2024 Oscars - Lorehounds Coverage Plans

[00:00:00] Hey there, David here. And Alicia. You've probably noticed that this episode has a really short run time. Well, short for us anyway.

[00:00:07] That's because it's just a teaser. The Oscars are coming up and we're going to be releasing a three-part prep series to help you get ready without spoiling any of the movies.

[00:00:17] So we're just popping up here quickly to give you a heads up on what to expect from that. The Oscars are coming up March 10th at 7 p.m. Eastern. I'm guessing or is that going to be Pacifica? Yes. Eastern, yeah.

[00:00:29] Okay. Rodcast by ABC in the United States and other channels around the world. But if you go to the Oscars dot org website, you should be able to figure out where to watch them.

[00:00:39] So what do we need to know about this three-part series that you've cooked up for us?

[00:00:43] The idea behind the entire series is that we're going to help you figure out what are the most interesting movies that you can watch at home to prep if, however, whatever your level of interest, and maybe that's the most nominated ones.

[00:00:56] We'll break that down for you or just whatever sounds like the most fun for you. We're going to tell you all of the behind-the-scenes stuff to get in on the water cooler conversations for award season and to make a respectable showing in any Oscars pools.

[00:01:10] You're part of this group called The Association of Destiny of DeathRacers. That's what it is. What is that about?

[00:01:22] So DeathRacers are people who watch all of the movies every Oscar season. So that's 53 movies this year.

[00:01:31] Wow. In fact, yeah, a bunch of us go even further, and I've watched also all of the BAFTA nominated movies, all of the Spirits nominated movies.

[00:01:40] [laughter]

[00:01:42] Where do folks find the DeathRacer website?

[00:01:46] There's two different websites. If you yourself want to track your Oscar-watching progress, then you can find there's two websites. There's the Oscars DeathRacer website, which I know was your preferred one, right, David?

[00:01:59] I think it was just to share it with somebody else. It was really simple to see what was going on.

[00:02:05] Simple visual interface. If you want all the statistics and are going above and beyond, then there's DeathRaceracking.com.

[00:02:12] Okay.

[00:02:13] So if you want to just know more about the Academy of DeathRacers, that's AODR.net, and there's also a very active, subreddit active, especially this time of year and a Discord.

[00:02:25] Okay. Cool. Maybe you can forward me those links, and I'll put them in the show notes if people want to follow up on those.

[00:02:31] Okay. Great. Yeah.

[00:02:32] Cool. All right. So part one, the Headliner Awards. Talk to me about what our first podcast is going to cover and how we're going to work through all of this, you know,

[00:02:42] it's a lot of movies. It's a lot of movies. 53. Yeah.

[00:02:46] So we're going to start with, of course, the Best Picture 10, because these are the movies that are nominated for most of the awards.

[00:02:52] Okay. We're just going to lay the groundwork. We're going to talk about them in the order of the number of nominations that they have.

[00:02:58] Got it.

[00:02:59] And then we're also going to touch on in that episode the other, you know, so-called above the line categories, like directing, acting, and writing.

[00:03:09] Okay. Yeah. We'll make sure that you're up on the favorites to win. And, you know, what the category controversies are in the most popular words.

[00:03:16] Cool. And then to make it a little bit more interesting, since I personally have not seen all of the, the me above the line nominations,

[00:03:25] we have decided to chat with a few people from the community and some other folks that we know to share some voices and thoughts from, you know, from the wider community.

[00:03:38] I know that your father is going to be talking about "Kylers of the Flower Moon." That's very cool. You want to set that up a little bit?

[00:03:44] Yeah. So I've already recorded an interview with my father about he's, so he lives in Oklahoma and, you know, his grandfather, my great-grandfather was part of, you know, he got one of these oil allotments.

[00:03:58] Got it. Wow. Okay.

[00:03:59] And my father's very into the history. He's read the book multiple times. He's watched the movie now multiple times.

[00:04:05] And he had a lot to say. He actually prefers the book to, sorry, the movie to the book.

[00:04:09] Wow. That's really interesting. Very cool. That would be a cool interview. And I know we're going to talk to Marilyn about Barbie.

[00:04:15] Yeah.

[00:04:16] She was an OG collector of the Barbie's way back when, so I'm sure it's got something.

[00:04:20] Yeah. Can't wait to hear what she thinks of the movie.

[00:04:22] Absolutely. And then we've got a few other community members that we've reached out to on our Discord.

[00:04:27] Folks who have expressed opinions or thoughts about movies, you know, where they've really shared something that, like their names,

[00:04:34] that was important to them, or they had a really cool insight.

[00:04:37] So, yeah, I'm really excited to hear some more voices from the wider Lourhounds listening community.

[00:04:43] Okay. So, part two, the hidden gems. What's this podcast going to be about?

[00:04:50] So, yeah, these are kind of my favorite categories every year because these are the movies that I probably wouldn't otherwise watch.

[00:04:57] Well, one of the categories is animation. Of course, I would watch those.

[00:05:00] But the other categories are international documentary and short films.

[00:05:04] Okay.

[00:05:05] These are, yeah, movies that you'd probably miss. And for me, they're windows into other worlds.

[00:05:10] So, we're going to give you the spoiler free tips on what's been nominated, where to find it, and, you know, anything that sparks your interest.

[00:05:18] You can, you can have a horse in the race when it comes to Oscar Day.

[00:05:22] Okay. Sounds good. And we've got some more outside interviews as well.

[00:05:26] You've reached out to some of the folks that you're friends with in the death racer community and other professional and personal contacts.

[00:05:33] So, we're going to get some wider, even wider perspective on those.

[00:05:37] Absolutely. Yeah. Great. In part three, the Blockbusters, AKA the Technical Awards. Those are Blockbusters.

[00:05:44] So the Technical Awards are the, they're also called the Below the Line Awards and they're the ones that are

[00:05:50] dominated. That's when they push those off on the other night, right?

[00:05:53] They're a whole other award ceremony for those who are. Well, no, no. They would. If they were to jettison any awards,

[00:05:59] they would be these, but these are the biggest. These are the headliners of the Technical Awards.

[00:06:05] Yeah, I mean, calling them the Technical Awards may not make it sound that appealing to a lot of people, but these are basically,

[00:06:11] first of all, it's going to be all of the best picture nominees and the biggest movies that most of you have probably watched this year,

[00:06:18] like Napoleon and the Creator movies we've covered even. And these are the awards that are

[00:06:26] actually rewarding people for making movies look and sound the way they look and sound. So these are the people who make movies good.

[00:06:32] Yeah, so we've got cinematography, visual effects, production design, editing, sound and music.

[00:06:37] So yeah, we're going to, I know Jean's going to be joining us to talk to.

[00:06:41] Oh, great. And then we're going to have some, yeah, again, some other members of from the community and beyond with

[00:06:47] some insight into the different categories. Jedi, Jedi, Bob is prepping to us about sound.

[00:06:53] Great. Yeah. That'll be nice. And again, we're still pulling together all of those people and getting those files sorted out and that kind of stuff.

[00:07:01] So we don't want to say too much because we couldn't eat things sort of lined up a little bit.

[00:07:06] Okay, so I was just looking at the Oscars death race website and trying to think about the things that I have seen.

[00:07:13] I've seen, I just saw American fiction, loved it, so good.

[00:07:17] I've seen Barbie. I've seen half of killers of the flower moon. I've seen my strow.

[00:07:25] I really want to watch Oppenheimer. And I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to fit in past lives, poor things, the holdovers are zone of interest.

[00:07:32] So, but I'm here, who is it? Somebody was just on the Discord saying that they saw zone of his interest in was really, was that Adrienne? I think.

[00:07:39] Yeah, there's Adrienne. Yeah. Who and saying how powerful it was and how visually incredibly it is.

[00:07:45] It is very powerful and actually it's coming out on video on demand on the 20th.

[00:07:51] Okay. Oh, there you go. That's good. Yeah. And poor things is coming out on video on demand on the 27th.

[00:07:56] So those are the last two big ones that were a little bit more difficult to watch now.

[00:08:00] They're going to be a little easier to watch at home, and I just have to always plug poor things.

[00:08:05] I mean, sorry, past lives is only nominated for two Oscars, but it is the emotional favorite of a lot of people, including myself.

[00:08:12] So if you. Okay.

[00:08:14] If if you want to know why everyone's gushing about this film, it's hard to describe, but you just.

[00:08:20] I think I'm going to have to sign up on the Death Race website here because it looks like it has some really cool ways to track your movies and stuff like that as well.

[00:08:28] Yeah, exactly. It would be kind of fun. I wouldn't mind

[00:08:31] maybe for myself, like is a personal goal. I don't know that I'll be able to do it before the Oscars, but

[00:08:36] you know, within this calendar year to see at least the 10 best picture nominations, that would be kind of a fun fun goal.

[00:08:43] I'm not traditionally a big Oscars tracker. I mean, I think they're interesting

[00:08:51] and I've always had an awareness and sort of paid a little bit of attention to them,

[00:08:55] but it was until you pitched this idea for these podcasts that I started to get a little bit more

[00:09:00] engaged in interest, you know, have my interest built in the process a little bit.

[00:09:06] And it's kind of like the Super Bowl for entertainment for movies, right? It's a it's a big deal.

[00:09:10] Absolutely. We call it our Super Bowl for sure. And you compared it to fantasy sports at one point,

[00:09:15] which I mean, which I see what you mean, but there actually is if people want to take it to that level,

[00:09:20] there's also you're a little late for this season, but there's something called Red Carpet rosters where you actually do

[00:09:25] Oh wow. You're drafting team and follow them through the award season. Yeah, that's very cool.

[00:09:32] Awesome. What about you? You are you are a I think you're a bigger film buff than I am.

[00:09:36] I love film, but I'm not I've never been a buff, right? I've never been, you know,

[00:09:40] as into it as and I at same with television, I've always loved television. I've watched a lot

[00:09:46] of television through my life. Gen X or Latke kid, you know, I think that makes you a buff, right?

[00:09:51] Yeah, well, but it wasn't until I started podcasting. I think I've always had the desire,

[00:09:56] but then podcasting has really helped me sharpen my my thoughts and my critiques

[00:10:02] in my engagement and shows. And so I just haven't had the same for films, but of course,

[00:10:07] we used to go to the movies. We would see a dozen movies in a year easily, easily,

[00:10:11] because, you know, that's where you went to see really interesting stuff. Television was just

[00:10:16] a problem, right? It was just sort of the oatmeal of the of the cultural conversation,

[00:10:22] but it was the movies that really sparked your interest and took your imagination away.

[00:10:27] So what's your what's your what's your hook for Oscars? What is what drives Alisha for the Oscars

[00:10:33] stuff? I mean, when I guess it comes from childhood, like I used to watch the Oscars with my family

[00:10:38] and, you know, it's even now no monocultural event thing. Yeah, exactly. And it is less so

[00:10:45] that although I feel like this year, it feels like they have nominated more widely seen movies,

[00:10:51] okay, and I'm seeing a broader interest in the Oscars again. So I hope that that because I

[00:10:57] do think it's it doesn't need to just be for people who have watched hundreds of movies in a year.

[00:11:02] And a lot of these movies are are they're approachable in some ways.

[00:11:06] Yeah, American fiction was so easy to to watch and be a participant when we went we kind of did a

[00:11:14] double date with some friends of all.

[00:11:15] Tsar, we left our kids alone to take care of themselves and we went out for an adult meal

[00:11:20] and then we went and saw a movie. It was really great. But theater was... There were a lot of people at our local movie theater and theater was full enough that we actually had to strategize where we were going to sit. It wasn't packed because it's a huge space. But it felt really good and it feels like there's a lot of conversation about Oscars right now like you're saying.

[00:11:41] No, exactly. I think they've made maybe a more concerted... It also helps that two of...

[00:11:47] I was talking to you before. There's the big four films that I would recommend that if you want to be up on the Oscars with the least amount of work, the four films you should target are Oppenheimer, poor things, killers of the Flower Moon and Barbie and entering in past lives.

[00:12:04] Just because I'm always throwing in past lives. But these are the ones nominated for the most.

[00:12:09] And obviously, we have the whole Barb and Hymer phenomenon this year. We know that a lot of people have seen, especially those two movies, killers of Flower Moon's also Scorsese movie. A lot of people have seen that. It's just available on Apple.

[00:12:22] And Maestro, that got a big thing. I know for my in-laws, for them, it was a very moving thing because the subject matter is part of their life. That was an integral part of their growing up.

[00:12:35] I'm just thinking too about this. We've watched a lot of television through the pandemic and up to now.

[00:12:42] They're talking about Pee TV. I think the number of scripted shows that are coming out this year is actually markedly down a little bit from past things.

[00:12:51] So the whole streaming thing is working itself out. But then seeing Barbie, seeing American Fictions, seeing Maestro...

[00:13:01] It reminded me of what movies are. They're a different thing. They're this complete story that's packed into an hour and a half to three hours.

[00:13:13] Let's bring the time down, the runtime. But the whole beginning, middle and end. It's compelling and it can be a visual feast.

[00:13:24] It's just in this really nice packaged thing. So I think I'm starting to fall back in love with movies a little bit.

[00:13:32] I think also one of the movies for me, my two movies of the year are Saed Past Lives Enough.

[00:13:39] That tells me what film is, the way that you can subtly represent the ineffable beauty in life and love.

[00:13:51] It's sort of intangible thing that you can only represent by showing the story of someone's life player.

[00:13:59] But then, on the other hand, my other favorite film of the year, it's Poor Things.

[00:14:02] And that for me is just the encompassing everything that a movie can be, just wild fantasy, but also juggling with complex ideas about what does it mean to be an independent person and our need to control others.

[00:14:19] And how do we develop ourselves, nature versus nurture, but in this technicolored fantasy?

[00:14:25] Yeah, I'm gonna have to see that now, because it kind of mixed things, but visually it's so smooth.

[00:14:31] I think that there's one thing that and so, Jorgos Lanthmos, he's one of my favorite directors.

[00:14:39] He's also the one who did The Lobster, The Favorite, Dog Tooth, The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

[00:14:45] And he's can be a tough swallow for especially some American audiences, just because there's a lot of text in Poor Things.

[00:14:54] There's a lot of text in Poor Things, and also, it brings up questionable morals because that's the point.

[00:15:00] Right.

[00:15:01] So it's based on a book, and it actually got me to go back and pick up and at least thumb through the book.

[00:15:07] And there's a website also that you can explore the book.

[00:15:09] And he's taking the source material and combining it with ideas that he's examined in past movies.

[00:15:16] And it asks a lot of complex moral questions, and not everyone's comfortable with that, and I get it.

[00:15:21] Sure, right. Yeah, if for some folks the movies are entertainment and escapism, as opposed to challenge.

[00:15:27] Yeah, but it also has Mark Ruffalo being very silly in a funny way.

[00:15:31] Okay, very cool.

[00:15:34] Great, well, this has been a fun conversation.

[00:15:36] I guess this is kind of what you could look forward to when we get into the actual podcasts and talking about the actual movies.

[00:15:44] Our plans are to get is to get the first one out sometime, the week of the 18th, and then for the next two to drop within the next two weeks before the Oscars on the 10th.

[00:15:53] So that you're fully briefed before the big show happens.

[00:15:58] So be sure to check out our main feed.

[00:16:02] So if you're listening to this on one of our specialty feeds, like Wheel of Time or Star Wars, make sure you subscribe to the main Lorehounds feed to get all of the podcasts.

[00:16:12] Stay tuned to our Discord, and if you have any general feedback, anything that you want to write in and give us some thoughts about, drop us an email.

[00:16:20] Lorehounds@thelorehounds.com, or visit us on our website and you can leave a voicemail of your own, or send in a message using contact form.

[00:16:29] Alicia, any other thoughts before we bounce out of here?

[00:16:32] No, in case you can't tell, I'm so excited to talk about these movies.

[00:16:36] You're beaming across the interwebs.

[00:16:39] Awesome.

[00:16:40] Well, thanks for putting this together.

[00:16:42] Thanks for pitching the idea.

[00:16:44] It's a very cool project, and I look forward to doing it in coming years.

[00:16:50] Thanks for everything.

[00:16:51] - Yeah, looking forward.