OscarWatch Podcast

Just because a Christmas movie never won Best Picture doesn't mean we can't talk about Christmas movies on this show. Join us as we take a look at the cult classic Yuletide slasher, Christmas Evil! A film that borrows its cues not from Halloween or other holiday themed horror shows, but a very OscarWatch friendly source: Taxi Driver. This is a story of a man driven over the edge, and he must become something else to fix the world. It just so happens, our hero becomes Santa Claus. What follows next is a very interesting character study. Join Amy, Matt and Steve for a discussion on the themes, the gore, the music and where our sympathies should lie. What is the true meaning of Christmas? Just listen! Thanks for tuning in. Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, a very Swedish Christmas!

We kick off our holiday season with the ultimate Christmastime family battle: The Lion In Winter (1968). Some families talk politics, this family IS politics. Amy and Steve discuss the near infinte quotability of the film, the performances of its leads, just how much scenery Peter O'Toole chews (hint: all of it) and Steve lends us a particular family insight of his own. Plus: James Bond made his debut! But which Bond? Listen in! We welcome Amy officially to the OscarWatch family. Huzzah! Director Anthony Harvey passed away today, November 30th at the age of 87. We would love to say that we recorded this in his memory, but it was already in the can when the news broke. Our thoughts to his family, and thank you Mr. Harvey for giving us such an enduring, endearing film. Next week, Matt returns with the next episode of our UnOscar edition. So, You Better Watch Out!

For the first time in forever...we're talking about a Disney princess movie! Frozen shattered box office records and melted the hearts of millions - while simultaneously destroying parents with its incessant and catchy soundtrack. Amy and Steve look back at the biggest animated phenomenon in years to see what all the fuss is about. Is Elsa really a good role model for young girls, what with all the running away from her feelings? And doesn't Let It Go kinda sound like it was written for a bad guy (hint: it was)? Plus, let's be real: Hans is the best character, because Hans is the only person who has a plan - a desire - during this entire thing. And of course, we discuss why Olaf is not only not funny, but entirely useless. All that and more, this week on the podcast. I'm sure you're mad just reading this description, so be sure to send us your hate to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The film never answers exactly how green the valley was, but that didn't stop John Ford from taking home gold at the Oscars! The slice of life film about a 19th century Welsh mining town has something of everything - love, workers rights, coming of age - and that may be its major problem. Joining the show once again is Amy Thomasson, who has some choice opinions on the Oscar race that year - and how there were some very, very, VERY heavy hitters nominated. Does the love story work? And what to make of our main character, does he exist simply to observe while others do the heavy lifting? And in a film with such great women, why aren't they front and center? All those questions are answered...though as to the greeness, we sadly cannot comment. Send us a message with your thoughts and questions to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we...let it GOOOOOOO!

So what do you want to do tonight? I don't know, what do you want to do? Why don't we discuss Marty, the 1955 Best Picture winner!? A small little film that one would call 'indie' today, the movie made a big splash at the time. But is it "the best" Steve and guest host Amy Thomasson - avowed classic film lover - discuss the social mores of the time, what does and does not hold up. how we all have 'that' friend and the universality (and quaintness) of "an ordinary love story". One that's about you and me, and all of us regular, podcast listening folk. We hope you enjoy listening! Let us know what you think of Amy, she'll probably be chiming in from time to time. Drop us an email at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com, and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we find out just how damn green my valley is anyways!

We finish our Halloween festival with the first horror film to ever be nominated for Best Picture, 1973's The Exorcist. We are joined by very special guest and longtime co-host Alex Riviello to discuss the legacy and influence of William Friedkin's supernatural tale, examine why it has - and has not - held up, the controversy surrounding one of the movie's nominations and just why did Tubular Bells become as big as it did? Steve confesses that he always assumed Max von Sydow was old because of this movie. Plus, Matt reloads his gun for the film's director as we talk about all the crap Friedkin put his actors through. We're excited to have Alex back! If you are, too, then tell us about it in an email to oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com, and be sure to find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Welcome back to the UnOscars, our cinematic sorbet of dumb, fun delight! This week, we tackle the most Halloween movie ever - yes, even more Halloween than the movie that is actually titled 'Halloween', it's the DTV cult favorite, Trick 'r Treat (2009)! Matt gets to wax poetic about his favorite genre, Steve gets bowled over by the joy on display and we all have a gory good time with this spooktacular little anthology film. It's good family entertainment; and remember, the family that slays together, stays together! Drop us a note at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week: it is time to turn our heads and vomit, for we are exorcising some demons.

Hi, hi, hi there internet! Join your humble narrators, alongside our guest droog Justin Clark as they take on Stanley Kubrick's 1971 bit of the old-ultra-violence, A Clockwork Orange. A film about human nature and the future, and the future is always right here, right now. We discuss the twisted morality of the film and how it indicts not only its characters, but the audience as well. We learn that Justin's version of hell would be the Ludovico technique, only instead of The Triumph of the Will, it'd be Baby Geniuses. And just why is Matt so damn angry at Katherine Heigl? We may never know, but it sure is fun listening to him go off. All this and a discussion about why we shouldn't trust the Man to fix our nature. Thanks for listening! Be sure to drop a letter to us at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media. Next week, the UnOscars are back!

Note: the sound on Steve's microphone is a bit messed up and at times, low. Thank you for understanding. We see dead people this week as we begin in earnest our Octoberfestival of ReConsideration, a celebration of the very few horror and horror-ish titles to be nominated for Best Picture. Our first look is the 1999 spooktacular The Sixth Sense, the film that put Shyamalan on the map (for better and worse). We examine why it succeeds as more than just a scary movie, whether it is a scary movie and just how great an actor...Toni Collette is! (She's fabulous). Plus, we debate the logical leap one must make from your primary senses to SENSING AND INTERACTING WITH THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. There ought to be a few others in between, yeah? And of course, did this maybe deserve Best Picture. The answer surprised us...kinda like the ending to this movie! Thank your for your patience in waiting for this one. Sorry the audio isn't what it normally is, massive microphone issues this week. Hope to have em fixed next time. Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to follow us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, preparest thou for a bit of the old ultra-violence...

Rebecca is a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl get married. Girl is haunted by the metaphorical ghost of her husband's dead wife. Boy gets put under suspicion of murder. And so on. The great Alfred Hitchcock may never have won a competitive Oscar himself, but he did direct a Best Picture winner! This week, Matt and Steve discuss just when a movie is supposed to start - and why so few seem to ever do so, the greatest of both Olivier and Fontaine and how much of this film belongs to Hitch, and how much to his producer, David O. Selznick. Gothic, mysterious and tense, Rebecca starts off our five weeks of Octoberfestival! Write us your thoughts at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod; subscribe and review on iTunes! Next week...we see dead people.

Matt and Steve head over to Italy for a film that sums up the awfulness of the 70s pretty well: 1970's Best Foreign Language Winner, Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion, a crime drama where we follow the killer as he investigates, well, himself. A scathing satire of police corruption and what it means to be powerful, Elio Petri's film is as relevant today as it was nearly fifty years ago - if not moreso. With a command performance by Gian Maria Volante and a score by the great Ennio Morricone, the boys have a fun time getting to the universal themes, drama and tragedy of this one. Fun AND police corruption? Together? Oh yes! Thanks for listening. Be sure to write us at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Next week, we begin our Octoberfestival of horror a little early...

This week, we're as mad as hell and we aren't going to take it any more! So, naturally, we're going to discuss the 1976 Best Picture nominee (and winner of Best Original Screenplay), Network, a film that is called a satire but in the forty years since its release, has become something more akin to prophecy. Joining Steve is Shahir Daud from The Only Podcast About Movies to discuss Paddy Chayefsky's brilliant, award winning script; one full of passion, fury, anger, ideas and maybe one too many monologues. What does the movie have to say about us - the audience - and the world at large? Nothing good, really, but it's one hell of a ride. Drop us a line on our own little network at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and be sure to find us on social media @oscarwatchpod Thanks for listening!

At long last, the boys of OscarWatch finally get to tackle Asghar Farhadi's stunning 2011 Best Foreign Language Film winner, A Separation. Bravura filmmaking and a dynamite script drives this story relentlessly forward, forcing Steve to consider it alongside another modern masterpiece...Mad Max? Plus, though the language and cultures are different, there are some problems that all people feel. We answer your questions and get down to the business of dismantling the patriarchy! Also, we name drop Shahir Daud of the Only Podcast About Movies at least a dozen times. So that's cool. Thanks for listening. Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media. Next week, we're mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore.

This week, Matt and Steve travel to the jungles of Vietnam for the intense and personal experience that is Oliver Stone's Platoon, the 1986 Best Picture Winner. A sobering look at the lives of infantrymen during that conflict, the film pulls no punches and has as much to say now as it did then. We talk the frenetic feel to the violence and how you never feel safe out there in the jungles of Nam. And ask, is that Barber piece used just a bit too much? (Yes, and no) Finally: just what does Platoon and Star Wars have in common? All this and more in our latest episode! Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media, Subscribe and review us on iTunes! Thank you for listening.

This week, Matt and Steve say 'Cheese!' and take a look at the last non-CGI Best Animated Picture winner, 2005's Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit! Just what makes these two characters so delightful? Is it the animation? The voice work? There is a timelessness to the setting and stories of Were-Rabbit, and Matt gets to mine his considerable knowledge of Hammer and Universal horror films to dissect this loving homage to both. Which, despite its boundless joy and comedy, has some great 'scary movie' tropes to it. Plus, we answer your questions about animated films and this year's Oscar race! Drop us a line at oscarwatchpodcast@gmail.com and find us on social media @oscarwatchpod. Next week, we travel from the idyllic English countryside to the jungles of Nam. Oh yes, it's time for Platoon.