[Music] [Music] he [Music] hello everybody and welcome to the 13 plus Oscars prediction show here today we have a couple people joining us on this panel today so we're going to start over here Mr Nate Bel if you want to introduce yourself yeah Nate Bel very excited to be here what camera am I on right there uh we're already off to a banger on the start I'm super excited love love film love Cinema and uh ready to ready to talk all things Oscars today perfect and to my uh it's my left here we have
a special guest that we have brought in you will not have seen him on our Airwaves but Mr Kyle if you want to introduce yourself absolutely my name is Kyle matchme I'm a guest contributor for the Grand Rapids Film Society and I've been kind of covering this Oscar tour for the past few months and very excited for this weekend yeah perfect and last but not least the wickedly talented Julie cler on the end yeah I'm here cuz they needed someone who liked the Barbie movie so here I am there we off t
o a good start ad Adele Des yes she's here with us so and I obviously am Eric Howard so I am an obviously I am an entertainment reporter here at 139e side very excited for uh this show in particular excited to talk about the Oscars coming up on uh on ABC right on our right on our Airwaves so um yeah I think we're ready to just kick it straight off I don't know if if you guys are so yeah I mean yeah I mean we'll we'll start right off looks like we're getting started off jumping right into actor i
n a leading role um I I know for me and I think for a lot of people this is kind of a a two-horse race here um between uh uh Killian Murphy and uh Paul Giamatti um I personally saw the the only actor here that I did not see this year was Coleman Domingo sorry to Coleman Domingo apologize for not catching your film um it's very good yeah I've heard I've heard fantastic things um but personally in my opinion Killian Murphy is is you know I think he wins this one whether it's by a hair over Paul Gi
amatti which I love the holdovers I can't wait to talk a little bit more about that going on uh later but I think Killian just gave an outstanding performance and and as a fan of him uh for for a long long time um to see him kind of get his flowers here has been awesome I think I think that's absolutely I think we all if I'm not mistaken are in agreement that kilan Murphy is winning best actor in this race it's been such a close race between the two of them Paul Giamatti and kilan Murphy both wo
n their retrospective uh kind of Golden Globes in their different categories of drama and comedy then gamman won the Critics Choice Award and everyone was like oh maybe it's moving towards him Kil and Murphy won the bafta but they always have preferences for the British over there then there was kind of the SAG award which is the big like kind of bellweather like test of like okay what are the actors choosing as the one and they chose Killian Murphy and that was kind of a moment like okay now th
e two of them are just really well-liked in Hollywood they've been campaigning really hard Paul Giamatti went to In-N-Out after he won his Golden Globe very famous viral video yes um and so the the competition between the two of them with Killian I think in that slight Edge yeah can agree there Julie feeling the same I have no thoughts I really do think it is GNA be kilan Murphy although I did love I love the holdovers yes yes great performance and and I think what we're going to see in a lot of
these categories is if Oppenheimer came out any other year yeah a lot of these would have a much stronger chance just that's it's it's such a strong movie that's that's the tricky part yeah is it's just like giamatti's performance any other year is is it right it it wins that year but it just it was so good but it's just up against basically an entire Powerhouse with that so I think I think that locks Us in yes so yeah I think so yeah so as you can see on screen panel pick we are all we are all
in agreement on on Killian Murphy winning for Oppenheimer so that's yeah off to a good start we're all in agreement there I'm I'm waiting for the one that'll eventually top us all and the discussion goes crazy so yeah so our next category that we're going into here is actress in a leading role so this one I wanted to wait before giving my you know my final verdict until I had seen poor things which I saw last night um and after I did see that I I pretty confidently went in with Lily Gladstone I
had to say I know Emma Stone's performance in that movie was pretty unbelievable in terms of how much she had to change but in terms of like a critics movie that's the real problem where it's like I feel like Lily Gladstone's performance and killer of the flower moon is like killers of the flower moon is like exactly what you're looking for out of a critics you know film where it's that that kind of Silent strong performance where really it's just all in the eyes all in the face but and kind of
these explosions of talent versus kind of like Emma Stone where you are watching this progression of this character but it takes you a little while to get there while it feels like when Lily Gladstone drops right into that you are just like mesmerized immediately kind of with all the characters as well right you know they all are talking talking you know her character up as being like you know oh she's from a big family and you know she's she's gorgeous was married once and all that and you're
kind of like yeah I'm into this like Mythos so I don't I don't know if you guys agreed in the same or Julie I'm pretty confidently saying the Gladstone I read the book killers of the flower Moon which is very true to the script uh that's why it's so long probably but there's not much on the page uh to pull from it's a very cut and dry book and script and I think just the fact that she was able to take that much off the page without overdoing it I mean it's a very understated performance but it's
a very understated script and um I I I am like very confident in L Gladstone there was a bit of controversy when she submitted herself into the lead actress category because of the amount of screen time and compared to maybe dairo and and Leo in that film but that entire campaign that entire Studio essentially backed her saying she's the heart of this movie She's the driving force and even like Leonardo himself like kind of stepped away in the campaign Trail and being like no this movie's about
her he didn't even get a nomination partly because he decided to kind of front her ahead of him now if she had gone into supporting she probably would have won that handedly but now she's kind of got this heated race with Emma Stone Emma Stone who's already won an Oscar back in 2017 for La La Land and she gives this huge transformative performance not only as like the child of bellaa but then eventually kind of evolving into you know later in the film and emone just had a child and so she's def
initely taking that kind of childlike quality internalizing that into her performance and the question here is is do you take someone who's an established Powerhouse or this kind of upand cominging which you know significantly would be the first indigenous woman to ever win in this category obviously that's on uh Academy voters minds they're thinking about it they're trying to figure out who between these two and both of them are pretty much in a very tight race and it's going to be exciting to
see but Lily does seem to have a lot of things that are winning people over yeah and I I think we're all in agreeance there then as well because I I'm with Lily Gladstone um I'm a huge fan of poor things that's that was one of my favorite movies this year uh it's at the top of my list um you know of the best picture nominees it's it's it's right up there with any of them um I I I loved the performance from beginning to end you know and and like you said it's very transformative it starts off in
a place that is completely different from where it ends um and I thought she was incredibly impressive um but Lily Gladstone to me as you said that that like subtle performance you know um she just con conveyed all that emotion and all that trauma that her she was going through and her family was going through through her Expressions through her emotion and I think and and Eric and I know we've talked off camera how uh you know we thought decaprio got kind of snubbed here in in the best actor ca
tegory I think there were times where Lily Gladstone outclassed him in this movie and I thought there were times where she outclassed dairo who I thought was fantastic as well um I I was very impressed by her performance and uh I I I I see her winning and I hope that she does the movie wouldn't have worked without her yeah without a doubt well and and it's interesting too because you know she was at the last minute kind of decided that she was going to be the heart of this movie and the leave th
e movie the movie was originally written for uh DiCaprio was going to play Jesse Clem's character the FBI agent and they kind of at the last you know Scorsese at the last minute was kind of like no I want to focus more on on uh Lily Gladstone and I'm I'm glad that he made that decision yeah I think the stat originally was that it was like five minutes of screen time or something initially that she had in the first first pass through and I think they all kind of were just like there's no way like
we're just wasting this character in this performance absolutely make it kind of all all all the chips are falling into place for her to for her to take that so I think obviously I think that brings us yes for everyone we're all all in agreement there still on the same page here for for what's going on but already two Powerhouse categories and such like that so um so yeah so that decides the panel for the actress in a leading role so the next uh the next category that we have here is cinematogr
aphy now I do know one of us does not agree with I think the majority here based on the panel so I'm curious Julie what you chose I chose poor things because I don't think the um the academy won't give it an award I think they will give it something mhm I disagree I've got a few yeah okay you you start then you tell me what did you like about what did you like about I agree I thought it was great what did you guys pick oh I did Oppenheimer I assume you didly I just think it's too much for I thin
k that they will try to spread the wealth a little bit um and although of course like Oppenheimer was incredibly crafted um I have a hard time I the Oscars always like I think to have at least one surprise and I don't think it's going to come in the big uh acting categories or anything I think it's going to be something like this yeah I think there's something very positive to say about poor things in terms of its cinematography given given the absolute vast array of like lenses focal points I m
ean from times we are looking through like basically a door handle to these and right and like in normal conversation right like you know in normal conversation you know the backgrounds of when characters are talking are like very out of focus but like kind of almost rotated and Blended right like there's there's there's so much unique cinematography on play here that I think the only reason I wouldn't give it is because of how much it lends itself to VFX to achieve a lot of those looks that it
needs there those kind of visual effects and such versus kind of the raw like place a camera down and capture these shots with these different angles that's really the only way that I would see it Kyle I'm curious kind of what you would see in that comparison no absolutely I'm just from the kind of like the technical lens it looks like that uh the precursor award the American cinematography Guild uh chose the hoan HOA the cinematographer for Oppenheimer for that um and it's really a really every
year the cinematography branch is always just filled with such beautiful amazing things pierto is the cinematographer for kills of the flower Moon which was nominated but he did two films this year he did kills of flower Moon and he did Barbie uh Barbie wasn't nominated but it's awesome like incredible range this category is always just A Feast for the eyes uh it seems like Oppenheimer is just going to kind of steamroll in the same way that like because it's probably going to win maybe big Awar
ds later um this it's also going to bleed into these smaller categories um but I mean poor things was incredible it's Dynamic it's Innovative um it's weird so weird love it um yeah I've got Oppenheimer here as well um and and funny enough I probably Killers would probably be my second choice there I love the big sweeping shots um uh the cranes really great stuff as someone who lived in Oklahoma for a while too I love to see the the it was it was it was fun I loved it um but Hoy van HOA is so tal
ented um he's partnered with Nolan on his last few movies um I think uh tenant and Interstellar and you know has just done a fantastic job um you talk about those big wide angles and but also just incredible tight shots that we get that help convey we talk about Killian Murphy gave this Powerhouse performance those shots really displayed that on his face um and and seeing that in you know that that 70 mimer in IMAX too uh just seeing every detail on each of the actors face Emily Blunt too just y
ou know incredible um all five nominees I believe shot on film not except for one El which is I think Chilean film that's the one that's on digital but the four of them like that's awesome to see so much film being represented I think with Oppenheimer they had to develop new Kodak stock for black and white it's Innovative it's exciting it's a great category yeah no I I agree with everything I think Oppenheimer is you know the winner here well there you go based on our picks here Julie Julie stan
d by standing by it I love it a strong choice I love it I it you know she can laugh at us all the way to the bank when when it wins but when it wins you all owe me exactly so I think it's it's a great category to go there and then next there's Eric's category visual effects baby this one is mine it is going to Godzilla minus one I don't care to listen to anything else on this you're a big Godzilla fan aren't you yes I'm a huge Godzilla fan I think with with this one when it was put up against th
e Creator especially I think out of all of them I think I kind of shuddered a little bit I still have not seen the Creator Nate you have but in in that comparison I was a little nervous given that minus one there are moments where I don't think it necessarily looks incredibly impressive like the model of Godzilla in some scenes you can kind of see is is a little shaky through there but especially like up against something like the Creator where that's kind of how the movie lives and dies as by i
ts VFX I I'm curious kind of what you see in that race between those two so actually I saw all five of the films in this category um I agree with you my pick is Godzilla minus one um I'm especially impressed with just the small team that they had do this um I I do agree there are some times where I felt it was a bit shaky especially like the the opening scene I felt a little like Godzilla was super strong there but then like just the scenes in um uh you know downtown all the destruction and it j
ust looked incredible um the Creator I I of course thought was phenomenal as well Gareth Edwards you know is always at the top of his game when it comes to impressive visuals um and Greg Frasier was a cinematographer on that uh I think he's might be the best in the business right now he's working on both parts of Dune um the Creator he had the Batman you know just really impressive uh cinematographer m um which I think that lends to more of how the like visually I uh connected with the Creator w
as these beautiful shots rather than so much the the visual effects um I I would touch on Guardians too I think is also a a competitor here just because Marvel has it's been talked about how they've kind of fallen off in the graphics department but I watching Guardians just I I was very very impressed everything felt uh really well done but I'm with Eric I think Godzilla wins here I I would love to see that team win I think it's an important distinction as well before obviously we get to get to
you both as that VFX you know it's it's a different category then you'd imagine where there's a lot of components that go into it when someone watches something like you know like Marvel or you know like Guardians of the Galaxy or something like Godzilla or something like that they would imagine that it's it's going to be like these the big creatures right the big creatures that are in there but there's a lot more going on you know especially the reason minus one was good to me is when they put
out their campaign video which I think Kyle can touch on pretty well especially is is how much they made use of the little that they would have that basically one ship set which was pretty much just right the edge of a battleship how they turned it into multiple ships for throughout the entire movie in terms of building that out like You Realize by just using one set or how they're able to take one set and put it in so many different areas is how they achieve these looks it's not just what Godzi
lla is so it's a much larger category so like if you look at Godzilla and some moments I had some struggles where I'm like yeah he doesn't look that great when you realize how much is going you're like I cannot even believe that this is what they've managed to achieve out of this so um Kyle I know you've probably watched their campaign video you know in terms of that so I'm curious what you think it has because obviously this would be the first I think this is the first nomination ever of a Godz
illa movie yeah for too and then obviously they they might be taking it home this category seems like it's a a kind of a narrative of the two underdogs right with the five films three of them are these big Studio pictures but two of them are kind of these smaller indie films that um you know Godzilla is a $15 million movie that kind of looks like a100 million and then the Creator is an $80 million movie that through the work of industrial Light of magic kind of looks like a $200 million alongsid
e the rest of the the Marvels and the napoleons out there uh it's really cool to see these kind of gorilla film styles of the Creator where they're out filming at 80 different like locations in Southeast Asia just on the ground uh and then in Godzilla it's a team of 45 animators where the director of the film is also has a history of being a visual effects Artist as well he is the first time that a film director has been nominated in the visual effects category since Stanley kubri back in in 196
9 so it's cool to see someone who's leading the film who's also like the heart and soul of the visual effects campaign it's really cool to see these two kind of go head-to-head um and I'm still kind of undecided between the two but I think I know that we all have opinions about that uh speaking of people who don't have opinions uh I will say that I didn't see a single one of these movies I chose Godzilla because Eric is so passionate he really he talks a big game and I actually I feel good about
it so I'm going to stand by it the Godzilla minus one sweep the visual effect Department you'll find no complaints for me when it comes to that so I I I do think this is one of the tighter races we could see I think it could really be a tossup between any of them all of them all of them looked great yeah absolutely well perfect well that brings us obviously to our our next category here is production design now I think this is finally where I think something gets its recognition so this yeah th
is is this is where I step in and say poor things I think yeah Julie um uh this is I chose the Barbie movie he let's hear it no let's hear it cuz we have we have had no Barbie representation so far I think it's easy okay poor things is obviously beautifully made it's easy to make something weird it's not easy to make something look not stupid the Barbie movie could have very easily been stupid absolutely and I think that the way that the sets were designed is or the production of it was the thin
g that made it um not ridiculous it was ridiculous in its own way but in a way that you could still take the serious part seriously and it's a throwback to old Hollywood Studio style of film making where they're building these giant elaborate sets in a warehouse and it kind of looks a little manufactured but that's the heart and term of it exactly usually this category seems to go towards period dramas that's kind of where there's kind of representation and appreciation that's kind of where poor
things is edging it out not only being this weird like 19th century Gothic Victorian but also The Surreal and experiential and expressionistic kind of world that they're building the thing about Barbie that I find most interesting is that the two nominees there I think Sarah Greenwood and the Katie something I don't remember her other name but the two of them have seven six uh prior nominations in this category never one so this is hopefully the one time that they finally pull ahead and are abl
e to get that Oscar gold but they're going to have to beat poor things to be able to do it yeah and Nate I'm curious because you obviously have you know you've you've got a a pretty solid opinion in terms that the first half is really strong but when we get to the second we start to Trail off so I'm curious what your your thought is um the whole opening to the movie and like through the the trailers and everything I was so drawn to the the the whole Barbie world set I thought was just fantastic
I love how it looks we we've heard a million times about how there was a world shortage on pink paint because they you know they they physically did all this stuff which I thought was awesome um I love I also love uh the the transitions from Barbie world to the real world with like the Practical like moving parts of the set and all that stuff I think it's very very cool it gets very Bland to me in the second half when we get to LA in the real world I I understand that's largely the point um but
poor things from start to finish I mean the Practical sets of each individual City that they go to and they go to several um and then they also have their own little transitions title cards and all that too that I thought were were fantastic um and I so I do think poor things win I think the Dark Horse here also is Oppenheimer again we talk about Oppenheimer a lot the L Alamos set is incredibly period piece right and and it's incredibly you know when you look at pictures and it it's it's very hi
storically correct and everything just looked great I think that's the Dark Horse here but I do think poor things wins this one I think I think Oppenheimer definitely is a bit of a Dark Horse which is funny to say that in any category but but I think when it's kind of when it comes down to colors and it comes down to those kind of visually eye popping pieces that's kind of where that category tends to go I went for poor things personally just because I see the consistency amongst the many locati
ons that are on display there are really exciting because it doesn't it it feels like when you step in the city you are you're kind of waiting for something familiar to show up right like you want something when you go to you know when you go to Paris you know that you're expecting some familiarity but it's anything but instead you're you're going to all these different venues that are inside and keep you inside and not in the in the beauty there but it's it's just how much is going on around I
just think that pure consistency Amit so much of it I think carries it Forward Barbie Barbie land is so incredible and like you said the transitions are really good too it just remains to be seen if the academy is actually going to look at as that second half dropping the ball per se not in a bad way but in in the way it's supposed to throughout the film like it it depends on how they want to see it based on consistency or if Barbie uses everything it's got in that set which it does in Barbie la
nd right it's like everything we've got we're putting into this if that is enough to carry it forward that's kind of I think the the big question in that category um certainly would not be surprised to see Barbie win or or upset about it I do want to uh give out my my big snub here Wes Anderson's as City I cannot believe I cannot believe it's not here absolutely insane just it's the most Wes Anderson Wes Anderson movie that he's ever made every shot is immaculately framed and designed I couldn't
believe it wasn't here but um still strong category for yeah and you're seeing on screen there that's uh three the three guys are going for poor things and Julie going for Barbie again so she's and I will be doing this again so this is not the last time there we go so perfect so that does production design so a little different from costume design which obviously poor things is in a better conversation for there but here is actor in a supporting role which I believe we are all locked in on um a
nd I if I'm going to throw the name out there but I'm pretty sure Robert Downey Jr has got this in the bag I know I was a little skeptical at first as it was kind of coming around but once the the more it kind of sat with me and and I ended up watching this movie like four times it just it kind of stuck I know initially my heart told me that Ryan Gosling had a chance kind of in in that for for Barbie just because of the significance of his role but I think when you when you look at everything ov
er over throughout the entire picture I mean Robert Downey Jr is unbelievable and how much he manages to pull into that story you know I know Ryan Gosling's performance is much of an accessory as it kind of is the point is that he's you know the accessory to Barbie but I think his performance is is unbelievable so Kyle curious what you're thinking when it comes to Robert Downey Jr on this one Gosling's definitely second place he's Charming he's witty anytime he's in a room everyone just adors hi
m but Robert Downey Jr is starting the Third third phase of his career it seems he's been very public about the fact that his first phase is kind of the turmoil and you know uh the the sobriety and relapse that he consistently experienced in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s finally the second phase is just dominated by being Iron Man he is just this figure head of a massive franchise that pretty much defines movie making in the 2010s uh and moving forward he's done with that he's moving into the
later stages of his career and Oppenheimer is very much a performance where he says this wants I want to be this version of myself I want to really double down in this and he's campaigned so very hard he's won every precursor award it's pretty much guaranteed for him and hey it's a Lifetime Achievement Award for a really great performance that he really transforms and Carries half of that film for yeah um yeah uh dowy Jr for me here um I loved Ryan Gosling I thought he was fantastic and I think
it's funny kind of the parallel between uh Gosling here nominated for a very silly comedic role that was Downey Junior's last Oscar nominee nomination was for for a very funny silly comedic role for travic Thunder um I think Downey Jr pulls through um the the person here that I do want to shout out also I I'm giving all my poor things love but I thought Mark Ruffalo fantastic unbelievable part wonderful I think that if I had to I think it's between Downey Jr and Ruffalo here um but I do think Do
wney wins but I I just want to shout out Mark ruo because man he was fantastic and also coming off you know 10 years of Marvel as well to see him and Robert Downey Jr both kind of shake that off and just immediately go into these incredible performances was awesome you don't even recognize him either that's kind of the funny part about Ruffalo is you don't you you for a second you're like yeah that's Mark Ruffalo but the way he dissolves into this role where you know he's he's traditionally man
yeah just this pure the accent he's got you know the way he he turns his nose up and stuff and the way that even when he's down graveling he still got his nose up in a way that he's just like you know you must marry me like weird accent like Julie I don't know what did you think of this race in particular when it came to supporting well I will say that we have to think about what the Oscars is thinking and with the amount of heat that they got and the Golden Globes got um I don't see them not gi
ving gret a Gerwig a nomination and then awarding the man in the movie on Oscar I think that they probably just won't uh want to catch heat for that even though I think Ryan goling was amazing right um but I agree Downey Jun takes it Downey Jun I think that that that seals the deal for us then that's another category we're all in agreement on so Robert Downey Jr for Oppenheimer so not really a surprise there I think anyone that seen it probably am I the only one who's disagreed on something so f
ar yes all right Tech I I believe so technically it' be boring if everything was the same I'm trying to play Devil's Advocate as much as possible so our next category that comes up through here is the original song did we all agree what' you say did we all agree on this one initially my my initial vote was just for kind of the joke to say I'm just kid because they're performing it like is that you know when you perform it at the Oscar cuz I remember I remember remember me was performed and that
also won it that also by the way if no one has seen that is probably one of the most hilarious performances of any original song because it sounded horrible like I was like I just remember it sounded horrible and couldn't hit the notes but it won so but I think based on previous awards that has been given and kind of the praise around it Kyle I believe this one is probably going to what am I made for right yeah yeah I mean there's the Billy ish love that everyone's a huge fan of honestly I'm jus
t disappointed that four songs from Barbie weren't nominated cuz I think the lizo song uh of the kind of opening M uh number and then the Dual leapa B I'm hearing it all the time on the radio it's great it's fantastic uh there's representation from the film Flamin Hot I don't know if anyone knows about the product film about the creation of the flamin' hot Cheeto um and is that actually what that movie is about it's not very accurate but yes that is what the fil about um and then there is this n
omination as well for kills of the flower Moon um for uh I don't know the full information but it's an original song created by a tribe that they collaborated with which that's like an amazing thing that's never happened before um but yeah no definitely um what am I made for seems to be the front runner with hey I'm just Ken coming up in the rear I guess yeah especially with the performance it also feels like even if if I'm just Ken is not winning it feels like having that performance to kind of
key you into that you know as one way or another the song kind of leads into it you know like even when Frozen like songs from Frozen were formed it was cuz it won an Oscar ad Dev see yes one of the classic the classic blunders anniversary yeah exactly so it feels like we're queuing up you know with for that to to get you know to get there no I what was I made for I think is the winner here well I prefer I'm just Ken it's a it's a fun song um but what was I made for as a great song um and this
is one of uh uh maybe Barbie's only wins uh and uh I think it's welld deserved yeah yeah I think it's it you know as we flash up that we obviously are all in agreement I I think as well it's it's just one of those things where the the film it felt like campaigned when it was coming out initially you know and its marketing as I'm just Ken being the song that they were going to Market it for because of how ridiculous it is and then once it settled and it got into Awards season it felt like they st
arted to kind of opt for this song to kind of be the song associated with the film and this would be Billy second uh Oscar in just past few years cuz she just won one for the James Bond exactly no time to die I do appreciate though when they I don't I don't think I'm just Ken should win but I appreciate that they acknowledge uh for example Gosling's performance in comedy and the song is obviously funny so I at least appreciate that they're acknowledging comedy which is not always the case it's h
ard to do for them yeah it is it is yeah so next so next up after original song we had to we had to space this one out to see kind of what was what was coming up through here so actress in a supporting role so I initially I had to make a last minute change cuz I just didn't know if I could fall on the sword for it but I genuinely to play Devil's Advocate think that America Ferrera has more of a chance in this than people are giving her I I really do cuz I just think in terms of all the all the b
uzz around this film The Buzz around some of the snubs and such there I just I don't know I kind of see I I my pick went to Divine Joy Randolph but um I just America Ferrera is just kind of lurking there I feel like she could snatch it if Divine didn't win this it would be one of the biggest upsets of the past few years W she's won every single precursor award it's basically a giant red carpet just for her everyone adores that performance she's similar to Lily gladston the emotional core of that
movie um it really is like a lock and key for divine uh but yeah you're absolutely right America Ferrera really wasn't even on the short list of people probably to be nominated in this category and then she did and I was like oh wow there's so much more love and appreciation for this world than was originally expected which is great to see I just don't think it'll be enough to overcome but I'm glad that we're getting the recognition I feel like I'm in there I feel like just something irks me ab
out this category that we are set for an upset somewhere there and for some reason for me it falls on this one like I love that performance and my pick is for divine Joy Randolph and that that's kind of what it's always been but when I was sitting down and really feel out of B it I was like dang I was like do I really think that America Ferrera could sneak it and something about it kind of made me feel that way something thing about the Barbie movie is that it does have its moments where it's it
luls um and it seems like in the nominations and the things that you guys are thinking it might have a chance at winning are those like big Peaks uh it really goes up and down and the big peak uh for most people was her monologue um so I think that that is I mean it I don't think it'll happen um but I see your point she has also presenting which sometimes does actually take you out of the race if you're going to present I feel like in previous history that's always been the case that if someone
goes up to present something they usually aren't winning it I do um I I I think it goes to Divine Joy Randolph I will sing the holdovers Praises from the top of a mountain I think this movie is fantastic I think all three of the leads in this movie are phenomenal um I I was a little it was a long shot I would have really loved to see Dominic cesa get into the into the supporting role um but he will be there and I cannot wait to see what he says in the red carpet yeah but um and I loved America
FR I thought she was fantastic um I loved Emily Blunt I thought was phenomenal in Oppenheimer um I think those are really the only two that could compete with Randolph but I mean her performance was just just great um and I I would love to see her awarded there it really is kind of I don't want to say an issue but kind of that that format of just how much screen time she gets of how much screen time and how much influence she has on the film as a whole versus kind of someone like Emily Blunt who
has kind of those big Powerhouse moments same with America Ferrera where kind of it it rests on those big moments to kind of show where it's like hey this is a legit performance versus kind of divine Joy Randolph where it's like they knew what they had and she has so many scenes where she's able to just actually carry it through instead of kind of being like a quick announcement I'm here and then you kind of keep that with you so that it's it's one of those questions again of consistency versus
who makes like the the biggest impact on a picture as a whole but I I think her her scene of going home you know when when she goes home and and sees everything it's just devastating and I think that just kind of sealed the deal on the full picture so and we got all in agreement once again I couldn't couldn't stick by my idea of thinking America or fera steals it but I'm I'm saying if I if there's one category I feel like an upset is coming I feel like it's it would be this one and so I'm keepi
ng my eyes locked on it just cuz I think I think something might be up something something's a foot I don't know but something's always got to be that way now here's the real debate cuz I think it's really going to start getting busy so the last we're really finishing up is is screenplay here so adapted screenplay for anyone who doesn't know what that means adapted screenplay is basically the script coming from something that already exists so it wasn't just thought of out of no where so in cert
ain cases like if it were killers of the flower Moon which is not in here but like based on a book you know based on something previous Oppenheimer is based on a book that is referenced in the beginning Barbie being adapted this is why I brought Kyle onto this panel is because Kyle's analysis of how Barbie got into this category is huge so the only thing I will say here is I think this is Greta gerwig's best chance even if she was in Best Director category so Kyle I'm curious kind of if you can
expand on on that absolutely there was a bit of controversy of whether or not Barbie belonged in adapted or original if it had stayed in original it probably would have had a stronger shot at winning so this was definitely making it more difficult because it did win some of the precursor Awards where it was slotted into the adapted um now usually we look at these precursor Awards to try and figure things out but because of the strikes the uh Writers Guild of America their awards are actually not
going to happen for another month till now so we're kind of a little bit in this like weird place of being like we don't know who all the Front Runners are Barbie is definitely there partly because it's a great film written by you know the aour of the film Greta Gerwig and are now hus husband Noah bomach uh who are both like just Academy Darlings it's a film that really plays with the preconceived notions of what Barbie is and is trying to have a conversation about that the only thing is can it
overcome uh kind of the other Front Runners in this race which seems to be uh um American fiction uh a lot of the academy voters like to use the screenplay category to try and like you know anoint someone new to say hey you're like a new Talent we really like you and C Jefferson is just this been basically doing journalist work for the past 15 years and has now elevated himself to filmm with a writing and directing credit for the very first time and American fiction is connected with a lot of p
eople it's going to have to beat American fiction they will get this category uh but I think the two of them have a close shot with each other sure Julie on on the obviously you brought up before is the snub initially so I'm curious kind of what you think if you think this is when they're they're going to give their apology award for Barbie well I think that um something I brought up about Greta Gerwig and I understand why she wasn't nominated in the directing category but not a lot of other peo
ple could could have made this movie uh if that makes sense so I think that it it's I mean even in the trailers we didn't really know what was coming until we actually sat down and saw it I don't think that a lot of other people could have pulled this off um I don't know that I agree that it should be an adapted because it is just so um I mean there's no way we could have known that this is what it was going to be um I I'm pretty confident in Barbie sure mate um yeah I actually I have Oppenheime
r winning here as well um I've read the book um um I read the book after the movie um and seeing the the what Nolan pulled from this book and and put onto the screen is really impressive um and being able to turn what is a is a story that anyone can accessibly look up online this is histo history this is factual stuff and turning it into like this thriller and this like very intense I I thought that was incredibly impressive um I did see American fiction as well really enjoyed that um I think mo
re than a lot of um you know maybe some critics did or or people uh who talk about the Oscars you know people aren't really talking about American fiction so much um but I really loved what they did with that adaptation um uh I don't know if any of you have seen it I not but it I thought it was very impressive um how they were able to take it from a book and then also kind of display it as a book on the screen as he's writing it and then it all of a sudden at the end turns into a screenplay that
's also being put into the into film so I think that's also a strong candidate um Barbie is just again this is a tough category for it to be in it's adapted from a toy obviously but the story is not pulled from anywhere that's that's where I feel it should have gone into original um which as we'll talk about is another um that's that's a two horse race for me there um but yeah I mean this could go any number of wayser does have a long shot in the fact of if Academy voters just decide you know wh
en they're voting like well we're probably maybe going to give it the big Awards so we'll probably just give it all the other small Awards too like it very well could happen it probably won't but never count it out it's important as well that the controversy as well is just overwhelming on it and you know that that the academy for people that don't know this they're very influenced like they're not they're not this like complete entity out there I mean if I'm not mistaken and I know like it's no
t even that large like the amount of people yeah right that like vote on it and such so it's like that type of controversy is going to be felt the GG controversy is huge in terms of her not getting in there they know this and so it's like for it to be an adapted it's a much harder category I think it I think it doesn't make sense that it's adapted like you said they only called it adapted because it came from a toy I don't get that I don't see how that makes any sense in terms of where you can c
reate a screenplay off of that just because it's a licensed property but do they get to choose which category of the two or did the Oscars decide that the academy academy will decide what it goes into I think what hurt it honestly is in the opening titles it says b based on the Mattel toy Barbie and then people see that based on and they're like oh okay well it's adapted from something it's it's from something it's not it's a completely original story using an established IP I don't really see t
hat so it's tough but I I think man I don't want to call it a pity vote but I think Barbie gets it based on there so there we go some first disagreements there Kyle with American fiction that's that's a that's a fun one to go with you know Julie and I in the in the Barbie school and then uh and then Nate going with Oppenheimer so that's a good one and obviously Nate we were talking about both screenplays you're talking about Originals two horse tell tell me what you got right yeah so this is uh
right off the bat I look at this it's between anatomy of the fall and the holdovers as I've said a million times I will scream for the holdovers from the top of a mountain so I'm going to that's my pick here is for the holdovers to win I I I think realis ically anatomy of a fall probably it goes that way um both movies are just really incredible works of you know just original storytelling um uh when it comes to anatomy of a fall uh it's it's a courtroom drama that you know you're invested in fo
r over two and a half hours that's hard to do I think um the holdovers Tells A really incredible story of of class and race it manages to be funny it manages to be emotional um it all the performances are incredible um and I think that probably the third here uh would be past lives which I also loved um but I I don't see past lives winning any of its nominations so um I lean towards the hold over Julie did you see any of these I did uh past lives was actually my favorite movie of the year um I p
icked past lives I would love for it to be past lives do I think it will happen no there's a chance I would love it there's a chance for sure I agree that I think it would be anatomy of a fall but just for the sake of manifesting I'm putting my money on past lives um it just from the second it's so it's one of those this year that's understated and um it doesn't have to go over the top to to pull you and you're just immediately uh in love with the characters and that has to do with the acting to
o of course but the writing was just so beautiful and anatomy of a fall it's interesting because it's a French film right it's been submitted and it's about 60% French language 40% English a technically qualifies but the fun thing about this is the fact that it got five nominations and one of them was not in interal where it really could have but there's kind of kind of politics going on behind the scenes with regard to the French government and their body that is able to submit they submitted a
film called Taste of things which actually didn't even get nominated in that category um so anatomy of fall like gets these five nominations almost as his last minute surprise and like oh wow and there's this huge late Rush surge to support this film it's kind of rushing into the front of this category but holdovers is still there and maybe past lives in the rear I don't know there's a lot of cool things that can happen here no this is a this is another tight race I think at I know for myself m
y boat went to anatomy of a fall just because of the the just absolute how tight that screenplay is like there is just nothing missing and it's like even when you think it's throwing you for a loop you know in particular in relation to one of the evidence pieces submitted to the court you know for people that have seen that you start to think you're like wow is this really kind of a McGuffin in a sense where it's just like did this need to come out but it the way it sticks its own Landing of how
it explains something that could be so like you know incriminating or you know like that it's just un unable it just there is so much control over what is happening here to the point where when they're adding those elements that you discover as an audience in that courtroom you know as evidence is laid out it it none of it feels like it was pulled out of nothing it actually makes sense and it begins to tell you so much of a grander story Hoovers was easily my second this was a really really tou
gh category for me to figure out but I just for me like anatomy of a fall is just such a tight screenplay where just no beat is missed and they didn't make it feel like SVU or anything I was really impressed with Justine triet this year um I don't I I love that she's in the directing category as well um we'll talk about that later but just really impressive stuff and and Sandra huler as well just unbeliev it was really good crazy perform do you think Barbie would have won if it was in this categ
ory had a much better shot much better chance much better would have been that in anatomy of a fall well you couldn't see cuz the graphic came up in time but Julie sure flipped the hair as she turned her way to check out the graphics so I think her point is made but yeah we have another diverse category again and I together on anatomy of a fall Nate going with holdovers I think we might we might see that there and then past lives Julie manifesting that so let's see if it comes up I I would love
it too I would not past lives great Seline song also really great work too great yeah and then next up I think there's only two I think there's only two more left guys so the we've got directing which I think is going hand inand with its best picture Christopher Nolan's Masterpiece really I mean this this is this is his year I mean it's it's so hard to see it any other way just even I mean look at this category I mean how stacked that is but it just with everything currently there on display in
Oppenheimer what it brought to the table I I truly struggle to see how there's even a solid second place like I can look across these and see a case to be made but that feels pointless because it's just so firmly Christopher Nolan I think when it comes to that so yeah U I'm in agreeance um Nolan is at like just firing all cylinders in this thing um this is clearly his his best film that he's made so far in in an incredible library of movies that he's already put out um some of the direction choi
ces here just had my jaw on the floor um just stuff that you don't see in these big Blockbusters and it just really resonated I think with with people too the fact that this movie made almost a billion dollars in R-rated 3our historical period piece it's just incredible um and but as you said this entire category is stacked um I know we've talked about the snub of gr Gerwig I don't see any of these five being able to be taken off of this list in my opinion um I think she's she's more than worthy
of being here but again these it's just so stacked there it's it's very all of its quality and I I wrote a a 3,000-word article on our on our um being from the booth art uh substack uh about that kind of snub and the experiences around and all the intricate details I'll just say essentially that she was taken out of that spot by both Justine Tri and Jonathan Glazer two kind of international filmmakers and it's a reflection of the fact that the academy in the past few years has really branched o
ut into becoming an international body bringing membership in I just said recently that they're an 11,000 membership group they used to be 5,000 and just about basically in the past 10 years they've been bringing in a lot more members and a lot of them have been International and that's why they've been getting a lot more recognition that's why parasite won back in 2019 and so the ability to essentially start recognizing foreign Talent means that some of our at home Talent some people like Greta
Gerwig who was definitely a short list in this category is going to get kind of moved out of it um it's interesting to know that like this is a year with you know sesi making an amazing Masterpiece and he's not even really in conversation for winning it because Nolan is kind of just the most prolific guy right here he's been nominated multiple times in the past never single one he's never won he's never won a single Oscar and this is why the academy is finally saying we're sorry we haven't reco
gnized you before we're giving it to you for this familiar with your game sorry we weren't familiar with your game Mr noan so yeah Julie I mean I think we all agree on Christopher Nolan if you guys had to pick a second if you personally have someone else that you'd like to see who would it be is there even anyone that you would Jonathan Glazer just because it's so kind of experiment I I was going to go with Glazer as well because it's just that's not a typical movie you see getting this kind of
love from the academy um again some of those choic is there again I was just flored um the use of Audio and Sound there and the lack of sound at some parts was just incredible another situation we're in that category it's basically just going to be Oppenheimer versus uh zone of Interest zone of Interest which really should win that category the whole reason the film's nominated best picture is because of the sound use but Oppenheimer might just steal it right no it's just uh Glazer would be my m
y second here um and then honestly I might have Justine Tri third even I I really love our International um our International outing here is is is great I love it too if I had to go a second though I would actually probably say sour sizy I think I said that to Nate off camera is that just that the amount of it's another three-hour film but to to three and a half three and a half yeah sorry three and a half but the amount of moving pieces in that I I don't see how any other human being would be a
ble to direct something like that like even even up against Oppenheimer when you see that like I still think Nolan had it right but I think that's because he picked exactly the scale that he could he could push it to but like scorsi like this scale I don't know any other filmmaker that could actually take that on and produce it even the way that it was so it's just like for me like I I love the the international you know Jonathan Glazer as well I mean like with with zone of Interest I love that
film but it's just when I look at something like Killers it's just like I can't I who who else we talked about too off camera about the the ending to that movie and how it was just kind of you know that was such a bold decision to to end end the movie that way and the fact that it was personally him there you know in in that final scene you know I don't think anyone else could no else could have done that nobody would have thought of it so it brings us together it's it's it's Christopher Nolan s
weep which I think primes us up for our our final category of the show here which is best picture and I don't think you're going to see any difference as far as I'm aware Julie I'm curious because you're giving me you're giving me kind of a glance no I picked Oppenheimer but I feel like it's just so odd that the um bigger categories are almost the most boring ones because we all kind of see how it's going is that normal that it's all so obvious it's happened a lot this year and then last year wi
th everything everywhere all at once and what's you know there have been upsets you know the year that Kota won and be power of the dog but what you require is you need a clear second place right this was a great year for movies we have so many amazing things to choose from when Barbie is maybe the fifth or sixth like most likely to win on the list that means like oh my gosh they're all competing for second place which means you can't coales around a single film to say beat Oppenheimer it's just
kind of an unbeatable matchup at this point right they each bring their own unique thing to the table I mean looking at this graphic is unbelievable of how much came out this year and how much diversity is involved in that you know even when you start to think of emotion you see past lives and holdovers but then you realize how different they are from each other it's just there are so many options here there was small Rumblings that zone of Interest was making a play but I never I never thought
it would stick like I think I think it's great that it's in here it deserves its thing but I I there's no way it would have overtaken that but it's unbeliev at this just many seriously ASC as they were and it makes it such a shame because it's like oh my gosh I can't believe Oppenheimer came out this year because if it's not this year this conversation would take up the entire length of this episode because there's just so much in here but it's just how do you say no to something like Oppenheim
er two years ago past lives would have been a front runner now it's like in ninth place right right I know it's incredible and I I know immediately after seeing it for the first time both of us talked in The Newsroom here and our first thought was that was possibly the best made film of the last 20 years right just it was incredible everything about it was phenomenal it I don't think there's any way it it loses this category um which but also I mean from top to bottom one through 10 all of these
there there's not a single uh Choice here that I think is out of place I think all of them all of them uh work um some are obviously stronger than others if we want to talk about a second place you know what I'm going to say it's to hold overs for me um and then I would probably put poor things in third um this year but again all of these from top to bottom I saw all 10 of them loved all 10 of them yeah Kyle thoughts on Oppenheimer for best picture here no I mean Christopher Nolan is right now
at the peak of his power he is arguably the most influential and prolific filmmaker working today um and it took him a long 25 year career to get to ENT this point where it's essentially been building up a massive fan base and respect and influence in the industry and now he kind of commands so much influence that he can essentially just walk in say I'm going to make a movie and then everyone says okay and then they're going to go watch and three-hour long biopic about this kind of like dark int
ense subject matter and it's going to make almost a billion dollars um he's the PE of at the same time exactly yeah and the two of them kind of barbon Heimer being a partnership between this is the reason why it's also this much of a jugut Barbie was able to benefit from Oppenheimer Oppenheimer was able to benefit from bar Barbie they're inextricably linked together and I think that's an the interesting movie story of 2013 there's they they're going to try and recreate it you know many times you
know no longer you know what it used to be was the idea of pushing each other out of a release spot and neither of them decided to budge you know it was it was each of them battling again they decided not to and it worked out perfectly just because of the distinct subject matter I don't see I don't know when we will ever see a phenomenon like that again you know I I I I just don't I think if yeah it's G to be incredible I think in second place I agree with you it's holdovers I think holdovers w
ould take second place for me personally I just you know great just a great movie it's it's comfortable to say that because I know it won't win it so it's like I'm just like I I'm feeling for you love that movie Incredible it's Alexander Payne's best in my opinion and he's got a great Library as well sideways it's a great movie but yeah this is this is his best Nebraska too nominated for a best picture a while back that was great movie but and that takes us that takes us to the end that's that's
best picture offenheim offener sweep Julie disappointed to say it but I can sit here and say past lives and Barbie were my favorites and they were but you cannot deny just how Grand Oppenheimer was in the scale of it so I I think it would think he deserves it yeah there we go absolutely well and that brings it that's not of course all the categories but that is the ones we wanted to talk about you know in the meantime here just to be able to kind of hit on some of the big hitters through there
so um thank you all for watching uh obviously uh you can find us all on 13 Kyle you can find him with the Grand Rapids Film Society he does write for the beam from the booth um substack which is the newsletter associated with Film Society I also write for them too so you can catch us both on there you can read his entire series of this deep dive into the Oscar categories it's incredible it's been over the past five issues three issues that's right and we can also read your Godzilla piece apparen
tly yeah if you want to read about how good that is then you can you can do that as well but please check him out at um beam from the boots newsletter with the grand rits Film Society here uh thank you for coming on obviously thank you all for for doing this here uh Oscars of course this Sunday and yeah this Sunday and I want to plug next year's Best Picture Winner Dune part two in theaters right now yes uh go see it Den villanu is gonna win a bunch next year well there you go and we'll be back
next year to talk about it then so thank you all for coming so appreciate your time and uh yeah enjoy the [Music] Oscars
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