Critical Darlings: One Battle After Another And Oscar Predictions with David Sims

Welcome to Critical Darlings, a conversation about the award season conversation.

One contender at a time.

Please welcome to the stage, your hosts, Richard Lawson and Allison Wilmore.

Thank you for that beautiful introduction one last time before the Oscars.

We are chill. I know. We're here. As ever, we're here with our producer Ben. Hello.

Hello. Good morning. And returning guests. Hey.

One a few returning guests. I'm back. Yeah. David Sims. Hello.

I'm good. Oh, sorry. Hello. How are you? I'm just crushing this coax here. I'm waking up.

I mean, we're all, I think, a little worse for the way we're given that we've been running this

long Oscar race for months now. It's exhausting. Why are you tired? Why is it so late this year?

Why is it like 70 degrees outside of ourselves? Olympics? But the Olympics are over.

They are. They've been over. They ended two weeks ago. I have no other answers.

Because it is that it used to be end of March. And then they were like, okay, we know this is

ridiculous. And they pulled it to end of Feb. But then they're like, except for if there's a

Olympics. And like the parasite ear was like early February. That's what we need. We need early

February. I think we are. I don't ever want to hear the word hamnet. I was expecting this

to happen sooner. But I feel like this last week or so, we have gotten a bit of just like

Oscar season too long madness where like we've been various, very bad discourses about various

nominees that you don't want to talk about these movies anymore. Right. You don't want to talk

about the sort of right. You're like, you run out of things to say about the movies. And so

then you're just like, what are we going to keep talking about? Let's talk about how Jesse

Buckley feels about cats, you know. And you're like, and not the musical cats, which would also be

an interesting topic. Should I go off on the ring? It's like in Grand Theft Auto, if you commit

one too many crimes, like all the police are on you. Right. That's what it feels like right now.

It's like every single thing that is said or done about this year's Oscars,

was a few times worse in no trouble. Elordie. No trouble. I guess he was in Wuthering Heights.

Some people were like, yeah, that's trouble. He has made me into a kind of aloof.

He's done a good job. Penn. This is true. Shockingly. Yeah. Not talking to anyone. I know.

Some Penn might speak to a wind just by being like, yeah. And I feel like people actually

somewhat seem to well receive his smoking during the Golden Globes with mild positivity.

Spoken his back is making a comeback apparently. And so he's really just ahead of the curve in that

way. Leo too, I guess. Leo has also just the kind of done the thing of like, don't mind me.

Yeah. Here I am. I'm more insulated, I think, from Oscar discourse than the rest of you.

But even the cat's thing and then the chalame thing are the two pieces that sort of crossed into

my universe. It's gate to containment, as I said. Where does that stuff come from? Are those

hit jobs? I mean, I feel like it is always an interesting question to be like, is this

opa research, you know, like being done, being planted because, you know, like from the

the the Weinstein era when there was that started to become a thing ever since then. I feel like

you have to scrutinize Oscar narratives to be like, was this planted by opposing forces?

In this case, I have no idea though. I mean, like, like, Chalame, I don't know why. I mean,

some of these Chalame basically was like, I don't want the movies to become like opera or ballet.

These are like, we're doing the discourse. Yeah, no, Karen, we have to do it. We have to do it.

Uh, you know, implying that these are just like now, like, incredibly niche art forms that are

supported by the well-being. As romantic or is this controversial for someone to say?

No, but apparently then, I guess like, he has also, this is not the first time he has voiced

this idea. Because he's a child of like Lincoln Center dwellers.

Of course. Of course. Of course. Of course. Of a death probably twice a week.

Yeah. Opening West Side Story, you can see him being born.

It's in the background. It's like, yeah, it was an unusual choice.

The problem was in the recent thing with Matthew McConaughey, which was some bizarre town hall.

I don't know what the hell that was. That is a good question. I don't know what that was.

He said the phrase, no one cares about. Right, right. And that was the thing.

And then also that then led people to dig up like when he said things like this before in like

2019 where I think he called them, you start to feel like those are dying art forms. And so

that got brought up again. And I was like, I feel like the thing is like half of the people

that I saw getting very heavy about this be on the fact that I'm just like, I don't believe

that any of you go to see the ballet or the opera with any regularity.

It's not expensive. It is made is propped up. I want to be clear. I love the opera. I don't

go to enough ballet. I must I will admit, but yeah, no, no, but I mean, I think like I don't

think anyone is disputing the importance of these art forms and the fact that they have been

influential. But I feel like so much of the bad discourse has been like, oh, he's saying they

don't like they don't count for anything. They're blah. And I'm like, he has a point that these

things are really walled off. And like there is a legitimate concern. Yes, that like cinema becomes

like just this thing that is like a kind of novelty art form that most people are not actually

connected to. Well, it's like a legacy art. Yeah. That's like, we know this is important. It has

long history. Yes, there's new versions of it. Yeah, they don't culturally have the significance.

I mean, do you know how many how I mean, it's the attendance at my vaudevill theater is like so

low these days. I'm doing good shows. Yeah, I was telling you that some of that material

thousand dollar ticket price does kind of put people off. Is it coincidence that a lot of this

stuff kind of came out at the end of the voting period? I mean, the funny thing about the

Chalamet discourse is that it caught fire basically after it mattered. Like the voting I think

had closed. It was like the last day of voting. It was last day voting. So it's hard to imagine

that had any significant effect on on the voting. Like, like, there just wasn't time. The vibe had

already shifted because people think the vibe has shifted because he didn't win the

after the sag. And so I feel like people were like, and this is, you know, the latest evidence

of the vibe shifting when it's not necessarily. We're going to do predictions later in the episode

but like just as a little preview, I think that like vibe shift on Chalamet is a bit of a

mystery of what happened at BAFTA. I sangly agree. We can get into that later. But I think a lot of

people online are maybe, and I don't want to like assume broad ignorance of like Oscar voting

schedules. But like, I think they maybe don't quite understand that like voting ended last week

and that like, no, the bride is not going to norbit Jesse Buckley because the movie wasn't out

until voting was done. You know, I mean, it maybe arguably should. I just think everyone should be

norbited. We are in space. Norbit is a verb. Yeah. That means release something annoying

in the month before your Oscar. You're expected Oscar when it's great, right? I mean, it's also like

it speaks to the power of cinema that you could release something so off-putting that it could

retroactively hurt the performance you did, you know, over like two years ago. Yeah. Yeah.

I love that. I mean, I feel like I mostly, the Timmy Discourse has been like, people just

been looking at him too long. They've had it got been too much Timmy and it is cause people just

finally be like, I am sick of this guy. So Mikey Madison will be presenting Best Actor, right?

She will. For an aura. And the winner's name is going to be written on a pink paper with

a cute little hand. That's right. With a little person. Yeah. And what if she opens it up and

it's Best Actor goes to opera? And there's a surprise win. And they're just like the

caliber fishwalk. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you're real twist. It's just, I think it's more just

a little annoying that it's like if he loses, people will be like, yeah, well, because he dist the

ballet. You don't do that. And it'll be like, no, I don't think that's why he lost. No,

I think it probably would have almost zero bearing on it. If, you know, I look, I'm glad that like

apparently, you know, opera and ballet companies, the world over, the nation over, have been like kind

of piggybacking on this. Like use offer code like Shalame or whatever. No, that's actually the thing

I think that actually happened. And it's like, okay, great. Like if you know, a rising tide

lifts all boats in that way. I mean, I was joking on Twitter or whatever that was like, my parents

are big. They love the fathom events like broadcasts of like the network, because it's like a

way more affordable way to see the opera. And they don't live anywhere in New York. And I was like,

little, you know, they're beloved and complete unknown, which I showed to them, you know,

last year. And they love it. I was like, if the only thing new, the bottom, I was trying to destroy

it for fab. Yeah, the New York Times did a whole big deep dive into the Metropolitan Opera.

It's like huge financial crisis. Yeah, it did right now, like basically like three days ago. So

it could use help. The moral of the story is, as always, support the arts.

Well, because and yes, it's a real tangent. But like, you know, as someone who follows

theater pretty closely, like post pandemic, the rich donor base for like performing arts has

completely cratered. And like the rich people were like, oh, we can kind of get away with not

having to like do that anymore. And so it is a problem. And I'm glad that there is some light

on that now, because like I would be, I don't go to the opera or the ballet. I've been to the

Met Opera twice in 20 years that I've lived here. Thank you. But I would, I would be sad. And I

like ambiently knowing that that's happening. Obviously, we need the Met to exist. Yeah, I can't

be going nowhere. The opera is good. So I'm glad that at least there are people are paying attention

to the fact that like they are in financial ruin. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure. Has the Jesse Buckley

discourse done anything on behalf of cats? I don't know of. All right. I think I think there's,

there's plenty of cat fans out there. I don't get it. I don't think there's that

shortage of cat fandom. No, no, they're fine.

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So this whole project, thus far, has been every week. We talk about a best picture nominee. We

have one left, which is one battle after another. I think saved probably the front runner for

last, although you could make the argument that centers last week. One battle is the front runner.

It is, right? Guys, yeah. Is everyone crazy? I mean, I'm just...

It's been a long, Oscar season. There's just like times. Run, runner. I'm not saying that it is

eaten. Nothing is guaranteed in this life. No. But it has a very hefty slate of wins. Yes.

In these silly precursors, we unfortunately pay attention. And that is not vibes. That is literally

it. One DJ at one DJ. Right. They're both down and it's the winner every time, basically. Yeah.

Yes. It is pretty consistently been at the top of everything and is going into Sunday with like

a real, real momentum to it. I think there's potential we'll get in predictions later. I think

there's potential that it could kind of lose in some places, but like here, it's that this race has

been so long and people get sick of a front runner, right? Like that's always the fear. Yeah.

But it is a front runner. Sure. Yeah. And rewatching the movie last night is I think both

Allison and I did. Yes. It's really good. To me, it's one of those... To me,

similar to Oppenheimer and I know not everyone agrees about every single, you know, where it's just

kind of like the Oscars can't really pass up on something like that. Yeah. Doesn't happen that

often. You have a major director in a major movie star making a big movie that people saw that

got universal critical like a claim that's about stuff that's happening right now. It just doesn't

happen. And it's not just about stuff that's happening now. It has somewhat eerily. Yeah.

Like seemed more prescient the more the 2025. Yeah. It's learned about like current events in a way

that you have. Right. I remember when it came out, someone was pointing out as if this were kind

of widely accepted when I feel like it is definitely not widely accepted that like the film starts

in the present day and the rest of it takes place in the near future. Right. And I was like, I don't

know that that's definitely the case. I feel like you can make an argument for it. But I feel like

part of the reason it feels when you when it initially came out, it felt like maybe you could

make that argument of the near future is because of the ways the MKU, the like force in it, the kind

of like it's sort of ice. It's also the military. It's a little police that kind of descend upon the

of the town back in cross for like a large part of the the movie. They just kill people. They,

you know, like they they grab people off the streets without any pretense really. And you know,

they shoot a lot of times wake up. They do. I know. Yeah, like it's brutal. And you're like, okay,

we live in that now. Like, you know, like that is just like how things are like it. So any kind

of edge of like while we're not there yet went away so quickly. Yeah, completely evaporated. And

and I think the one of the strengths of the movie of many strengths is that like it's not trying

to one-to-one match like Trump era America. There are weird, you know, weird names and funny,

you know, like the Christmas adventures like it feels very much of its own world. It's just like

reflecting or bouncing off of what we're experiencing. I think if it was doing the opposite,

which was like, you know, would be like really trying to map exactly onto what we're experiencing,

it would you'd start to see a lot of holes. But like in this case, you can it's more allegorical.

Yeah. And I feel like it, you know, like it is based on a book. I'm like 1990, right?

I mean, the late 80s. I want to say it, the violence takes place in 1980 maybe. Or yeah,

red 1990 book, right? Yeah, certainly the mid 80s. So you have a book that like, you know, was about

like a totally different generation of kind of radicalism. And then the present day of it is like

Reagan's I mean, it's the peak of Reagan is set during the 84 like during Reagan's

reelection. Yeah. When it's like, he's won the those guys guys get one. And like they're

obviously there's a lot of kind of like rowback DNA to the French 75 in particular, right? Like

they have this feeling of like in some ways they're extremely present. And then in other ways,

I just feel like kind of radicals from yeah, the 60s and the 70s. They're interestingly a few days

ago, a writer named Hope Reeves, whose parents are both weathermen wrote an opinion piece in the

times being like, I really hate how non-specific the the activism is in this movie that like it's

not like grounded to a particular revolution world view. Like revolution is the cause that all

of these characters keep keep espousing. But that's something I actually appreciated more on this

rewatch is that like they they do have, especially in the beginning, they are going after,

you know, migrants who write like and also anti-abortion, right? Like they're they do have some

specific causes. But the idea of of activism and the idea of like fighting against the powers that

be is like a more general theme, right? Like it kind of it allows that like the particular causes

can mutate as time goes on. But that it is about the idea of being a revolutionary. Yeah,

I think the complaint that I'm reading the piece and she says like, I really I shouldn't have

expected this movie to be a battle cry about a specific thing. Yeah. So it's a little bit on me.

So she's sort of ignorant, you know, she also thinks critics for thinking it was a rallying cry

and the headline of when all the darkness is review in the New York Times uses the phrase rallying

so she's yeah, being pointed, but I sure. But I mean, like I think some people because

ghetto pat is kind of like, here I'm just here to blow things up, you know, like people see

the French 75s a little flip and a little like, what are they, you know, are they just like kind of,

you know, cowboys who are just there to have fun. But it's like to me very obvious one that the

movie is presenting to you various modes of resistance, not just the French 75. Like we meet the

nuns, we meet Vinicios. Yeah, that's a whole separate thing. Yeah, kind of like, these are all like,

we of course, Willa is embarking on her own like new, you know, form of revolution, whatever she

wants to be doing. It's not flip like the French 70. And I think also like the way that

Perfidia's mom talks to Pat, like she's like, you know, we don't take you very seriously,

sweetie pie. Yeah, you're a nice boy. She comes from a lineage of this kind of struggle.

We aren't quite serious. She is quite chaotic. We are quite serious. And you are clearly like,

you know, a well-meaning person along for them. There's a point where Perfidia's mother calls

him a stump, which is like the brutal thing. She's a runner, you're a stump. Yes. Yeah.

Brutal assessment. You get a person. Yeah. Great, great, great. One of the many like,

incredible, like two scene performances in them. Yeah, like every actor. I mean, I think there,

there is a, there is some thought in the movie about the way these things are generationally sort

of translated and like, aestheticized over time. Like, are you just kind of playing the part of

this or like back in my day, we really meant it. And, you know, and I think that Anderson is,

you know, very much thinking about like, not maybe his revolutionary life. I don't think he has

one as far as I'm aware. But like about what he's imparting to his children and what, like,

his generation is imparting to the younger ones. And saying like, yes, you will lose some things,

but you might gain some new clarity. They're like, they're, they're, there's, there's devolution and

devolution. But it's also, I think in ways that are very generous, it is about being like,

you have ideals, but you are still a movement made up of incredibly fallible people who all

have like personal weaknesses and some of whom were not animated with the same kind of like

purity of, of belief and some, you know, like, one of the things that I love about Perfidia

is that she is a character who kind of does simultaneously seems to hold like these kind of like

really fervent beliefs and revolutionary ideals, but also in like enjoying like the rush of it so

much and her own kind of stardom within this movement, right? Like these are all forces that

feed who she is and where she, what she does. And ultimately make her like this really kind of

difficult character for all of the other ones to grapple with. But I think that's true whenever you

meet, and you do anything related to activism. You meet people, some people who are like in it,

you know, because they like to hear themselves talking, you meet some people are in it because

they have an enormous like really kind of like idealistic, like yeah, and some people just came

from a background of that and they take for granted that that's what they do. And I feel like

the movie is good at being like look at this huge spectrum of experiences and reasons why people

get involved in this. Yeah, absolutely. You know, versus the Christmas adventures, they're

mortal enemies who are this, you know, kind of like fossilized crowd even though some of them

are younger, but like right, like, you know, the whole intention. One of them looks like

imbalmed like love. Yeah, their faces are all good. They speak the language of the internet

because they talk about the haters. Yes, yeah, yeah, we trash. Yes, yes, it's a really good line.

It's very funny, but I think it's also sort of talent. Yeah. And I feel like, you know, they're,

they're like, they're white supremacy. They're like is built into obviously so much of the action

unfolds and like explicitly built into their movement. Yes, but like the end goal of their movement

is to prop up their own power, right? Like their whiteness is also part of how they declare

themselves superior human beings, right? Like they are just trying to cement not only do they deserve

to have this power, but like this is the world order. But just all the little I love the Christmas

adventures that I pour over. I've seen the movie several time. You know, like I think about like

all the little lines like they love the tracker guy, but they would never trust him, of course, because

he's not, right? You know what? They say he's not homegrown. And also not a native son. Yeah,

like the most native son possible like in terms of his background. When they're like we have to

shut down the chicken fingers, they're like really like those chicken fingers. You know, like they know

like the systems that support the things they enjoy. The chicken finger company is owned by a

Christmas adventure. I love all this little details. Yeah, yeah, it's really funny. Yeah,

it's a just I don't know. I saw it. Were you guys a tiff? When did you see it? I saw it. It's not

quite early after. You saw it before me. I know that for a year. I saw it after. And like an empty

screenings like no atmosphere, right? Like, you know, just kind of like I'm see one but I don't

know. It's like, right? Okay. And I was on the floor. I had I had thought because I watching

the trailers, I'm sort of hit or miss with PTA. Some things. I mean, I adore Phantom Thread. I

think that's one of the best movies of the 2010s. It's his funniest movie. It's it's beautiful.

It's romantic. But next next down the line is like I have to go all the way back to bogey nights,

you know, and I thought that one battle based on the pension aspect and the trailer,

I was like, oh, it's going to be another inherent vice where it's like trying really hard for

like weird comedy. It's mostly to make PTA laugh behind the camera. Blah, blah, blah. But then I started

hearing from people like you who had seen it before and they were like, no, no, it's like a kind of

a huge epic like it's really great. And I I went I still went in skeptical skeptical because I he

has never made a movie like this before. Like no, not really. Sure. Yeah. It would be blood is an

epic, but it's a different stripe. And this watching it again, I was like the end of the movie is

like legitimately approaching the line of corny. I mean, you know, but in a beautiful way, I think.

It has, I mean, that it pulls off that needle drop and we can talk about that. Some people,

it doesn't. I do. I'm going to tell later. But it is definitely like the most kind of sentiment.

I mean, like I love inherent vice, but I feel like I mean, it is funny how many of his movies are

about this idea of this kind of like, Edenic past that is kind of gone. If it ever existed, but like,

you know, like that you were already past the golden era, like things are already kind of like feeding.

And I mean, that than that movie in particular, but like, like, like, ballet, you know, the gold or the

opera or the opera, the golden age in which we all went to ballet and the opera all the time. It is

we all met at La Scala, right? No, Milan. Yeah. Years ago. Just traveling around. I would love to be

someone who went to La Scala. I'd love to go to La Scala. Teatro Cologne or Buenos Aires.

All right. But like, I don't know. I mean, like, there's something about the way that this

is pinching again, and it is about, yes, like a former revolutionary who's been rattling around

just like high off his mind for 15 years now, not believing in anything anymore. But like,

that has that it ends on a note that is hopeful, I think, is like, really something.

It's a surprise. And I mean, it's, it's, it's a film made by a person who has children, like,

and I, it resonated with me as a parent, obviously. But what other choice does he have or the movie

have? You know, like, I mean, you have to kind of hope at least that you're, you know, like,

there's some kind of world waiting for your kids for them to grab or change or, you know,

I mean, last year we had Eddington. We had movies that had the more modern view of like,

we might, you know, like, yeah, there's, you can go in that direction. But no, indeed,

one battle is not, is not, is very like, you know, pointedly not going. And that kind of sentiment

from him, look, there have been emotional beats in many of his movies, but this felt so raw

and sort of self-referencing in a, in a, in a nice way that I was kind of shocked by it. And I,

you know, I, I hate to like throw this up as a counter example because like, the movies have

nothing to do with each other. But you look at like what a formerly sort of prickly edgy

filmmaker like Noah Bombak did when he like went full sentimental with Jake Kelly, which is,

I think, a horror show. I like that movie. And I know, I know, I know. But, but like, P.T. I,

I think he, he, he does the sort of emotional thing that I don't think this was his, his intention.

But like, that gets it sort of across a certain line for the Academy. But does it in his own,

you know, particular way and just enough and it doesn't overdo it? And I think that's,

that's, that's, that's tricky, you know. It is still a mournful movie because it is very much

about the idea that it is almost impossible for people to sustain that river of youth and like

that commitment to the possibility of changing the world, right? Like, like, there are a few

characters who continue to hold that up like from the, the initial, the opening French 75 sequence

in later, right? You have Regina Hall character, Deandra, but she's tired. And she's, no, but

I don't know. The thing is like her, the theory face at the end is like, I just so heartbreaking

because you're also like, you have, yeah, like, you are tired. And like, the thing is every single

character who gets captured, uh, informs, right? Like, it has enormous, actually empathy for that.

The idea that you, as a single person, cannot be expected to stand up to the might of the city.

Because there's going to be someone you love for some vulnerability and life. And it's exploited.

Shope of, of storytelling of film that like, no, no, there are resolute heroes who would never

do that. And I think the film is saying, well, I mean, like, I, I, rewatching it, I was like,

oh, God, the scene where the kids are being interrogated about where their friend is and whether

she has a cell phone. And the person who ends up kind of ratting on her essentially is the non-binary

kid with the earring. And I was like, oh, is this PTA kind of being like, I don't think it is.

I think he's saying, like, what would happen if that person had to have the most shot and

present, right? Like that kid knows they would be in deep, deep trouble. In an interview, PTA said

that that actor just also, because they truly were at a school picking kids out of the crowd. And

that actor just popped so quickly. And they were like, do you want to do like another scene? Do you

want to do it? But um, but I think that's absolutely how I felt watching the movie of just that

person has more to lose. Right. I mean, I mean, it's the same, you know, like the interrogation of

Billy Goe Howard Somerville. He's so good. He's so good. Uh, Paul Grim said, uh, he's, he like, he's

like one of the people who has kept going, right? Like, uh, a lot of the other friend 75 members get

killed or end up in prison and killed, uh, or, or turn, right? Uh, but like he, he's ready to stand

up when it comes to sacrificing himself. Yes. When the idea of comes to sacrificing your loved

is like, that's when. And I think like, there is like the movie has so much sympathy for the idea

of informing because it is also like you, yes, like the longer you're in this world, the more you

accrue loved ones, the more you accrue people, you aren't just like thinking about yourself as this

soldier in this war. You, you have connections, you're pulling other people in and that you can't,

you cannot like fault people for having ties, right? And if the, the goal is one battle after another,

yeah, you have to like, live to see another day. And also pass, pass the baton on to other people,

right? And like, Perfidia going to Mexico to, you know, living to slay another day, like, like,

like, you kind of understand and you wonder if Regina Hall might be kind of thinking in the back of

her head, like, Perfidia maybe had the right idea, you know, like she got out and she still has

the capacity. I mean, she made one choice to kind of preserve herself, which, you know, the internet

has read as sort of selfish and bad characterization and all that. But I think again, PTA is really

complicating and humanizing those hero tropes. I think also like, yeah, like it's a movie that,

I feel like even explicitly says, like, you can get older and get selfish. I'm like, you know,

that is just part of, you can just be Pat, like Pat slash Bob, you know, like just, you know,

older and kind of over it and kind of burned out and like, not really helping anyone out anymore.

And, you know, he rediscoveres a little bit of heroism, but really all, you know, what he's

doing is protecting his daughter. And even then, he does not actually accomplish in the movie.

Much. In the movie, I think in ways that are delightful. Right. He is not helpful at all. Like,

yeah, I mean, to the extent that he actually affects the action, it is low at the end there.

I mean, like, I feel like the biggest brilliance of like, you know, like him falling off the roof

or whatever. I mean, the biggest thing he accomplishes is like, is getting Benicio Del Toro's character

arrested because he's not careful about when he's drinking. Yeah, they're not police that

are working necessarily under like Sean Penn's rule. They're just like, oh, that guy has a beer in

the car. Like, can we talk about a profitee out a little bit? Because I feel like you're right,

like, there was a lot of kind of like back and forth about. I mean, beyond just like,

Tiana Taylor, I think just is such a movie star. Like, it's just like an electric. Yeah,

is, is, is, and I think you can definitely make the case that like the movie never

were quite recovers. That's that particular energy, right? And when she's gone because she is

just such this unique kind of like the mini movie at the start of the movie is incredible. Right.

All on it all by itself. Yeah. But I do feel like I really resist the idea that because

profitee make selfish choices that like it's bad characterization. Because I'm like, you're

like, like, it is okay for a character to be multidimensional and selfish. Yeah, she's so obviously

suffering from postpartum depression and it's such a like wild thing in the movie that people

overlook. People just like really like the fact that like that was just not part of their

head. Not a log where she's like, you care about the baby more than me. Yeah, exactly. Like, I

don't feel like I feel, yeah, that's like what they give you at the doctor's office. Yeah,

think they get you know, like in a year, which has had other like very conflicted maternal

portraits, right? Yeah. Like I my love, which is like, uh, absolutely about someone that is

dealing with a lot of chaos, you know, in the wake of having a child. Yeah, I'm just thinking about

that my love. Just because it's funny. Just because it's her going like, whoo. And then she's like,

well, baby, and the baby's like, all right, yeah, no, right. Baby's fine. Baby's fine. Uh, yeah,

but like, yeah, I agree. I feel like it is so explicit that profitee is dealing with postpartum

depression. Right. And like, uh, that just like was taken off the table as something that like,

she felt, yeah, weirdly underdiscussed to me. Yeah, but it's a movie with a ton to discuss. I

understand that. Uh, maybe it's just that she's such a incredible badass that then you feel betrayed

by the movie, you know, by her, by the choices her character makes, but she's a survivor. Like,

what she's doing with, uh, lock jaw, you know, manipulating him, uh, you know, like sexually

and all that, like, that's obviously like, that's her being a survivor. Yeah. And then like, you

know, there is a gorgeous and sad moment where she gets caught in the bathroom by him. And he's

basically like, you can keep doing what you're doing. You just have to meet me at this place,

whatever. And then she syncs back up with Leo and they're walking away and it pulls on her face.

Yeah. And she kind of fakes smiles and then her face returns to this like, my life has just

changed because I'm now fucking tied to this guy. And like, it's such a great subtle piece of

acting that tells you a lot about what that character is experiencing and feeling. And, uh, yeah,

the, the notion that that that she is, you know, underserved by, by being less than heroic or whatever,

and an overly sexualized or I, you know, Tiana Taylor herself has like responded to some of the

criticisms about the character, uh, especially the, the sexualization. Yeah. I mean,

if you know what it's like to be a black woman in the world, like, you know, she has spoken,

you know, about it in a way that I certainly can't. And, and people should seek that out because like,

she, you know, she stands by the character and the movie in a way. And I'm like, well, then, okay,

good. You know, then I, I believe it. Yeah. Yeah. And I, the thing is also when she leaves and she

says that thing about like, this is a new consciousness and all of that. I'm like, I'm sorry,

that is so real for someone who is like going to be like, I'm going to reposition the language

of like my activism to defend my personal choices. I'm like, of course, people do that all the time.

You know, you know, she knows she, you know, yeah, she's conflicted internally and she's,

right. That's how she is. And she's asking it. Exactly. She is asking it as this kind of like,

this revolutionary choice to be like choosing me first. Uh, and obviously, as time goes by,

she feels much more conflicted about that choice. And I think that the movie is very clear about that.

Anyway, yes, I certainly, I know, I don't mean to say I'm like, I'm only, I grumpy about like,

I found a lot of the discourse around this movie a little trying, but like, that's normal for a

movie this big, that movie, this provocative. I mean, people are watching it to provoke a lot of

reactions like that might, I might disagree with the course. It does mean people are watching, which

is great because it really spiked when I dropped on HBO Max, you know, because much more people

had access to the movie. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. But yeah, and you're right.

Like, it's like movies like Eddington or I'm trying to think like the big provocative movies.

Blue Moon. Train dreams. Well, it is crazy that train dreams had. It did have virulent

discourse around Thanksgiving time. It had a surprise. It's a moment in the sun. Yeah.

Yeah. Blue Moon just like, right. E.B. White, he never would be doing that. I don't, I'm trying to

think of what what the blue moon discourse would be. I mean, that is the most controversial.

Well, I mean, I feel like the blue moon discourse was just about the height. It's discriminatory

to short. Or, no, just being like, is this is this good? Are you taking me with this?

Yes. Sort of even hawk like walking around like that. The answer is disco.

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So, you know, given that one battle seems to be a front runner, it has won all these precursor

or words. I was watching it again, thinking about like the Oscars in a new era, like a different

academy, all that. Like to you guys, does one battle feel like a new sort of best picture front

runner? Cause like I would say there are some really old fashion things in there as well as the

sort of modernity. There is, but it doesn't feel kind of like, you know, similar to, I mean,

look, is the quite like obviously PTA was always a guy that the Oscars kind of patted on the head,

right? And they respected, you know, like Boogie Knight, take your screenplay non magnolia,

take your screenplay non punch drunk love, don't be weird. They don't thread back. Oh, no,

no, then there were blood. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is the moment where it's like, oh, are they going

to take you seriously? But they're, you know, and they're kind of like, wait, your turn,

the colon brothers made a masterpiece. They're winning this time. You're still a baby.

Um, and right, and they've been sort of slowly warming up to him, much like they did with Nolan,

and then Oppenheimer's the one with like, good job. I'm going to grow in a movie like you

invest picture. Congratulations. Yeah. And this has that vibe too. But this is a weird movie. I

don't see this movie winning 20 years ago in the same like with the same ease. I don't know. I mean,

yeah, it reminds me of when the coins made no country for all men, which is a movie that I love,

which is great. Another movie that came out and got universal claim to the point that it was

kind of like, is that it? Right, right. But you know, it's like, it's both like still very much

a Cohen's movie. It has like some real weirdness in there. But it felt like maybe, I don't know,

like it fit more cleanly into like certain genres. I feel like the west or into the west or

and it's like it has very exciting action. You know, it has, and I feel like, uh, that's,

I mean, rewatching one battle after another, I was like, yes, this is the same thing. It is still

very much a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, but it is one that fits within a slightly more,

I would say conventional container in terms of, yes, being about kind of action and this like sweeping,

about fathers and daughters and about, you know, particularly about our nasty government generation,

like, like reacting to the youth of today. Like, I think that, you know, PTA kind of putting all

these jokes about like, I don't know how to use my phone. I don't know how to ask what someone,

what a kid's gender, you know, pronouns are like, like, like, that could could be so creaky and bad.

But if he does it in such a sort of subtle and sweet way that it, I think I would imagine a lot of

voters like over 50 are like, oh, yeah, like that finally something warmly relatable in a PTA movie

that also has all of his signature weirdness and style. Sure. Yeah. Right. It's also, it is a movie,

at least from the, from Leo's character's point of view. Is it movie about being washed, right?

Like, it is a movie about like kind of, like, he is chopped a nunch. Yeah. He is chopped a nunch.

Yeah. Like, he, you know, is just like, it's not even that he doesn't want to try a bit,

but like, he's just so aware of all of the ways in which, like, kind of the tide is like leaving him

behind, right? Like that. And that he's okay with that. I think, like, ultimately, kind of like,

it's not like he's resisting before, but he's kind of checked out where as I feel like by the end.

No, the triumph of the movies, he's going to try to use a smartphone. Like, and I really do think,

I mean, like, it's one of the moments in the movie to make, one of the many moments that makes me cry.

Right. Is that he's trying to figure out? Well, he can. Yeah. Because he's not, you know,

it's in so much hiding. Right. I mean, he might as well, but I think he's used to date Fiona Apple

and do. Okay. You know, like, like, no, I mean, like, I feel like there is definitely, there

is definitely something about. I think, too, he's sort of represents the malaise of just like,

what it feels like to live in the current moment and to be bombarded by so much shit every single day.

And just how exhausting that is and how like, how easy it is to just like, check out.

100% check out from new stuff, but also from your old stuff. Like, he's lost the passion for

what he used to do. If, you know, we don't really know how serious he was about any of these causes.

Right. Like, he was clearly very exciting for him and he liked the part of the team. But yeah,

he does. And he was in love. Right. Yeah. But he doesn't remember the revolutionary text. What time

is it now? Like, he's got to call the manager of the revolutionary hotline to get through.

When I first saw the movie, I, I found that segment where he's like on the phone trying,

you know, like, yelling and in the bathrobe and it felt like I was like, this is maybe a little

too overegged. They're trying to be a little too funny. On second viewing, I didn't feel that way

at all. It's like I felt I felt his frustration at himself. Yes. You know, more and yes, he's

yelling at the guy on the phone, but he's really yelling at himself, right? Like, I think so. He's

yelling at himself. He's also like, he's frustrated by, you know, people who are maybe, you know,

a little too high on being part of the team. But he's like, he keeps trying to make the emotional

kind of like, can't you tell that I'm fucked up? Right. Like, please help me. You're my daughter.

My daughter's been taking, you know, like, and the guy's like, you should know. And this is

what is it like your, he's set something like sort of safe space. He's like, you're violating

my sound. These are noise triggers. To me, the funniest part of that whole sequence, which is a

very funny sequence, is when he keeps saying, I don't know what time it is. And Sergio St. James

just says the time. Yes. He's like, 802. Yeah. Because I'm like, he has such clarity.

Like, and he knows what time it is. Because he has to know what time it is. Because he's in charge

of something that's very like proper and organized. And like, on, anyway, I just think it's

something. I, I like, like, that sequence just because of how many times, so how many times

Bob tries to plug in his phone. Like he, he gets a charger. And like, in this like,

labyrinthine kind of, like, compound that is like a place, like,

irritating old charges. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. He is like, shoot away from like four different spots

along the way where Bob keeps being like, we have to go. You can't do that here.

Sergio. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

He keeps saying, like, you need to come on. Like, we, this is not the place where you can charge

your phone. Keep coming. Keep coming. Yeah. So I feel like, I don't know. Like, I, this is not my

favorite Leo performance. I enjoy him in this movie. I always go back and forth on Leo. He's

not my favorite actor. Sure. I, I, it's a very, it's a Leo, I love the performance. Yeah. That's

my favorite Leo is. Yeah. I don't know what's your favorite Leo. I didn't know what my favorite

Leo is. My answer was I always shudder Island, which is a movie. I adore it. I think he's so

locked in. Yeah. I think the answer is probably Wolf of Wall Street. Like, that's the most

kind of match. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Big Leo performance. That's what you can. He's so good at that.

That's, that's the probably that's maybe also for me is. And you know, it was something I was

thinking about, like, look at, like, out of the best actor nominees this year, four out of the five

of them were all like child actors, right? They have all been acting aside from Wagner.

Although we don't know. Well, I was, I looked this up because I was like, and like, he, like,

did kind of like find his way into acting into an adulthood. But yeah, you're like, I don't

have to have like six years or four actors who have been acting since they were children.

It's true. And who have basically been, like, I have been plugged into their

actions since they were children. Like, Leo, I guess, the least, like, I didn't watch growing

paintings. And either did I. Oh, I didn't. But, right. But like, he was around. He's in a heart.

Like, I watched, like, White Fang when I was a kid, or would it, you know, all those little

movies he made, like, Michael V. Jordan, obviously, I watched The Wire as well. I was on that

and I watched Friday Night Lights and all that. I remember when he was dating me Whitman on

parenthood. Sure. Yeah. Pretty sure it's me, Whitman. And Timmy, I guess, like, I was

irked by him on Homeland. Sure. And you watch Love the Coopers every Christmas, right?

I can't say I know what that is. It's such a movie he did with Marisa Tomei. I know, and he's

an interstellar because the funniest part of an interstellar is him being like, hey, Dad,

what's going on? The farm is, you know, I mean, he gets blown up on Homeland. But then it cuts

to Casey Affleck, right? Because he turned it in the case of, I was like, hey, Dad, how you doing?

But they have not tried to match their voices at all. What happened? Ever since the accident,

I talked like this. Exactly. Did the earth get like healing a minute half? Yeah. But Fives wise,

they're both very pointy. Yes, totally. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like the problem is, like, also,

as a woman of a certain age, I just, like, very much imprinted on, like, heartthrob,

like, beautiful Leo. As a man of certain age. Yeah. Yeah.

Of course. Yeah. And like, it's just like, I find him, I guess, like, him as this, like,

leading man that a lot of kind of artore directors really cling on. I don't always see it.

Like, in this case, I do enjoy him being like the fool. Like, I think he's very funny in this.

And there's a lot of pathos as well. But yeah, like, he is kind of like the floundering point

in the middle of this movie of, like, all of the action. Yeah. I think something that,

I was saying about this watching it again, and in light of that really great Nikki Glazer joke

about, we don't know anything about you. Like, the only thing we know about you is that you date

23-year-old models right ever. Right. And that's why I can't make another joke. I'm sorry for

this hack. And I think that it was such a smart, like, it was a great main joke. Yeah, you know,

because he really, I don't know, fucking anything about him. All I know about him is he has,

apparently, one of the most incredible collections of movie posters, like in Hollywood,

and that people like come to his house to see it because it's like really, really highly regarded.

And they're like, they're like, they're, they're thumbtacks, the walls. Yeah, they're all on

the center of blue tap. No, it's just like, that's the one thing I know about Leo, because people

have heard people say, like, oh, yeah, and then he, you get, you get to see his movie poster.

And I'm assuming this home is in Los Angeles. Like, I don't even know that. Like, we're, like,

it's a good question. What if it's in like Omaha? I have no, no, no, yes, I think it's too

as advantage. Like that he, that you, you can watch him in a movie. And yes, you are

receiving some like known leowness, but like he can kind of really fit, fit himself to a movie's

needs, right? Sure. But I also find myself kind of like yearning for a little bit of a deeper

context with him. Right. He has no public facing persona at all, really. Aside from like,

he's Leonardo DiCaprio. I mean, he loves models. He loves running on the beach. Yeah, I mean,

loves movies. And he likes, yeah, environmentalism. I mean, for a while, that was the only Leo thing

was it was like, well, he loves like electric cars. That was his like chosen, like, personal

thing. Yeah. I mean, that's why the Jennifer Lawrence video with him, where the variety actor

and actors, what she is clearly, like, trying to get as much of a rise out of him as she can,

is so interesting. And she is fearless about it, because she's an a list actor. Yeah. Who's about

to work with him? Again, he almost gets him a couple of times. Yeah. And that's why everyone

loved him at the Golden Globes talking to it is Tiana, right? Yeah. Like where he got kind of

personality, right? Yeah. You see him being silly. Yeah. Cause he's talking about like K-pop demon

hunters with her or whatever. Can we sidebar on Leo's Oscar history? Because I remember I had a friend

in college who was a huge Leo fan and was so invested in Leo getting snubbed constantly. Yeah.

No. Winning, right? Yeah. And then eventually he wins for the Revenant, which is a very

harried, and dramatic, serious performance. Yeah. That's everything he went through. That was the

year where he really like pressed the flesh. He, he, he went all it. He did his time. He dinners.

He did all the campaigning and all that. Right. Yeah. Do you think he has any shot this year? No.

No. No. No. I don't think he would ever. I think he's at four or five. Like I think he's

pretty low down. I just think because he, because he's one and I think everyone takes him

for granted. The academy takes him for granted. And I think that that taking for granted sort of

is sourced in an original resentment. Like so like when he first, his first Oscar nomination in 1993,

I believe was for what's eating Gilbert grape, you know, and, and that performance is arguably not

stood the test of time. It's a good performance. Yeah. Yeah. Whether it's at representatives of

anything in the world, who knows. But like, but back then, I think that the academy was like,

oh, here's this like stringy, interesting kid who did this big transformation. Let's keep an eye

on him. Totally. And then just a couple of years later, he emerges as what Allison and I were like,

boy, oh, yeah. Yeah. And that's when the academy is like, fuck this guy, this pretty boy,

bubble up, you know, and they really treat him like that. They, they will nominate him for things.

But they, but they stopped him for Titanic. Yeah, they stopped him for Titanic. You know, they,

he does, you know, the pussy Pussy era, right? Like, the pussy Pussy thing was happening. I think

there was a lot of resistance to like, you're, you're right. You're a, a teen idol, not a great actor.

And like, you know, Matt Damon gets nominated best actor the year, the Titanic year. Right.

And like, I mean, Damon's good and good wanting. Yeah. But he kind of, but like, that's them being,

well, we thought this was good. This guy's acting, right? You are just pretty. You know, like,

it really felt that way because like Titanic, everything else gets nominated, you know,

and the screenplay. The pussy Pussy Pussy thing, which you know, was sort of coined in the

Stancy Joe sales article for New York magazine back in the late 90s, uh, is a fascinating time

capsule to read if anyone listening has not read it, please go seek it out. It's, it, it's really

interesting. And you know, Leo does not, it's called Leo Prince of the city, I think. Uh, when he,

it is about, I guess if you don't know what the pussy Pussy is, it is about this like,

Toby McGuire, some other folks, Lucas Haas, Lucas Haas, his friend, Jacob Lane at some point,

I believe. I think, yeah, there's some like adjacent, yeah, yeah. And they were just like,

they were notorious for like going out and raising hell. And there's apparently a film called

Don's plum that they made the friend of their directives. Definitely. Yeah. Like Leo has

actively worked to bury. There's like offensive stuff and whatever. So I can understand,

given that that was his origin story and been that he was struggling to get like,

really serious consideration at, you know, in the industry that now he has completely been like,

I don't give you anything of my personal life or my, you know, my personality because like,

I did that when I was a kid and look, if you're that goddamn good looking and you're making that

much money and in these, like, I like, I can't say what I would have acted like, probably not

well, you know, he seems to have somewhat reformed. But yeah, so his privacy is based on something

that like, when he used to live very publicly and so I get it. But the movie of the Oscar

shooting, I might just feel like they were like, you're fine. You don't need us. Like, you're

already a big star. And he was earning like, like, he could open movies. Yeah, totally. Big

directors, like, he wanted to work with him. Like, you know, he gets snubbed for Titanic fine.

They snub him again for Catch Me If You Can, but that's the sort of dual year with Gangs in New

York where he gets kind of bad reviews. And I feel like there was just a little bit of like,

there was confusion about it. Wait, your turn. Yeah. And then he gets the second nom for the aviator,

which is like this level up project for him. He produces the movie. He works with Martin Scorsese

again. He plays Howard Hughes. He plays a Hollywood. And that I feel like is when the Oscar started

to be like, fine, you are now in the club, you will get your nominations, like, you're a consistent

president. But don't, don't, you know, you're gonna wait for a win. You're gonna wait for a win.

But still like Blood Diamond, Wolf Wall Street, Revenant. Yeah, you know, like, well, it was a long

gap between Blood Diamond and Wolf Wall Street. But I feel like that's when Leo's making movies

kind of angling for an Oscar that aren't, you know, aren't really connecting like a J Edgar

or whatever, or he's making things like inception. Huh? That won the Nobel. Yeah. When the Nobel

Prize for Trigon, you know, departed revolution, like Revolutionary Road and J Edgar both feel like

Oscar plays. Oh, yeah. Where everyone was like, well, sorry. Yeah. And like, like, Winslet didn't

even get like movies. Yeah. Michael Shannon did, right? Michael Shannon did. He not well. Yeah.

I hate that movie. But like, also departed was a was a significant turning point for him in one way,

which, and, you know, whatever. But I remember seeing that movie in the theater. And when Leo first

shows up kind of scruffy, like, I was like, wow, while we while he's a man, like, like, he,

it was when he grew up, you know, and, and then he could kind of reshape his sort of star persona.

And that kind of thing is what led him to be able to do the Revenant credibly, I think, for people.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and obviously like, you know, it's just the Hollywood thing of like,

as far as when you look at Leo's career, like, he just would work with giant directors,

get giant movies made. And they would usually make a ton of money. And there's just a lot of people

doing that, especially as the 2010s come along. Is there like a big director he hasn't worked with?

He's done Nolan Spielberg. He's definitely. Yeah, sort of like, like, can he check that one off?

Yeah. Yeah. Cause they've been circling each other all the way back to Boogie.

Yeah. Everyone's right.

I don't, I don't know. I mean, I think if the question is more just like, there are not that many

big directors. Well, the question is also, is it could be work with a woman? He hasn't worked with

a female director or basically ever, like, yeah, very, very long, which is a kind of stain on his

record. Some people point that out at like, you know, I mean, I get, you know, we hold movie actors

sometimes to like, you know, these weird sort of like, why haven't you done this? And I'm like,

I don't know. He's a movie actor. I mean, he also just, I mean, as someone who has liked a big

paycheck, paycheck, you know, we'll get your, he'll get a big picture. And that has affected the

particular type of movies that he has. Yeah, it's like a $20 million or, you know, partly because

directors come to him being like, I want to make a section. Yeah, exactly. And even I,

Christopher Nolan might need you in order to capture you to actually get to 100 million dollars from

my dream thief. Yeah. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, even I can't explain this would be

like an elevator pitch. Are you kidding? It takes me at least a minute to explain the premise.

Right. The movie is an instruction manual. Paris folds on itself. Yeah, sure does.

Well, I mean, I think the thing that is interesting to me about Leo's recent choices are the,

like, the ways in which those parts, I mean, like, Ernest Berkhardt and Killers of the Flower Moon

and particularly the narrative of Killers, you know, where they were like, he's not going to be

the proto FBI agent. Right. And that's like, the movie's going to be based around that, like,

the initial envisioning, you know, we're going to reshape this movie to be driven by the Indigenous

characters. It's worth that they stumped him for that too. He's so good in that. But like, he is

playing these characters that like are deliberately, yes, like no longer the center of the story.

Right. Like, I mean, the funny thing about like Bob Ferguson is that he is like this floundering

character in the middle of all of this action. Right. Constantly. Like, he is not the one driving

things forward in any way anymore. And it's a funny performance, I think. But that is also probably

the reason that it was number five. Like, he's like four or five and looked at kind of like the,

the, the, like, chances of winning. But I also, the main thing is also just that he's won.

If he hadn't won an Oscar, he'd be winning this year, right? Like, it's just, you know,

well, the longer it takes, it's why Bradley Cooper is going to play like a bucket with a

face thrown on it at some point. And they'll be like, we have to give you an Oscar. You have 14

nominations. Like, it's gotten out of hand. Right. You know, like, there just comes a point where

they're like, they're sweating. Like Amy Adams, it'll happen to her someday or well. Well, I don't know.

She may have actually thrown a witch down the well or something. I don't know. Yeah.

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All right. So predictions. I feel like we could focus on this. The quote on quote big six.

Yeah, sure. It's my only big eight. Let's say we're writers. We're writers. We can't dismiss

writing. So that's adaptive screenplay, original screenplay, supporting actors, lead actors,

director, picture, right? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm assuming we're all exactly on the same page.

I'm very stressed out about the. Yeah. I don't know. It's hard. It's a, it's a, it feels very, yeah.

It's a year where there are some, a few like stone cold certainties for me and then other

categories where it's just like I genuinely have no idea. Right. I mean, F1 best picture locked.

We're already there. Everything after that. We've been saying that. Yeah. Yeah.

Let's, let's start with screenplays. Okay. Okay. Because I feel like that's kind of

I mean, it just feels like, yeah, like that's the easiest, right?

Center is in one battle. Like what's with it? Yeah. And that was reflected at the WGA awards

this past weekend. Now, I assume with the WGA's sentimental value and it was just next and we're

not in contenture, right? Because WGA's tend to not be able to feature in a national movie. Yeah.

And like I've seen the argument of like, oh, could it was just an accident win here as the sort

of like award-furture par panahi? That's the only real sort of argument I can see against

sinners winning. But I have predicted sinners from the game. Yeah. It feels like, and also I,

I don't know. I mean, I can understand people wanting to give an award to a panahi, but I just don't

feel like the momentum has been aware of the movie. When that movie, yeah. I mean, the movie did

great. It won the home door. It's not short of praise. Yeah. But right, it did not quite connect

on the Oscar level. We had predicted maybe a few months prior. I also remember. Yeah. I mean,

it's one of my favorites of you. I think it's a brilliant movie, but like one might think, well,

you know, what's going on with Iran right now. We lead people to that movie, but I kind of think

the opposite might have been true during voting where people were like, I don't want to deal with that.

I have no idea. But I think sinners, you know, this is, I pointed this out, but like this,

we're spikyly one is Oscars, we're Jordan Peel one is Oscar, like they often get, yeah,

right, right, right, this sort of like fresh young to well, spikyly is not a fresh young director,

but like the cool, like we're not going to give you best director. Yeah. So we'll give you that

cool choice as the kind of consolation prize, which is sort of ironic because I think we all think

that Paul Thomas Anderson is winning for a adapted screenplay where yes, also the front runner

director, but yeah, but I mean, he has a work of adaptation. This is the strongest. Well,

because he changed a lot, right? Yeah. Obviously, it's also just right. It's a, it's a,

you know, the writing of the film is the standout. And he said in some interview like 10 years ago,

like he was asked about favorite books or something and he was like, Oh,

Vineland, which is the, the pension novel is really high up there. I mean, they're going to

adapt it or just rip it off like, you know, like, and he, he went the the former route. But I

mean, I guess Hamnet is sort of the nominal runner up. I think that would be no like to, yeah.

But I do feel like for when Chloe Zhao has an Oscar or two, possibly.

And I just feel like the Hamnet, you know, juices. Yeah. It's not loose. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Hamnet juice. Yeah. This week's episode is brought to you by Hamnet juice.

Mr. Kid, try Hamnet juice. Yeah. Tears. All right. So we've settled that. Yeah.

Screamly, I think I think those are locked. I think the most active. Yes. Yeah. It's also like the

least helpful in terms of like the biggest kind of call there. Yeah. There's an opportunity

for the two biggest movies. Right. All right. Well, then let's let's do supporting.

You know, supporting actress for actress. I'm going to go Tiana.

I had to call. I had to solid call. Yeah. It's sort of she was so great when she won the globe.

Yeah. And it felt like great. Is this it? Like are we going to do a bunch of Tiana speeches?

This is going to rock. And then it's been such a funny season. So Matt again won the

SAG and the great choice. Critics choice. And then when we won the BAFTA. Yeah. Right?

L won nothing. No, she gets nothing. It's animal value. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Not even their father's loan or in L fanning sort of a, you know, kind of a bigger figure, right?

Well, they're splitting the vote in theory. Sure. Yeah. I'm predicting. So I have predictions,

formal predictions on premierparty.com. My newsletter, please go read it, subscribe, all that.

I'm predicting Madigan only because Madigan thus far has one, two of the televised awards,

not the critics choice. Has any very good academy for whatever sick freaks wanted to see.

And SAG does have significant overlap with the academy. Yeah. So does the BAFTA. So Masaku is

definitely not out out of it. Yeah. I think that she had a little home time advantage in the UK.

Yeah, for rewatching centers for last week's episode. Her part is not, I think, quite substantial

enough, but I could be totally wrong. She's great in it. She's so good in it. It's sort of,

you know, she has two, like, killer scenes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's, she's great throughout

obvious. Whereas Madigan kind of walks away with the last or even against Madigan is the sort of,

like, the relative rarity of the one nomination movie, you know, nabbing a big award.

But it does happen. Yeah. And a horror thing that's right in a movie that's not really. I

think people wanting to give that movie something also. I agree. I will predict Madigan kind of,

like, very kind of tentatively though. I think this is the hardest of the acting category.

It's a call. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's a, she's also, she is like, she's mild royalty.

Like, I know people don't talk about Amy Madigan much, but like, you know, she's a really respected

no name. Yeah. Two older voters. And she's got an nomination like 40 years ago. She did. And she's

married to a very well-known person. And she's like, been at the Oscars many times. And I just think,

like, I think so many people in the Academy love that story of, like, Craig or being like,

knock, knock. Yeah. Sam, I retired, like, good actor. I wrote a part essentially for you. You

want to do it, you know, and then her just and then yelling. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like, it making

a lot of money. And she's handled it well. Her speech has been good. So that's why I'm predicting her.

But this is also one of those great categories where it's like, I'd be happy if any of these people

won. Yeah. You know, all right. Supporting actor, you know, I think we talked a little bit about this

last week, maybe, but like, you know, Kyle McCann has been saying. Yeah. Since like December that

his conversations in L.A. Sean Penn had this in September and it's never wavered, even though

critics groups gave things to Benicio and it's been, you know, still in one somewhere. Right.

The way it's broken out is like, the critics groups and large enough for Benicio. The critics

choice went to Jacob Lorty. The golden globe went to Salon Scars yard. Sagan BAFTA both went to Penn.

Yeah. Who won? Who won? They did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's been, which is like where he reemerges

is like, oh, he was the front row of the whole time. And then there is the mystery thing of like,

and then like the Oscars just threw Delroy Lindo in there. Like where like some people are even kind

of drawn to like, could he just kind of like out of nowhere? You know, I mean, some of the brutally

honest ballots I've read across various outlets recently more than a few said Delroy Lindo was

your vote. You know, that's not representative of anything necessarily. But again, I would with

Lindo who is great in his movie was definitely overlooked for the five bloods a few years ago.

And of course, I'm sure there is some mind toward correcting that, you know,

egregious oversight. But Penn is in much more of the movie. And he is somebody despite all of his

weird personal shit. Like that the Academy really obviously likes him a lot. And yeah, to me,

the argument is something up for a Oscar pen. It is a little bit. Sorry. I don't know what I want to say.

Well, I was just going to say it's also like it feels like a classic supporting role. And then

it's just like a bigger like I think borderline cartoonish at times performance. Like it's this

kind of like outside caricature. He's really good. And he really leans into that. And I feel like

and the existence of RFK Junior really is another one. Yeah. Just like did he know about this? That's

like where he runs over that bear. And then it's in his freezer. But they both have this kind of

reddishness. This like underlying kind of like like they've been holding their breath and

bracing for a long time. Just like permanently. And the physical. I mean, there's a physical aspect

of the, you know, the transformation. Why do you wear, why is your t-shirt so tight?

So you guys are predicting Penn. Yeah. What about you? I think actually I just based on total

nothing. Just a whim. I'm going to go with scars guard. Okay. I'm torn because I've long

scars. It's just the kind of performance they love. It's a similar, you know, it's a career award

which like he's really everywhere. And like he's gone from like reliable Hollywood guy plays,

you know, grumps to kind of like he's in every franchise. He's sort of a delightful grandpa. Like

the Mama Mia thing really transformed him into like he can be funny. Like he can be jocular. And

then like he gives interviews where he's very candid. He has an army of children that we all

worship like all the, you know, just the kind of yeah. Yeah, like we're kind of like on the film

festival circuit together. He sits at the head of the table in Valhalla. Yeah, basically with all

of his former sons. Yeah, obviously all the Oscars over indexed on sentimental value has me looking

for like, do they want to wear this award? So I'm predicting him, but kind of again, like very

weekly. Yeah. I don't really know. This is based entirely on like a whim for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

The over indexing on sentimental is interesting. And it's just that I'm a I over index on they

don't like to give him people multiple Oscars, which I'm often wrong about. Like I was wrong about

I'm a stone. Transitoring. Well, I saw coming up for it. That's fine. I love it. I have a lot of

friends with my garbage. Chris stuff walls. Yeah. That was a weird one because everyone had an Oscar.

Yeah, but still. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But like a third Oscar for sure.

For sure. For sure. There's a lot. And you have the opportunity to give Deler Lindo

or still in Scars Guard. Two guys who don't have a ton of years ahead of them. Yeah.

Don't like who have to you know, who are like these invaluable journeyman character actors

from very different traditions. That would be exciting if either of them won.

Lordy congrats, kid. Like, yeah, you're tall. Yeah. Very tall. Yeah. Don't hit your head.

Congratulations. All right. So let's go into the look director. It's PCA, right? Yeah.

Without a doubt. Yeah. Or what about the Googler case? I okay. I'm leaning towards Googler.

I think mainly out of like maybe having like immersed myself in the discourse too much. Yeah.

I do feel like there has been notable pressure lately in terms of like pushing like how much

even when a film from a black director wins the best picture. I do not win. Yeah, which is

you know, it's happened. There is like, yeah, like what like no black filmmakers ever won, right?

Yeah. 12 years play in between and when Langton. Yeah. Yeah. And so I feel like that way of pressure.

I mean, I feel like it's so obviously like these bigger the biggest like awards are like going to be

split between these two movies or like the like the choice is between these two like kind of movies

that have been in that like the lead of nominations have been in the lead of the discussions forever.

Yeah. So I'm just kind of thinking, I don't know, maybe this. No, I think you're I think there's

there is a possibility will happen. I also think I think that you David and Griffin have talked

about the Sun Blank check. The Ray Finds problem where people I think it's someone off stage.

People like, oh, you already won. Yeah. Like, well, Ray Finds don't. He got one in the 90s for one of

those big PTA hasn't won. I think so much of his narrative is like how does this is out of control?

We got to fix this. I think he's a mortal. Whereas I'm sure voters think like

cooler has definitely an Oscar in him. He's also like yet 12 years old. Like, I mean, like it's

part of his charm where you're just like, how are you so young made so many hits? I think he's like

my age. He's what is he like 38 or 39. He's 30. Yeah. But that's a month younger than that. That's

young for an I've only made two billion dollar movies. Right. Right. That's true. You've got to get

on. No, he's a piece. And Capri House posters of both of them in his home. I just think

cooler. I think PTA is is a is a lock for director. Of course. Yeah. Brood me wrong. Academy. I mean,

like, maybe he loses. But yeah. And again, we are not saying what we want to win. We're just kind

of trying to think with the Academy's psychology in mind. That said, let's move on to the acting,

the lead acting categories. I think best actress total toss up. No one has any idea. Yeah. It's not

rinds. It has made it such a kind of like weird boring blank spot, you know, where you're just like,

there's more. The exciting thing was like little roseburn get in as a nominee. Right. Right. I

love that she did get in. I mean, but yeah, like there was never there's just been so little question

about Jesse Buckley being the winner. What leads to that level of confidence? Because I've heard that

too from all season. But like, where exactly does that come from? So it's just everyone talking

to each other. It's an intuition. I mean, like that movie hamnet premiered at tell you right.

And the word from on the mountain was like, Oh, she's pretty good in that. No, the word was

Oscar. Yeah. Yeah. And it's never changed. And then I, yeah, I think I saw I saw it in Toronto.

And I was like, Oh, right. That's so obvious that she's going to win. And I don't can't really

here's what it is, but it's just perfect in every way. Like, one does she play like a wife who

cries. Oscar is like, you know, it's the Vince McMahon meme. We're like, yeah, yeah,

Christ. Yeah. And I'm not trying to dismiss the, I'm just talking about like the sort of the

cold bloodedness of the economy. Like, two is she like a young-ish actress, aka in her 30s,

established, but still coming up. Yeah. Like it's sort of an ingenue. They love that, you know,

but then like, but leaping to a new level and three is like she a prior nominee. So that's kind of

great. Here's your, here's your, you know, here's Emma Stone. It's just like, there you go. You,

you've, you've, you've proven you're all your bonafides. And like, now you're the best actress.

She's classy. She's from a different country. You know, all of that. And the competition is,

is fairly weak. No offense to it. Like, it's like, you know, it's a bunch of weird movies.

I mean, I think that also a lot of the other, you know, contenders, like, I think that,

I mean, I don't know this, but it just has felt this way that I think a lot of the studios,

distributors behind the other nominees, they saw Buckley and tell you right, and we're like,

Rose, we'll get, we'll do a campaign for you, but we're not gonna, like, you're not gonna win

this. So like, I think they kind of like put their, took their foot off the gas a little bit.

I mean, like, you know, you know, right, like, Bern Rose, Bern, who'd be my winner, her movie's

quite hostile. Nomination feels like the reward, Kate Hudson. It's also kind of the

nomination feels like the reward, but they're like, you know, good job sticking around, like,

and after like years in the wilderness, like, I mean, that was a movie that like, like, people,

no one was like taking very serious otherwise. But it's just money and like, and she hit the

campaign, like, and our, yeah, Sam Sanders made a very good case, a very compelling case for Kate

Hudson in that movie. So which I appreciate. No, I mean, I like, but I do think the norm is the

verbal. And, you know, like, Emma Stone, and does deserve a third Oscar for Bagonia, I think,

and it's sad that she won't get one. Emma Stone winning the Oscar for Bagonia as her would be,

I think she would be like, can we, can we don't check? She would, she would be the audience

like, no, I'm good. No, I'm good. I'm good. Right. Someone else. Who's that? Who's that? Yeah.

Go over someone. Like, so sort of. And then like, Renata, like, I love her. I guess there's a world

where you could argue for her in terms of like, she's also like been around for a little while now

and she's proving herself over and over again. But like, it's a, it's a more internal performance.

It's an ensemble. Yeah. You know, like, and it's, it's the Academy saying, look, we obviously

liked worst person. We gave it a couple nominations. We did not nominate you, but we did see you.

We saw you. And now you're here and welcome. And good luck in the future. But we're not, you know,

I think it's a little bit of that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, it's just, she's, she, she goes

through every single bit. Right. It's a very big performance. I just, I mean, love that. Yeah.

And when Jesse Buckley is on stage and about getting devoured by cats, someone is set loose.

Then we'll have, we'll have our Oscars, uh, yeah. Sheer a moment. Yeah, it'll be really beautiful. Yeah.

Um, all right. Best actor is where I think my predictions on, again, on premierparty.com,

um, run into some trouble because like, I am predicting Shalamey to win. And I know that people

would say like, he has been the front runner. Except that he didn't win Baffta. He didn't win

SAG. But as we sort of teased earlier in this episode, Baffta was a homegrown kid for a British

movie that they liked and was a hit. And of course that worked out very well. He had won the

premiere. He'd won the press. And I do think that matters. Like, I'm like, I don't think it

matters at SAG if they had won 20 years ago, but they voted for him last year. Yeah.

Like, I do think SAG voters take that into account. I agree. And I think that they, you know,

they give it to him. SAG, Michael B. Jordan. Oh, yeah, that was cool. Which is why, which is why,

you know, and that was pretty cool. And I know it's great that Jordan won. I would, I would be thrilled

to see Michael B. Jordan win at the Oscars. He's, you know, one of our few movie stars remaining.

Yeah. And it's exciting that he kind of is leveling up with this. I mean, I think he's been

doing this. And it's also like, again, like, right, you're using your cloud to make something

interesting. Yeah. And, and may he continue to do that? I mean, thank you. Yeah. So this,

again, this is not who I want to win necessarily. It's just that like, it's okay. Yeah. Also,

I want to know that you're secretly club shallower. Here's why I want, well, yeah, abandon him.

Yeah. I think she's watching on. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's actually like, that is no

permanence. That is, like, I honestly, I'm sure. Yeah. I mean, like, I feel like there is maybe

no, no more sign that, like, that I just turned for Timothy Chellamy abandoned by his biggest,

potentially scariest fan. Partly, not potentially. Part of why I want, if I, if I did want

Chellamy to win, why I would want him to win is like, it would be so nice and, and, and lifting

of a burden, if going forward, there wasn't this fucking Chellamy Oscar discourse around everything

he did. True. Like, you're kind of living with the CEO experience. Yes. Yes. Of like, he made

another big movie you're going to do it this time. Let's get it out of the light. I got to eat a

liver for you. You know, actually do it. And I do feel like, uh, this is such a, like, dominant,

like, performance in a big movie. They ostensibly liked, although no one's talking about Marty

Supreme lately, but they gave it a bunch of noms and all that. And, uh, he's, you know, in

practically every bit of the movie. Yeah. He does, goes through every emotion. He got it to,

like, basically a hundred domestic. This is a movie about table tennis in the 50s. Yeah. Like,

these are, these are feats of stardom. Like Leo didn't get one battle to a hundred domestic. No.

Like, uh, so all these things are things you'd think matter. Uh, I would predict him, but I don't

know. I don't know. I, I, I cannot, the vibe shift does feel quite profound here. And, and Jordan

does have the, the win at an overlap. There's a lot like actors of the biggest branch of the

academy. They gave him the actor prize for, for, you know, they gave that to Jordan. So like,

by the numbers, you'd be like, well, Jordan is definitely the front runner. And I think a lot

of the odds on like Gold Derby are saying that. And look, again, I could be totally wrong. I just

have this sense that like, kind of almost like with Sean Penn before, you know, he wants started

many things. It's like, maybe Shalam is kind of been in the front the whole time. And we just

didn't know it. But sometimes that can get people sick of you. Yeah. I mean, I feel like he has been

in the front the whole time. Yeah. I'm going to do the chaos pick. I'm going to do Wagner more.

I think that's a fine pick because that has, you know, look, I mean, at the New York film critic

circle, he triumphed in a three way battle. Yeah. It was very close. I mean, that thing is like,

I feel like he has been floating in like third, second to third this whole time, like for a while.

And I feel like there is a world in which the like split votes for these like multiple famous people

end up kind of like leaving space for. And I feel like it also, the just the ways in which it would

just rile up the discourse. It would be very interesting. But no one could get mad about it.

No one could get mad about it. It would be a little bit of bafflement from, you know,

yeah, sort of wider audience of like what's this one? Sort of like Olivia Coleman-ish, you know,

in a way that more people had seen the favorite. But like, like, yeah, you know, think about

Olivia. She beat Glenn Close for a movie nobody liked her saw, right? Like, everyone knows Glenn

Close, but nobody liked the wife. Sorry, the wife. Don't come after me, the wife. How dare?

The wife stands. Don't throw peanuts at me on the airplane. Doesn't that happen in the movie?

With an airplane. Max Irons, isn't it? He is. Yeah, yeah.

So there was that kind of instant shock of like, oh, Glenn lost. Oh no. And then Olivia gets up,

gives the greatest speech, Oscar speech, basically, of all time. And everyone sort of just exits

being like, that rocked. Who's going to close anyway? Never heard of it. Like, where this I think

would be kind of like Wagner beating Leo, Michael B. Jordan, Timmy, even Ethan Hawke, who's like,

you know, arguably somewhat do as well. Like, people would be like, what the hell? Yeah,

Ethan Hawke's first to relieve domination. Sure. He's only got three acting domination.

Training day, boy, head in this, boy, head in this, right? Yeah. And then he's got two

screenplay knowledge for the before's. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, anyway, so I, again, I

I think we're all picking someone different. Or no, you're saying Shalame, too. You guys are

both Shalame. Okay. And more. I'm like a very soft, soft, soft soulmate. Okay. Let's put it

up. Yeah. Let's cover up it. Yeah. Because I really, the Timmy is the one where I feel the

vibe shift a little harder, even though like, right, my logic, he brain of like, sag is, well,

he won last year, you know, like, that doesn't mean like that much. Like, I don't know. I do feel

a little bit in the water. Yeah. And sag, sag doesn't always translate, you know, no, sag is insane.

They gave a wee bunch an award for the, like, quiet place. They gave it to sell the best

sporting actor for bison donation, right? Like, they've had some, like, pretty, like, out there wins.

Yeah. Yeah. Right. There's probably some others I'm not thinking of. Oh, no, they're definitely

are. Yeah. In sag's past. Yeah. All right. So, so let's, let's call it. Yeah. I mean, I,

I feel like it's one battles, you know? So, right, this is interesting. You think possibly

centers would would split in director for one battle. I think one battle is fairly locked because

of the PGA, which I know is such a boring reason. Yeah. But that was just sort of the one last

thing I was looking for because the golf association. Yeah. Right. I just need to know.

It's a very strong. I mean, Chad, this type of year. No, like, because the PGA has a preferential

battle, this is the boring technical thing, right? Like, the same way that the Oscars do,

that one battle, one that suggested for me what I've known all along, which is like, it's in

everyone's top three, basically. Yeah. The ranked analysis is a little bit more polarizing,

like some people don't like a movie about vampires. Yeah. You would probably assume that like the

majority, like a majority of those ranked ballots were, you know, one, two, but like, yeah,

one battle is somewhere toward the top. It's a lot of them, whereas centers probably has more

y'all to like, it's, you know, definitely many people's number one, but like, maybe it's down

to six or seven for other people, you know? It's, it's what I think will happen. I don't actually

think F1's gonna win. I'm, I've got money on it. So, you know, I'm hoping, but big, big, big, big,

well, just so I'm just trying to imagine just like the next morning wake them to begonia sweep,

like, you know, what the weirdest, you know, because they do think what would, would that be the weirdest

sometimes all over the place? Yeah. Yeah. I think begonia would be the weirdest of the 10 to win

best picture. Sure. I mean, F1 would be somewhat laughable, but yeah. I mean, good job,

begonia getting those noms. No? No, totally. I mean, it really like, it held on. It held on.

It came out, you know, festivals, people were like, just interesting, like, yeah, pretty good.

And then it came out and that was sort of the reaction again, and it made like some money. Yeah.

And it just kind of like, you know, he's just got his sort of like fraction of the academy that's

very into his movie. But Gonia also, and you could probably argue F1 too, like benefited from like,

a few other higher profile Oscar falling flat, like, just completely dying. Totally. Yeah. Yeah.

Weird. Yeah. Poor Jake. But yeah, I am. They lost her in that basement. Yeah. They never made that

movie. I feel like it could have done really well. And that basement was in a house of dynamite.

Oh, remember that one. So I'm fucked on the vulture. I think I, I put house dynamite. I have

house dynamite. My problem was that I over indexed very early on, like before any of the

views were happening on after the hunt and house of dynamite as movies just that just felt like

they would appeal to a sort of mid 50s crowd. Yeah. You know, like movies that are about big

serious topics by big serious directors in like fairly traditional kind of, like, yeah. And then

both of those movies did not go over. I did see, I did this cynical wicked for good. I bought

that. Yeah. That was really about workout. It did not work out. Not biting on that movie is a

triumph of the economy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Zero. Yeah. So I'm predicting one battle.

But if, you know, centers is definitely a close number two, I would say.

Okay. So now for documentation purposes, I'm gonna run down the ones we just did. And you're

gonna tell me your picks. Yes. And then we'll do a lightning round for the rest of the categories.

So best picture. One battle after another. Same. Same. Best director. PTA. Ryan Kugler. PTA. Best

actor. Roger Mora. Timothy Chalmer. Michael B. George. Best actress. Jesse Buckley.

Yeah. For all of us. Jesse Buckley. Agnus. Best supporting actor.

Bell and Scar's guard. Sean Penn. Still in Scar's guard. I agree. Got to commit. You got to commit.

Best supporting actress. Madigan. You're also Madigan, right? And I'm Tiana.

Yeah. Best original screenplay. Seniors. Seniors. Seniors. Best adapted screenplay.

One battle. One battle. One battle. Yeah. Uh, and now we move on to keep going.

So that's how we're through. Best animated feature. K-pop demon hunters. K-pop actors. I did see one

anonymous ballot that says I'll never vote for that K-pop movie, but I think that was one person.

Anyway. Best international feature. Incredibly, uh, tough categories. Yeah. Sentimental value.

Because I gave it so many other nominations. Secret agent. I'm going secret agent, but I don't know.

Yeah. Best documentary feature. Perfect neighbor. Mr. Nobody against Putin.

I'm picking perfect neighbor. I'm not not very confident in that either. Yeah. Best casting.

Oh. Seniors. Seniors. Seniors. It's a beyond anything else. Francine Mayslar selection.

Best cinematography. Seniors. I am picking one battle after another, which is one

regressor. Okay. Best film editing. One battle. One battle. Oh, yeah. One battle. Best production design.

Frankenstein. Frankenstein. Frankenstein. Best costume design. Frankenstein.

It's one all the precursor. Yeah. Best makeup and hair styling. Frankenstein.

David, are you in the Kakuho hive? Yeah. Kakuho. The highest cursing live action you have

in the Japanese film ever released. I genuinely love Kakuho. I'm really proud of Kakuho here.

Uh, I will pick. I will pick sinners just for fun. Okay. I like that. Best original score.

Seniors. Seniors. Seniors. That was the easiest third. Little weeks. Sean Penn style. Best original

song. Golden. Golden. The song I've been a song I listen to every single day in my house. Golden.

Best sound. F1. F1. Best visual effects. Avatar. Avatar. Best animated short.

I've seen none of these. So I did predict these. Butterfly. Butterfly because there's a sort of war or two.

Of course, we'll pick the girl who cried pearls.

Best live action short. Two people exchanging saliva. Two people exchanging saliva. It seems to be

the front. It's a little bit blackberry. It has a conceit to it. Friend of Dorothy is watched at the

other day. That's the one way. So that could win. I'm going to let go of this singer is just

because I saw Netflix take out an ad for it in Times Square. Go for it. Get those wins.

Best short. Best documentary short. Um, all the empty rooms because it's about school shootings

and it's from a guy who's like famous for being on TV news. So like he's kind of a celebrity.

Sure. Um, but not that I think armed with only a camera, which is about journalists who died in

Ukraine. Okay. Cool. We did it. We did it. Not sure you know. Yeah, we did. Um, yeah. So don't

hold us to those. These are not legally binding. Yeah. You're not responsible for your losses.

But if you do make money on like market, we demand 25% share actually. I'm actually genuinely

interested in, you know, before the war in Iran started, there have been people profiting

really handedly and under awful circumstance on these prediction markets. I know that

the price waterhouse Cooper is supposed to be like ultra secret. Yeah. But like how many,

how many people are counting those ballots? Yeah. And then have that that I think they do a good

job blocking down. But I will kind of unsettlingly fade on a way in war in baby. Just put 10 million

dollars each on on yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's uh-oh. Watch out. Fade on a way will

as they should in a suit of tin foil. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Before we go, I want to ask the three of you

just on paper. Yeah. Besides the Mario Galaxy movie. I know. Let's get a little hot. I might

say it's our literally purpose. Not joking. Your daughter is so excited. I'm kind of excited about

her too. But what are your side unseen picks for next year? Frontrunner best picture. I'm not

going to say the Odyssey because it's such a boring answer. But like obviously the Odyssey

scene movies. It's a big movie. It's to be an enormous thing. Let's go with um let's go with

disclosure day. Spielberg. What if Spielberg brings it back around to doing a classic four quadrant

you know alien pop culture hit that also people think is very good. And like it says something

about how we live for something. How we live today. I am not going to make a best picture

prediction. But I am going to say that a little Tommy Cruz is going to be back on the Oscar.

The biggest question of the year. Yeah. I have circled as the most kind of like what's going

on. January two. It's you know it's very high profile. Cruz has been sort of the Maverick thing.

Top Gun brought him back into that sort of fold a bit. And it's also like this is the start of

the next stage in his career. He is clearly like I cannot keep holding on to planes forever.

And like David Ellison refuses to shoot me into space. So despite my efforts. Yeah. So uh yeah.

I mean I yeah huge question mark. So curious about that. Yeah. I you know I have no sense of

this year's uh um sort of festival movies right at all. It's kind of too early. We just got

the news that Oslyn's film won't be at Cannes this year which suggests it will not be coming out

this year. Yeah. Is he low? They're announcing that a can line up in late or like in early April.

Yeah. Also I mean like what Jordan Peel's new movie got bounced from the 2026 film. George

Peel's new movies now just kind of a question. Oh wait what are we talking about the bride?

Sure. Best picture. Best everything. Best bride. I don't think the bride will win

best picture. I do think she will host next year's Oscar. Can I get you a hold or the bride?

The bride. Every winner has to dance to put it on the rids. It takes so long. It's such a love

show. Oh that movie. Let's do a bonus episode about that movie. I would love to.

Yeah. I sat close to David during that movie and you've never heard a louder sign. I was

sign. Boy was I sign. Minute one of that movie. I'm just shifting to seat. I fell asleep at one

point. You know it was just a great great day at the movie. Cinema. Yeah. Same place I saw

one battle after. Ten out on a Monday. Not the next time for the number uh the the the

AMC. It's always a good time for the bride. Um all right uh well I won't tell listeners what

movie to watch next week because we're just watch the Oscars on Sunday. That's what we're

going to be talking about. So excited. Another special guest. Um thank you for sticking with us

this long through all ten best picture nominees. Um yeah we'll see you back here uh next week.

Thank you David for joining us. Thank you. I love different things.

Critical darlings is a blank check production and association with vulture.

Hosted by Allison Wilmore and Richard Lawson. Produced by Benjamin Frisch. Executive

produced by Griffon Newman and Neil Janelitz. Video production and distribution by Anne Victoria

Clark Wolfgang Ruth and Jennifer John.