Sunday
Dec102017
Podcast: A Proper Oscar Season Kick-Off
Sunday, December 10, 2017 at 11:34PM 
Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel reunite to talk about the Oscar season as the floodgates open - Globe & SAG noms are about to hit! There are absolutely no spoilers in this so listen away.
Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Introductions & The Greatest Showman
02:11 Lady Bird's prospects
04:15 SAG ensemble possibilities
11:00 Girls Trip & Comedy Globe
16:00 Best Director -- easy or tough call?
21:00 Three Billboards, Darkest Hour, Screenplay race
30:00 Phantom Thread, The Post, Murder on the Orient Express, Visual and Sound categories
38:30 Roman Israel Esq
41:00 Colin Farrell & Goodbyes
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?
Reader Comments (9)
Oooh - early Christmas present!
Yay, the band's back together! Roman J. Israel has some tonal problems but Denzel is giving one of his best performances in it. After he was so close to winning last year, I have no idea why his performance isn't getting more traction.
It's really a treat to hear all four of you on the podcast!
One big advantage Peele and Gerwig have in the Best Director race in a crowded year is that they're actors turned directors; the "old Academy" at least, rarely declined the chance to nominate an actor turned director who helmed an acclaimed film (except for Streisand, of course). They generate more mainstream media publicity (they're on the cover of Vanity Fair's special Oscar issue, for instance, and seem to be frequent talk show guests) than Baker, Guadagnino, McDonagh, etc.
So glad Nick's giving Carmen Ejogo the credit she deserves. Easily one of the best supporting actress performances of the year. Which this year is really saying something!
So glad to hear from you guys again! I would definitely recommend The Lure, Personal Shopper, Wonder Woman, and Lost City of Z as costume movies. I really hope Z gets in, especially for Sienna Miller's outfits. Does that have a chance anywhere?
Nick, bless you for saying "EWW" about Ansel Elgort while I rolled my eyes out of my skull, and for voicing my anxieties about Jordan Peele. If he was winning more Best Director prizes instead of First Feature stuff I'd be more confident about him but I just can't feel comfortable about his odds.
Joe, you have given me a lot of hope about Lady Bird's chances *and* given a great ad for Phantom Thread, which sounds even better the more I hear about it.
Regina Hall does not warrant the attention Haddish is receiving for Girls Trip. She plays a straight woman doing serviceable work. Tiffany Haddish was given an opportunity to go big or go home. And she's fun. I wish black female comedic performances mattered to you white folks when Della Reese and Grace Jones delivered Oscar worthy supporting work in Harlem Nights (1989) and Boomerang (1992) respectfully.
/3rtful -- way to slam film-obsessives now for something that we have no way of knowing how they would have reacted to back when movie blogs didn't exist ;) haha. Grace Jones fan here since 82 when i was a wee thing.
But anyway you're wrong on Regina Hall. That's a very skillful performance, requiring her to balance nearly all the film's clunky "heart" narrative, while also tying all the chemistry/friend backstory performances together, while also being really funny but pulling back from outrageous enough to let the supporting players shine. I think she's more than deserving of a Globe Comedy nomination.
Nicole -- Nick and I have both been rooting for Carmen Ejogo since at least Sparkle in 2012. She's weirdly undervalued, even in pockets of the internet which root for black actresses. I mean she's solid to amazing every time.
I have this bad feeling that both Gerwig and Peele are going to miss out on best director nominations.
Would you make the effort to see Set It Off (1996) this year? The fact you haven't seen it is equivalent to you thinking the world discovered Taraji P. Henson through Hustle & Flow (2005) instead of Baby Boy (2001).