If I Ran the Oscars: Recent Episodes
Daniel Blees
Starting in 1953, the first year the Oscars were broadcast on television, we randomly select a merit award category winner, watch the film, then talk about why it won that award. But that's not all, this is our Oscars! We also randomly select three other categories, and decide if that film could have won those awards as well.
Most superhero movies are good superhero movies, but bad movies. This one is not a good superhero movie, but is a good movie.
On the one hand, it's pretty clear that this was based on a play. On the other hand, it's a dang good play.
Hey, did you know that you can make movies with long takes? Did Gravity not convince you? Have I got a movie for you.
A film by a great director, which changed the way movies are made for years to come, but you can tell it was written by the director and he desperately needed an editor. Not to be confused with Avatar, the film by a great director, which changed...hey, wait a minute!
A movie where no one wins, everything is sadness, and the acting is really really good.
This is a good movie, and I will not do you the disservice to make any joke about the plot here, because those jokes could spoil it for you.
Neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear
Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar
I poooooooooooooped in your caaaaaaaaaaar.
But seriously, this thing is a filmmaking masterpiece, either for the story that made people go nuts when it came out, or the insane levels of models and sets made.
An animated movie! And one that's completely animated, not just Roger Rabbit. A shame this one isn't as good as Roger Rabbit.
From this point on, every Native American actor we see in a movie will probably also have been in this movie.
This is where that song, with people running on the beach, that one? This is the movie that song is from.
It's good for other things, but it also did that.
We manage to watch a movie about unionizing without editorializing about current events. Good job, us.
It's apparently still the era for commenting on the Vietnam War. Also, wow, Jon Voight is unrecognizable as a young man.
This movie is funny. And not because of jokes at people's expense, or anything like that. It's vaudeville, it's clean, it's simple, and it's just silly.
Jane Fonda is naked. It's...not the only thing that happens in the movie, but it's not exactly a barnburner of a film.
A movie about a main character that's an asshole, but we don't really like him. However, the cinematography is really good. Shame that this is probably the only time we're going to see Paul Newman in this podcast.
We fail to understand why everyone likes Audrey Hepburn so much. Also, Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble are in this movie.
Plot, not so good. Stop-motion photography, pretty good. Model of a time machine, very good.
Now this is more like it. Watch it for the chariot race alone, and the rest of it is also amazing.
This was an...interesting movie. A decidedly serious look at capital punishment in America, and based on a true story.
The first time we've discussed Alec Guinness and his passive aggressive sass. It will not be the last, I assure you.
Hey look, it's Yul Brenner! It's not The King and I, but Yul Brenner! This was his year, and he didn't have that many years in Hollywood, so if you don't see this one, watch The King and I, his iconic performance. In any case, this movie is definitely interesting.
It feels weird to say this, but three episodes in, and we finally hit a very good movie. No offense to the other two, but this is a classic in every sense of the word, and needs to be seen. This is the movie where Brando says "I coulda been a contender."
Burt Lancaster and Frank Sinatra and Deborah Kerr and filming on location on a military base? Amazing and revolutionary for the time! A shame about the actual plot.
The first episode of the new podcast! In this podcast, we're taking a look at the films chosen by the Academy Awards. But not just Best Picture, or Best Actor. The goal is to appreciate a wider breadth of film making, and so each episode will focus on an award, chosen at random, and the film that won that award, as well as three other randomly selected categories, leading to discussion not only of the award won, but also of the other awards it could have, or perhaps did win.
For 1953, we're looking at the the cinematography in the movie The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne as the least convincing Irishman I've ever seen.