Ryan McNeil
Runtime
83 minutes
Show Contents
0:00 Introduction
3:05 Know Your Enemy with guest Robyn Bahr
20:39 The New Slang: I’M STILL HERE
52:02 Spoiler Section
67:12 The Other Side: Robyn and Ryan talk further reading after Walter Salles’ new film
Thoughts from your host…
Welcome to the morning-after and one of the weirdest bits of Oscar kismet this podcast has ever stumbled into.
Over the last twenty years or so, with the filmmaking guilds growing in prominence, it’s become easier and easier to predict Oscar wins by the time we get to the big night. Even if – like me – you don’t do well with your Oscar ballot, by the time the ceremony arrives there are generally no surprises.
Until there are – and that’s where this episode becomes relevant.
EMILIA PÉREZ came into the night both with momentum (14 nominations), and losing steam (critical reaction to the film, bad PR around one of its stars). As the night starts to play out, awards start to come its way in the form of Best Supporting Actress and Best Song. Reading the tea leaves, a win for Best International Film still seemed very much in the bag.
…and then Penélope Cruz calls up I’M STILL HERE.
Not the deepest of shocks considering that it, too, was up for Best Picture (usually an indicator of good Best International award odds), but when one compares its three nominations to the fourteen EMILIA PÉREZ scored…this is undoubtedly an upset.
…and this is where my guest Robyn and I come in. We sat down to talk about this film last week, and even say once or twice during the episode that we don’t know what’s going to happen on Oscar night. And here we are for you this morning, armed and ready to talk about one of the biggest surprises of the night!
I’m grateful that Oscar voters nudged me towards this gem by nominating it for Best Actress and Best Picture (categories where I try to see everything), and doubly grateful that more people might track it down now that it has a win to its name.
Without giving away a lot of what we are about to talk about, the film is beautiful…so please do give it a look when you can, and please do enjoy this conversation about last nights winner for Best International Film.
Links Mentioned on Episode 343:
The misleading trailer for PRESENCE:
Matineecast 330 where Robyn and I spoke about THELMA
Matineecast 341 where Marya and I spoke about this year’s Oscar nominees
The Very Special Episodes podcast – E.T. and Me
Robyn’s THR piece about this years films featuring women reclaiming their sexuality
Robyn’s Letterboxd can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening.
Enjoy!
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