first? You're one and two. Go ahead. You got to the doc first. Elizabeth Olsen is really good in this movie, The Assessment, that nobody saw and is on Hulu right now. And I have some notes about the movie and I think it is a bit flawed, but her performance is insanely committed and really good and totally overlooked.

1:13:56Sean Fennessey:So I would encourage people to seek that out. We didn't really spend very much time on that movie on the show, but it's an interesting example of like it was a fest I think it was Toronto 2024 and then came and was released in spring of 25 and just kind of vanished and if they just played their cards a little differently maybe you would be in a different place where like it's getting an indie spirit nom and then all of a sudden maybe there's a chance for it but that movie got passed aside and then the other one that immediately popped to my mind and this would have been really more a sort of a recognition of the work that he did all year but Josh O 'Connor for Wake Up Dead Man yeah he's terrific in that movie he's excellent in all four films that he starred in this year I was gonna say I like this as the choice even though like it could really be this and hyphen the mastermind because you're giving out your own awards and he was like hardly recognized at any precursors for this everybody I know kind of universally agreed even if they didn't love the most recent Knives Out movie he's terrific in it and he's obviously having a moment he's about to be in Disclosure Day it would be a way to kind of like continue to promote his growing stardom so those are my two What do you got?

1:15:00So I got Ralph Fiennes 20 years later. Would have been so worthy. Great. And also setting up Bone Temple. What a great character, a great performance. And just as we discussed on that episode, we don't appreciate Ralph Fiennes enough. That is just a man who likes to act. He likes to do stuff. He does. He goes for it. And then, I mean, she was nominated for Golden Globe, but I knew it was never going to happen. Jennifer Lawrence in Die My Love. She's amazing in that.

1:15:27Sean Fennessey:Were you at least a little bit surprised that she didn't get in at Best Actress or you didn't think she had any chance? No, no, no. I didn't think, especially once, you know, like the Troubled Moms already are dominating that particular category. So she's like the fourth or fifth, like also ran in Troubled Moms. I know. But Troubled Mom representation, you know? Yeah, listen. Like I felt seen. I loved it. She looks great. But yeah. This film had a very bracing effect on Eileen. Yeah, probably. Well, she was like, I admire it, but I will never look at that again. Sure. How often do you think that she thinks about the dog?

1:16:06Sean Fennessey:Interesting question. I don't know. I think about... I mean, not a big dog person. Oh, no, no, no. I don't mean that... Oh, you mean the character. The character of the dog. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, no, about the husband just showing up with the dog. Oh. Which I think about all the time. My husband has never showed up with the dog. I don't mean to slander my husband. Because that would be so offensive to you? Yeah. I thought that was just like such a perfect crystallization of just someone just not paying attention. You're like, are you fucking kidding me? I'll tell you what would make me not want to get a dog is having a kid.

1:16:35Sean Fennessey:Like once you have a kid, you're like, oh, shit. I have a dog right now. His name is Psy. And I just have to keep him from eating things he's not supposed to. And potty training. Yeah. It's all the same stuff. Yeah. I love him. He's very cute. OK, what's next? Next question comes from Bailey. can we please receive an update on the getting drunk and going to see mercy situation as someone who will be getting drunk and going to see mercy tonight in 40x i would love a report back on this situation p.s go mets let's fucking go bailey so as i google mercy showtimes and then the zip code i'm not gonna share with everyone um i can't see films in 40x well if mercy is a film about chris pratt sitting in a chair and talking to rebecca ferguson then what is the 40x experience it's a really good point.

1:17:23Sean Fennessey:Is his chair also in 40X while he's on trial with AI? I have to tell you, the most fun I've ever had was sitting on the floor four months pregnant watching you do the fall guy in 40X. That chair was moving so much and you were so unhappy. I was four months removed from a pretty significant hip injury during that experience and I regretted every minute of it and I was not pregnant. I find 40X to be uncomfortable. I really do. Did I ever tell you after that that I Googled 40, like literally after we went, of course, it only occurred to me to Google 40X while pregnant. Yes. And of course, like the fine line printed, they're like, we don't recommend this.

1:18:03But I wound up on like Mumsnet, which is like one of the UK mom forums. Wow. And someone's like, I went to see Avatar The Way of Water in 40X while pregnant and had a very soothing time. Oh, no kidding. I think the baby liked it. Wow.

1:18:17Sean Fennessey:So there we go. It's because Kiri was in touch with the mother, with Awa. And Awa was giving warm vibes. What happens if I watch Fire and Ash again and I'm like, I love it? You got to take Nox with you. Nox has got to confront his fear, you know, to get through the fear. Varang, though. Well. How are you going to feel when Nox comes alive at the sight of Varang? Is he? Like all of us. I tried showing him K-pop Demon Hunters and his face was just, he just covered his eyes. It was like me at a horror movie. Two different energies. So Mercy Showtimes. You're going to do this in real time. Well, it's, yeah, what are we going to do here?

1:18:55Because...

1:18:55Sean Fennessey:It is playing at the IPIC for the record. It is playing at the IPIC. So there's a... You see that, Jack? There's a four, they've got a 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. this week. So I guess we just got to discuss. Neither of those are ideal for my lifestyle. I mean, me either, but I can't do 10.30. You know what I love is a 1 p.m. movie on a Tuesday. That's one of my favorite things. I could maybe. So we've got a Dolby Cinema 115 tomorrow at the Americana. But like MacGuffins is not really hitting my cocktails of choice these days. What do you mean? What are they serving? They don't carry Campari. What about Regal Paseo?

1:19:29Let's see. I haven't checked. They've got a 140 here. Also a 1205 tomorrow.

1:19:34Sean Fennessey:1205? Yeah. With drinks? I think I can do that. I was going to try to hit an 11 o 'clock Pilates after jam session. but I could roll in. That's a great way to cool down. Okay. Get in that chair. Jack, where are you at at noon tomorrow? Drinking at noon for mercy on a work day? What else do you have to do? No, you could have a... I edit stuff for this podcast called The Big Picture. I would be down if I can schedule it accordingly. This is gold content. We could just placebo you, you know, with like water that we tell you is vodka if you need to do some editing. It might be easier to edit the show while drunk, just for the record.

1:20:08Sean Fennessey:I'm not advising that nor am I recommending it. but it could be easier for someone who isn't Jack Mercy what if it's good? No I don't think that that's going to happen I don't think it's going to be good I reserve the right to say it's good if I think it's good okay what's next? Next question comes from Matt since the best original song nominations were once again a disappointment I thought a better hypothetical song category could be best needle drops from this year's movies who would be your nominations and winner? I used to do this every year and I stopped doing it for some reason. So I have lists from the past.

1:20:44Sean Fennessey:And I love this question from Matt. I think it's a good call. I don't think the Oscars it's a little too like internet-y for the Oscars. You know, it's not prestigious enough. Because who do you even give any award to? The music supervisor, I guess. Even though a lot of times these come directly from the filmmakers. Right, and it's written into the script. Some write into the script, yeah. You know, like for example, I wrote Dirty Work for One Battle After Another because that's such a chills moment when you hear the Steely dance song and you see chase infinity for the first time um you wrote a couple of other candidates from that film i mean both soldier boy and of course american girl yeah so pta kind of renowned for his needle drops in every movie he's got cool ones and he spends a lot of time kind of pouring over playlists i know to think about where to pick things the ones that jumped out of my mind immediately were beware of darkness from weapons the george harrison song um incredible canock chase which ends sentimental value the lobby c phrase song there's a ton of songs on sentimental value yo kim tree or talked about a little bit on when i interviewed him on the show about how he picks music and how he does a similar thing with kind of playlists and isn't really like one of the things that they're really good at and i do feel like a lot of these guys are inspired by scorsese over time is they're not really like stuck on time frame or trying to match anything it's just like what's the feeling i want to evoke when i pick and that's what i'm looking for I added Boots from 28 Years Later, which we first saw in the trailer, but is actually in the film.

1:22:10Sean Fennessey:The reading of the Kipling poem. Firework from Eddington? This would have been on mine. Really funny. Also, Ari Acer just using pop music against all of us. Yes, poking us. I thought the punk rocker drop again to Superman was fun. Not a song I really cared about before, but it kind of gave me some warmth towards it after that. Did you add this last one? No, you did, but I would have. and then everybody wants to rule the world from Marty Supreme and there's a couple of others from Marty that I think are good there's probably others out there but good year for needle drops yeah Oscars are not going to do it no I mean also but on my Oscarspalooza they will do it I do think this this reminds me that like a category that's like too amorphous and too like MTV movie awards to actually but but still would be fun would be best ending like you know because two of these are actually like how they've ended the movie and it's And it's hard to land a movie.

1:23:03Sean Fennessey:Totally. No, that's a great point. And the feeling you want to give an audience on the way out is such a challenge. With that in mind, I think also that Bobby Gentry song at the end of Eddington, which is like not exultant, is actually quite devastating and funny and dark. But that's another good example of what you're describing. Okay, next question. Before moving on, did you see Ari Aster wanted to use Empire State of Mind before landing on Firework? Really? Yes. I can't imagine it any other way. Firework is perfect. I feel like there's an Is there an Eddington question here? There is. Okay, I was going to say I feel like we got to address that.

1:23:39Sean Fennessey:What's next? Next question comes from Anthony. My question is regarding the Academy's demonstrated disinterest in sequels. Wicked last year was an Academy darling and this year they basically spit on its face. To a lesser degree they also didn't really care much for Avatar, Fire, and Ash. Despite being generally regarded as much better than Dune Part 1 Dune Part 2 only got half the nominations as Part 1. It's my understanding that similarly to Wicked for Good, Dune Messiah has a polarizing final act. Do you think Dune Messiah is destined to a similar fate and will barely factor into the awards race next season?

1:24:14I think, I don't think it's going to win Best Picture. You know, knowing what I know about the plot, even though apparently Chris and I were misinformed. and also knowing what I know about the rest of the awards camp landscape next year, which involves a Christopher Nolan movie and a Steven Spielberg movie.

1:24:32Sean Fennessey:Though both summer blockbusters and not necessarily destined for the Academy Awards. I think that's true. I think... By the way, I don't have a gut check Oscar leading contender right now. I was looking at the slate, just putting that out there. Okay. Not that anybody gives a shit. Right. I don't think it'll be shut out if I had to place my bets today. but I know you've been talking a lot about Return of the King and you even when we talked about the kind of muted reception for Dune Part 2 at the Oscars and you were like, well, I bet they're waiting. Like, I bet they're waiting. I don't know if they're waiting.

1:25:05Sean Fennessey:I think it's really ultimately a question of what is it up against? Because in a softer year, in an Enora type year, you could very easily make the case that Villeneuve will be moving on to James Bond after this. It's an appropriate time to recognize his work. You mentioned that there's a Nolan movie this year, but Nolan just won in the biggest and grandest way you could ever win a year ago. Right. So I don't know if there will be as much fetishization of Odyssey, even if it's a huge hit. Avatar The Way of Water also, in the same way as Dune Part 2, took a big hit nominations-wise from the original Avatar.

1:25:42Sean Fennessey:The original Avatar, I think, had like 10 nominations, maybe more. And I think The Way of Water only had a few. it did get best picture just like Dune Part 2 did Wicked for Good did not Wicked look Wicked for 2 was kind of reviled I mean people are mocking it like we I felt like there was immediate blowback to both of our Wicked episodes the blowback for Wicked for Good was like half a day long and then a lot more people got a chance to see it and they saw that like they shouldn't have stretched that movie yet that story out and that is one difference of Wicked and Wicked for Good and everything else we're talking about which is cut something in half exactly versus installments and honestly like Avatar Fire and Ash felt like it was a little bit cut in half from Avatar The Way of Water.

1:26:21And it also did not make it into Best Picture.

1:26:25Sean Fennessey:And I think people can feel that. They can tell when something just doesn't feel constructed in this way. Now, Dune Part 3, as you know, I haven't really been spending any time reading it or trying to figure out what's going on there. But it does seem like they're going to end up having to do some massaging around the Herbert text to make that totally coherent. I'm not really sure. Return of the King was kind of a comet. But, you know, that whole stretch of movies, even when Jackson tried to kind of recreate it with the Hobbit movies, it was received like very blally, you know. And, you know, like stuff, other examples of this, like Harry Potter films, which are widely liked and always successful, never really got like that kind of Oscar recognition.

1:27:02Sean Fennessey:There's just a little bit of a bias towards fantasy, sci-fi, event storytelling of this kind. so maybe that would be a sign of it evolving but to me Dune Part 3 is not locked in at number one in the best picture race for next year what's next? next question comes from Harry I moved up the editing question I know Sean ranks it highly and many other people I know loved it yet it was absent from any and all awards talk before the season and has been absent from every awards show since did this movie ever stand a chance and did one battle after another replace it as the capturing what it's like in America movie.

1:27:41Sean Fennessey:Which Oscar categories would you guys nominate it in? Well, I think part of the success of Eddington, which I also just really liked and was definitely in my top 10 of the year, is that it it does not pull punches and thus it did not cater to the Oscars at all and it would never have been nominated. And I think an Eddington that was nominated for the Oscars is an Eddington that like I wouldn't have liked and like Ari Acer really goes for it. And that, and, and does not care and is trying to alienate you. I mean, that is the part, the point of the movie in some respect is that you're supposed to feel completely grossed out and despairing about this very true and also, you know, fun house mirror version of the world that we're living in.

1:28:30And it, and it's both at, at the same time. It is in many ways, like the most accurate movie of the last year, but, it's provoking. I never expected it to be nominated.

1:28:41Sean Fennessey:I didn't either. I will say I don't think Cannes was the right launch pad for the film. And, you know, there has been a big wave of people in the world of movie watching who are, you know, kind of like Eddington Innocent. Yeah. We mistreated this movie. The discourse was really bad. I think Adam may have made a comment about that in our year-end episode about the best movies. This is my number two movie. I think this is the best thing Ari's ever done. You know, like it's been fun just kind of watching him over time, like get more and more confident with going for things that are like this and not being worried about the kind of like the trappings of genre, like and just making a movie that is about something real, even if it's in a very sort of like outlandish satirical style.

1:29:27Sean Fennessey:And I agree with what you're saying, that it would be very hard for a movie like this to be loved. It's not designed to be loved. but if it didn't come out at Cannes if it came out at where's the inappropriate place for this movie to have come out because it was released in theaters in July so if it played the New York Film Festival and some of the movies that didn't hit as hard as we thought might be hitting as the J. Kellys were falling away as the fire and ashes don't quite reach the summit as even stuff like it was just an accident not seeming as strong as it did coming out of Cannes And like Eddington had no chance of winning the Palme d 'Or either.

1:30:04Sean Fennessey:Like it was not really widely liked there. You might have said like, wow, this is almost like a fascinating follow-up to one battle after another. Like this is the real coin. And you know, honestly, things in America suck right now. People are really angry and justifiably about what's happening in the country. And they've gotten worse throughout this year. and I think that he might have been able to tap into something in this electorate with some of the kind of like not just the rage but the like completely scooped out cynicism of that movie where it's like we are so fucking screwed and we are being completely controlled and manipulated by powers that are way beyond our reach that it might have had a little bit more resonance.

1:30:49Sean Fennessey:I think you're right that in the construction of the movie it's hard. Like I appreciate the nihilism at the end of the film, but I still think that that like people vote for some Shred of Hope. They vote for. They do. But they vote for American Girl at the end of one battle after another, even if you don't even if that's like an ambiguous like is it going to be. I don't know, man. I already referenced Network today. Like Network did do really, really well at the Academy Awards. It's not out of the realm of possibility that a movie that kind of like sees the future by looking at the past could get wrecking.

1:31:19Sean Fennessey:I'm just trying to find like the use case for getting into the race more. Like it had no chance. Like it was at no precursors. This is very clearly to me a really gifted filmmaker working with like big stars. Network didn't win. Rocky did. Yeah. You know, over Network and all the presidents met. I'm just talking about getting nominated. Totally. I think that's true. I mean, the other thing is that I wonder how I think Eddington is like an incredibly, an incredible American film about America in this particular moment. but like internationally, I mean, it's the opposite. Do people like it? Or do they think it's, they think they really get it.

1:31:56Sean Fennessey:I think, I think international audiences love when America says like, God, we suck so much. I think that they do, but I do. Overseas don't like America right now. no, no, it's not that. I sometimes find that a more simplified version of like, this is bad and this is good. Translates more outside of America. And this is like, you know, it's, it is ugly. And like, America is really fucked up and this movie knows it, but it's kind of self-loathing. And I, you know, I just, I don't know how much it travels. It's really, we'll never know. We'll never know. It's an interesting question. And I hope if people haven't had a chance to see that movie that they check it out.

1:32:33Sean Fennessey:I think it's on HBO Max right now. All right. What's next? Next question comes from Brendan. Much like with Parasite in 2019, where early wins on Oscar night got you excited about where the night could lead, what award early in the broadcast on Oscar night this year would make you feel differently about a film's fate immediately? Okay, so supporting actor and actress usually go pretty early. I'll both go at the top of the show. If it's Adele Roy Lindo, Winnie Masaka sweep. Oh, if they sweep, forget it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's over. If they sweep, it's over. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think even if just one of the two gets in, I will that will my antenna will immediately go up for sure let's see what else so you know and likewise if Benicio or Sean Penn win that might also be an indicator right that one battle is really strong because that's a challenge when you've got two nominees from the same film in a category Tiana Taylor wins what's your read doesn't move me as much okay because I think she's the favorite in the category right now I'm still feeling Amy Madigan ultimately because I think Tiana Taylor's character is divisive yes but To me, I think the point you made is the best one.

1:33:44Sean Fennessey:That's like Delroy or One Meat Masako getting love would be a real huge indicator. And then in editing, cinematography, anything else that... I think if one battle doesn't get cinematography, that's notable. And it's likewise with editing. If it doesn't get either of those, it doesn't mean that it's definitively not going to win. It's just like, okay, so it's going to be a little weaker below the line. And what does that mean for us in these races? I think it's the acting. The acting tells the story. I think so as well. I mean, we talked already about, I think there is a real chance. And it would be deserving if Sinners picks up production design, costume design, score.

1:34:20You're going to see a lot of those earlier below the line categories. I don't know if that necessarily translates into a director and picture. It could, but.

1:34:29Sean Fennessey:The acting usually tells you. Like, as you said, Mikey Madison with Enora winning. We saw Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis winning for Everything Everywhere All At Once. We saw Cillian Murphy winning for Oppenheimer. Like of late, there has always been, there has often been one big acting award affixed to the Best Picture winner, Nomadland. Frances McDormand winning for a third time. That was really strange. Troy Kotser winning for Coda in 2022. Like there's almost always an acting award affixed to a Best Picture winner. So we'll have a sense of the vibe within the first 10 minutes of the telecast probably.

1:35:06Sean Fennessey:Okay, let's do two more. Okay. Next one comes from Rob. With only three Best Picture nominees coming from fall festivals this year and four last year, do you think the fall festivals are losing some of their steam as a place where Best Picture hopefuls must premiere? Seems like the last two years, plus Oppenheimer, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and CODA show that maybe fall festivals don't have the same juice as they once had. What do you make of this trend? I think it's really interesting. I think it's true. Yeah. And I mean, as you have already pointed out in the doc this year, like we've seen examples this year of movies not going to festivals, most specifically one battle after another.

1:35:47Very purposefully made that choice.

1:35:49Sean Fennessey:Yes. Sinners was also not a fall festival. Marty Supreme was like a surprise New York festival screening. Not really a festival movie. Yeah. And I think some of that was just because that's when it was done. But I do, you know, there are two from Venice, I think. Two from Venice, two from Cannes. Yeah. One from Telluride. I think that's it, right? One from New York, if you're counting. Marty. Yeah. Yeah. And that's six out of, or five, six out of ten. Yeah. I mean, this is fall festivals was the question. Oh, right. Okay. So, you know, ultimately I think it's going to be, what is it? It's Frankenstein.

1:36:28Sean Fennessey:It's Hamnet. Begonia. Begonia. What's the fourth? nothing from Toronto Marty Supreme Marty Supreme I guess with if you can consider New York and that's it right so that's interesting I think you made that point earlier in this conversation about certain films being kind of targeted like Hamnet and Telluride was a match made that was a perfect bit of programming it was the perfect audience for that movie that audience flipped for it it went very well Netflix is so tied in right now with Venice, that they're basically premiering almost everything in that space. I wonder if they think that's effective.

1:37:10Sean Fennessey:You know, J. Kelly and House of Dynamite, I thought did, J. Kelly didn't do very well out of Venice. House of Dynamite did very well, but neither of those translated ultimately. Frankenstein's bump really came to Toronto. That was when it really kind of swung back because it didn't play well at Telluride when I was there. And our friend David Sims came on the podcast and pointed out that J. Kelly is the most Toronto movie that has ever existed. And would that have gone differently? It might have. I think is wise. You know, I think One Battle didn't play because my understanding is that PTA doesn't really like the festival scene and he's premiered movies at festivals but that's not really what he wanted to do with this.

1:37:45Sean Fennessey:Sinners and One Battle are audience movies. They're mainstream movies. They're not like little movies that could. They're$100 million movies that are meant to be seen widely and, you know, a lot of movies that have won recently have had that color and shape. Oppenheimer was never going to be a film festival movie. So I don't know if it's that the film festivals are not as important, but they may not be as effective a launch pad. And obviously, the other knockdown effect of this is just the Cannes is much stronger. You know, the Cannes influences the Best Picture race way more than it did 20 years ago.

1:38:20Sean Fennessey:And so even though it was just an accident and didn't get in and No Other Choice didn't get in and, you know, some of these other films that Eddington didn't get in out of Cannes, like... Well, No Other Choice was Venice. That was Venice, right. But even still, they're starting the conversation there in a way. Surratt getting the conversation started there as well. So I think that they're kind of pulling a little bit of energy away from specifically Venice and Telluride. I think they're getting a little bit of their life force pulled by Cannes premieres. At Telluride in particular, they do an amazing job of this.

1:38:49Sean Fennessey:They tend to show basically the five best movies that play to Cannes at that festival. It's a great way to see them if you love going to film festivals. Those are sometimes North American premieres, but they're not real proper film festival premieres. So I guess it's something that we can look at as we analyze the slate this year. Okay, one more question, and then we'll quickly do our power rankings. Last question comes from Kelsey. Amanda quotes the iconic Olivia Colman speech all the time. What are your other favorite acceptance speeches? I shouted out Jack Lemmon in 1974 because he's so surprised that he's won for Save the Tiger.

1:39:25Sean Fennessey:And he gives a really nice speech. But then he says something that always sticks in my mind where he says something where he kind of acknowledges the discourse. And he says, you know, a lot of people are saying that this prize has problems and isn't what it once was. Whether that's true or not, and it may be true, I just want to say I feel good about this. And it's like the weirdest like he was online that day kind of acknowledgement. And I don't know contextually. But it's like we think of 1974 as this incredible period. Yeah. in American film history, that that was really the absolute apex of the new Hollywood.

1:40:03Sean Fennessey:And he's, you know, a celebrated and beloved actor winning for a leading part in like a stormy character drama about a man going through kind of a midlife crisis. And he's like, are the Oscars washed? Perhaps. But I'm happy to have this one. So I think of that. And then I thought immediately of Bong Joon-ho shouting out Scorsese and Tarantino when he won for Best Director, which I thought was just a great moment. And I'm into lineages I like when a filmmaker is part of a lineage. And that was such a special moment. And to like our, one of the last questions, that was when we really knew that the Parasite thing was happening and you couldn't believe it.

1:40:37And he was so moved and also so engaged with what it meant to win that particular award with that group of nominees. Yes, exactly.

1:40:46Sean Fennessey:What else? Marion Cotillard is always the one that I think of just because of the last line where she's like, it is true, there are some angels in this city tonight. I just, I mean, it's great. Very French. Yeah, very French. Really good. She was wearing a great dress. And then Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, obviously, just yelling at people. So hyped. And like I was the formative age for that. That's when the Oscars came alive to me. Yeah. Someone reminded me of, who was it? The guy who edited Everything Everywhere All At Once, whose name escapes me now. And he's like, this is only my second movie.

1:41:18Sean Fennessey:This is crazy, bro. That was a really good one. There's obviously a lot of moments like that in history. but the speech that I was referencing before that I rewatched was Jeff Bridges winning for Country Strong. Country Strong? Not Country Strong? Country Strong is the Gwyneth Paltrow movie. That's right. Something Heart? Country Heart. Jeff Bridges. Country Heart. Heart. Heart of the Country. Let's see. Crazy Heart. Crazy Heart. Wow. It comes for us all. Crazy Heart. When he won for Crazy Heart. He got a massive standing ovation. He had been dominating all the precursors. It was a foregone conclusion that he was going to win.

1:41:51Sean Fennessey:And it was one of the years when they had very famous people come out and introduce each of the nominees and be like, Jim Johnson, it was an absolute pleasure to work with you on the film. Scabies, too. Thank you for all your service in Hollywood. And I felt like Jeff Bridges was presiding over something that is gone. And he acknowledged in that speech how much his parents loved show business. because, you know, Lloyd Bridge is his dad and Jeff Bridges got his start as a teenager on, you know, on films and television shows working alongside of his dad and his brother. And watching that last night, I kind of felt like that is gone.

1:42:29Sean Fennessey:Something different is happening. What's happening now is interesting and fun. And it's been fun to actually track it over the last five or so years to look closely at like, wow, everything, everyone at once. Onora. Yeah. Nomadland. Like these are best picture winners and performances from these movies are winning. And these filmmakers don't look like the filmmakers who were winning 25 years ago. But we got addicted to this stuff. Yeah. With the like, you know, old stuffy, everyone's in the same black tuxedo and there's a kind of like a rigidity and a kind of grace to it. But it's like secretly racist and weird and exclusionary.

1:43:07Sean Fennessey:But let's not think about that right now because Jeff Bridges is winning an Academy Award. And Jack Nicholson is sitting in the front row. Yes, yes. Specifically, he's literally there for that show so yeah I don't know that popped into my head for some reason that's my final thought about that power rankings yeah so you made a comment when the nominations were announced that we had been ignoring Begonia and we didn't have it on the list and I said no no no no we had it we had it and I was wrong we did not have it we did not have it I don't know why we didn't have it in November either and I don't know why we should have had it when you look back at this list December 19th was the last time we did this over a month ago this was before the BAFTA shortlist pre-BAFTA shortlist pre-PGA pre-DGA pre-Globes pre-all that stuff we didn't have any of that information we did have the Oscars shortlist so we put Surat on the list at 10 that was kind of a little snack well we were being cute a little treat a little something to make ourselves smile it was in the air 9 was The Secret Agent 8 was Train Dreams 7 was Sentimental Value 6 was Frankenstein 5 was Marty Supreme 4 was just an accident Three was Hamnet.

1:44:13Sean Fennessey:Two was Sinners. Yeah. One was one battle after another. Now, all you got to do is swap F1 for Surat and swap Begonia for It Was Just an Accident. And this is pretty darn good. I don't think Begonia is sitting at number four, though. No, I think it's probably more like number nine. Yeah. And I think sentimental value is at four. Yes, I agree with that. So, I mean, do you want to just keep that? would you do you let's look at how it should go okay

1:44:47Sean Fennessey:is one battle after another still on top I think yes but you I mean let's let's just listen listen we did that we just did this we just freeze this moment in time no let's freeze this moment in time okay if on March 15th Sinners wins yeah and we open the show and you look down the barrel of the camera I'll say I was wrong. And you'll say, on January 26th, I told you, dear listener, that one battle after another, nothing to fear. You are in the pole position. And you're already saying, Sinners winning would be cool. It's not my number one movie of the year, but you can't put, like, it's not me against Sinners.

1:45:28I just think.

1:45:29Sean Fennessey:What's more important to you, being right or things being cool? That's really tough. I honestly don't know. I know. That's the ultimate paradox. Yeah, that's really tough. The problem is you'll never be cool, but you can sometimes be right. I'm genuinely very cool. And that's fine. Many people are saying. I still just think based on what we know that it is probably one battle. Okay. Including all of the racism that you just talked about of historical Oscars past. I think that's one of the biggest things being held against it. Let's be real. That and then the snobbishness about genre movies. The vampire stuff.

1:46:03Sean Fennessey:Yeah, I agree. Okay, so one battle at one. Sinners at number two. I believe Hammond is still number three. I think so as well. I think people saw that win at the Golden Globes. It's a different kind of film. It's a different kind of period film relative to everything else that is on here with the exception, I guess, of Frankenstein. Number four, is it Marty Supreme? I think it's sentimental value. They both have nine. Well, but I think that sentimental value is... Has four acting noms. Exactly. Has more of both a line. And, you know, the international of it all. Screenplay, director. It has, I mean, Marty has both of those.

1:46:38Marty has those as well, but it doesn't have as many acting noms. But it has, it has. How about the flip side of this case?

1:46:45Sean Fennessey:Marty having more below the line stuff could make it more powerful throughout the Academy. Having production design, having, has editing, right? Yeah. You know, what are the other ones? The costumes, you know, like that's, those are pretty interesting nominations for the movie. And I think they're deserving. And it was my second favorite movie of the year. But I said during the nominations, sentimental value I feel is very strong. It got even more acting nominations. Elle Fanning got nominated. Bless her. She had an amazing year. We didn't talk about that. She did. Because you haven't seen Predator Badlands.

1:47:13Sean Fennessey:No, but I've heard a lot about it. But she was so charming in Predator Badlands. She's great. She's deserving. Somewhere forever. Rachel Kemp. Yeah. But listen, I just. They would. So they would make that movie. Netflix would make that movie with Rachel Kemp. Yeah. But they would not make it with Renata Reinsva. What do you think about that? You think that they are underestimating their international viewership. Good note. On subscribership. I'll let Gustav Borg know that. And his producing partner. What's up with Netflix Scandinavia? That's a good question. Is that how they do it? I don't know.

1:47:45They made Borgen, right? They made the new season of Borgen, Netflix?

1:47:48Sean Fennessey:Is that a fact? I think they made a new season. I don't remember if I watched it or not. Very cool. Borgen? Yeah, I never watched this. Okay, it's good. You asked me that in a very curious way. Borgen? Hardly newer. Okay. I would say... So Sentimental 4. Sentimental Value 4. Marty at 5. Frankenstein at 6. Okay. Train Dreams 7. Train Dreams 7. Or do you want Secret Agent 7, Train Dreams 8? I think... I don't know, and it doesn't matter because this is made up. I know. But I'm thinking about it. I think Secret Agent 7, Train Dreams 8. I think you're right. Thank you. Because Wagner Moore got in.

1:48:29Sean Fennessey:Exactly. And Joel Edgerton did not. Exactly. Okay. So that leaves us with F1 and Begonia. Begonia 9. Are you sure about this? Well, I'm sure. No, I'm not sure. F1 has more nominations. No, they have the same number of nominations. They both have three. Is that correct? Let's see. F1 has sound, editing, film. Is that it? That sounds right. Visual effects? Does F1... I don't think it has a visual effects. I think it might. A visual effects nominees. I mean, okay. It does. You're right. Okay, so that's four. So Begonia has Emma Stone, a screenplay, score. best picture. Four. So they both have four.

1:49:10Sean Fennessey:Wow. Wow. What a race. We'll get the meaningless number nine spot on our list. Oh, God, this is everything. That we'll never know the answer to because they don't release the tallies. This is everything to me. Fine. F1. Did Begonia also get a PGA? Begonia, PGA. I think it did. PGA Award nominations, but yes, it did. I think it did. Okay. I'll say Begonia 9, F110. Okay. If you want to flip it, that's fine with me. What we need to focus on is you having the strength of your own convictions. You know? You need to... Did you see the clip that Jack pulled with what I said? Yes, I watched it. And I was mostly concerned with your skin tone.

1:50:03and then Jack informed me that he desaturated it to make it look like old-timey.

1:50:07Sean Fennessey:Many people are wondering about my skin tone. There's just nothing I can do about it. I don't really know. I wish I could. I'm trying. I'm trying to help. I'm doing what I can on a day-to-day basis. No makeup here. This is the real me. This is as close as you're going to get to the real me.

1:50:26Sean Fennessey:I should have predicted F1 and that was stupid. And what I said in October was 100 % right. Yeah. And my instinct specifically around it being a film that did very well internationally are the reason why it's here. F1 is an international sport. Okay, do you want to put it at number nine or number 10? No, number 10. We're done. The power rankings are as follows. That's your decision. Number 10, F1. Number nine, Begonia. Number eight, Train Dreams. Number seven, The Secret Agent. Number six, Frankenstein. Number five, Marty Supreme. Number four, Sentimental Value. Number three, Hamnet. Number two, Sinners.

1:50:54Sean Fennessey:Number one, one battle after another. Now, we will talk about the BAFTA nominations on Thursday. Okay. So that is really the last major event I would say that has significant influence on how we feel about a lot of this stuff. With the exception of the actual BAFTAs ceremony and the Actor Awards, those are really the last two things that we're going to see. So there won't be a ton of Oscar talk on the show until we get into March. There's not a ton of opportunity. We do have a fun Oscar-themed draft coming in February. But post-BAFTAs, it'll be a little bit of a breather, which I think is much needed.

1:51:31Sean Fennessey:Well, that does it. That's it. Thanks to our producer, Jack Sanders, for his work on this episode and for reading those questions and collecting those wonderful questions. Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra. That's the OG. It kicked off this whole zero sugar energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole line up now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian, Sunrise, and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the white can, branch out. Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe. And every single one is zero sugar. Tap the banner to learn more.

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1:52:37Sean Fennessey:Questions. Thank you to the listeners and watchers of this show for asking such great questions and being so engaged in this kind of pretty normal, chill award season. Yeah. It actually has not been weird. Have you noticed that? Yeah, it's early. It's early. Yeah. Fair enough. We still have six weeks to go. As I mentioned, three hours on Melania coming later this week. Should be a good episode. We'll see you then. Thank you.