2025 Oscars Preview Special!

It's the Oscars in just over a week and we've got you covered with our special preview episode of Revisiting the Oscars!

In this extra episode we give you the lowdown on the nominees in all of the main categories, with the usual banter, trivia and (wild) opinions thrown in!

We've also used this opportunity to take a further step into music criticism as we cover the 'Best Song' category - a chance to discuss K-Pop Demon Hunters, Nick Cave and of course regular nominee Diane Warren.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:18

Hello folks and welcome to Revisiting the Oscars. This is your special extra pod that we like to do once a year to dive deeper into the upcoming Oscars ceremony in a couple of weeks' time and preview some of the other awards that are an offer apart from Best Picture, which we of course covered in our main episode that was released a week or so ago. For those of you who do listen along regularly, you'll know what our usual approach is in terms of going through the movies nominated for Best Picture. But this one's a chance for us to start talking about some of the other categories and give our views on who should be winning, who's been overlooked, and of course dig into the best song category. I'm pleased to say that we do have another Diane Warren song for us to gently critique, shall we say? It's me, Luke Watson. I've got my two co-hosts, Richard Mason and Scott Bingham, who'll be guiding you through this preview episode today. It's only been a week since we last spoke, folks, but has it been a good week? It's been all right.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

I've been trying today. My dad is in New Zealand at the moment and he's meant to be flying back via Dubai in two days. So I've been trying to sort that out.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

Safe to say that's probably not the route he'll be coming back. He's retired though, isn't he?

SPEAKER_02 1:30

He's retired, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:37

Yeah, I mean that doesn't sound like that bad to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah, it will not be gone by Dubai. That's been my week not seen a single film.

SPEAKER_05 1:48

I did plan after the last podcast to try and uh pick up on some of the international ones, but um safe to say I've not managed it.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

I was gonna say, considering how tired you appear to have been recently being up then trying trying to get into a couple other foreign ones with the subtitles, is maybe not.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

I think they're all pretty long as well this year, the old foreign ones.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

So I think not too bad. Not too bad. The two longest ones were the two that are nominated for Best Picture. The other three are all under a couple hours. Oh cool, that's good. We'll get onto them shortly anyway. Right, so we have like twelve categories I think we're going to talk about today. We don't go through absolutely everything, so I'm sorry if you're a fan of sound or of editing, we're not gonna talk about them. We're gonna be talking acting, screenplay, best forum film, best animated film, best song. In terms of the Oscars this year, we're actually doing this in quite good time. We're a couple of weeks out from it. It's on Sunday the 15th of March. ABC, if you live in America, and the UK, as it has for the last couple of years, will have it on ITV, although notably they don't seem to have it in the catch-up service the next day. Conan O'Brien back hosting after his debut last time. Um he was a pretty safe pair of hands, which seems to be the best you can go for with an awards show at the moment, so quite an easy choice for them to go back for him. But yes, we have quite a few that we're gonna go through today, and we're gonna spin round the three of us and introduce different categories and then go from there. So we're gonna start off with the supporting actress and actor categories, and believe Mason, you're gonna kick us off with best supporting actress.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Yes, so up for supporting actress this year, we have Elle Fanning for Sentimental Value in a role as Rachel Kemp. Inga Ibn's daughter Lilias from Sentimental Value as well. This time she's playing Agnes Board Peterson. We have Amy Madigan from the film Weapons as Gladys. We've got Won Mimusaku from Sinners as Annie, and we have Tiana Taylor from One Battle After Another as Paphidia Beverly Hills, which is definitely the best character name, she would win that prize. Usually the battle time the Oscars come around, I would say with the acting categories, you've pretty much got a good idea who's gonna win. Because you've already had the Golden Globes, you've got the BAFTAs, uh, the SAG Awards or the Actor Awards as they're now called. They quite often have the same person who's won their category in each ceremony. But I would say not so this year, with one exception, which we'll get to. In the supported actress category, for example, we've seen wins for Amy Madigan, One Mie Musaku, and Tiana Taylor already. So it is much more difficult to predict who's going to win the Oscar this year. In terms of my opinion, I confess I have not seen weapons, so I will excuse myself from judging Amy Madigan's performance. And if you did listen to the main show, you'll know that I was not a big fan of Sinners. So on that basis, sorry, One Mie Masaku, you were alright in your couple of scenes, but I'm ruling you out as well. I think Elle Fanning, while she's good in sentimental value, I think her performance is a little bit more simple, and you know, she's playing the token American in this. I think there are better performances in that film. I think she's probably lifted up a little bit by the performances of those around her. So I've spinned her off too. Tiana Taylor, I think he's very good in one battle after another. Uh, but if I was to be critical, I thought she was a little bit one note in this. Maybe that's too harsh. Uh I think I could again name at least three better performances in this film. So she's gone too, which leaves Inga Abb's daughter Lilius. I think she's got a much more difficult role in sentimental value than El Fanning does. She's got to portray frustration, anger, love, regret, forgiveness. And she does them all very well, I think. So that's why I'm giving her my vote. But I will say that I think this is a weak category this year. I was looking at last year's uh, which is always Al Danya won. I think that was much stronger. Part of the reason the winners have been spread out this year, I think, is because nobody's really a standout. I would say, in terms of last year, the five performances last year are all better than the five nominees this year. So I would say not a great start. But Bingham, what do you think?

SPEAKER_05 5:49

Pretty much share similar, similar views, I would have said. Looking at the performances, I agree with what you said on Elfanon. She's a complete outsider here, she's not going to win it. I'm surprised that you've you've you've landed on Inga. I feel like it's probably going to be a toss-up between Tiana and Winnie Saku. And I I do also kind of agree with what you said. Like Tiana I'm tempted to say she would be my pick, but I do I think that's a fair criticism and that it is a relatively one-dimensional performance. She just plays an absolute badass and she's pretty good at it, to be fair. I think she does carry herself quite well on screen and she's definitely got presence. The reason I would maybe just tip her over Musaku's maybe her background, you know, Tiana's like a dancer, an R and B performer, you know, doing switch-crossed acting in ain't always the easiest. So she does pretty good jobs. And I loved one battle after another, so I'd maybe go her.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

I'm guessing I'm the only person that's seen weapons here. You've not seen it big enough, have you? Oh yeah, sorry, I should have should have said that.

SPEAKER_05 6:50

Yeah, I've not seen it.

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Cool. I think she's really good, Amy Madigan. It wouldn't surprise me if she won. I would agree out of the four you were talking about, Mason, I don't think Wumi Misaku's that good in Sinners. She's fine. She's generally pretty good in most things that she's in, but uh I think that clearly Sinners is is a bit of a favourite. It's got 16 nominations overall, and sometimes that means people get nominated. I would argue it's the same for Delroy Lindo, who's in supporting actors, who we'll talk about shortly. I don't see either of them as being good enough to win, although Mimi Saku clearly has won a couple of precursors, so might be with a shout. I'd quite like Amy Madigan to win, to be honest. I think it's rare to see someone get nominated for a horror film, and she's really good. I mean I guess you could argue Sinners is a bit of a horror film as well. Probably a couple of the things that are more notable are those who weren't nominated in the category. So I think quite a lot of people were certainly expecting Ariana Grande to be back here for the second wicked after being nominated last year, albeit not winning. I mean that the second wicked is absolutely dog, so it's not a surprise in that sense, but she is still quite good in that role, I would say. And Odessa as Ion from Marty Supreme, I thought would have been a good nomination here, potentially ahead of someone like Hel Fanning, rather than having two people from that film. I think there's some good performances here, but it's not like super strong, as you say.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Yeah, it's a it's a yeah, it's not the best.

SPEAKER_05 8:13

They're glad you mentioned Odessa as Ion. I thought she was really good and a bit of a shame she's not managed to get into the nominations.

SPEAKER_03 8:19

I think that one thing that is quite notable about this year is there's no real people nominated in this category. Um there's not actually many real people nominated across 20 acting nominations, which is rare. There's usually someone in for like some generic role in the biopic, for example, but that's not quite happened here. And let's say they're all genuine supporting roles as well, so no category fraud. Means Louis Saldana was not really a supporting actress as good as she was. She was definitely the lead in Emilia Perez last year. So I guess we'll see. But yeah, this one does seem to be quite open. Cool. Uh switching over to the blokes then, so best supporting actor Bingham, you take us through this one.

SPEAKER_05 9:00

So who do we have? We've got Delroy Lindo, as we mentioned previously, for his role in Sinners. We've got Benicio Del Toro for one battle after another. You know, he has a previous Oscar winner, plays a belter of a cool character here. You know, good performance from, but does seem like a proper cool guy, so I do wonder whether he's um partly playing himself. We also got Jacob Elordi for his portrayal of the monster in Frankenstein. So he effectively is nominated for being really tall and grunting and then being really melodramatic. No thanks on that one. We've got Stellan Skartgard for sentimental value. I thought his performance was really subtle, it was emotionally rich. You you might remember in the the main pod uh I referenced one particular scene where um it really focused in on his face, and I just I it it was just really so so well done that uh you could tell it exactly what he was thinking just purely by the way he was um looking on at Elfan and recite some of the dialogue from his his play that that really fitted his daughter. I thought it was an excellent piece of acting. And then the bookie's favourite is Sean Penn for his role as bad guy Colonel Lockjaw in One Battle. I think that's definitely his most notable performance in Donkeys. I mean he's been in God knows how many films Sean Penn. Um he's had two Oscars previously for Rolling Mystic River, which we've covered on the podcast, and then another film, Milk, which was a few years later, which I don't think I've seen. I can't actually think what much that he's really been in over the last 10 to 15 years that's been particularly good, other than a supporting rolling licorice pizza from a couple of years ago, but wasn't great. For me, I think it's going to be a a battle between the two big hitters and Sean Penn and Stellan Skarsgard, but I think I would opt for Stellin Skarsgard, probably just maybe a bit of a cop out to say, but um you know he's had a long career and a really good one, and he's not got an Oscar yet, and he deserves one, so yeah, amazing.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

Fucking Jacob Elordi, it's outrageous that he's got it. It's disgusting. I don't know why I'm just thinking, and I don't I know I didn't particularly rate Paul Mesco's performance in Hamnet, but Jacob Alordia is clearly snocking ahead of him, and I think as much as Paul Mescoll is not my cup of tea, he's better in Hamnet than Jacob Alaudia's in Frankenstein, when he's basically that he's not a good film for acting, I'm afraid. He's just like you said, he's grunted lumbers about. I don't know what he could have crossed anyone in that role. He he brings nothing to it himself, I would say. All of the others, Del Rodendo, I think, again, I'm not a big fan of sinners. I his performance did not stand out for me. So uh he's a gonna Fenecio del Toro is not as good as Sean Penn um in one of Battle of the Nother despite them both great. It's between Penn and Skarsgard. Sean Penn had become one of the I think the third or the fourth actor to win three Oscars. Male um actor to win three Oscars. So he uh definitely deserves it. He's good in his other two, and he's very good in this. But again, I think I'd stick with you and go for Skarsgard um for this one. I was a big sentimental value fan, so I've given both my Oscars to that film so far.

SPEAKER_03 12:11

Yeah, I think I think Skarsgard is slightly better. I just wonder though, and I I think this is the case across all of the acting nominations this year, the ones that have been winning the awards tend to be the showyer performances, and there's no doubt that Sean Payne's is a showyer performance. It's a really good performance, but Stellan Skarsgard is quite subtle, nuanced acting, I would say, and that doesn't seem to be who's leading the charge across the different categories as things stand. But I I do think that he would be my winner. Like equally, Sean Penn and Benito Del Toro are great. I think Jacob Alorde's good in Frankenstein. I don't think he's as good as the three that I've mentioned, but I think it's quite a subtle performance, he brings a bit of humanity to the role. As I said last week, I don't think Frankenstein is amazing and shouldn't have been nominated for as much as it is. But I think Alorde is one of the best things in it, personally. So I do disagree with you both there.

SPEAKER_05 13:06

Yeah, it's a bit of a side point to be fair, but um I was having a little chuckle to myself. I think we referenced this actually in the last pod, but there's a bit of a trend at the minute where actors and actresses, when you know if they've got a film coming out, the in interviews they either dress like their character or start to act a bit like their character. I mean, I was quite interested. I don't think J.K. Bolotti did that for Frankenstein. It'd be quite funny if he did. Despite the fact that he'd been doing it with Margot Robbie for that Wathering Heights stuff where they were pretending they had some sort of connection, even though I think Margot Robbie's like husband is a director or a producer of that, so a lot of pish.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

I saw there's another Frankenstein film coming out in next next week or the week after, with Christian Bale playing the creature. Uh Christian Bale's a proper actor, so I'll be interested to see how the two. Why do we need another one?

SPEAKER_05 13:53

It's like how many more Frankenstein films do we need?

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Frankenstein just kicking about in Chicago, I think.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Is that Maggie Gyllenhall's film? Is that the bride?

SPEAKER_02 14:03

Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Yeah, it looks intriguing. Cool. Change attack now. We're gonna go to best animated films. So five nominees here Arco, LEO, K-pop Demon Hunters, Little Amelie or the Character of Rain, that is one film title, and Zootopia 2 or Zotropolis 2, as it's called in the UK. So I'll give a bit of a run through of this one. I've seen four of the five here. I'm gonna guess that even despite being a father now bingham, you've probably only seen one or maybe two of these. Is that right? Yeah. Okay, not too bad then. And what about you, Mason?

SPEAKER_02 14:40

Uh I haven't seen any of them. But I did see the first Zoopolis, and I enjoyed that. So that was Okay, well I can I can riff on that.

SPEAKER_03 14:49

I'm gonna get to it. Uh okay, so so starting off with Arco. So this is the one that I haven't seen. It's a French animated sci-fi film about a boy from the future who travels back in time and befriends a girl in the present day as they try to return them home. The story touches on environmental themes and the idea of how different generations shape the world. It's probably a bit more arthousey, which we we do have seen over the last few years the best animated film category does like to throw a couple of curveballs in there. I will end up watching that. I think it's out in the UK in about three weeks' time. Then we have Elio, so this is Pixar's latest original, and unfortunately, from my perspective anyway, it continues a recent run of fairly average efforts. This one follows a lonely young boy who dreams of being abducted by aliens, only for that dream to come true, and through a case of mistaken identity, he ends up being treated as Earth's leader and is tasked with negotiating with an intergalactic warlord. Just feels quite familiar, lacks the humour, surprise, and the emotional punch that you get from Peak Pixar. So like watchable enough, but it's not going to be remembered alongside Pixar's best work, that's for sure. This one is a bit more memorable anyway, K-pop Demon Hunters. This is the movie that's taken the world by storm. It's a Netflix release, but it's the songs that are probably where it's made its biggest mark. The story itself it follows a globally adored K-pop girl group called Huntrix, who are secretly demon hunters, using their voices to protect the world, and the battle that they have with a rival boy band, who may actually be demons themselves, and the two groups go battle against each other, singing a lot of incredibly catchy songs along the way. A bit of a fusion of Korean folklore and modern pop music or modern cape pop music, fast, funny, like visually interesting the songs. We're going to talk about Golden when we get to the best song, but the songs are pretty addictive, it's fair to say. This is the clear, inevitable winner in this category, I suspect. You then have Little Amelie or the character of Rain, which is another another French animated film or French Belgian in this case, based on a novel. It's set in Japan and follows a young Belgian girl who begins life in uh she's got something like locked-in syndrome, I guess, where she's mind is there, but she can't communicate with the outside world. However, an event happens that means that she does begin to communicate with the outside world and it probably builds on a bit of a whimsical premise and becomes a kind of gently grounded coming-of-age story about grief and identity and growing up between cultures. Very bright and kaleidoscopic, I would say. Only 70 minutes long, so it's definitely a bit slight, but uh an enjoyable enough little film, this one. And then finally, Zootopia 2 or Zotropolis 2, as it is in the UK. Long-awaited sequel to uh Mason's favourite film of 2016, the original, uh, which did win this category nine years ago. If you've seen that one, you'll you'll know what this is this is about. And it is pretty much more at the same and a pretty good sequel, I would say. It takes place in a world where all these different animals have jobs like humans, uh, follows a couple of cops.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Is the Big Sloth back?

SPEAKER_03 18:00

Uh of course the Big Sloth is back, although not as not as funny as the the last time. The joke this time is the Big Sloth is a reckless taxi driver who drives really fast.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

I like it.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

I I think what I like about this, it's got uh a lot of like movie references in it as well that it just froze in, some of which children will get but bits aimed at adults as well. So yeah, it's more of the same, really. I think if it hadn't won the first time, it might have had more of a chance, but let's be honest, this this is one of the surest things of the night. Uh K-pop demon hunters is definitely going to win this. And for my money, it will deserve to win it as well. Which two have you seen, Bingham?

SPEAKER_05 18:35

So I've seen Elio, so Luca went through a little phase of watching Elio, which I kind of agree with you, fine to chuck on in the background. With these things, when I say I've seen two of them, I've probably seen Elio several times, but like as with the other with these things, you watch a tiny bit of it, and then he's like a bit engrossed so I can go and make dinner. It's just alright, and it's but nowhere near the quality of the best um sort of picture I work. And I've also seen K-pop, which I mean it's like crack a cane for kids, isn't it? Um the way that it's animated is it it kind of works me. I I mean I I I don't like it, but um the animation bugged me a lot about it because it it's almost like it's AI generated. But because it's so colourful and sort of pops out the screen, I can see why it's taking the world by storm and you know K-pop's having a bit of a moment or has been for the last few years. So it's like a perfect storm collide, and and then you just promote something to a bunch of kids and there you go. The other two that I've seen, I didn't enjoy either of them really.

SPEAKER_03 19:46

I mean this is from a few years ago, but I remember someone described um that trolls animated movie as looking like an explosion in a glow stick factory, which could also apply to K-pop demon hunters.

unknown 19:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:00

Best screenplay ones now we're gonna go through. So we'll do original and adapted original. I think this is you, Mason.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Yeah, so a bit of overlap with Best Picture here, but not completely. We start with two of those that aren't. So we've got Blue Moon, It Was Just An Accident, Mamati Supreme, Sentimental Value, and Sinners. Um, I did consider uh reading out the actual screenwriters, but I decided not to bother. So often of the Oscars, they'll nominate someone in this category almost as a bit of an apology for it not being nominated for Best Picture. But now we've got 10 best picture nominees, that's become less apparent. But that said, as discussed, we do have two films here that didn't see the big category in uh Bloom Moon and it was just an accident. The first one stars Ethan Hawke, who is nominated. Uh, and it's a tightly written, dialogue heavy film, shot in a single location, and it's no surprise that with its whip smart, clever writing, that it's directed by Richard Plater. I was a big fan of this. Um I think the two best things about it are the Ethan Hawke performance and the script. So I'm not surprised that that's the two categories it finds itself in. It's a worthy candidate here, I would say, but unlikely to win. Secondly, it was just an accident. Uh that's technically a French film, but to all intents and purposes, it's really an Iranian film. The cat crew director and crucially for this category, the writer are all Iranian. Now, not only is this a fantastic tense thriller, but with America, you know, what is it, two, three days ago having declared war in Iran. This film's also about political tyranny and you know, torture, and it could not be more highly relevant than it is now. Uh, you add to that the fact that the writer director himself is a former political prisoner. He's a critic of the regime. And let's just say that this is a political hot potato at the moment, this film. I've ignored all that though, just taking it in on its merits, it's I think a fantastic film. Um I'm surprised they didn't get a nod in the best picture category, especially considering it won the Palm Doric can recent years. That's been a surefire way to get. Best picture nominee uh nomination, but not this year. I would probably have that as my winner here. I do think awarding Iranian films at this current time, you know, even if it is anti-regime, might not be the kind of attention that the Academy wants. And you know, going back to this category often being an apology for the main category. I think for that reason this year this is going to be given to Ryan Kugler and Sinners. As discussed where it may give it to it was just an accident, but I think Sinners is going to grab this one.

SPEAKER_03 22:27

Watson. Yeah, I think Sinners is likely to win it. I mean, I think that you got you've got five good scripts here, to be fair. I just don't think Sinners is as original as it has been made out. It's basically from Dust till dawn in the deep south with more racial politics. Good all the same. I guess like just thinking about stuff that's not nominated here. I wonder so like there's two best picture nominees that don't have a screenplay nomination given will come into adapted screenplay and it's it's five for five there. One of them's F1, which is clearly not gonna have a nomination for writing. Yeah. But I just wonder the secret agents are the one that's not in here, and that's maybe a wee bit unlucky not to get uh get a nod for original screenplay because that's definitely a quite a vibrant wild tale. For me, I think they're they're all good ones here. I didn't quite I think Blue Moon for me was more about Ethan Hawke. I thought the screenplay was a wee maybe a wee bit showy at times, but yeah, I can see why it's in here, it's a very writer's movie. It was just an accident, it's excellent. Marty Supreme I think is a good screenplay as well. I would I'd go with sentimental value here. I think that's probably the best one. I have a feeling that it's not really going to win elsewhere. I I think the secret agent might end up getting foreign film ahead of it. So this might be one of the opportunities to award it, but yeah, I think it will be sinners.

SPEAKER_05 23:42

Sounds like I should catch up and watch Blue Moon and it was just an accident going on with what you've said. If I was picking on this, I maybe I'm just letting my having my safety bro um specs on, but I I think I'd give it for Marty Supreme just because the yeah, I think it's pretty raw kinetic, um, and it has their sort of trademark storytelling style all over it. And I think they've managed to it's a really interesting take or spin out, literally built upon an actual random bloke, but not really about him. It he basically just takes him and then completely fictionalises a story about it. So I would go for that. But like you say, Sinners is absolutely nailed on. And I and I do I th I do agree with what you said, sentimental value wouldn't wouldn't be an unworthy wimmer winner either. It's it's artistically quite ambitious. So yeah, good category. Cool.

SPEAKER_03 24:32

And then adapted screenplay then?

SPEAKER_05 24:34

Yes, so best adapted screenplay, so you know, as if you don't need a reminder, but uh adapted from previously established material, and that can be things like a novel, play, a memoir, etc. Looking at this, voters in the past from the academy tend to historically rewards, I guess, respectful adaptations which still surprise, or complex books which make compelling films, etc etc. So uh it's not really a surprise when you look at the best picture nominees that you've got all of them here. So there's Frankenstein, Bagonia, Train Dreams, Hamnet, and One Battle After Another. I'll go through with some additional thoughts on some of those. So Frankenstein, you know, c clearly it's Del Toro's script and spin-on the classic novel. Uh there must be about no four hundred odd Frankenstein movies now, uh including that one that you were the the Gillen Holt one that you said that's coming out of the bride. I didn't enjoy Del Toro's take on this one, didn't let it spin on the monster, so let's just park that and you know you can get the the fuller thoughts from from uh last year um in last week's pod. Will Tracy's Bogonia script that was uh or is a an English language remake of a South Korean thriller from 2003 called Save the Green Planet, um Cheers Watch, 'cause um when I was listening to the pod from last week uh and I recalled that that's where that came from, didn't need to Google it. From what I'd read, the source material was a bit more of a goofy or a silly film, and it's been flipped here to something which is a more stylish, um sort of intense thriller. Train Dreams by Clint Bentley, uh is an adaptation of a novel with the same name. I think the novel's quite a short and concise and p p poetic piece of work. I really did like Train Dreams actually, um and I liked how they've I I I guess from not knowing the book, but I I can see that they've they've clearly harnessed a bit of the spirit of the book by making it a really intimate, atmospheric film, cracking visuals, really good audio experience, etc. Um onto Hamnet. That's you know a bit of a classic, heartfelt adaptation of Maggie Fit O'Farrell's um 2020 novel. She was involved in the the screenplay for this and helped write the script book Chloe Zow and it reimagined the life of William Shakespeare as a family focusing predominantly on Agnes's wife and the the the struggle with the death of their son. I think it's quite an interesting adaptation because the book is slightly different, more focused on the family. I'm guessing there's more in there about William Shakespeare and it's quite an interesting take that they've flipped at and focused on his wife, and I think that that works well. And you know, you know, the the other point to make is that it's not a a conventional sweeping historical narrative, but more of a sort of character study and a study of of grief and relationship between uh between the two. And then finally there's one battle after another which is a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland. Paul Thomas Anderson does have a thing for Thomas Pynchon he made Inherit and Vice, which was also one of that guy's novels. Again, this is actually a really, as I said, a loose adaptation. It does take some of the characters and the theme from the book, but it's not direct nor faithful to the novel. The novel's apparently a a lot more of a sprawling heavy narrative set in the 1980s, whereas here the film is you know much more of a modern setting I guess you could call it a bit more of a straightforward rescue narrative with elements of body action comedy, but done to uh an extremely high standard. For me, what do I think the winners should be or and will be, I think I find it hard to see past one battle after another. I think that will rightfully win in this category. What he?

SPEAKER_03 28:22

Yeah, one battle for after another is definitely the best. Script here. It's the favourite and it will deserve to win. Other good good scripts here though, it's decent category, same as original screenplay, but yeah, um I can't see past one battle after another.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

Yeah, I think last year Sean Baker won this uh category for an aura and then also went on to win best petrol and best director. And I would not be surprised if Paul Thomas Anderson does the same this year. No missing about, I think.

SPEAKER_08 28:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Agreed. Best international feature film next. So we have talked about a couple of these films already because they were nominated for Best Picture. So I'll give a bit of a rundown of the five that are nominated this year and maybe spend a bit more time talking about the three films that were not nominated for Best Picture. You've got it was just an accident. As Mason noted, this is representing France despite being an Iranian film. This is actually the second year in a row that a French nominee is in this category that's not really French, because Amelia Perez last year was classed as French despite being set largely in Mexico and in Spanish, albeit with a French director. Iran also had a film nominated last year, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which is also excellent, and that was under Denmark. No surprise that the current well is it the current regime? Who knows at the moment, but that regime is not likely to select films critical of it for their Oscar's submission, and this certainly is. As Mason mentioned, it's the latest film from director Jafar Panahi. It won the Pam door last year, and it was filmed in secret in Iran without official permission. It begins with a seemingly minor road incident that then spirals into tense confrontation between a group of former prisoners and the man they believe once once tortured them. And it's essentially a gripping twisty thriller and a sharp political drama that's rooted in modern context of Iran today. But unlucky not to get a best picture nomination. Certainly would have been quite close to that, and it's obviously got the screenplay nod as well, so a couple of nominations overall. The secret agent then, so the first of the best picture nomination. So this is the sixth nomination for Brazil. It's the second year in a row that it's had a nomination after I'm still here last year. As we touched on last week, it stars Wagner Mora as a university professor forced into hiding during Brazil's 1970s military dictatorship. Bit of a blend of serious political drama with dark humour, some deliberately strange, surreal flourishes, but very immersive despite it being nearly three hours with a really strong Wagner Mora performance, great soundtrack, great vibrancy about it, and definitely one of the most distinctive and entertaining nominees in the category. We then also nominated for Best Picture of Sentimental Value, that's got quite a few nominations, mainly in the acting categories, centres on an aging film director, played by Stellan Skarsgard, trying to reconnect with his estranged daughters after the death of their mother. Very strong on the screenplay and acting side of things. This one. You would think that given this and the secret agent are the two that are nominated for Best Picture, they would be the front runners here. But it was an accident that's possibly got a chance as well. Less chance is for the two remaining films. So we've got Cirat, which is Spanish, 22nd Spanish film to be nominated. This is a really difficult film to explain, so I went to see this on Friday, didn't know a huge amount about it, other than that the outline is it's about a father searching for his missing daughter after she disappears and underground rave in Morocco. However, that is pretty much only the start of it, and then this film goes off in some weird and very interesting directions, I would say. There's shades of like Mad Max here, Sorcerer, William Friedkin's film, which I actually saw for the first time a few weeks ago. It's got a mostly non-professional cast, actual ravers that they've cast in some of the supporting roles, and some sound design that is like frankly incredible. I I don't want to say too much about the plot here. I cannot decide whether it's a masterpiece or lizardistic, but it's certainly a hard film to shake, and I think the more I think about it, the more I think I did like it. So I'm gonna guess that you two haven't seen this one, but I would be very interested in your views if you do get a chance to see it. And then the last one nominated here. So this is The Voice of Hind Rajab, which is the second Tunisian nomination, both by the same director. The man who sold his skin from 2020 was also directed by Kowtar Ben Hania. It's Tunisia's official entry, though it tells an unmistakably Palestinian story. So it's a docudrama reconstruction the final hours of a young girl killed during the war in Gaza in 2024, and unfolds almost entirely from inside a trapped car as she speaks to emergency services while gunfire and explosions rage around her, and the film uses real audio from her calls with emergency services and reenacts it from the perspective of those emergency services. From a filmmaking perspective, it's extraordinarily tense, claustrophobic, the direction's tight, and there's an almost unbearable sense of dread. It's it's not an easy film to watch. It is, of course, given the the context of what it's discussing, it's politically and ethically quite complex. I think I'm not quite sure how I land in terms of the decision to use the real voice of uh a child who who died. Um certainly effective from a filmmaking perspective, morally, is that the right thing to do? There's no doubt it's a gripping and harrowing movie and Yar left wrestling with as much how it tells the story as with the story itself. So yet I think this is as it regularly is this is a really strong category with five excellent films worth seeing. Very different as well. You've got politically urgent films from Iran and Palestine, Tunisia. The Brazilian and Spanish entries are are pretty bold, stylistic movies, and then the intimate character study that is sentimental value from Norway. So a real mixed bag here. What ones of these have you seen, folks, out with the two that we've already talked about, and in any particular thoughts?

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Well, I the trailer for that, the voice of Heimbridge was enough for me to think, no, no thanks. I just looked the trailer I could tell bleak, and I was thinking, oh god, this is gonna be two hours of torture. So I I've not seen that and I've no intention of. I'm intrigued by your review of Sirat, and that's maybe want to go and see it. So I haven't seen it, but sounds good. We'll uh hopefully check it out. Feels that one if you said that the sound is pretty good, one that you want to try and see in the cinema.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

Oh hundred percent, yeah. If you can see that in the cinema, it's hard to describe and it I think we've said this before when we talk about sound, it sounds a bit like wanky talking about sound design, but it is such a massive part of the film. I mean it from the the get-go, it's like it's set at a rave, so there's pulsating techno music, which like Bingham you'll you'd absolutely love, obviously. And then it becomes a bit more mechanical after that. It's got like convoy of cars like driving through this like barren landscape. It's it's a really fascinating film, I would say. Yeah, I mean uh definitely interesting.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

Uh of the other three Uh all three are great. This this category always makes you think how is like F1 getting a nomination for best film? And then this is almost like a side category. I appreciate they're an American award ceremony, so you know it's good that they never they recognise that films made outside of America even exist. But this is what filmmaking really is some of these stuff. Uh like all three of the ones I've seen, would be out of ready of them to win. I'm not gonna pick a winner.

SPEAKER_03 35:49

It's also in this category, part-time books, no other choice, was a bit of a surprise in a mission.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

Oh that was fantastic. Yeah, that was brilliant.

SPEAKER_03 35:56

Also an excellent film. So there's reasons why the the films that have been nominated have made it ahead of it, but yeah, it just shows the strength in some of the submissions from the different countries this year. Yeah, I think I think so. Usually get a Japanese or a Korean one in there.

SPEAKER_05 36:14

I'm just a bit gutted that I didn't get a call to to play uh a Raver in Surrat, but maybe they heard about my retirement.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

Um They are a bit older than you, I would say. Or well, maybe they're not they're not older than you, they just look a bit weathered from the lifestyle that they lead. There's a lot to like about that film, or a lot to talk about about that film, but it's it's literally just came out in the UK, so uh we'll still be at the cinema, I think, hopefully in the next week anyway. Filmhouse is shown in Edinburgh anyway, Mason, but it was actually on at view, so I did see it at view. Cool, right, okay. We we're about halfway through the categories that we're talking about today, and we're now at what is of course the highlight of the episode, or it should be the highlight of the episode. We have best original song. As per usual, Mason, you will be our compair to take us through the best song nominees this year. Let's see how we go with the five nominee this year. So over to you, Mason.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Yeah, so an interesting category of this. Uh often there's some decent stuff, but off more often than that, there's a lot of slop. So let's uh speaking of slop, we'll start um this category with 17-time nominee Diane Warren. She has done the music and lyrics to the song Dear Me. It's from the film Diane Warren Relentless, and it is sang by Casha.

SPEAKER_00 37:35

DM me it's gonna be all right. You might think you can't do it, but you're gonna get through this. It'll all get better soon.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

You'll see. Right, so every year we've been doing this pod, Diane Warren has been nominated in this category, and every year we have Slagged Her Off. But as I mentioned, this is her 17th nomination, and it is not only that, but it's her ninth in a row. So, you know, look, maybe it's us. This song is uh is from a documentary about herself. And look, Diane Warren is one of the most accomplished songwriters of all time. We have to say that. She has had hits, she's written good songs, you know, she has. So we've got to listen to these with an open mind because Diane Royal's got it in her to write a good song. Which does make me feel bad for saying this, and I take no pleasure, Diane, but this is more fucking soft. Looking at the lyrics, you can't help thinking that when she's written it, she's feeling sorry for herself for not winning this award. I mean, dear me, it feels like nobody understands. All this pain is gonna fade, you're gonna get through this. I mean, we're gonna, Diane, you're bitter that you've not won it. But by the way, this this is a bit of a theme for Diane. Because those lyrics there. I had a re-listen to a song that was nominated last year and sample lyric. At times you thought you'd never make it through, feels like the world has turned its back on you. It didn't stop you. It's the same bloody sentiment. Diane, you rewrite the same song. I'm trying to think of other things to say about this. It's sang by Kesha. I think she's maybe a good choice for it because it is a song about, you know, pain and suffering. Kesha's got experience of that. But doesn't take that away from it being a shy song. You know, if you think I go on, let her have a win, lest we forget that it was only two years ago everybody that she did have a song nominated from a film about crisps. So the Cheeto song. The Cheeto song. So she's just been nominated because of her name now. It's it's it's it's a scandal. Um unless unless I'm wrong and you two liked it.

SPEAKER_05 39:50

Uh no. I just I'd I had a real chuckle to myself when I first put this on because the first line that just says, if I could write a note to my younger self, and I was like, oh fuck me. She's been using Chat GPT again to write her tunes for her. I don't know, we've heard this song god knows how many times from her. It's just forgettable crap, to be honest. The one thing I didn't know about it though, our documentary was out like ages ago. It's like last I I'm surprised that you that that this song was able to even be included. I think it must have just made the cut, which feels a bit, I don't know, deliberate on her part that she thought, fuck it, we'll get this documentary out. Maybe I'll just release it so I can get another one of my tunes. I'm not gonna wait till like Oscar season. I'm just gonna do it right at the start of the year, and my song will get uh nominated because it always fucking does, even regardless of how shite it is. So yeah, not having this rubbish.

SPEAKER_03 40:43

She's simply not gonna quit until she wins one of these awards, and it's the Oscars, they will end up giving her one eventually. It's not gonna happen this year because there's a clear winner in the category, but one year where it's like really weak in terms of songs from more successful films, they'll end up just giving it to her. But she got an honorary Oscar in 2022 for her contribution to songwriting. They maybe thought, well, give her that and that'll that'll make her go away, but it hasn't. And yeah, as you say, this song's shit.

SPEAKER_05 41:13

You just know that if she was to like win it one year, she's gonna then write, she's gonna chip into ChatGPT, write me a song about striving for something for years and years, and eventually all your effort paying off, and then that'll be nominated the year after.

SPEAKER_03 41:28

Yeah, uh good old Diane. Right. What do we get next then, Mason?

SPEAKER_02 41:33

Okay, so you mentioned it as a heavy favourite, let's hear it. So basically is it golden? It's from the film K-Pop Demon Hunters. The music and lyrics are by Ed J, Mark Sonnenblick, 24, Edo, and Teddy Park. And the vocals are from the group in the film that is Huntrix. Yeah, arguably no point listening to the rest of the songs in this category because this one will win. It's from a film that's a global phenomenon. And even the song was an actual commercial hit, which is rare for this category. But you know, this isn't the kind of thing I'd listen to out of choice, but there is no denying that it is a bit of a banger. It's technically very good, it's got a good melody, it's a catchy chorus, the bridge to the uh chorus is very good as well. And it is also something that we do like in this category in that it is actually from within the film. It's not an enquic song. It makes sense to plot the film, and it's also very relevant in 2026. Unlike some of the ECS songs, they don't scream current. This is very current, and I'd say, I mean, it's Slim Pickens, but it's the rifle winner. You see both seeing it, so you can Is it the best song from this film?

SPEAKER_04 42:59

I won't bring them to you first, because I love this song. So for a bingum. You you love this song. I I like most of the songs in this.

SPEAKER_08 43:08

It's very catchy.

SPEAKER_04 43:09

There's other good songs in it as well.

SPEAKER_05 43:11

It's a song for kids, in it. Like it's for your it's for your little kid to be like, Daddy, daddy, buy me this. Or I don't know, they don't no one buys singles anymore in it, but that pal's got this song and she's got a K-pop Demon Hunter's watch. So let's get this golden on. Anytime you're I I can imagine I mean I my kids aren't old enough for this, but I can imagine the face of dads when they're like primary school aged kids are in the car driving to get dropped off in the morning like demon k-pop demon hunters, can you put it on? Can you put it on? You like die inside. It's just one of those things, and it it's a song for kids. You hope they grow out of it and develop a music taste, but ultimately some kids are losers and will just like this kind of thing for the rest of their life.

SPEAKER_02 43:53

Oh, yeah, speak speaking of, go on.

SPEAKER_05 44:00

A little while ago that Luke went through a period of watching it and then he um started dreaming about monsters and shit so we we kind of we kind of stopped wind them off it and we're back on to yeah, back on the Disney stuff. I I think she was kind of lukewarm on it. So I think she was uh certainly not as hot on it as the Disney stuff for sure. You know what it wrote before you got on to it, it reminds me of a song that you'd get. See when you're standing in a football stadium and they've like when when we were at like the Euros or something and they're playing fucking David Gweta or some pigeon, you've got people running about, um, you know, trying to warm up the crowd, but no one's paying attention because they're either just thinking, Well, it's been a wee while from it's my last pint and I can't wait till the game starts. That this reminds me of the kind of song that would get played at the start of that.

SPEAKER_08 44:48

It's a big show of Matt in Venice.

SPEAKER_03 44:51

I think this is a I think Mason, you kind of covered it from the technical standpoint. I think it's just a very good pop song, basically. And I liked a lot of the music in that this film. They've made a wise choice to focus on just having this one nominated and not having potentially two or three and then splitting the vote. So it's very clear that this is gonna win. It is, as you say, it's part of the plot, it plays a key part in the story, which is what we like to see rather than end credits or stuff from movies that nobody has heard of or is gonna see. I think it's it's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 45:23

There you go. Gotta be gonna be golden. Right, next up, then we have from the film Sinners. This is a song called I Lied to You. The music and lyrics are by Rafael Sadiq and Look Big Gorenson, and the vocals are by Miles Caton.

SPEAKER_09 45:39

Well, I was just a boy, about eight years old. Do me a babble on my Mr. Ship Bureau. See, I love you, Papa! You did all you can do. And they say the truth hurts. So I lied to you. Yes, I lied to you.

SPEAKER_02 46:02

Yeah, for people who've heard this song, that's the good bit. This is about a five-minute long song, and the first minute is decent, and then it just goes bonkers. So I was a couple of points it has I'd say this this song has got the film running through its veins, sung by Miles Caton, who is a character. Well, he's an actor uh in the film, playing a blues musician. Uh he likes to learn to play guitar for this role, so deserves a little point for that. I'd say it also manages to sample multiple black music genres throughout it. We do have here blues, you've got Americana, some jazz. Later in the song, you get a bit of hip-hop, dance, RB, all featured. But unfortunately, it does halfway through this, start throwing everything at the wall and hoping some of it sticks. Sadly for me, what comes out is way less than the sum of its parts. I don't think it works. That clip there that you heard, it keeps too much going on towards the end. It builds towards what I think it it likes to think it's a bit of a crescendo, but it just feels like a bad mix. I do say, and it that was showcased in the clip, Miles Caton's voice is very good. I'd be happy to hear that on something else of his, but but not this. Not bad, not great, but okay.

SPEAKER_05 47:08

Bingham I quite like this. I thought I think this gets points for being like quite a cool centre piece in the film. I know we weren't m all we all all of this combined weren't that hot on ciners. I I'd probably like it slightly bit more than you two. I I think it's a bit of a belt or I think he's a young talented bullcat. I do I'm a bit of a stickler for that kind of bluesy sound at the start, and I do agree with you, the first half of the song is better when it it it goes into the next bit, albeit I think the kind of diversion into a kind of hip hop-y, RB type sound is driven by the piece in the film that it's portrayed in, and and it's also quite an important theme in Sinners, to be fair, but I think it's done pretty well. It also gets an extra point for using those resonator style guitars that it's like a guitar with a wee mad cone in it that um self-amplifies the sound and they were designed for guitarists to play in big bands before we had electric guitars. That's quite cool. I was also going to mention Ludwig Gorenson. So he's he sounds ancient, doesn't he? Like who he's like in his 30s, he might be slightly older now, but I mean who who's who's called who's getting called fucking Ludwig in their 30s. His family clearly uh wrote his path for him, didn't they? Think they'd be involved in music. But um yeah, he he also did a tenant shudder when I think of that film, fucking hated that, and um Oppenheimer uh so um talented bloke. But yeah, I think this is this is good and actually definitely in contention for me out of the the songs. I I'd either have this or one of the other ones we're about to speak about.

SPEAKER_03 48:42

Credit to Miles Caton, he's 21 and he managed to sound about 80 singing song. Uh he's got a very bluesy voice the way that he sings it. I'm more with you and this, Mason. I think it starts well and then doesn't really go anywhere, but I I do think you have to take the context of how it plays in the film because from recollections this not the bit where some of the supernatural elements come into play, and that's what's been portrayed on screen while to be frank, there's not a lot happening musically at that stage, and it does go on for quite a bit of time. That's kind of my thoughts on it. I think it's a decent start, like typical bluesy type song. I just don't really feel it went anywhere from that, but credit for it again being a song that plays a key part within the actual movie, so in that sense, fair play.

SPEAKER_02 49:33

Next up we've got a song from a film that you've never heard of. It's called Viva Verdi. The song's called Sweet Dreams of Joy. Uh, the music and the lyrics are by Nicholas Pike, and the vocals are by Anna Maria Martinez. Okay, you're picking up clips here because I did want to mention something that you played in that. So as with the Diam Warren Shrite, uh, this is another song from a documentary. This time it's about retired opera singers. And I'm afraid, as this goes to I have not heard of this film and certainly haven't seen it. Now I don't really know much about opera. I've seen one opera in my life, which was Too Randy Dot. Um obviously you both knew that is what that is, but Freddy Philistines, it's the one with Nestan Dormer in it. Uh and I did see it at Sydney Opera House, so it's not gonna get any better than that. So I've retired from opera watching after that. This song I'm afraid has not made me re want to revisit that. Uh even to my uneducated ears, it sounds like a song that you'd have. You know, almost playing as people make their way to the seats in the theatre rather than something that stirs emotion in, I don't know, the final act. I do, as I mentioned at the start, I do like a bit that you play, which is the piano melody art. I thought that was quite nice. Did make my ears prick up a little bit, uh, but I was clutching to find some praisingness. I don't know, as these things go, it's fine, but I will probably never listen to this song again.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

Yeah, I mean this just did nothing for me. My issue with it's less about the song itself and more the fact it comes from a documentary that I suspect about ten people have seen. So like why why is this getting nominated? Like it's literally but for all Slag Diane Warren, she is at least known as an artist. Like, this is just like why is this getting nominated? Like they do this every year though, you get random shite nominated from documentaries that just shouldn't be in there. I f I don't mind opera music, but this is rubbish.

SPEAKER_05 51:39

It's it's fucking horrible to listen to. I'm quite painful. They're vocals. I mean I I don't I don't know my buddy opera. I've been to see have I seen one opera? I have seen one opera, I've seen Phantom Opera. Does that count? I can't remember. I've seen it when I was at school. That's a musical. Well there you go. I love musicals, don't I? I've seen that when I was at school. Um have I seen an opera? I don't know if I have. I can't think if I have or not. But I mean that this certainly doesn't wet my appetite for scene one, fuck me. The vocals are quite annoying, even in that clip. That little boop oop oop sounds like fucking hell. It's not Ness and Dormer, it's not the blind bloke, it's it's uh it's just horrible. So yeah, get it in the bin.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

It won't be winning anyway. 30 feet of one which I think's the highest odds I've ever seen in this category.

SPEAKER_02 52:29

Yeah, I was gonna say good news to Diane Warren, because she's probably our not our worst in this category, so I'll play to her. Yeah, well. The lyrics and the vocals are by Nick Cave.

SPEAKER_01 52:51

Lately I've been having dreams. Crazy dreams I can explain. A woman standing in a field of flowers, screaming a locomotive train. Crazy dreams go on throughout. I can begin to tell you how that feels another good clip.

SPEAKER_02 53:18

I mentioned that I was not grabbed by the last song. I think Nick Kay's voice, even if you aren't a um a fan or it you don't really know him, he's gravitas and dignity and grace makes you pay attention. So even if you're, you know, not his biggest fan, this song will make you listen. It's also from a film that's raw, gritty, and add to that the fact that it involves a father's loss of a child. I don't know when you know that something happened to Nick Cave uh in tragic circumstances that lends him um to this, it certainly adds considerable weight. That's why I think this song is so good lyrically. As with Nick Cave in general, his lyrics are poetic, you rap with a bit of gut punch emotion. Uh in this also the music's haunting, it's eerie, it drags you really back into watching the film. Normally I would criticise songs that are nominated from over-the-end credits, but I think here it's an appropriate place for it. It was strange whether it's in the film itself. But at the end when the audience is still taking the weight of this film in, I think it works as almost a bit of a companion piece. This is a very worthy nominee. I'd say it's probably a little bit too deep or maybe too poetic to win, but it's definitely a song that stays with you. I know I've got a couple of Nick Cave fans here, so I was thinking that you probably like this. Uh Bingham, you alluded to earlier that you mentioned there's a song coming up that you liked. This must be it.

SPEAKER_05 54:36

Yeah, yeah. I mean it's just Nick Cave doing good Nick Cave things, isn't it? It's just a a really well-produced, well-written song um and fits really nicely with the the film. Um to be honest, it's probably one of his better singles for uh for a little while. I mean, it's not it's not up there with his like it's not up there with his best work, you know, it's not like an into his arms or Nobody's Baby Now or anything like that. But it's you know, I think it's a welcome addition to his catalogue and nice to see somebody that um bit you know got got a few of his records at least, have listened to a ton of them. Nice to see someone like that get nominated here rather than some of the other shite that we've just spoken about. And like you say, I would it means it's got a heehaw chance of winning because it's go to K-pop, but I yeah, I would indeed give it to this.

SPEAKER_03 55:24

I love Nick Cave, he's probably one of my favourite artists, so I was uh kind of set up to like this. It is very in keeping with the type of music that Nick Cave's produced over the last ten years or so, um certainly since his his son died, quite like haunting, poetic. His music's been more, I guess like slower ballads than than before, but it was a bit mixed up mixed up. He did a bit more rockier stuff. This is in keeping with the type of music he's been doing, and it it it fits perfectly with the movie. I'm not gonna be a hypocrite, I don't like end credit songs being nominated, but I think what you can say for this one is it's end credits, but it does feel like it's an integral part of the movie and it caps it off quite nicely. I think the lyrics fit in well with the themes of the movie. It works quite well in that context. This is definitely one that's considered as a companion as opposed to the the score that plays through the mo the movie. It's not Nick Cave's best song, but it's a nice song. He's got a a good voice and it works well for the uh the movie that pleased it's a part of.

SPEAKER_02 56:25

That that is the category for this year. I did want to give a little shout out to the Ballad of Wallace Island, which is not nominated at the Oscars but did get three batter nominations, didn't win it. Some excellent songs in that film, and I would have liked to have seen at least one of those get a nomination here, but alas, not to be.

SPEAKER_05 56:42

I'm quite annoyed, you reminded me about that because Sarah pecked that out because she was like, I we tend to shoot she was like, I want to pick something that I reckon you will like and will watch. Um and I was quite enjoying it, and then I just fell asleep. And that's not a reflection, it's n it's not a reflection on the film itself, it's just a reflection on how tired I was. So I actually haven't been meaning to go back and and watch it.

SPEAKER_03 57:05

Maybe we'll get to see some see some of the music in it, yeah, or listen to some of the music in it. Interestingly, I actually watched it last night because Kerry hadn't seen it that we saw it at the cinema at the time. I did actually, I was maybe going to mention it when we talked about best adapted screenplay because they do sometimes nominate a like British film in one of those categories, and I think it would be adapted because it's adapted from a short movie, but it's maybe just a bit too British and small to get the attention of the Oscars. It's a very good movie. There's a bit of a stir because they've announced that they're only having two performed live. They they didn't have any performed live last year. Time before that they had all five performed if they did do it. Um so the two they've picked is the one from Sinners I Lied to You and uh Golden from K-pop Demon Hunters. And Diane Warren's not happy and doesn't think it's fair. And she is right, actually. But don't really want to want to watch that.

SPEAKER_05 58:00

Nobody wants to win it, is it she'll you can guarantee she is one of the songs being performed live in next uh next year's Oscars.

SPEAKER_03 58:08

I'm surprised they've not caved in and just let her perform for them, but anyway. Cool, right, okay, so we are heading into the business end of this episode now, and we have the the leading actor and actress nominations to come. So we are gonna do best actor first.

SPEAKER_02 58:26

Okay, so for best actor this year, we have Timothy Chalamet for Marty Supreme as Marty Mausler, Lena DiCaprio for One Battle After Another as Bob Ferguson, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon as Lorentz Hart, Michael B. Jordan for Sinners as the Twins Smoke and Stack, and finally uh Wagner Mora for The Secret Agent as Armando Salemoyez, Marcelo Alvarez, and Fernando Salemoyez. So, as with the Support Actress one that I talked through earlier, this is another acting category that is quite close to call. First, let's rule out those who just have to be there. That is Ethan Hawke and Wagner Mora. Both are superb in their movies and definitely worthy of their nominations. But Alas Boz have got any chance of winning here. Leonardo DiCaprio, he's been a favourite for this. A few months ago, you'd think it was a simple bagging his second Oscar. And I would say he would deserve it. Uh, this is his best performance in years. Uh, and that's saying something because you know that is a man who does not do bad movies. Uh but I think unfortunately for Leo, it is now looking like it's a straight shootout between Timothy Chalamet and Michael B. Jordan. Jordan's currently riding the crest of a wave here. Uh, Sinners has got 16 nominations, let's not forget. And he did win in the most recent ceremony, uh, the Stag Awards a couple of nights ago. So he's going into this one on the back of a win. Up until that time, I would say this was looking like Chalamet's to lose. Remember, he was nominated in this category last year for a complete unknown. And was arguably unlucky not to win then for what was a fantastic performance. This role as Marty Mauser certainly shows his range. He's a star performer at the top of his game, and for me, he should win uh this year. For whatever reason, the Academy doesn't usually like giving this prize to younger actors, uh, which you know you might argue could help DiCaprio. But uh I've just seen that Charme's recently turned 30. I'd say he's the most talented actor of his generation. He's definitely a box office, uh, and I think that will be rewarded here. So Charme to win for me. Who you're giving it to Pinkerman.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:27

Yeah, I d I'd agree with you. Charme's he's he's like a quite a weird guy. I get very depressed when I see he's like 30 and like the the amount of like class films he's been in already. But I just think he is he has the standout here. With in the films he's played, y I think there's always quite a clear difference between who he's playing, he's actually acting. Um and I think there's quite a depthy character in Marty Supreme. He's he's unpredictable, frustrating, he's frantic. I think he's played really, really well. And you know he's not a likable character, which we spoke about last week, but yeah, I think Charlemagne just plays it in such a gripping way that you can still watch the film and it and and and really really enjoy it, which I did. Yeah, Miles, but I I'm quite surprised what you said. I I hadn't paid attention to Michael B. Jordan uh winning the SAG awards. I I think he he's he's he's good, yeah. I know he's playing two roles, pfft, it's not something that I hasn't exactly been done before, it's been done several times. He is really good, he plays both characters differently, to the extent actually when I was watching it uh in the cinema a while back, I actually didn't quite realise and snap straight away that it was the same person. But in terms of the actual film, Sinners isn't really a character study, the characters are nowhere near as depth, they're a bit more one-dimensional, therefore arguably easier to play. I think Charlemagne's the the standout. Um I would give a mention to DiCaprio, I think he's really good, it's definitely my favourite performance that he's he's had for quite some time. Um I like when he's a bit more understated than Hami. And kind of as you referenced, he did win for the Revenant, which was uh almost like an award for his career because he he'd not won one before. I think if he hadn't won that, he would almost be kind of nailed on for this. Um but given he's won that, I think he's kind of slipped down, slipped down the rankings or s are sort of slipped down the um chance or the likelihood of winning it. Um so yeah, uh in short, Timothy Shalloway should should definitely get it.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:32

I think Chalamate's the best. Although I do want Ethan Hawke to win because me and Mason put money on him about three, four months ago.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:41

We're gonna have 18 to 1.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:42

So I mean he's still a bit odds now. I think we could cash out for like four pounds or something like that off my tenor, which uh yeah, I might as well just let it ride now. Who knows? Um in terms of Chalamet, just a bit trivia, he's the youngest actor since Marlon Brando to receive three nominations for best leading actor. Brando was 30 at the same age as Chalamet when he got his third in 1954. So that's that's quite impressive, but probably does like highlight that point that younger actors do have have it harder going to get into this category at that stage in their career. Chalamet doing that is is I guess testament to some of the good roles that he's had. I think this is a pretty strong category, actually. I had wrote down Joe Ledgerton and Jesse Clemens being a bit unlucky not to be nominated here, but then the five that are nominated are all very good, so I can see why that's that's ended up being the five that have been nominated. I don't really buy Michael B. Jordan as a serious threat next week, and then maybe that'll come back to haunt me. That seemed a bit of an outlier him winning last night. I I think he's arguably the weakest performance in the category, which is not to say that he's not very good, he is very good, and dual roles are obviously something that's going to catch attention, but I think Chalamy and DiCaprio are comfortably the two best performances in the category, and I think Chalamy will be a servant winner. He is very, very good in Marty Supreme. That's best actor. Only one real person here, so Lauren's Hart that Ethan Hawk plays in Bloomin' was a real person. Um although um Timothy Chalamy's character is based on a guy called Marty Risman, who like I guess is kind of a real person, albeit the story is very fictionalised. Best actress, then, Bingham.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:24

Yes, best actress. So who have we got? We have got Kate Hudson, as nominated for her role as Clear Son Dinia in Song Sun Blue. Not a film that I've seen, admittedly. Um it follows a couple who are a uh in a popular Milwaukee-based Neil Diamond cover band that are also disabled following a tragic accident. Sounds pretty sounds pretty random for for my money. I was quite interested to see her get nominated. I mean, it's what, 25 years or something from our first and only Oscar nod when she was sort of breakout role and almost famous. So I would have suspected here that her nominations come as a big surprise, but I can't really say all that much on it because I haven't seen the film. Um next up we've got Renat Rensev for Sentimental Value, and she plays uh Nora, who I want as one of the sisters. Um yeah, I think she is a cracking actress. I loved her performance in The Worst Person in the World from a couple of years ago. Um she's excellent here again. At times it's a similar-ish role, but um again, it's it's yeah, uh a little bit more understated than that that previous film. It's really subtle, it's emotional. I and I think she she does a a cracking job. I have no doubt that she's going to be nominated again in the future, and rightfully so. Next up we've got Emma Stone. I think she was always being nominated for her role here in Begonia, which is another Latin Rosis film. You know, she again is a big performance buyer, she you know, she's sort of Intense on screen, she sticks in another belter. She's a safe pair of hands, you know, she's won two Oscars in the past, but she certainly puts in a performance full of intensity, it's raw. And there's that there's one particular scene that sort of stands out for me, which is a one-take scene where she she goes a bit Britney Spears and shaves her heat. Um, you know, fair props for a bit of dedication and taking taking that one for the team. The next up is Rose Byrne, that's a first Oscar nod uh for her lead performance as a therapist caretaker to an acutely ill daughter and maker of curious decisions in if I had a leg I'd kick you, which I have not seen, so um I might have to defer to Watty or what uh Watty. I don't know if Mason, if you've seen it, but um I will leave that for you guys to cover. And then there is the clear favourite in this category, and I think uh she's an absolute stick-on in Jesse Buckley for performances Agnes, um i.e. Shakespeare's uh grieving wife in Hamlet. I mean she is um brilliant in this, it's you know a raw, instinctive, emotionally unfiltered performance. She's fucking great at crying. I'm not sure how many actors can or actors and actresses can can nail that, but she fucking nails it here because there's a lot of crying. She does it so well and um across that film, sometimes it's intense, feels very intimate, um, and it displays kind of the silent anguish of of losing a child and the sort of vulnerability that brings. Um and you know, maybe the the the sort of best thing I can say is at times it felt a little bit unscripted and she was going a bit off the cuff. Um I think she's from the films I've seen, I think she is the the best by quite a considerable distance, and I just can't see any other result than than her winning it.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:49

Why? Yeah, so that's another strong category, like good performances. I mean the potential outliers, Kate Hudson in Songsung Blue. She is pretty good in that film, to be fair, but the film's film's quite cheesy, as the the premise probably outlines. But it does have some darker human moments in it, as you mentioned, but like disability, for example. Roseburn is very, very good in If I Had Legs at Kick You. Mason, I'm pretty sure you have seen it as well. So I'd be interested to get your thoughts too. I mean Jessie Buckley's phenomenal in Hamming it, but it may be just recency by some parks only saw if I had legs at kick you like a few days ago. But I think she's she's right up there, in my view. She's not gonna win. Jessie Buckley's gonna win. But I I think if Roseburne did win, then it wouldn't be a disgraceful decision by any stretch. She's she's excellent, has run a whole gamut of emotion in that film and does it really impressively. I I thought she was excellent. Couple of folks that haven't been nominated that I think are maybe a wee bit unfortunate. I can kind of see why Chase Infinity didn't get in for one battle after another. She's probably on the cusp of being supporting versus lead, and there are some pretty strong performances there, especially when you've got the likes of Emma Stone, who has won a couple of times now and is really good in Bogonia. The person I think's really been overlooked here is Jennifer Lawrence for a film called Die My Love, which was Lynn Ramsey's latest film. A film I was probably a bit mixed on it overall. I think we went to see it at the cinema together, Mason, actually, but she is absolutely excellent in that and I think she's been a bit overlooked personally.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:19

Yeah, she I'd agree with that. Um with you on Roseburn, I think you'll like that if I had like it. Yeah, I mean obviously the title's great, but the writer and director is the wife of the co-writer of Marty Supreme. And it's also produced by one of the Safki brothers. Uh that does give you an idea as to what it's like because it is quite frantic, it is tense. Um the camera's close up on Roseburn in pretty much every scene. So it's made by A24, uh, who often are a sign of quality and a bit uh un a bit of an unusual film. It's a strange film, but she's fantastic in it. So yeah, I'd uh recommend it. Not surprised they didn't get a best picture, no, it's because it's just weird. But um she's real. But I would say I mean Jess Brook Jesse Brooklyn's cleaned up and no surprise. She's the brilliant sheerwood.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:08

Cool. And then just wrapping up the acting ones, we have the new category this year of best casting. So five nominees here are five films that are nominated for best picture, which is not a surprise. So the ones that have got the nod here are Hamnet, Marty Supreme, The Secret Agent, and then the two front runners in Sinners and one battle after another. Probably the obvious myth here, we did mention it last week, is how sentimental value can have four acting nominations and not be in best casting. Seems a bit of a an odd one, but fair enough, it's not there. Five films that are nominated here all have great casts. Um it does look like this is between Sinners and One Battle After Another, like quite a lot of the categories will be on the night. Bookie seemed to think it'll go to Sinners. Maybe it will.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:56

Yeah, I mean Sinners, uh it's fairly I don't really know how this how casting comes about, because with Sinners, Ryan Klu Ryan Kugler wrote and directed it, and he has to cast Michael B. Jordan in every film he's been in. So how much real thought went into the casting there? It was just I'll cast my mate again. Also, one battle after another, you've got three Oscar winners in the main three roles. So it's hardly inspired casting. Something like Marty Supreme, which granted has got Charlamagne, but it also has a cast of uh unknowns or non-actors. That takes a bit of balls if you're the casting agent. So that that one should be taking it on for me.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:31

I think but we've obviously got nothing to go off here because it's a new category, but I think it'll be interesting to see if voters use it as a chance to award the best ensemble, or if it becomes a bit more of a mirror for the film that takes the most acting nods more broadly. I think that's the bit that's a little bit of an unknown at the moment. 'Cause it's like what what are you actually selecting here? Yeah, I think I think Hamnet's probably the one that I think other than the fact J.C. Buckley's really good, it's quite a small cast and none of the people that are cast are particularly surprising choices for the roles. I mean Emily Watson's good in it, but and the kids I suppose, but yeah, I mean the kids have got like clear pedigree from having a corry mum.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:09

Quite right.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:12

Best director then. Over to you, Bingham.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:16

Yes, so not really much of a surprise here. Um you know, it's like a replication of the top well arguably five films from the the best picture nominees, but um probably the five strongest I would say. I will just I guess I was going to structure I suppose I'll try and pick out some directional pieces um themselves from each of the films. So if you look at Josh Safty's nominated for Marty Supreme, you know, it's got his trademark style in it. Um there's a gritty and sort of New York backdrop, there's that frenetic raw energy. And it translates that really well just into the screen. There's plenty of tense anxiety and just in moments, um, some pretty cool action scenes and plenty of bold stylistic choices, but not least like the soundtrack, and those those translate really well when when they set off against those um table tennis action scenes, which I think work really, really well. George M Trier is uh also nominated for Sentimental Value. That one's a bit more of like a naturalist direction, it's much more of an intimate film which he he brings to life. I did kind of criticise it a little bit for not having the same flair as Worst Person in the World, which he did a couple of years ago, but it's a bit more of a vulnerable and intimate tale. I did quite like how he used a lot of long detailed close-ups of faces to sort of bring the stillness of the film together. Chloe Zou, uh she's also nominated for Hamnet. Did like the directional choice of focusing on Agnes as the emotional core of the film rather than more obvious tale, which could have focused on William Shakespeare. He's got a kind of like ethereal style. There's a lot of framing, um, and I think the cinematography is really good, and that the film overall manages to have this kind of like haunted cathartic type vibe, which I think she does really well, and it's something which is in her other sh well there was a similar f naturalist type feeling in Nomad Land. Yeah, that's the one. I forgot I was bored through that. Anyway, Ryan Kugor is um nominated for Sinners. We we spoke a lot about it, blends a lot of genres together, builds a big atmosphere, does a lot of world building here. Is it the best direction? Not not for me, but um it's it's heavily tipped. And of course, Paul Thomas Anderson for one battle after another, I think honestly it should just really be a stick on that. He gets it. One of the I did reference it in the pod last week, but I really did like the the use of the sort of 1970s style cameras that he uses. The use VistaVision cameras, I'm sure. There's a lot of wide-length shots, low angle, but I particularly like the directional choice to have location in the stage in, particularly those car chase scenes, which I just think are absolutely brilliant to set in the river what it's called the River of Hills in California, where you've got cars um appearing and reappearing, uh, which drives tension, quite Hitchcock-esque, I would say. And I also think he he sort of skillfully manages the the theme and the tone of the film um so well with uh um with action as well as some really brilliant black comedic moments. So he would be my winner.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:35

Yeah, I think all the things they've got very good, they're all very good directors and they're all good films. Chloe Shao's direction during the final third time is fantastic. Best thing she's done. Marty Cupri is just Safty Brothers through and three. I know he's not Josh, Josh Safety. But um I think he's not gonna win this year, but I think he will win in a future year. Um that scene in the desert with the car chasing one bat after another should win it for Paul Thomas Anderson. He also has the best catalogue of the five directors, and I dare say because he hasn't won it yet, he will win it for this. Sentimental values much as I love it. I can't say the direction left me amazed. Um but it's a good film. And he's a fingerprint all over it. And Ryan Cluencers, yeah, the sequence in the uh joint when the vampires arrive in very good PCA's got this in the bag. Yeah, he has.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:26

And he'll deserve it. I would say for me, the second place is Josh Safety for Marty Supreme. I think he does some some great work there. But Paul Thomas Anderson, obviously there's a whole narrative that he's not won before and he's had like countless nominations in different categories. Um but this is actually a very good film and probably the best film of the year. So it's not like he's winning for something that's not worthy in its own right. I think this is more of a certainty than best picture, which I think it will win. But I think this is more of a certainty than that, he'll definitely win this. So yeah, we shall see. Best picture, just to very quickly recap, uh the ten nominees are Begonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners and Train Dreams. And if you want to find out more about our thoughts on those films overall, then please check out our other podcast, which was released last week. Um that brings this extra episode to a close. Yes, thanks for listening. If you did enjoy it, please share it around. And uh yeah, thanks to my two co-hosts for your contributions today. Cheers.