The Father 2020
Anthony Hopkins beat Chadwick Boseman for Best Actor at the BAFTAs, a real surprise, though not one either host thinks derails Boseman's Oscar odds.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Awards
The 2011 Oscars Were a Travesty. Let’s Fix That.
April 13, 2021/ 94 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda check in on this year's Oscar race, then travel back to the 2011 Academy Awards to redo the whole ceremony, category by category, and correct a decade of bad calls.
115 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
This Year's Actual Oscar RaceBAFTAs, DGAs, and where the 93rd Academy Awards stand
Nomadland 2020
Chloé Zhao swept Best Director and Best Picture at the BAFTAs; the film looks like it has the Oscars locked up.
Sound of Metal 2019
Darius Marder won the DGA's first-feature award.
The Truffle Hunters 2020
Won documentary direction at the DGAs despite missing the Oscar's documentary shortlist entirely; Sean recommends it.
My Octopus Teacher 2020
The heavy favorite for Best Documentary Feature.
The 2011 Oscars, Redone: The Undercard Categoriesactual nominees plus what should have been in the running
Best Original Song
- Toy Story 3 "We Belong Together" (Randy Newman) Winner
- Country Strong "Coming Home"
- Tangled "I See the Light"
- 127 Hours "If I Rise" (A.R. Rahman & Dido)
- Country Strong "Give In to Me," Amanda's should-have-won pick
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World "Ramona" (Beck), Sean's should-have-won pick
Best Original Score
- The Social Network Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross Winner
- How to Train Your Dragon John Powell
- Inception Hans Zimmer
- The King's Speech Alexandre Desplat
- 127 Hours A.R. Rahman
- Tron: Legacy Daft Punk, should have been nominated
- Greenberg James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, should have been nominated
Best Foreign Language Film
- In a Better World Winner
- Biutiful Javier Bardem
- Dogtooth Yorgos Lanthimos
- Incendies Denis Villeneuve
- Outside the Law
- I Am Love Luca Guadagnino, Amanda's pick Their pick
- Valhalla Rising Nicolas Winding Refn, a half-joking should-have-been-nominated pick
Best Documentary Feature
- Inside Job Charles Ferguson Winner
- Exit Through the Gift Shop Banksy
- Gasland Josh Fox
- Restrepo Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger
- Waste Land Lucy Walker
- Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child Tamra Davis, should have been nominated
- Marwencol should have been nominated
- Sweetgrass should have been nominated
Best Animated Feature
- Toy Story 3 Winner
- How to Train Your Dragon
- The Illusionist Sylvain Chomet
- Despicable Me should have been nominated
- The Secret World of Arrietty Studio Ghibli, should have been nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay
- The Social Network Aaron Sorkin Winner
- 127 Hours Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
- Toy Story 3 Michael Arndt
- True Grit Joel & Ethan Coen
- Winter's Bone Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
- The Town Peter Craig, Aaron Stockard & Ben Affleck; should have been nominated
- Shutter Island Laeta Kalogridis, should have been nominated
Best Original Screenplay
- The King's Speech David Seidler Winner
- Another Year Mike Leigh, Amanda's should-have-won pick
- The Fighter Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
- Inception Christopher Nolan, Sean's should-have-won pick
- The Kids Are All Right Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
- Please Give Nicole Holofcener, should have been nominated
- Four Lions Chris Morris, should have been nominated
- Greenberg Noah Baumbach, should have been nominated
The 2011 Oscars, Redone: The Big Sixdirector, the four acting races, and Best Picture
Best Director
- The King's Speech Tom Hooper Winner
- Black Swan Darren Aronofsky
- The Fighter David O. Russell
- The Social Network David Fincher Their pick
- True Grit Joel & Ethan Coen
- The Town Ben Affleck, should have been nominated
- Fish Tank Andrea Arnold, should have been nominated
- Somewhere Sofia Coppola, should have been nominated
- Winter's Bone Debra Granik, should have been nominated
- Please Give Nicole Holofcener, should have been nominated
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Edgar Wright, should have been nominated
- Blue Valentine Derek Cianfrance, should have been nominated
Actor in a Supporting Role
- The Fighter Christian Bale Winner
- Winter's Bone John Hawkes
- The Town Jeremy Renner Their pick
- The Kids Are All Right Mark Ruffalo
- The King's Speech Geoffrey Rush
- Inception Tom Hardy, should have been nominated
- The Social Network Justin Timberlake, should have been nominated
- The Social Network Andrew Garfield, should have been nominated
- Animal Kingdom Ben Mendelsohn, should have been nominated
Actress in a Supporting Role
- The Fighter Melissa Leo Winner
- The Fighter Amy Adams; should have won, per Sean Winner
- The King's Speech Helena Bonham Carter
- True Grit Hailee Steinfeld
- Animal Kingdom Jacki Weaver
- Morning Glory Diane Keaton, should have been nominated
- The Social Network Rooney Mara, should have been nominated
- Chloe Amanda Seyfried, should have been nominated
Actor in a Leading Role
- The King's Speech Colin Firth Winner
- Biutiful Javier Bardem
- True Grit Jeff Bridges
- The Social Network Jesse Eisenberg Their pick
- 127 Hours James Franco
- Blue Valentine Ryan Gosling, should have been nominated
- Never Let Me Go Andrew Garfield, should have been nominated
- Shutter Island Leonardo DiCaprio, should have been nominated; Sean's fantasy winner
- Solitary Man Michael Douglas, should have been nominated
Actress in a Leading Role
- Black Swan Natalie Portman Winner
- The Kids Are All Right Annette Bening
- Rabbit Hole Nicole Kidman
- Winter's Bone Jennifer Lawrence
- Blue Valentine Michelle Williams, Amanda's should-have-won pick
- Easy A Emma Stone, should have been nominated; Sean's should-have-won pick
- Love & Other Drugs Anne Hathaway, should have been nominated
- Never Let Me Go Carey Mulligan, should have been nominated
Best Picture
- The King's Speech Winner
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- Inception
- The Kids Are All Right
- 127 Hours
- The Social Network Their pick
- Toy Story 3
- True Grit
- Winter's Bone
- Somewhere should have been nominated
- The Town should have been nominated
- Another Year should have been nominated
- Shutter Island should have been nominated
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World should have been nominated
Also mentioned raised along the way
The ArcLight, in memoriam The InvitationA Star Is BornJokerSonic the HedgehogGodzilla vs. KongUncut GemsPrometheusThe MasterMission: Impossible - FalloutLa La LandPortrait of a Lady on FireMurder on the Orient ExpressDeath on the NileA Quiet Place Part IICruella
Sean's 18-hour viewing day MainstreamWithout RemorseFalse PositiveHannibalThe Silence of the LambsPalmer
Also mentioned CatsLes MisérablesAmerican PsychoEmpire of the SunRescue DawnLittle Dieter Needs to FlyViceThe Big ShortAmerican HustleLittle WomenArrivalBumblebeeHillbilly ElegyThe RevenantTenetThe WifeWelcome to MarwenCatfishBabiesCarlosCrazy, Stupid, Love.DriveThe Place Beyond the PinesOnly God ForgivesLost RiverThe Nice GuysBlade Runner 2049First ManParasite
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Too Old to Die YoungDickinsonThe BureauWrestleMania
Ads The Bakari Sellers PodcastTremfayaNOS EnergyCarvanaBoar's HeadDraftKingsNetflix FIFA World Cup