AwardsWatch Podcast #190: Reviewing 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,' Discussing Our Favorite Films and Performances of 2023 So Far

On episode 190 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributors Josh Parham and Zach Laws to review Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and talk about their favorite films of 2023 so far.

With the upcoming 4^th of July holiday this week, families are usually trying to beat the heat and heading for the movies, with the big release this year being the latest entry in the beloved Indiana Jones franchise. Though the film received a mixed reception coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, our critic Ben Rolph was overall positive on the film in his review, stating that the film is a “thrilling joyride down memory lane as Ford puts the hat on for one last time.” And while audiences seem to be enjoying the film, it is on course to be yet another box office disaster this summer, and potential the first big bomb in our AW Summer Movie Draft of the films selected. Our podcast team break down the 5^th entry, which finds Ford working alongside the always sensational Phoebe Waller-Bridge in the current day of the film's setting (1969) and with director James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari) utilizing some questionable de-aging technology to send Ford back to 1944 to play the character at a younger age, battling Nazis once again. You can also see Zach's breakdown and ranking of all five Indiana Jones films here.

After the Indy talk, since we are at the half point of the year, the AW team discussed some of their favorite films and performances of the year, and why you should catch up on them if you haven’t seen them already. Around twenty titles were mentioned including Past Lives, Air, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Asteroid City, John Wick: Chapter 4, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and many more. Then the team briefly moves on to mentioning a couple of titles they are still looking forward to in 2023. Summer is going by fast and before you know we’ll enter in the Fall movie season; it’ll be here before we all know it.

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This podcast runs 1h50m. We will be back next week to give out our final 2023 Emmy nomination predictions. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).