On episode 184 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, TV Editor Tyler Doster and AwardsWatch contributors Sophia Ciminello to discuss the series finales for HBO’s Barry and Succession.

Before getting into the main part of the episode, the 2023 Cannes Film Festival wrapped up with the winners announced this past Saturday. For the fourth Cannes in a row, NEON took home the Palme d’Or, the top prize of the festival for Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, with the runner up Grand Prize award going to Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest from A24. Other films of notable interest included Fallen Leaves, The Pot-au-Feu, and Monster. Expect a lot of these titles and more from the festivals make the rounds at Venice, Telluride and TIFF later this fall with upcoming podcasts to anticipate and follow.

Moving on, the last two months of television have brought audiences together for two of HBO’s recent flagship programs with Barry and Succession. After weeks of speculation, and years of episodes and awards, the two shows come to an end in epic fashion with what the panel believes might be two of the best finales in years. Ryan, Erik, Tyler, and Sophia break down what they love about these episodes, the shows at large, and give a look at how the 2023 Emmy season will look like with these two final seasons included.

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 1h51m. We will be back next week to discuss the latest animated superhero film, Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse. Till then, let’s get into it.

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

On episode 183 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AW Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AW contributors Zach Laws and Catherine Gonzales to review Fast X and discuss the Fast and the Furious franchise as a whole.

Before the gang gets behind the wheel of their Fast conversation, a big trailer dropped this past week for Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which will be released in theaters later in October. To put it mildly, it’s one of the best trailers of the year, and in light of the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, there was a lot to discuss.

Moving on, the team got to dive deep into the latest entry in the Vin Diesel led action packed extravaganzas, Fast X. The franchise hits the home stretch, as this film alongside the eleventh and twelfth installment look to close out the long running story for Dom and his family, and there is plenty to talk about including, a fantastic new bad guy, tons of cameos, moments of absolute nonsense, and insane, over the top set pieces. Ryan, Erik, Zach and Catherine break it all down as well as give out their rankings for the franchise as a whole, say who their favorite and least favorite characters are, what is the dumbest moment in this franchise, and more.

Shut up and drive: ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise ranked

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. We will be back next week to discuss the series finales of Barry and Succession, and take a look a little at the 2023 Emmys. Till then, let’s get into it.

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

On episode 182 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by TV Editor Tyler Doster and AwardsWatch contributor Sophia Ciminello to give out their Top 5 Romantic Comedies.

Coming off last week’s episode about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the groups Top 5 Comic Book Movies, the AW podcast switches over to talk about the latest entry in the romantic comedy genre, Book Club: The Next Chapter. Sophia was able to catch up with it and gave her brief thoughts on the film, which quickly turned into a side conversation on which streaming platform it would go onto and the news that Disney + and Hulu might be merging. Once off the side tangent, Ryan, Sophia, and Tyler delivered their Top 5 romantic comedies, with films ranging from About Time, Bull Durham, Roman Holiday, Something’s Gotta Give, Up in the Air, and so many more. If you love these movies just as much as they do, you aren’t going to want to miss this wonderful conversation.

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 1h39m. We will be back next week to discuss the latest entry in the Fast and Furious franchise, Fast X. Till then, let’s get into it.

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

On episode 181 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributors Sophia Ciminello and Dan Bayer to talk about the latest film in the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, give out their Top 5 Comic Book Movies.

Coming off the heels of last week’s Summer Box Office Draft, a major trailer release that shifted the focus for film fans this week as the first trailer for Dune Part Two. The gang talked about it, what they liked and didn’t like about it, then shifted their focus to the Tony nominations, which were announced earlier in the week. Dan, with a little help from Sophia, broke down the nominations, their favorites of the nominees and who were the biggest snubs.

After that, Ryan and Sophia reviewed Guardians, talking about why they think it was a good time a theater, while also discussing a little why it underperformed at the box office domestically this past weekend. Once they are done talking about the film, the team gives out their Top 5 Comic Book Movies, which included not just comic book superhero films, but films that originated from graphic novels and mangas. Some of these titles included The Dark Knight, The Rocketeer, Josie and the Pussycats, Road to Perdition, X2, Edge of Tomorrow, and so many more, making for a fantastic conversation.  

Tell us in the comments and on our social media pages what you think of each team’s picks and who you think is going to win.

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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 discuss our Top 5 romantic comedies, in honor of the release of Book Club: The Next Chapter (review by Sophia Ciminello here). Till then, let’s get into it.

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

On episode 180 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, TV Editor Tyler Doster and AwardsWatch contributors Sophia Ciminello, Dan Bayer, Zach Laws, Josh Parham, Nicole Ackman, and Catherine Gonzales to take part in the 2023 Summer Box Office Draft.

Returning for the second year in a row, the AW podcast team comes together to draft what they think will be the highest grossing films at the worldwide box office. Last year, Team Ryan came out on top, mostly due to the surprise box office hit that was Top Gun: Maverick. In the fall, Team Erik came back with a blowout victory in large part because of the other biggest film of 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water. With a new year comes new teams and an extra pick, along with a couple of surprises announced during the show, this summer season looks to be stacked with plenty of films for everyone to pick, as well as a lot of uncertainty in the selections.

For any first-time listeners, here is how the game goes. The two teams are comprised of our AW podcast crew – Team One: Ryan, Sophia, Zach, Josh, and Kevin (who couldn’t make it on the show) vs. Team Two: Erik, Tyler, Nicole, Dan, and Catherine. Each team built a strategy of what films we think will be the biggest summer hits of the year worldwide as well and factoring in what films will be the most critically lauded. For a fun bonus, each team presented the other with a ‘bomb’ pick; a film they think will tank and negatively impact the other team’s score.

Tell us in the comments and on our social media pages what you think of each team’s picks and who you think is going to win.

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 1h28m. We will be back next week to discuss the latest film in the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3. Till then, let’s get into it.

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