Mike, Mike, and Oscar

Episoade

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  Emmys, Venice Awards & TIFF Takeaways - ORC 9/16/26 16.09.2026 58min

  We’re barely qualified to comment on the Emmys. But we forge onward. We were not in Venice or Toronto either. But we have Oscar Race takeaways nonetheless. You’re welcome. THE 78TH PRIMETIME EMMYS: Broadcast Highlights: Mariska & Brunson, Mulaney’s Moment & the last hour - 1:41 Widow’s Bay Wins Big in Comedy Series + The Gambling Odds Going - 7:16 The PItt & Pluribus each take 2 in the Drama Series Races - 8:55 Sally Field gets her big moment for Remarkably Bright Creatures - 12:38 And we discuss some Oscar Takes re: Kate O’Flynn, Zendaya & Mr. Isaac himself - 16:21 VENICE AWARDS 2026: Woman Unknown takes the Golden Lion & the Volpi Cup - 21:05 Possible Love wins the Grand Jury Prize - 25:00 John Malkovich wins Lead Actor from Wild Horse Nine - 26:04 Dau and what if the Mikes both did an NYC day together - 30:28 NAZA and a new standing ovation record - 34:45 The Rest of the Awards including Good Little Soldier - 38:22 Other Venice Notable Receptions for Bunker & Musk - 41:12 TIFF REVIEWS PART I: Being Heumann from Sian Heder, starring Ruth Madeley - 45:13 Misty Green from Chris Rock, starring Rosalind Eleazar - 48:22 I Play Rocky from Peter Farrelly, starring Anthony Ippolito - 50:26 Prima Facie starring Cynthia Erivo - 52:25 OUTRO: Listen to Mike1’s new and improved spiel to end the episode. Plus, we discuss the next 5 or 6 episodes on our calendar in far too much detail not to jinx them. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Hope Oscars Profile - One Mike Sings Rihanna and the Other Tells a HUGE Lie 10.09.2026 58min

  What Is This Episode - Top of Show . HOPE OSCARS PROFILE: . Non-Spoiler Review: . Na Hong-jin’s filmography and history/Film Numbers- 2:00 Expectations/Script Thoughts - 7:51 What Could’ve Been + Production Values - 12:12 Performances - 18:33 Production Values - 22:15 . Oscars Lens/A Quibi? - 28:37 . SPOLER WARNING - 30:55 . Spoiler-Filled Review: . Incongruence - 31:42 The End - 35:08 Funny Uh-Oh, Hero - 38:19 Arbitrary Bullet Time - 42:48 Legitimate Highs - 44:48 . FINAL GRADES - 51:52 . . What’s Next From MMO/Leave Us 5 Stars! - 55:00
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  Telluride & Venice Open Up The Oscar Race - ORC 9/8/26 09.09.2026 1h 1min

  The Oscars Race has exploded after Telluride and Venice. The Acting categories are much more formidable, the Best Picture 10 is all but impossible to predict, surprise documentaries have become headlines, and yet, the Standing Ovation times still don’t match. This is one of the wildest years we’ve ever covered, and the buzz isn’t getting any quieter. That’s for sure. TELLURIDE PREMIERES: The Debut from Jesse Eisenberg feat. Julianne Moore + Song Category Talk - 1:38 Elsinore starring Andrew Scott + Lead Actor Category Talk - 5:26 Tender Loving Care from Mike Leigh & starring Kate O’Flynn - 10:06 The Liberation starring Carrie Coon + More Lead Actress Talk - 14:18 A Long Winter from Andrew Haigh, starring Fred Hechinger & Caitriona Balfe - 15:53 You Can See Everything from Nathan Fielder + Best Picture Talk - 17:19 Berlin, Sundance & Cannes Film Updates + Turturro & Cruz Talk - 25:59 VENICE PREMIERES: Ink from Danny Boyle + Standing Ovation Talk - 29:05 Wild Horse Nine from Martin McDonagh + Malkovich Shirt Talk - 33:59 Primetime starring Robert Pattinson - 44:24 Possible Love from Lee Chang-dong - 48:05 Bucking Fastard from Werner Herzog, starring Kate & Rooney Mara - 49:54 Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger - OSCAR NEWS: Inde Navarrette goes Lead - 52:12 All Of A Sudden Actresses pick their categories - 54:58 OUTRO: We discuss our larger presence on social media, the links we never knew we had, and some future plans. Plus, we discuss recent films we’ve watched and loved or loved to hate. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  The Revenant - We Are Not Real Men - BirdMike p.6 - ep. 550 03.09.2026 1h 14min

  Another awesome movie, part 6 of our Inarritu Rewatch Series studies The Revenant, a 3x Oscar Winner for Best Director, Cinematography and Lead Actor, Leonardo DiCaprio. NON-SPOILER REVIEW FOR THE REVENANT: The Development Backstory involving Park Chan-Wook - 2:01 Inarritu’s Crazy Plans - 6:11 Critical, Audience & Box Office Reception Numbers - 8:55 Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts - 11:21 Performance Reviews including what Leo survived - 14:57 Production Values including what the crew survived - 24:16 An Oscar Lens and an Awards Season Revue - 32:55 Spoiler Warning - 36:59 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF THE REVENANT: Immediate Carryovers involving bears - 38:29 Man vs Nature - 42:05 The Revenge Narrative - 47:20 That Ending & The Real Story of Hugh Glass - 53:26 A Film Set From Hell - 1:02:10 Final Thoughts & Grades - 1:08:50 OUTRO: Coming up next is our coverage of the Fall Film Festivals and September movie slate. We’re also planning some fun guests and film studies in September. So stay tuned to our feed for everything MMO. Plus, you should also subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Tiktok and Letterboxd for exclusive content. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  BirdMan - or To Be an Artist is To Be a Botonist - BirdMike p.5 - ep549 28.08.2026 58min

  What Is This Episode - Top of Show + SPOILER WARNING . BIRDMIKE IÑÁRRITU REWATCH P.5 - BIRDMAN . Non-Spoiler Review: . “What I’ve been through…” - 4:00 A Sleeper Best Picture Breakthrough - 7:14 (And Ethan Hawke is Still Bitter About It - 9:40) Script Thoughts - 10:21 Was Birdman an Inflection Point to Cinema’s History? - 16:37 Ed Norton Playing Himself to 11 - 19:20 Oscar Winning Cinematography - 24:12 Oscars Lens - 28:01 . SPOILER WARNING - 31:18 . Spoiler-Filled Review: . Starting with a Bear Attack - 33:12 To Be an Artist, Is to Be… - 36:33 Curtains Close - 44:44 The Original Ending - 49:21 . FINAL GRADES - 53:22 . . Find Jeff Online/What’s Next From MMO/Leave Us 5 Stars! - 55:55 https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma: A Lovefest - Ep 548 26.08.2026 1h 4min

  Jane Schoenbrun’s latest film is an innovative Horror Comedy, an incisive commentary on the slasher genre and a showcase for Hanna Einbinder and Gillian Anderson. It’s already one of our favorite films of the year, and this is our film study episode. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF CAMP MIASMA: Production Profile, Cannes & Early Reception Scores - 3:46 Our issues with modern day platform releases - 4:32 The Premise & Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts - 12:45 Performance Reviews - 17:10 Production Values featuring some of our favorite music in film this year - 20:53 Our Oscar Lens, including Gothams & Spirits talk - 28:31 Spoiler Warning - 32:59 SPOILER REVIEW OF TEENAGE SEX & DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA: A joyous film about sex - 34:02 Meta, requel, and allegory takes - 39:52 The Russian Doll of it all - 41:53 Analyzing the title - 47:40 Profound casting - 48:34 That Oner - 49:26 More Best Scenes re: Slasher Genre & The Candy - 52:53 A few nitpicks - 57:25 Final Thoughts & Grades - 58:47 OUTRO: We’ve just launched our YouTube channel. So please subscribe and like our videos. There’s already a first video posted, plus you can listen to a selection of our podcasts, and we will be posting many more exclusive videos in the near future as well as live webcasts and video versions of our podcast. https://www.youtube.com/@MikeMikeandOscar And here’s our linktree: https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Emmy Hope, Netflix Worry + Oak Street, Amziah & Tony w/ Andrew Morgan! - ORC 8/21/26 21.08.2026 1h 21min

  Andrew Morgan of Recent Activity and Whats-On-Netflix returns to review August Films, the state of Netflix, our Emmy hopes & all our recent activity on TV & Streaming. AUGUST MOVIES - The End of Oak Street - 1:30 The Rivals of Amziah King - 9:18 Tony & How To Transfer Letter Grades into Stars on Letterboxd - 12:48 Don’t Say Good Luck - 17:58 The Last House - 22:34 72 Hours - 25:24 THE STATE OF NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM - 28:52 What is the Netflix Brand and what’s been good so far in 2026? What’s the Netflix Awards Slate and what’s in their pipeline for 2027 & beyond!? THE 78TH PRIMETIME EMMYS: Who are we rooting for in the Drama Series Categories? - 53:12 In the Comedy sections? - 58:47 And in the Limited Series / Anthology or TV Movie categories? - 1:04:39 NEW TV RECOMMENDATIONS - 1:07:55 We discuss Tires, Sterling Point, Ted Lasso, Reacher, Lanterns and more! OUTRO: Words of Wisdom today are to consume all of Andrew Morgan’s work at Recent Activity and Whats-On-Netflix. Please follow, like and subscribe to his work, and we discuss what we both have coming up next and our film festival plans to end the episode. Read Andrew’s Movie Reviews at Whats-On-Netflix: https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/author/andrew-morgan/ Listen to Recent Activity wherever you get your podcasts: https://recent-activity.captivate.fm/listen Follow Andrew Morgan on X: https://x.com/jokesondrew https://x.com/recentactpod And now you can watch Recent Activity on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/@RecentActPod As for Mike, Mike, and Oscar, here’s our Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  X-MEN 2028, NYFF64 Spotlight & Why Serious Yodeling Should Not Exist - ORC 8/18/26 18.08.2026 1h 12min

  The new X-Men cast has been revealed, amongst other big movies announced at the D23 expo. Plus, we discuss additions to NYFF64 & TIFF, some more info on the box office boom, and we also review a dozen new Oscar contender trailers on this latest episode of Oscar Race Checkpoint. D23: The Marvel Cinematic Universe X-MEN are revealed! - 2:33 …Including Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Maya Boyd as Storm, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Adam Driver as Mister Sinister and Christopher Abbott as Prof X. Other D23 Announcements - 19:02 …Including The Incredibles 3, Coco 2, Ghost Market, The Bluey Movie, Lilo & Stitch 2, Zootopia 3, Frozen 3, Romy & Michelle 2, Ice Age: Boiling Point, & Star Wars: Starfighter. The Avengers: Doomsday Special Look Trailer Review - 24:31 BOX OFFICE REPORT: Spider-Man’s 3rd weekend + Oak Street & Odyssey - 35:32 FILM FESTIVAL NEWS NYFF64 Spotlight Additions including Fjord, Club Kid and A Statement - 39:44 The Only Living Pickpocket in NY Trailer Review - 46:11 TIFF Additions including Bucking Fastard, Wild Horse Nine & A Liberation - 48:12 Midnight Madness adds Na Hong-jin’s Hope + Trailer Review - 49:40 MORE OSCAR TRAILERS: Primetime starring Robert Pattinson as Chris Hansen of To Catch A Predator - 54:04 Paper Tiger from James Gray, Driver, Scarjo & Miles Teller - 57:52 Gentle Monster starring Lea Seydoux - 59:34 Josephine starring Channing Tatum & Gemma Chan - 1:01:49 The Thomas Crowne Affair starring Oscar Winner, Michael B. Jordan - 1:04:25 OUTRO: Mike and I discuss his upcoming vacation, pending summer cold and our next guest hosted episode on our recent activity watching august movies, netflix and emmy nominees. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Biutiful - The Saddest Movie Ever - BirdMike pt. 4 - Ep 547 13.08.2026 1h 2min

  BirdMike: An Inarritu Rewatch Series continues with Part IV on the Oscar Nominated Biutiful starring Lead Actor Nom Javier Bardem. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF BIUTIFUL: Production Profile - 2:50 Expectations & Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts - 11:11 Performance Reviews - 17:28 Production Values - 20:28 Oscar Lens - 23:25 Spoiler Warning - 27:13 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: Immediate Carryovers - 28:38 That Ending - 36:04 The Themes - 42:19 Plot Elements That Deserve Further Study & Addiction Addressed - 47:42 Final Thoughts / Final Grades - 59:16 OUTRO: Stay tuned for upcoming BirdMike episodes on Birdman: Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance, The Revenant, Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, and Digger. We also have many more Oscar Race Checkpoints, covering everything from D23 through the Fall Film Festivals through some early season awards on the horizon, and we’ll continue to do film studies on contemporary films like Teenage Sex & Death at Camp Miasma, etc. For all our videos and written reviews, please also make sure you’re following us on TikTok, Instagram, Letterboxd, X, etc. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Babel - Where's Uncle Buck When You Need Him? - BirdMike pt. 3 - Ep 546 11.08.2026 54min

  Part 3 of BirdMike, our Alejandro G. Inarritu rewatch series is here, and this is the third of seven Oscar Nominated Films of his that we’ll cover in this series. Babel stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette, Gael Garcia Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Elle Fanning, Rinko Kikuchi, Koji Yakusho, Mohamed Akhzam, Clifton Collins and Michael Pena, and it was nominated for 7 Academy Awards. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF BABEL: Production Profile - 1:40 Non-Spoiler Composition Thoughts - 8:56 Performance Reviews - 14:54 Production Values - 19:39 Oscar Lens - 22:48 Spoiler Warning - 24:45 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF BABEL: Diving into the Inciting Incident & the story in Japan - 26:28 Sins of the Father - 32:49 The Main Themes - 36:28 That Ending - 41:34 Any more worsts - 46:50 Final Thoughts / Final Grades - 49:07 OUTRO: Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on Biutiful, Birdman, The Revenant, Bardo and Digger. We will also be returning shortly with a few episodes of Oscar Race Checkpoint and some fun new announcements. In the meantime, make sure you’re following us on Tiktok and Letterboxd, where we’ve been the most active in recent weeks and enjoy our all our new video and written content. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  21 Grams - So Emotional, You Need BirdMike - Inarritu Rewatch pt. 2 - Ep 545 08.08.2026 1h 2min

  We review 21 Grams, the second film of Alejandro G. Inarritu and the second episode of BirdMike: Our Inarritu Rewatch Series. The film stars Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro and features the cinematography of Rodrigo Prieto and the music of Gustavo Santaolalla. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF 21 GRAMS: Production Profile - 2:29 Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts - 6:56 Performance Reviews - 13:06 Production Values - 18:02 Oscar Lens - 24:27 SPOILER WARNING - 28:44 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF 21 GRAMS: Carryovers: Why & how did he structure the film this way? - 31:09 Discussing The Themes - 40:46 These characters have their vices - 43:54 That Ending - 48:22 The Sean Penn Character Study - 52:22 Final Thoughts & Final Grades - 56:37 OUTRO: Hopefully you continue to tune into future episodes of this series, despite our early wrestling matches with these films. We do want to combat the rest of them, continuing with Babel and Biutiful in the coming weeks. Obviously, we’re leading up to Digger starring Tom Cruise in the fall. Otherwise, you can stay tuned for future episodes of Oscar Race Checkpoint and Oscar Profile Movie Reviews, as well as more specials, interviews, etc… as we head into yet another awards season here on MMO. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Fall Festival Lineups, Spidey Box Office & La Bola Negra's Big Chance - ORC 8/5/26 05.08.2026 1h 28min

  Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a new Box Office champion! Then we discuss Academy News and the Lineups for the Venice, New York and Toronto International Film Festivals, amongst several other pressing industry topics before ending with our thoughts on La Bola Negra’s theatrical release date plan, the Peacock/YouTube update and that WB/Paramount deal. BOX OFFICE REPORT: Spider-Man: Brand New Day sets all kinds of records - 1:11 The Odyssey holds strong - 5:36 ACADEMY NEWS: Lynette Howell Taylor is re-elected as President of AMPAS - 8:44 THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP: Venice has an opening night selection in Ink - 11:09 - Only 1 female directed film lands in the main competition - 12:40 - Main Competition notables from Primetime to Lee Change Dong - 22:05 Werner Herzog calls in to promote Bucking Fastard! - 25:05 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL 64: Godzilla Minus Zero is the Spotlight Gala - 27:59 Paper Tiger & 14th are the Opening and Closing Nighters - 29:17 Behemoth is the Centerpiece & we review the Teaser Trailer - 32:24 Thoughts on the rest of NYFF 64’s Main Competition - 35:18 TIFF: I Play Rocky and it’s 1st trailer - 36:05 Misty Green’s first trailer from Chris Rock - 39:28 Other TIFF Galas for potential contenders like Elsinore & Tender Loving Care - 42:23 Intriguing Premieres from Filmmakers like Courtney Cox & Michael Dowse - 50:43 Previously Announced Big Premieres & Crossovers From Sundance - 56:24 - Cannes Crossovers & La Bola Negra’s Theatrical Play + Netflix Questions, YouTube/Peacock Deal Reactions & TIFF People’s Choice Award Speculation - 59:12 - Crossovers from Venice & Deductions for Telluride - 1:08:08 Films Not Going To Any Festivals? - 1:10:22 Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial finds a new home at NEON - 1:17:27 Paramount/WB Thoughts - 1:19:05 OUTRO: Make sure to follow us on social media for daily videos (on tiktok & instagram) +++ written reviews (on Letterboxd). We’re everywhere on the internet, and we’re all over the place in this outro, discussing our future plans for YouTube, etc. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Spider-Man: Brand New Day - Tom Silences His Critics - Ep 544 31.07.2026 1h 6min

  Summer Blockbusters have a new champion as Spider-Man: Brand New Day resets the record books and for good reason. This movie is as fun a crowdpleaser as you’re gonna find, and of course we loved it too. No Spoilers for the first half of the episode until we dive into the plot and the future of the MCU in the 2nd half. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY: Highly rated reception numbers - 3:10 Biggest Box Office Preview Numbers Ever - 4:30 Why Gen Z should be running Hollywood - 7:27 Marvel better learn the right lessons from this - 9:16 Our Theatergoing experiences - 12:08 Destin Daniel Crettin’s Bonafides & Our History w/ Holland - 13:30 Performance Reviews: How Tom & Zendaya are silencing critics - 17:34 The VFX Oscar Category Discussion + Oscar & Globes Talk - 24:58 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: 34:00 The Big Moment & Best Characters - 34:50 Intrigue Going Forward - 40:03 Some Weaknesses & Nitpicks, but cathartic nonetheless - 47:37 Funny Little Moments Throughout - 56:10 Final Questions, Final Thoughts & Final Grades - 59:32 OUTRO: If you enjoy our podcast, please follow us on social media. M1 has been posting videos like crazy, and M2 just started going wild on Letterboxd. Plus, you can look forward to more Oscar Profile movie reviews in August as well as more Oscar Race Checkpoints, including Box Office Reactions to all of the records being broken by The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Odyssey & Spider-Man Box Office Bliss + San Diego Comic Con Takeaways - ORC 7/28/26 28.07.2026 1h 20min

  Box Office results for The Odyssey and forecasts for Spider-Man: Brand New Day are bliss. But we are finding reasons to worry after San Diego Comic Con announcements for other CBM’s. BOX OFFICE REPORT: The Odyssey’s 90M 2nd Weekend - 1:34 Spider-Man Hype & what films benefitted most from having trailers before Odyssey - 10:22 That Other Mommy Trailer & Previewing Upcoming Horror Movies - 18:03 Dune Part Three’s second trailer - 21:53 Moana, Toy Story 5 + Minions & Monsters assessments - 26:09 Evil Dead Burn & other small to mid budget movies are working - 29:24 Retiring an Obsession Take - 31:34 What’s next for Backrooms? - 34:05 SAN DIEGO COMIC CON: The big Marvel Discussion including Coogler, Gosling & Doomsday thoughts - 36:28 WB/DC takes on Lanterns, Clayface & The Batman II - 48:29 Resident Evil’s latest trailer & worries for Zach Creggar - 54:15 Netflix’s Ray Gunn gets a release date - 59:47 Paramount’s Ebenezer marks a Johnny Depp Hollywood return - 1:01:36 Who’s going to play the next Freddy Krueger? - 1:05:42 OUTRO: we update you on what’s coming next with our coverage of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, our Inarritu rewatch series and future previews of the fall film festivals. Plus, we finally find some optimism about certain things we wrestled with this entire episode. Better late than never! https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Amores Perros - BirdMike: An Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Rewatch Part 1 - Ep 543 24.07.2026 1h 12min

  BirdMike: An Inarritu Rewatch begins with our film study of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s feature film debut, the Oscar nominated Amores Perros, starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Emilio Echevarria and Goya Toledo. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF AMORES PERROS: Digger’s First Full Trailer Thoughts - 1:35 Production Profile / Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Biography - 5:21 General Non-Spoiler Review Thoughts - 12:27 Performances - 18:59 Production Values - 21:49 Oscar Lens - 26:45 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF AMORES PERROS: 31:29 Explanation of the BirdMike Fly-In and the Bear Attack! - 32:12 Immediate Carryovers: Toxic Nice Guys 2000 Ed. - 34:04 The Themes: What Is Love? Baby Don’t Hurt Me - 40:14 Key Plot Devices: The Dogs - 47:11 That Ending - 54:17 Worsts - 59:17 Final Thoughts & Grades - 1:03:35 OUTRO: Stay tuned to our feed for more BirdMike: An Inarritu Rewatch as we’ll continue this series with the Oscar nominated 21 Grams next. Plus, you can now subscribe to us on Letterboxd at MikeMikeOscarAM (for “AlsoMike” written reviews and movie lists). https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Our Odyssey Review 2 with Jazz Tangcay of Variety - How Can Ya Beat That? - Ep 542 22.07.2026 1h 27min

  Jazz Tangcay of Variety joins us to discuss The Odyssey. We talk through the box office and enjoy her review for about 25 minutes more of Non-Spoilers before we dive into each of the film’s major set pieces in our Spoiler Section. Make sure to follow Jazz Tangcay on social media, on Rotten Tomatoes, and of course, enjoy all of her work at Variety. https://variety.com/author/jazz-tangcay/ And if you want to listen to a much longer Non-Spoiler section, then go back to Part 1 of our Film Study on The Odyssey where we go a full 75 minutes of Non-Spoilers and Oscars Lens discussions. NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION: Rewatch Experiences - 2:26 Updated Reception Scores - 6:16 Box Office - 9:12 Jazz Tangcay’s Review - 16:38 What’s the early Oscar buzz? - 19:04 Her process and plans to cover the film this season - 22:41 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: The Prologue - 26:33 Cyclops Puppets & The Practice Effects Imperative - 31:08 Troy & Popcorn Buckets & Production Design - 36:56 Laestrygonians, Dolphins & Hot Tickets - 42:05 Circe, Dolby Sound Mix Scares & Samantha Morton Hype - 47:36 Hades & His Stylistic Statement - 51:37 The Sirens, Damon Superlatives & A Tom Holland Defense - 54:50 Charbydis & Scylla and Understanding VFX - 58:18 Modern Day Themes & Smart Decisions - 1:01:08 Filming Techniques Used In That Finale - 1:08:21 OUTRO: Two nitpicks - 1:11:26 Re-Ranking The Acting Performances on Rewatch - 1:13:10 The last few nitpicks - 1:15:20 Final Grades - 1:22:19 The Words of Wisdom today are to follow Jazz Tangcay on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzt21/ Follow her on X/Twitter: https://x.com/jazzt And make sure to subscribe to her podcast alongside Clayton Davis & Co at Variety’s Awards Circuit. https://variety.com/t/awards-circuit-podcast/ Also please follow us on Letterboxd. We just joined Letterboxd, but we already have 2 reviews and 5 lists posted with a whole lot more coming. https://letterboxd.com/MikeMikeOscarAM/
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  The Odyssey - Part 1 of 2 - Bringing It All... The Oscars - Ep 541 17.07.2026 1h 37min

  Non-Spoilers for nearly 75 Mins, we discussed Oscars potential in all categories for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, before we dive into about 20 minutes on the film’s final act. This is Part I of our coverage of The Odyssey, followed by Part II with a very special guest in Variety’s Jazz Tangcay. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF THE ODYSSEY: Critical & Audience Reception Numbers & Box Office Projections - 2:40 Exceeded Expectations and the Plot Premise - 7:36 Best Picture & Discussing Producers Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan - 8:12 Is Best Director over? - 11:44 Adapted Screenplay Thoughts & Should AlsoMom come see this - 17:14 Jennifer Lame’s Film Editing - 24:31 Matt Damon’s Lead Actor Candidacy - 28:34 Anne Hathaway, Casting, Other Supporting Possibilities & Ensemble Awards - 30:46 Sound Design - 42:55 Ludwig Goransson’s Original Score - 44:49 Then Original Song: When I’m Home - 50:03 VFX - 51:52 Ellen Mirojnick’s Costume Design & The MUAH - 54:20 Hoyt van Hoytema’s Cinematography - 1:00:06 Production Design - 1:03:08 The Final Oscar Lens Assessments & Over / Under - 1:07:38 A SHORT SPOILER SECTION ON THE ENDING OF THE ODYSSEY - 1:16:42 OUTRO: Stay tuned for Part II of our coverage of The Odyssey next week when we are joined by a very special guest for a larger spoiler filled discussion. In the meantime, you can read Jazz Tangcay’s coverage at Variety here: https://variety.com/author/jazz-tangcay/ We’ll also be LIVE on Chaz and AJ in the Morning on Monday 7/20 around 8:20am EST to discuss our reactions to the film. Listen here: https://www.wplr.com/listen-live And finally, you can find links to all our other episodes and social media here: https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  The Invite: Olivia Wilde's Not Afraid of Virginia Woolf - An Oscars Profile - Ep. 540 10.07.2026 1h 15min

  Olivia Wilde’s not afraid of Virgina Woolf. That’s for sure. She used the Mike Nichols’ film as her “North Star” in making this film, and it’s very apparent to us as we discuss all of the Oscars implications and awards season possibilities for The Invite, starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF THE INVITE: The Production Backstory - 2:01 Reception Scores & Box Office - 6:13 More Reasons Why We’re Rooting For This - 8:30 The Way Too Early Awards Profile - 12:55 The Premise & Our Watch Stories - 13:47 Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts & the Mike Nichols’ Influence - 17:25 Reviewing These Stellar Performances & Why It’s a Gothams Movie - 21:49 The Production Values - 27:24 An Oscars Lens + The Actor Awards speculation - 32:49 SPOILER WARNING // SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF THE INVITE - 40:23 A SHOCKING CLAYTON DAVIS THEORY CONFIRMED? - 41:01 The Set-Up & Bone Chilling Resemblances to a Mike’s Family - 45:34 Verbal Jousts & The Family Guy joke that’ll be OUR north star for this episode - 47:24 More Superlatives for Olivia Wilde - 49:26 The Most Memorable Scenes & Commentary on Male Thinking - 51:01 A Series of Clever Moves By These Filmmakers - 56:28 Central Conflict & How Our Podcast Is Basically A Marriage - 1:00:35 That Ending - 1:07:28 Final Grades / Final Thoughts - 1:10:22 OUTRO: Stay tuned for upcoming Oscar Profile Reviews for huge new movies like The Odyssey, etc. Stay tuned for upcoming Oscar Race Checkpoints and upcoming special episodes discussing the ever-evolving Oscars Race. And stay tuned to our feed for our upcoming rewatch series on the films of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. But when you get all these, we have no idea and don’t want to jinx it - maybe soon, maybe never. Until then, we thank you for supporting our show with positive ratings, reviews and of course, by telling your friends about us. Thank you. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Midseason Awards, Our Top 10's & Most Anticipated + Odyssey 1st Reactions! - ORC 7/7/26 07.07.2026 1h 5min

  We discuss awards from the Midseason Astra’s & Annecy Film Festival + Odyssey first reactions, TIFF first film premieres, the July 4th Box Office downturn and a host of trailers & reviews, including our Top 10 Films of the Year & Top 5 Most Anticipated. HEADLINES: The Odyssey first reactions - 0:55 The 9th Midseason Astra Movie Awards - 4:09 OUR BEST OF THE YEAR THUS FAR & MOST ANTICIPATED LISTS: AlsoMike’s Top 10 Best Films of the Year Thus Far - 6:28 Mike1’s Top 10 Best Films of the Year Thus Far - 11:00 Our Most Anticipated Films still to come + Tarantino Talk - 13:06 OSCAR NEWS: Chief Oscars Officer resigns - 23:50 TIFF NEWS: Being Heumann, Prima Facie & The Assassins announced - 27:01 ANNECY FILM FESTIVAL NEWS: including the Gatto Teaser & Awards - 29:44 BOX OFFICE UPDATE: Minions & Monsters struggles as July 4th sees a downturn - 36:36 Obsession still progresses well, but did it go to PVOD too soon? - 40:23 The Rest of the Top 13 including AM’s Review of Leviticus - 43:28 TRAILER THOUGHTS: Werwulf, our worries & way too early Oscar guesses for Eggers - 47:50 Late Fame & M1’s heel turn on one of his favorite filmmakers - 51:16 The Weight, starring Ethan Hawke & Russell Crowe - 55:06 Super Troopers 3 is hopefully better than ST2 - 57:04 Wildwood (Featurette) has us dazzled - 58:42 OUTRO: We try not to jinx what’s coming next, but tell you anyway. Then we blabber on another few minutes about how we were efficient during the recording. Plus, we discuss our excitement for Evil Dead Burn, or lack thereof. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar
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  Minions & Monsters & Mikes & Oscars - A Film Study - Ep 539 03.07.2026 1h 1min

  Minions & Monsters is the movie we Mikes NEED right now, and therefore, we are proud to do a film study, especially because of how fun this movie was and what a terrific homage it was to film history. NON-SPOILER REVIEW: Reception & Box Office Discussions - 3:11 WHY WE NEED THIS MOVIE SO DESPERATELY - 8:38 A Pierre Coffin & Co-Filmmakers Profile - 10:22 General Thoughts & Rave Reviews - 13:21 Performance Notes & More General Thoughts - 17:50 A Review of the Production Values - 22:17 An Oscar Lens & Overview of the Animated Feature Race - 24:23 SPOILER WARNING - 26:30 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: A Tribute To Hollywood History ONLY the Minions could pull off - 27:15 The only legitimate complaint Mike1 has - 30:19 The Framing Device & Why these A & B Storylines work so well together - 32:17 Mike1’s Screenwriting Lesson - 39:25 That Ending & Stinger Scenes - 41:14 What’s Next for the Minions & Despicable Me Franchises? - 47:13 Disney vs Illumination Round 2 - 48:53 Box Office Over/Unders for Moana + Minions & Monsters - 50:24 OUTRO: Stay tuned for more 2026 Film Study Episodes on The Invite, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, etc. We’re also going to enjoy more episodes of Oscar Race Checkpoint including our Top 10 Films of the Year Thus Far + Fall Festival Lineup Announcements. Plus, we’ll soon be diving into to our Summer Series including our Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Rewatch Series and Mid-Year Oscars Report. Aaaand we discuss Obsession and oh by the way our final grades. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar