Bonus - 2026 Oscars Reaction!

0:00This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking. Maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home. With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at Redfin.com. Own the dream. Hello, and welcome to another bonus episode of The Oscars. What were they thinking? On this particular episode, Mark and I will be having an entirely too early to be having this conversation, conversation about the 2026 Oscars. Why too early, you ask? Because the entire premise of our show is to use the test of time to look back and determine the best picture, director, actor, scripts, etc.

1:00You can't use the test of time to judge films that happened a year or less ago. That's not enough time, that's ridiculous. Last night they should have been having the 2016 Oscars, and then maybe Mad Max Fury Road would win. Or the Big Short, or the Revenant, or the Martian. Anyway, because we're an Oscar show, I feel like we're kind of contractually obligated to do something regarding this past Oscars, even if it didn't reach our reverse statute of limitations. So here we are reacting to the 2026 Oscars for better or worse. But also, who are we kidding? Come on, Mark, we'd be having this conversation anyway. So we might as well record it, and hope everybody enjoys it. And with that said, Mark, what did you think of last night's Oscar telecast? Because we are literally recording this the next day. Yeah, I didn't watch it. Was it any good? Did I miss anything? I don't know, I was watching something else too.

2:02You know, I was excited for this one, because I liked the battle between one battle after another and sinners. Those are two worthy films, and they both had a lot of nominations, and it felt like it could be an exciting, who's going to win is one team going to score, and then the other team going to score. It's going to be a blowout. I felt like it could be a good dramatic Oscars, like to watch as a piece of drama. That was my hope for it. I think you, I agree, and I think we got that to a lesser degree. I mean, I think so. I'm making a face. I felt like the days leading up to it. I changed my emotional scorecard and gave most of it from sinners to one battle after another, and that's mostly who I voted for in the major categories. And I should say, mostly who I voted for, who I expected to win, not who I wanted to

3:05win any category. It just felt like it wasn't going to be sinners night, and ultimately they had some really key wins. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I'm not saying they didn't. Raving Michael B. Jordan win best actor, having a cooler win best writer, having a cinematographer, having music, really impressive stuff. But it wasn't that huge all about Eve, you know, right, but I don't think it was never going to be that. I mean, I think all the tea leaves, everything was pointing towards one battle after another really cleaning up. Whether you like that movie the best or not, that was the front runner from, you know, day one, I think. No, not day one, because sinners had had the most nominations. It did felt like, but to, you know, to Bruce's point, it had good, to great work in every

4:07category. Yes. By the way, it had the most nominations. One battle after another had what, three less, like it didn't have a song, like, so it's, it's not like one had 16 nominations, and the other guys had four or five. The one that got shalacked was Marty Supreme with like nine nominations and zero wins, including I think a surprise in the best actor category, but we'll get into that. Here's the thing. I will say, having watched nine of the 10 movies, I did not get to ever see F one. I will admit that. First of all, my first hot take for those who love my hot takes, I think 10 is too many. I wish it was five again. I wish it was five again and that, you know, you really had to be very intentional with the movies that get nominated for best picture. I felt like there was like two or three that had legitimate shots here, and then there was a lot of bloat and look, F one, I haven't seen anybody saying F one deserves to be

5:10there. In fact, I've also seen people say like things like, you know, putting F one there is not going to make people watch the Oscars or think the Oscars are cool, even though it was a very popular movie. That being said, yeah, I mean, I think one battle after another and sinners did seem like the two front runners, but a lot of people also are like, sinners is cool, but it's a vampire movie that's saying a lot of things, but it's still a vampire movie for my money. I mean, if we're going to just jump right into the best picture award, the best picture out of the 10 nominees where I'm like, this is a classic that will be looked at 10 years from now, 15 years from now, the absolute best picture that I thought was a complete masterpiece was sentimental value. And that does win foreign film or international. But that to me was the film that I was like, wow, I was blown away by it. Now, did I like one battle after another? Sure.

6:10I think you liked it too, right, Mark? I liked it. I liked it fine. I didn't love it. I'm a big PT at the Anderson fan, you know, from back to heart eight. I always loved him and to have these two indie filmmakers, Kugler and PT Anderson come up and get nominated at the same time is pretty spectacular. What I call indie guys who have found mainstream popularity. That's awesome. It wasn't my favorite PT Anderson film. No, but again, it's like one of those things where it's all about timing, right? I mean, he made a joke when he was up there about how he's come close with there will be blood. I think the master was nominated or he was nominated, you know, he's come close and he's had great movies, Magnolia, you know, take the frogs out and it's a pretty awesome flawless film. But the frogs and it's still a good film. Booking nights was great. I mean, punch drunk love was really good and he makes good films.

7:10So there's no shame in him winning, and it was the time. It was just like it was his time. Sinners, yeah, I mean, Bruce even said it early on, like let's see how the Academy treats sinners because it is a popcorn movie with a cool message that is elevated, you know, an elevated, artful version of a vampire movie, but let's see how they treat it. And it did get treated like gold and people were very happy when anybody from sinners won anything or even just, you know, calling out the denominations, but okay. So best picture you voted for one battle after another, I voted for one battle after another. I mean, nice. I vote like we're not in the Academy. You know, on our little Oscar ballot and marketing thought we're going to win. Yeah. And I think we both thought it was going to win. I would have probably if I was an Academy voter, I would have voted for sentimental value, maybe sinners, but those were the three big movies, though, this year for me.

8:15Yeah, it's a good, it's, this is a good list. I agree with you that five might have made it more competitive or competitive feeling. A 10 kind of dilutes it, but haven't it Marty supreme secret agent, sentimental value, train dreams. These are all good movies. They are. They are. You don't like Bagonia. Oh, no, I love Bagonia. Oh, okay. Yeah. Oh, for sure. I was with that movie. That's a bizarre, wonderful film. I just didn't think it was going to sneak in and be part of the conversation about. Right. I didn't think it was going to win. I didn't think it was going to win best picture. I didn't think it was going to be an upset. It's a great movie. I really liked it. Right. I think, again, if because there's 10 and not five, I think Bagonia, F1, Frankenstein, train dreams, and the secret agent get in because of the 10. Hamnet was a great movie, like I called it like a, like a test if you have a soul.

9:16If you watch Hamnet and you don't cry during that movie, you might want to go see if you're a psychopath or a sociopath because you're missing something. And finding back tears counts, like if you don't actually actually have to have tears streaming down your face, finding back tears counts. But I mean, that is just, in other years, Hamnet easily could have won. And look, I know it's tough for a foreign film to win best picture. I know Parasite, obviously, Parasite. And I can't think of any others. The artist. I guess so. Yeah, right. Yeah, it rarely happens. But yeah, one battle for both picture and director was pretty expected. I didn't feel like I was some, uh, sooth sayer for having those on my ballot. No, that is who I voted for too. Although I thought it would be cool if they could kind of split it and, and give PTN send the picture and Kugler director.

10:16Right. That was my hope that they'd all walk away happy with something. James Cameron wanted, wanted him, uh, and Catherine Bigelot to split it. Catherine Bigelot to split it. He said, give her a director for her block and give me picture for Avatar. Uh, and they did not heed the advice. James Cameron. No, they, they went the other way and said, how about she gets both? Um, I was talking to somebody like, how do you know which of the five, uh, would not be nominated if they didn't have, you know, if it was five nominees for best picture. And which of the five wouldn't be left out? I was, I always say, look at the director list because those are the ones that are probably have been the five. And what'd you have? You had Hamnet, Chloe Zhao. You had Joaquin cheer for sentimental value, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme. Paul Thomas Anderson, of course, from one battle and Kugler for centers. And yeah, I mean, that's a great group.

11:16And those would be the, those would be the five, those would be the five movies, I think. But, uh, yeah, no problem with those two. I think for either of us, I get it. You, you would have rather, they split it. I think it would have been a weird split. And also Paul Thomas Anderson has never won. No, he should, he should win. He should have an Oscar, right? On my list of favorite directors for many years, I would, I, I had him really high. So gay for Paul Thomas Anderson. Yeah, if you, if you Google best directors to never win an Oscar, PT Anderson was on that list. And it's a short list. So yeah, hats off to him, for sure. And, um, let's move on to the acting categories, because here's where it gets a little interesting and we'll get to that right after the quick break and a word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Beneful. Mornings are when the grind starts, stretches, immaculate cardio, crushed it, territory, marked. Sorry, geraniums.

12:17The dog routine is on point, but it can't get a little wolf. That's why I fuel up with high protein, Beneful freshly prepared meals. I'm eating clean with real meat and veggies served fresh from the pantry, kick boring in the ball with Beneful freshly prepared meals. Visit purina.com slash Beneful to shop now. Okay, we are back. Let's jump in with best actor, because this, I think, was a surprise to a lot of people. It kind of surprised me. I voted for Timothy Shalamy, because I thought they were going to give it to him. And I think this kind of might lead to a bigger conversation, though, that I'm dying to have with you, Mark. But I voted for Timothy Shalamy. Who did you vote for? I voted for Michael B. Jordan. Why? I thought he was going to win. Why? I think it's sort of a feel good win. It is. It's just really good actor who did something really well in this film where he played two

13:18different characters and was able to distinguish them without hystereonics, you know, one didn't have, you know, like a limp and the other didn't, you know, he didn't do anything ridiculous to distinguish the two. In fact, he was trying to see how close they could be and still feel like different characters. Right. And I thought that was an amazing feat. Right. Uh, look, I like Michael B. Jordan a lot. I've liked him since I saw him in Fruitvale Station many years ago. Guys, great. Uh, I am happy that he won. He is a great ambassador for film. He's, he's, I mean, they had video of him at in and out burger with his Oscar buying food for all the people. He's been at every awards thing. He is the face of Hollywood. He is a great dude.

14:19And yes, it was a great movie, uh, starring role. And I remember watching it and I'm like, yeah, he's really good, but he's good in the way. He's always kind of been good. I didn't think there was anything super, super special about what he was doing. It's just a charismatic star turn. And I mean, look, he's playing twin. And yes, you can absolutely feel when one is, you know, they are different, but it didn't hurt that they were color coded in that one was wearing blue and one was wearing red. So I'd be like, that's the guy who's a like a little, you know, a little tougher or a little meaner or has a little less of a heart than the other guy. One guy felt a little more sympathetic and empathetic and one guy felt a little more like all business and, and, you know, you know, a little more of an edge, edger to sort of not evil, but like there's a reason why one turned and was happy with it, you know,

15:21in the movie. Look again, nothing against the performance. It's just that I didn't, I didn't know if it rose to the level of best actor, Oscar performance. Whereas Timothy Chalamet, to me, in Marty Supreme, like he's not even a likable character, but he's bringing something to it that, and he's in almost every frame of the movie. And you're with him the whole way and he's like a speed demon tearing up these scenes and you, you care about him, he makes you care about him. And even though he's not a good dude, you know that deep inside, if he can just reach his goals, he will pay back all the people he's trampled along the way to get to where he needs to be. I don't know, I think it was like a really masterful turn, you know, again, I haven't really loved him in anything else. And this blew me away how good he was and what a complete character that was, and I got

16:23to be honest, Leo was also great in one battle and you kind of forget how good Leo is because there's a lot of stuff going on in that movie, but he's great, but he's won already. So you kind of like remove him. You know, Chalamet is like really thirsty for this award. And then you got Michael B. Jordan, who seems like the nicest best guy in Hollywood, which brings us to the bigger point, like there's a lot of people, Mark, who feel like Chalamet in his actions and deeds and words leading up to the awards might have talked his way out of it. Yes. And it should be noted that the controversy regarding ballet and opera, so it came out after voting ended so that was not a contributor. But it sort of spoke to what was the sort of the biggest example of what people were feeling anyway. And I think in that case his actual point might have been lost and that might have been

17:26an unfair thing. I feel like when somebody is given two Oscars in a row, in a row, that is meant to be the biggest gift that you can give an actor, not just one, not just two, but two in a row, you are that good, you are that sort of reverified air. Actions do matter in how you carry yourself. And if you're going to get two nominations in a row, you have to be a good ambassador of Hollywood and be a person of the community. And I think that does play a part in actual voting. Sure. See, that's the point though, it's like two things. One, if you can talk your way out of the award, then this award is stupid in my mind. Like, come on, like you're judging a person's acting in a movie. It doesn't matter. I mean, unless they do something egregiously bad or illegal or something awful, you're

18:26judging the characters that they played and they acting and what they did on screen. I hate to think that somebody was a front runner and then wasn't cool enough during the campaigning, which by the way, there shouldn't even be campaigning. All this crap is so annoying to think that somebody could talk themselves out of the award or act in a way like, I don't like the way he's in a rap video and he's kind of boastful and full of himself, I'm not going to vote for him. Like that's just, oh my god, really, that's what we're doing. And also, I don't like the phrase it's like, you know, Michael B. Jordan beat Timothy Chalamet to win the, no, he didn't beat anybody. A third party of people judged two people that did not, they weren't competing. They were making their movies. They were acting in a movie and a third party that had nothing to do with any of it judged it using criteria that is only known to them and their own sense of what they look for

19:29in a performance or whatever. Oh, sure. That's where I thought Paul Thomas Anderson's speech was really good. In one of them, he said, it's not about being the best, it's just about the mood of the moment or it's that effect. And I thought that was a lovely sentiment. Right. Right. I also love when he said that he felt the pain of the others, but he's going to enjoy the pleasure of beating them. And you know, look, it's spoken like a guy who's been close before a lot of times. A lot of times. And finally got to win. Yeah, I mean, look, again, it's like here's a crazy take. In my mind, Stell and Skarsgard, his performance in sentimental value was not a supporting part. It was the lead actor and he should have been among the lead actors. And then I think he could have, or maybe should have won. He was fantastic and talk about a career that this guy's had. Like he deserves a career award.

20:29I thought Ethan Hawke had it shot at this. I thought he could come out from the pack, just being a well-respected actor who's been at it for so long and has recently been sort of an ambassador for actors. He goes to lots of events where he's not campaigning for something where he's supporting his, where he's talking to young students, where he's talking to actors, where he's reading poetry, where he's, you know, taking part of a reading, where he's very much, you know, quote-unquote an actor's actor. Right. And I thought he had a chance to come up and surprise everyone. I almost voted for him for Ethan Hawke. And then I said, now they're probably going to give it to Chelny. And so I changed my mind on my ballot and then I was still wrong. But look, I'm glad all things considered. I'm glad Michael be joined in one. And his speech was fantastic. He seems like the greatest dude.

21:30And so yeah, but it's a little bit of a surprise. But it just opened up the can of worms of like really, like it just shows you how arbitrary and how subjective it all is. Like a voter could be like, I was going to say him, but I don't like he did this thing I didn't like. So I'm going to know his acting suddenly is not as good. It's like, come on now. Best actress. I hate to say it. We almost don't have to say anything about it. She was a revelation. She won every award leading up to it. I think she's the first person to sweep in a long, long time. And of course, I'm talking about Jesse Buckley for Hamnet. And I just remember being in the theater watching Hamnet going, God, if she doesn't win the Oscar, like, I don't know what could possibly beat this. No, she was extraordinary. I mean, she was transcendent. For me, it was the best performance all year.

22:30I loved Emma Stone in Virginia. Like I tell you, when I was watching it, I was like, what's Emma Stone doing at the Oscars? Because it was like, there's no one else who had a shot of winning or should have won or really should have been considered. I wonder if the nominations were as work completely one sided. Yes, I'm sure I'm sure it was. I'll tell you the one who is close is Renate from Sentimental Value. She is phenomenal. If you haven't seen Sentimental Value of all the movies, I highly, highly urge you to see Sentimental Value, like in another year with no Jesse Buckley in Hamnet, that performance wins. I mean, again, it's tough because it's a foreign film. Some of it's in English, some of it's in, I guess, it's Norwegian, yeah, but she is great. There's a scene early in the movie where she's an actress who's got to go on stage and

23:34is having stage fright and that whole sequence goes on for like eight minutes and she is just, it's like everything that an actor goes through to get themselves to go up on stage. It is an amazing performance. So I think to her, you know, to that point, she would have been second and then I think the rest. I mean, Rose Barn, people like Rose Barn, but I don't think that movie was very good and I don't know. Anyway, okay. So those are the best acting awards, but again, I don't have a problem. I don't think Mark, you have, you got them all right on your, on your score card. Okay. I got three of the four. The all new 2026 Toyota RAV4 is here, building on everything drivers know and love about Toyota. A redesigned look and modern tech that makes life behind the wheel easier than ever. The new RAV4 comes standard as a hybrid, providing smooth, efficient performance for both city streets and longer journeys. Enjoy the legendary reliability Toyota is known for in the all new 2026 RAV4. Learn and shop more at toyota.com Toyota.

24:38Let's go places. So, Toyota 2 has come home to Disney Plus. Let's go. Get ready for a new case. We're the greatest partners of all time. New friends. Do it this night. And your last name? This night. Dream team. Big new habitats. So, Toyota has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. So, Toyota 2 now available on Disney Plus rated PG. Here right now you can get Disney Plus in Hulu for just 499 a month for three months with a special limit to time offer ends March 24th. With three months plan auto renews at 1299 a month in terms of supply. Okay. So, now we're going to get into the supporting actor and actress. And this is where things I think get a little strange. This is the strangest part of the night. And we'll get to that right after this quick break and a word from our sponsors. Okay. We are back. Let's do best supporting actress first. Okay. This is an interesting group. Because you've got two women from sentimental value. You've got Ellie fanning and you've got, uh, I don't even want to try the last name.

25:40Both excellent, Inga, especially strong, okay. Would have been my choice. Then you've got Rumi from sinners and you've got Tiana Taylor from one battle after another. In a way it feels like there's a lot of cancelling out, you know, people cancelling each other out either the same movie or the same type of character who is really strong, but isn't throughout the whole movie. And then you've got Amy Madigan in weapons. And who did you pick that you thought was going to win? I picked Amy Madigan. I just had a feeling, but I also thought she was spectacular in weapons. I didn't recognize her, although I've seen her in so many things. I was like, who is this actress? What is this performance? I don't understand it, but I loved it. And I think she's deserving. Okay. Here's what I think. I also put Amy Madigan on my ballot.

26:41So I got credit for that. However, I only did it because I was like, these ding-dongs are probably going to give it to her. Again, send me to all the hate mail you want. I can take it. I thought weapons sucked. I thought that movie was stupid. I thought that character was ridiculous. Especially in the service of that movie where we have a mystery, all these kids go missing, who could it possibly be? And then the freakiest person ever shows up and shows up to the school, not the parents of the one kid who didn't get taken, the crazy aunt who could not be more crazy and conspicuous and more obvious. And then is talking gibberish and acting crazy. I'm like, what is this character? And I know, like you just said it too, a lot of people like, she was barely recognizable so that give it to the hair and makeup team. Who cares if she's recognizable or not? What does that mean?

27:41What does that mean? She's an actress. She's putting on a voice and she's dressed in a crazy wig and makeup and glasses. Yeah, all right. So I didn't recognize her as Amy Madigan. That's a skill. No. I don't know. Yes. She transformed it from Amy Madigan into this lunatic who I found completely fascinating. Yeah, do that every Halloween. Every Halloween I transformed it to a different lunatic. I don't know that. I was just, didn't feel like acting and you can't, again, you can't go too over the top in this part. This part is just be crazy. Like everybody else had to be nuanced and real and bring, you know, all kinds of stuff to the table. I thought it was going to be Tiana Taylor, but my biggest promise that she wasn't in the movie enough and then I didn't kind of love her character was kind of awful. Well that's when I first saw the movie. I thought, oh wow, she definitely is going to win.

28:42She deserves it. And then I, and then I thought, oh no, her character sort of too complicated for they had me to respond to it, like if she was like a purely heroic figure, right? She could have won, but because her character is messy, it hurt her chances. Right. Did you think she was going to come back at the end of the movie? I did. I thought for a minute, I was already gearing up to hate it, but I did think she would come back and there'd be some kind of explanation or something, but I'm glad in a way she didn't, and it also, I knew it also would hurt her chances for a minute. Not having that sort of punctuation, yeah, redemption, or not, or even if it was like not, I mean, she's great in the movie. Yeah, Wumi is great in sinners and, you know, but I didn't think that that was an Academy Award winning part. I loved Inga in sentimental value and she's not in the first half of the movie that much

29:42and then she comes on really strong for the final third. Yeah, I mean, that would have been my pick, but I did go with Amy Madigan because I'm like, they're probably going to give it to her. And then yeah, she does her speech and it was great and crazy and he realized she's crazy. Like she's the part is she even acting. Look, it's a great story and I like her. She's been great in a lot of things. I just was like, this is the novelty role in a movie that I thought was pretty stupid. I'm not, I'm obviously not a fan of weapons. The plot didn't make any sense. Anyway, yeah, okay, but that wasn't the only one. Now we got best supporting actor and let's just say this. I wanted Sean Penn to win just as much as Sean Penn wanted to be there. How's that? Same. Same. Okay. So, who did you pick for your Oscar ballot? I picked Sean Penn. I thought he was going to win. Okay, you picked Sean Penn. I picked Stell and Skiesguard mostly because I, you know, when you pick somebody, you got

30:46a root for them to win. And I didn't want to root for Sean Penn's character to win best supporting actor. I thought it was, I thought it was a kind of a ridiculous character again. I know people are very torn. I've made this, I've voiced this opinion and I either get people calling me crazy or I get people full-throated agreeing with me. But I just thought, you know, Stell and Skiesguard, not only that, like it's a lead character in a supporting character character, in a supporting character category. Usually they win. Again, I think it's the foreign movie played against him, but the other like Delroy Lindo is right there. Give the man an Oscar. He was great in sinners. He really brought it to that movie and he's been around a long time. This is his shot. He's been around at him. I forgot to mention this during the American graffiti episode we did.

31:48He was in the more American graffiti. More American graffiti. Yes, he was one of the army guys. That's right, my God. All I'm saying is yeah, he's great. It could have been a real feel good. Sean Penn is already won. I know he joins a very small club of people who's one best actor and best supporting actor, but yeah, he's already won twice. He doesn't even show up. No, great that I heard he was in like Ukraine or something. I mean, the guys, you know, he's a badass, dude, and he, you know, his heart is in the right place. I mean, I know some people don't like his politics, but I happen to agree. And he, yeah, he's, you know, this is his third win. Yeah, third win. And, you know, this character, you know, it seemed like a lot of fun to play. I just, I don't know, it took me out of the movie a lot of the time when it, when it was on screen and then that whole ending and it wouldn't end and he comes back. It just was like, they brought him back just so they could kill him again. I don't know, but that's not his fault, I always say, but look, maybe it's the body transformation

32:51thing. Like he was, you know, just jacked in a way we've never seen Sean Penn like his head had muscles. He was just, you know, like an action figure. No, I think it wasn't so much body transformation as it was people who voted for him like his take on that character and they like sending up that type of person. I think it was also a, a, a ironical vote against that character and making that kind of person seem foolish. Yeah. But he was my least favorite of the match. Yeah, me too. I would have been happy with any, anyone else to be honest, you know, Jacob Allordy was great as the monster in Frankenstein and when you see out on Toro is the more fun, relatable character in one battle like give it to that guy and he's been working his ass off for a long time. Yeah. I don't know.

33:52It's like Sean Penn was like in a way, the safe way out giving it to a guy is already one, two Oscars and he's not going to come so you don't have to do a lot of fun moment. Yeah. What a, it sort of took the air out of the room for that. Although Colken had a funny, he had a funny line. He slipped that in there. He's like, he's not, he's because he's not here or doesn't want to be, I'm going to accept the Oscar. Like it gave us that. But I guess for me, the two supporting actor, you know, I'm curious how these hold up test of time, but usually like people aren't really bitching about supporting parts unless it's murderous at home. Okay. Let's go to, I guess we're up to the scripts, the screenplays and we'll get to that right after a quick break and we're from our sponsors. This episode is brought to by Colaguard. Do you know what's really scary, not screening for colon cancer when you turn 45? The Colaguard test is non-invasive, requires no special prep or time off work and shifts

34:52right to your door. In just three simple steps, Colaguard takes the scare out of colon cancer screening. If you're 45 or older and at average risk, ask your healthcare provider about the Colaguard test. Colaguard is available by prescription only, learn more or request a prescription today at colaguard.com slash screen. Craft mac and cheese is better than 90s hip hop. No remind you of your childhood, without making you feel incredibly old. Craft mac and cheese, best thing ever. Okay, we are back and you know, I gotta say with the adapted screenplay and the original screenplay, I feel like these were no brainers and I think they nailed it and I have no complaints. Yep, best original, with centers, best adapted, one battle after another. That's who I wanted to win and that's who I voted for and that's who did win.

35:55I agree only again, I'm a sentimental value, super fan, that script is phenomenally, wasn't going to win, but again, that script was great and so that would be only in my mind competition and you know, did you see it was just an accident? No, that's the Iranian film and it's got a really interesting concept. Again, it wasn't going to win, but it was just nominated for best original screenplay. It definitely had a very original, interesting idea that could only come from like Iran and stuff that has gone on there. It's kind of a really cool, interesting script and I didn't love the movie for other reasons like the ensemble cast, I don't know, it could have been a little better, but for what it was and look, they could get killed for making that movie. So like the balls it took to make that was something and then yeah, Marty Supreme, I like

36:58the movie, I had a lot of fun during it. To me, the biggest problem with Marty Supreme is the ping pong because I play ping pong and it's like he's playing a guy that he can't beat because the guy has a cool paddle and a special spins. So what does he do to train to beat that guy? Nothing, he just does his normal training, except he trains harder. He doesn't try to figure out how to downer spin the spin. There's nothing happens. I'm like, wait, why? How? There's no crane kick and karate kid. There's no fighting left handed like Rocky. That's what I was going to say. There's no word just murder to tie his hand behind. Or what do you get? I chase his chicken. Yeah, I mean, it's like, like just wear his shirt with less sleeves and sweats more in training and like somehow that's going to do it. And then the fact that they didn't pay off the orange ping pong balls in the final scene when everything is white and he's having a hard time, he should have broke out one of his orange ping pong balls and used that to win. And then the other big winner for best, best set up and no payoff was the secret agent

38:03where there's an amazing line early on. This guy's like being hunted by people and he says, do you have, they say, do you have a gun? He's like, no, I don't have a gun, but do you have a hammer? I'm really good with a hammer and guess what never shows up for the rest of the movie? A hammer. There's no hammer. It's like, wait, I'm waiting for this scene where he shows how good he is with a hammer. Not, excuse me. That was not nominated for this category. For the screenplay. The original are adapted. No, okay. But he was nominated for Best Picture. I'm just, I'm just riffing at this point, Mark. Yeah. Secret agent. Good movie that doesn't quite go the distance. It kind of fumbles on the one-yard line, I feel like. They drive down the field. They fumble on the one-yard line. Anyway. Okay. What else would you like to talk about because did anything else jump out at you? I have one or two things. Two things. Oh, the casting award. Sure. Casting was a big surprise because I thought even if they don't give sinners the best picture and I didn't think they were going to, I thought it would have been nice to give

39:05them casting because that is a really well cast movie. And I know that you're like, well, what is casting in this context and it's for all the parts and to be nominated, you had to show your work. You know, when you do a math testing, you have to show your work. Yeah. To be nominated in this category, you had to show your work and to show what you did for this specific movie and how it wasn't just the director saying, call my friend Michael be Jordan and give him the script, which they did for that character, but not for everyone else. So that's why it's appropriate to go look at all the characters and that casting branch of the academy, forgot if it has 160 or 180 people, but that's the numbers on that. It's small. Yeah. They know what they're doing. And I keep, let me say one last thing about your course of casting.

40:06So I was listening to Gore Verbinski at the DGA and he was talking about his new film. I think it's called Good Luck, Have Undo, Die. And he was talking about how this film was not set up and the way it got set up was through, through putting together a cast. Sure. So you talk about the importance of a casting agents, casting agency there. They made the film happen by, by literally being able to finance it. So there's a great need, I think, for this category. And it would have been nice for sinners to work. I look, I totally agree, I, you know, look, a casting director is very important. It is, to your point, a hard thing to parse out because, again, the big stars, yeah, I mean, Leonardo DiCaprio didn't get into one battle after another because of a casting director that called him up and said, I think you should try out for this part. It's, he wants to work with Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson's like, I got a part for you. There, you know, that's how he's getting cast.

41:08And the bigger names are probably coming through relations with the producer and the director, a stuff like that. The casting director is filling out a lot of the smaller parts. I mean, I remember, you know, when one battle, you know, she wins for one battle, you know, the one who's the most excited was, what's her name, the daughter, who's like, this is her first big part. And she was discovered by the casting director. So that alone might have been, you know, what did it? A sinner's also had some great smaller parts that were really well cast, including the singer, the cat and, you know, he's great. He's great. In fact, he could have been nominated and, you know, and so it's like finding those people is the real, the real gift. I mean, look, you know, even my own personal experience, you know, making just friends, like a casting director filled out a lot of this stuff. But, you know, Ryan Reynolds came through the studio and the producers and, you know, we had like a lot of the main cast came from relationships either with the director or

42:12the studio, you know, so it is a weird thing. I mean, I know like MTV Awards has like the best ensemble. And in a way, that's kind of cooler because it's like a movie that has just an amazing ensemble cast. Everybody in the movie is great. But that's not what they're giving. They're trying to give it to a casting director. Right. But it's meant to reflect the ensemble. It's meant to reflect everyone who's not just the lead who came from the studio or the writer director. It's meant to also reflect the entire ensemble, including all those other roles and people like, you know, Miles Cannon or Jack O'Connell for sinners. I'll say this too, Marty Supreme, brilliantly casted with people who weren't even actors that were great getting that asshole Mr. Wonderful in the movie to play an asshole. That was great casting, Tyler the creator, not typical casting, pen, pen Gillette playing a lunatic like, you know, there was some great casting.

43:14Now again, you're saying show your work. So I don't know what came from Safdie and his relationship. But I mean, Marty Supreme was nominated for Best Casting. And by the way, what's her name Odessa who didn't get nominated for acting. She was a revelation. I've never seen her before. She was fantastic. So I mean, I almost would have been fine if any of these films, Hamnet had a great cast. So those kids, the kids in Hamnet are fantastic. So any one of these could have won. I mean, that's the thing. These are good movies. They're going to have good casts or Lee, John Lee from sinners who was the wife of the shop owner who did designs. She was spectacular. I mean, when you just, the importance of going to some location and having a wonderful actor, deliver and kill just a short scene where they're not the focus of the movie just lifts up the movie, immeasurably. I agree. I mean, it's, yeah, I'm still a little lost as to how they parse this out because there's

44:20a lot of factors that go into the casting of a movie. Yeah, I'm still a little confused about it. And then other, other awards I was so happy that sentimental value won for best international feature. It's a magical film. And that guy is a great director. You should also see his other movie, a worse person in the world is phenomenal as well. All right, let's look at best cinematography. Really cool. This year. Interesting. Who did you pick? I picked sinners. I thought it was beautifully shot. It was. Yeah. Yeah. I should have. I should have known that they would go with Autumn. How do you say Arcapa? She, yeah, first woman to win best cinematographer. But I think she deserved it though. Oh, no, absolutely. Absolutely. But here's the thing. Every one of the movies that are nominated are beautifully shot for sure.

45:21And in my mind, I mean, I actually, I was trying to guess what the Academy would go with. And I picked one battle and Michael Bowman. But in my mind, the most gorgeous film I saw of all of them was Train Dreams and every shot. I mean, there's barely any dialogue in the movie. So the camera work is doing a lot of the lifting and they're shooting over different seasons, every possible outdoor, you know, harsh conditions in the snow, in the heat, the bugs. I mean, it's a beautifully shot movie. That could have easily won. But great to see Autumn win for sinners. Yeah, I mean, all these movies, Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, one battle after another sinners and Train Dreams. I mean, these are, you know, the best people in the world are shooting, you know, this is everything looked amazing. So it's hard to even figure out how do you determine? For me, one of the surprises is that sinners had so many nominations and a lot of those

46:27went to Frankenstein for the technical categories. Right. The only one I mean, you know, like make up and hair styling, like having to... And cast him, yeah, exactly. Right. But I'm saying like Frankenstein, like making that creature took five hours a day or whatever, 10 hours a day or whatever. And absolutely deserved it. I just, where I went wrong, was I voted for sinners more often. I got you. I took sinners for a lot of it too. I voted for Ruthie Carter for costume design and I think that went to Frankenstein. Yeah, I mean, again, I don't know, I don't know what their criteria is. It's, again, it's super, you know, subjective, you know, I don't know. I will say this, I voted for sinners for any music stuff. Sure. I was shocked as shit that K-pop demon hunters won. Oh, I got that right. You got that right? I did. I did. I did. Why? How? How? I just thought, oh my gosh, that song is...

47:28The K-pop song? The K-pop song? You cannot escape it. But dude, I lied to you, it's such a meaningful song and so pivotal in the movie and also pivotal in just life and history. Are you kidding? That song should have won over a K-pop song about, like, be cool, be awesome, be yourself or whatever, whatever the resilience. Resilience. Yeah. Yeah, I think the other song has a little more resilience. I could not believe that that one, that probably, yeah, that in Sean Penn made me the maddest of the, of the whole night. I was like, how does it, they even did a whole product, well, they did production, I guess, of both of those songs. I mean, they were pretty good. I will say this year, the music productions at the Oscars were really good. Just two songs, though. The other three were not really recognized. Right. And then, Barbara Streisand. Yeah. Well, those... I know. I thought they were both moving. Both Barbara Streisand and the Billy Crystal tribute to Rob Reiner.

48:33And what do you call Rachel McAdams tribute to Diane Keaton and... Oh, for sure. It was a lot. It was a lot. Oh, man. Yeah. I mean, that's the thing. There were so many luminaries that Robert DeVal barely got a thing. I didn't know that Bella Tar died. I love that director. But I will say this next time, if you have Barbara Streisand speaking in harsh tones, tell the piano player to take it down a little bit. He's drowning her out. Are you kidding? I did have, I did struggle to hear what she said. Oh, my God. Shoot the piano player. It's a good movie, by the way. But the point is, yeah, I couldn't believe they were... And, you know, look, I thought it was... I thought it was very moving when she went into the song. I didn't... Did Robert Redford coin the term babs because she seemed... She seemed like... Everyone calls her babs. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And she did think that we would all be equally horrified by that or, you know, indignant. Anyway. That's pretty much our take on the Oscars.

49:37You know, again, let's see what happens in 10-15 years. You know, that's what we'll be doing this actual episode as an episode. You know. All right, thanks, Mark. Thank you, everybody, for listening. We will absolutely see you next week with another full episode with Bruce, where we tackle another year of the Oscars. Catch you on the next one.