The 2026 Academy Awards: ‘One Battle After Another’ Earns More Than a Few Small Oscars

Sean and Amanda instantly react to the 98th Academy Awards and share their main takeaways from Hollywood’s biggest night. They make the case for why these Oscars and the Best Picture win for ‘One Battle After Another’ were for “the movie nerds,” break down Michael B. Jordan’s incredible speech for his Best Actor win, and talk through their mixed feelings about the telecast itself. Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins Producers: Jack Sanders, Chris Wohlers, and Kevin Cureghian Production Support: Lucas Cavanagh Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can choose to bundle and save with the Personal Price Plan®️. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there®️. Drivers wanted. Learn more at vw.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:46Sean Fennessey?

  I'm Sean Fennessey.

• 1:47Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm Amanda Dobbins.

• 1:47Sean Fennessey?

  And this is The Big Picture, a conversation show about the 98th Academy Awards. We are dressed up and almost ready to break down. Amanda, how are you feeling?

• 1:57Amanda Dobbins?

  I feel great. I'm pumped.

• 1:58Sean Fennessey?

  I'm pumped too, and I'm reckoning with my generational trauma. We have just witnessed one battle after another secure best picture and conclude one of the most dominant award season stretches in some time. We also saw huge wins for Sinners, Sentimental Value, K-Pop, Demon Hunters, and more. Amanda and I will break down the telecast, the winners, the speeches, the bits, the vibes, and so much more, right after this.

• 2:23Sean Fennessey?

  This episode of The Big Picture is presented by State Farm. Sure, being an expert at movie trivia is impressive. You know what's even more impressive? Being smart about saving money. And a great way to do that is by saving when you choose to bundle home and auto with the State Farm Personal Price Plan. Bundling, just another way to save with the Personal Price Plan. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. This episode is brought to you by Volkswagen. There is such a thing as becoming too comfortable in your day to day. But our favorite films, with stories that make us change the way we think, they weren't made by people content to just sit back and watch the world pass by. This is your sign that you shouldn't either.

• 3:05Sean Fennessey?

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• 3:16Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, Amanda, here we are. We've just finished watching the Academy Awards here at our office. I'm wearing a bow tie that I tied myself. I'm feeling very proud of myself.

• 3:25Amanda Dobbins?

  We'll wait till hour two of this podcast to share how long it took you. But this was also about hour two.

• 3:30Sean Fennessey?

  It was not, not less than an hour, that's for sure. Okay, the Academy Awards just happened. You said you're feeling excited. You were feeling moved.

• 3:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 3:39Sean Fennessey?

  Break it down.

• 3:40Amanda Dobbins?

  Over/under for you on how many times I cried during this show?

• 3:44Sean Fennessey?

  I'll say, I'll try to match you with me, and I'll say three.

• 3:48Amanda Dobbins?

  I might have cried, it might have been more than three. Because certainly both original screenplay, Paul Thomas Anderson, no, I'm sorry, original screenplay, Ryan Coogler, adapted screenplay, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Michael B. Jordan, winning Best Actor. I was overcome. I think Best Director, and then the surprise cinematography win for Autumn Dardarapa was also very moving. So that's at five.

• 4:14Sean Fennessey?

  This doesn't always happen at the Oscars. It's not always, I'm kind of reckoning with myself right now because I had a wonderful time watching the show. I think it was a largely predictable show, based on how we followed the season over the years, but not in a bad way. The surprises, I thought, were very good surprises. And a couple of wins that even if we were expecting them, felt great in the moment. Um, okay, telecast, not the greatest telecast in Oscar's history.

• 4:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 4:39Sean Fennessey?

  I would say less memorable for Conan than the first year. Some bits worked, some didn't work so well.

• 4:45Amanda Dobbins?

  I would say the actual, uh, production in terms of who was allowed to speak and for how long and did everyone know they were live or not live?

• 4:54Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 4:54Amanda Dobbins?

  Was a bit shaggy at times.

• 4:55Sean Fennessey?

  Not everyone who won was there.

• 4:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 4:57Sean Fennessey?

  You don't see that very often at the Academy Awards. Um, you know, the story, of course, of the show is going to be one battle after another. Ultimately, winning five awards last night and or tonight, I should say, it feels like last night already.

• 5:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Six.

• 5:11Sean Fennessey?

  Six awards?

• 5:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 5:12Sean Fennessey?

  Six awards.

• 5:13Amanda Dobbins?

  We, we counted again, right? Best Picture, Best Director, Sean Penn, Adapted Screenplay, um, Editing and...

• 5:20Sean Fennessey?

  Casting.

• 5:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Casting.

• 5:21Sean Fennessey?

  Which was the surprise. So One Battle wins six, Sinners wins four Academy Awards and they had been the Alpha and the Omega of this race, especially in the final two months. Most people assumed that One Battle was going to win. We got a, I think, a pretty strong preview and surprisingly Casting went to Cassandra Kulakundis for her work on the film and not Francine Maisler, who was heavily favored for Sinners, but this was the first year of the Casting Award. And my first thought when Cassandra won that award, which is extremely deserved and I think is a wonderful win and was one of the very few moments when I popped out of my seat during the telecast tonight because it just felt like something that wasn't going to

• 6:00Sean Fennessey?

  happen was, okay, so is this award maybe even more so than Editing going to be closely associated with a Best Picture win? I'm already getting ahead of myself, but that's where my mind went right away.

• 6:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, I, I see what you mean. It does seem that it, that was the tell this year and, and we have traditionally said that Editing is, you know, where Editing goes, so Best Picture goes. And, and that was also the case this year.

• 6:28Sean Fennessey?

  It was.

• 6:29Amanda Dobbins?

  But because Casting came first and because there was a little more intrigue and because we did also think that that was one that Sinners had in its, you know, in its bank of, of who will win, where, how will this shake out? Uh, it, it seemed like the twist. It may be that the next few years, things get a little wonky or a little strange. You, you noted that this is the first year of that category, um, and that there, so there are many venerated casting directors. Who were nominated tonight, who did not win, and who presumably will want another shot at the award. So how will they go about that? How will the guild that vote nominates goes about it? I think it's a little too early to guess for the award down the road.

• 7:14Amanda Dobbins?

  But tonight, I walked out, I, you know, took a bathroom break and I was like, okay, so casting is when we knew. And then there were moments when we weren't sure. And even before Best Picture was announced, you turned to me and you were like, sinners?

• 7:26Sean Fennessey?

  I wasn't totally sure.

• 7:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, we were not totally sure, which, you know, I quibble with your, your argument that there weren't a lot of surprises or because our predictions were mostly right, but we didn't know what was going to happen.

• 7:38Sean Fennessey?

  It's true. It's a great feeling.

• 7:39Amanda Dobbins?

  We really, really didn't. And so I thought, I was thinking a bit about how this was maybe an ideal awards show for us and hopefully for listeners and watchers of this show as well, people who are invested in these movies and who love these movies and love the Oscars and really wanted to know who, who won. I don't know if this show was the best show, if you're just kind of like stopping by for some razzle-dazz. It had some nice moments. I really, really laughed throughout The Bridesmaids reunion. Very, very funny stuff.

• 8:07Sean Fennessey?

  A highlight for me, too.

• 8:08Amanda Dobbins?

  But this was, this was for the movie nerds in a great way.

• 8:12Sean Fennessey?

  It was, it was. And I'd like to talk about one battle now.

• 8:18Sean Fennessey?

  I say this sincerely.

• 8:21Sean Fennessey?

  Since I was 15 years old, Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director. He is my favorite filmmaker of my life. He is probably a pretty big reason why I'm sitting here today, which sounds like a stupid thing to say, but he and a handful of other filmmakers just activated my imagination. And as you have said many times over the last five or six years doing the show, those people very rarely get to the place that Paul Thomas Anderson got to tonight, which is he now has a Best Picture Oscar, a Best Director Oscar, and a Best Screenplay Oscar. He won them all on the same night.

• 8:56Sean Fennessey?

  Sean Baker did that last year. You know, that's, that was unusual when he did it, when he won four last year. But for the most part, that's very rarefied air and it's not typically our guys, so to speak, who are sent to those spaces.

• 9:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Has not been until now.

• 9:10Sean Fennessey?

  Until now. And so I find this to be a fascinating win. I find it to be the fact that it is a movie. As, as PTA said when he accepted his screenplay Oscar, that is very much about kind of exiting your youth, exiting that period of hope and expectation and handing it off to the people behind you. But that is the time when he is recognized while in the same category as a Ryan Coogler or a Josh Safdie in director is fascinating because that is usually what the Oscars makes you do. They say, wait until you're 55 and you've spent the last 20, 30 years of your life making super cool movies. And then when you get a little older, we'll say it's okay for you to join the club. And that did happen for Paul Thomas Anderson tonight. I'm kind

• 9:54Sean Fennessey?

  of sorting through what it means for me as a movie fan. Um, because I don't know that I ever expected it when I was watching the master and I was like, this guy is a fucking freak and I love it. You know, I love how weird all of his movies are despite them coming from huge studios and having huge movie stars. He has a really oddball sensibility and an oddball sense of humor. And he somehow with this movie managed to not reject any of his principles or creative interests. It's all still there in the movie, but make something, I think with a few key decisions that felt like it met the moment. And I moved by it. I'm very happy about it.

• 10:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 10:30Sean Fennessey?

  It's a bit unusual and interesting that it comes in the sinner's ear and we will definitely spend some time talking about sinners and it may be its legacy versus this movie's legacy over time. But for right now, this is a massive triumph for one of the signature Gen X filmmakers.

• 10:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes. And it doesn't feel the way some great best director and even great best picture wins for maybe not our generation's heroes, but cinema's heroes often come later in their career and they have to wait till 55 or 60 or 65 or 70. And it's for a good film. It's like, you know, a film with craft, a film that only this, this person could make, but it's not the peak of their powers. And I, you're right that One Battle is about a later stage of life. It's about being washed up in his adapted screenplay acceptance speech. He Dedicated the, the award to his children and he said, this is, you know, kind of an apology for this world that we've left you.

• 11:28Sean Fennessey?

  The mess.

• 11:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, which, you know, is something I think we both felt very deeply, you know, upon seeing the movie, but so, so it is a later in life film, but it's not an end of life film by any means. And I also just don't think it's subpart work. I still think that it part of it's, it is, um, doing what Paul Thomas Anderson does best. And the openings or the decisions that you're referencing that make it maybe slightly more palatable as a best picture winner than say the master might have been. I, to me, they just opened the film and they enrich it and they are, I mean, I still really ride for the master, but I thought that they were, Paul Thomas Anderson, kind of widening the lens and, um, and widening what he can do.

• 12:12Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. Widening the tent for who can come in and hit one of his movies.

• 12:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Exactly. And so, and I really responded to that. I'm, I'm with you in that I don't know what to do with an Oscars that, uh, rewards my tastes. And this was our favorite film of the year, both of us.

• 12:26Sean Fennessey?

  Pretty, pretty far down the line too. I mean, that's the other thing is there's not a lot of what I would, you and I are pretty unafraid to be like, this is a bad winner.

• 12:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 12:31Sean Fennessey?

  When something like that happens. It's nothing against the person. Not a lot of bad winners this year.

• 12:35Amanda Dobbins?

  No.

• 12:36Sean Fennessey?

  Some of them might've been predictable.

• 12:37Amanda Dobbins?

  No, one or two still.

• 12:39Sean Fennessey?

  We can talk about those as we get there. We're going to stay positive for the top of this.

• 12:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, but, but we have, and, and I think an entire generation, we grew up watching the Oscars and from about what 99, 98, 99 on, 99 is, um, American beauty, right?

• 12:57Sean Fennessey?

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:58Amanda Dobbins?

  And, and we all know the amazing year in film that, uh, 99 was. So that's when they started turning and we became.

• 13:05Sean Fennessey?

  Well, I mean, it might've been when Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare.

• 13:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Listen.

• 13:10Sean Fennessey?

  One year prior.

• 13:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure. Okay.

• 13:11Sean Fennessey?

  Just for the record, that was a bit of an awakening for me. I was like, what the fuck? Actually even more so was Pulp Fiction losing to Forrest Gump, you know?

• 13:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, sure. Yeah.

• 13:20Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 13:20Amanda Dobbins?

  But, but, but our taste, but our taste was developing along with that.

• 13:24Sean Fennessey?

  But that's important to this conversation, which you and I are not qualified to confirm, deny, even fully understand at this exact moment. But do you think that younger generations will look back at this Oscars and say, maybe not that this is an American beauty kind of win, but that. If Sinners is the more remembered film, the more iconic film, does that, does this then have the chance to be one of those like Grandma and Grandpa didn't get it, they don't know my cinema taste, I grew up on the movies of Ryan Coogler, and Ryan Coogler was overlooked? That's kind of the fast, that's kind of the amazing thing about the Academy Awards is they only exist in their time, and we remember them forever and talk about them forever, but they can only be understood that night. That's the only time.

• 14:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, I thought that PTA had a pretty good rejoinder to what the point that you're making and, you know, the words that you're putting into the mouths of the babes in the booth and on Netflix and all around us.

• 14:18Sean Fennessey?

  I didn't say that, no, you guys are great, keep fighting, you know?

• 14:21Amanda Dobbins?

  In his Best Picture speech, he mentioned the year 1975 and the films that were nominated for that year, the Oscars of which were held in 1976, we gotta, we gotta work on this nomenclature long term. Anyway, One Floor Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, and Nashville. And he said, there is no best among those, it's just what people were feeling that day. And when you have 10 nominees, there are some betters than not as good, but maybe it can be a year where there's not a best, or at least it was, it was a special year in movies. And that vibe, we got closer to that feeling throughout the ceremony, even throughout the winners list, than, than I thought maybe we could have, even when we were doing our

• 15:06Amanda Dobbins?

  predictions. It was-

• 15:08Sean Fennessey?

  Of like a sense of-

• 15:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Of now it's a time to, for one battle after another, and now here's a great Sinners moment, and now, and they were paced, they were going back and forth. And sometimes when that happens and we're watching the Oscars, it's real, okay, so now it's one battle, now momentum is for Sinners, you're, you're watching it like a ping pong match. But I really experienced it more as people were really excited about this film, and then people were really excited about this film, and this, you know, we got to honor this part of this film and this part of this moment. So I thought that the winners and the speeches, that part of the ceremony at least, did a good job of honoring that idea of these were two great, great films.

• 15:49Sean Fennessey?

  If it was 1975 and we were doing this show, would you hire a bot army to stand for Nashville? Which film would you choose?

• 15:58Sean Fennessey?

  The, there was really-

• 15:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Like Justice for Barry Lyndon, come on.

• 16:01Sean Fennessey?

  About that, I agree.

• 16:05Sean Fennessey?

  There wasn't really intense fandom around both of these movies. And so I think it felt like a very noisy and at times intense race. But it was also, you know, filmmakers who are friends, a lot of actors who are friends. You could see the excitement from, say, the one battle cast when Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor. That was, again, just like at the actor awards, one of the great moments of the night.

• 16:24Amanda Dobbins?

  What a moment, you know? And that, again, like, Sinner's did not win Best Director or Best Picture, but that was the climactic Sinner's moment. And the room, you know, lit up. And reports from inside the room were that it was like it was almost shaking, but you could feel it like at home.

• 16:41Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 16:41Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, just the Michael B. reaction shot of him, just, you know, he's a star. He is amazing. And that sense, as soon as he got up on stage at the SAG Awards and it clicked and we all realized, yeah, no, no, no, this is our next Best Actor winner. But it was fully realized. It was amazing and it was great.

• 16:58Sean Fennessey?

  I was really, I really loved it. I was moved. I was choked up watching him talk. And I think it was, I think one of the reasons why he won, in addition to being an exceptional actor and giving a really good performance in that film, is he's very easy to root for. And in his speech, it's just very easy to feel like he's a real, normal person. Who is just like, thanks so much for believing in me and following me for 25 years, which is what we've been doing. As fans of movies and TV, I mean, that is Wallace on the Wire. You know, that's the QB from Dylan. That's like, that's a kid that we've seen for a long time grow up into being one of these generational stars. And obviously, the partnership that he and Kugler have is very special. I liked seeing them embrace when, when MBJ won. And Best Actor's been a weird race.

• 17:43Sean Fennessey?

  And I think it's been, it's been a very good race because those five nominees are really, really strong. It's one of the best, I've been saying it for months. It's one of the best categories we've had on, in the Oscars in like 15 years. But, you know, the Chalamet thing was so noisy for so long.

• 17:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 18:00Sean Fennessey?

  And it makes a lot of sense in the arc of history that this didn't work out for him. I'm not saying it's just or whatever. It's not for me to say.

• 18:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 18:08Sean Fennessey?

  But that, this is just not usually how it goes. And how it usually goes is for someone like Michael B. Jordan, who's a part of a big movie that people love, who's been in our lives for a long period of time, not a shorter period of time, like Timothy Chalamet, and who represents something, I think, honestly?

• 18:24Sean Fennessey?

  About what is good about Hollywood? And that's what the Oscars is too. I mean, it's a big billboard for movie making. And Michael B. Jordan, much like Timothy Chalamet, much like Leonardo DiCaprio, even like Wagner Mora, he can get your movie made. And he's someone that you can comfortably say like, now it says Academy Award winner, Michael B. Jordan, over every poster that he's on for the rest of his career. You know, not to overthink it, but that's like a good thing for the industry. And I think everybody can just kind of feel excited about something like that happening. I thought his speech was just really great. And I think him circling back to his mom, big night for moms as always. Jessie Buckley also spent some time speaking about moms with her win. We'll get to her momentarily. But I liked her sitting there and being there. He said his dad flew in from Ghana to be there, which was incredible.

• 19:09Sean Fennessey?

  And he just seemed authentically moved, not fake moved.

• 19:14Amanda Dobbins?

  No, and, and both prepared, but also surprised. And if it was rehearsed, if it was prepared in his head, then it felt, in the moment, felt and off the cuff and responsive. I mean, you know, part of it is he just got up there and the first thing he said was, what's up, mama? Really, really good. But did you happen to catch the, there was an angle capturing all the winners as they came offstage? And he was motioning to all of the people, all of his nominees in the audience. But they had Ethan Hawke also in the angle. And so he and Ethan Hawke were gesturing to each other. And Ethan Hawke, I mean, Ryan Coogler is our Meryl Streep number one reaction shot guy of the night.

• 19:57Amanda Dobbins?

  And maybe just like the new, maybe the award is now the Ryan Coogler award.

• 20:01Sean Fennessey?

  I don't know if he's going to show up at a lot of Oscars. He's not competing at though. He's not even in the Academy.

• 20:05Amanda Dobbins?

  I would say that the work that he did tonight was really very special. But Ethan Hawke has also, you know, been on that leaderboard. He has been doing the work. I mean, it was lovely.

• 20:14Sean Fennessey?

  They're obviously tight. He raced up when he won the actor award as well a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, I mean, that was a great category. That was a great win. It wasn't surprising because of the actor awards, we both predicted it. And yet it did have that thing you were describing where it was just like, oh my God, like, we were kind of, we were kind of surprised.

• 20:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, because we all predicted it and then the internet spent a lot of time, there's just, there is too much time between when voting closes and when the Oscars are broadcast.

• 20:40Sean Fennessey?

  By design.

• 20:41Amanda Dobbins?

  There's too much time in the season. People were getting up to shenanigans.

• 20:45Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 20:45Amanda Dobbins?

  On the internet. They were making their hats of tinfoil and then claiming to know the vote tallies for Best Actor at the Baftas. Where are all my Leo number two guys now? Show yourselves. But there was, there's always room for self doubt. And we always do this, right? I feel like I get a text from one of our Oscar nerd friends on like the Saturday before Oscars every year being like, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's, you know, number five on the list. Trust me. Not to say that Leo would have been fun too. And you turned to me at one moment and you were like, well, I think it was after casting. And you're like, how about Leo now?

• 21:22Sean Fennessey?

  I felt that way all the way up until cinematography went to Autumn D'Arlo Dark Upon. I was like, no, actually, okay. Everything is gonna be as, as is expected. Yeah. I mean, those, those to me felt like the, the biggest and the noisiest awards. And they've been the biggest and the noisiest awards all the way through this season. Our predictions, you know, we, we were very close again.

• 21:43Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 21:44Sean Fennessey?

  Always very close.

• 21:44Amanda Dobbins?

  I took a flyer. It didn't work out.

• 21:45Sean Fennessey?

  You took one, one risk and it was the wrong risk in a year of a lot of chalk. You went 18 for 24 in your pick. 18 or 19? 19 for 24?

• 21:54Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I was 18 and you were 19.

• 21:56Sean Fennessey?

  I think we have, I think we have more. I think we only had four wrong and five wrong because we have 24 awards now because of casting.

• 22:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 22:03Sean Fennessey?

  So.

• 22:03Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm just reading what you wrote in the spreadsheet.

• 22:05Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, I wrote something down.

• 22:07Amanda Dobbins?

  You have eight, nine.

• 22:07Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, okay. So I have 19 and you have? 20, I think.

• 22:12Amanda Dobbins?

  20?

• 22:12Sean Fennessey?

  And.

• 22:13Amanda Dobbins?

  If anyone in the booth wants to flash things up.

• 22:15Sean Fennessey?

  Let's do some producing out there.

• 22:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, you want to do some like Morse code? I'm on it right now. I'm looking. Okay, thank you.

• 22:21Sean Fennessey?

  And so even though it felt very predictable all season, that ineffable feeling of anything could happen was exciting for a change. And I'll tell you one of the reasons why I think that was the case.

• 22:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 22:32Sean Fennessey?

  I like a lot of these movies and we like a lot of these movies. And so the absence of a real villain being in contention for a lot of the awards made this just feel like a different vibe. Now, I mean, there's people at home who are like, I, I hated One Battle or I hated Sinners and that's fine. But I think in general to the sort of like award system at large this year. A lot of enthusiasm for all these awards. You know, a lot of like Rose Byrne never really had a chance to win Best Actress, but there was a lot of enthusiasm for her and for her performance. And if I had legs, I'd kick you. Just it didn't. It felt different than in certain years past where maybe there was some campaign shenanigans with movies getting in or not getting in or not getting the prizes they should have. Or there were people who were just so obviously there because they were due as opposed to they had done great work. Just felt a little bit more balanced all the way around.

• 23:17Sean Fennessey?

  Do you agree with that?

• 23:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Absolutely. And that's why I was like, I think that this was really a show for us. And I don't just mean you and me, though I appreciate anyone who wants to program for me. But for people who are listening to this show, who are watching all of the movies, who are reading all the stuff, who are nerds, who are too much online talking about, you know, vote tallies. It, it did feel like the awards were sprinkled out enough that, and again, for films we mostly like. And even the, the films that didn't win any awards were nominated and represented that it was just fun. It, it kind of felt like a nice elementary school ceremony of being like, oh yeah, and so and so did great work and so and so.

• 24:03Amanda Dobbins?

  And I don't mean that in a participation way, just in the sense of it was a successful year and that was represented on stage.

• 24:11Sean Fennessey?

  Let me ask you about something else that you've been circling for the last few months. It did, the steamroller thing did turn out to be true. You know, the six months ago, we decided that One Battle will be coronated this year and we were not letting our foot off the gas until that happens. And that was the case for Nora. That was the case for Oppenheimer. That was the case for everything ever all at once. We're on a streak here.

• 24:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 24:32Sean Fennessey?

  Of very dominant films that get multiple above and below the line nominations and wins and feel like they have a three month glide path into Best Picture. Now, you could say, oh, there was like a hot moment where The Brutalist seemed like it had a chance of the Nora, but not really. So this is four times in a row that that's happened.

• 24:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Though a week ago, you were not saying this and men, and many people online were not saying this, that it was a real race. And so I do think that this, even if One Battle was anointed back, back when. It didn't feel like that in the same way.

• 25:06Sean Fennessey?

  That, but that's the thing is, we're still talking about vibes and the vibe conversation is over. The wins happened, like, we got picture director screenplay and, and acting and, and editing and the first casting. Even though that one battle didn't hit that Gandhi quintet of awards, which is very, very rare. It kind of started a new trend by getting that casting Oscar. So now, when we talk about packages in Oscar's history, this is a very, very strong package. I mean, this is an incredibly elite historical package that this movie has. So now we'll look back on it as like a major triumph. It'll be one of the kind of big, full chested Oscar titans. Yeah. And that's kind of fascinating.

• 25:49Sean Fennessey?

  It was fun for the show and for the race. Sinners, I think, I think this is, how to say this in a way that is understood. It's probably better for its legacy that it didn't win. It gets to be, because Coogler's gonna get his. He's gonna be 52 and it's gonna be annoying, but he's gonna get his.

• 26:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Also, he did, he did win an Oscar tonight. And he, and again, and gave a beautiful speech. And that was, you know, I said to you, I think I was at 5:30 Pacific time. So about an hour and a half into the show and they grouped original screenplay and adapted screenplay. Adapted screenplay went first. And so you had this really nice balance moment where the thing that I think many people watching wanted to have happen in Best Picture actually did have happen in screenplays where PTA got an award, gave his, his first Oscar.

• 26:40Sean Fennessey?

  His first Oscar.

• 26:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Same as Ryan Coogler and like gave a really beautiful speech and dedicated it to his children. And, you know, the hope of a better world. And then Ryan Coogler won his first Oscar, like five minutes later. Also very moved, both men very nervous, by the way, which we have been watching them all season and they, they still had great presence. But at every other awards show, they've, you know, had a ready remark and they have been like wise and, you know, the, the leaders of cinema that we want them to be and seemingly like unbothered by all the eyes on them. And, and you could see that they were very nervous and Ryan Coogler was really so nervous

• 27:23Amanda Dobbins?

  that he, he acknowledged as much and then just talked about how much he loved his kids. It was, it was wonderful.

• 27:30Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 27:30Amanda Dobbins?

  But I said to him, I was like-

• 27:31Sean Fennessey?

  Who can relate on a show where when we fought, we don't have anything to say, we fall back on talking about how much we love our kids?

• 27:36Amanda Dobbins?

  But it was still really emotional. It was also both men getting their first Oscar within five minutes of each other. And I was kind of like, this is interesting that this is, we're an hour and a half in the show and we definitely have two more hours and a lot more awards to give. But that was, that was the heart of the, of the show.

• 27:52Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, which is so interesting because there was no doubt that that was going to happen in either category. It was, there was no confusion, but you're right. It did kind of feel like the emotional fulcrum of the evening. It was just like, okay, that has happened. These were the important things in a way. I would argue that best actor also, it just felt like there was a big emotional weight and burden on that award and it lived up to the moment in an interesting way. What was your favorite award that was not in that power trio that we're talking about here?

• 28:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Of the, oh, of the great moments? I mean, Cassandra Cullacundus for one battle and for the first best casting was like exuberant because she was so genuinely psyched.

• 28:32Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 28:33Amanda Dobbins?

  And they also, because it was the first time that best casting was given out, they had five actors, one from each of the nominated films come out. So you got Paul Meskell, you got my beloved Gwyneth Paltrow, Chase Infiniti, Wagner Mora, Delroy Lindo, like five awards show like beloveds.

• 28:49Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 28:49Amanda Dobbins?

  All on stage.

• 28:50Sean Fennessey?

  Very smart move by the Academy.

• 28:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. And, and they did the thing that they sometimes do during the acting categories, but they had each actor speak to their casting agent. So it was great. And then Cassandra Cullacundus was just, was hyped and you know, like was like whooping and then she-

• 29:07Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, she was like, Paul, 10 movies, like we've been doing this.

• 29:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. She was also like, I can't believe I have an Oscar before you because it was handed out, which was, which was funny and they were charming. So that not only because of its significance in the, you know, the Oscar count for the night, but just because that was a fun moment. What else? What am I forgetting?

• 29:25Sean Fennessey?

  I mean, my-

• 29:26Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, Autumn.

• 29:26Sean Fennessey?

  Autumn D'Arlo, probably my favorite win of the night, which is because I didn't think it was going to happen. I was fairly certain about it when we talked about it in our predictions and even after some of the precursor awards that happened, which had all been going to Michael Baumann for one battle after another. And I hope people saw my interview with her on this show. She's obviously, you know, an incredibly thoughtful artist. And this is a historic victory. A woman has never won in cinematography in the history of the Academy Awards. Ninety-eight years it took.

• 29:55Amanda Dobbins?

  And everyone in the room knew that fact and stood up. Two amazing things happened. So we weren't, we weren't in the room. I was doing my makeup and watching in a different room. And so you didn't hear me yell like, hey. But I was just like screaming down the hall as soon as it happened. And then I went back to watch.

• 30:09Sean Fennessey?

  Jack Lucas, now we're very excited.

• 30:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, and two important things. Ryan Coogler ran back into the upper reaches of the Dolby Theater to find her son and bring him down to her seat so that she could see it, which is when Ryan Coogler cemented his like, his audience, you know, number one work. But just like amazing TV. And then she was like, you know, clearly moved, but also ready. And she knew the historical significance and knew, you know, the names to shout out. And then she had every woman in the room stand up because, and I, it was, but, and not in an annoying, girl bossy way. It was just really lovely and felt and, and also deserved and a surprise. So it was great.

• 30:56Sean Fennessey?

  It was the trifecta.

• 30:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 30:58Sean Fennessey?

  A very serious and cool artist working at the top of their craft, winning in a very cool, below the line category, making Oscar history.

• 31:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 31:06Sean Fennessey?

  Kind of can't ask for more. This is, it was a really, really good moment. And that was kind of like, that was ultimately the balance between these two movies tonight. And One Battle emerged in the big, big race, but I think it was like not, there was no like, when, when, when casting happened, I was like, oh, I'm a little nervous. We're going to like eight for One Battle and two for Sinners. And this is going to seem a little icky. It's not going to feel right for it to be so unbalanced. And that didn't turn out to be the case. You know, a few films did not do all that great. You know, Marty's Supreme, Winless, The Secret Agent, Winless.

• 31:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 31:44Sean Fennessey?

  And we did see your beloved Frankenstein won three awards below the line.

• 31:48Amanda Dobbins?

  You know what? Who, another person who gets in honorary Meryl Streep, great in the audience award. Guillermo del Toro.

• 31:56Sean Fennessey?

  Just. I thought you were gonna say a lordy.

• 31:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, no, come on. We're gonna do mustaches later. Mustache watch. But, no, he, it was very sweet and he was seated up close because.

• 32:10Sean Fennessey?

  He was shouted out in every thank you from.

• 32:13Amanda Dobbins?

  And he was looking up and he was like doing the Spielberg stare up at the stage the whole time. It was, it was great. He's a good audience member, a good, you know, a good filmmaker, a good leader.

• 32:22Sean Fennessey?

  Let's talk a little bit about the other acting awards. So, supporting actress, which was the first prize of the night, went to Amy Madigan.

• 32:30Amanda Dobbins?

  That's right.

• 32:30Sean Fennessey?

  Who became the favorite after the actor awards. I would not say was existing as the favorite, but whose narrative, so to speak, always made a lot of sense. And she, she went up and gave a daffy old nice speech from a person who hadn't been up there in 40 years, who hadn't been nominated in that long.

• 32:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, it was, it was daffy, but also heartfelt and like it didn't get away from her.

• 32:52Sean Fennessey?

  No.

• 32:52Amanda Dobbins?

  You know, it was, it was just charming and ultimately shouted out Ed Harris, sitting in the front row, looking amazing. It was really lovely.

• 33:01Sean Fennessey?

  So I asked you this while we were sitting together. Ed Harris, of course, does not have an Academy Award. His wife, Amy Madigan, does. Well deserved for weapons, by the way, which fucking rocks and I love Ann Gladys.

• 33:12Sean Fennessey?

  Ed Harris' four Oscar nominations.

• 33:14Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, I got to two.

• 33:16Sean Fennessey?

  You got to. What were the two?

• 33:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Apollo 13.

• 33:18Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 33:18Amanda Dobbins?

  He was wearing a white tux today, just like the white flight vest that he wears in Apollo 13. A perfect film that will never be rewatchable. And I don't know what Bill has against it. It's okay. They just, they saved three men from space, but whatever. And then Truman Show.

• 33:35Sean Fennessey?

  Truman Show, yeah, that's, that's, that's one of them.

• 33:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, but I didn't get the rest of them.

• 33:39Sean Fennessey?

  Well, one of them is a film he directed.

• 33:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 33:41Sean Fennessey?

  It did get an Academy Award win.

• 33:45Sean Fennessey?

  You don't know it?

• 33:46Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I don't know it.

• 33:47Sean Fennessey?

  It's called Pollock, about Jackson Pollock.

• 33:50Amanda Dobbins?

  He directed Pollock?

• 33:51Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, he's the star and the director of the film Pollock. Marcia Gay Harden won.

• 33:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 33:56Sean Fennessey?

  For playing Jackson Pollock's.

• 33:59Sean Fennessey?

  Wife Lee Krasner, is that her name?

• 34:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 34:01Sean Fennessey?

  I believe so. Just pulled Lee Krasner out of my head. Amazing here on Netflix. Um, and the other nomination that I completely forgotten is for the hours. Remember the hours?

• 34:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Wow, is he Mr. Dalloway?

• 34:13Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, yeah, Steve Dalloway.

• 34:15Amanda Dobbins?

  What, actually, is he? I remember the hours.

• 34:18Sean Fennessey?

  Don't know. Anyhow, Amy Madigan, terrific win, keeping in the tradition of Oscar villains, you know, not actual in the competitions, but villains in movies, winning and supporting categories like Heath Ledger and like Javier Bardem. And

• 34:34Amanda Dobbins?

  I knew the minute that the telecast started, we'll talk about Conan more in a bit, but within two seconds, Conan was on screen in full Aunt Gladys drag, like two seconds into the broadcast. And I was like, well, okay, so Amy Madigan is winning.

• 34:52Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, I gotta go back to my generational feelings when we get to Conan.

• 34:55Amanda Dobbins?

  I also want to say Amy Madigan was wearing Dior and she looked great.

• 34:58Sean Fennessey?

  Nice. How wonderful. Didn't clock that.

• 35:02Sean Fennessey?

  Best Supporting Actor went to Sean Penn.

• 35:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Who was not in attendance.

• 35:07Sean Fennessey?

  Sean Penn.

• 35:08Amanda Dobbins?

  I say to you, why?

• 35:09Sean Fennessey?

  Joined an extraordinary class of actors who have three Academy Awards. And he did not show up to the show.

• 35:18Amanda Dobbins?

  What I don't understand is that he was at the Golden Globes and we know he was at the Golden Globes because he was filmed smoking in the middle of the Beverly Hilton Ballroom. Uh, and so it can't be, it's not a blanket objection to award season. It's not like he just didn't want to be bothered with all of it. He started on the train. He was there and then he was no longer there. I don't understand.

• 35:42Sean Fennessey?

  He completely lost interest in this two months ago.

• 35:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 35:45Sean Fennessey?

  And now he has three Oscars. How many three time Oscar winning actors or actresses can you name?

• 35:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Frances McDormand.

• 35:52Sean Fennessey?

  That's one.

• 35:53Amanda Dobbins?

  Meryl Streep.

• 35:54Sean Fennessey?

  That's two.

• 35:56Amanda Dobbins?

  Denzel still only has two. Uh, hmm. Nicholson only has two? Or does Nicholson have three?

• 36:05Sean Fennessey?

  Nicholson has three.

• 36:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Nicholson has three? Um, how many did Hackman have?

• 36:10Sean Fennessey?

  Nope, just two. There are, there are eight total.

• 36:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 36:13Sean Fennessey?

  You've got three. Well, four makes Sean Penn.

• 36:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, four makes Sean Penn. Um, okay, there've gotta be some more men here.

• 36:19Sean Fennessey?

  There's a very obvious man.

• 36:22Amanda Dobbins?

  Daniel Day-Lewis.

• 36:22Sean Fennessey?

  That's five.

• 36:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, uh, because sometimes I'm rounding up to four, but who else?

• 36:30Sean Fennessey?

  The next three.

• 36:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Tom Hanks has two.

• 36:31Sean Fennessey?

  The next three are classic cinema.

• 36:34Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, Tom Hanks has two because he won for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump in a row, but then he was snubbed for Apollo 13 the next year.

• 36:43Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, so I've heard.

• 36:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, okay.

• 36:47Sean Fennessey?

  We are live.

• 36:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure, but you brought up movie trivia and let me.

• 36:53Sean Fennessey?

  I brought it up because there's nothing to say about Sean Penn's speech.

• 36:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 36:55Sean Fennessey?

  So I was like, this is allotted for the Sean Penn moment.

• 36:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Classic cinema. I have some trivia. Not Cary Grant because they didn't give him an Oscar. Jimmy Stewart.

• 37:02Sean Fennessey?

  No.

• 37:02Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, um.

• 37:04Sean Fennessey?

  Two are easy, one is hard.

• 37:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh, not Paul Newman.

• 37:08Sean Fennessey?

  No.

• 37:09Amanda Dobbins?

  But more classic.

• 37:10Sean Fennessey?

  Two gals.

• 37:10Amanda Dobbins?

  More two gals. Well, Katherine Hepburn has four.

• 37:13Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, that's one.

• 37:13Amanda Dobbins?

  She has four.

• 37:15Sean Fennessey?

  Well, yeah.

• 37:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, I didn't know we were rounding up. Three or more. I thought we were doing.

• 37:19Sean Fennessey?

  Katherine Hepburn.

• 37:20Amanda Dobbins?

  I thought this is.

• 37:20Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, okay, two more.

• 37:22Amanda Dobbins?

  I didn't know you could go over.

• 37:23Sean Fennessey?

  You hang in there, mama, you got it. You're going, you're doing great.

• 37:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Am I wrong here? In the booth? Okay, they're not, they're not, okay. Um, so Katherine Hepburn and two gals.

• 37:33Sean Fennessey?

  Jack, what happened with the W World Baseball Classic?

• 37:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 37:36Speaker 05

  The United States won on a very controversial 3-2 pitch that was a ball and called a strike to strike out Geraldo Perdomo.

• 37:43Sean Fennessey?

  What?

• 37:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Wow.

• 37:45Sean Fennessey?

  What?

• 37:46Amanda Dobbins?

  It's, it's your night.

• 37:47Sean Fennessey?

  One battle and we're going for. Wow, unbelievable.

• 37:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Sort of, I don't, I don't want like a metaphor, no comp there, but yeah.

• 37:54Sean Fennessey?

  Mark DeRosa, crazy like a fox lining up the Dominican Republic semifinal. My goodness, okay, you, there's two more people. I'm gonna tell you who they are. You wanna know?

• 38:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Please, yeah.

• 38:03Sean Fennessey?

  One of them is Ingrid Bergman, of course.

• 38:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, yeah.

• 38:07Sean Fennessey?

  And she had, you know, the Murder on the Orient Express one is a little, little phony, but Gaslight and Anastasia, those are good wins. And then Walter Brennan, who has three Best Supporting Actor Oscars for Come and Get It, Kentucky, which I know you love, and The Westerner.

• 38:22Sean Fennessey?

  So Sean Penn joins that hallowed group. Sean Penn. Sean Penn, Sean Penn who interviewed El Chapo.

• 38:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Do you think that Sean Penn, Ingrid Bergman would have had a lot to say to each other? Kind of yes, right?

• 38:34Sean Fennessey?

  I kinda do.

• 38:35Amanda Dobbins?

  That's why, that's why I brought it up.

• 38:37Sean Fennessey?

  You know, Robert Rossellini, who Ingrid Bergman married, you know, famously interested in the the post-war.

• 38:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 38:43Sean Fennessey?

  The carnage in Italy in the 1940s and 50s. That's Sean Penn loves to go to war sites. I'm not making a joke. He really does.

• 38:50Amanda Dobbins?

  That's what I'm saying.

• 38:51Sean Fennessey?

  He goes to war torn areas. He goes to countries in need.

• 38:53Amanda Dobbins?

  All right.

• 38:54Sean Fennessey?

  Sean Penn is just a crazy cat, you know? This is three Oscars for that guy. Can't believe it. Doesn't, this is not insightful commentary. I'm just blown away.

• 39:03Amanda Dobbins?

  So if you don't show up to collect your Oscars.

• 39:06Sean Fennessey?

  It comes, it goes right to me. I get it. Yeah.

• 39:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Do they mail it to you?

• 39:09Sean Fennessey?

  Oscars waiting at home.

• 39:10Amanda Dobbins?

  Do they mail it to you?

• 39:12Sean Fennessey?

  Uh.

• 39:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Like, do you have to send someone to Messenger?

• 39:15Sean Fennessey?

  I think he probably has to go to the post office to pick it up. Or the library? Where does he have to go? What civic institution does he have to visit to go pick it up?

• 39:25Sean Fennessey?

  We broke face. Okay. We broke down a little bit. It's been a long day.

• 39:28Amanda Dobbins?

  It's been a long day. My earring fell off. I tried to fix this before, but I knew this was gonna happen. All right.

• 39:34Sean Fennessey?

  Jessie Buckley, she won best actress. This has been understood to happen for months and months.

• 39:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 39:39Sean Fennessey?

  She gives an incredible performance in Hamlet, of course. You know, Bill Simmons' favorite movie of the year, Van Lathan's favorite movie of the year, just, just touching, touching soul. I mean, they both love it. They will not stop.

• 39:50Amanda Dobbins?

  I know, I know they both love it, but is it like number one?

• 39:52Sean Fennessey?

  I love Hamlet. Like, stop making eye contact with me so intensely that you gotta just, just punch.

• 39:57Amanda Dobbins?

  I know, it's gone. So I'm just doing one. No, you can't. The thing is, is that it won't stay on.

• 40:01Sean Fennessey?

  No, it'll stay on my ear.

• 40:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, we'd love for you to try. No, we're just putting it right here. I already had to take the bracelet off because it was clanking against the table. You know what? Black ties and podcasting don't necessarily go together. We're working every day.

• 40:14Sean Fennessey?

  I am thriving.

• 40:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Further the definitions of what black tie can be.

• 40:17Sean Fennessey?

  Stronger than ever.

• 40:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, I'm just keeping my hair like this and then you won't be able to see it. Jessie Buckley won and she did the full cover your face, like instant cry reaction shot, which I thought was a tiny bit too much, given that we knew that she was going to win.

• 40:35Sean Fennessey?

  I've always wondered this.

• 40:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 40:37Sean Fennessey?

  I've never won anything, of course.

• 40:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. Ever? What's up with the iHeart Podcast? Did we win?

• 40:43Sean Fennessey?

  Oh, wait, did, oh, no, it's actually tomorrow, I think.

• 40:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, well, you know, maybe tomorrow's your day.

• 40:49Sean Fennessey?

  Don't fuck this up for us. Jesus, I'm trying to get a thought off. Jessie Buckley was in this unique position that you and I, maybe you have, maybe you have felt this, but I have definitely never felt this.

• 41:00Amanda Dobbins?

  I won some awards in high school.

• 41:02Sean Fennessey?

  I'll bet you did.

• 41:06Sean Fennessey?

  Where she's, she's known for months, you know? I'm sure she's a humble person and is a very serious artist and I love her. I've been singing her praises on the show for years. I think she's an elite, phenomenal actor. But she has, you know, when she goes home and it's her and her husband and they've had a long day, they're taking care of the kid.

• 41:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 41:23Sean Fennessey?

  It's tough times. She can rest on the pillow and say, I shall be the best actress.

• 41:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 41:28Sean Fennessey?

  Very soon.

• 41:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, right, right.

• 41:30Sean Fennessey?

  But so like, how do you keep that from popping out?

• 41:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Um.

• 41:35Sean Fennessey?

  How do you, how do you like, how do you put your hands over your face and be like, I can't believe this is happening?

• 41:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, I think it helps that if the studio that won the Oscar and the runner up tonight releases your less than ideally reviewed blockbuster adaptation of The Bride of Frankenstein.

• 41:54Sean Fennessey?

  That was her humble pie?

• 41:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Like a week before, yeah, maybe that just brings you down a little bit.

• 41:57Sean Fennessey?

  She was fantastic in that movie.

• 41:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, you and Yasi Saltik, that's, it's good that you can find joy wherever. It was the character and the writing, it was not Jessie Buckley's performance that I had an issue with.

• 42:09Sean Fennessey?

  Let's psychoanalyze.

• 42:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 42:12Sean Fennessey?

  Renata Reinsva, Kate Hudson, some of her other fellow nominees.

• 42:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 42:16Sean Fennessey?

  When she is like, she's like, I can't believe I won.

• 42:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Uh huh.

• 42:19Sean Fennessey?

  Do you think they're like, you've been backing your Cadillac over my body for the last four months at award shows, like, please don't do this to me?

• 42:26Amanda Dobbins?

  I think they're probably like, please get this camera out of my face so I can go get drunk.

• 42:32Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 42:33Amanda Dobbins?

  Is what I would guess.

• 42:34Sean Fennessey?

  That's exactly how you feel right now.

• 42:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, except, it's so true. Except for Kate Hudson, who is like, do I have any more paid promo with Grogu to do before I get to go home and get drunk?

• 42:46Sean Fennessey?

  Which is how I feel.

• 42:47Amanda Dobbins?

  And let me say, she sold it very well.

• 42:48Sean Fennessey?

  She did.

• 42:49Amanda Dobbins?

  And she has always looked very beautiful and I hope she's having a nice time at a party right now.

• 42:53Sean Fennessey?

  Let's, let's pivot briefly to that conversation. So, uh, I would say. Disney, the Disney Corporation seemed very comfortable synergizing some of their products with this award show. We saw a reunion, a reunion between Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr., two guys who have been apart for so long. What have they been doing without each other? I don't know. But they were reunited because they're promoting a forthcoming Avengers movie. It was the 14th anniversary since their first Avengers film. Who fucking cares? And then we saw Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver present an award, which led to that Grogu moment that you mentioned, openly promoting The Mandalorian and Grogu, also a Disney film. And we also saw Anna Wintor and Anne Hathaway.

• 43:34Amanda Dobbins?

  That's right.

• 43:34Sean Fennessey?

  I thought in one of the better of the bits.

• 43:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Certainly the best of the synergy moments.

• 43:39Sean Fennessey?

  Presenting for costume design and makeup and hairstyling, of course, connected to The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is coming out in six weeks. You know, Disney won't have the Oscars in three years. YouTube will be taking the show over. Conan made a joke about that very fact at the show, which was very funny, thanks to Jane Lynch.

• 43:57Amanda Dobbins?

  And also the credit sequence of the Oscars, when he did the one battle setup and then they replaced the title on the door from Forever Host Conan O'Brien to Forever Host Mr. Beast.

• 44:11Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, very funny. It all comes for all of us, and it came for Conan tonight. I thought this was like gross, but I get it. What else is Disney supposed to do? And why aren't more studios just buying time during the Oscars? 20 million people are gonna watch this show.

• 44:24Amanda Dobbins?

  I do think we could do it a bit better. You know, the Anne Hathaway, Anna Wintor one was at least, it understood the subject matter that it was working with. And they had Anna do very little, but do it well.

• 44:39Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, props to her for actually living up to her reputation performatively.

• 44:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes. And then, but the other two, the Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans one, which I realize in retrospect is like the Marvel moment that we were sold, which is two guys doing really bad, half-hearted copy about what gifts they gave each other for the Avengers anniversary.

• 45:02Sean Fennessey?

  Really, really dingy stuff.

• 45:04Amanda Dobbins?

  Is really, really, like I would have asked for some new. Copy, were I them.

• 45:09Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 45:09Amanda Dobbins?

  And, you know, but the, the Grogu one is how I feel about Mandalorian and Grogu in general, which is this does look sort of like the bottom rung of IP management delivered to small children.

• 45:25Sean Fennessey?

  Mm hmm.

• 45:26Amanda Dobbins?

  And we should all be ashamed of ourselves and, and, and I'm saddened that Sigourney Weaver participates in it.

• 45:31Sean Fennessey?

  Mm hmm.

• 45:32Amanda Dobbins?

  And also, the report from home is that my son was psyched and he was waiting and waiting and waiting for the performance of Golden, which they saved until 6:55 PM Pacific, 9:55 Eastern.

• 45:47Sean Fennessey?

  I genuinely don't understand that.

• 45:49Amanda Dobbins?

  But, you know, at least Grogu showed up at some point and he was like, can you believe it's Grogu? So, you know, I, I don't know. Like, I, like all of the celebrated filmmakers who won Oscars tonight, am but a parent.

• 46:01Sean Fennessey?

  In terms of the arts, would you say that you love puppets?

• 46:06Amanda Dobbins?

  I like them more than cartoons, yes.

• 46:08Sean Fennessey?

  I see.

• 46:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm hmm.

• 46:09Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, good to know, because that was some, that was some handmade puppetry.

• 46:12Amanda Dobbins?

  I went to puppetry camp.

• 46:13Sean Fennessey?

  You went to puppetry camp?

• 46:15Amanda Dobbins?

  I did, at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, and you had to make a puppet out with a tennis ball as a head, but I have to tell you that it was very hard to puncture the tennis ball in order to get, you know, the appropriate steering instruments.

• 46:29Sean Fennessey?

  This is my solemn vow, I'll never quit this show with you, never. It's moments like that, they're just revelatory.

• 46:35Amanda Dobbins?

  I went to all the performing arts camps, puppetry is performing art. Check out the people at Bob Baker's Marion Hefner Theater.

• 46:40Sean Fennessey?

  I know, I'm aware, I'm a huge fan.

• 46:42Amanda Dobbins?

  When I see them walking around in their red, just like on the street, I'm like, that is a real celebrity. Those are the Bob Baker, the puppeters.

• 46:50Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, they're incredible, yeah. Shout out to them, I know, we have spent many, many, many an afternoon there.

• 46:54Amanda Dobbins?

  But I'm trying to not violate their, violate their space, you know?

• 46:56Sean Fennessey?

  Wow, but if, if it was Leo, you'd roll up to him and be like, yo, what's up, dog?

• 47:00Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I will respect Leo's space.

• 47:02Sean Fennessey?

  Um. Yeah, there was, there was a lot of, there was a decent amount of synergy. I still find it very strange that the Super Bowl has more capital with the movie business than the Oscars does. I mean, obviously, more people watch the Super Bowl, but there's a captive audience of movie fans that are tuning in for the Academy Awards and like, watching the commercials tonight, and even watching the presenters, like, how many of them were even promoting new movies tonight? I found that to be very odd.

• 47:25Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't know, but we got multiple Rolex ads, including, like, the same Rolex ad, Rolex ad played twice, and then there was a special Zendaya-only Rolex ad.

• 47:35Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 47:36Amanda Dobbins?

  So maybe that says good things about the, the net worth of, of the Oscar-watching committee, uh, audience?

• 47:44Sean Fennessey?

  Eee, sure.

• 47:46Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't know.

• 47:46Sean Fennessey?

  Do you have a Rolex?

• 47:48Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I don't. I don't have a Rolex.

• 47:49Sean Fennessey?

  No. I, I don't, and we're really into the Oscars, so what does that tell you? This episode of The Big Picture is brought to you by Amazon Prime. What pairs with a good comedy? The cozy blanket arriving with Prime. What pairs with a nail-biting thriller? Snacks arriving with Prime. What pairs with big game on Prime Video? That new couch arriving with Prime. Whatever feeling you're after, Prime helps bring it to life with great entertainment and fast shipping that delivers what the moment calls for. From streaming to fast shipping, it's on Prime. This episode is brought to you by the Autograph Journey Credit Card from Wells Fargo. The Autograph Journey Credit Card from Wells Fargo is built for travel. You can earn rewards wherever you book, your favorite hotel site, your go-to airline, and more. You get five times points with hotels, four times with airlines, three times on restaurants,

• 48:34Sean Fennessey?

  and other travel, and one point on other purchases. Whether it's a big vacation or a quick getaway, from booking your stay to that first meal when you arrive, you're turning your trips into rewards with the Autograph Journey Credit Card from Wells Fargo. Learn more at wellsfargo.com/autographjourney. Terms apply. Other awards. Let's talk about the trio of Animated, International, and Documentary.

• 48:57Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 48:58Sean Fennessey?

  Animated went to-

• 48:58Amanda Dobbins?

  It's a real up-down-

• 49:00Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 49:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Up-down, roller coaster of emotions here. That's how roller coasters go.

• 49:04Sean Fennessey?

  Animated Feature-

• 49:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm-hmm.

• 49:05Sean Fennessey?

  Went to K-pop Demon Hunters.

• 49:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, very early in the night.

• 49:09Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, Maggie Caine, Chris Apelhans, uh, spoke-

• 49:13Sean Fennessey?

  Maggie seemed knocked out. She was very emotional.

• 49:16Amanda Dobbins?

  I thought it was lovely.

• 49:17Sean Fennessey?

  I liked what Chris had to say about art and cultures connecting to each other through art. I think that movie, if you can just remove your cynicism for five seconds, is an amazing way to introduce young people to all kinds of different kinds of art. And I think it's a really cool movie and it's like a pretty good win and an interesting win in terms of that category, which is really evolving right now. Like it used to just be like, all right, it's Pixar and then maybe every 10 years you get a Miyazaki. And now I feel like it's a little, the aperture has been widened for what's eligible. And also interesting moment for Sony Pictures Animation too. Obviously Netflix distributed the movie, but they've, they've just had another hit with Goat and they're kind of riding high right now.

• 49:57Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I loved the moment. I loved the speech. I thought both Maggie and Chris, like they are another situation where they've won everything all season long and kind of had to know it was coming, but still, and were ready and, and knew what they wanted to say, but also were clearly very moved by the moment. So it was great. I, I was happy to see at least one K-pop Demon Hunters up earlier because I do know that there were a lot of young children just waiting for K-pop Demon Hunters wherever they could get it. It's been interesting, like in, in the span of this award season is when my household has really caught on to that movie because we're a bit younger, but it's powerful. And

• 50:38Amanda Dobbins?

  I, and I agree of all of the other kids' stuff that I'm watching, it teaches kids great things, not just about music and, and Korean culture and, you know, how sometimes girls are cooler than boys, but it's just a way of thinking about yourself. So I, I'm very pro. I'm very happy for them.

• 50:57Sean Fennessey?

  International feature, sentimental value from Norway, Joakim Trir's film won here. And I think after it won at BAFTA, it seemed like it had the run of show. There was not really a lot of the sense that The Secret Agent or any other film was going to come in behind it. What was your reaction?

• 51:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Except for everyone with their itchy fingers online in the, in the past week.

• 51:17Sean Fennessey?

  Yes. Some pundits did still go with The Secret Agent. You and I never really came off that.

• 51:21Amanda Dobbins?

  I almost did. I had, I had it noted because I, hello to the people of Brazil. They are, you know, very powerful and their enthusiasm for this movie and this performance is I think part of what has propelled it, along with the good people at Neon, who, who buy movies that can and do the work. And The Sentimental Value had four acting nominations and screenplay and director and picture. It was just, and it was kind of the only place for a win to go. So I don't think anything else ever had a chance, but I don't know. Secret Agent is an amazing film, if you haven't seen it.

• 52:01Sean Fennessey?

  It is, and now feels overlooked. And now I think we've done a lot to try to promote the greatness of that movie, but zero wins tonight. And that leaves us with documentary.

• 52:11Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 52:12Sean Fennessey?

  Where you, you, you had a sourpuss on when it was announced that Mr. Nobody Against Putin.

• 52:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 52:19Sean Fennessey?

  Won.

• 52:20Amanda Dobbins?

  I didn't really care for this slate of documentary nominees. All worthy issues and all medium to questionable films. And I found this to be the most questionably executed of the films. And I thought that the speech that the filmmaker gave about tying it to a current moment was perceptive. I would have liked to see a little bit more of that in the film and a little bit less of the solipsistic nature of the, the, the Pasha character.

• 53:04Amanda Dobbins?

  And I, I still want to know what's going on in that town, but I guess no one will ever tell me. I hope they're okay.

• 53:09Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. Not my favorite category this year.

• 53:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 53:13Sean Fennessey?

  And it ended with kind of a strange win. I don't want to speak too strongly, but I think we need to reevaluate what this category is supposed to do. And I think the branch is a little weird and everybody knows it's a little weird.

• 53:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 53:25Sean Fennessey?

  Historically been very finicky. And it's not just because it's hard to predict, it's mostly because the slate of films that we have have kind of shifted dramatically. A listener to the show.

• 53:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, this is so good.

• 53:39Sean Fennessey?

  Sent along some extraordinary research and analysis around social issues becoming dramatically more important to the nominees in this category over time and also increasingly more international nominees. That in and of itself, there's nothing wrong with it, but the category, this category has undergone a pretty dramatic shift. And next time we talk docs, I'll read more deeply from that research, but.

• 54:04Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, wasn't my favorite. Let's talk about the shorts categories.

• 54:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Mm hmm.

• 54:08Sean Fennessey?

  Um, because, you know, speaking of documentaries, All the Empty Rooms did win.

• 54:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 54:16Sean Fennessey?

  The Devil is Busy. No, you did not predict The Devil is Busy.

• 54:19Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I just wanted it to end. And that was the exception to my annual, the shorts should be in a different awards show rant, because I was quite moved by it. And every once in a while, I'm wrong, and it's important to say that.

• 54:32Sean Fennessey?

  Wow, that was very, very, very brave and sincere of you.

• 54:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Thank you.

• 54:37Sean Fennessey?

  Live action short film, I thought produced perhaps the best moment of the night, which was a tie.

• 54:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Not the best moment, but something interesting.

• 54:44Sean Fennessey?

  It's just something where I was like, oh, my, I have not seen this in some time. It's been, in fact, I think 13 years since we had a tie at the Academy Awards.

• 54:52Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes, 2012 was the last.

• 54:55Sean Fennessey?

  And what was it, sound editing?

• 54:56Amanda Dobbins?

  It was in sound editing.

• 54:57Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 54:58Amanda Dobbins?

  And the winners were Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty.

• 55:02Sean Fennessey?

  I remember this. So, live action short film, we did, in fact, have a tie. Kumail Nanjiani was introducing this category. He took an absolute stray from Conan O'Brien, who said that the following presenter has the physique of a Marvel hero

• 55:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 55:17Sean Fennessey?

  and the voice of a Marvel collector. And Kumail clearly did not know that was coming. He was extremely funny in the

• 55:23Amanda Dobbins?

  Which he said.

• 55:24Sean Fennessey?

  the receiving of that joke.

• 55:26Amanda Dobbins?

  And then he also had a pretty good bit about how maybe more feature films could just be best live action films, and then did a whole list. But what I remember was just one battle.

• 55:40Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 55:40Amanda Dobbins?

  And then Schindler's Post-it.

• 55:42Sean Fennessey?

  Schindler's Post-it was very funny. And he opened the envelope for this award, and he revealed and explained perfectly

• 55:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 55:49Sean Fennessey?

  that there was a tie.

• 55:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 55:51Sean Fennessey?

  That he was not joking, and that the way that this would go is, he would announce one film's name, people would come up, give an acceptance speech, then they would leave, and then he would announce the next film's name, and then those filmmakers would come up and give their speech. And it went over beautifully.

• 56:04Amanda Dobbins?

  It was an extraordinary moment of crowd management, to the point that, and if he was tipped off, then great job by everyone involved, because he knew exactly what to do. He said, there's a tie, I'm not joking, we're gonna get through this, I'm gonna, you know, and the right amount of funny, and also very clear. He would be like, he would be a great elementary school teacher. I don't know why I keep invoking elementary school, but. So did he know to do that? Or did he just decide off the cuff?

• 56:35Sean Fennessey?

  I don't know. Was there a 500-word essay inside of the envelope explaining what he should do? Like, how did he know that?

• 56:42Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't know.

• 56:43Sean Fennessey?

  Throw some of the Pricewaterhouse stuff into question there. Like, what information? Was he given information that there was a tie but didn't know, didn't say who the winners were?

• 56:51Amanda Dobbins?

  It could be that, and it could be explained what to do. Because I remember after the Moonlight La La Land debacle, it was explained that there is always, or at that time, maybe procedures, maybe security's been upped since then.

• 57:05Sean Fennessey?

  Sure.

• 57:06Amanda Dobbins?

  But that there would be a Pricewaterhouse, there was always a PricewaterhouseCooper representative standing on the side of the stage who knew the results. So that if anything went wrong on stage, they could intervene.

• 57:18Sean Fennessey?

  That's actually what CR is doing right now. In case he makes a mistake, he bursts on stage. You guys, shut up. You're wrong. It wasn't Jessie Buckley who won.

• 57:28Amanda Dobbins?

  So maybe someone there. But he looked surprised.

• 57:33Sean Fennessey?

  He did. He sold it. He sold the moment.

• 57:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Does everybody get briefed, like, that if there's a tie, here's what happens?

• 57:38Sean Fennessey?

  I don't know.

• 57:38Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't look like most presenters are paying that much attention.

• 57:40Sean Fennessey?

  No. Ties are fascinating. There was a question about the possibility of a tie in our Instagram Live before the show. And also, another thing that I said to you was that I was having some second thoughts about my pick for Best Live Action Short Film. You know, you and I both picked two people exchanging saliva, which had been the heavy favorite and is very liked. And then I was thinking about the singers, the Netflix film about a group of men in a bar singing and how it makes people feel, which is they feel moved by it and they like it. And we split the difference here. They both won.

• 58:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes. So just to be clear, we are counting the live action short that we got, that we picked that did win one of the two Oscars as a correct prediction.

• 58:20Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, I think that's right.

• 58:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, because otherwise, no one predicted a tie.

• 58:24Sean Fennessey?

  Well, yes.

• 58:24Amanda Dobbins?

  If someone did predict a tie out there in the world, I mean, they can't prove it.

• 58:29Sean Fennessey?

  It just made a very difficult-to-predict category that much easier, which is, we salute them. We did not get correct. Best Animated Short.

• 58:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 58:38Sean Fennessey?

  And that prize went to The Girl Who Cried Pearls. And we predicted Butterfly. And it didn't win. Any thoughts?

• 58:46Amanda Dobbins?

  I don't care for, stop motion doesn't speak to me. It's not my preferred form of animation.

• 58:51Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 58:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Thank you for your time.

• 58:53Sean Fennessey?

  Those are your only thoughts there?

• 58:55Amanda Dobbins?

  What I mean, what do you got?

• 58:57Sean Fennessey?

  No, that's, that's fine.

• 58:58Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 58:59Sean Fennessey?

  That just about does it, I think. You know, we haven't spoken in any detail about costume design or makeup and hairstyling.

• 59:08Sean Fennessey?

  Production design.

• 59:09Amanda Dobbins?

  All went to Frankenstein.

• 59:10Sean Fennessey?

  They all went to Frankenstein.

• 59:11Amanda Dobbins?

  As predicted.

• 59:12Sean Fennessey?

  Mm hmm. Uh, let's spend a little time on the show itself.

• 59:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 59:19Sean Fennessey?

  Conan O'Brien was back for a second year. He opened the show with a Billy Crystal-esque filmed montage in which he appeared in several of the nominated films, starting with his appearance as Aunt Gladys or as Conan in Aunt Gladys Drag.

• 59:36Amanda Dobbins?

  As, as Conan having what is either a nightmare or a weapons-esque, you know, alternate reality where everyone else sees Conan, but he knows he looks like Aunt Gladys. And the small children, the small group of children who are falling behind him and all screaming also seem to think that he looks like Aunt Gladys.

• 59:58Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 59:58Amanda Dobbins?

  And they're in his thrall as such.

• 1:00:00Sean Fennessey?

  And he raced through F1. He raced through Marty Supreme. He raced through Hamlet, very funny, in the back, behind, behind Hamlet. He raced through, he had a sit down conversation with Gustav Borg and Sentimental Value. And he raced through Sinners as well.

• 1:00:16Amanda Dobbins?

  He sang Danny Boy at the, you know, the, the open the barn, will you let me in scene?

• 1:00:21Sean Fennessey?

  Right. This was all set to the Beastie Boys sabotage.

• 1:00:24Amanda Dobbins?

  It was, yeah.

• 1:00:25Sean Fennessey?

  And once again, my adolescence to the fore, a lot of my stuff colliding.

• 1:00:30Amanda Dobbins?

  This is specifically happening to us more and more with Beastie Boys songs.

• 1:00:35Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:00:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Because they're getting looser and looser with the licensing.

• 1:00:39Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:00:40Amanda Dobbins?

  And every time we are generationally confronted with, this was the most sacred, coolest thing that I could possibly know, and now it's in a Minions movie, or it's at the beginning of the Oscars. And what does that mean for us as people? What does that mean for what's cool? What does that mean for time? None of its answers we want, so I think we just gotta move on.

• 1:01:04Sean Fennessey?

  I thought it was a funny.

• 1:01:05Amanda Dobbins?

  It was funny. I liked it.

• 1:01:06Sean Fennessey?

  Cold opening.

• 1:01:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:08Sean Fennessey?

  I thought Conan's monologue was a little weak, and I think he felt it a little bit. And Conan, famously, on his show, delivered many a weak monologue and often played into the fact that he was like, "I'm doing my best here, guys." So it was kind of part of his comedic persona.

• 1:01:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:01:21Sean Fennessey?

  He was very funny with that, and it's very funny for him to be doing that in the room. I seem to remember him killing a lot more last year. I could be wrong. Part of it was just the excitement to see him in that setting.

• 1:01:31Amanda Dobbins?

  I think also, he did have a very sincere moment at almost the very end of the opening that acknowledged, if not in specific terms, all of the horrors currently happening in the world around us, both in the United States and outside of the United States, much of it at the United States doing. But just acknowledging that it is a very tough time and talking about the power of movies, really like as a portrait of something to look forward to, of hope, of things getting better. And I thought it was sincere and really deftly handled. And it made the silliness of the rest of the monologue make more sense. There weren't

• 1:02:14Amanda Dobbins?

  very many going for it jokes. Everything was goofy. There were lunch meat puns. And delivered in the Conan, nodding your head a lot.

• 1:02:25Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:02:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Charm. It wasn't unfunny. It was just kind of goofy.

• 1:02:32Amanda Dobbins?

  And he wasn't really trying to hurt anyone.

• 1:02:36Sean Fennessey?

  It wasn't, in general, an overtly political Academy Awards. We already mentioned one of the speeches for Best Documentary that spoke to it. Javier Bardem spoke very strongly and said, "Free Palestine" from the stage, which is something that is not.

• 1:02:49Amanda Dobbins?

  And end all wars.

• 1:02:50Sean Fennessey?

  Yes, not common.

• 1:02:51Amanda Dobbins?

  Also with, not the tiny ice-out pen, though I didn't see many of those tonight.

• 1:02:55Sean Fennessey?

  No, I didn't either.

• 1:02:56Amanda Dobbins?

  But he had full medallions.

• 1:02:58Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:02:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Which was consistent with how Javier Bardem has spoken his views at every public event that he has attended.

• 1:03:05Sean Fennessey?

  Yes. But one of the very few people at this award show who even spoke to the severity of a lot of issues around the world. In a specific way.

• 1:03:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:17Sean Fennessey?

  You know, there were a lot of bromides, of course, about being together and caring for one another.

• 1:03:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:03:22Sean Fennessey?

  Not a lot of specificity this year. Conan.

• 1:03:26Amanda Dobbins?

  Also then ended with a whole opera bit, but not, not a Timmy bit. He did, he did the Timmy joke. And.

• 1:03:34Sean Fennessey?

  How are you feeling about that? How are you feeling about the?

• 1:03:36Amanda Dobbins?

  The ballet and the opera?

• 1:03:37Sean Fennessey?

  Well, just that, just that, that, that controversy took off after the voting ended.

• 1:03:42Amanda Dobbins?

  I still.

• 1:03:42Sean Fennessey?

  He's been roundly roasted.

• 1:03:44Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, to be very clear, that all happened. The, the, the interview happened before, but the virality of that clip being posted and the outrage all happened after voting closed. So if it had anything to do with the results in best actor, it was a reflection rather than a cause of Timmy losing that, losing the Oscar.

• 1:04:05Sean Fennessey?

  Do you think it were, it was a little overkill with a lot of the like commentary and jokes and?

• 1:04:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, well, by sent by tonight, by Oscars night, it wasn't funny and especially by the fourth one, even the, even the Conan joke was like, Timmy was kind of taking Timmy under his wing a little. I can't remember the exact phrasing, but it wasn't at.

• 1:04:23Sean Fennessey?

  Well, it was like even one of the guys who won best live action short film, making a shot, taking a pointed ballet comment. I was like, all right, man, like, come on.

• 1:04:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, you're not funny anymore. It's not creative. Uh, so yeah, I think it's over. Um, they'll, you know, as you said to me, they'll never take that phone from us. They'll never take the.

• 1:04:41Sean Fennessey?

  I love Marty Supreme.

• 1:04:41Amanda Dobbins?

  I love Marty Supreme. I know I, I love that performance. I am team Timmy. I'm really, really happy that Michael B. Jordan won. I think it's deserving, but um, yeah.

• 1:04:51Sean Fennessey?

  It's a good one. Timmy's, he's gonna be back in Dune 3, man. It's like, we're, this is gonna get going all over again. Dune 3 is about to be an Oscar movie too. So like buckle up. He's gonna be back.

• 1:05:00Amanda Dobbins?

  That's, that's great. Uh, but no, but then the second opera thing was when, after his moment of sincerity, Conan did a whole. This is what I'd do if I won an Oscar bit and he had like a full, he accepted the Oscar on like a mountain set and Josh Groban was singing a song about it and I was quite amused.

• 1:05:19Sean Fennessey?

  My favorite Conan joke of the night was when he brought up sinners and he mentioned that Kugler is not a member of the Academy because he doesn't feel that, you know, we should individually be celebrating the works of a single film.

• 1:05:30Amanda Dobbins?

  He doesn't like judging his peers' work.

• 1:05:32Sean Fennessey?

  And then Conan said, but the rest of you pricks seem to love it, which I thought was the kind of like mean spirited F you that the host needs to have sometimes, you know? Kimmel always, I thought, did a nice job of kind of balancing that, like, and don't forget you guys are fucking clowns a little bit in all of his.

• 1:05:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Speaking of Kimmel, they had him come out to present the two documentary awards, which I thought was really great programming and great producing.

• 1:05:55Sean Fennessey?

  Some really good ABC synergy as well.

• 1:06:00Sean Fennessey?

  What else? I mean, what else? What, what, we mentioned the YouTube Oscars joke at the, at the end of the film there with the Mr. Beast bit. There was also a YouTube joke about Beam Pro and Jane Lynch. There was adventure, crossroads, AI improving films, shrinking down the images that you would see and redefining them. Let's talk, I guess, about the tributes.

• 1:06:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, which were much earlier in the show than they usually are.

• 1:06:24Sean Fennessey?

  Billy Crystal came out to celebrate the Reiners and his work with Rob Reiner over the years. And walked through some of the films that they made together and that incredible run that he had from roughly 1980 or 1995. And I really liked that they did that. After he spoke, they started to kind of start the traditional in memoriam package where they showed us a series of people who'd worked in Hollywood over the years, making films internationally as well. And then they cut out and they cut to Rachel McAdams, who gave a tribute to Diane Keaton, which at first I thought was going to be a little eye rolly. And then I was kind of crying by the end of it. I thought it was really good.

• 1:07:01Amanda Dobbins?

  It was so beautiful. I mean, we've talked about it before on this show this year, Rachel McAdams is a star. They, and a wonderful presence, they starred together in a truly underrated romantic comedy, Morning Glory, also starring Harrison Ford. He makes a frittata and that is how he enunciates those teas. But so she had real stories and she told, she closed it with like an amazing story of.

• 1:07:32Amanda Dobbins?

  A song that Diane Keaton would sing on set, make new friends, but keep the old.

• 1:07:36Sean Fennessey?

  A Girl Scout song.

• 1:07:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Exactly. And they weave it into the tribute. Like, they just, it was great writing, great performance, and she's such a lovely person. So, and also, you know, she pointed out, like, Diane Keaton is a legend to every single aspiring actress, and especially anyone who wanted to do comedic work, which Rachel McAdams does, so.

• 1:07:56Sean Fennessey?

  I thought they really did right by her, and I liked how they did that. And as I was watching that, and even before Barbra Streisand came out to honor Robert Redford, all I could think to myself was like, this is the point of this show. Like, it's not to honor people who've passed away, but it's to say that there's connectivity in the work, movie to movie, career to career, that these people know each other, that they're interested in each other and care about each other, and that they can communicate about things that their peers do in ways that maybe we can't. And if you're not platforming that and making that more a point of the show, and obviously you want to entertain the masses and you want to talk about the new movies, but there should just be more of this in the show. And maybe it was because Rachel McAdams was just good at it, and she, what she wrote or how someone helped her, I don't know what happened, but it was really nicely

• 1:08:41Sean Fennessey?

  done. But same for Billy Crystal, and same for Barbra Streisand when she honored Robert Redford, and they obviously worked together many years ago.

• 1:08:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:08:46Sean Fennessey?

  And had known each other for decades. And she gave kind of a sleepy tribute. Barbra Streisand, you know, is in her 80s, of course, and then she started singing, and she was like singing her balls off.

• 1:08:56Amanda Dobbins?

  I just, I can't express the number of different emotions that I felt in the moment when Barbra Streisand was handed the microphone and seemingly was not expecting it, and then launched into memories. And it was, I went from, oh, no, and I think I was clutching the side of the couch, because in general, I get nervous when people sing live.

• 1:09:23Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:09:24Amanda Dobbins?

  You know? And then, she's still Babs, even though she doesn't want to be called Babs, as we learned from her tribute to Robert Redford.

• 1:09:30Sean Fennessey?

  Yep.

• 1:09:31Amanda Dobbins?

  She's still got it. But I really, I was down, I was horrified, I was up, I was moved.

• 1:09:39Sean Fennessey?

  Well, in my head, I was like, Rachel McAdams has crushed this, we're really bringing the energy down here, come on, like, let's get it going. But she sang well.

• 1:09:45Amanda Dobbins?

  The tribute was, the in memoriam section was almost 10 minutes long, I think maybe longer, much, much longer. And that just reflects that it was a pretty extraordinary year in terms of the number of, like, True, great Hollywood legends that we lost. But I, I think you're right that they found a way

• 1:10:05Amanda Dobbins?

  to like, to spend a moment with those really Titanic, kind of outsized names, but you fit a lot of people in and made it like an actual moment in the show.

• 1:10:14Sean Fennessey?

  You could have spent more time on, on Claudia Cardinale and Robert Duvall and Val Kilmer. And I mean, they were really well-known.

• 1:10:21Amanda Dobbins?

  Catherine O'Hara.

• 1:10:22Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, Catherine O'Hara, actors and actresses with really big careers, decades-long careers. People who won Academy Awards who didn't get some of that time. So, yeah, I, I just thought it was nicely done and really good on the Academy for carving out more time for it. Musical performances, speaking of bad singing.

• 1:10:39Amanda Dobbins?

  Sure.

• 1:10:40Sean Fennessey?

  So I lied to you.

• 1:10:41Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:10:42Sean Fennessey?

  Which came before Golden and effectively recreated the scene.

• 1:10:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:10:48Sean Fennessey?

  From Sinners, in which Miles Katon sings and we travel through past and future of musical styles across multiple diasporas. Kind of like, shockingly well-done.

• 1:11:02Amanda Dobbins?

  I, I was amazed that they even tried to do it. And they're even trying, they were trying to replicate some of the camera work.

• 1:11:08Sean Fennessey?

  That's what I'm saying.

• 1:11:09Amanda Dobbins?

  And, you know, and they added in some performances. It kind of crescendoed to Misty Copeland performing ballet. Front and center, but I mean, Misty Copeland's a legend, so why not? If you can get her. And every, people coming down the aisles of the theater. And I had the same reaction of like, oh, they're trying to recreate this out of context? A scene that seemed to jar so many people in the, in the situation of the film. And then it just kind of worked.

• 1:11:38Sean Fennessey?

  It worked, yeah.

• 1:11:39Amanda Dobbins?

  And I think, you know, in some ways distills what that scene is trying to do in, in the movie for a larger audience.

• 1:11:48Amanda Dobbins?

  But yeah, it was cool. I, I was also, I mean, I assume Ryan Coogler didn't actually like direct that performance. So kind of the balls on whoever to be like, no, no, no, we got this and we can adapt it to the stage.

• 1:11:59Sean Fennessey?

  I thought it was really impressive and I thought it was, it was not just, you know, first of all, Miles Katon, who can, his, his voice is just unbelievable and, and live, he crushed it. But incorporating Jamie Lawson and Lee Jun Lee and actors and Jack O'Connell and Lola Kirk having a, you know, like the fact that. It felt like they were actually celebrating the movie. It wasn't like a tribute to a movie featuring dancers who are not related to the movie. Like, the Oscars has been guilty of that many times in the past. And this was like, no, these people who made this are remaking this before your eyes. Like, it is live theater.

• 1:12:30Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:30Sean Fennessey?

  And that is really cool. Again, something that, a lot of really good decisions like this throughout the show that were impressive. The Golden Performance, I thought, was a little stiff. I didn't think it was as impressive, either visually or sonically.

• 1:12:42Amanda Dobbins?

  First of all, we had to wait too long for it. It was curtailed. You know, they didn't, they didn't sing the whole song. And, um, the, I, here's what I'll say. EJ hit the note live. And I was a little, I was nervous, why, you know, and it's probably because I've seen K-pop Demon Hunter so many times. So I have the, the "ah" from the plot in my head.

• 1:13:03Sean Fennessey?

  Yep.

• 1:13:04Amanda Dobbins?

  But she can hit it live. But they had adjusted the mix just in case she couldn't. So you could barely hear it, uh, which I, I thought was a shame. And, yeah, they looked a little nervous. It also started with, there were some demons for a second or two on stage before they got to the performances, if they were trying to recreate the movie.

• 1:13:25Sean Fennessey?

  How would you fare against a demon?

• 1:13:29Amanda Dobbins?

  You mean a K-pop Demon Hunter demon?

• 1:13:31Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. Well, I mean.

• 1:13:32Amanda Dobbins?

  I, oh, I think I.

• 1:13:34Sean Fennessey?

  What's one demon versus another?

• 1:13:35Amanda Dobbins?

  Those, they're pretty clueless, those demons, right? There is like watering plants with coffee. They don't really know where they are.

• 1:13:42Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, that's feminism. Nice.

• 1:13:43Amanda Dobbins?

  And I just don't, I, I would be fine with it. I would just say, no, thank you. Um, you know?

• 1:13:49Sean Fennessey?

  Not sure how that, that's how that works.

• 1:13:50Amanda Dobbins?

  I just like, I would handle it, like they would.

• 1:13:52Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:13:52Amanda Dobbins?

  You know?

• 1:13:53Sean Fennessey?

  What's your, what's your weapon of choice?

• 1:13:55Amanda Dobbins?

  Done, done, done, right? And then go, that's Knox's favorite, so I, you know, I know it is.

• 1:13:59Sean Fennessey?

  What would be your weapon of choice?

• 1:14:01Amanda Dobbins?

  Um, I don't know.

• 1:14:03Sean Fennessey?

  The blade? The blaster?

• 1:14:06Amanda Dobbins?

  Hmm, no, no blaster, no guns, blade, I guess.

• 1:14:08Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, and the blade?

• 1:14:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Or just the power of my hands.

• 1:14:10Sean Fennessey?

  What about the bow? Or the scythe?

• 1:14:13Amanda Dobbins?

  No, this, the, the bow, I don't really have that much.

• 1:14:15Sean Fennessey?

  No, I meant the bow, like the staff.

• 1:14:17Amanda Dobbins?

  No, I don't, I don't like gear, you know, in life. No, I really don't.

• 1:14:22Sean Fennessey?

  Have you ever been rock climbing?

• 1:14:23Amanda Dobbins?

  I have, because it was required in my elementary school. It's a long story.

• 1:14:27Sean Fennessey?

  Did you also go to rock climbing camp?

• 1:14:30Amanda Dobbins?

  No, but we went on like rock climbing trips and you had to like repel to learn trust. You asked me anyway. I don't, we've been going for maybe almost 90 minutes, uh, which is still shorter than it took you to tie that bow tie.

• 1:14:45Sean Fennessey?

  But let's talk about the bow tie.

• 1:14:46Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:47Sean Fennessey?

  Looked at several tutorials.

• 1:14:49Amanda Dobbins?

  So you were watching Instagrams.

• 1:14:52Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:52Amanda Dobbins?

  You were looking at like WikiHow, um, you know, diagrams. What finally broke through for you?

• 1:14:58Sean Fennessey?

  I was not paying attention closely enough to what I was supposed to be doing. And then it's on me. It all worked out. It miraculously happened.

• 1:15:06Amanda Dobbins?

  You were trying to do it like.

• 1:15:07Sean Fennessey?

  But I was trying to pay attention to the Oscars.

• 1:15:09Amanda Dobbins?

  I know.

• 1:15:09Sean Fennessey?

  That was the problem.

• 1:15:09Amanda Dobbins?

  In front of the thing. So you were just sitting there for a full hour.

• 1:15:12Sean Fennessey?

  An hour.

• 1:15:12Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:13Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. But pretty pathetic.

• 1:15:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Do you think it cut down on your tweeting?

• 1:15:18Sean Fennessey?

  That's a good question. There probably is some correlation.

• 1:15:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah. So that's positive for all of us.

• 1:15:22Sean Fennessey?

  Slow down in social media output.

• 1:15:25Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:25Sean Fennessey?

  Which is probably for the best, right?

• 1:15:29Sean Fennessey?

  One Epstein joke. Right?

• 1:15:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Right? Yeah.

• 1:15:31Sean Fennessey?

  In England, we arrest our pedophiles.

• 1:15:34Amanda Dobbins?

  In England, they arrest their pedophiles. Yes.

• 1:15:37Sean Fennessey?

  That was pretty much it, right?

• 1:15:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:38Sean Fennessey?

  Did you think there should have been more?

• 1:15:40Amanda Dobbins?

  I'm good. Can we do bridesmaids?

• 1:15:43Sean Fennessey?

  Let's talk about bridesmaids.

• 1:15:46Amanda Dobbins?

  I was just giggling the whole time.

• 1:15:47Sean Fennessey?

  You know, we were talking about on the pre show and I was like, okay, they do this. They have reunions of casts and they put like a middling anniversary against it. And then Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Ellie Kemper come out.

• 1:16:01Amanda Dobbins?

  Right. Oh, this is, it's the 15th anniversary. 15 is a silly anniversary.

• 1:16:07Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah. When I heard about it, I was like, this is kind of whatever. You know, obviously a big night for Maya Rudolph because her husband was nominated for and expected to win many Academy Awards.

• 1:16:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:16:17Sean Fennessey?

  But you know, Bridesmaids is a, is still a beloved and memorable movie and it's probably the kind of movie that the Oscars should be celebrating. We're kind of in that zone where like whatever happened 15 to 20 years ago now is the pure nostalgia for younger people who are getting into watching the Oscars. And they were absolutely hilarious. It was easily the funniest moment of the night.

• 1:16:36Amanda Dobbins?

  It was so funny. So they were each given quote unquote notes from the audience to read halfway through, right? As Ellie Kemner was starting to explain what the score had done.

• 1:16:48Amanda Dobbins?

  And they were all weird notes from Stellan Skarsgård, you know, not actually, Elle Fanning, who was actually just Stellan Skarsgård again, Leonardo DiCaprio, who really, really played the bit with Rose Byrne perfectly, Benicio del Toro, and then sweet Jacoby Duke at the end. Really, really funny. Then they came back. And what were they talking about?

• 1:17:15Sean Fennessey?

  Well, that was when Maya Rudolph.

• 1:17:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, sound for sound. They came back.

• 1:17:20Sean Fennessey?

  She said, earlier today, when I was counting my money, I said to myself, what is sound? And Kristen Wiig had a follow up to that. That was just like, that's 10 years of SNL working together where they had a, they had a moment of chemistry.

• 1:17:33Amanda Dobbins?

  It was really, really, very good. Congratulations to all of them.

• 1:17:38Sean Fennessey?

  Big fan of Rides Me.

• 1:17:38Amanda Dobbins?

  I do feel like every year, whatever, whatever the SNL present or former SNL cast members do to present, where I was just like, well, that was the best part of the night.

• 1:17:49Sean Fennessey?

  This is why I never cash my wig check. Wig is nine out of 10 times is a part of the bit. Like she crushes at the Oscars anytime she's there.

• 1:17:56Amanda Dobbins?

  That's great. Let's just not have her in The Martian. But that's okay. You know?

• 1:18:01Sean Fennessey?

  Just settle down.

• 1:18:01Amanda Dobbins?

  They canceled that show. They canceled her show that Wesley likes so much. Yeah, we'll never see it now.

• 1:18:06Sean Fennessey?

  I've never seen the show. When did they cancel it?

• 1:18:09Amanda Dobbins?

  They canceled it like two days after Wesley was here.

• 1:18:11Sean Fennessey?

  Oh, no. Should I binge it tonight?

• 1:18:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, that's, we've got plenty of time. Yeah.

• 1:18:18Sean Fennessey?

  Adrian Brody presented best actor and he had, there was a, he had a bit.

• 1:18:22Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:18:22Sean Fennessey?

  A lot of stuff written down on a piece of paper.

• 1:18:24Amanda Dobbins?

  Right. Their problem is that Conan like made his joke before he did his bit. So Conan took his bit from him, which is fine because Conan's bit was funnier. And then, I mean, at least we didn't really, at least he didn't give another speech, you know, after last year.

• 1:18:42Sean Fennessey?

  Thank God.

• 1:18:43Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:18:45Sean Fennessey?

  Okay, let's go into post-game reflections.

• 1:18:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:18:48Sean Fennessey?

  On what this is.

• 1:18:48Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay, 90 minutes in, yeah.

• 1:18:53Sean Fennessey?

  Who is the next Paul Thomas Anderson? I don't mean who's the next filmmaker who's going to be as good as him or whatever. I mean, who's the next person in line? That has been nominated many times.

• 1:19:03Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:19:04Sean Fennessey?

  Is widely beloved. But has never quite gotten over the line.

• 1:19:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay. So probably in his generation-ish, could be a bit younger, but.

• 1:19:17Sean Fennessey?

  You've got to remember that Paul Thomas Anderson hadn't won zero Academy Awards.

• 1:19:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:19:21Sean Fennessey?

  You know, like Quentin Tarantino already has multiple Oscars for writing, for example. David Fincher, on the other hand, has zero Academy Awards.

• 1:19:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:19:29Sean Fennessey?

  Well, that's an example.

• 1:19:29Amanda Dobbins?

  Is it good, but you think, do I think that it's gonna happen for, I mean, Spike Lee, even though he does have an Oscar.

• 1:19:36Sean Fennessey?

  He has an Oscar. He has a writing Oscar and not a directing Oscar.

• 1:19:38Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, but you know what I mean? But so someone who's been totally blanked.

• 1:19:43Sean Fennessey?

  Yes. Is there somebody out there right now? Because a lot of people who were kind of younger then, you know, no one already, he crossed the threshold.

• 1:19:50Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:19:51Sean Fennessey?

  In terms of, you know, your beloved Sophia, she's already got one.

• 1:19:53Amanda Dobbins?

  That's right. I mean, so Fincher, there you go, though I don't know about Cliff Booth being the one. You know, I think a lot about Noah Baumbach. Who doesn't have an Oscar.

• 1:20:04Sean Fennessey?

  That's right.

• 1:20:05Amanda Dobbins?

  Of any kind. Speaking of people in that marriage who don't have Oscars, Greta Gerwig, obviously younger, but has been at the table a lot.

• 1:20:12Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:20:13Amanda Dobbins?

  Jordan Peele has been at the table.

• 1:20:15Sean Fennessey?

  He has an original screenplay.

• 1:20:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Has an original screenplay. That's right. Okay. Well. Those are my two for you.

• 1:20:22Sean Fennessey?

  You know who doesn't have one? Ridley Scott.

• 1:20:27Amanda Dobbins?

  Well.

• 1:20:27Sean Fennessey?

  Ridley Scott. He has a film coming out this year, The Dog Stars.

• 1:20:32Sean Fennessey?

  You guys aware of The Dog Stars? I'm looking forward to it. New Ridley movie. Love Ridley.

• 1:20:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Listen, same.

• 1:20:38Sean Fennessey?

  I'd like to, people were asking me about like bucket lists, right? After talking to Steven Spielberg.

• 1:20:42Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:43Sean Fennessey?

  Which I don't know if I mentioned, but it's fucking dream of my life. What an amazing, what an amazing Friday I had.

• 1:20:50Sean Fennessey?

  Never talked to Ridley, never met him, don't know him, nothing. And I think I'd really like to dig in and try to get him to come on, because you know, he does, he's prickly and direct.

• 1:20:59Amanda Dobbins?

  Right, he's a man of few words, or only the words that he wants. I would enjoy it, I would like you talking to him.

• 1:21:05Sean Fennessey?

  He's another filmmaker whose work I have studied closely. I really like his movies.

• 1:21:09Amanda Dobbins?

  Are we counting Wes Anderson's shorts, Oscar?

• 1:21:12Sean Fennessey?

  He has one.

• 1:21:12Amanda Dobbins?

  But it doesn't count!

• 1:21:14Sean Fennessey?

  Yeah, you know, he has one, right? That's what I'm saying, the Paul Thomas Anderson thing, I think when people look at this, and they're like, oh, and Battle's Overrated, or whatever, it's like, Paul had a real, and he even said, you make a guy work hard for one of these. He said that while he was holding one during his Best Director speech. He was, he'd been waiting a long time. For somebody who a lot of serious movie fans are like, that's my fave. There's not, it's not that common for that to happen, you know?

• 1:21:39Sean Fennessey?

  You know, Lumet, Altman, Kubrick, these people didn't win Best Director.

• 1:21:43Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, Lynch.

• 1:21:44Sean Fennessey?

  Hitchcock, Lynch, none of them won Best Director. That never happened for any of those people. Orson Welles, he never won Best Director. He shared a Best Original Screenplay Oscar with Herman Mankiewicz. They made a film about that, it's called Mank.

• 1:21:56Amanda Dobbins?

  David Fincher did not win any Oscars for it.

• 1:21:58Sean Fennessey?

  No. Yeah, I don't know.

• 1:22:01Amanda Dobbins?

  Some real Mank strays on the Zodiac Rewatchables. Not from you.

• 1:22:05Sean Fennessey?

  A film I like.

• 1:22:05Amanda Dobbins?

  I like the film Filmmank as well.

• 1:22:07Sean Fennessey?

  A film I like. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I think that...

• 1:22:12Amanda Dobbins?

  We gotta get Fincher an Oscar. But does he want it?

• 1:22:15Sean Fennessey?

  I don't think he cares.

• 1:22:16Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:22:17Sean Fennessey?

  He had two big...

• 1:22:17Amanda Dobbins?

  That's why he's so cool.

• 1:22:18Sean Fennessey?

  He had, he had three big competition years. Benjamin Button, Social Network, and Mank. And he didn't come close in any of those three. So, maybe he's just like, fuck it, I'm gonna make cool movies for a streaming service.

• 1:22:32Amanda Dobbins?

  I look forward to seeing it.

• 1:22:34Sean Fennessey?

  Any other, any other generational, emotional, closing thoughts here? As we wrap up this award season, which has been going on for very long?

• 1:22:43Amanda Dobbins?

  It feels kinda warm and fuzzy. Am I wrong right now? This was a nice night.

• 1:22:49Sean Fennessey?

  It was a nice night.

• 1:22:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Should I, how long, like, how long before that turns? Am I wrong to trust that? Am I, am I wrong to, can we have a nice thing?

• 1:22:59Sean Fennessey?

  We haven't been observing the discourse.

• 1:23:00Amanda Dobbins?

  Can we have, can we have a nice thing?

• 1:23:02Sean Fennessey?

  Will you look at the discourse?

• 1:23:04Amanda Dobbins?

  I mean, I try not to, but, you know, then people serve me tweets of you saying stuff. And I'm like, oh, great. Now I gotta know about this.

• 1:23:12Sean Fennessey?

  You say it like a man holds a silver tray before you, full of tweets. And you use tweezers to choose the one that you choose to consume.

• 1:23:20Amanda Dobbins?

  It was like, ma'am, ma'am, once again, Sean is at it. He's tweeting about aliens and the Mets.

• 1:23:25Sean Fennessey?

  Well, everything's coming up, aliens and the Mets.

• 1:23:28Amanda Dobbins?

  That's coming?

• 1:23:28Sean Fennessey?

  Pretty soon, two weeks, right?

• 1:23:31Amanda Dobbins?

  Feeling good, up, down?

• 1:23:33Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, yeah, I'll say it right here on Netflix.

• 1:23:36Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:23:37Sean Fennessey?

  Um.

• 1:23:37Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, Met Corner is on Netflix.

• 1:23:39Sean Fennessey?

  I think that's, you're goddamn right it is. I think the Mets are going to the World Series.

• 1:23:43Amanda Dobbins?

  Oh, Christ. Okay.

• 1:23:45Sean Fennessey?

  I think they are. I think, I think Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Picture.

• 1:23:49Amanda Dobbins?

  So what you've learned from the last 72 hours, when you talked to Steven Spielberg and your other hero won Best Picture and Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.

• 1:24:00Sean Fennessey?

  Yes.

• 1:24:00Amanda Dobbins?

  And the Beastie Boys kicked off, and your childhood heroes Conan and the Beastie Boys kicked off the Oscars, is that anything's possible, including the Mets going to the World Series.

• 1:24:11Sean Fennessey?

  Not only that, but sometimes the good guys win. That's all I'm saying.

• 1:24:17Sean Fennessey?

  And we can make the, if you will it, it is no dream.

• 1:24:20Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:24:21Sean Fennessey?

  And that's the energy that I'm bringing to 2026. And if you're watching this show for the first time, this is how I always am. I'm always very positive and very enthusiastic about my work and my life.

• 1:24:32Amanda Dobbins?

  And wearing a tuxedo.

• 1:24:35Sean Fennessey?

  We will be talking more about the Oscar season and especially the telecast in a mailbag, in mailbag form. When are we gonna do it? Tuesday?

• 1:24:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Yes.

• 1:24:45Sean Fennessey?

  So send your questions to what?

• 1:24:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Big Pick Mailbag at gmail dot com. That's Big Pick Mailbag at gmail dot com. I want to emphasize, that's questions, not comments, not essays. We won't be reading them, but our producer, Jack Sanders, he's had a long weekend.

• 1:25:06Sean Fennessey?

  Spare Jack.

• 1:25:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:25:07Sean Fennessey?

  He's been working extremely hard.

• 1:25:08Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah.

• 1:25:09Sean Fennessey?

  These last few days.

• 1:25:12Sean Fennessey?

  You know, because I can't help myself, I'm gonna gin up some 2027 odds. Who do I think is gonna be in the race? That will be completely erroneous, you know, within a few months' time. But this is just how they made me. This is just how God made me, full of optimism.

• 1:25:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Right.

• 1:25:28Sean Fennessey?

  Enthusiasm, sincerity.

• 1:25:31Amanda Dobbins?

  You know, I'm just, I'm happy for you. It worked out, just this once, for you. The guy in the tux wins the night, just this once.

• 1:25:39Sean Fennessey?

  Incredible night for white guys. I mean, just unbelievable.

• 1:25:44Sean Fennessey?

  Well, this was fun. This, this season was too long.

• 1:25:47Amanda Dobbins?

  Way, way, way too long.

• 1:25:48Sean Fennessey?

  We'll cut it shorter.

• 1:25:49Amanda Dobbins?

  Oscars 2027 date, Googling.

• 1:25:52Sean Fennessey?

  They have not announced it.

• 1:25:52Amanda Dobbins?

  They haven't announced it. Okay, let's go, let's go. February 10th or whatever.

• 1:25:58Sean Fennessey?

  That would be sick. That's definitely not gonna happen. Um, last question for you before we wrap up. Ratings, they were, I think, at 19.7 million last year, up a tick from previous years. And that was attributed to, I think, in part, largely in part Hulu finally streaming the show.

• 1:26:15Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:26:16Sean Fennessey?

  And I think there were even some streaming snafus last year. I didn't get a sense of any streaming snafus this year for the show. Do you think they're up again, given the films that were nominated, given the outcomes that we just saw?

• 1:26:26Amanda Dobbins?

  I think they're probably steady.

• 1:26:28Sean Fennessey?

  Okay.

• 1:26:28Amanda Dobbins?

  Because, yes, Sinners and K-Pop Demon Hunters and all these very beloved films were nominated, but also those moments didn't happen till much later in the show. And I think people probably gave up. I, you know, I just, I don't, I don't know. I don't think ratings are gonna go up. I think that we have to create a brave new world where we find, you know, where we go beyond linear audiences, you know? We reach people in other ways, like in, on Netflix or on our stupid little YouTube clips. So what, you know?

• 1:27:03Sean Fennessey?

  Uh, no, that's wrong. They're gonna be up.

• 1:27:07Amanda Dobbins?

  Okay.

• 1:27:07Sean Fennessey?

  They're gonna be up because this is a time of positivity. This is a time of greatness. People love the movies. Did you know that the box office is up significantly this year over last year?

• 1:27:18Amanda Dobbins?

  Well, that's great.

• 1:27:22Sean Fennessey?

  I feel, I feel renewed.

• 1:27:23Amanda Dobbins?

  I think that's great. There, we could drill down on some numbers if you wanted to there, but it's fine. It's, I like that. I don't know. Is that, that's cumulative box office? That's not accounting for inflation? Or, yeah, but sure. I bet the numbers of people going to the movies, count that out for me.

• 1:27:40Sean Fennessey?

  Well, you gotta call Jim Fandango to talk about that. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about.

• 1:27:45Amanda Dobbins?

  Listen, movies are, movies are alive to the people who love them. And that is us. So, and that is the people who are still watching this weird podcast. So that is beautiful.

• 1:27:55Sean Fennessey?

  Do you think Ted Sarandos, after the show, raced home so that he could watch us? Do you think he skipped all the parties so that he could watch us?

• 1:28:04Amanda Dobbins?

  What if we are being projected live on a Netflix, like, uh, party, like, thing? You know what I mean? What if it's like, or if they have, you know? So he can both party and watch it.

• 1:28:16Sean Fennessey?

  People so that he can hear us.

• 1:28:17Amanda Dobbins?

  Yeah, exactly. Well, I assume it's closed captioned, you know? So that people can do whatever they need to do.

• 1:28:21Sean Fennessey?

  That's not our best friend, given some of the language used here today. What a, what a time. What a season. Yeah. What an amazing job by you. Thanks so much. You too. Congratulations. Doing my best. Thank you so much to Jack Sanders and thanks to everybody here at Spotify who helped us go live. Yeah, on a Sunday night. Thanks to the folks at Netflix for helping us go live. That's been wonderful. Thanks to Lucas Kavanaugh for his production support today and in these recent days. As I said, we will be back with a mailbag in just a couple of days. Email us at bigpickmailbag.com. We will answer your questions about the Oscars. We will see you then.

• 1:29:14Speaker 06

  This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods Market. Fall is here and Whole Foods Market has everything you need for cozy meals, seasonal treats, and easy entertaining. Elevate your hearty dishes with tasty bone-in beef short ribs or New York strip steaks with no added growth hormones or antibiotics. And as the fall evenings draw in, why not get ahead of cold season with immunity shots, herbal teas, lozenges, and supplements? Make sure you look for sales throughout the month. Shop fall flavors with higher standards at Whole Foods Market.

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• 1:29:48Speaker 08

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