Episode 321 – 96TH OSCAR NOMINEES

Runtime

108 minutes

Up for Discussion

Introduction and welcome guest Marya E. Gates. (0:00)
Rundown of the nominees for adapted and original screenplay (5:00)
Rundown of the nominees for Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Actress, and Actor (22:16)
Rundown of the nominees for Best Direction and Best Picture (57:09)
Omissions and trends (1:24:17)

Thoughts from your host…

Have you ever been in a location that hosts an epic event, but you wander through it just before or just after the event happens? There’s an eerie quiet…the space is adorned with celebratory embelishments. Maybe it’s still spotless, or maybe there is litter and empty cups everywhere to be found.

That’s what it feels like to sit here and write the greeting that goes with this post on the morning of Super Bowl Sunday. On one hand, a major cultural event hasn’t happened (as I write)…on the other, the major event is over (as you read).

Maybe something memorable happened – maybe it was just another game. Who knows!? It’s Schrodinger’s Super Bowl right this moment. The festivities both haven’t begun and are long over.

As I mentioned in the intro to this episode, The Oscars are going to be a bit like that for me as well this year thanks to a concert I will be seeing night-of. I wager that it seems like a minor dereliction of duty to be away from my screen on Oscar night…but I’m okay with it. I long ago gave up reacting to moments in real time, and with modern technology and a bit of a late night, I’ll be able to be up on the conversation before I go to bed.

Like tonight’s major sporting event, The Oscars will have happened and be happening for me all at once.

It is – and will be – a surreal feeling…and surrealism is always worth feeling.

One thing I do know for sure and one feeling that is not surreal, is that I’m really lucky to still be able to call Marya my friend and that she’s always so kind when I reach out. There’s a lot of people I met the same time as her that I don’t hear from much anymore…I’m really fortunate that she still takes the time and makes the effort for lil’ ol’ me.

Links from the show:

First and foremost, Marya’s Substack “Cool People Have Feelings Too”. Subscribe, and give some serious thought to a paid subscription.

Matineecast 303 where we discuss Justine Triet’s SIBYL during “The Other Side”

Matineecast 266 where Marya and I review ZOLA, featuring Best Actor nominee Colman Domingo

A YouTube feature on The Great Migration created in association with MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM. Marya produced the feature, and Colman Domingo narrates: