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

Oscar Podcast #60, the second in a week, welcomes the fantastic Kayleigh Donaldson of Pajiba to talk about Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nomination predictions.

A healthy portion of the first part of the Golden Globe conversation centers around Get Out, both in its quality as a film and its likelihood as a Golden Globe Best Picture nominee. Talk about Call Me By Your Name, Dunkirk and the Darkest Hour are abound. 

The Screen Actors Guild conversation details the nature of nominees being dependent on the SAG nom comm getting screeners and how odd nominees can find their way here. Kayleigh and I both agree that the main category here, Cast in a Motion Picture is chock full of likely and worthy contenders and that it's going to be a bloodbath. 

Mudbound is a point of contention as to whether is lives or dies on SAG nominations or not. 

It's at this point that we take a sojourn into the wonder that is The Florida Project, which happens to be among both of our favorites of the year. 

We wrap with a few nominees we feel we might only see here at SAG (hint: mine if from Logan and it's not Hugh Jackman).

You can see my official Golden Globe predictions here, and my Screen Actors Guild predictions will be revealed this weekend.

This podcast runs 1h 9min with music.

Intro: Get Out TV spot #3

Outro: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_60.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 7:43pm PDT

 

In this 59th Oscar Podcast I am joined by Kyle Buchanan, senior editor of New York Magazine and Vulture.com.

We start by discussing the first round of critics' awards: the National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and what their wins for Call Me By Your Name and The Shape of Water could have on the upcoming (ongoing?) road to the Oscars. 

Interview: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME’s Luca Guadagnino and Michael Stuhlbarg

Throughout, Kyle peppers the conversation with his insight on voters, the importance of being the 'movie for right now' and we dip a bit into Screen Actors Guild talk, especially regarding Get Out (watch out for a new podcast for that this weekend).

We wrap up addressing some of the controversies surrounding contender Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and reactions to Call Me By Your Name.

2018 Oscar Predictions from the Gold Rush Gang

This podcast runs 1h 5m 25s with music.

Intro: Call Me By Your Name TV spot

Outro: "New York City By Day," by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_59.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 3:42pm PDT

It's been quite a while since our last Oscar Podcast but we're back with #58 talking about the downfalls of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and the avalanche of accusations and allegations that have rocked Hollywood this last month. The first section of the podcast my guest, Gold Rush Gang member Matt Dinn, and I talk about the impact of this on the current landscape of the Oscar race, specifically to The Weinstein Company's awards efforts and the surprising news last week that Ridley Scott would cut Kevin Spacey out of his Getty kidnapping drama All the Money in the World, replace him with Christopher Plummer (the actor he originally wanted for the role of Getty) and the race to do this and keep the film's December 22nd release date. 

The Gold Rush Gang's 2018 Oscar Predictions

Then we examine the exciting and complicated Supporting Actor race with its multiple dual contenders from the same films this year, including Call Me By Your Name, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. We make our cases for the top 3: Sam Rockwell, Willem Dafoe and Michael Stuhlbarg as potential winners and if Armie Hammer can break the 26-year curse in this category. 

Interview: CALL ME BY YOUR NAME’s Luca Guadagnino and Michael Stuhlbarg

Next is Supporting Actress which focuses on frontrunners Allison Janney (I, Tonya) and Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) and the mother-daughter theme of this category and the contenders at large. I make my case for Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip) to get in if Universal pushes hard and gets her out there and that this acting category could be the only that will have a POC represented (most notably, Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water and Mary J. Blige in Mudbound). 

Lead Actress gets a ton of talk time (of course) with Meryl Streep (The Post) and Frances McDormand (Three Billboards) dominating that as well as looking at our existing top 5 and wondering how or who could break through that solid-looking lineup that includes Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) and Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird). 

The trailer for Steven Spielberg’s THE POST has been delivered

Lead Actor also finds itself with three solid contenders but open doors for spots 4 and 5. Will Tom Hanks go supporting for The Post like Jason Robards did for All the President's Men? Will Jake Gyllenhaal see another year where he hits precursors only to be snubbed at Oscar? What about how very white this category is? It seems only Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) could make that not happen but it's going to take some heavy lifting by their studios to do it. 

With intro and outro this podcast runs 2h 7m.

Intro: The Post trailer via 20th Century Fox

Outro: "New York City by Day" by Thomas Newman from the Desperately Seeking Susan Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_58.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 3:03pm PDT

"I like your shoes."

Those were the first words that Luca Guadagnino, the director of Call Me By Your Name, one of this year's biggest critical hits and Oscar favorites, said to me as I sat down to interview him. Truth be told, I did wear my red sequined Converse so I might have been fishing for that. Guadagnino himself was sporting fabulous red suede shoes so, of course, I returned the compliment. 

Both Luca and one of his film's stars, Michael Stuhlbarg, were in town for the Napa Valley Film Festival. Stuhlbarg was receiving a Spotlight award and had two films at the festival - The Shape of Water and Call Me By Your Name. A fascinating duo, as Guadagnino was verbose and gave detailed and long responses to questions and Stuhlbarg with a more methodical approach to answers. 

Throughout the interview we talk about the journey for the book to get to film, getting Sufjan Stevens aboard and even a casting scoop the upcoming sequel (hint: it's someone from The Big Splash).

This interview runs 36m 10s with intro and outro.

Intro: Call Me By Your Name trailer featuring "Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens

Outro: "Visions of Gideon" by Sufjan Stevens from the Call Me By Your Name Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (copyright - The Orchard Enterprises and ℗ 2017 Sufjan Stevens)

Direct download: Call_Me_By_Your_Name-Luca_Guadagnino-Michael_Stuhlbarg_Interview.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 2:22pm PDT

It's the first Oscar podcast after the big summer film festivals - Venice, Telluride and Toronto - and usually by now we have a frontrunner. But not this year. 

Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water won the Golden Lion at Venice and Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won the People's Choice Award at Toronto. Both are from Fox Searchlight, but who will they favor in this fall and winter's awards race?

READ - Frontrunner Friday or: How Late September Doesn’t Have an Oscar Frontrunner

I am joined on Oscar Podcast #57 by Gold Rush Gang member Jason Osiason and Matt Dinn, who both attended Toronto this year and give their thoughts on personal favorites like I, Tonya, Lady Bird and The Florida Project

Next up is the New York Film Festival which will give us our first looks at Last Flag Flying and Wonder Wheel

This podcast runs 1h53m

Intro: "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" official trailer B

Outro: "New York City By Day" by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_57.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 9:05am PDT

This 20th Emmy Podcast, I am joined by fellow Emmy Expert Jonathan Boehle to give our predictions in Variety Series, Variety Talk Series, Variety Sketch Series, Special Class Program, Reality-Competition Program and Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.

While it feels some categories have clear frontrunners (how is Saturday Night Live not winning Variety Series?), others seem like closer races. 

Will Stephen Colbert or Samantha Bee triumph in Variety Special for their election themed specials? Will the (Hamilton) Tonys beat the (Moonlight) Oscars?

What about Reality Host? Will RuPaul Charles triumph again or will Emmy magnet Alec Baldwin find a match?

Check out the full predictions for this year's Emmy Awards from the Emmy Experts as they're updated live until next month's Creative Arts and Primetime Emmys. 

Keep an eye and ear out for upcoming Emmy podcasts covering Comedy, Drama and Limited Series/TV movie categories. 

This podcast runs a tight 51 minutes with opening and closing elements. 

Direct download: Emmy_Podcast_20.mp3
Category:Emmys -- posted at: 12:03pm PDT

With the Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals all having announced their slates for this year it was the perfect time to podcast. I am joined by Gold Rush Gang member Bryan Bonafede and we drill deep into who is playing where and even Telluride, which doesn't announce until the weekend of the fest. Based on the type of premiere a film gets at one those other three gives us information on who is going to Colorado. 

We dig into Best Actress after it became official this week that Sony Pictures Classics has picked up FILM STARS DON'T DIE IN LIVERPOOL, giving Annette Bening the best shot of her career at an Oscar win. This unfolds to Supporting Actress where Melissa Leo dominates with NOVITIATE but we recognize that the category is pretty open in terms of nominations.

We discuss four films outside the scope of the fall festivals that are (or, in one case, were) potential Oscar contenders: DUNKIRK, GET OUT, DETROIT and THE BIG SICK. 

READ: 2018 Oscar Predictions from the Gold Rush Gang

We have a lot to say about Fox Searchlight's THE SHAPE OF WATER from Guillermo del Toro, which we think could be the real Best Picture contender this year and certainly has the best chance at the highest nomination total come January. 

We close mentioning the new president of the Academy, John Bailey, and his predecessor Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who leaves behind a legacy unlike any president before her.

This podcast runs 1h 45m with music.

Intro music: Going Green

Outro music: "New York City By Day," by Thomas Newman from the film Desperately Seeking Susan

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_56.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 12:27pm PDT

This 55th Oscar podcast I'm joined by no less than three esteemed Gold Rush Gang members - Jason Osiason, Richard Anthony and Matt Dinn.

We open on a discussion of the 774 Academy invitees announced two weeks ago and some of the backlash against names some felt were diluting the membership. We talk about how last year's new group impacted Moonlight's Best Picture win this year and how this new group will shape future nominees and winners. 

Then it's onto the Venice and New York Film Festivals and who we think will show up. Between previous director and studio relationships there's a wealth of opportunities for films to make their big awards breakthroughs here. Films like The Shape of Water, Suburbicon, Wonderstruck and mother! are all aiming for prime time spots in world's bests fests.

Throughout we discuss Oscar potential for films but we close on some more specific categories and films. DetroitBlade Runner 2049 and Dunkirk get a lot podcast play, as does Supporting Actor and the Screenplay categories, where Original is overstuffed with contenders and Adapted is struggling for five that make sense. 

With music this podcast runs 2h 7m.

 

Direct download: Oscar_Podcast_55b.mp3
Category:Oscars -- posted at: 2:09pm PDT

In this 19th Emmy podcast I am joined by AwardsWatch's Peter Cioth and Jonathan Boehle to discuss our final predictions for the 69th Emmy nominations.

Our focus this podcast is on Drama and Comedy Series and the Lead and Supporting categories in both. In Drama, much discussion surrounds what new shows will find themselves with nominations with Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey not in contention (This Is Us, The Crown, Westworld, Stranger Things, The Handmaid's Tale) and what could be left off this year (Homeland, House of Cards, Mr. Robot). Same goes for Comedy, will this be the year Modern Family is dropped? Will Atlanta be the only new show nominated or can Dear White People or Fleabag get in?

We end with the Variety and Special Class Program predictions.

With music this podcast runs about 2h 9m.

Intro music: Stranger Things opening theme by Survive (Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein)

Outro music: Atlanta opening music by Childish Gambino

Direct download: Emmy_Podcast_19.mp3
Category:Emmys -- posted at: 1:16pm PDT

This 18th Emmy podcast I am joined by former and current Emmy Experts Peter Cioth and Chris Pepper to break down the newly revealed nomination ballots to discuss the writing, directing and guest acting categories. 

This podcast runs 1h 45m.

Opening music: the theme from 'The Crown'

Closing music: "Alla luce del giorno" by Ennio Morricone used in the opening sequence of 'Master of None' season two, episode one

Direct download: Emmy_Podcast_18.mp3
Category:Emmys -- posted at: 2:43pm PDT