When Halloween Kills Shang Chi, The Academy Makes Changes - ORC 7/2/21

Trailers breakdowns, Academy news, and a Zola review headline this big magical red dog of an early July episode of Oscar Race Checkpoint, including our return to Haddonfield with the first full trailer of Halloween Kills. The Big Industry News Sucks Right Now - Top of Show . . TRAILER ANALYSIS: Don’t Breathe 2 - 4:50 The Many Saints of Newark - 9:10 Clifford The Big Red Dog - 16:45 Shang Chi Trailer #2 - 20:40 The Harder They Fall - 26:50 Coda - 33:00 Halloween Kills + News - 36:00 . . AWARDS NEWS: DGA Requires Theatrical First Run - 50:08 Academy Changes Some Categories + Requirements - 54:40 Would Universal Shortlists Be Better for Oscars Growth? - 58:42 , CONTENDERS MOVE ALL AROUND THE CALENDAR - 1:03:27 . ZOLA REVIEW - 1:07:05 . . Where to Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:12:20 What’s Next/Words of Wisdom - 1:13:12 We react to all sorts of movie trailers to begin this episode. Don’t Breathe 2 disturbs us with several unwanted mysteries. The Many Saints of Newark brings out our nostalghia for one of the greats. Amanda of Swell Entertainment relays some of her thoughts on the trailer of Clifford The Big Red Dog. Shang Chi’s second preview worries each of us in different ways. The Harder They Fall looks like a hit and therefore, less like a nom (?), and the first trailer for Coda delivers a theme worthy of all acclaim. So after a rough night of entertainment world news that we do lament atop the episode, we are able to pivot into a bunch of fun film previews, and we save our favorite for the centerpiece of this episode. Halloween Kills released its first full trailer, and we must react. There’s also news about the film’s premiere in Venice, about the achievements of Jamie Lee Curtis, and of course, we speculate about how Haddonfield will combat pure evil in the sequel to one of our absolute favorite films of 2018. If you enjoyed this centerpiece, then do check out our “MMO Does Halloween” series, and stay tuned for more Michael Myers centric content as we head into scary season this fall. But this ORC does not end there. We deliver our immediate reactions to the changes made by The Academy. There’s a continuation of some pandemic year legislation, we can confirm several big rules like the flat 10 Best Picture Nominations and the March thru December eligibility window, and then we discuss some of the expanded shortlists, and the tweaks to how music and sound branches will operate in the future. To close things out, we react to how Warner Bros shuffled around their fall release dates, which brings up a conversation about the loaded fall calendar at large. Last Night In Soho moved back a week, and we also wonder if there’s gonna be more movement still to come. Finally, we leave you with a quick non-spoiler review of A24’s Zola. As always, we want to hear your thoughts on any of these previews, reviews, or Oscar discussion points. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.