All right, here we go. Quiet. Roll up. And the Oscar goes to… You like me right now.
You like me. Here's the thing. Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture. Fascinating to think that that will be the only love that man will ever get in his life by stripping off and showing his shortcomings.
And the Oscar goes to Jack Palance. It's a clean sweep. The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. Humphrey Bogart.
Hello, and welcome to The Big Picture Podcast, where we take a look at the latest movie news, the films of today and yesterday, and put them all into some sort of context. Seated across the microphone from me is FilmBuffOnline, extraordinaire, editor-in-chief, Richard Drees. And seated across the microphone from me is FilmBuffOnline contributing editor and fashion plate, Natasha Boguski. Ah, and the Oscar goes to me for Best Opening.
And most modest podcast ever. Anyways. Well, you don't get anywhere in this world by being modest, honey. That's true.
So, it is the most wonderful time of the year. At least at FilmBuffOnline it is. Yes. Yes.
Oscar nominations were announced just a few short hours ago this morning, and we're kind of still kind of processing them, but off the top of our heads, basically, this show is going to be our reactions to some of those nominations. Whoosh. Let me just say, Rich, that apart from, like, animated and doc, which is usually areas where I do need to catch up, I thought I was doing really bad with catching up on movies for 2022 for this year's awards, and then I looked at the Best Picture nominations as well as everything mainly in the top categories, and I went, well, let's see, I have to finish watching The Fablemans, and I have to see All Quiet on the Western Front, and then I'm good. I know.
Isn't that great? And I was like, you know, I'm not doing as bad as I thought I was. So, so then, with all of that knowledge at hand, let's just dive in, shall we? Let's take a look at the Best Actor in a Supporting Role race first.
I'll read off the nominees real quick. Brendan Gleeson for Banshees of Inisherin, Brian Tyree Henry for Causeway, which is that film's only nomination, Judd Hirsch for The Fablemans, Barry Keoghan for Banshees of Inisherin, and my favorite here, Ki Hui Kwan for Everything Everywhere All at Once. I'll say it if you do in 3, 2, 1. ki.
Yes. That's the winner. That's the winner. That's the sentimental favorite, at least.
Sentimental favorite? He is the best. Out of all of those performances. Brendan Gleeson, I would probably put his number two.
Okay. I liked Barry. I don't think Barry has a shot in hell. Brian Tyree Henry, and I have not heard really anything about that performance.
It just kind of came out of nowhere for me. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I liked Causeway a lot.
But I was kind of surprised that it didn't get any kind of an awards push. I saw it back in October at the Philadelphia Film Festival, and was like, you know, this is a nice little film. And it just wasn't even a blip on anybody's radar. Yeah.
Which surprised me. Judd Hirsch. Um, honest, I haven't finished Fablemans, so I have nothing to say in that area. He's good.
He's really good. I mean, it's so weird, because when I think of Judd Hirsch, I think of sitcom actor from the late 80s, early 90s, Judd Hirsch. And, you know, he's turning in a performance like he does here. It's really good.
It's nice. It's warm. It's not particularly showy. When I think of him, I think of, don't hate me on this, Independence Day.
Okay, yeah. It's a variation on that, to be honest. You know, the old Jewish father, grandfather type. And, I mean, he's fine.
He's good. If I were a voting member of the Academy, I would be checking another box. Yeah. And Key was just too good to be ignored.
And he's playing, you know, three, four different versions of the same character. And I think that kind of versatility shows through. He bounces around. There's a scene in Everything Everywhere All at Once where she goes, I saw my life without you, and I wish I could have seen it.
It was so beautiful. And he looks like he is about to lose it. Turns around and turns back, and you could tell in his eyes, he's someone else completely. He's like, we got to keep moving.
And I'm like, what just happened? And, honest, I pay attention to the eyes. That's where you can really see a character shift. Yeah, and he just delivered in spades.
And I really hope, at some point before the Oscars, I do have a chance to go back and rewatch that movie. Just for fun, first of all, but also just to kind of keep watching what he's doing there. I watched it the other day, and that speech that he delivers between the two worlds about kindness and how that is his way of surviving. It's his way of coping and fighting with the world around him.
It breaks my heart. It doesn't matter which variation he's playing. Both sides of that speech, I lose it. You know what?
Honestly, I know originally that role was written for Jackie Chan. I don't think Jackie could have played it. No. He could have played the funny stuff obviously great.
No, Jackie wasn't the Michelle Yeoh. That's right, that's right, that's right. He was the really, and then they switched it all up. But, yeah, I don't see anybody else really being able to pull that off the way he does here.
Now, best supporting actress. We've got Angela Bassett for Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Hong Chow for The Whale, Carrie Condon for Banshees of Inisherin, Jamie Lee Curtis for Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Stephanie Hsu for Everything Everywhere All at Once. All right, 3, 2, 1, go. Angela Bassett.
Yep. Yeah. That's what I was going to say. It's not even a case where you're looking at it and thinking, well, you know, Everything Everywhere All at Once is going to split, you know, votes between it, you know, for two different performances, things like that.
I think Angela Bassett does a great job in this movie. It's the first time any actor has been nominated for a Marvel movie out of, what, almost 30 films now? Yeah. That's, you know, pretty impressive.
She's really kind of, as a focal point for the audience, who are, you know, still trying to process their grief over the death of the actor, Chadwick Boseman, let alone the character of T'Challa. To hell with a focal point. She is, I think she's the center of the film. Well, yeah.
And that's why you need that, you know, that performance where it is. Yeah. And she delivers it in spades. I am so happy to see Carrie Condon.
I've been watching her perform since she was on the HBO short-lived series Rome from, like, the early 2000s. So I've been following her work for a while. And I'm really happy to see her getting some recognition for Banshees of Inisherin. I thought she was fantastic.
But when I was in the break room at work getting ready to start my day and I saw Stephanie Hsu nominated, I started jumping down and screaming like a maniac. That probably got the loudest reaction from me all morning. And it's because it depends on the awards, but I've seen some love for her performance over this award season and some just kind of disregard her altogether in favor of Jamie Lee Curtis because Jamie's the bigger name. With all due respect, and I do love Jamie, I would pick Stephanie before Jamie.
I think Stephanie delivers a more stronger position for that role. Yeah. And again, it's, she's playing different aspects of one character and that just requires a little bit more versatility. Yeah.
And I really, I've been watching her over the last season or season and a half of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. And there was just something about her even on that show. And she's just playing like a small supporting role.
I'm like, I got to pay attention to her. And I know that role was originally supposed to be Awkwafina. Sorry, I don't think Awkwafina could have done it. You're right.
Yeah. I don't want to keep going. No, but it's true. I don't want to keep going back to this was supposed to be played by so-and-so and they would have sucked.
It doesn't suck. It's a different style. You know what I'm saying. I'm just, you know, exaggerating for comedic effect, which apparently has failed.
I think it would have been more comedy and action based and would have lost some of the emotional beats of the film. And I love Awkwafina in The Farewell. Oh my God, The Farewell. I can't, I can't watch that now for reasons.
But, but let's move on. Okay, so we have Best Actress in a Leading Role. Fuck. We've got Cate Blanchett in Tar, Anna de Armas in Blonde, Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie, Michelle Williams in The Fablemans, and Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Where's your vote going? My vote is going to something that hasn't happened in a very long I owe you so much credit in my love of film because my first ever foreign film was Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I was four years old in the cinema, and she just... I can't even imagine what that is.
Oh my God, it was amazing. It was amazing. Once I got past the, why am I reading this movie? Why can't I hear it?
I was blown away by this movie. I think that's a movie that, you know, if you're a young kid, you can watch a lot of it and just enjoy the action and stuff like that. Yeah, and then as you get older, you start to really appreciate the emotional beats and the symbolism and everything. I watch it now and I'm like in stitches.
I'm like in fucking tears. I love that movie so much. I know one of the things that I've been meaning to do for the last couple years and I might start doing it this year because I now have a bunch of these films ripped onto my onto my Plex server from the physical media that I own. But I've been meaning to go back and do like a lot of classic 80s, early 90s Hong Kong action films.
And she's in a bunch of those that I have. So what you're saying is, ladies and gentlemen, expect a feature piece in the near future. Well, maybe. Maybe on the podcast, we do a retro review of one of those films before the Oscars.
You'll have to come over. We'll sit down and we'll watch, I don't know, maybe Police Story 3, Supercop with her in it or something. Supercop, the cop that can't be stopped? Did I get that right?
I think that's what Miramax gave it as a terrible tagline. It was in Hot Fuzz, I think. Oh, yeah, that's right. That's right.
OK, moving on. But I would definitely say, please, Academy, please, voters, tie these two lovely actresses because they give the performance of their lifetime, of their careers in two different ways of acting. OK, moving on, though. Best actor in a leading role.
We have Austin Butler for Elvis, Colin Farrell for Banshees of Inisheron, Brendan Fraser for The Whale, Paul Mescal for After Sun, and Bill Nighy for Living. Three, two, one. Brendan Fraser. Yes, again, sentimental.
I know some people have problems with the movie. They think it's fat shaming. They think it's ableist in some way. I'm not sure I agree with that.
I disagree completely. Very much, you know. I understand, but I try to be cognizant of such things. I'm not sure I agree either that it's, you know, that it is what it is.
I think it's real. I think it's gritty. And people who don't like gritty or real either shut their brain off to it or they find something to bitch about because it cuts too close to home for them and they can't handle it. And I speak from experience, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon.
So I think it's safe. I think it's nice to say that every single person that is nominated in the actor category is a first time nominee. Yes, yes, that's exciting. Yes, it very much is.
I freaked out when I saw Bill Nighy. I was actually sitting there. I know you're a fan. Yes, I am a huge fan of him.
Again, there's just so many actors in this year who are getting their due for the first time, who have been in the business forever and are finally being recognized. Brendan Gleeson is one. Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Key Kwan, Bill Nighy. Like, these aren't new actors.
These people have been around for, you know, 30, 40 years and they have put in their due. They put in so much hard work and they have nothing to show for it. Well, they have a great body of work. They have a great body of work.
But, you know, you can't put a great body of work on your mantelpiece. Exactly. You can't put an Oscar there. Exactly.
Or at least that framed little certificate that says, you were nominated. Yes. And now it's like, OK, everyone this year almost is someone who has worked for so long and is finally getting that recognition. And it makes me very, very happy.
Paul Mescal, very interesting choice. I didn't. I liked his performance in After Sun, but overall, as a film, I didn't like it all that much. It just seemed kind of meandery to me.
I didn't see it, but I've been keeping an eye on Paul Mescal for a little while since I believe he was in Normal People with Daisy Edgar Jones. He was just announced a week ago to play the role of Lucius Vares in the second Gladiator, the lead. Oh, yeah. OK.
And I was like, no Spencer Treat Clark. OK, but this is a good choice. So it'll be fun to see how that goes out. If it's not Brendan Fraser, who do you think is the close thing?
I'm gonna say Colin Farrell. Really? Yeah, I see it being Austin. That's that's a choice.
It is a choice, but it is a sentimental vote given recent events. And yeah, yeah. OK, I didn't think about that. But yeah, you're right that that could affect how people vote.
But it's also even taking Lisa Marie's unfortunate passing out of consideration. He's been picking up awards left and right during the during the awards trail. Any drama category where Brendan has not won, Austin has picked up. OK, and Colin is fantastic.
I think this is might be my favorite performance. He's ever given. Um, well, we know the Oscars tends to go more drama than comedy. Yes, that's true, too.
Okay, continuing up the list. Best directing. We've got Martin McDonough for Banshees of Inisherin. The Daniels for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Spielberg for The Fablemans. Todd Field for Tar. And Ruben Ostlund for Triangle of Sadness. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
The Daniels. Yeah, this movie is, I don't want to say it's complex because they make it seem so understandable. But in the hands of a lesser director who might not have had a complete grip on the material, it could have gotten sloppy and confusing very fast. And I think for everything they do, they have right tones for each section and they all kind of meld together, though.
They don't feel jarring like you don't jump from one to another. And I think they just do a fantastic job here. You know, Spielberg is mythologizing himself. Yeah, it's the same as Kenneth Branagh did last year.
And from what I've seen so far of The Fablemans, I like Spielberg. I'm going to go Belfast every time. Wow. Okay.
Yeah, that's a choice. And last but certainly not least is best picture. As our nominees, we've got 10 nominees again this year. We've got All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar The Way of Water, Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fablemans, Tar, Top Gun Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking, which I really liked.
That would be Women Talking would be when I narrowed down my ballot. That would be probably one of my top three choices alongside everything everywhere all at once. And oddly enough, Avatar The Way of Water. I want it to be EEAO, but I have a feeling it's going to be The Fablemans because he's not going to win in any other category.
Wow. Okay. And that has also been a thing that I've been noticing on the awards trip is if it hasn't gone to everything everywhere all at once, it has been landing at Spielberg's feet. Fablemans is fine.
I think the reason I'm leaning towards everything everywhere and Avatar is they're phenomenally crafted films and they're both entertaining as all hell. And I mean, well, one, one, and we know which one kind of illuminates the human condition and examines it a little bit more than say the other, which is probably why I would lean more towards everything everywhere instead of Avatar. But in terms of making people talk about movies, people talked about everything everywhere this year. Avatar just crossed 2 billion and this should not be a popularity contest, but it's got people coming back to the movies like nobody's business.
Yeah, but last year, I mean, what did we get? There was some, there was some big ones up there in that grouping. And who won? Coda.
That's true. And a few years ago, you want to talk about popularity contests? Everyone, everyone. La La Land.
The biggest, one of the biggest flubs in Oscar history was opening up that up, calling La La Land and then going, wait, no, the envelope says Moonlight. No one saw that one coming. True. No one also saw that a movie like Nope was going to get shut out of the awards entirely this year.
Yeah, that's going to get picked on once we actually get to that stage. Someone's going to say something and I know it. That's amazing to me because I thought, you know, like production design, you know, my God, the alien was such an amazing design. I think, which is funny because I saw it mean just this afternoon when someone said, you want to feel old?
This is what the plastic bag from American Beauty looks like now. I'm like, oh, you know, it's a fantastic performance from Keke Palmer. You know, I disagree. I disagree.
I did not think that that was that good of a performance. It was something new from her where we're used to seeing her again in comedy and all that. So seeing her do a dramatic role like that Anybody else would show up fucking easily. I mean, I think all the other work in this category was great, but there's, you know, this is next level.
I'll quite on the Western front. I still need to catch up with. And to be honest, I've heard, it is. I have heard so many good things about it ever since it dropped.
Like people that I've worked with and, you know, friends of mine who have sat down and watched it are like, you really need to see this. And I'm like, I know I need to see it. I just haven't caught up to it yet, but I think I should. Yeah.
I'll probably do that this weekend. A couple of other things that surprised me about the nominations. First of all, no best original score for tar. I was a little surprised by that.
Yeah, me too. In a movie that is about conducting and about composing and less, all the music we heard was preexisting. And honestly, I haven't gone back and looked yet. I didn't have a chance today, but I was like, huh, that's weird.
Also in best original song, we have Diane Warren with applause from tell it like a woman. It's her 17th nomination, no win. She got an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar last year, but this is, you know, we know that's going to not to, not to. Yeah.
That's another thing. I was really expecting a little bit more for RRR, like maybe, maybe an editing nod, maybe best picture. Cause I think again, that's the, you know, popular populist entertainment that had a lot of people talking. I think the phenomenon of this movie coming kind of out of nowhere for most people, most audiences were like, oh, this is crazy.
You know, and people were suddenly going out to see it and it built like an incredible word of mouth and had like an incredible momentum across the year. Unlike, you know, many other films that we saw, really quickly. Yes. Is that who I think it is for?
For this is a, for, oh my God, I'm losing it right now for shit. Where'd it go? For this is a life. Everything from everything everywhere, all at once.
Yeah. David Byrne. That is for talking heads. Yes.
Holy shit. I'm trying to remember. This is not, he won a golden globe for some of the music for the last emperor. And I think he was nominated in the best original score category for the last emperor back in like 90 or whatever that was.
So this is not his first time actually. And I don't know. I mean, and as a lifelong talking heads fan, I'm kind of like, okay, this is my boy. This is what I want here.
For this movie, it feels perfect. It is a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, I think if not to not to doesn't get it, it's going to the Lady Gaga. Oh God.
Yeah. Because that song played three times an hour for the last eight months. And I can say it because I listen to that radio eight hours a day, five days a week at the day job. And you really like it, don't you?
It's burned. It's seared. Like I just got fucking branded by a B-52. Wow.
Anyhow. Not the good B-52s either. Ooh. Love that.
And finally, my biggest kind of shock or complaint or surprise with the nominations. No women directors. I mean, Sarah Polly. We're going to hear about that again.
Well, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Sarah Polly for, you know, Women Talking is nominated in the best picture category.
Okay. So I thought maybe she would have a chance to get in there. And I really, and I really thought she did a fantastic job with that movie. And also Charlotte Wells directed Afterson.
So, you know, she directed somebody to an Academy Award nomination. Yeah, but you said the movie was kind of subpar anyway. I didn't like it, but I think I'm kind of in the minority on the critics at least. And she also is nominated for a Director's Guild Award for Best First Feature, which again, you know, that's all the directors doing that.
And the directors are also the ones who choose the nominees for directing for the Academy Award. So usually there's some overlap there. Well, I will say I can't really think of many films this year that were done by women. I feel like I'm blanking and I know I'm going to get screamed at by our listeners, but just off the top of my head.
But it has not been a great breakout year, unfortunately. It's been a great breakout year for actors, but I wouldn't say so much for directors. Especially after we've had... That's because they're missing me.
Oh, of course. But that's, you know, especially after what, last year or two years ago, Nomadland. Yeah. And I've, honest, I liked Nomadland, but I didn't really think it was that strong.
Honest, the last couple of years, I felt like the, between Nomadland and CODA, not because they're made, they were made by streaming services and therefore locked out only onto those streaming services. But I just didn't think they were all that strong a movie. I honestly, honestly, I thought they were slightly forgettable. And that's just my personal opinion.
And I do apologize to our listeners. But it's, I have not heard many people talk about those movies since the awards. And maybe it was because it was streaming because we were in the pandemic. It was easier to choose a movie that people have watched sitting at home or would be able to watch sitting at home to kind of highlight them and get them more focused.
But honestly, I had to research who won last year. And that's not a good sign. Yeah, I can, I can see that. Which is funny because this year is, it's full of blockbusters when you, when you look at the awards and the complete shift from streaming to blockbuster movies in major categories, which I thought was rather interesting.
The Batman was... I think that's also because studios are holding back some of their blockbusters. Paramount sat on Top Gun for like a year because of COVID. Because Tom Cruise had the power and the juice to say, no, this is a theatrical movie.
You're not throwing it on Paramount Plus. And they were all like, let's throw it on Paramount Plus. And Tom Cruise was right. And that movie made how much?
And look at the awards it's nominated for. Like six at this point. The Batman was kind of, it was about another one that kind of got pushed back a bit. Yeah, well, it was, the production was impacted by COVID.
So they had to push it back. And then like, you know, and then they had to pause a couple of times because of minor COVID outbreaks on set, if I'm recalling this correctly. And that movie was released in March and it was enough traction to lead up to this year's awards. Yes.
Supervisual effects. I want to say sound and makeup and makeup. Yeah. Hair and makeup because of, again, turning our boy Colin Farrell into the Penguin, which, you know, is insane.
Which is another great performance from him. He turned out two very strong, very different performances in the same year. It's been a good year for him. Yes.
Yes. Long way since Bullseye and Alexander. True. Anything else that's, uh, that you, that kind of jumped out at you in terms of positives or negatives?
I may have jumped up and down for you in terms of Marcel, the show, what she was on. Oh yeah. Because we were just talking about that this morning pre-nominations. That's true.
And it was nominated and I jumped up and down just for you. I figured it was going to be nominated. My big question there is, does the Academy, um, recognize that, I mean, obviously it met the qualifications for the animated feature category, uh, but does the average Academy member kind of realize, you know, how this is done as animation, not necessarily like just let a computer visuals, but as stop motion. And it should be interesting to see how they campaign and how they go about trying to, uh, educate the voters on that.
Yeah. I, I was a little shocked, uh, with one thing. Production, production design, nothing for Wakanda. That, yeah, that kind of surprised me too.
Yeah. I mean, the, the five that were picked, um, All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar, Babylon, Elvis, and the Fablemans absolutely deserved to be in there. But I was actually a little shocked about Wakanda. Um, there was something else here I wanted to mention.
Um, Glass Onion. Oh yes. Yeah. I was happy about that in the best adapted screenplay category.
Ryan Johnson got, uh, the film's only nomination for, um, Glass Onion, A Knives Out Mystery. Can we talk about just for a second, and I know that you've probably done some research on this over the last few hours since the nominations. Um, can we explain to our viewers why it was announced in adapted instead of original? Uh, because it is a sequel.
Pretty much. The, you know, characters existed beforehand. And even though it's an original story, the actual name of the category is best screenplay from, um, uh, adapting previously, uh, published material. So if Avatar had been nominated, it would have landed in adapted and not in original.
Correct. And there's your little, you know, thing for the day, ladies and gentlemen in variations. I really, I really love that when I saw that today, I was like, that's interesting. And then I heard people talking about it.
I'm like, okay, that makes complete sense. But yet Subscribe directly there. Search and hit subscribe, please. And if you like what you're hearing, please leave a positive review because that helps us connect with new listeners.
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