Ep. 119: Oppenheimer

Once again, the Academy picked our movie for this month, so Ryan and Nate are re-watching Oppenheimer, 2024’s Best Picture Oscar winner, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. On top of continuing this year’s theme of revisiting 2023, Ryan and Nate realized they’ve never talked about a Christopher Nolan movie on air. Given the decades worth of praise that’s been heaped upon Nolan, as well as the mountain of awards his latest movie won, it seemed like the time was right to take a trip back to Los Alamos.

Where does Nolan rank for you among favorite directors? Where does Oppenheimer rank among Nolan films? Let us know!

Links

Watch Christopher Nolan narrate the opening scene of Oppenheimer in this New York Times Anatomy of a Scene.

Read Jennifer Ouellette’s Oppenheimer review for Ars Technica.

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Ep. 102: CODA

For this episode, Nate and Ryan watch the most recent Best Picture winner, CODA. Its story of a deaf family portrayed by deaf actors is an important step in diverse representation and storytelling. Even before its historic Oscar win for Troy Kotsur – the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar, CODA was making waves at Sundance when Apple TV+ paid 25 million dollars for distribution rights. A quiet momentum built as Oscar time neared, and the Best Picture win that seemed like a long shot in December 2021 became the sure bet in the weeks before the ceremony. CODA won all three Oscars it was nominated for (the third going to writer/director Sian Heder for her adapted screenplay) and is the rare Best Picture winner that clicked both with audiences and critics. But what do Ryan and Nate think?

What are your thoughts on CODA? Is it deserving of Best Picture? What else could have won? Let us know!

 

Read The Tension at the Heart of CODA by John Hendrickson (The Atlantic).

 

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Ep. 96: The King’s Speech feat. Watson Jones III

Nate and Ryan welcome Watson Jones III to discuss The King’s Speech, 2010 winner of the Best Picture Oscar directed by Tom Hooper. The King’s Speech was a somewhat improbable winner in an especially strong movie year. It was in that backlash-filled atmosphere that many people watched Colin Firth act his way to a long-deserved Oscar. But what is it like to watch The King’s Speech without the noise? Watson joins Nate and Ryan in a wide-ranging discussion that covers way more ground than we thought possible.

What are your thoughts on The King’s Speech? If Colin Firth hadn’t won for this, what did he deserve to win for? If not The King’s Speech, what 2010 movie should have won Best Picture? Let us know!