Film fans Mike and Jenny have set themselves the massive task of watching every movie ever nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Join them year by year, film by film, to see how their opinions stack up with Oscar (and see if they crack under the weight of cinema history).
The dog days of summer continue as ATNW covers 1972's family drama, Sounder. Mike and Jenny talk about hope, sweat, institutional racism, the desire to learn, dog stories, and how nice it is when nice people are nice to each other. Plus, Jenny goes back to high school, i.e., delivers a book report for a book she hasn't read. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
This week, ATNW covers the 1972 Swedish-language historical epic The Emigrants. And, assuming that most people have not seen this one, we walk you through the plot pretty thoroughly. How did this film make it to the big dance, and why is it relatively forgotten? Plus: Jenny's 90's YA Corner, the dark side of Carnival Cruises, and after the closing theme, CATS madness strikes! Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod.
(CW: sexual assault) ATNW's 1972 miniseries continues with Deliverance. Mike and Jenny untangle what makes this wilderness drama memetic, and also what it has to offer culture beyond inappropriate jokes. What's behind the title? Can city and country folk get along? How important is emotional engagement with movies? Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
Mike and Jenny begin the 1972 miniseries with Cabaret, the feel-bad musical of the year. Which superlative about this film should you remember for your next Oscar trivia night? What makes this film especially topical (you can probably guess)? Plus Jenny accidentally does a deep dive into the 90's Broadway revival, and Mike tells tales of acting for The Stage. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod! Send us an email! nomineespod@gmail.com
Mike and Jenny wrap up the 1927-28 miniseries with the winner of Outstanding Picture, the WWI flyboy drama Wings. How does it measure up to its lofty place in history? We talk action scenes, comics parallels, subtext, Clara Bow, and star quality. Plus, we rank the movies of the 1st Academy Awards, plan out our next two miniseries so you can watch along, and make another special announcement (which The Man forced our hand on).
When is a winner not a winner? When it's the retroactively demoted Unique and Artistic Picture, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. But it's still a winner in the hearts of minds of many, and Mike and Jenny will explore the reasons why. This week we talk expressionism (a bit), the city vs the country, The Killing Joke, how film affects your brain, and how Sunrise's male lead could better channel his rage. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
It's sewers, speakeasies and salvation this week as Mike and Jenny discuss the nominees for Outstanding Picture, The Racket and 7th Heaven. One's a gangster film with Not So Different main characters. One's a historical romance about moving up in the world (literally). Both are crowd-pleasers of different types, but does ATNW recommend them? This week, we talk shifty morals, quickie marriages, prime real estate, and which characters suck. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
The movies may be silent but we're most certainly not! Mike and Jenny kick off the first Academy Awards with the nominees for Unique and Artistic Picture, traveling from the jungle to the urban jungle with Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness and The Crowd. Are the animals the true stars of Chang (even though most of them get killed by humans)? Is The Crowd inspirational or soul-destroying (or both)? Which character does Mike relate to hard (hint: it's not Chang)? Plus talking monkeys, when a documentary isn't a documentary, and more New York City talk. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
Mike and Jenny wrap up 2017 the best way they know how: ordered lists! The duo rank the nominees and discuss what the Academy got wrong (or right), and whether there is a deeper message to be found. Then, an introduction to the next miniseries! Mike gives some context for the very first Academy Awards, from 1927-28, how they came about, and what they mean. Plus, what type of films show on which cable networks, and who really deserves an Oscar gift bag.
If I told you about this episode, what would I say? That it's 2017’s Best Picture winner, for one! Mike and Jenny cross swords over fairy tales and the propriety of romancing a fish-man. What are the rules of fish-religion? What is truly the moral of this story? Where does Koko fit in? All this plus Mike explains basic bathroom hygiene, and Jenny tries out rudimentary color theory and even more rudimentary flirting. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
It's time to get romantic! Mike and Jenny discuss Call Me By Your Name, now WITHOUT the help/hindrance of two bottles of wine. Join them as they discuss aspirational living, how to spend your summer vacation, allergens, portraying memories, the physicality of Armie Hammer, tying all your themes together, and #20-bi-teen. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod (and email us at nomineespod@gmail.com if you want to hear the first draft of the episode)
It's a two-for-one special as Mike and Jenny talk Jordan Peele's first film, Get Out, AND special opening night chatter about Us! Also discussed are Black Panther, Stranger Things and, for some reason, the short lived ABC sitcom Trophy Wife. Plus the relative scumminess of Caleb Landry Jones, performative wokeness, the unsettling nature of teal, and the show gets cancelled TWICE! Is the Dharma Initiative behind it all? Follow us on Twitter @NomineesPod
Mike and Jenny go full film nerd for Paul Thomas Anderson's relationship drama, Phantom Thread! That's right, all that good stuff like themes and context and lights and composition and a e s t h e t i c s. Some might even call it... ”Paul Thomas Anderson-y.” Who's really in control, in this film full of maladjusted control freaks? Hang on until the needle drop and you'll find out! Plus: weird romance! The power of blushing! Jenny sings, for some reason! Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod.
Jump in the Wayback Machine with Lady Bird, from 2017 but set in 2002, so it brings up a lot of very specific memories. Mike and Jenny talk high school hangouts, overreaching drama clubs, crush material, and family dynamics. Follow us on Twitter @NomineesPod
The 2018 Oscars may be this weekend, but ATNW's 2017 miniseries rolls on with the crime drama (comedy?) with the long title. In this disassembled-reassembled episode, Jenny's English major side comes out, and Mike tries to figure out why they never quite succeed at discussing the first half of a movie. Plus Law and Order, Ivanek chat, acting wins, VENGEANCE, life advice for Dixon, the mysteries of Anne, and more. Follow us on Twitter @nomineespod!
This week, ATNW discusses 2017’s The Post. Spielberg! Streep! Hanks! Many comedians with less than ten minutes of screen time each! Mike and Jenny talk about important themes, Cher, caftans, Cher, whether this movie is actually two movies in one, a Mr. Show reunion (of sorts), Cher, Bradley Whitford: Enemy of the People, and yet another cinematic universe. Plus, the latest Oscar shenanigans and how to save the ceremony.
ATNW's 2017 miniseries continues with Christopher Nolan's multi-temporal war drama Dunkirk. How does it compare to its WWII competitor? How is Dunkirk like an episode of Seinfeld? Where's the bloody Air Force? Mike and Jenny discuss the dreamiest cast members, maintaining suspense, Tom Hardy voices, gettin' down with Mark Rylance, whether the world can handle Kenneth Branagh in IMAX, and much more. Follow us on Twitter! @NomineesPod
Mike and Jenny kick off their 2017 miniseries with a discussion of Darkest Hour, one of the year's two WWII-related nominees, and the one with the most Gary Oldman. In this episode, they discuss the quality of light in the darkest hour, teen heartthrob Ben Mendelsohn, the character arc of Winston Churchill, and the "subtle" difference between a Churchill impression and an Oldman one. All this plus facts, fonts, hippies(?), and an excess of champagne.
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