The Awards Watch Podcast

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Director Watch Podcast Ep. 59 - 'Badlands' (Terrence Malick, 1973) Aug 15, 2024

Show notes

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).

Ep. 247: New TIFF and NYFF Announcements, New Gotham Awards Categories and International Feature Film Submissions Begin Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

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).

Ep. 246: 52nd Oscars Retrospective and If We Picked the Nominees and Winners Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

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).

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 58 - 'Unstoppable' (Tony Scott, 2010) Aug 09, 2024

Show notes

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).

Ep. 245: Looking at the Top Awards Contenders of the Venice, TIFF and NYFF Lineups Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

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.

Ep 244: Reviewing 'Trap' and a Look Back at M. Night Shyamalan's Complicated Career Aug 05, 2024

Show notes

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).

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 57 - 'Deja Vu (Tony Scott, 2006) with guest Brendan Cassidy of InSession Film Aug 02, 2024

Show notes

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).

Ep. 243 - 'Deadpool & Wolverine' Review and Our Favorite Film and Performances of 2024 So Far Jul 28, 2024

Show notes

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).

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 56 - 'Domino' (Tony Scott, 2005) with guest Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com Jul 25, 2024

Show notes

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).

AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 242: Reviewing 'Twisters' and Our Favorite Disaster Movies Jul 22, 2024

Show notes

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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