Episode 36: Oscar Debrief 2019 (featuring Phoebe Shum)

Post Oscars discussion. Special Guest Phoebe Shum joins Jeremy Downing and William Chen to discuss the 2019 Academy Awards. Our discussion touches on the selected films this year in contrast to previous years. We mention The Shape of Water, Moonlight and La La Land. We talk about the lead up to the ceremony, with the suggestions around the "Popular Oscar" category and shifting certain awards to the ad breaks, and the outcome of not having a dedicated host. We unpack the Best Picture winner and nominees, starting by discussing Green Book, then moving into a discussion around Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman and Roma. Our discussion about Roma focuses on the Netflix presence in the cinema landscape, how watching on a smaller screen affects the Roma viewing experience and how streaming services will affect enjoyment of cinema moving forward. We talk about the varying degrees of quality in Bohemian Rhapsody. We discuss the Best Animated Feature winner and nominees, focusing on Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Isle of Dogs, The Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks The Internet. We then discuss the Best Animated Short winner Bao and its connection to the Asian family experience. We talk about Olivia Coleman, Glenn Close and Lady Gaga in the Best Actress category, and the surprise around Coleman winning. We finish by discussing the various other categories, touching on "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Mary Poppins Returns, and we end the discussion with a return back to talking about Black Panther and Isle of Dogs in more detail.