Introducing 'The Oscars Show' and the 2018 Oscar Narratives I The Oscars Show (Ep. 91)

A Star Is Born 2018

The fourth telling of the story, and the one to beat. Held 28% at the box office in week three; Dobbins calls the first hour among the most exciting dramas in years.

Black Panther 2018

The reason the scrapped 'popular Oscar' turned out to be unnecessary: a comic-book movie in the Best Picture conversation on merit.

Roma 2018

Alfonso Cuaron's memoir of 1970s Mexico City, Netflix's first real Best Picture bid. Tied with A Star Is Born on GoldDerby before its limited theatrical/streaming release.

First Man 2018

Damien Chazelle's Neil Armstrong film; the technical-masterpiece slot in the conversation.

Widows 2018

The genre entry the hosts expect to talk about for a month straight.

Green Book 2018

The crowd-pleaser of the field.

The Favourite 2018

The high-comedy traditional-Oscar entry.

Crazy Rich Asians 2018

The kind of well-liked crowd-pleaser the axed 'popular Oscar' might have honored.

A Quiet Place 2018

Incredibles 2 2018

Mission: Impossible - Fallout 2018

Named a crowd-pleaser in this segment; revisited at length in the Best Actor segment.

First Man 2018

Verdict: stock down. $75M worldwide on a $59M budget, 88% on Rotten Tomatoes; the hosts blame timing (a week after A Star Is Born) and the film's cold, technical remove.

The Girl in the Spider's Web 2018

The 'campaign poison' case: the Claire Foy vehicle meant to catapult her, directed by horror filmmaker Fede Alvarez, arriving quietly and reviewed poorly. Foy verdict: stock down.

Unsane 2018

Cited as another Foy role in her wheelhouse of tough, dug-in women.

A Star Is Born 2018

Bradley Cooper, 'the lockiest lock of the year' and the one to beat; also the actor-turned-director narrative.

First Man 2018

Ryan Gosling in a quiet, focused turn; hurt by his reluctance to campaign.

Bohemian Rhapsody 2018

Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury; the hosts call the movie paint-by-numbers but the transformation incredible, complicated by Bryan Singer's firing and controversy.

The Mule 2018

Clint Eastwood, a late unseen entry; Cooper is also in it.

The Old Man & the Gun 2018

Robert Redford in an under-seen film once billed as his swan song.

Vice 2018

Christian Bale, unseen and year-end, with a spot already reserved for him by the pundits.

Green Book 2018

Viggo Mortensen as the driver to Mahershala Ali's jazz musician; Peter Farrelly's solo directorial turn.

Boy Erased 2018

One of Lucas Hedges's two roles this year; the hosts think he split his own vote.

Ben Is Back 2018

Hedges's other role in the crowded slate of similar young-man tragedies.

Beautiful Boy 2018

Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet; Fennessey pegs Chalamet as a movie star about to break out.

BlacKkKlansman 2018

John David Washington, one of three Black leads the hosts note are absent from the odds.

If Beale Street Could Talk 2018

Stephen James in Barry Jenkins's Baldwin adaptation; a largely unknown cast beyond Regina King and Brian Tyree Henry.

Black Panther 2018

Chadwick Boseman, sidelined because the film is treated as a blockbuster rather than an acting movie.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout 2018

Fennessey's wild card for Tom Cruise, the greatest movie star of 30 years and still without an Oscar; a case for rewarding physical performance.

The Sisters Brothers 2018

Dobbins's wild card for John C. Reilly, who bought and produced the film; the hosts call it his best performance.