Whether or not you plan to watch along when the 2026 Spirit Awards air this Sunday, February 15 (or later), Elysia will walk you through everything you need to know: what's nominated in what categories, what overlaps are there with the Oscars, and what hidden gems might you want to check out.
Chapters
- Emerging Filmmaker Awards jury prizes (00:02:40)
- Special Awards jury prizes (00:18:44)
- Best Feature categories (00:31:10)
- First Feature categories (00:53:48)
- Acting categories for film (01:05:38)
- Technical categories (01:19:50)
- Documentary (01:31:10)
- International (01:40:18)
- TV awards (01:47:00)
- Top 10 films (01:54:44)
Elysia's top 10 Spirit Awards films for Lorehounds
- Twinless (Hulu, VoD)
- Lurker (Mubi, VoD)
- The Long Walk (Starz, VoD)
- Fucktoys
- Splitsville (Hulu, VoD)
- The Baltimorons (AMC+, VoD)
- One of Them Days (Netflix)
- Hedda (Prime)
- A Poet
- Tie: The Plague (VoD) & On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (HBO, VoD)
Find the full list of Spirit Award nominees here
The 41st Independent Spirit Awards will air Sunday, February 15, 2025 at 5 pm ET – watch on YouTube as it airs and join us in the Lorehounds Discord (see linktree) for a live-watch chat!
Check your extended stats (including the Spirit Awards and jury prize nominees) on DeathRaceTracking.com
Spirit Award nominees covered
The Baltimorons (ContraZoom blog)
Friendship (Properly Howard podcast)
For subscribers:
If I Had Legs I Would Kick You (Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin)
Fucktoys (Imagine Fantastic FF – WhachaWachin)
Non-Oscars awards coverage
Independent Spirit Awards preview (this episode)
BAFTAs preview
Oscars 2026 coverage
Nominations + Best Picture preview
Live-Action, Animated, & Documentary Shorts
Production Design, Costumes, Makeup & Hair
International Features
Documentary Features
Animated Features
Score & Original Song
Cinematography, Editing, Sound, VFX
Director, Original & Adapted Screenplay
Lead & Supporting Actor & Actress, Casting
Ceremony reactions + Best Picture rankings
Deep dives into 2026 Oscar nominees
One Battle After Another – pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3
Shorts: “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” “The Singers,” “Retirement Plan,” and “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”
For subscribers: Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin (Sentimental Value, If I Had Legs I Would Kick You, and Arco)
Revisit Oscars 2024 & 2025: links in these show notes
Contact Us
Questions or comments? Visit us at our website where you can use the contact form or use the voicemail feature. Or, send an email to lorehounds@thelorehounds.com.
Links to Patreon, Supercast, Discord, and Network Affiliates
Any opinions stated are ours personally and do not reflect the opinion of or belong to any employers or other entities.
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00:18 --> 00:22 [SPEAKER_01]: Hello, I'm Alicia, and this is Cinema Hounds, a Laura Hound's podcast.
00:23 --> 00:31 [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to this special bonus episode with everything you need to prepare for this weekend's 41st annual independent spirit awards.
00:32 --> 00:35 [SPEAKER_01]: These are four film and television.
00:35 --> 00:37 [SPEAKER_01]: I will briefly mention television.
00:37 --> 00:39 [SPEAKER_01]: The emphasis is on film.
00:39 --> 00:47 [SPEAKER_01]: They will be airing this Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on YouTube, so you can watch it wherever you are in the world.
00:47 --> 00:52 [SPEAKER_01]: I will put a link in the show notes where you can already sign up for notification if you want to do that.
00:53 --> 00:58 [SPEAKER_01]: And then if you like, you can join us on the Laura Hound's Discord to chat as we watch life.
00:58 --> 01:03 [SPEAKER_01]: This Sunday stay tuned to the end of the episode for some more details on that.
01:03 --> 01:08 [SPEAKER_01]: As for the episode itself, I will be naming all the nominations.
01:09 --> 01:11 [SPEAKER_01]: There will be, there's too many input in the show notes here.
01:11 --> 01:21 [SPEAKER_01]: So there is a link to a letterbox list in the show notes where you can find the nominations, the stats about the most nominated and
01:21 --> 01:37 [SPEAKER_01]: And listing out all of the nominations per category as well, but for this episode I will name them all and I will at least set up what each is, but I will be especially focusing on the films that are not also nominated for Oscars.
01:37 --> 01:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Because, yeah, on the film side alone, there are 47 nominated films across 17 categories, so a lot of films, but most are nominated in multiple categories, so we'll speed up as we go along.
01:48 --> 01:57 [SPEAKER_01]: Please consider this a catalog to find films that you might have otherwise missed and also a primer to prep if you want to watch along this Sunday.
01:58 --> 02:00 [SPEAKER_01]: Or catch up and watch after that.
02:01 --> 02:05 [SPEAKER_01]: I am myself a film independent member, so I did get to vote this year.
02:05 --> 02:10 [SPEAKER_01]: I will shout out which films I voted for and all of the categories as well.
02:11 --> 02:18 [SPEAKER_01]: I will be as with this entire award season series, avoiding all spoilers, just teasers in general thoughts.
02:18 --> 02:25 [SPEAKER_01]: And I will also, at the end of this episode, shout out the nominees for the TV awards and I'm going to spend less time on that.
02:25 --> 02:27 [SPEAKER_01]: There's less fewer categories anyway.
02:27 --> 02:40 [SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't vote in them all because I wasn't able to watch all of the series, but I will shout out the nominees and which Lorehouse favorite made it to nominations.
02:43 --> 02:45 [SPEAKER_01]: let's start with the films.
02:45 --> 02:51 [SPEAKER_01]: Before we get to the voting categories, I want to talk about a few jury award categories.
02:51 --> 02:57 [SPEAKER_01]: First, four jury awards have already been handed out.
02:58 --> 03:10 [SPEAKER_01]: Three of them are the emerging filmmakers awards and the winners of these emerging filmmakers awards each receive a $25
03:10 --> 03:20 [SPEAKER_01]: And these three were already revealed at the 2026 film independent spirit awards nominee brunch on January 10th.
03:20 --> 03:23 [SPEAKER_01]: You can also find the announcements on YouTube.
03:23 --> 03:37 [SPEAKER_01]: So the first of these three awards is the producers award and this award honors emerging producers who despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce independent films.
03:37 --> 04:02 [SPEAKER_01]: And the three nominees were Emma Hannaway, who has produced films, Obix, this year's film, strawberry mansion, somewhere quiet, also previously was involved in the production of No Manland, the tragedy of McBeth, my first film after this death, women talking and surely, and she's also a founding co-producer of the new slash next film festival.
04:02 --> 04:17 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I know the larger films that I mentioned later of the ones where I believe she was more of a leading producer, I'm only familiar with O-Bix, which I have not, it's O-B-E-X.
04:17 --> 04:21 [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet, it did just come out in video on demand.
04:21 --> 04:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And it was at the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival that I went to this fall, but it is basically a black and white retro game horror movie where a man, his dog, goes missing and he dives into this retro game too.
04:42 --> 04:45 [SPEAKER_01]: So like, Tron, but a low budget horror.
04:46 --> 04:46 [SPEAKER_01]: I hear good things.
04:46 --> 04:48 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm looking forward to watching it.
04:48 --> 05:04 [SPEAKER_01]: The second nominee, Luca Intilly, was a producer for I saw the TV glow, Maddie Secret, the last year of darkness, and also after this death of those films, the one that I know as I saw the TV glow, that was a big indie horror film.
05:04 --> 05:13 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, not horror, kind of more psychological, horror a few years ago, and yeah, that was that was a great film.
05:14 --> 05:24 [SPEAKER_01]: And then the final one, the actual, the winner, is Tony Yang, who produced Sea Grass, Bunny Lover, Rose Meade, Blue Sun Palace, and Lucky Lou.
05:24 --> 05:31 [SPEAKER_01]: And Blue Sun Palace and Lucky Lou are two of the films that we're going to be talking about today.
05:31 --> 05:40 [SPEAKER_01]: So Variety names him one of its top 10 producers to watch in 2025 and now he is taking home this award and the grant as well.
05:42 --> 05:46 [SPEAKER_01]: the second category is the someone to watch award.
05:46 --> 05:53 [SPEAKER_01]: This award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
05:53 --> 06:06 [SPEAKER_01]: And so the three nominees for this one were Tauti Ribeiro for Valentina, Neo Sora for Happy End and Anna Perna, three rum for
06:06 --> 06:11 [SPEAKER_01]: and the winner of this award in Grant was Tati Ribeiro for Valentina.
06:11 --> 06:16 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, Valentina is sort of a hybrid docunerative.
06:17 --> 06:24 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, basically there is one central actress, Kayla Montaroso, Mejia.
06:24 --> 06:47 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you might recognize her from, she does actually appear in one of them days, a film that we're going to be talking about a little bit, but also you might recognize her from recurring roles in the studio or Abbott Elementary, um, and so she is playing an actress and then sort of everyone else around her is playing themselves, but in an improv way.
06:48 --> 06:54 [SPEAKER_01]: And, uh, this is said, um, in El Paso at the busiest US Mexico border crossing
06:54 --> 06:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Valentina Navigate's parking tickets, odd jobs, and a precarious checking account balance.
07:00 --> 07:04 [SPEAKER_01]: And this one was actually, this is a lot more fun than I was expecting for some reason.
07:05 --> 07:11 [SPEAKER_01]: I had it in my mind that it would be very serious, but it was mostly uplifting in life affirming.
07:11 --> 07:14 [SPEAKER_01]: It was kind of actually a lovely hangout film.
07:14 --> 07:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And I've never personally been to El Paso, but now I feel like I have a much better sense of it.
07:19 --> 07:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It would really
07:20 --> 07:26 [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of those El Paso is one of the main characters in the movie's situation, maybe the main character in the movie.
07:27 --> 07:37 [SPEAKER_01]: The hybrid format did remind me a bit of this film with Lily Gladstone from a few years ago where she was the one actress surrounded by people playing themselves.
07:37 --> 07:39 [SPEAKER_01]: I was called the Unknown Country.
07:40 --> 07:43 [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, this was a really pleasant hang.
07:43 --> 07:49 [SPEAKER_01]: I really, I like all three movies in these categories, each one better than the last, to be honest.
07:49 --> 07:52 [SPEAKER_01]: I also really enjoyed Neo Sora's happy end.
07:53 --> 08:01 [SPEAKER_01]: This is kind of a light sci-fi in a near future Japanese city as they brace for a devastating earthquake.
08:01 --> 08:08 [SPEAKER_01]: A group of teenage friends navigate personal struggles and fractured bonds amid rising tension.
08:08 --> 08:11 [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, this one really works for me on a few levels.
08:12 --> 08:38 [SPEAKER_01]: It is a slow burn, but it builds as you go so that, you know, you get to know the characters, this group of friends, you get to understand each of them gets some sort of arc, some more than others, but they each feel like distinct fully formed people interacting and all of the complications thereof, you know,
08:38 --> 08:43 [SPEAKER_01]: How do your friendships grow and change with you?
08:43 --> 08:54 [SPEAKER_01]: I do think, on the second viewing, I would get even more out of it, but I also really appreciate the deeper themes running through it for your example to quote the film.
08:54 --> 09:02 [SPEAKER_01]: One of the characters points out to the other that their principles using exactly the same tactic as and, you know, insert your dictator of choice.
09:03 --> 09:05 [SPEAKER_01]: No one has any imagination anymore.
09:05 --> 09:09 [SPEAKER_01]: That tyrant is faking an emergency to try and run a dictatorship.
09:09 --> 09:15 [SPEAKER_01]: So, the film is not really so much about the near future as it is about the global present.
09:17 --> 09:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It does feel a bit like a warning that's already coming true.
09:20 --> 09:21 [SPEAKER_01]: And I do recommend it.
09:22 --> 09:32 [SPEAKER_01]: I watched it right after the documentary, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which is about the indoctrination and militarization of school kids.
09:33 --> 09:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And this actually is an interesting companion piece to that.
09:36 --> 09:50 [SPEAKER_01]: But within this kind of quasi-apocalyptic police state setting, this really is a hangout film about a group of friends in their last days of high school of just wondering or fearing what the future might bring.
09:51 --> 10:04 [SPEAKER_01]: It does have funny moments too, for example, there's a bit where the coach is getting repeatedly dinged by the AI overlord for trying to stop student from smoking or littering and it keeps me interpreting what he's doing,
10:04 --> 10:07 [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I recommend happy end by near Sara.
10:07 --> 10:10 [SPEAKER_01]: You can find that I think on video on demand.
10:10 --> 10:13 [SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely out there to be found.
10:13 --> 10:21 [SPEAKER_01]: And then the last one more difficult to find but really worth keeping an eye out for one of my absolute favorite films of the year.
10:20 --> 10:38 [SPEAKER_01]: It is a weird one, and a Perna Sriram's fuck toys, about a cursed young woman who sits out on a wild fundraising adventure through Trash Town, USA after she's told by multiple psychics that she can break the curse by paying them $1.
10:38 --> 10:46 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, so this really is a sort of Odyssey through a surreal Florida type setting.
10:46 --> 10:51 [SPEAKER_01]: I did talk about this one more in the Imagine Fantastic Film Festival episode for subscribers.
10:53 --> 10:58 [SPEAKER_01]: The Central Cast is fantastic, uh, and her Pernosurum has herself and actress.
10:58 --> 11:03 [SPEAKER_01]: And so this is her baby, this whole project, which is also the main character.
11:03 --> 11:27 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think the other most familiar face for a lot of people will be friends who are no who plays probably the tertiary, the third most important character perhaps in this film, but I have to shout out Sadie Scott who plays the second most important character, the person who actually goes with the main character on most of this Odyssey, really,
11:27 --> 11:38 [SPEAKER_01]: a standout chemistry between all of these people and just surreal settings definitely one of the most original films that I have ever seen.
11:38 --> 11:49 [SPEAKER_01]: So if you are open to something a bit different and you're not too offended by the title, definitely check out Fuck Toys, just keep an eye out for it when it's coming to
11:49 --> 11:52 [SPEAKER_01]: either video on demand or somewhere near you.
11:52 --> 11:54 [SPEAKER_01]: It's really unclear what's happening.
11:54 --> 11:58 [SPEAKER_01]: It's been doing the festival rounds for a while because it's just a stay.
11:59 --> 12:02 [SPEAKER_01]: It's under the radar, unfairly under the radar, I would say.
12:02 --> 12:04 [SPEAKER_01]: But it has won a lot of awards along the way.
12:04 --> 12:11 [SPEAKER_01]: It is getting recognition and so I'm glad to see it recognized here with at least a nomination.
12:11 --> 12:29 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so that brings us to the third and final emerging filmmaker award, the trueer than fiction award, and this award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition, so this is sort of a second documentary category of these awards.
12:29 --> 12:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And the three nominees were Raji Samarah Singh for your touch makes others invisible.
12:36 --> 12:41 [SPEAKER_01]: Brittany Shine for seeds and Tony Bena for Andre is an idiot.
12:42 --> 12:55 [SPEAKER_01]: And the winner was Raji Samarah Singh for your touch makes others invisible about a Tamil woman who loses her son to a supernatural entity plaguing her community in a war torn village in northern Sri Lanka.
12:55 --> 13:05 [SPEAKER_01]: and intertwining with her journey are real-life testimonies with women whose family members vanished at the hands of military forces during the Civil War.
13:05 --> 13:15 [SPEAKER_01]: It's, I call this an almost stream of consciousness, a series of audio and visual vignettes about life and lush Sri Lanka.
13:15 --> 13:23 [SPEAKER_01]: I do think there are rifles of crisp imagery and an inventive editing and engrossing cinematography that kept me engaged.
13:24 --> 13:27 [SPEAKER_01]: But I did 100% love the editing.
13:27 --> 13:30 [SPEAKER_01]: I do feel that some shots were held longer than I would like.
13:30 --> 13:35 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is definitely a piece of experimental slow cinema.
13:35 --> 13:44 [SPEAKER_01]: So, know that if you are interested in seeking this one out, but I do think it's the inventiveness that won it this award.
13:44 --> 13:51 [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, it also just helped me realize how little I actually know about the politics culture and history of Sri Lanka.
13:51 --> 13:55 [SPEAKER_01]: So I appreciated those glimpses into that.
13:55 --> 13:56 [SPEAKER_01]: It is quite short.
13:56 --> 13:57 [SPEAKER_01]: It's barely more than an hour.
13:57 --> 14:05 [SPEAKER_01]: I appreciated the short run time, especially with the sometimes heavy topical discussion about disappeared children.
14:05 --> 14:28 [SPEAKER_01]: Though I am someone, I would have liked more explanation of some of the situations discussed and some of the visuals shown like for example, there was some sort of festival with an almost religious seeming demonstration of someone getting hooks in their backs and I need an explanation of what is going on there.
14:28 --> 14:35 [SPEAKER_01]: But I really like that they used, anytime there's a different language spoken on screen, they used different colored subtitles, just like Bichinko.
14:36 --> 14:36 [SPEAKER_01]: Love that.
14:36 --> 14:39 [SPEAKER_01]: Love when people do that, please normalize that.
14:39 --> 14:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Now the second doc in this category, Britney Shines seeds.
14:44 --> 14:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Britney Shines just being the director, seeds being the title of the documentary.
14:48 --> 14:53 [SPEAKER_01]: This was shortlisted but not nominated for an Oscar as well.
14:53 --> 15:02 [SPEAKER_01]: Seeds follows black generational family farmers in the American South exploring their joys, struggles and the significance of owning their own land.
15:03 --> 15:06 [SPEAKER_01]: And Tessa Thompson stepped in with this one as a producer.
15:08 --> 15:12 [SPEAKER_01]: It is a beautifully shot documentary.
15:12 --> 15:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And basically, it is very, again, very slow cinema, very slice of life where you are just sort of sitting in on these conversations, private conversations, public conversations, public discussions about the concerns and the joys of being a farmer, particularly a black farmer and, you know, wanting to continue this family practice for the next generation as well.
15:42 --> 15:48 [SPEAKER_01]: So this one is starting to become increasingly available if that sounds interesting to you.
15:48 --> 15:56 [SPEAKER_01]: I do have to admit that my personal favorite in this category is definitely the third documentary.
15:56 --> 15:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Andre is an idiot by Tony Bena.
15:59 --> 16:06 [SPEAKER_01]: And this one is about Andre a brilliant idiot who is dying because he didn't get a colonoscopy.
16:06 --> 16:19 [SPEAKER_01]: His sobering diagnosis complete irreverence and insatiable curiosity sent him on an unexpected journey learning how to die happily and ridiculously without losing his sense of humor.
16:19 --> 16:25 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I mean, I think this is maybe the most fun movie about dying that I've ever watched.
16:25 --> 16:29 [SPEAKER_01]: It does definitely get real toward the end, especially.
16:29 --> 16:34 [SPEAKER_01]: But it is, I would say it's more life affirming than anything else.
16:34 --> 16:48 [SPEAKER_01]: And it is the entire movie is of course dedicated to reminding people to get colonoscopies because this was completely avoidable in this case.
16:48 --> 16:59 [SPEAKER_01]: just yesterday as I'm recording James Vanderbeek passed away the age of 48 from colorectal cancer, which is big blow to me as an elder millennial.
17:01 --> 17:11 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is definitely reminding me, schedule that mammogram, schedule that colonoscopy, it's maybe not anyone's favorite experience or
17:11 --> 17:19 [SPEAKER_01]: taking a chunk out of the day seems annoying, but it's definitely worth doing if we want many more days.
17:20 --> 17:46 [SPEAKER_01]: I will say I'm going to bring up Andre's and idiots a couple more times one more this episode just because I do see similarities with another film in the documentary category, the voting documentary category we'll talk about, but I also I like this one so much that I made sure that that my guest for the documentary episode for the Oscar series watched it as well so that we can talk about it there too.
17:46 --> 17:48 [SPEAKER_01]: So, Andre is an idiot.
17:48 --> 17:52 [SPEAKER_01]: Highly recommended, uh, I think it's even in my top 20 of the year.
17:52 --> 17:55 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm saying this is someone who watches literally hundreds.
17:56 --> 18:04 [SPEAKER_01]: It is out in UK cinemas now, and it will be getting a limited theatrical release in the US, uh, starting March 6th.
18:04 --> 18:07 [SPEAKER_01]: So I definitely recommend checking this out.
18:07 --> 18:10 [SPEAKER_01]: It is one of the most original documentaries I've ever seen.
18:11 --> 18:19 [SPEAKER_01]: You'll experience everything from the most unexpectedly romantic green card marriage to
18:19 --> 18:44 [SPEAKER_01]: finding Andre's death yell to stop motion, animation, uh, reenactments of some of the most awkward moments of cancer treatment, um, just really making it fun, and I know that sounds strange, but that is definitely what Andre most wanted is to, in a fun way, remind us, we're all going to die, so let's get our call and check.
18:48 --> 18:58 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so that is the end of the emerging filmmaker awards, which brings us to two special awards, which are also determined by Jerry.
18:58 --> 19:05 [SPEAKER_01]: One of them has already, well, been, I won't say handed out, but has been named.
19:05 --> 19:10 [SPEAKER_01]: The Robert Altman Award is presented to a single film each year.
19:10 --> 19:17 [SPEAKER_01]: It's presented to the ensemble cast director and casting director of a film that was made with film independent.
19:18 --> 19:32 [SPEAKER_01]: The award is named after director screenwriter and producer Robert Altman who was considered a maverick in naturalistic films, especially, and definitely a pioneer in
19:32 --> 19:38 [SPEAKER_01]: And, as I said, yeah, a single movie wins us award directly without any other nominees.
19:38 --> 19:48 [SPEAKER_01]: And, unfortunately, actors that win this award are no longer eligible for the individual acting categories, which I personally think is kind of bullshit, but okay.
19:49 --> 19:56 [SPEAKER_01]: I am glad to see one of my favorite films of the year, The Long Walk, honored here with the award going to director Francis Lawrence.
19:56 --> 20:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And casting director Rich Delia and the ensemble cast of Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Johnson, Tutt Neut, Joshua Audjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Garrett Waring, but yeah, I am definitely annoyed that that means that a few of them were not thus able to be nominated for acting awards as well.
20:19 --> 20:22 [SPEAKER_01]: for anyone who hasn't heard me touch about the long walk yet.
20:22 --> 20:27 [SPEAKER_01]: What it is, it is a bit of a horror film, a thriller horror film.
20:27 --> 20:29 [SPEAKER_01]: The screenplay is by J.T.
20:29 --> 20:36 [SPEAKER_01]: Molner but it is based on a novella by Stephen King set in a dystopian 1970s.
20:37 --> 20:45 [SPEAKER_01]: The film follows 50 boys in an annually televised competitive walking contest meant to inspire viewers.
20:45 --> 20:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Each boy must maintain a pace of three miles per hour of non-stop walking for days, and any time they fall behind they get three warnings, and after the third strike you are out completely.
21:00 --> 21:07 [SPEAKER_01]: the boy who lasts the longest will win a large cash prize and get one wish of his choice fulfilled.
21:08 --> 21:22 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is the film I say, you know, I think this is the film that people keep telling me the one battle after another is I don't think one battle after another has much interesting to say about fascism other than it exists.
21:22 --> 21:26 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a film that explores the mechanics of it.
21:26 --> 21:27 [SPEAKER_01]: How does it work?
21:27 --> 21:28 [SPEAKER_01]: How do you stand up to it?
21:28 --> 21:33 [SPEAKER_01]: Which tactics are most or least effective pros and cons?
21:33 --> 21:37 [SPEAKER_01]: What are the different ways people deal with life in such a system?
21:37 --> 21:44 [SPEAKER_01]: This is exploring all of those interesting nooks and crannies of the darker side of humanity.
21:44 --> 21:49 [SPEAKER_01]: But there is also warmth and camaraderie in there as well.
21:49 --> 21:50 [SPEAKER_01]: I personally love this film.
21:50 --> 22:00 [SPEAKER_01]: It's also freaking gorgeous and I say this obviously as a horror lover, I have a stronger stomach for on-screen violence so keep that in mind as well.
22:01 --> 22:04 [SPEAKER_01]: And the last of the jury awards, uh,
22:04 --> 22:14 [SPEAKER_01]: The second of the special awards is the John Casavetti's award, which is presented to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $1 million.
22:14 --> 22:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It used to be less than $500 until 2023, so they changed that rather recently.
22:20 --> 22:26 [SPEAKER_01]: And this award is awarded during the actual ceremony, so we don't know the winner yet.
22:26 --> 22:33 [SPEAKER_01]: and it is named after actor screenwriter director John Casavetti's who was a pioneer of American independent film.
22:34 --> 22:44 [SPEAKER_01]: He's also maybe even better known as an actor in films like The Dirty Doesnin where he receives an Oscar nomination in the supporting actor category.
22:44 --> 23:12 [SPEAKER_01]: And Rosemary's baby, but he was also himself a filmmaker with a string of critically acclaimed independent dramas, which included shadows from 1959, faces from 1968, husbands from 1970, a woman under the influence 1974, opening 1977 and love streams 1984, and I have to admit to being
23:12 --> 23:25 [SPEAKER_01]: But this year's nominees for the John Casvette's Award are the Baltimoreans, boys go to Jupiter, Eiffus, and Ela, or in English this island.
23:25 --> 23:29 [SPEAKER_01]: If you're looking it up on letterbox, I've learned a look for this island.
23:29 --> 23:31 [SPEAKER_01]: and the final one is familiar touch.
23:32 --> 23:37 [SPEAKER_01]: So for this one, I'm going to actually work through this list in reverse alphabetical order.
23:37 --> 23:42 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's change things up with the so late in the alphabet familiar touch.
23:42 --> 23:42 [SPEAKER_01]: It's always funny.
23:43 --> 23:45 [SPEAKER_01]: And when that works out that way, um,
23:45 --> 23:50 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a written directed produced by Sarah Friedland.
23:50 --> 24:00 [SPEAKER_01]: It's built as a coming of old age film, because it follows an octogenarian who's played by Kathleen Shelfan.
24:01 --> 24:15 [SPEAKER_01]: As she transitions to life in assisted living and contends with her relationship to herself and her caregivers and other people in her life while dealing with and trying to accept her cognitive decline.
24:15 --> 24:25 [SPEAKER_01]: This received two nominations, this John Cousvetis Award and Kathleen Schouffon also received the nomination for playing the main character, Ruth.
24:26 --> 24:51 [SPEAKER_01]: and interestingly enough, this is actually the second year in a row that it is nominated because it was also not only nominated, it actually won the someone to watch award last year, but because of the, you know, eligibility rules, it was eligible for the actual ceremony awards this year, so it was nominated for the John Cousveti's award and for best lead performance.
24:52 --> 24:53 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one.
24:53 --> 24:55 [SPEAKER_01]: It was a really popular one.
24:56 --> 24:59 [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen a lot of great reviews for it.
24:59 --> 25:07 [SPEAKER_01]: I think it is a strong film about dementia, not necessarily my favorite in this category.
25:07 --> 25:09 [SPEAKER_01]: working backwards in the alphabet.
25:09 --> 25:18 [SPEAKER_01]: We have Estatila or this island from director's writers producers, Christian Carrotero and Lorraine Jones Molina.
25:19 --> 25:26 [SPEAKER_01]: This film is about Bebo a teenager from a coastal Puerto Rican town who lives with his brother in a public housing complex.
25:26 --> 25:33 [SPEAKER_01]: There they fish for a living, but growing desperation drives them to illegal dealings that promise easy money.
25:34 --> 25:42 [SPEAKER_01]: When a job goes wrong and blood is spilled, people flees with Lola, a wealthy girl seeking to escape her troubled reality.
25:42 --> 25:50 [SPEAKER_01]: As they navigate the labyrinthine mountains, they encounter remnants of a fading way of life contrasting with the violence that follows them.
25:51 --> 25:59 [SPEAKER_01]: As Hitman close in, Bebo must confront his choices and decide if redemption is possible, or if the sea will be their final escape.
25:59 --> 26:02 [SPEAKER_01]: This is the only nomination this one received.
26:02 --> 26:10 [SPEAKER_01]: It is one that, um, it stuck with me, I think, especially for the exploration of the island of Puerto Rico itself.
26:11 --> 26:26 [SPEAKER_01]: For me, I would say that's the greatest strength, both visually and just the medically, um, otherwise it's sort of an ambling more low-key film than you might expect from that description, but definitely an interesting watch.
26:26 --> 26:41 [SPEAKER_01]: Now the one before this is a divisive one e-fiss directed written produced by Carson Lund and company, Michael Basta and Nate Fisher are also writers and or producers.
26:41 --> 26:48 [SPEAKER_01]: This one was nominated for this John Castlevetti's Award and also nominated for Best to Editing, so I'll mention it again there.
26:49 --> 26:52 [SPEAKER_01]: But this is the baseball hangout film you might have heard of.
26:52 --> 27:02 [SPEAKER_01]: It's basically, it's about some local teams who are playing their last baseball game on a field that's about to be demolished.
27:02 --> 27:26 [SPEAKER_01]: and it's really nothing really goes on except for they play this game and locals come and go watching them and commenting on them and it's really is a hangout piece where there's a bunch of different characters that all have their little quirks and each gets some moments to to stand out and shine.
27:26 --> 27:36 [SPEAKER_01]: But I think this is one that is going to work much better for people who are baseball fans because really at the heart of it is it's about just love of baseball.
27:36 --> 27:44 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's it's another one where you just really have to vibe with the type of character with the conversations happening.
27:44 --> 27:50 [SPEAKER_01]: And so it wasn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I do see why the people who love it really love it.
27:50 --> 27:53 [SPEAKER_01]: So if you're a baseball fan definitely check out EFIS.
27:54 --> 28:17 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, crawling back up the alphabet before that is definitely one of the most original films in this entire line up, and that would be the animated feature boys go to Jupiter from director writer Julian Glendor about a teenager in suburban Florida desperately hustling to make $5 in this dreamy and surreal animated coming of age story.
28:17 --> 28:19 [SPEAKER_01]: This is the only nomination that this one received.
28:20 --> 28:22 [SPEAKER_01]: This is,
28:22 --> 28:37 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a film that I wasn't sure how much I liked it while watching it but it's definitely stuck clear in my head ever since which is a huge compliment because I've been watching a ton of films since then and I still remember a lot of details about this.
28:37 --> 28:43 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll say it is a musical but it's a very unusual musical in that uh
28:43 --> 28:43 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
28:44 --> 28:49 [SPEAKER_01]: The songs are kind of bangers, but in a very subdued quirky way.
28:49 --> 28:53 [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is a film that I would have been a lot more into when I was in my 20s.
28:54 --> 29:04 [SPEAKER_01]: It's got that intentional weirdness and, you know, where the animation and the artist is intentionally kind of shitty and the story is
29:04 --> 29:21 [SPEAKER_01]: kind of basic and slow, but in a way, you know, it's like people, again, hanging out in Florida, just it's a very vibes-based film, where with some weird fantasy elements, I'll say.
29:22 --> 29:26 [SPEAKER_01]: So if that sounds intriguing, check out boys go to Jupiter.
29:26 --> 29:39 [SPEAKER_01]: And then my favorite in this category is the first in the alphabet, the Baltimore runs from director writer producer J. DuPless with writer producer Michael Strassner.
29:40 --> 29:51 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is about a newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency which leads to an unexpected adventure with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together.
29:51 --> 30:01 [SPEAKER_01]: And this received two nominations, this John Cassavetti's award, and a breakthrough performance nomination for Liz Larsen, who plays the dentist's D.D.
30:02 --> 30:08 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is really, if you are a fan of films like Before Sunrise or Rylane,
30:08 --> 30:36 [SPEAKER_01]: this is like a much more down to earth before sunrise and a very unusual alternative sort of Christmas movie but with all of the warmth and heart that you would hope from that it definitely if you're a fan of improv also for sure run don't walk to watch this it's got some of the most real
30:36 --> 30:51 [SPEAKER_01]: So I definitely recommend the Baltimoreans, and by the way, I did write a review of this for the Contra Zoom blog, so I'll link that in the show notes if you're curious to learn more about the Baltimoreans and what I specifically think about it.
30:52 --> 30:52 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's it.
30:52 --> 30:54 [SPEAKER_01]: Those are the jury awards.
30:54 --> 30:56 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a good moment to take a quick break.
30:56 --> 31:03 [SPEAKER_01]: And when we come back, we're going to start talking about the voting categories, and I'll let you know what I voted for as well.
31:16 --> 31:21 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, let's talk the film nominees in the voting categories.
31:21 --> 31:32 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to start with the biggest prizes, then the first feature versions of those prizes, then the combined categories and ending with the most specific categories.
31:31 --> 32:01 [SPEAKER_01]: which are the documentary and international films, um, as I said, I am currently a voting member of film independent, so I did get to vote, and I will shout out which films I voted for, but the official voting criteria we were given is to look for films that promote diversity, innovation, curiosity, and uniqueness of vision with original provocative subject matter,
32:01 --> 32:09 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I will say I've watched all of these films, I definitely have my favorites therein.
32:10 --> 32:12 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, there are in these independent spirit awards.
32:12 --> 32:14 [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of these slow cinema films.
32:14 --> 32:16 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not saying slow as an insult.
32:17 --> 32:22 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a sort of style of cinema where you just...
32:22 --> 32:33 [SPEAKER_01]: you let stories unfold languagely so that there's time to observe the many little details, and this is also why there's often a slice of life element in this as well.
32:33 --> 32:41 [SPEAKER_01]: So there are those in there, but of course my favorite ones are the more stylistic ones, which luckily there are plenty of those.
32:41 --> 32:52 [SPEAKER_01]: So as we go, I will shout out my favorites, what I think Laura Hound's listeners would like as well, and then at the end I will
32:52 --> 32:56 [SPEAKER_01]: So let's start with the biggest prize best feature.
32:57 --> 33:07 [SPEAKER_01]: There are five nominees in this category, Peter Hujard's day, the plague, sorry baby, train dreams and twinless.
33:07 --> 33:12 [SPEAKER_01]: So starting at the top Peter Hujard's day, um...
33:12 --> 33:16 [SPEAKER_01]: for this one, the prize would go to producers, Jonah Desend and Jordan Drake.
33:16 --> 33:38 [SPEAKER_01]: This one received five nominations for feature and also directing for Iris Axe, lead actor for Ben Wishall, who plays Peter Houder, the titular character, supporting actor for Rebecca Hall, as Linda Rosencrantz, the only other character in this film, and it received a cinematography nomination.
33:38 --> 33:40 [SPEAKER_01]: And what this film basically is,
33:40 --> 33:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Linda Rosencrantz, these are real people, and Linda Rosencrantz is a journalist, and she, back in the day, she decided she was going to tape some of her artist friends, just describing an entire day, all of the minutiae of a day in their life.
33:59 --> 34:07 [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, she had Peter Hujar, you can see he had taken notes on his entire day so that he can read them back to her.
34:08 --> 34:13 [SPEAKER_01]: In this recording, the project that I was intended for never came to fruition, but the recording still existed.
34:13 --> 34:22 [SPEAKER_01]: And since Ben Transcribes and was published as a book, and now they have turned this recording into an acted-out film.
34:22 --> 34:34 [SPEAKER_01]: So it is essentially just these two characters talking as he describes all of the details of his day and they sort of change locations within this apartment.
34:34 --> 34:51 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's why the cinematography award, it does, I would say production design is a strength of this one, but it is going to be, you know, hit our miss for you, depending on whether you get sucked into their conversations or not.
34:51 --> 34:53 [SPEAKER_01]: I have to say I did struggle with this one.
34:53 --> 34:56 [SPEAKER_01]: I did not really get sucked into their conversations.
34:57 --> 35:03 [SPEAKER_01]: I think that the two actors did a great job, but this just isn't my favorite.
35:03 --> 35:08 [SPEAKER_01]: So I did not vote for it and any of the categories, but it will come up again as we go through.
35:08 --> 35:13 [SPEAKER_01]: The second one on this list, the plague, I am more of a fan of this one for sure.
35:13 --> 35:24 [SPEAKER_01]: For this, the award would go to producers, Derek Douchy, Joel Ederton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider and Lizzie Shapiro.
35:24 --> 35:44 [SPEAKER_01]: The plague is a psychological drama thriller, it's definitely got some horror even light body horror elements, it's about a 12 year old kid who arrives at a water polo camp and he's a socially anxious outsider desperate to fit into the camp's ruthless social hierarchy.
35:44 --> 36:04 [SPEAKER_01]: And this received three nominations, this film, for feature, of course, lead for Everett Buck, the kid who shows up at the camp, and a kid named Ben, and for breakthrough performance for Kyle Martin, who played Jake, who is the sort of...
36:04 --> 36:11 [SPEAKER_01]: sort of the villain of the movie, the leader of the gang of mean boys.
36:11 --> 36:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll say, Kyle Martin, I mean, all of them, this is a film of phenomenal child performances.
36:19 --> 36:30 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think this is also why the director won the GGA Prize, the director's Guild of America Prize for best-directed first feature.
36:30 --> 36:34 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, just the fact that this is his first feature, but we still have the nomination.
36:34 --> 36:39 [SPEAKER_01]: There is a separate best first feature category that we're going to talk about, but no, this is not nominated there.
36:39 --> 36:45 [SPEAKER_01]: This is nominated in the varsity category of best feature, the biggest category.
36:45 --> 36:46 [SPEAKER_01]: So that says a lot.
36:47 --> 36:53 [SPEAKER_01]: It did premiere at the uncertain regard section of the
36:53 --> 36:57 [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, definitely one of the more higher profile ones.
36:58 --> 37:01 [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's just releasing in cinemas and a lot of places.
37:02 --> 37:12 [SPEAKER_01]: Right now, it's not really an easy watch, it's there's some intense bullying, but it's one that's really warmed its way inside my head and stuck there.
37:12 --> 37:14 [SPEAKER_01]: I've been thinking about it a lot since.
37:15 --> 37:19 [SPEAKER_01]: It has some cool underwater cinematography, by the way, especially the opening scene.
37:19 --> 37:21 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, third film on this list.
37:21 --> 37:28 [SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, baby, about a reclusive college literature professor struggling with suppression following a sexual assault.
37:29 --> 37:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And for this one, the prize would go to Mark Sarriak, Barry Jenkins, and Adele Romanski.
37:36 --> 37:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, baby, received four nominations for Feature, for Director for Ava Vector, Scream Play by Ava Vector, and Supporting for Naomi Aki as Litty.
37:50 --> 37:53 [SPEAKER_01]: Surprisingly, not for Ava Vector and Inacting.
37:53 --> 38:05 [SPEAKER_01]: This one, it is a very popular film with a lot of people you may remember Julia Roberts shouting it out, shouting out a evictor the creator from the Golden Globes stage.
38:05 --> 38:08 [SPEAKER_01]: So that gave it a bit of a profile boost.
38:09 --> 38:11 [SPEAKER_01]: It is when I heard people talking about all year.
38:11 --> 38:16 [SPEAKER_01]: So I was really disappointed that I didn't like it as much as a lot of other people did.
38:16 --> 38:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I think the handling of the sexual assault elements are it's done okay.
38:25 --> 38:28 [SPEAKER_01]: There's some aspects of that, I like, I have mixed feelings about that aspect of it.
38:29 --> 38:31 [SPEAKER_01]: I really like the structure of the film.
38:31 --> 38:45 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a bit, it's with chapters that are a bit shuffled in order and um, I really like a structure like that and I think this pulls it off well.
38:45 --> 39:10 [SPEAKER_01]: the way the main character kind of feels out of touch and very privileged and then all the constant jokes about, oh, killing myself, but not really, I don't know, it just really, really seems feels to me to make lights or not really understand a lot of
39:10 --> 39:14 [SPEAKER_01]: the things that's talking about the dialogue that all just really didn't work for me.
39:14 --> 39:22 [SPEAKER_01]: I found the dialogue just very constructed and overwrought and that was off-putting to me.
39:22 --> 39:28 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that might make the difference between the people who really love it and people like me who are like,
39:28 --> 39:47 [SPEAKER_01]: feels the whole thing feels off and just yeah there is a lot of people complaining about the portrayal of of being a college literature professor and even as someone I've never been a college literature professor I have attended universities and known these professors and
39:47 --> 40:10 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I just it didn't it all fell wrong and they obviously didn't use advisors for this and the sorry baby refers to a scene at the end that just for me was the nail and the coffin so I'm so sorry to all the people who love it I do think that this is probably the most likely one to win here because a lot of people are upset that this
40:10 --> 40:15 [SPEAKER_01]: that this film wasn't nominated for Oscars or BAFTAs or other things.
40:15 --> 40:20 [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that it probably a lot of people voted for Sorry Baby.
40:20 --> 40:21 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not one of them.
40:22 --> 40:25 [SPEAKER_01]: But if you connected with this film, then yeah, that's great.
40:25 --> 40:29 [SPEAKER_01]: Clearly, I am one of the odd ones out on this one.
40:30 --> 40:39 [SPEAKER_01]: The next nominee is Train Dreams, and this is the film that recounts 80 years of the life of Robert Grayner around Bonner's fairy Idaho.
40:41 --> 40:53 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one I've already talked about a bit in the Oscars episode because it did also receive four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Screenplay, Cinematography, and Original Song for Nick Cave.
40:53 --> 40:58 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I've talked about it a bit already, going to be talking about a lot more there.
40:58 --> 41:11 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I won't say too much here, but I will say, Train Dreams was nominated for four spirit awards, four best feature, for best director for Clint Bentley, for lead, for Joel Edgerton.
41:12 --> 41:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, a lot of people were upset that Joel Edgerton was not nominated for an Oscar for acting, so at least he is nominated here.
41:19 --> 41:26 [SPEAKER_01]: And he plays a lead character, by the way, and for cinematography, it was nominated both here and at the Oscars.
41:26 --> 41:30 [SPEAKER_01]: So I did vote for it in two of the categories.
41:30 --> 41:32 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll talk a little bit more about why when we get to them.
41:32 --> 41:40 [SPEAKER_01]: Those two categories being director and cinematography, it is a visually stunning film for sure.
41:41 --> 41:53 [SPEAKER_01]: but I didn't vote for it in feature because I voted for the last one on the list alphabetically Twinless, produced by David Permut and James Swenney who is also the director and writer, by the way.
41:54 --> 42:06 [SPEAKER_01]: Twinless was nominated for three spirit awards for Best Feature for Scream Play, what from James Swenney, and for the lead for Dillon O'Brien who played Twin Brothers, Roman, and Rocky.
42:06 --> 42:15 [SPEAKER_01]: So in a year of double performances, Dylan O'Brien stands out to me as one of the absolute best if it were up to me who would be nominated for an Oscar, hopefully.
42:15 --> 42:22 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, for this film specifically for this double role, but hopefully won't be long before he's nominated for something else.
42:22 --> 42:24 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm very glad to see him nominated here.
42:25 --> 42:27 [SPEAKER_01]: I did vote for it in all three categories.
42:27 --> 42:33 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one of my favorite films of the year, definitely in my top 10 of
42:33 --> 42:35 [SPEAKER_01]: 2025 overall.
42:35 --> 42:45 [SPEAKER_01]: And so what this film is, because I haven't said that yet, Dylan O'Brien plays a twin whose brother has just died.
42:45 --> 42:51 [SPEAKER_01]: Just been hit by a car and passed away and now he's trying to cope with life after losing his twin.
42:51 --> 42:53 [SPEAKER_01]: So he goes to a support group for that.
42:54 --> 43:01 [SPEAKER_01]: And he meets James Sweeney, the writer director also plays the other main character or would be the supporting character.
43:01 --> 43:12 [SPEAKER_01]: And so they meet in this twin bereavement group and sort of start to fall into a habit of treating each other like twins.
43:12 --> 43:15 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll just say that is only the initial setup.
43:15 --> 43:19 [SPEAKER_01]: The first 20 minutes kind of explore that.
43:19 --> 43:28 [SPEAKER_01]: And then after 20 minutes you get a flashback where you see Dillon O'Brien play the other twin in the past.
43:28 --> 43:31 [SPEAKER_01]: and it just completely re-contextualizes everything.
43:32 --> 43:50 [SPEAKER_01]: And I won't say what follows, but there are plenty of twists and turns, and it is a very complex character study of, yeah, both of these people, or I suppose of both twins plus the new character in Roman, the surviving twins life,
43:50 --> 43:58 [SPEAKER_01]: just a really nuanced and empathetic movie and there's some really cool filmmaking things going on as well.
43:58 --> 44:09 [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people talk about a sequence where there's a split screen perspective at a party and yeah this is just a film I can watch over and over again.
44:09 --> 44:13 [SPEAKER_01]: It's, it's a bit dark, but it's not, I wouldn't say it's depressing.
44:13 --> 44:24 [SPEAKER_01]: I would say ultimately it's hopeful, but it really grapples with the reality of bereavement and depression and all of these things as well.
44:24 --> 44:29 [SPEAKER_01]: but also the small bits of joy we find in that that help us get through to the other side.
44:30 --> 44:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's a big film about forgiveness, I would say, that's probably ultimately the central theme in the end.
44:36 --> 44:37 [SPEAKER_01]: But I won't say anymore.
44:38 --> 44:40 [SPEAKER_01]: Twinless, please, please go see it.
44:40 --> 44:42 [SPEAKER_01]: It is out on video on demand.
44:42 --> 44:43 [SPEAKER_01]: All right.
44:43 --> 44:44 [SPEAKER_01]: Next category, best director.
44:45 --> 44:46 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to have some overlap here.
44:46 --> 45:01 [SPEAKER_01]: The five nominees for best director are Clint Bentley for Train Dreams, Mary Bronstein for if I had legs I'd kick you Lloyd Lee Choi for Lucky Lou, Iris Axe for Peter Who Jar's Day, Eva Victor for Sorry Baby.
45:02 --> 45:09 [SPEAKER_01]: And we've already talked about Peter Who Jar's Day, Sorry Baby and Train Dreams and I admitted
45:09 --> 45:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, it was between this and if I had legs, I'd kick you, I think on another day, I would go the other direction, perhaps.
45:19 --> 45:24 [SPEAKER_01]: I think, for this, it kind of came down to, I was really torn between those two films.
45:25 --> 45:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And just a personal preference, I kind of like climped Bentley better in interviews that I've seen, which is a really bullshit thing to choose a vote on.
45:36 --> 45:42 [SPEAKER_01]: I know, but it just goes to show when you are really torn between two things.
45:43 --> 45:48 [SPEAKER_01]: This is why people, all of the campaigning that goes on, all of the interviews, the speeches that are given during the season.
45:48 --> 45:57 [SPEAKER_01]: It's why this is all important because at the end of the day, I don't know which one to go for, but you know, I really like when that person said that about that.
45:57 --> 45:58 [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, I went with train dreams.
45:58 --> 46:00 [SPEAKER_01]: I would be equally happy.
46:00 --> 46:06 [SPEAKER_01]: I think to see Mary Bronstein win for if I had legs, I'd kick you, which we haven't talked about here yet.
46:07 --> 46:15 [SPEAKER_01]: It got two nominations here for the directing category and for lead for Rose Burn, who plays Linda, the main character.
46:15 --> 46:21 [SPEAKER_01]: Rose Burn was also nominated for an Oscar for that, so we will talk about that more there.
46:21 --> 46:31 [SPEAKER_01]: But what the film is about is Linda is a psychotherapist who is stretched to her limits while caring for her daughter who has a pediatric feeding disorder.
46:31 --> 46:40 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is one of those tough parent movies, but it is very surreal and original and Rose Burn gives a phenomenal performance.
46:40 --> 46:47 [SPEAKER_01]: I did talk about this with David as well in the episode for subscribers about the
46:49 --> 47:10 [SPEAKER_01]: I have to admit though, I wish I could have voted in this category for James Sweeney for Twinless, for Alex Russell for Lerker, and a movie we'll talk about in just a bit, or for DGA first feature winner, Charlie Polinger, who won a DGA award, but was not nominated here.
47:10 --> 47:25 [SPEAKER_01]: There is one other new film introduced in this category as well, that was Lloyd Leachoy's lucky Lou about a delivery driver whose bike is stolen on the eve of his wife and daughter's immigration from Taiwan to New York City.
47:25 --> 47:33 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is a very high stress movie, and I'll just say the lucky Lou parts, it feels very ironic as you're watching.
47:33 --> 47:35 [SPEAKER_01]: Just don't warning going in.
47:35 --> 47:37 [SPEAKER_01]: I do think it is a good film.
47:38 --> 47:41 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not necessarily an uplifting one.
47:41 --> 47:54 [SPEAKER_01]: This one received two nominations for director and for lead for Chang Chen as Lu Jia Chang, who is the titular quote unquote lucky, Lu.
47:54 --> 48:07 [SPEAKER_01]: His performance does make this whole thing work, you're with him the entire time, so that is definitely a worthy nomination, and I did find it an engrossing film, just not necessarily one of my favorites.
48:08 --> 48:23 [SPEAKER_01]: Which brings us to one of my favorite categories, best screenplay, and the five nominees for best screenplay are, split fill, a little prayer, twinless, sovereign, and sorry baby.
48:23 --> 48:27 [SPEAKER_01]: So there's three new ones here, but just to acknowledge the ones we've already talked about.
48:28 --> 48:30 [SPEAKER_01]: Sorry, baby, and Twinless, and yes.
48:30 --> 48:32 [SPEAKER_01]: I said, I voted for Twinless every time it came up.
48:32 --> 48:39 [SPEAKER_01]: So I voted for Twinless here, just the structure of this film and the originality and the new ones of
48:39 --> 48:46 [SPEAKER_01]: the character explorations and interactions and self-explorations and re-contextualizing everything.
48:46 --> 48:55 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, this film is catnip for me, particularly in the writing department, which is the most important department to me personally when evaluating a film.
48:55 --> 48:59 [SPEAKER_01]: So, Twinless, definitely my winner.
48:59 --> 49:02 [SPEAKER_01]: I did like to varying degrees the other three films.
49:03 --> 49:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's start with, I'll go from least favorite to favorite, although I like them all for different reasons, uh, sovereign written by Christian Swigel is based on the true events surrounding the 2010 West Memphis police shootings.
49:19 --> 49:29 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, the film follows Jerry and Joe Kane, played by Nick
49:29 --> 49:38 [SPEAKER_01]: um, who align themselves with the sovereign citizen movement and clash with police chief John Bouchar played by Dennis Quaid.
49:39 --> 49:42 [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, this one, it's a film about radicalization.
49:43 --> 49:51 [SPEAKER_01]: Basically,
49:51 --> 50:01 [SPEAKER_01]: Both sides of the equation, I would say, even though it ends in murder and death, I did some light digging afterwards.
50:01 --> 50:17 [SPEAKER_01]: And as far as the true story aspect, it does seem quite accurate, aside from some things like, for example, flushing out the sun's perspective to make it more of a character study, because of course, you know, we don't know what was going on in this kids' head.
50:17 --> 50:18 [SPEAKER_01]: So,
50:18 --> 50:29 [SPEAKER_01]: They make some assumptions that just in in order to explore this, um, others are really the tiniest details like they moved the final shoot out, uh, it opens with the final shoot out.
50:29 --> 50:31 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's not a, uh, that's not a spoiler.
50:32 --> 50:36 [SPEAKER_01]: But it moves the final shoot out from a Walmart parking lot to a different parking lot.
50:36 --> 50:43 [SPEAKER_01]: So if this setting is so similar, I think the Walmart's just like, no, don't say they shot each other in front of my store.
50:43 --> 50:44 [SPEAKER_01]: So,
50:44 --> 50:48 [SPEAKER_01]: But it does seem, yeah, it was very faithful.
50:48 --> 50:52 [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen some people say maybe to the detriment of the storytelling.
50:52 --> 50:53 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
50:54 --> 50:54 [SPEAKER_01]: It worked for me.
50:56 --> 50:57 [SPEAKER_01]: This did get two nominations.
50:57 --> 51:05 [SPEAKER_01]: So this category screenplay and also Jacob Trembley in the supporting category for playing the Sun Jo King.
51:06 --> 51:24 [SPEAKER_01]: another new film in this category that I liked a little better than I expected perhaps is a little prayer written by Angus McLaughlin, which is a found familiar love story between a father and a daughter-in-law he wants to protect from his wayward son.
51:24 --> 51:27 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a very small,
51:27 --> 51:41 [SPEAKER_01]: intimate film centered on those two characters but also the rest of the family around them and the other characters who are interacting and piercing this little bubble of idyllic home life.
51:42 --> 51:48 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the ending but I did enjoy spending at time with these characters.
51:48 --> 52:18 [SPEAKER_01]: play by David Strather and Jane Levy, whom I have been a fan of since she was the lead in this little show called suburgatory that I don't know the many people watched but I really liked it and was sad when it was canceled and I've been following her career ever since so I'm really glad to see her getting some recognition here She is one of the there's two nominations for a little prayer for screenplay this category and for Jane Levy and supporting as for playing the role of Tammy
52:18 --> 52:29 [SPEAKER_01]: But my favorite nominee in this category, after Twinless, so unfortunately I couldn't vote for this one because I can only vote for one, but I also really loved Splittsville.
52:30 --> 52:42 [SPEAKER_01]: Written by Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, who are also the directors, and they are also the two stars along with Dakota Johnson and Adriana.
52:42 --> 53:08 [SPEAKER_01]: and the film follows two couples whose friendship erupts into conflict when the husband of a divorcing couple sleeps with the wife of an open marriage couple and that sounds like a fun premise and it is but it's also just it gets wilder and wilder as it goes and it is this wildly
53:08 --> 53:13 [SPEAKER_01]: just the kinds of relationships that you have in life, sexual, romantic, friendship.
53:13 --> 53:20 [SPEAKER_01]: I think with a more healthy level of jealousy than we normally see.
53:20 --> 53:24 [SPEAKER_01]: And by that I mean, people are not going overboard in jealousy.
53:24 --> 53:45 [SPEAKER_01]: This one did, despite being in comedy, it does have a high pedigree as well, a premier at account, and here it has two nominations for screenplay and editing, and I would have loved to have voted for it in something, but unfortunately, I had to vote for Twinless in this category, and we'll talk about editing when we get there, but look out for this one on my top 10 list at the end.
53:46 --> 53:48 [SPEAKER_01]: And that was the best screenplay category.
53:50 --> 53:54 [SPEAKER_01]: All right, we're switching gears to a slightly parallel track.
53:54 --> 53:57 [SPEAKER_01]: I called the best feature in screenplay categories.
53:57 --> 54:01 [SPEAKER_01]: The varsity version, this I guess would be the junior varsity version.
54:01 --> 54:09 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to talk about best first feature, which is specifically reserved to shine a spotlight on new filmmakers.
54:10 --> 54:20 [SPEAKER_01]: The five nominees for best first feature are blue sun palace, dust bunny, east of wall, lurker, and one of them days.
54:20 --> 54:24 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think this is a very strong category overall.
54:25 --> 54:30 [SPEAKER_01]: I may even like collectively these five nominees even better than the features category.
54:31 --> 54:33 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, yes and no, pros and cons.
54:33 --> 54:45 [SPEAKER_01]: But let's start at the top with Blue Sun Palace, which received four nominations for Best First Feature, for Scream Play, and supporting actor for High Pinchu, who plays D.D.
54:46 --> 54:48 [SPEAKER_01]: as well as cinematography.
54:48 --> 54:52 [SPEAKER_01]: blue some palace was directed by constant sang.
54:52 --> 55:00 [SPEAKER_01]: It's about an unexpected bond that forms between two migrants in the Chinese community of flushing queens New York in the aftermath of a tragedy.
55:01 --> 55:04 [SPEAKER_01]: This is another slower and slice of life situation.
55:04 --> 55:15 [SPEAKER_01]: Exploring a complex relationship or kind of eyebrow raising at times, complex relationship with a lot of sensitivity.
55:15 --> 55:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it may especially speak to members of immigrant communities who understand the feeling of potentially feeling out of place, driven to succeed and be able to support yourself and also feeling vulnerable in various ways to violence even.
55:37 --> 55:46 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll say there is an active violence that happens in this film that becomes the center, the early turning point of this tale.
55:47 --> 55:49 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's Blue Sun Palace.
55:50 --> 55:55 [SPEAKER_01]: The next one is Dust Bunny, which was directed and produced by Brian Fuller.
55:55 --> 56:04 [SPEAKER_01]: It follows a hitman who is approached by an eight-year-old girl to kill the monster, quote-unquote, under her bed, that she claims, quote-unquote, ate her family.
56:05 --> 56:09 [SPEAKER_01]: But the hitman suspects that they were actually killed by dangerous assassins who are after him.
56:10 --> 56:15 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll say the hitman is played by Mads Mikkelson, who is a personal favorite of mine.
56:15 --> 56:24 [SPEAKER_01]: My favorite role of his this year is definitely the last Viking, which is a Danish Swedish film, highly recommend checking out the last Viking.
56:24 --> 56:31 [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, here, you know, he's great, uh, the little girl played by Sophie Sloan is great as well.
56:31 --> 56:41 [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, there is a great supporting cast in the form of Sigourney Weaver, David Us Malchin, uh, Sheila Atim, but I do think that they are underutilized.
56:42 --> 56:45 [SPEAKER_01]: And the film has a lot of things I like.
56:45 --> 56:46 [SPEAKER_01]: It is hyper stylized.
56:46 --> 56:51 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, it's nominated for two things, first feature and for cinematography.
56:51 --> 56:56 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I would say it looked better, I think, if the CGI worked better for me.
56:56 --> 57:08 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one that I wanted to, like, more than I did, but it is a fantasy genre film, no spoilers.
57:08 --> 57:16 [SPEAKER_01]: You will see fantastical things happen both from the little girls perspective and other people's perspectives, and it gets wilder and wilder as it goes.
57:16 --> 57:21 [SPEAKER_01]: So it is a fun watch, but it didn't make my top 10 list for the Spirit Awards.
57:23 --> 57:26 [SPEAKER_01]: If, by the way, the name Brian Fuller stood out to you,
57:26 --> 57:35 [SPEAKER_01]: He is a writer, TV producer who's best known for creating television series like pushing daisies and Hannibal.
57:35 --> 57:47 [SPEAKER_01]: I have not yet watched Hannibal, I hear lots of good things, I do really want to watch it, I love pushing daisies, so it's one reason why I wanted to like this a little more than I did, I liked it, I just didn't love it.
57:47 --> 58:04 [SPEAKER_01]: I did also a bit more strongly like the next one in this list East of Wall, which is directed by Kate B. Croft, about a horse trainer wrestling with financial issues and unresolved grief while hosting a group of wayward teenagers on her ranch.
58:04 --> 58:23 [SPEAKER_01]: And this one is another sort of hybrid docu-drama where it is actually, it does feature real people playing themselves in sort of in almost reenactments or at least heavily inspired by major events in their real lives.
58:23 --> 58:37 [SPEAKER_01]: This one also received two nominations for first feature, of course, and then the other nomination was for breakthrough performance for Tabata Zamiga, who plays herself as sort of the main character, the adult woman in this situation.
58:39 --> 58:47 [SPEAKER_01]: that this one is set, it's not set in Oklahoma, but it does remind me of when I go to Oklahoma to visit family.
58:47 --> 58:51 [SPEAKER_01]: So I sort of have an affection for it, you know, there's a rodeo stuff.
58:51 --> 58:55 [SPEAKER_01]: It's, if you're a horse person, then definitely watch this.
58:55 --> 59:02 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a very horse-driven movie, but I did just find it also a pleasant watch overall.
59:02 --> 59:08 [SPEAKER_01]: My two favorites in this category though are definitely the last two lurker and one of them days.
59:09 --> 59:13 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll start with one of them days, which was directed by Lawrence Lamont.
59:14 --> 59:22 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's a really fun film about two friends who must scramble to find rent money after one of their boy friends steals theirs.
59:22 --> 59:37 [SPEAKER_01]: This was nominated for Four Spirit Awards for First Feature, of course, also for First Screenplay for Lead Performance for Kiki Palmer as Drew and for Breakout Performance for SZA as Alyssa.
59:37 --> 59:40 [SPEAKER_01]: This is SZA, a music artist, if you're not familiar.
59:41 --> 59:43 [SPEAKER_01]: This is her first future from Acting Girl.
59:44 --> 59:46 [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, I mean, I really enjoy this one.
59:47 --> 59:47 [SPEAKER_01]: This isn't easy.
59:47 --> 59:49 [SPEAKER_01]: You want to watch on Netflix.
59:50 --> 59:51 [SPEAKER_01]: I liked it.
59:51 --> 01:00:01 [SPEAKER_01]: It felt like a throwback to Friday for anyone who remembers that mid 90s film, I used to love watching that one in the 90s.
01:00:02 --> 01:00:05 [SPEAKER_01]: So this kind of captured that rambling
01:00:06 --> 01:00:17 [SPEAKER_01]: chaotic spirit of that film as well, but it's smarter than you might expect on the surface and has a very satisfying story arc.
01:00:17 --> 01:00:30 [SPEAKER_01]: I would have loved to have voted for this one if only it hadn't been up against twinless lurker and the plague breakout kid in all of its categories, but do watch out for it on my top 10 at the end.
01:00:30 --> 01:00:48 [SPEAKER_01]: and then so that brings us to my favorite in the category, the one that I voted for here, lurker, directed by Alex Russell about a 20-something retail clerk who meets a rising pop star and takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in crowd.
01:00:48 --> 01:00:55 [SPEAKER_01]: But as the line between friend and fan blur is beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
01:00:56 --> 01:01:03 [SPEAKER_01]: And this one received four nominations for first feature here for first screenplay in the next category.
01:01:03 --> 01:01:05 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to talk about it more in the next category.
01:01:05 --> 01:01:09 [SPEAKER_01]: It also received nominations for the lead, Theodore Parallelorin,
01:01:09 --> 01:01:21 [SPEAKER_01]: who played Matthew Morning, the guy fighting his way into the in crowd, and as a supporting actor, Archie, Medekwe, who played Oliver, the Popstar Celebrity in question.
01:01:23 --> 01:01:29 [SPEAKER_01]: This is probably my second favorite film of this whole bunch overall after Twinless.
01:01:30 --> 01:01:31 [SPEAKER_01]: But as I said, we'll talk about the next category.
01:01:31 --> 01:01:34 [SPEAKER_01]: So let's move on to...
01:01:34 --> 01:01:38 [SPEAKER_01]: and so after best first feature comes best for screenplay.
01:01:38 --> 01:01:45 [SPEAKER_01]: The nominees here are friendship, outer lands, lurker, one of them days in blue sun palace.
01:01:45 --> 01:01:49 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we already talked about blue sun palace, one of them days in lurker.
01:01:50 --> 01:01:52 [SPEAKER_01]: I did, as I said, vote for lurker.
01:01:52 --> 01:01:55 [SPEAKER_01]: If I hadn't, one of them days would have been a contender.
01:01:55 --> 01:02:04 [SPEAKER_01]: The other big contender would have been friendship, written by Andrew DeYoung.
01:02:04 --> 01:02:10 [SPEAKER_01]: Regular listeners or listeners to properly Howard might remember that properly Howard did an episode about friendship.
01:02:10 --> 01:02:17 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll link that in the show notes if you want to listen to it is just it's a wild movie so it's a wild conversation about it as well.
01:02:19 --> 01:02:24 [SPEAKER_01]: But the story follows Craig played by Tim Robinson who people might know from
01:02:24 --> 01:02:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for leaving.
01:02:26 --> 01:02:27 [SPEAKER_01]: What is it?
01:02:27 --> 01:02:30 [SPEAKER_01]: I think you should leave now with Tim Robinson.
01:02:30 --> 01:02:36 [SPEAKER_01]: I think it's called and I think he's also yet in the new the chair company show I haven't watched either of the TV shows.
01:02:36 --> 01:02:43 [SPEAKER_01]: This was my first indoctrination into the cringe awkwardness of a Tim Robinson performance.
01:02:43 --> 01:02:47 [SPEAKER_01]: and I have to say I did really like it and I have been thinking about it since.
01:02:47 --> 01:02:58 [SPEAKER_01]: Anyway, so he plays a socially awkward marketing executive with an increasingly fraught bond with his new neighbor, Austin, a local TV meteorologist.
01:02:58 --> 01:02:59 [SPEAKER_01]: played by Paul Rudd.
01:03:00 --> 01:03:06 [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, I did quite like this one despite all of the hard cranching I did throughout.
01:03:07 --> 01:03:13 [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of really memorable moments and explorations of our awkwardness as humans together.
01:03:13 --> 01:03:17 [SPEAKER_01]: So maybe I will dip into those Tim Robinson TV shows.
01:03:18 --> 01:03:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It is interesting to put this one next to Lerker.
01:03:20 --> 01:03:26 [SPEAKER_01]: Just because it's interesting to talk about Lerker and friendship side-by-side Lerker, written by Alex Russell, is another one.
01:03:26 --> 01:03:30 [SPEAKER_01]: Both of them are about one character.
01:03:30 --> 01:03:33 [SPEAKER_01]: obsessing about a friendship with another character.
01:03:33 --> 01:03:37 [SPEAKER_01]: So the both of them are about toxic male friendships.
01:03:38 --> 01:03:51 [SPEAKER_01]: Of the two, for me, Lerker is the one that stands out with just a bit more nuanced and I guess they both have strong endings, but I do especially like Lerker's ending.
01:03:51 --> 01:03:54 [SPEAKER_01]: It really has stuck in my head for days.
01:03:54 --> 01:04:00 [SPEAKER_01]: It's unexpected and just leaves a lot of food for thought.
01:04:00 --> 01:04:07 [SPEAKER_01]: I would have loved to have voted for it in all four categories, but I did get pulled in other directions for the acting.
01:04:07 --> 01:04:08 [SPEAKER_01]: I already talked about Dylan O'Brien's lead.
01:04:09 --> 01:04:10 [SPEAKER_01]: I did vote for Lerker.
01:04:10 --> 01:04:17 [SPEAKER_01]: In this category, it's first screenplay and also as I said in the last category as first feature.
01:04:17 --> 01:04:20 [SPEAKER_01]: And that leaves one film in this category.
01:04:20 --> 01:04:24 [SPEAKER_01]: We haven't yet discussed outer lens, written by Elena Oxman.
01:04:24 --> 01:04:28 [SPEAKER_01]: And I also unexpectedly kind of love this film.
01:04:28 --> 01:04:32 [SPEAKER_01]: And I say unexpectedly because it is another slow slice of life one.
01:04:32 --> 01:04:33 [SPEAKER_01]: This one.
01:04:33 --> 01:04:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Stars, Asia, Kate Dillon, as Cass, a non-binary gig economy worker in San Francisco, juggling several low-paying jobs to make ends meet.
01:04:43 --> 01:04:58 [SPEAKER_01]: Whose co-worker, Kali, played by Louisa Kraus, leaves her daughter Ari, with Cass while Kali goes out of town, forcing Cass to confront their own childhood traumas and abandonment issues when Kali fails to return from her trip.
01:04:58 --> 01:05:25 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is the only nomination that Outer Lens received for Best For Screenplay, but a very worthy one, it is a very sensitive and intimate exploration of, I would say, particularly cast as a character, but also anyone who's a sucker for, you know, adult child, found family bonding stories, definitely check out Outer Lens.
01:05:26 --> 01:05:28 [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, let's take a quick break here.
01:05:28 --> 01:05:29 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm when we come back.
01:05:29 --> 01:05:31 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to talk about the acting categories.
01:05:44 --> 01:05:44 [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, welcome back.
01:05:44 --> 01:05:47 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's jump into best lead performance.
01:05:49 --> 01:06:01 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, the way the two main acting categories, best lead performance, best supporting performance are done, is that they do not have them split by gender, which is something I think a lot of a word shows are going to move toward.
01:06:02 --> 01:06:13 [SPEAKER_01]: But in this case, it means instead of having two categories with five nominees each, there is ten nominees going up against each other in a single category for each of these.
01:06:13 --> 01:06:14 [SPEAKER_01]: So
01:06:14 --> 01:06:32 [SPEAKER_01]: It is heavy competition, once you're nominated for one of these acting awards, the 10 nominees then for best lead performance are Everett Blunk for playing Ben in the play Rose Burn or playing Linda in if I had legs I'd kick you.
01:06:32 --> 01:06:54 [SPEAKER_01]: Kathleen Shao-Fong for playing Ruth in familiar touch, Chang Chen for playing Lu-Jia-Cheng in Lucky Lu, Joel Edurton for playing Robert Grainier and Train Dreams, Dylan O'Brien for playing Rocky slash Roman in Twinless, not that I have any preferences for that one.
01:06:54 --> 01:06:58 [SPEAKER_01]: Kiki Palmer was also great playing Drew in one of them days.
01:06:59 --> 01:07:04 [SPEAKER_01]: Theodore Pellerin, another favorite of mine for playing Matthew Morning in Lerker.
01:07:04 --> 01:07:11 [SPEAKER_01]: Tessa Thompson for playing Heta Gabler and Heta, which is one of the underappreciated films of this season.
01:07:11 --> 01:07:16 [SPEAKER_01]: And finally, Ben Wishaw for playing Peter Hujar and Peter Hujar's Day.
01:07:17 --> 01:07:19 [SPEAKER_01]: So those are the 10 nominees.
01:07:19 --> 01:07:23 [SPEAKER_01]: We've already talked about all of their films except one.
01:07:23 --> 01:07:31 [SPEAKER_01]: So the one film we haven't yet talked about is Tessa Thompson's nomination for Heta for playing the titular character, Heta Gabler.
01:07:31 --> 01:07:38 [SPEAKER_01]: This film was written and directed by Nia Dacosta based on the play by Henrik Ibsen.
01:07:38 --> 01:07:44 [SPEAKER_01]: And it is nominated for two awards for both actor and supporting actor.
01:07:44 --> 01:07:46 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'll mention it again in the next category.
01:07:47 --> 01:07:58 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one that I do keep ringing up on the Oscars episodes, particularly the episode that Lisa and I have already recorded that's coming soon about production design costumes and hair and makeup.
01:07:59 --> 01:08:08 [SPEAKER_01]: It's really, I wish it had been nominated in costumes, but I'll talk about that there.
01:08:08 --> 01:08:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Heta as, you know, the story, the play, previous adaptations thereof, and what Nia de Costa did here is something very fresh and different.
01:08:20 --> 01:08:33 [SPEAKER_01]: It's, it's one that at first I was like, oh wait, this is, this is looking at, you know, similar different, but adjacent themes compared to the original play.
01:08:33 --> 01:08:37 [SPEAKER_01]: And as I had to give that a moment to sit with me and then,
01:08:37 --> 01:08:41 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, it started to unlock things in my brain in new ways.
01:08:41 --> 01:08:49 [SPEAKER_01]: So I really, I like that film quite a lot, and it is an absolutely gorgeous film, great music, too.
01:08:50 --> 01:08:52 [SPEAKER_01]: So I recommend Heta.
01:08:52 --> 01:08:55 [SPEAKER_01]: You can watch it on Prime, I believe.
01:08:55 --> 01:09:00 [SPEAKER_01]: But yes, in this category, I mean, Tessa Thompson would have been a contender.
01:09:00 --> 01:09:02 [SPEAKER_01]: I also really love Tessa.
01:09:02 --> 01:09:04 [SPEAKER_01]: They adore Pellerin from Lerker.
01:09:04 --> 01:09:08 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Rose Burn gave her fantastic performance.
01:09:08 --> 01:09:11 [SPEAKER_01]: And if I had legs, I'd kick you, even if I don't love that film.
01:09:12 --> 01:09:17 [SPEAKER_01]: Everett Blunk probably, I guess, yeah, the youngest nominee on this list for the play.
01:09:17 --> 01:09:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It's been, that's another standout to me, but I did.
01:09:20 --> 01:09:22 [SPEAKER_01]: And and Kiki Palmer for one of them days.
01:09:22 --> 01:09:40 [SPEAKER_01]: So I should say also is a was a great that was a great role for her I'm looking forward to seeing more Kiki Palmer on my screen But yeah for this category I did have to go with Dylan O'Brien for Twinless I already talked about it.
01:09:40 --> 01:09:49 [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of the very best Performances in any film for me this year and he deserves his due pay attention to Dylan O'Brien
01:09:49 --> 01:09:55 [SPEAKER_01]: he's also great as a villain in send help the new Sam Raimi movie that's in theaters right now.
01:09:55 --> 01:10:12 [SPEAKER_01]: So if you like comedy horror films the new Sam Raimi movie is a ton of fun and we're between that and 28 years later we are kicking off 2026 with continuing the high horror renaissance bring it on anyway.
01:10:12 --> 01:10:26 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think he does have a real shot at winning this category if it doesn't go to Rose Burn, whom people might want to reward here since Jesse Buckley is likely winning that one at the Oscars.
01:10:26 --> 01:10:41 [SPEAKER_01]: Now for best supporting performance, the 10 nominees are Naomi Aki, who plays Litty in
01:10:41 --> 01:10:52 [SPEAKER_01]: Rebecca Hall, who plays Linda Rosencrantz and Peter Hoodjars Day, Nina Haas for playing Eileen Loveburg in Heda, a gender swapped version of that character.
01:10:52 --> 01:10:53 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I talked about it.
01:10:53 --> 01:10:57 [SPEAKER_01]: I had to exploring new themes in this version.
01:10:57 --> 01:11:17 [SPEAKER_01]: Jane Levy, who played Tammy in a little prayer, Archie Madekwe, who played Oliver in Lerker, Kali Rice, who played Molly in rebuilding, and Jacob Trimbley, who played Joe Kane in
01:11:17 --> 01:11:28 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, we've talked already about Blu-Sum Palace set in the Chinese community in Queens, we're about sovereign, about the radicalization of a father and son.
01:11:28 --> 01:11:31 [SPEAKER_01]: This is for Jacob Trimbley playing the son.
01:11:31 --> 01:11:43 [SPEAKER_01]: We've talked about lurker Oliver is the celebrity character, and that I mentioned that I love Jane Levy, who played the daughter-in-law in a little prayer.
01:11:43 --> 01:11:52 [SPEAKER_01]: And we're back a whole play the best friend in Linda Rosencrenz and Naomi Aki who also plays the best friend in sorry baby.
01:11:52 --> 01:12:00 [SPEAKER_01]: Now I do think the love for sorry baby may show up here since Eva Victor isn't a possibility in lead acting category.
01:12:01 --> 01:12:04 [SPEAKER_01]: So Naomi Aki could be a front runner for this.
01:12:04 --> 01:12:08 [SPEAKER_01]: I personally voted for Zoe Deutsch.
01:12:08 --> 01:12:20 [SPEAKER_01]: I don't expect her to win, but I really, you know, Nuvel Vogue is this is the only nomination for this film, and it's really, it was expected to get more nominations.
01:12:20 --> 01:12:36 [SPEAKER_01]: This, you know, when the year started, people thought that this would be a front runner for many of the nominations, and it just didn't play out this way, probably in part because France did not choose it as its international submission to the Oscars, it instead chose, it was just an accident.
01:12:36 --> 01:12:43 [SPEAKER_01]: But what this film is is, it's directed by an American director, which would link later, a set, of course, in France, in Paris.
01:12:44 --> 01:13:02 [SPEAKER_01]: It's about the filming of the 1960 film, Breathless, or Abu D'Azuf, which is the most famous film from Jean-Luc Gaudar, and probably from the French New Wave movement, overall, the New Velvet, of course, means New Wave in French.
01:13:02 --> 01:13:13 [SPEAKER_01]: And I have to say, Breathless, the movie that it's about, it's one I've watched it, it's one that I appreciate more than enjoy itself.
01:13:13 --> 01:13:17 [SPEAKER_01]: For example, there's, it does this famous thing with these sudden jump cuts.
01:13:17 --> 01:13:40 [SPEAKER_01]: that are edgy, but I don't know that they necessarily work for me, but I liked this film Nouvelle Vogue more because it went into explaining why these decisions were made for better or worse, and I think the standout in that film is Zoe Doye II plays, you know, real actress Jean Cieberg, who's an American in a French movie speaking French.
01:13:40 --> 01:13:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, and she just really captivates whenever she's on screen, although the casting across the board for that one is just incredible.
01:13:48 --> 01:13:54 [SPEAKER_01]: That wouldn't could have been up for a casting Oscar, but yeah, I'm really enjoying all of the things I've seen.
01:13:54 --> 01:13:57 [SPEAKER_01]: So he joined in and I just learned this year.
01:13:57 --> 01:14:03 [SPEAKER_01]: Finally, I didn't know this that her mother is Leah Thompson, who has always been one of my favorite actresses growing up.
01:14:03 --> 01:14:04 [SPEAKER_01]: So there you go.
01:14:04 --> 01:14:06 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's who I voted for.
01:14:06 --> 01:14:09 [SPEAKER_01]: There are two new films in this category.
01:14:09 --> 01:14:12 [SPEAKER_01]: First, let's talk about rebuilding.
01:14:13 --> 01:14:15 [SPEAKER_01]: This is a new Western drama.
01:14:15 --> 01:14:17 [SPEAKER_01]: It's the genre that it's slotted into.
01:14:17 --> 01:14:29 [SPEAKER_01]: And the summary is after wildfires take his ranch, cowboy dusty winds up in a FEMA camp, finding community with others who lost homes after reuniting with his daughter and ex-wife.
01:14:29 --> 01:14:34 [SPEAKER_01]: So it does have a sort of thematic overlap in some ways with another contender.
01:14:35 --> 01:14:40 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm reluctant to say because I don't want to spoil anything from that, but if you've seen it, you know what I mean.
01:14:41 --> 01:14:58 [SPEAKER_01]: And the nominee here in the supporting category is Kali Rice for playing Molly who is not the wife or the daughter but is a new friend who the main character played by Joshua Connor meets when he moves to the female camp and he's trying to figure out what next.
01:14:59 --> 01:15:07 [SPEAKER_01]: And then the other new one here is Roof Man, which, again, this is the only nomination for Roof Man here.
01:15:08 --> 01:15:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Roof Man is about a former Army Ranger played by Channing Tatum, who is also a struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald's by cutting holes in their roofs.
01:15:19 --> 01:15:22 [SPEAKER_01]: which earns him the nickname roofman.
01:15:22 --> 01:15:25 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is based on a true story, but given like the Hollywood treatment.
01:15:26 --> 01:15:31 [SPEAKER_01]: So after escaping prison, he secretly lives inside of a toy's arrest for six months.
01:15:32 --> 01:15:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And he's able to survive there undetected while he plans what to do next, but then he falls for a divorced mom laid by Kirsten Dunst, the nominee here.
01:15:42 --> 01:15:59 [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, she's very charming, so she's drawn to him as well, and he starts living this double life, which, you know, starts to fall apart, and it sets off to, quote, the marketing material, a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.
01:16:00 --> 01:16:01 [SPEAKER_01]: So this was,
01:16:01 --> 01:16:10 [SPEAKER_01]: a fun and interesting movie may be a little bit longer than it needed to be, but this is one that I definitely recommend to the general public.
01:16:10 --> 01:16:14 [SPEAKER_01]: I think, you know, David and I have talked about an previous podcast too.
01:16:15 --> 01:16:21 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not one that I think should be a lead contender in award season, but it's a very likable film.
01:16:23 --> 01:16:27 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, those are the two main acting categories.
01:16:27 --> 01:16:33 [SPEAKER_01]: There is a third acting category at the spirit of words, and that is best break through performance.
01:16:33 --> 01:16:41 [SPEAKER_01]: This one again, gender neutral, but there's only five nominees this time, and those five nominees are Liz Larson for playing D.D.
01:16:41 --> 01:16:46 [SPEAKER_01]: in the Baltimore Ones.
01:16:46 --> 01:16:57 [SPEAKER_01]: Kaio Martin for playing Jake in the plague, Sisa for playing Alyssa in one of them days, Tabitha's Maga for playing herself in East of Wall.
01:16:57 --> 01:17:10 [SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, East of Wall is the one where indeed she plays herself in a sort of fictionalized version of her life with her daughters and other teens that they took in at their horse ranch.
01:17:10 --> 01:17:18 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, Siza was delightful as Alyssa, the best friend of the Kiki Palmer's main character in one of them days.
01:17:18 --> 01:17:24 [SPEAKER_01]: I also absolutely loved Liz Larsen as D.D.
01:17:24 --> 01:17:33 [SPEAKER_01]: in the Baltimoreans, the dentist who ends up going on a wander around Baltimore with one of her patients on Christmas Eve.
01:17:33 --> 01:17:36 [SPEAKER_01]: Honestly, I could have seen myself voting for any of them.
01:17:36 --> 01:17:45 [SPEAKER_01]: I would say especially Liz Larson, but I did end up voting for Kyle Martin who played the kid bully Jake in the play.
01:17:45 --> 01:17:50 [SPEAKER_01]: I'd like this kid is also infuriatingly compelling, you know.
01:17:50 --> 01:18:07 [SPEAKER_01]: get him a role as a Targaryen or a Lannister immediately just really I'm curious to see where his career goes from here and I do think he is the most likely winner in this category as well because I've heard a lot of buzz about people being blown away by him.
01:18:07 --> 01:18:21 [SPEAKER_01]: The new entry into this is the only nomination for the film She's The He about before graduation, Ethan and Alex pose as trans women in the last ditch effort to quail gay rumors.
01:18:22 --> 01:18:25 [SPEAKER_01]: It's all a joke until Ethan realizes she really is trans.
01:18:26 --> 01:18:30 [SPEAKER_01]: The two must reckon with their changing friendship coming out and coming of age.
01:18:30 --> 01:18:49 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is a film I have some mixed feelings about, it's fun, I think the most compelling part about of this film is easily Misha Osharovic, who is the nominee here, so definitely a worthy nomination and I'm looking forward to seeing Misha and other things.
01:18:49 --> 01:19:01 [SPEAKER_01]: Although, yeah, the way the film, it's a bit dumb down for me and playing into these stereotypes that I find just annoying and very silly.
01:19:02 --> 01:19:05 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think maybe this is also an age thing.
01:19:05 --> 01:19:11 [SPEAKER_01]: This is definitely geared toward a younger high school audience.
01:19:11 --> 01:19:12 [SPEAKER_01]: So, but I didn't hate watching it.
01:19:13 --> 01:19:17 [SPEAKER_01]: It was a fun watch and it had a lot of heart at the end of the day.
01:19:17 --> 01:19:23 [SPEAKER_01]: It lands in the right place, even if I didn't like every aspect of the journey to get there.
01:19:25 --> 01:19:26 [SPEAKER_01]: But okay, this is a great spot.
01:19:27 --> 01:19:31 [SPEAKER_01]: Now that we've wrapped up the actors, this is a great spot to take another break.
01:19:31 --> 01:19:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And when we come back, we're going to talk about the more technical awards and the two kind of standalone categories, docs, and international that don't have any overlap with other categories.
01:19:42 --> 01:19:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Bear it back.
01:19:56 --> 01:19:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, let's dive into the two more technical awards.
01:19:59 --> 01:20:05 [SPEAKER_01]: There are fewer below the line awards here since they have all the extra above the line awards at the spirit awards.
01:20:06 --> 01:20:10 [SPEAKER_01]: But there are awards for best cinematography and best editing.
01:20:11 --> 01:20:20 [SPEAKER_01]: So starting with best cinematography, the nominees are Alex Ash for Peter Houder's Day, normally for Blue Sun Palace.
01:20:20 --> 01:20:23 [SPEAKER_01]: David J. Thompson for Warfare.
01:20:23 --> 01:20:30 [SPEAKER_01]: Aldolfo Villoso for train dreams and Nicole Hirsch Whittaker for Dust Bunny.
01:20:31 --> 01:20:39 [SPEAKER_01]: So I have already talked about Dust Bunny and that's the one with Mads Mikkelson being hired as an assassin to help a little girl fight the monster under her bed.
01:20:39 --> 01:20:42 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I've of course talked about train dreams.
01:20:42 --> 01:20:43 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to talk about that a lot more.
01:20:43 --> 01:20:46 [SPEAKER_01]: That is the one that I voted for here.
01:20:46 --> 01:20:48 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'll mention why in a minute.
01:20:48 --> 01:21:00 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, talked about blue some palace about the Chinese community in Queens and Peter who's our today about a writer recording her artist friends detailed description of his day.
01:21:01 --> 01:21:04 [SPEAKER_01]: So the new one here is warfare.
01:21:04 --> 01:21:14 [SPEAKER_01]: It is about a platoon of American Navy SEALs who are on a surveillance mission, gone wrong, in quote-unquote, insurgent territory.
01:21:14 --> 01:21:23 [SPEAKER_01]: The marketing says, it's a boots on the ground story of modern warfare and brotherhood told in real time and based on the memory of the people who lived it.
01:21:23 --> 01:21:41 [SPEAKER_01]: and it received two nominations here for cinematography and editing, so for both of these last categories, and this is one that's been divisive with people, I think you know based on the description whether or not you're going to like it, and if you think you're going to like it, you probably will, if you think you won't.
01:21:41 --> 01:21:43 [SPEAKER_01]: you probably won't.
01:21:43 --> 01:21:57 [SPEAKER_01]: It was not my type of movie going in and I just written and directed by Alex Garland and I just aside from, you know, the scripts for 28 years later, which are some of my favorite movies in the world now.
01:21:58 --> 01:22:01 [SPEAKER_01]: I just have a menvying with his most recent movies.
01:22:01 --> 01:22:04 [SPEAKER_01]: I would place this at the very bottom of his rankings.
01:22:04 --> 01:22:08 [SPEAKER_01]: It's toward the bottom of my
01:22:08 --> 01:22:11 [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, I'll just quote my own review.
01:22:12 --> 01:22:15 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm disappointed to say this is exactly what I expected it to be.
01:22:15 --> 01:22:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It's well enough made and has a spectacular cast, but I'm not sure what the purpose of this movie is.
01:22:20 --> 01:22:30 [SPEAKER_01]: It seems to neither glorify nor condemn nor most egregiously even explain the basic context of this military operation or military intervention in Iraq whatsoever.
01:22:30 --> 01:22:51 [SPEAKER_01]: So I couldn't hook into this one because basically what I saw was an American military units doing which is seem like horrible things, you know, in terms of taking over people's houses and holding them hostage just to shoot out the window, but I never know why they're doing this.
01:22:51 --> 01:23:03 [SPEAKER_01]: This is sort of going even a step further than Alex Garland tried to do his apolitical civil war, which for me was a bit of a mixed bag, some things I really liked about it and some things that I really did not.
01:23:04 --> 01:23:09 [SPEAKER_01]: And this one kind of doubled down on the really did not like part of that.
01:23:09 --> 01:23:11 [SPEAKER_01]: It didn't work for me.
01:23:11 --> 01:23:14 [SPEAKER_01]: It might work for you, I think you know already.
01:23:14 --> 01:23:30 [SPEAKER_01]: If it's your cup of tea, but I would say if you, if you want to watch it because you're thinking, oh, I want to see inside an actual military operation, I would personally suggest watching 2 meters to Andreevka instead.
01:23:30 --> 01:23:41 [SPEAKER_01]: That is a documentary, so it is even realer than this version than warfare, because it is actually shooting things as they happen.
01:23:41 --> 01:23:44 [SPEAKER_01]: So any deaths you see on screen there are absolutely real.
01:23:44 --> 01:23:46 [SPEAKER_01]: So, um,
01:23:46 --> 01:23:50 [SPEAKER_01]: So I give you that warning, but that really, it frames the entire situation.
01:23:50 --> 01:24:08 [SPEAKER_01]: So you understand what they're trying to do, so you can feel like you are part of the unit as they are going for their goal as well, and so that you also feel like you know who the soldiers are that you're spending the time of this film with.
01:24:08 --> 01:24:15 [SPEAKER_01]: Whereas in Warfare, there is an opening scene where they're watching a workout video, which I'm not really sure the point of that.
01:24:16 --> 01:24:24 [SPEAKER_01]: I guess just to show the camaraderie and like they like seeing women who are scantily clad, yay, whatever.
01:24:24 --> 01:24:44 [SPEAKER_01]: But still that was for me the most engaging film the most engaging scene in the film and And I wish there had been more of that any sort of character development or just seeing either the people involved in the military operation or the people who are becoming victimized by it just
01:24:44 --> 01:24:52 [SPEAKER_01]: I would like the film have to have seen them to have shown them more as people, but anyway, I will stop begging on warfare.
01:24:52 --> 01:24:54 [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you will like it.
01:24:54 --> 01:25:04 [SPEAKER_01]: It is, I think, you know, obviously it's nominated in the most appropriate categories for it because I didn't like the directing or writing, but on the technical side, yes, I see.
01:25:04 --> 01:25:06 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I don't know.
01:25:06 --> 01:25:09 [SPEAKER_01]: This cinematography, it's a lot of like,
01:25:09 --> 01:25:16 [SPEAKER_01]: It's warfare cinematography, it's what you expect there, but war movies do always do well with editing, so we'll see.
01:25:18 --> 01:25:31 [SPEAKER_01]: I did vote in this category for train dreams cinematographer was El Delpho, Veloso, it's just one of the most uniquely stunning films of the year.
01:25:31 --> 01:25:41 [SPEAKER_01]: And we'll definitely talk about that more about why that is in the Oscars episode where we talk about cinematography, where it is also nominated amongst other things.
01:25:42 --> 01:25:54 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, so that brings us to the last technical calendar, the second and final technical calendar, best editing, and the nominees are Ben Leomberg, for Good Boy, Carson Lund, for EFIS,
01:25:54 --> 01:26:02 [SPEAKER_01]: Fin Oats for Warfare, Sarah Shaw for Splitsville, and Sophia Supercast so for the testament of Anne Lee.
01:26:03 --> 01:26:08 [SPEAKER_01]: We've already talked about three of these, all it give it rest with Warfare, you know my opinion.
01:26:08 --> 01:26:11 [SPEAKER_01]: EFIS, yeah, that's the baseball movie.
01:26:11 --> 01:26:17 [SPEAKER_01]: I may not have been my favorites, but obviously I do like better than Warfare for sure.
01:26:17 --> 01:26:27 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I can see, you know, in the same way that war movies get attention for editing, sports movies, also can get attention for editing, even if it's not a fast-paced game.
01:26:28 --> 01:26:32 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't hook into that one enough to really be able to talk about what makes the editing special.
01:26:33 --> 01:26:37 [SPEAKER_01]: If I'm being completely honest, splits fill, I did say was one of my favorites.
01:26:37 --> 01:26:44 [SPEAKER_01]: That's about the two couples who end up redefining their relationships within themselves and with each other.
01:26:44 --> 01:27:12 [SPEAKER_01]: with a lot of twists and turns as that film goes on and you know it is a faster paste film with a lot of plots so the editing very much serves that I do think that the two standouts for me in this category are the two films that we have not talked about yet they have solo noms in this category let's start with the testament of Anne Lee which is the extraordinary true legend of Anne Lee founder of the devotional sect known as the shakers and
01:27:12 --> 01:27:25 [SPEAKER_01]: This, it's such a shame that even here, this is only a solo nomination and not for Amanda Cybreed who a lot of people thought it could be a major contender for the lead acting races.
01:27:26 --> 01:27:31 [SPEAKER_01]: She was nominated for an acting Golden Globe, but didn't win.
01:27:31 --> 01:27:32 [SPEAKER_01]: I think,
01:27:32 --> 01:27:38 [SPEAKER_01]: The only place is, this film has gotten a lot of nominations from smaller awards ceremonies.
01:27:38 --> 01:27:51 [SPEAKER_01]: I think the only place that's really won anything is at the Puerto Rico Critics Association where Amanda Seferade won best actress and the Portland Critics Association where it won best costume design.
01:27:51 --> 01:27:54 [SPEAKER_01]: And that was another category, costume design production design.
01:27:54 --> 01:28:01 [SPEAKER_01]: That's another place people would have liked to have seen it pop up as Lisa and I talk about in the episode about those things.
01:28:01 --> 01:28:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's a musical which is very appropriate for the subject matter because they are a really just sect that left the UK to go to the US for more religious freedom and they were known for their singing and chanting and dancing and that's why they are also called the shakers.
01:28:19 --> 01:28:25 [SPEAKER_01]: So the musical sequences of that for me are the most captivating part.
01:28:25 --> 01:28:44 [SPEAKER_01]: and editing obviously plays a big role in that, although I do think that I would knock the editing a little bit just for the length of the film, I think there could have been tighter editing in that regard to make the story a little bit snappier.
01:28:44 --> 01:29:04 [SPEAKER_01]: So that narrows it down to my pick for this category, Good Boy, which is a film that follows a dog named Indy as he attempts to rescue his owner a young man with a chronic lung disease who is engulfed by a supernatural presence lurking in his late grandfather's burl home.
01:29:04 --> 01:29:05 [SPEAKER_01]: another solo nominee.
01:29:06 --> 01:29:29 [SPEAKER_01]: This is one that has been getting some low-key awards attention, especially for the dog Indy, who's won several awards on his own six to be specific at the Astro Film Awards Austin Film Critic Association, Boston Society Film Critic San Diego Film Critic Society, Seattle Film Critic Society, and South by Southwest Film and TV Festival.
01:29:30 --> 01:29:33 [SPEAKER_01]: So the first and the
01:29:33 --> 01:29:38 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's because, yeah, this is a horror film from the perspective of a dog.
01:29:38 --> 01:29:41 [SPEAKER_01]: So yes, animals, horror of it's going to love it.
01:29:42 --> 01:29:49 [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, so it's doing something inventive and I will admit that the pacing lags here in the middle.
01:29:49 --> 01:29:56 [SPEAKER_01]: But I do think that all these awards that indie the dog has been winning, it's a combination of two things.
01:29:56 --> 01:30:01 [SPEAKER_01]: It's the fact that indie is the actual director's dog, indie is not a trained dog.
01:30:01 --> 01:30:08 [SPEAKER_01]: This is just the writer director saying that's make a movie from the perspective of my dog and hiring an actor.
01:30:08 --> 01:30:09 [SPEAKER_01]: and things like that.
01:30:09 --> 01:30:17 [SPEAKER_01]: But because the director is Indie's real pet parent, I think that helps a lot in getting the performance out of Indie.
01:30:18 --> 01:30:21 [SPEAKER_01]: But I also think it's a really a feat of editing.
01:30:21 --> 01:30:29 [SPEAKER_01]: For example, as the main human in the film's health deteriorates, he gets a little bit more aggressive toward Indie.
01:30:29 --> 01:30:39 [SPEAKER_01]: And I figured out based on the editing that the way they did it is they would hide the face so that the owner could be the one who was and who was actually playing with Indies.
01:30:39 --> 01:30:51 [SPEAKER_01]: So I think there's a lot of the time where on screen, you know, in the movie we hear harsh things being said, but I think in real life there's actually the owner really good boy good boy the name of the title anyway.
01:30:51 --> 01:30:58 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think, yeah, so it's a combination of directing and editing that made this film work at all.
01:30:58 --> 01:31:03 [SPEAKER_01]: And for that reason, I think that it would be a very worthy winner in this category.
01:31:03 --> 01:31:09 [SPEAKER_01]: Although, you know, war films always have an advantage here, so there's a good chance that war fair wins.
01:31:14 --> 01:31:18 [SPEAKER_01]: that brings us to the last two film categories, all single nominees again.
01:31:18 --> 01:31:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's start with the best documentary feature where the nominees are come see me in the good light, endless cookie.
01:31:25 --> 01:31:33 [SPEAKER_01]: My undesirable friends part one last air in Moscow, the perfect neighbor, the end, the tail of sillian.
01:31:34 --> 01:31:37 [SPEAKER_01]: Now come see me in the good light and the perfect neighbor are both
01:31:37 --> 01:31:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Oscar nominees in the Docs category, so we'll talk about them more there, but just to set this up for now.
01:31:44 --> 01:31:54 [SPEAKER_01]: The perfect neighbor is actually the favorite to win at the Oscars at this point, I would say, so also perhaps the favorite to win here as well.
01:31:54 --> 01:31:55 [SPEAKER_01]: It's on Netflix.
01:31:55 --> 01:32:06 [SPEAKER_01]: It's about police body camp footage reveals how a long-running neighborhood dispute turned fatal in this documentary about
01:32:06 --> 01:32:18 [SPEAKER_01]: And it is a very disturbing true story on a small scale that is something that kind of plays out a bit like a true crime documentary.
01:32:18 --> 01:32:24 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not really a huge true crime efficient auto, so maybe you'll disagree with me on that, but that's the feeling that I got.
01:32:24 --> 01:32:31 [SPEAKER_01]: It is an engrossing watch, but as I said, we will talk about that more in the Oscar documentary episode.
01:32:31 --> 01:32:36 [SPEAKER_01]: And then come see me in the good light, the other Oscar nominee on this list.
01:32:36 --> 01:32:51 [SPEAKER_01]: It is about the description for that one is in an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets, Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength and unexpected hilarity in what might be their final year together.
01:32:51 --> 01:32:57 [SPEAKER_01]: So, this is the one that I said had some surface similarities with Andre's and idiot.
01:32:57 --> 01:33:04 [SPEAKER_01]: It is about people who are dying coming to terms with that through their creative outlets.
01:33:05 --> 01:33:13 [SPEAKER_01]: In this case, Andrea Gibson is a poet, so their poems are used throughout and that makes a powerful impact for a lot of people.
01:33:13 --> 01:33:20 [SPEAKER_01]: I hear a lot of people really come out of this one in tears, feeling a lot of deep things.
01:33:20 --> 01:33:43 [SPEAKER_01]: you know what which you're going to respond to more between comes to me the good light or Andre is an idiot is going to come down to what tickles your funny bone or what moves you for me it was Andre is an idiot is the one that I connected with more and so because I connected with the humor and the person at its center more that helped it.
01:33:43 --> 01:34:02 [SPEAKER_01]: make a bigger impact on me and also I suppose the fact that Andre is an idiot has this sort of preventative aspect to it where it's really instilling in you like no go get your fricking colon checked so yeah I probably shouldn't compare them I know a lot of people love them both but
01:34:02 --> 01:34:08 [SPEAKER_01]: It is always interesting to see the similarities in what is resonating with people in a given year.
01:34:08 --> 01:34:11 [SPEAKER_01]: As I said, we'll talk about both more in the Oscar Docs episode.
01:34:12 --> 01:34:15 [SPEAKER_01]: So that leaves three other films here.
01:34:15 --> 01:34:20 [SPEAKER_01]: Let's jump to the tale of Sillian from North Macedonia.
01:34:20 --> 01:34:24 [SPEAKER_01]: directed and produced by Tamara Cotevska.
01:34:24 --> 01:34:31 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is inspired by the folktale of the boy, Silian, who after a quarrel with his father turns into a stork and leaves home.
01:34:31 --> 01:34:36 [SPEAKER_01]: The film is a story about the relationship between a farmer and a white stork.
01:34:36 --> 01:34:44 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll say, when I watch this film, it wasn't exactly what I expected it to be based on that description and based on the poster, which shows the farmer in his store.
01:34:45 --> 01:34:53 [SPEAKER_01]: For example, the store, and the friendship with the man doesn't begin until past the halfway point of the movie.
01:34:53 --> 01:35:04 [SPEAKER_01]: This one, for me, it was absolutely gorgeous, the photography, the soundtrack of the Storks chattering throughout is used very effectively.
01:35:04 --> 01:35:16 [SPEAKER_01]: I do like how it constantly keeps tying back to that story that's fabled of the boy who becomes a stork and flies away from the back-breaking work of farming.
01:35:16 --> 01:35:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And they manage to make a lot of tough conversations.
01:35:19 --> 01:35:29 [SPEAKER_01]: It is very focused, especially on the needs and changes and the needs of farmers and how things are changing for them and how they're being left behind.
01:35:29 --> 01:35:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's something that's set in Macedonia, but applies definitely here in the Netherlands and I think in the US as well and just many other places around the world, a lot of farmers are facing a lot of the same problems, you know what we've talked about.
01:35:42 --> 01:35:52 [SPEAKER_01]: earlier about the documentary seeds, about intergenerational black farmers in the US and certainly there is some overlap, thematically with this one.
01:35:53 --> 01:36:04 [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes I felt like there's a bit of stageiness with this one, although the filmmaker, I've seen her be a bit defensive when people have asked about that in Q&A, so I guess not, but
01:36:04 --> 01:36:12 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, for this one, for me, this one is just a really beautiful and also thought provoking film.
01:36:13 --> 01:36:18 [SPEAKER_01]: Not necessarily my favorite, but is one that I feel very comfortable recommending.
01:36:19 --> 01:36:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Probably the most original in this category is endless cookie, which is directed by Peter Scriver and directed in produced by his brother Seth Scriver, who's the real creative force behind this, and Peter Scriver's kind of a lot of the subject of this, but basically this is exploring the complex bond between two half brothers, one indigenous and one white traveling
01:36:48 --> 01:36:51 [SPEAKER_01]: And it is a very inventive approach.
01:36:51 --> 01:36:53 [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't mentioned yet, it's animated.
01:36:54 --> 01:37:13 [SPEAKER_01]: It's kind of a very intentionally aggressively ugly style of animation, which isn't necessarily my favorite, but I appreciate the fact that it is both this documentary of sorts, or just kind of hangout film about these two brothers, and their different experiences growing up.
01:37:13 --> 01:37:20 [SPEAKER_01]: And how they relate to each other and how they surprise people when they introduce themselves as brothers.
01:37:21 --> 01:37:24 [SPEAKER_01]: But at the same time, it's a making of the documentary itself.
01:37:25 --> 01:37:29 [SPEAKER_01]: It does have a short lesson and hour and a half runtime.
01:37:29 --> 01:37:32 [SPEAKER_01]: But it's still, I don't know, it's still dragged for me a moment.
01:37:32 --> 01:37:35 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is another one, I'm kind of so, so on.
01:37:35 --> 01:37:58 [SPEAKER_01]: The one that I voted for in this category was my undesirable friend's part one last era in Moscow, this is from director producer Julia Locktev, who is an American filmmaker born in the Soviet Union who returned to Moscow in 2021 to make a documentary on the persistence of independent media journalism in Putin's Russia.
01:37:58 --> 01:38:02 [SPEAKER_01]: Just months, as it turned out, before the country's invasion of Ukraine.
01:38:02 --> 01:38:10 [SPEAKER_01]: Structured in five chapters, Locktev's film is an extraordinary, veritay document of a moment of immense change and anxiety.
01:38:10 --> 01:38:13 [SPEAKER_01]: So, okay, marketing speak aside.
01:38:13 --> 01:38:16 [SPEAKER_01]: This is definitely one I'm going to talk about in the docs episode as well.
01:38:16 --> 01:38:18 [SPEAKER_01]: It was shortlisted for the Oscar.
01:38:18 --> 01:38:30 [SPEAKER_01]: It was not nominated, I would say they instead nominated the more accessible because of the runtime I would imagine and because it is easier to find.
01:38:30 --> 01:38:36 [SPEAKER_01]: Mr. Nobody against Putin, I would say that these two documentaries are very symbiotic.
01:38:37 --> 01:38:45 [SPEAKER_01]: They are about the same decline of rights and freedom of speech, but from two very different perspectives.
01:38:45 --> 01:38:52 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is from the perspective of the last news team that was running opposition news.
01:38:52 --> 01:39:01 [SPEAKER_01]: that was basically the only ones left who were trying to counteract misinformation in the state owned news.
01:39:01 --> 01:39:07 [SPEAKER_01]: Until the war that was declared on Ukraine was used as an excuse to shut them down.
01:39:07 --> 01:39:09 [SPEAKER_01]: Jay saw the last of the amount of the country.
01:39:09 --> 01:39:11 [SPEAKER_01]: Now I said this is part one last day on Moscow.
01:39:11 --> 01:39:16 [SPEAKER_01]: There will be a part two coming that's called the exile or something like that.
01:39:16 --> 01:39:23 [SPEAKER_01]: I will say, this is, you know, it says in five parts, it does feel like five episodes of a limited series in a trench coat, pretending to be a film.
01:39:23 --> 01:39:26 [SPEAKER_01]: There's even some brief credits after each chapter.
01:39:26 --> 01:39:32 [SPEAKER_01]: So, it's an interesting structure and maybe that's also why it didn't get nominated.
01:39:32 --> 01:39:37 [SPEAKER_01]: It means that the total runtime is about five and a half hours, so it really is more like a limited series.
01:39:37 --> 01:39:45 [SPEAKER_01]: But I do hope that more people have a chance to watch this one and take
01:39:45 --> 01:39:52 [SPEAKER_01]: It's very chillingly recognizable as to what's going on in other countries in the world right now.
01:39:53 --> 01:40:14 [SPEAKER_01]: And it gives you a good checklist to examine what's going on in your own country and just see how the freedom of the rights to freedom of speech are systematically dismantled.
01:40:14 --> 01:40:18 [SPEAKER_01]: So yes, that was my vote in this, my undesirable friends.
01:40:19 --> 01:40:32 [SPEAKER_01]: And then the last film category is Best International Film, in which the five nominees were all that's left of you from Palestine, Jordan, Germany and Cyprus, on becoming a guinea fowl from Zambia, UK and Ireland.
01:40:32 --> 01:40:38 [SPEAKER_01]: a poet from Columbia, the secret agent from Brazil and Sarat from Spain.
01:40:38 --> 01:40:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Now this is one we've already recorded the international episode and we did talk about all of these films to some extent there.
01:40:48 --> 01:40:52 [SPEAKER_01]: So, I will be quick going through them here, but just to lay it out for you.
01:40:52 --> 01:41:00 [SPEAKER_01]: All that's left of you by Gerry and Davies is set in Palestine in the occupied West Bank of the 1980s.
01:41:00 --> 01:41:05 [SPEAKER_01]: A Palestinian teenager is swept into a protest that changes the course of his family's life.
01:41:06 --> 01:41:12 [SPEAKER_01]: Reeling from its aftermath, his mother Hanan shares the story that led him to that fateful moment.
01:41:12 --> 01:41:23 [SPEAKER_01]: Spanning seven decades, this epic drama traces the hopes and heartaches of one uprooted family, revealing not only the scars of displacement, but the unbreakable spirit of survival.
01:41:24 --> 01:41:29 [SPEAKER_01]: This was shortlisted for the international Oscar, but it did not get nominated.
01:41:29 --> 01:41:34 [SPEAKER_01]: On becoming a guinea fowl, this is one of my favorites in this category, one of my two favorites.
01:41:35 --> 01:41:37 [SPEAKER_01]: This is from Director Rungano Nione.
01:41:38 --> 01:41:43 [SPEAKER_01]: On an empty road in the middle of the night, Shula stumbles across the body of her uncle.
01:41:44 --> 01:41:51 [SPEAKER_01]: As funeral proceedings begin around them, she and her cousins bring to light the buried secrets of their middle class Xamian family.
01:41:51 --> 01:41:58 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is, yeah, from Zambia, UK and Ireland, Rengano, Nioni is Zambian Welsh.
01:41:58 --> 01:42:00 [SPEAKER_01]: And I really love her first film.
01:42:00 --> 01:42:01 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a witch.
01:42:01 --> 01:42:13 [SPEAKER_01]: It's really a unique, unlike anything I've ever seen, parable set in Africa, a set in a sort of an alternate reality version of Africa.
01:42:14 --> 01:42:18 [SPEAKER_01]: This one also has a bit of that surreal touch a bit more grounded in this case.
01:42:20 --> 01:42:27 [SPEAKER_01]: The title makes sense by the end and it is an impactful one that has stuck in my head since I watched it.
01:42:27 --> 01:42:43 [SPEAKER_01]: We'll circle back around to a poet and the other two nominating this category, which are also nominated for the Oscars, so we'll talk about them more there.
01:42:43 --> 01:43:07 [SPEAKER_01]: This is said in 1977 Brazil where technology specialists Marcelo fleeing a mysterious past returns to receive in search of peace, but realizes the city is far from the refugee seeks so yeah this one I won't linger anymore on this we're talking about it multiple times in our Oscars coverage of it's been nominated for the best picture for actor for Wagner Mora
01:43:07 --> 01:43:23 [SPEAKER_01]: for casting and in the international category so we've already recorded that international episode and also the best picture preview where I admit it's not my favorite film of the season as much as I do love Wagner more because of the structure.
01:43:23 --> 01:43:27 [SPEAKER_01]: And some of the writing just isn't working for me obviously.
01:43:27 --> 01:43:30 [SPEAKER_01]: I think I'm in a minority here, although I know I'm not alone.
01:43:30 --> 01:43:38 [SPEAKER_01]: We've have some discussions on the discord about this, but yeah, please see those other episodes for more information about that.
01:43:38 --> 01:43:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Sirot also talked about in the international episode for the Oscars, and we'll be talked about in the sound, the technical episode with sound as well.
01:43:49 --> 01:43:58 [SPEAKER_01]: Sirot is from Spain, from Director Oliver Lacks, and it's about a man and his son who arrived at a rave lost in the mountains of Morocco.
01:43:58 --> 01:44:02 [SPEAKER_01]: They are looking for Marina, their daughter and sister, who disappeared months ago at another rave.
01:44:03 --> 01:44:13 [SPEAKER_01]: Driven by fate, they decide to follow a group of ravers in search of one last party in hopes Marina will be there again, won't linger on this because talking about it more elsewhere.
01:44:14 --> 01:44:16 [SPEAKER_01]: This one is...
01:44:16 --> 01:44:23 [SPEAKER_01]: It has definitely some memorable bits in it, very mad max, especially in the back half.
01:44:23 --> 01:44:31 [SPEAKER_01]: It does take a much more nihilistic turn in around the midpoint than you would expect from the way the first half is set up.
01:44:31 --> 01:44:33 [SPEAKER_01]: So some people love that.
01:44:33 --> 01:44:35 [SPEAKER_01]: Some people find that a very nasty surprise.
01:44:35 --> 01:44:39 [SPEAKER_01]: I would say this one has a lot of mixed perceptions.
01:44:39 --> 01:44:53 [SPEAKER_01]: But my vote went to my favorite in this category is a poet from Colombia, from director Simon Mesa Soto, about villageed erratic Oscar, a failed writer who has given up on life.
01:44:53 --> 01:45:05 [SPEAKER_01]: Unemployed and living with its family, he wanders the streets of Medeanne in a drunken stuber lamenting the state of literature in his home country where he has succumbed to the cliché of the tortured artist.
01:45:05 --> 01:45:12 [SPEAKER_01]: However, the opportunity to mentor a young student offers a chance of redemption if he doesn't screw it up first.
01:45:12 --> 01:45:15 [SPEAKER_01]: So again, this is, yeah, this is my favorite in this category.
01:45:15 --> 01:45:17 [SPEAKER_01]: This is the one that got my vote.
01:45:17 --> 01:45:23 [SPEAKER_01]: It is also a favorite of my guest for the International episode, Echtort.
01:45:23 --> 01:45:33 [SPEAKER_01]: So we definitely talk about it more there, but it is a very nuanced and portrait of a flawed but relatable
01:45:33 --> 01:45:55 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you kind of do some, you do a lot of face palms, especially in the first half with his behavior, but you can't help but root for him at the same time and his own personal journey toward accountability and what does it mean to be a success and what does it mean to be a good person?
01:45:55 --> 01:46:25 [SPEAKER_01]: It's very darkly funny, so with a very gritty edge, you know, where they intentionally leave like a filter of schmutz around the edges of the screen to convey the gritty realism of it, although it's surprisingly light-hearted for its topics, and I'm sure you will be laughing
01:46:25 --> 01:46:38 [SPEAKER_01]: And I hope it wins, you know, I suppose there's a very good chance that the secret agent wins because it's kind of the highest profile of the lot, followed by Surat, followed by all its left of you.
01:46:40 --> 01:46:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And those are all of the film awards.
01:46:43 --> 01:46:50 [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to take one final quick break and when we come back, I'm just going to run through what the nominees are for the TV awards.
01:46:50 --> 01:46:54 [SPEAKER_01]: We're not going to go as
01:47:06 --> 01:47:10 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, let's go through the TV nominees quickly.
01:47:10 --> 01:47:13 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just going to be shouting out the names of the nominees for this one.
01:47:14 --> 01:47:17 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't write down what I voted for in the categories.
01:47:17 --> 01:47:26 [SPEAKER_01]: I voted for in this section either, but I definitely gave a lot of love to especially the alien earth and adolescence nominations.
01:47:26 --> 01:47:32 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, if you've heard all the other podcasts where we talk about those two shows, you won't be surprised by that.
01:47:32 --> 01:47:38 [SPEAKER_01]: And yes, I'm surprised as you are that Alien Earth qualifies as indie, but here we are.
01:47:39 --> 01:47:46 [SPEAKER_01]: I'll say that the most nominated shows here are adolescents forever, which was a new one for me.
01:47:46 --> 01:47:53 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a romantic teen drama, so I guess I'm not the right age for that one coming from a Judy Bloom novel.
01:47:53 --> 01:48:06 [SPEAKER_01]: And, Mr. Loverman, which was also a new one for me, about an Antiguin Bourne Londoner whose marriage collapse is after a decade's long affair with his male best friend is revealed.
01:48:07 --> 01:48:18 [SPEAKER_01]: All three of those got four nominations, and then there were a few that got two nominations each, and that would be Alien Earth, Delhi Boys, dying for sex, north of north and the pit.
01:48:18 --> 01:48:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, we've talked a lot about alien earth and the pit, especially on this network, I've definitely brought up dying for sex a few times.
01:48:25 --> 01:48:30 [SPEAKER_01]: Delly boys is one that I hear talked about a lot in the comedy realm.
01:48:30 --> 01:48:35 [SPEAKER_01]: And north of north is one that, yeah, I did already have on my list to watch.
01:48:37 --> 01:48:45 [SPEAKER_01]: It's just, it's about an inner woman and a small fictional, Canadian Arctic community and her life there.
01:48:45 --> 01:48:46 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a comedy also.
01:48:51 --> 01:48:56 [SPEAKER_01]: So the categories are the big category is best new scripted series.
01:48:56 --> 01:49:00 [SPEAKER_01]: So you'll see that these are skewed to new series, these awards.
01:49:01 --> 01:49:04 [SPEAKER_01]: So we won't see the same nominees again next year.
01:49:05 --> 01:49:13 [SPEAKER_01]: But best new scripted series, the nominees are adolescents, common side effects forever, Mr. Loverman and North of North.
01:49:13 --> 01:49:21 [SPEAKER_01]: And though I said I threw adolescent some support in these votes in this category,
01:49:21 --> 01:49:29 [SPEAKER_01]: If you listen to our top 10 TV, this was one of my, I think it was even in my top five TV shows of the year.
01:49:29 --> 01:49:34 [SPEAKER_01]: It's an animated show from some of the same creators as Scavenger's Rain.
01:49:36 --> 01:49:42 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's about a man who discovers a miracle cure for everything and his friend.
01:49:42 --> 01:50:05 [SPEAKER_01]: I've lost from the past who secretly at first, as far as he knows, works for the farmer industry that is trying to shut him down, but it's a very complex animated series about the nuances of the personal relationships between those two characters and others,
01:50:05 --> 01:50:14 [SPEAKER_01]: are working within the farmer industry who is the pawn of whom and how values change once things affect you and there's so much going on.
01:50:14 --> 01:50:19 [SPEAKER_01]: It is absolutely gripping lots of fun engaging characters.
01:50:19 --> 01:50:25 [SPEAKER_01]: I 110% recommend watching common side effects and that definitely got my vote.
01:50:25 --> 01:50:26 [SPEAKER_01]: I hope it wins.
01:50:26 --> 01:50:29 [SPEAKER_01]: Probably adolescents will win, which I'm fine with.
01:50:29 --> 01:50:33 [SPEAKER_01]: But adolescents finish
01:50:33 --> 01:50:39 [SPEAKER_01]: The next category, this is a category I did not vote in because I have not watched any of these shows.
01:50:40 --> 01:50:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Best new non-scripted or documentary series, the nominees are citizen nation, Hurricane Katrina race against time.
01:50:48 --> 01:50:56 [SPEAKER_01]: Pewe, as himself, seen and heard the history of Black television, Val of Silence, the assassination of Annie May.
01:50:56 --> 01:51:05 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I don't necessarily have any insight into these, since I, as I said, I haven't watched them, although I did already have P.V.
01:51:05 --> 01:51:06 [SPEAKER_01]: as himself on my list.
01:51:07 --> 01:51:10 [SPEAKER_01]: So that gives me the idea that that's the highest profile one on this list.
01:51:10 --> 01:51:12 [SPEAKER_01]: So it could well be the winner.
01:51:12 --> 01:51:20 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, the rest of the awards go back to scripted series, which get the main focus at these in these TV categories.
01:51:21 --> 01:51:24 [SPEAKER_01]: So, we have best lead performance in a new scripted series.
01:51:24 --> 01:51:27 [SPEAKER_01]: Same roles as on the film side, so 10 nominees.
01:51:27 --> 01:51:38 [SPEAKER_01]: Sydney Chandler, for early in Earth, Stephen Graham, for adolescents, Ethan Hawke, for the low-down, Lenny James, for Mr. Loverman, Anna Lam, for North of North.
01:51:38 --> 01:51:48 [SPEAKER_01]: Lola Petty Crew for saying nothing, Seth Rogan for the studio, Lovey Simone for forever, Michelle Williams for dying for sex and Noah Wiley for the pit.
01:51:49 --> 01:51:52 [SPEAKER_01]: And what's interesting about this is since they've combined genres.
01:51:52 --> 01:51:58 [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is maybe one of the first times we have Noah Wiley and Seth Rogan up against each other.
01:51:58 --> 01:52:03 [SPEAKER_01]: Not to mention Stephen Graham in the limited series adolescence.
01:52:04 --> 01:52:09 [SPEAKER_01]: So these three people have been winning all of their categories.
01:52:10 --> 01:52:17 [SPEAKER_01]: Another award shows, but now they have to go head to head Something tells me I think Noah while might be the one to walk away with this.
01:52:18 --> 01:52:22 [SPEAKER_01]: I did vote for Sydney Chandler in Alien Earth for this one
01:52:22 --> 01:52:26 [SPEAKER_01]: And then next is Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series.
01:52:26 --> 01:52:43 [SPEAKER_01]: And the nominees for this one are Arion Bakari for Mr. Leverman Babu Sesi for Alien Earth, Sharon D. Clark for Mr. Leverman, Taylor Deerdon for the Pit, Aaron Doherty for Adolescence, Steven McKinley Henderson for a man on the inside.
01:52:43 --> 01:52:54 [SPEAKER_01]: Pornah, Jaganathan, for Deli Boyz, Zocha, Rokmour, for forever, Jenny Slate, for dying for sex, and Ben Wishaw for Black Doves.
01:52:56 --> 01:53:06 [SPEAKER_01]: I really loved Jenny Slate's performance in dying for sex, and I think Aaron Dordys, performance in Adolescence is one of the knockouts of the year.
01:53:06 --> 01:53:21 [SPEAKER_01]: And I honestly don't remember whether I voted for Aaron Doherty or whether I voted for Babu C. Say in Alien Earth, which is just one of my favorite performances of this year overall, so I'm rooting for one of those two to win this one.
01:53:22 --> 01:53:28 [SPEAKER_01]: I could definitely see it, especially being Aaron Doherty, although there's a lot of love for Babu C. Say.
01:53:28 --> 01:53:35 [SPEAKER_01]: We do have that third acting category popping up here as well, best breakthrough performance in a new scripted series.
01:53:36 --> 01:53:50 [SPEAKER_01]: So for that we have Asif Ali for Deli Boyz, Wally Barum for overcompensating Owen Cooper for Adolescence, Michael Cooper Jr for forever and Ernest Kingsley Jr for Washington Black.
01:53:50 --> 01:53:50 [SPEAKER_01]: And I did.
01:53:50 --> 01:53:56 [SPEAKER_01]: I voted for Owen Cooper for Adolescence, that's the one who plays the kid in Adolescence, still blows me away.
01:53:56 --> 01:54:03 [SPEAKER_01]: And chances are that he is definitely walking home with this award to add to his quickly crowding mantle.
01:54:05 --> 01:54:10 [SPEAKER_01]: And then the final award is for Best Ensemble Cast and a new scripted series.
01:54:10 --> 01:54:12 [SPEAKER_01]: And this is like the Robert Altman Award.
01:54:12 --> 01:54:13 [SPEAKER_01]: There are no nominees.
01:54:13 --> 01:54:15 [SPEAKER_01]: It's just handed to one show.
01:54:15 --> 01:54:27 [SPEAKER_01]: And that show this year is Chief of War, which is the Jason Mamoa, Apple TV, drama, you know, set in Hawaii, historical drama, set in Hawaii.
01:54:27 --> 01:54:29 [SPEAKER_01]: And, um,
01:54:29 --> 01:54:31 [SPEAKER_01]: I still have not yet gotten to see the show.
01:54:32 --> 01:54:36 [SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely on my list and I know there's going to be people who are happy that it was recognized here.
01:54:38 --> 01:54:38 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's it.
01:54:39 --> 01:54:44 [SPEAKER_01]: Those are the television nominees and all of the nominees in total.
01:54:46 --> 01:54:59 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I said at the end, I would give my top 10 film nominees for in these spirit awards categories, and this top 10, by the way, is just the narrative features.
01:55:00 --> 01:55:15 [SPEAKER_01]: I think I made clear that my favorite of the documentary features that I talked about today is Andre is an idiot, although I will give a special mention also to my undesirable
01:55:15 --> 01:55:42 [SPEAKER_01]: It's just a very important film to watch, it's a very confronting film to watch, not in a violent way, but in the more insidious, even scarier aspects that the violence against political systems, it really pairs well with Oscar nominated Mr. Nobody against Putin, which
01:55:42 --> 01:55:57 [SPEAKER_01]: And the Brazilian buffed unominated documentary, which you can watch on Netflix, called Apocalypse in the Tropics about about the role of Christian evangelism in the rise and fall of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.
01:55:58 --> 01:56:02 [SPEAKER_01]: But as for the ten narrative nominees,
01:56:02 --> 01:56:08 [SPEAKER_01]: So here we go, counting down from 10 up to my favorite at number 1.
01:56:08 --> 01:56:11 [SPEAKER_01]: 10 is actually I gave it a tie place.
01:56:11 --> 01:56:15 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm giving it to both the plague, which is on a video on demand.
01:56:15 --> 01:56:20 [SPEAKER_01]: If you want to see it itself, for yourself, that's the one about bullying at a polo camp.
01:56:20 --> 01:56:26 [SPEAKER_01]: I just, there's elements of it that are, it's just such a well-made film, although it's not the easiest watch.
01:56:26 --> 01:56:29 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not necessarily
01:56:29 --> 01:56:37 [SPEAKER_01]: But the especially the child performances in there just really blew me away and are sticking in my mind.
01:56:37 --> 01:56:52 [SPEAKER_01]: And the other one I said is sticking in my mind tied for 10 is on becoming a guinea foul which you can watch on HBO in the US or it's on video on demand as well about the cousins in Zambia whose uncle lies and the fallout of that.
01:56:52 --> 01:57:09 [SPEAKER_01]: Number nine on this list is a poet, which is the Colombian International Film, which as I said, I'm a sucker for a well-written character study, and that's exactly what this is, just a lot of heart and humor, and that's exactly my sort of thing.
01:57:09 --> 01:57:17 [SPEAKER_01]: It's unfortunately not so easy to watch just yet, although it is opening in theaters and more and more countries, so watch out for it to open near you.
01:57:17 --> 01:57:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, my number eight on this list is Heta, Nia de Costa's take on the classic place during Tessa Thompson.
01:57:25 --> 01:57:27 [SPEAKER_01]: You can watch that one on prime.
01:57:27 --> 01:57:33 [SPEAKER_01]: Number seven on this list for me is one of them days, the one with Kiki Palmer, trying to get together.
01:57:33 --> 01:57:35 [SPEAKER_01]: Some last minutes, make up rent.
01:57:36 --> 01:57:39 [SPEAKER_01]: You can watch that one on Netflix just a lot of fun.
01:57:39 --> 01:57:44 [SPEAKER_01]: So that, you know, make that your Friday night with, uh, with your partner, not sure.
01:57:44 --> 01:57:45 [SPEAKER_01]: It's really kid friendly.
01:57:45 --> 01:57:47 [SPEAKER_01]: And so I always say I'm not the one to ask about that.
01:57:47 --> 01:58:03 [SPEAKER_01]: My number six on this list is the Baltimore Uns, which is on AMC+, and also video on demand about man and his dentist wandering through Baltimore on Christmas Eve and the misadventures and improv they get up to.
01:58:03 --> 01:58:28 [SPEAKER_01]: As I said, I will put my review, my extended review that was published on the Contra Zoom blog in the show notes if you want to know more about that one, but it's just such a warm hug of a movie with really likable central characters.
01:58:28 --> 01:58:39 [SPEAKER_01]: where things get messy between them, definitely a laughout loud, wild comedy with a lot of things you won't see coming and just, yeah, really fun dynamics between the characters.
01:58:40 --> 01:58:43 [SPEAKER_01]: My number four in this list is fuck toys.
01:58:43 --> 01:58:46 [SPEAKER_01]: That is unfortunately the most difficult one to watch in this list.
01:58:46 --> 01:58:51 [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of death racers who are pulling out their hair right now looking for places to watch this.
01:58:52 --> 01:58:57 [SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully it will be more widely available soon, but that's the surreal one set in a sort of
01:58:57 --> 01:59:06 [SPEAKER_01]: Florida parody place about a woman who's trying to gather money to cancel a curse that she's been told it's on her.
01:59:06 --> 01:59:15 [SPEAKER_01]: Number three on this list for me, and I'm really surprised to have this at number three, although these rankings are kind of meaningless at the end of the day, and we'll change on the whim.
01:59:15 --> 01:59:22 [SPEAKER_01]: But I currently have the long walk at number three, and I'm surprised it's at number three because it is one of my absolute favorite films of the year.
01:59:23 --> 01:59:27 [SPEAKER_01]: You can watch this one on Stars now or also on video on demand.
01:59:27 --> 01:59:36 [SPEAKER_01]: It's this Stephen King adaptation about boys competing in a lethal walking competition, and you know, it's very.
01:59:36 --> 01:59:46 [SPEAKER_01]: it's basically a big analogy for fascism and all the operations thereof, but there's a lot of warmth and heart in this one as well.
01:59:47 --> 01:59:53 [SPEAKER_01]: My number two on this list, I think the top two for me on this list are just knockouts and writing.
01:59:53 --> 02:00:08 [SPEAKER_01]: So I have a number two lurker, which is about the guy and L.A. who meets a celebrity, he's a fan of and gets to be part of his entourage and what he will do to keep it and it takes a lot of unexpected twists.
02:00:08 --> 02:00:15 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not what you think it's going to be exactly going in and it's definitely not going to end exactly the way you think it will going in.
02:00:15 --> 02:00:20 [SPEAKER_01]: So this one has really been lurking in my mind ever since.
02:00:20 --> 02:00:24 [SPEAKER_01]: if you want to see it for yourself, it is on movie now or video on demand.
02:00:24 --> 02:00:47 [SPEAKER_01]: And then my number one spirit's nominee is if I haven't made it clear, it's twinless, which you can see for yourself on Hulu or video on demand about the twin who loses his brother, gains a new friend and takes a lot of dark unexpected turns after that as well, but definitely
02:00:47 --> 02:00:58 [SPEAKER_01]: a lot of warmth and it ends up being a tale about forgiving yourself and forgiving other people and where the lines for that are too.
02:00:58 --> 02:00:59 [SPEAKER_01]: How far is too far?
02:01:00 --> 02:01:07 [SPEAKER_01]: That's definitely a question at the center of Twinless with some spectacular filmmaking and some of the best acting of the year.
02:01:07 --> 02:01:10 [SPEAKER_01]: So, highly recommend, especially those 10 films.
02:01:11 --> 02:01:15 [SPEAKER_01]: But I hope that you've found this dive into all of the nominees illuminating.
02:01:16 --> 02:01:19 [SPEAKER_01]: And I definitely recommend watching the indie spirit awards.
02:01:20 --> 02:01:30 [SPEAKER_01]: If you have the time this Sunday, February 15th at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, it is airing on YouTube, so very easy to watch.
02:01:30 --> 02:01:33 [SPEAKER_01]: There's a link in the show notes where you can set up a notification already.
02:01:33 --> 02:01:39 [SPEAKER_01]: This year, the awards are taking place at the palladium in Hollywood, which is a change.
02:01:39 --> 02:01:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Usually, they are at the Santa Monica Pier in a tent, basically there.
02:01:43 --> 02:01:49 [SPEAKER_01]: Now, apparently, the Santa Monica Pier is currently undergoing renovations.
02:01:49 --> 02:02:00 [SPEAKER_01]: But I have to say, in recent years, the fact that it's in a tent right on Venice Beach has meant that you can, there's been a lot of protests in recent years about things such as Palestine.
02:02:00 --> 02:02:02 [SPEAKER_01]: And you can hear that inside the tent.
02:02:02 --> 02:02:04 [SPEAKER_01]: while people are accepting their awards.
02:02:05 --> 02:02:10 [SPEAKER_01]: And it's been interesting to see how some people respond with how others try to ignore it.
02:02:11 --> 02:02:16 [SPEAKER_01]: But that won't be a factor this year because they're in a big fancy soundproof theater.
02:02:16 --> 02:02:18 [SPEAKER_01]: So it's going to be a slightly different vibe.
02:02:18 --> 02:02:23 [SPEAKER_01]: But I will say in general it is, you know, it's an indie award show.
02:02:23 --> 02:02:24 [SPEAKER_01]: And so
02:02:24 --> 02:02:35 [SPEAKER_01]: It does have that very independent feel, but it's fun for that reason to see celebrities kind of let their hair down more at this because it's not as serious.
02:02:36 --> 02:02:41 [SPEAKER_01]: It hosted this year by actress and comedian Ego Nwodim.
02:02:41 --> 02:02:54 [SPEAKER_01]: who, I'm sorry, I hope I pronounce it quickly, but she is a member of the Saturday Night Live cast, as well as being another thing, so, but probably you would be most likely to recognize her from Saturday Night Live.
02:02:56 --> 02:03:09 [SPEAKER_01]: We will do like we did with the Golden Globes, a live watch chat on discord, so join us shortly before it begins on discord, and I will post announcements about where you can
02:03:09 --> 02:03:16 [SPEAKER_01]: And then we'll do, again, next week, the same for the BAFTA, so it'll be a preview, and then there will be a live watch next Sunday for that as well.
02:03:17 --> 02:03:24 [SPEAKER_01]: Earlier in the day, because it'll be on British time, which is better for me, in here in the Netherlands.
02:03:24 --> 02:03:40 [SPEAKER_01]: Also coming soon in the award-season coverage, I've already recorded episodes about the production design awards with with our very own Lisa aka Red Zippy and I've recorded the best international movies of the year episode with Mexican Film Credit Kectort
02:03:40 --> 02:03:59 [SPEAKER_01]: and I will be recording very soon the documentaries episode with Rebecca June who is a doc editor herself who was also my guest for last year so watch out those are the next three Oscar episodes coming out over the next couple of weeks and as far as what else is going on
02:03:59 --> 02:04:06 [SPEAKER_01]: Just after this, our second Wonder Man episode covering Wonder Man episodes five through eight will be released.
02:04:07 --> 02:04:09 [SPEAKER_01]: We've recorded that with David Jean and I.
02:04:10 --> 02:04:12 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's coming to your feeds.
02:04:13 --> 02:04:17 [SPEAKER_01]: And of course, there's weekly coverage of the pit with David and John.
02:04:17 --> 02:04:23 [SPEAKER_01]: There is cross pod coverage on a night of the seven kingdoms with properly Howard.
02:04:23 --> 02:04:45 [SPEAKER_01]: as well as other one shots such as the recently released Percy Jackson seeves in one in two one shot and the bone temple episode for 28 years later will be coming out shortly after February 17th which is now when we know that film will be digitally released a film directed again by Nia de Costa director of Heta.
02:04:45 --> 02:04:47 [SPEAKER_01]: So I really liked that one.
02:04:47 --> 02:04:58 [SPEAKER_01]: If you are into horror, then definitely do go back and check out our first 28 years later episode, which jumped to one of my favorite all-time films.
02:04:59 --> 02:05:10 [SPEAKER_01]: And do, of course, check out our affiliate podcast, Nevermind the Music, which recently did a
02:05:10 --> 02:05:31 [SPEAKER_01]: Subscribers to the Laura Hound's supercast and patreon feeds of course as always get ad free access to this and all Laura Hound's feed episodes plus bonus episodes this month Diane Keaton month and we just saw Annie Hall just won the subscriber vote by a single vote so that's what we will be covering for this month on eleven seas.
02:05:31 --> 02:05:34 [SPEAKER_01]: And this brings us, of course, to our final thank yous.
02:05:34 --> 02:05:37 [SPEAKER_01]: I want to shout out first just everyone who's listening.
02:05:37 --> 02:05:39 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for spending your time with me.
02:05:39 --> 02:05:51 [SPEAKER_01]: And with the Laura Hounds Network in general, if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with anyone else you think but like a primer on the independent spirit awards or might be interested in any of the movies discussed today.
02:05:51 --> 02:05:59 [SPEAKER_01]: And if you're up for leaving a kind rating and review, wherever you're listening, that is also an enormous help in helping us to reach new people.
02:05:59 --> 02:06:16 [SPEAKER_01]: We do always especially thank our Discord server boosters, Erin Kaye, Tiller, the Thriller, Doov71, Athena, Agilea, the Stu, Nancy M, Ghost of Partition, Radioactive Richard and Adrienne, and a special thank you to all of our supercast and Patreon subscribers.
02:06:16 --> 02:06:26 [SPEAKER_01]: We would not be able to keep doing this without you if we can find more of you than we will be able to focus more of our efforts on this venture that we all love so much.
02:06:26 --> 02:06:35 [SPEAKER_01]: Um, most especially, thank you, of course, to our highest here of subscribers, the loremasters, Samarshan Michael G. Michelle E. S.C. Peter O'H.
02:06:35 --> 02:06:45 [SPEAKER_01]: Nancy M. Duv 71, Brian 863, Frederick H. Sarah L. Garrett C. Andrew B. Cuang-U, Nathan T. Sub-Zero, Aaron K. Delhi V. mothership 61.
02:06:45 --> 02:06:46 [SPEAKER_01]: Naurals.
02:06:47 --> 02:06:52 [SPEAKER_01]: Kathy W. Listu, Jeffrey B. Lisa U. Ben B. Scott F. Steven N. Julia F.
02:06:52 --> 02:06:56 [SPEAKER_01]: Callie S. Illmariel, Paul K. Rockizim, Jessica A.
02:06:56 --> 02:07:11 [SPEAKER_01]: Red Zippy, the TCS, Dope Amini, Ketchit, Elinar, Mrs. Tenet, AC Wilson, Eli W. Cassie K. Chumbaruni, Katia, Josh Liu, Pinkton PDX, Cori G, Quinch, and always last, Adrienne.
02:07:12 --> 02:07:18 [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you, thank you all, hope to see some of you on Sunday for our independent spirit awards live discord chat.
02:07:19 --> 02:07:19 [SPEAKER_01]: Bye!
02:07:21 --> 02:07:24 [SPEAKER_00]: The Lower Hound's podcast is produced in published by the Lower Hounds.
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02:07:41 --> 02:07:42 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening.