The Oscars Aftermath Mailbag, Plus Neil Jordan on ‘Greta’ | Interview (Ep. 132)

Black Panther 2018

Sean's steelman for even higher ratings: a win might have signaled the show taking a younger audience seriously.

A Star Is Born 2018

Bohemian Rhapsody 2018

Its opening Queen medley gets some credit for the ratings bump.

Green Book 2018

The eventual Best Picture winner; not knowing it would win until the last moment is one theory for the uptick.

The Shape of Water 2017

Cited as part of the ratings baseline from last year's show.

Spider-Man: Far From Home 2019

Half-joking bait for Amanda's 15-year-old sister (a Tom Holland fan) to actually watch next year.

The Lion King 2019

Jon Favreau's remake, floated as the kind of blockbuster the Academy might start giving "respectability" to.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 2019

Sean's joke nomination, not a real prediction.

Alita: Battle Angel 2019

Same joke.

Avengers: Endgame 2019

Sean doesn't think the franchise-closer will actually get nominated.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 2019

Untitled "Episode IX" at the time of recording; Sean predicts a nomination as the trilogy's closer, the way Return of the King got in for Lord of the Rings.

The Irishman 2019

Netflix's awards-season centerpiece, reportedly getting a real theatrical push this time.

The Departed 2006

Scorsese's prior Best Picture win, name-checked since The Irishman feels like a rerun of that same moment.

Widows 2018

The dog-montage question is really a plug for the movie, and for Olivia the dog specifically.

Moonlight 2016

The expanded field's one real surprise winner, looking more anomalous than ever next to Green Book.

Lady Bird 2017

Amanda's example of a film she's glad made it in under the eight-nominee system.

Birdman 2014

Their test case for a film that could have won on a plurality rather than a majority.

Boyhood 2014

The film they think had the passionate second-place support to flip that year.

The Imitation Game 2014

Manchester by the Sea 2016

Arrival 2016

La La Land 2016

Sean thinks its cluster of support, not consensus, is what pushed Moonlight to the win.

12 Years a Slave 2013

One of the last true neck-and-neck races, alongside Gravity.

Gravity 2013

Philomena 2013

Cited as a film that wouldn't have been nominated in a five-slot field.

Nebraska 2013

Her 2013

Roma 2018

Sean says he'd have put it at No. 1 on his own hypothetical ballot regardless of its odds.

The Dark Knight 2008

The "generational wound" question: Amanda doesn't buy that a nomination would have changed the show's audience.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019

Quentin Tarantino's Manson-era film; Amanda is excited and dubious about it in equal measure.

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 2019

Marielle Heller's Mr. Rogers film, with Tom Hanks playing yet another real person.

Queen & Slim 2019

Melina Matsoukas's directorial debut, starring Daniel Kaluuya.

The King 2019

Timothée Chalamet as Henry V, from David Michod.

The Goldfinch 2019

John Crowley's adaptation; Amanda is 78 pages into the novel.

Rocketman 2019

The Elton John biopic; Sean has doubts.

The Woman in the Window

Expected as a 2019 release at the time of this taping (it was ultimately delayed to 2021); the Dan Mallory/AJ Finn scandal loomed over its chances.

The Girl on the Train 2016

Cited as an underwhelming precedent for a Woman in the Window-style thriller.

Harriet 2019

Kasi Lemmons's Harriet Tubman biopic starring Cynthia Erivo.

Little Women 2019

Greta Gerwig's adaptation; one of Sean's most anticipated of the year.

If Beale Street Could Talk 2018

Their pick for the snub people will be most appalled by in ten years.

Sorry to Bother You 2018

Boots Riley's film, raised as an example of a movie that couldn't compete without a campaign budget.

The Favourite 2018

Olivia Colman's film; proof, per Sean, that a real campaign still mattered even for a winner who barely campaigned herself.

Blindspotting 2018

Sean's example for a "best scene" category: he didn't love the film overall but loved a few scenes in it.

The Wife 2017

Close's nominated film. She was the prohibitive favorite despite it being nearly impossible to see before January.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout 2018

A listener's pitch for a lifetime-achievement Tom Cruise nomination; Sean doubts the Academy bites.

Moonstruck 1987

Sean's model for where Lady Gaga's career could go: Cher bounced between music and acting for decades.

Greta 2019

Jordan's paranoid thriller starring Isabelle Huppert and Chloë Grace Moretz; he reframed the script as an urban Hansel and Gretel once Huppert signed on.

The Crying Game 1992

One of the films Sean calls out as a personal favorite; Jordan says the anniversaries keep sneaking up on him.

The Good Thief 2002

Sean's other personal favorite from Jordan's filmography.

Byzantium 2012

Michael Collins 1996

Jordan's answer when asked about a genre he's already tackled: his one war movie.

Angel 1982

Jordan's directorial debut.

The Company of Wolves 1984

His first fairy-tale film, drawn from Angela Carter's reworking of familiar stories.

Mona Lisa 1986

Jordan's own reference point for Greta: a noirish thriller, though less of a "slushy, stalkery" one.

Rebecca 1940

The only Hitchcock film Jordan says he actually thought about while making Greta.

Vertigo 1958

The other Hitchcock film he sees sharing Rebecca's register of doomed romanticism.

Repulsion 1965

Polanski's claustrophobia study, a touchstone for Greta's locked-room dread.

The Vanishing 1988

George Sluizer's film, another claustrophobia reference point Sean brings up.

Interview with the Vampire 1994

Nearing its 25th anniversary at the time of this conversation; Jordan recently rewatched it with an audience.

Excalibur 1981

John Boorman's film. Working on its final draft as Boorman's assistant is how Jordan got into movies.

Velvet Buzzsaw 2019

Jordan's example of a well-made film that vanished the day it dropped on Netflix.

Chinatown 1974

Jordan's pick for a screenplay that reads like a great novel someone forgot to write.

Citizen Kane 1941

His answer for the best screenplay ever written.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape 1989

Cited as the film that kicked off the independent film boom Jordan came up in.

Pulp Fiction 1994

The film Jordan says that same indie boom "peaked" with.

A Quiet Place 2018

Jordan's pick for the last great thing he's seen, praised for its simplicity and its brutal opening.

First Reformed 2017

The other recent film he calls truly special, for Paul Schrader's refusal to move the camera.