Episodios
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On episode 249 of the AwardsWatch Podcast it's another all editors edition as yours truly, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello are packed and ready to head to mountains of Colorado for the 51st Telluride Film Festival with special guest Christina Birro of Pop Culture Confidential.
As Telluride famously does, the actual lineup of films isn't released until the day of the festival (August 30) but with Venice, Toronto and New York announcements and designations of films as a 'world premiere,' 'international premiere,' 'North American premiere' or 'Canadian premiere' we have a pretty good idea of many of the films we'll be seeing, with all important world premiere titles that we'll likely be seeing before anyone like Edward Berger's papal thriller Conclave (Focus Features) starring Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci, Michael Gracey's Robbie Williams biopic Better Man (Paramount Pictures) with the UK star playing himself, Jason Reitman's Saturday Night (Sony Pictures), telling the story of the first night of SNL in 1975 with Gabriel LaBelle, Dylan O'Brien, Rachell Sennott, Cory Michael Smith and Willem Dafoe, Malcolm Washington's adaptation of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington and RaMell Ross's Nickel Boys (Amazon MGM), adapting Colson Whitehead's Nickel Boys with Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Hamish Linklater and more.
We also expect a healthy selection of Sundance and Cannes features to make their way to Telluride for a fall resurgence like A Real Pain, Emilia Pérez, Anora, The Seed of the Sacred Fig and more. Telluride medallions are also a topic of conversation with three traditionally up for grabs. Based on the expected lineup we think it will be Jason Reitman, Angelina Jolie and Samuel L. Jackson but there's a handful of possible contenders here.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h10m. We will be back the week after next to recap the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 60 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to discuss the next film in their Terrence Malick series, Days of Heaven (1978).
Five years after delivering one of the best debut films of all time, Terrence Malick returned with an essential piece of art within his filmography, and one of the best films of the 1970s, Days of Heaven. Shot mostly in Alberta, Canada, Malick’s epic follows lovers who travel to the Texas Panhandle for work harvesting crops for a wealthy grain farmer, only for the three of them to turn into a love triangle of biblical, spiritual proportions. While the shoot and edit of the film ran so long that additional editors and crew members had to be added to the film in order to get the film to the finish line, Malick was able to deliver a mesmerizing, lyrical cautionary tale about love, lust, greed, anger, desire, and finding your sense of freedom in a new world forming around. In other words, a masterpiece. Ryan, Jay, and Sophia breakdown their relationship with the film, the beautiful house built by Jack Fisk, the logistics of the locus scene, the film’s incredible performances led by Richard Gere, Sam Shepard, and Brooke Adams, the troubled production of the film, the director’s relationship with water, the insightful narration, if Malick’s career relates to any other modern director, and how the film’s ending full encapsulates all the themes suggested or mentioned throughout the film.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h16m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Terrence Malick with a review of his next film, The Thin Red Line. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 248 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to breakdown the various films in the Alien franchise and then give their thoughts on the latest entry, Alien: Romulus.
For listeners of last week’s episode, which covered the films of 1979 via a Oscar retrospective, you would’ve heard the team was really high on Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Alien. Known as one of the most celebrated films of the 1970s, as well as one of the greatest sci-fi films ever made, Alien set a standard of excellence for the sci-fi horror genre that everyone has tried to recreate. The film then spanned many sequels, prequels, spin-off films going on for the past 45 years. Ryan and Josh discuss their relationship with the franchise, their favorite and least favorite things about each film, which includes Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien: Resurrection, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, and the two Alien vs Predator films. Once they’ve gotten through all of those titles, they jump right into a SPOILER-FILLED conversation about Fede Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus (review here by Sophia Ciminello), which is a low stakes prequel set between the first two films in the franchise and stars Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson. While the film provides some decent kills, Ryan and Josh give their full thoughts on how disappointed they were by this film, and how they don’t know where the future of this franchise will go after this confusing, wasted entry left things off. It’s a very in-depth conversation we hope you like.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h56m. We will be back on the next episode to preview the 2024 Telluride Film Festival. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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There aren’t many actors that are having, and about to have, a year like Jonathan Bailey.
For Showtime’s Fellow Travelers, a sprawling look at the Lavender Scare of the 1950s to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s as told through the eyes of two lovers spanning these three decades, Bailey earned a Critics Choice Award for his performance in the series at Tim Laughlin and cheekily during his now viral speech thanking co-star Matt Bomer, “Those of you who have seen Fellow Travelers will know that Matt and I come together” and that was a moment I couldn’t let pass by in my conversation with him after earning an Emmy nomination for Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie last month.
He’ll be guest starring on the third season of Netflix’s Emmy-winning YA hit series Heartstopper in October and then the silver screen in November with the feature film version of the smash Broadway musical Wicked, portraying Fiyero, the prince of princes in the land of Oz. He’s set to return to the stage next year in Richard II and oh, he’ll also have the fourth Jurassic World film to catapult him into even more mainstream screen stardom next summer.
For Bailey though, his focus is being able to talk about Fellow Travelers and like his co-star and fellow Emmy nominee Matt Bomer (read our interview with Bomer here), bringing the truth about this period in American history is something he’s passionate about. Based on the 2007 novel by Thomas Mallon and created for television by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia), the story chronicles the lives of staid State Department official Hawkins ‘Hawk’ Fuller (Bomer) and rebellious but deeply Catholic political neophyte with the eagerness of a golden retriever, who wants to work in the Eisenhower administration in the late 1950s as the government began weeding out anyone suspected of homosexuality. Through marriages and children, secret retreats and rendezvous that push into the civil rights era of the 1960s, the gay sexual liberation of the 1970s and the brutality of the political reaction to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, Hawk and Tim live deeply complicated and conflicting lives; of love and commitment, or lack thereof, of unbridled passion and sex, and ultimately acceptance.
He goes into great detail about how the book and series came to him, how much he wanted to do a gay romance of this scope after hitting such a starry stride from the huge success of Bridgerton. With both of us being gay men, Bailey’s language quickly becomes an inclusive ‘we’ and ‘our’ and he also takes time to ask what my experience and knowledge was like. I mention my grandparents, who probably never knew what the Lavender Scare was and he talks about how his 92-year old nana, who was born the same year as his character, watched the show and recalled someone she knew and worked alongside with who was gay and killed himself and that the show was able to reveal a way for her to process and understand it. He wants to relate and wants Fellow Travelers to reach and be related to. But through serious questions, Bailey and I take time to have fun. To joke about his Critics Choice speech, to talk about carrying Kylie Minogue to the stage at Hyde Park with Andrew Scott. “The real trophy for any gay man is carry Kylie Minogue,” he says, and he can’t help but comment on Bomer’s toes (“the most delicious I’ve ever come across”) and we venture into the show’s nakedly erotic and vulnerable sex scenes. So cheeky.
Bailey also wants to make sure that I knew the collective effort it took for him to bring Tim to life, shouting out his agents and reps (“The power of asking ‘why not?'”), and the cumulative nature of allyship in aligning him with gay journalists that ‘get it’ because we’re a part of the same community. “This is interview is knockout, one of my favorites,” he says, not to toot my own horn too much but then again, why not? As he says, “The conversations open when opportunities arise.”
Jonathan Bailey is Emmy-nominated in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Fellow Travelers with the episode “Make It Easy.”
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 59 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by AwardsWatch contributor Dan Bayer to discuss the first film in their Terrence Malick series, Badlands (1973).
With the summer of Tony Scott in the rearview mirror, the newest Director Watch takes a look at one of the most celebrated, unique, creative, innovative, and important American directors of all time, Terrence Malick. Within Malick’s filmography lies questions about nature, spirituality, creativity, violence, conflicting internal and external human emotion, and the longing for purpose in life. He is not only the perfect director to explore for a series, but he also happens to be Jay Ledbetter’s favorite director, setting the expectations for this director deep dive at higher levels than usual. With Malick’s first film, Badlands, the director took his first crack at tapping into the soul of the American culture he grew up in with a tale about a two young lovers who go on a killing spree in the summer of 1959. While it may seem as the most straight forward of Malick’s narrative feature film, Badlands is an engrossing examination of the past that reflects the unstable, violent world we create amongst the love and beauty that surrounds us. Ryan, Jay, and Dan discuss their thoughts on the film, what they think of Malick overall, Sheen and Spacek’s incredible performances, the exquisite, detailed work of production designer Jack Fisk, the narration sprinkled throughout the film, the loss of innocence between each of the main character and how that effects their overall love for one another, and the final fifteen minutes of the movie, which features one hell of a car chase sequence. A good start to a promising new series that is lengthy, but filled with tons of insightful detail (mostly to make sure the guys attempt to sound like they are smart when talking about the thematically heavy films of Terrence Malick).
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h25m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Terrence Malick with a review of his next film, Days of Heaven. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 247 of the AwardsWatch podcast, AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello take a look at the newest announcements from the Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival, changes to the Gotham Awards and the kickoff of International Feature Film Oscar submissions.
Beginning with the TIFF announcements of new Gala and Special Presentations, we look into the heavy Venice to TIFF crossover with titles like Babygirl, Queer and The Brutalist (all skipping Telluride) as well as the 'Canadian Premiere' of Jason Reitman's Saturday Night, detailing the 90 minutes leading up to the first ever episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live's debut in 1975. Toronto will also get the world premiere of On Swift Horses, with Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Diego Calva, which appears to be its sole major fest showing. We then venture into today's NYFF Spotlight additions, including A Real Pain, Emilia Pérez and Maria. We talk about studio strategies and the paths festivals can create for determining awards contenders and how flying a bit under the radar, like Netflix is doing this year, becomes a vehicle for audience discovery. Next we move to the 2024 Gotham Awards, which announced this week the introduction of two new categories (Best Director and the return of Breakthrough Performer) as well as the rules that come with each of them. Finally, the submissions for the International Feature Film Oscar have started to roll in with Ireland's Kneecap, Austria's The Devil's Bath and Latvia's animated film Flow as the first out of the gate.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 45m. We will be back next week on this show for our Telluride Film Festival preview and predictions and on the main show to talk about Alien: Romulus, the state of blockbusters and more. And keep your eyes out for the Thursday drops of Director Watch episodes, which kicks off its Terence Malick series this week. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 246 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to go back 45 years to take a look at the 52nd Academy Awards, celebrating the films of 1979.
Before we step back into another AW Oscar retrospective, the team take a look at the summer movie box office game as we enter the final month of the summer. With Deadpool and Wolverine, Inside Out 2, and Despicable Me 4 dominating the box office, they take a look at how the summer has shown to prove many of their initial thoughts right about the box office, as well as the couple of surprises that took over the box office like Longlegs. Ryan’s team is in the lead by there is still plenty of time left for Erik’s team to make a comeback.
Onto the main portion of the podcast, Ryan, Sophia, and Josh travel back forty-five years, to 1979, where Hollywood was in the middle of a transition from the auteur filmmaking of the 1970s to the more conventional, franchise, populist filmmaking of the 1980s. The 52nd Academy Awards were a good showcase for this shift in focus as Kramer vs Kramer took home five Oscars, including Best Picture, a small family drama that was one of the top grossing films of the year; beating out All that Jazz, Apocalypse Now, Breaking Away, Norma Rae for the top prize. In their in-depth discussion, the trio talked about the film year of 1979, briefly discuss talk about Kramer vs Kramer as a Best Picture winner, do a little Oscar trivia as it relates to this year, and then the new version of the AW Shoulda Woulda Coulda game, where instead of individual replacements, they must decide as a group who the nominees and winners should be in the top eight categories. The rules of the game state they can only replace two of the nominees that year from each category, except in Best Picture, where the group could replace up to three films to make up the final set of five nominated films. As usual, it was a fascinating, fun conversation including spirited debates, alliances, vote swinging and more that we all hope you enjoy.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h42m. We will be back next week to talk about the latest release, Alien: Romulus, as well as break down the Alien franchise as a whole. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 58 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by AwardsWatch contributor Kevin L. Lee to discuss the last film in their Tony Scott series, Unstoppable (2010).
In 2009, Tony Scott received a script based on a real life event where a runaway freight train ran uncontrolled through a small, rural area of Ohio. The true story saw two men, who worked for the railroad company, chase down the coaster on their own train, saving thousands of civilians from the danger of the toxic chemicals on board the runaway train that could lay waste to a unspeakable amount of devastation. Thus laid the premise for Scott’s last film, Unstoppable, starring his longtime actor, collaborator Denzel Washington and Chris Pine (whom Washington and Scott personally wanted to do this film), which is not only one of the best action films of the 2010s, but is a top-tier film in Scott’s filmography due to its blend of incredible practical effects and a deeply earned emotional story found at the heart of this movie. Ryan, Jay, and Kevin break down their relationship to the film, Washington and Pine’s chemistry, the film’s chaotic behind the scene’s production, the film’s edge of your seat pacing, their thoughts on the lasting legacy of Tony Scott, as well as give out their rankings of the filmmaker’s filmography.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h17m. The guys will be back next week to begin their series on the films of Terrence Malick with a review of his first film, Badlands. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 245 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, we're doing things a little different. Splitting off from the main pod that drops on Mondays, AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello focus on the fall festivals and the awards contenders that will potentially come from them. A leaner, shorter conversation, we'll be sharing hosting duties and digging into how important these festival plays, and which ones, can be a crucial part of the awards campaign.
Looking at the Venice, New York and Toronto film festivals (which was recorded ahead of yesterday's TIFF's Centerpiece and NYFF main slate announcements), we talk about New York's Opening, Centerpiece and Closing films with RaMell Ross's Nickel Boys, Pedro Almodóvar's The Room Next Door and Steve McQueen's Blitz, respectively. NYFF is also a great playground for Cannes winners, which we expect to see show up. We also have a few potential outliers, Jason Reitman's Saturday Night and James Mangold's A Complete Unknown, that haven't been announced for any festival yet that could pop up later. We talk a bit about Telluride (we'll do a singular pod on that soon), where the Reitman film could debut, and even earning the director a medallion on the mountain. We have a lot to say about Pablo Larraín's Maria and Luca Guadagnino's Queer, both premiering at Venice in a matter of weeks, still not having any U.S. distribution. While Maria, based on the date it's hitting the Lido, is likely to show up at Telluride, Queer definitely won't. Where else could it be this season?
We talk about the strange reveal of Edward Berger's Conclave earning a PG rating from the MPA. The buzzy papal thriller beach read could be reverse appealed by Focus Features to up it to a PG-13 to give the film more adult gravitas (the only recent Best Picture nominee rated PG has been Greta Gerwig's Little Women). Searchlight Pictures dropped news that Jesse Eisenberg's Sundance winner A Real Pain will move off its original October 18 bow to November 1, opening the door for a much bigger fall festival run right before it premieres. We close with BAFTA revealing a host changes to voting and eligibility in nearly all categories (including getting rid of the way the juries decide nominees) and introducing a whole new category, Best Children's and Family Film.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 51m. We will be back next week on the main show to do another Oscar retrospective episode over the 52nd Academy Awards and the films of 1979. Till then, let’s get into it.
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On episode 244 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Karen Peterson to give their thoughts on the career of director M. Night Shyamalan and then give out a SPOILER review of his latest film, Trap.
As we step into the second half of the year, one of the most anticipated films arrives from one of Hollywood’s most fascinating figures with M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap. The new thriller seems to be dividing audiences and critics alike, much like man of the films within the director’s filmography, leading to a interesting conversation between Ryan and Karen as their review took place shortly after they saw the film opening night. But before they give their thoughts on Trap, the duo talked about the director’s previous fifteen films, the good ones, the bad ones, and his place in Hollywood stands in the pantheon of the other directors from his era as well as where he stands as an artist today. Then they get into a full SPOILER review of Trap, where they talk at length about Hartnett’s killer performance, the film’s thoughts on fame, serial killers, being a dad, as well as the music and, of course, the film’s ending. If you think this conversation was a good and in-depth about Shyamalan’s career, go to our website and read both Ryan’s ranking piece on Shyamalan’s entire career, as well as Cody Dericks’ retrospective review of the director’s twenty year old classic, The Village.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h10m. We will be back next week to do another Oscar retrospective episode over the 52nd Academy Awards and the films of 1979. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 57 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by InSession Film podcaster and film critic Brendan Cassidy to to discuss the latest film in their Tony Scott series, Déjà Vu (2006).
There have been many types of films Tony Scott has wanted to make throughout his celebrated career, but one of them wasn’t science fiction. Scott didn’t like the idea of the focus being taken away from the characters in exchange for a high concept idea like the one at the heart of Déjà Vu. But after some convincing from frequent collaborators Denzel Washington and Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott was able to get on board, as the sci-fi, time travel thriller slowly morphed into a character piece on one man’s journey to save an innocent girl, along with a boat full of murdered Navy soldiers, from an attack by a psychopath. Scott also used the film as a chance to make a love letter to the city, spirit, and people of New Orleans, and in doing so, made one of his best films the guys have talked about in the series so far. Ryan, Jay and Brendan break down the logic of the film, their love for it, Denzel’s stellar low-energy performance, the incredible chase sequence between both the past and the present, make a couple of Tenent jokes, and marvel at the blockbuster era of the early 2000s.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h07m. The guys will be back next week to conclude their series on the films of Tony Scott with a review of his last film, Unstoppable. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 243 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch Television Editor Tyler Doster to talk about Deadpool & Wolverine and discuss their favorite films of 2024 so far.
Before we get into the meat of this week’s episode, a couple of major pieces of news dropped this past week. First up is the first trailer for James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet as music legend Bob Dylan. The film will be releasing in December, most likely heading straight to theaters and skipping the upcoming fall film festivals. Erik and Tyler were largely positive on the trailer, but Ryan had some…other thoughts that’s well worth the listen. After that, the team broke down the announcements of the full line-ups for the Venice and Toronto Film Festival, as well as the opening night film for the New York Film Festival. We are starting to find out where all the films are going for each festival, setting up the upcoming Oscar season. More on that and some predictions of next week’s podcast.
Moving right along to the main review for the week, Deadpool & Wolverine, which destroyed all competition at the box office this past weekend while also showing a divide amongst critics and audiences. Ryan and Erik give their thoughts, which were just as mixed as our review from our own Jay Ledbetter that is up on the website. After talking about the film, Ryan, Erik, and Tyler discussed at length their favorite films of 2024, as we are pasted the halfway mark of the year and there have been plenty of good movies to discuss. Some of the titles mentioned are Babes, I Saw The TV Glow, Challengers, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Ghostlight, National Anthem, Sing Sing, and more.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h42m. We will be back next week to talk about the latest release, Trap, as well as talk about some Oscar predictions before the fall festival season begins. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 56 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com Brian Tallerico to discuss the latest film in their Tony Scott series, Domino (2005).
In the early 1990s, Tony Scott was sent an article about a young English woman who was the daughter of a movie star that turned into a bounty hunter, hunting down wanted people in the greater Los Angeles area. This intrigued the director so much that he tracked down Domino Harvey and spoke with her about turning her life story into a film. After getting her permission, and going through two versions of a screenplay, Scott and screenwriter Richard Kelly set out to make a thorny, sex, over-the-top action crime drama about the seedy underbelly of America through the lens of Harvey and her counterparts adventures, some real and some fictional. It made for one of the most divisive films in Scott’s filmography and one of the more anticipated films to talk about within the series. Ryan, Jay, and Brian break down their relationship to the film, Kelly’s screenplay and other directorial work, Scott’s wild visual language throughout the film, Knightley’s bold performance, and why a movie like this would never get made by modern studios.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h28m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Tony Scott with a review of his next film, Déjà Vu. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 242 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributors Josh Parham and Karen Peterson to give their thoughts on Twisters and discuss their favorite disaster movies.
Before a big political announcement right before the recording of this episode, the news of the weekend was the success of Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters, which made over $80 million dollars, shattering expectations made by box office prognosticators. Though this is one victory for the film, the AW team’s review of the film was rather mixed in their in-depth, layered conversation about the follow-up film to the original 1996 film. The team talked about the film as a whole, as well as the weak script, half-hearted attempts at connecting the original film to this new version, the chemistry between the film’s leads, and the impressive visual effects that are on full display. We have a full review up on the site written by Erik, where he describes Twisters perfectly, as it is “more fizzle than sizzle.”
In the back half of the episode, inspirited by Twisters and the fondness for Twister, the team had a fun discussion over some of their favorite disaster movies; films that cover some form of natural disaster, accidents, attacks or global catastrophes such as a pandemic. The films mentioned included The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Contagion, The Day After Tomorrow, Titanic, War of the Worlds, Sunshine, Jurassic Park, Dante’s Peak, Armageddon Unstoppable, Airplane, Deep Impact, Volcano, Crawl, The Happening, The Perfect Storm, and more.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h11m. We will be back next week to talk about the latest release, Deadpool & Wolverine, breakdown the lineup for the 2024 Venice Film Festival, and talk about their favorite films and performances of the year so far. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 55 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by Editor-In-Chief of InSession Film Dave Giannini to discuss the latest film in their Tony Scott series, Man on Fire (2004).
Back in 1980, when Tony Scott was trying to make his first film, he grew fond of a book series written by author A. J. Quinnell about an American-born former member of the French Foreign Legion. He wanted to make it as his follow-up to The Hunger, but studios didn’t think he had enough experience to make this movie work. Twenty years later, Scott finally got the chance to make his passion project, and alongside his frequent collaborator Denzel Washington, set out and made one of the defining films of their careers and one of the great action films of the 21st century. Updating the story for the protagonist John Creasy, we see a one-man death machine reborn looking for closure and peace after the abduction of the young girl he was in charge of is kidnapped. In doing this, Scott creates a cathartic, violent, uniquely visual experience very rarely found in modern cinema. Ryan, Jay, and Dave break down the film, the film’s visual style, Denzel Washington’s performance and where is ranks in his career, the emotionally beautiful ending, why Rotten Tomatoes is frustrating, if Creasy earns his redemption, and the complicated shout out to the country of Mexico in the end credits of Man on Fire.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h27m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Tony Scott with a review of his next film, Domino. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 241 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributors Josh Parham and Jay Ledbetter go back 25 years to take a look at the 72nd Academy Awards, celebrating the films of 1999.
Two and a half decades ago marked on of the richest years of cinema, showcasing some of the most influential films within popular culture that have lived on as classics that brought us into the 21st century. But with such a rich selection of cinema released by Hollywood, with innovated blockbusters, stellar comedies, groundbreaking international selections, and introspective, auteur driven projects that rank as some of the best films of the careers for filmmakers like Stanley Kubrick, The Wachowskis, David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson, Michael Mann, and more. But when it came to the Oscars for this year, the Academy went with a newcomer in director Sam Mendes and his suburban drama, American Beauty, a beloved film at the time that has become complicated and disliked by many, as well as most of the winners from this ceremony.
On this episode, the team talk about where they were in 1999, their thoughts on the overall film year as well as the Oscar ceremony, briefly discuss talk about American Beauty as a Best Picture winner, do a little Oscar trivia as it relates to this year, and then the new version of the AW Shoulda Woulda Coulda game, where instead of individual replacements, they must decide as a group who the nominees and winners should be in the top eight categories. The rules of the game state they can only replace two of the nominees that year from each category, except in Best Picture, where the group could replace up to three films to make up the final set of five nominated films. It made for a lively, fun show with spirited debate, alliances, vote swinging and more that we all hope you enjoy.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 3h04m. We will be back next week to talk about the latest release, Twisters, and our favorite disaster movies. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 54 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by Kelsi and Trey of The Extra Credits podcast to discuss the latest film in their Tony Scott series, Spy Game (2001).
There is a phrase the Director Watch hosts like to use a lot when it comes to films starring two movie stars where one of the stars is a legend of the past and the other is a future star in the making that goes on to be one for their generation. This is called the “baton passing” film; think of Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in The Color of Money and you will understand the kind of film Spy Game is should be because it should not just be a passing of the movie star mantel, but it should also be a movie to showcase what makes these two actors so special; with Spy Game being that for Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Instead, director Tony Scott gives us a political spy thriller that feature the duo less than one would want, making this more a vehicle for late career Redford to take center stage and face both the realities of his life as a spy, and the protégé (Pitt) he misguided on his way into the field. It makes for a messy, complicated, fascinating film to break down as Ryan, Jay, Kelsi and Trey talk about their reactions to the film, the release of this film post 9/11, the poorly written love interest played by Catherine McCormack, the lack of veteran actors that made Scott’s other films shine, an examination of Redford and Pitt’s career, and some remarks on the better spy movie from 2001, Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h51m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Tony Scott with a review of his next film, Man on Fire. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 240 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson is joined by AwardsWatch TV Editor Tyler Doster to give our final predictions for the 2024 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations in Drama and Comedy Series, Limited Series and TV Movie and all lead and supporting acting categories.
I know it seems like we just had the Emmy Awards and because...we did. Just six months ago, the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards were held in January after the Television Academy vacated their usual September date due to the ongoing writers and actors strikes last year. Not only did we have the Emmys plunked right down in the heart of Oscar season, because the Television Academy uses its traditional eligibility period of June 1 - May 31 and groups like the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild use a regular calendar year (January 1 - December 31) that put, for example, the first season of The Bear winning Emmy Awards and the second season (which aired last June) winning Globes and SAGs. Messy and confusing for the average viewer, to say the least.
Speaking of The Bear, after its domination last season (winning Comedy Series, Directing, Writing, Lead Actor, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress), the second season should find itself among the most-nominated comedy seasons of all time when nominations are announced next week. The current record holder for a comedy is 30 Rock when it earned 22 in 2009. With expanded supporting and guest categories, The Bear is very likely to tie if not surpass that this year.
This year's nominations will also give us a wealth of new contenders, both as first seasons and as one or more in, as many shows have either ended their run or did not make the eligibility cutoff. Shows we won't hear on nomination morning include The White Lotus, House of the Dragon, The Last of Us, Yellowjackets, Jury Duty, and Wednesday while shows canceled or that have ended their run include Succession, Better Call Saul, Barry, and Ted Lasso.
As Tyler and Erik break down who we think is getting in, it becomes clear that not only will some of these five-nomination slot categories be bloodsport competitive, the move by FX to soft greenlight more seasons of Shōgun, therefore allowing it to submit in Drama Series, has really shaken up the race. A race that seemed like a bit of a cake walk for the final season of The Crown as it limped to its finale. We start off with the limited series categories, which prove to be the most competitive with so many categories limited to five spots. Faves will fall on nomination morning. Moving into comedy, the dominance of The Bear after its season one triumphs point to a likelihood of it being able to take up half of any given supporting (or guest) acting category. Finishing off with drama, it's a similar story, figuring out how many actors from Shōgun will make it in.
The 76th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations will be announced on Wednesday, July 17th at 8:30am PT by previous Emmy winners Tony Hale and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Hale is in Unfrosted and Quiz Lady, Ralph is in Abbott Elementary) on emmys.com.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h30m. We will be back next week for a Oscar retrospective covering the 72nd Academy Awards, celebrating the films of 1999. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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On episode 239 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributors Karen Peterson and Dan Bayer to review Ti West’s latest in his X franchise, MaXXXine, and talk about their favorite films set in Los Angeles.
While the Minions dominated the box office this past weekend, it was Ti West newest horror film that got the attention of the AW team. Known for being one of the teams most anticipated films of the summer, MaXXXine continues the adventures of Mia Goth’s titular character after her survival of the events of 2022’s X, and finds her on the run for her life against a mysterious killer in 1985’s L.A. While Ryan gave the film a mostly positive review on the website, the film has been received with mostly a mixed reaction by critics and audiences, which made for a fascinating conversation by the team as their thoughts varied in all different directions, much like the plot of the film.
In the back half of the episodes, inspired by the setting of MaXXXine, the AW team got to sit down and talk about films that are some of their favorites set in the City of Angels, Los Angeles. Being one of the premiere destinations in all of the United States, and the birth place of Hollywood, L.A. can be a magical, daunting, mystical, romantic, terrifying, complex setting for a film, and thus makes it such an interesting place to talk about. Some of the films mentioned in the conversation ranged from Clueless, Mulholland Dr., Singin’ in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, Speed, Collateral, Heat, Chinatown, Double Indemnity, Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood, L.A. Confidential, The Player, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Licorice Pizza, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and more.
You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 2h11m. We will be back next week for a Oscar retrospective covering the 72nd Academy Awards, celebrating the films of 1999. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 53 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by Robert Daniels, Associate Editor of RogerEbert.com, to discuss the latest film in their Tony Scott series, Enemy of the State (1998).
The paranoid conspiracy, political thriller seemed like a perfect vehicle for Tony Scott at this moment in his career, and with Enemy of the State, it turned out to be the excellent choice after Crimson Tide. Based on a script by David Marconi, with additions by writers Aaron Sorkin, Henry Bean and Tony Gilroy, Scott and his team set out to create on the great paranoid thrillers that existed in a pre-9/11 world, using one of the biggest movie stars in the world, Will Smith, and pairing him with veteran actor Gene Hackman, who is no stranger this genre as his performance in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation was an inspiration on the film. Ryan, Jay, and Robert break down their thoughts on the film, the stacked supporting cast of the film, how Will Smith’s career seems like a massive missed opportunity, Hackman’s incredible work in Enemy of the State, and reminiscing on the nominations for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.
This podcast runs 1h33m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Tony Scott with a review of his next film, Spy Game. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
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