Movie Moan 2015: Episode 2 - For Shame Oscars, For Shame!
Wed, January 28, 2015 Phil thought he couldn't hate the Academy Awards more than he already does but when you snub the Roger Ebert movie, you go too far (40:06).
So as well as a rant for the ages from the English gentleman on that subject, tonight we also join Jamie Williams, special guest from last week Matt Thompson, and Mr Shawn Robbins, writer and editor for Box Office.com to discuss...
Classic Movie Moan
In a piece of news which went out of date the day after we recorded it, Jamie pitches that 'Mission Impossible 5' will move from December to January in order to get some of that 'American Sniper money (8:04). Phil has literally just come back from 'Kingsman: The Secret Service' and will not spoil any of it, but will tell you why it's not worth counting down the days for (13:09). But Phil and Shawn do implore you to get out to whatever theatre is playing 'Whiplash' and make sure to see it with a collective audience. This is a film which deserves it (18:54). Finally, right before it opens, we predict just how well is '50 Shades Of Grey' is going to do at the box office (27:37).
Marveling At The Future
Spencer Perry and Phil Gee return to share their hopes and dreams for two upcoming comic book movies. Firstly, Spencer educates Phil on just why WB making 'Suicide Squad' is so important and smart (58:40). Then, Phil pitches to you on who the logical choice to direct 'Thor: Ragnarok' is (1:12:07).
Memo To The Executives
Matt Thompson and Phil Gee take a look at the potential movie franchise of tomorrow - the film adaptation of the video game franchise 'Assassin's Creed'. We try and figure out whether it will actually work as even a decent film, using one of the latest drafts of the actual script as a roadmap (1:27:39).
Don't just watch the video version above. Play the podcast via Soundcloud or download the MP3 version right here:
Reader Comments (4)
Good to have you guys back. It was a great discussion.
Great discussion about WHIPLASH. Tour de force work from Simmons, and an almost equally strong performance from Teller. It’s such an vibrant and exhilarating film, and it was my favorite of 2014 by quite some distance.
Love the new “Memo to the Executives” segment. I honestly don’t really think that an “Assassin’s Creed” movie is going to get made, either. The backstory, mythology, logistics are just a little too weird and convoluted to translate successfully to the screen in a faithful way.
Phil (and the rest of you), have you ever watched a really excellent documentary titled Unauthorized: Harvey Weinstein? It's mostly about Harvey but there's a really fascinating part to it how filmmakers can "buy" Oscars (not buy as in literally exchange money and get a statue). More or less it confirms what most in Hollywood either know or should know: (I'm directly quoting the movie now) "Oscars are, let's be real, a popularity contest." Especially these days. It's all about the prestige, power, and politics of Hollywood. Who did the most arm-twisting to get their movie an award? Who threw the biggest and swankiest parties to schmooze the AMPAS? Who fed the voting members the best food? Who has the biggest publicist? Who had the most impressive and expensive media campaign? Who put on the best attempt at mudslinging the competition? It's like any other popularity contest - elections, pageants, etc. That's all Oscars really mean and if a movie didn't make a splash at the awards, it's probably because it was too small potatoes and got drowned out by the big dogs. (Anyway, rent Unauthorized sometime, it's a great movie and I highly recommend it).
@Shelly
To quote Steve Rogers, "I'll put it on the list".