The AwardsWatch Podcast
Podcasts from AwardsWatch on the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, SAG and more.

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 34 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the latest film in their William Friedkin series, The Hunted (2003).

In the early 2000s, William Friedkin had transitioned into work in some mainstream adult action-dramas that looked into ideas of the military industrial complex and how those institutions can break and corrupt a man. With his 2000 feature, Rules of Engagement, he unsuccessfully tried to tackle these issues in a run of the mill court room drama that fell flat for most audiences, as well as Ryan and Jay. But with The Hunted, Friedkin makes a bloody, lean, mean action thriller about an FBI deep-woods tracker who attempts to capture a trained assassin he mentored who is going on a killing spree and must be stopped. Led by two entertaining performances from Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio del Toro, the guys break down this underrated gem in Friedkin’s filmography, the wild action sequences, Tommy Lee Jones’s career, the biting commentary Friedkin is able to pull off with making a cat and mouse thriller, and they get into a little bit of a debate on the correct year you should say when referring to a previous Oscar season.

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 1h38m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series covering the films of William Friedkin with a review of his next film, Bug. You can stream the film on Pluto TV. 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).

Direct download: Director_Watch_TheHunted.mp3
Category:Director Watch -- posted at: 10:27am PDT

On episode 220 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to give their reactions to the 2024 SAG Awards.

Before we get into talking about the SAG Awards, the first significant release of 2024 screened this past week, as many were able to get a first look at Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two before it arrives in theaters later this week. Ryan and Erik were able to be some of the lucky critics to catch it, and gave their quick, spoiler free reactions to the film at the top of the show. The full review from Ryan is live on the website, and there will be a new episode of Director Watch coming soon to discuss the film is its totality.

Onto the main topic for this week, the gang come together to talk about the 2024 SAG Awards, which streamed live on Netflix this past Saturday night. While the show was a bit of a mess, the winners for the acting categories started to take full shape for the Oscars as Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Robert Downey Jr. continue their award season dominance for Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor, while Cillian Murphy and Lily Gladstone took the lead in Best Actor and Best Actress as we head into the final week of Oscar voting. Listen as the AW team breaks it all down and previews next week’s show as we head into the final Oscar predictions for the season.

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 1h09m. On our next episode, we will be giving our final 2024 Oscar 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).

Direct download: AwardsWatch_Ep220.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:05am PDT

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 33 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the latest film in their William Friedkin series, Blue Chips (1994).

Since the mid-1980s with To Live and Die in L.A., Friedkin started a stretch that would fully cement his journeyman status for the remainder of his career. After a couple of flops and uninteresting project, Friedkin was given a script by acclaimed screenwriter Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump) that dives deep into the world of college basketball, and the questionable tactics a coach would take to recruit players in the modern era. In what feels like a movie ahead of its time in terms of speaking out about the corruption within college athletics, as well as also outdated in some aspects given that the film is over 30 years old, Friedkin makes a more interesting film to discuss rather than one to watch. Led by a committed performance from Nick Nolte, Ryan and Jay discuss their relationship to the sport of basketball, their overall thoughts on the film, the connection between Nolte’s character and legendary coach Bobby Knight, the use of real players, Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway, where this film ranks in the genre of sports movies, and if the final speech at the end is earned.

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 1h41m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series covering the films of William Friedkin with a review of his next film, The Hunted. You can stream the film on Max. 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).

Direct download: Director_Watch_BlueChips.mp3
Category:Director Watch -- posted at: 9:00am PDT

On episode 219 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Dan Bayer to give their reactions to the 2024 BAFTA Awards, and give out their predictions for the upcoming 2024 PGA, SAG, and Independent Spirit Awards,

As discussed on last week’s show, the 2024 BAFTA awards were this past Sunday, with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer taking home seven awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy. With the film’s other wins in Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editing and Score, it has solidified itself not only as the frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars, but it is the forgone conclusion that it will be our winner this year. But with three weeks to go, can any other film set forward as a challenger and take Best Picture right at the last second? Poor Things looked to be the latest challenger to Oppenheimer as made its case by winning five BAFTA’s including Best Actress for Emma Stone. But it lost Best British Film in a upset to Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, thus making it clear which film the BAFTA voting membership was going to reward its top prize to. Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, and American Fiction also took home prizes, while films like Barbie. Saltburn, All of Us Strangers, Maestro, and Killers of the Flower Moon went home empty handed. The gang discuss the impact of these results and how much they will factor them in going into the final stage of season.

After discussing the BAFTAs, Ryan, Erik, and Dan gave their full predictions for the PGA, SAG, and Independent Spirit Awards, which included plenty of talk about Oppenheimer another big step towards it’s Best Picture win, discuss how the four acting races will conclude, how SAG will vote in their television categories, and what they think the unpredictable Film Independent voters will vote on for its winners. All in all, it was a fun predictions portion segment filled with tons of possibilities for various winners to walk away with the top prizes at each show.

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 1h46m. On our next episode, we will be giving our reactions to the SAG Awards, as well as doing a review of the latest sci-fi epic, Dune: Part Two. Till then, let’s get into it.

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

Direct download: AwardsWatch_Ep219.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:43am PDT

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 32 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys discuss the latest film in their William Friedkin series, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985).

At the midpoint of the 1980s, Friedkin found himself in no man’s land, as the studios had made the full switch to more stylized, commercial vehicles that audiences would want to see, rather than blank check films made by popular directors. After failing hard with one of the worst films in his filmography in 1983’s Deal of the Century, he set his sights on an adaptation of Gerald Petievich’s novel To Live and Die in L.A., in which we follow two Secret Service agents go on a wild investigation to arrest a dangerous counterfeiter. Wild a mild success at the time, it’s influences could be traced throughout the rest of the decade, especially in the works of Michael Mann (whom Friedkin may have took a lot of ideas from). What we get in return is a lean mean neo-noir that ranks as one of the last great films from Friedkin. Ryan and Jay break down the film, the connections to Mann and other films and shows of the 1980s, the gruesome violence, the careers of William Petersen and Willem Dafoe, how cool it looks to make counterfeit money, and morality at play with the film’s ending.

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 1h44m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series covering the films of William Friedkin with a review of his next film, Blue Chips. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

Direct download: Director_Watch_ToLiveAndDieInLA.mp3
Category:Director Watch -- posted at: 5:45pm PDT

On episode 218 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Dan Bayer to give their 2024 BAFTA predictions and talk about their favorite romantic comedies.

Before getting into the meat of this week’s show, there was major Oscar news this past week, as the Academy announced the addition of a brand new category for the 2025/2026 season, Best Casting. While there is a lot of speculation as to the rules of this new category, but this is a welcome addition to the Oscar lineup. The gang speculate what they want to hear from the Academy when they announce the specifics to their new category in April 2025.

Moving onto the awards talk, the guys talk about the recent wins at the DGA and ADG awards ceremonies from this past weekend, which saw not only Christopher Nolan get closer to an Oscar win for Best Director, but a real race for Best Production Design between Poor Things, Oppenheimer, and Barbie. This led right into the BAFTA predictions conversation, which could open up the race and lead to some surprises from this overseas voting body that has a big cross over with the Academy. Films like Oppenheimer, Poor Things should do well, with The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers and All of Us Strangers looking to play spoiler in a few categories. Winners will be handed out next weekend and we will discuss them on next week’s show.

Then in the back half of the episode, as Valentine’s Day rolls around this coming week, Ryan, Erik and Dan discuss their favorite romantic comedies. They talk about what they love about the genre, what makes them work, some of their favorite films and memorable theater experiences seeing them, as well as what they would like to see going forward when it comes to rom-coms. Some of the films discussed included My Big Fat Greek Wedding, When Harry Met Sally, Moonstruck, Bottoms, Fire Island, Annie Hall, Harold and Maude, The Shop Around the Corner, Sleepless in Seattle, and so many 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 1h53m. On our next episode, we will be giving our reactions to the BAFTA awards, as well as give our predictions to the SAG Awards and talk about the latest film from Ethan Coen, Drive-Away Dolls. Till then, let’s get into it.

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

Direct download: AwardsWatch_Ep218.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:28am PDT

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 31 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson to discuss the latest film in their William Friedkin series, Cruising (1980).

Entering the 1980s, Friedkin is still reeling from the fall out of the box office mess of Sorcerer and the flop that followed it up with The Brink’s Job. But as we entered the new decade, right as we is able to become a mostly “director for hire” for the good chunk of the next two decades, Friedkin delivered one of his most talked about features in Cruising, which is about a police officer that goes undercover in the underground, S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer. After being approached by multiple producers to adapt reporter Gerald Walker’s novel, Friedkin became interested in the project after string of an unsolved killings within gay leather bars within the 1970s. Working with the local Mafia members of New York City who owned the bars shot in the film, and having Al Pacino as his lead actor, Friedkin set out to make another significant, yet controversial film within not just his filmography but a milestone in the history of queer cinema. Ryan, Jay, and Erik break down the film’s legacy, the film’s depiction of S&M culture, the lost forty minutes of footage cut from the film, Pacino’s laughable performance, Friedkin’s intentions with the ending and violence throughout Cruising, pleasure vs. pain, and so much more.

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 2h03m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series covering the films of William Friedkin with a review of his next film, To Live and Die in L.A. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

Direct download: Director_Watch_Cruising.mp3
Category:Director Watch -- posted at: 8:30am PDT

On episode 217 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson stands in for AW Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and welcomes AW Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to talk a bit about the Oscars, review Argylle and dive into our favorite films of the spy and espionage genre.

Early February is a quiet time for Oscar predicting; there are very few critics groups to still chime in and all guilds and industry nominations have landed. It’s voting time for several, including SAG, DGA and PGA and idle hands are the devil’s playground. In our opening, Erik, Sophia and Josh root around the lead acting and screenplay categories which seem more open and elusive than usual and we take an early stab at what could shake things up and why.

Then it’s Argylle, Apple Films’ colossal box office, critical and audience flop that opened this weekend and Josh is tasked with stewarding that sinking ship as the only person on the pod who saw it. With its $16M opening, mid-40s Rotten Tomatoes score and C+ Cinemascore, the film is not long for theaters and Josh will tell you why.

Then we get to the meat of the podcast and that’s talking about spy and espionage films that do work for us and those that we count among our favorites. With the Mission: Impossible and Bond franchises looming so large over this genre – we give them space and due – we talk about some formative film in the genre for us like Goldfinger and the spy spoof Condorman and then into the films that we love the best like The Manchurian Candidate (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Three Days of the Condor (1975), The Conversation (1974), No Way Out (1987) and Spy (2015). Plus, what list would be complete without Hitchcock?

But we return to Bond and give out some of our choices to replace the iconic figure now that Daniel Craig is officially retired from the role. Hit us up in the comments with who you want to see play the dashing, rogue agent.

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 1h36m. On our next episode, we will be talking about our favorite rom-coms just in time for Valentine’s Day and our predictions for the BAFTA winners. Till then, let’s get into it.

Direct download: awardswatch-podcast-217.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:24am PDT

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 30 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined film critic Jake Tropila to discuss the latest film in their William Friedkin series, Sorcerer (1977).

Riding off the high of two of the biggest films of his career, and having the cachet to make whatever film he wanted, Friedkin set out to make a semi remake of the classic film The Wages of Fear, about four outcasts who are forced to take a job transporting unstable dynamite through the Colombian jungles. On the screen, it is one of the most tense, cynical thrillers of the 1970s, looking deeply into the souls of these men, their circumstances, and the inevitability of their dangerous actions catching up to them; thus it is a masterpiece. But behind the scenes, Sorcerer was a financial disaster, and consider one of many films that push studios to get away from the auteur, blank check driven vehicles of the 1970s, and the studios controlled filmmaking processes of the 1980s. Ryan, Jay and Jake break down the creation of this project, where the production went wrong, the restoration of this film, how this movie impacted Friedkin’s career going forward, and how a little film from a galaxy far, far away came in and stole Sorcerers thunder, and if the title of the movie actually fits the film.

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 1h44m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series covering the films of William Friedkin with a review of his next film, 1980's Cruising. 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).

Direct download: Director_Watch_Sorcerer.mp3
Category:Director Watch -- posted at: 11:37am PDT

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