Parasite 2019
Comes up via Trump's old complaint about a Best Picture winner from South Korea.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
We Have to Blow Up the Oscars and Start Again
April 30, 2021/ 107 min/ Sean Fennessy · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda pick through the wreckage of a record-low-rated Oscars telecast, run the 2019-2020 best-picture field through a combined re-nomination exercise, and Sean talks to Adam McKay about producing and hosting his NBA history podcast, Death at the Wing.
52 films across 7 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.
The Morning After the Oscarsratings, the ending, and what went wrong
Nomadland 2020
Chloe Zhao's Best Director win, barely acknowledged on the show, gets its due here.
In the Heights 2021
Its trailer aired during the telecast; Sean and Amanda flag it as the next awards-season conversation.
F9 2021
Soderbergh's Gamblethe Anthony Hopkins ending, and what Tenet deserved
The Father 2020
Anthony Hopkins's surprise Best Actor win, and his absence from the ceremony, becomes the whole postmortem.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 2020
The show was built around a Chadwick Boseman win that didn't happen.
Tenet 2020
Sean argues the Academy could have used a bigger push behind it; got no campaign after the Nolan-Warner Bros. rift.
Joker 2019
Cited as proof a prestige-adjacent blockbuster can sneak into Best Picture.
Mailbag: Fix the Broadcaststreaming, hosts, and viewership
Triple Frontier 2019
Cited as a Netflix numbers game example nobody actually loved.
Spenser Confidential 2020
Black Panther 2018
Amanda's answer for how the Oscars actually reach young viewers: better movies aimed at them.
Mailbag: Citizen Kane vs. Paddington 2plus a Terminator 2 origin story
Citizen Kane 1941
Paddington 2 2017
A listener's joke about its inflated internet reputation.
Rango 2011
Amanda's own example of overrating a charming kids' movie.
Mank 2020
Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991
Sean's account of seeing it at nine years old, prompted by a listener question about Steven Yeun's Oscars-night story.
Palm Springs 2020
The one comedy either of them thinks was actually Oscar-worthy this year.
Combining the 2020 and 2021 Best Picture Fields17 nominees, cut down to 10
Parasite 2019
The obvious keep, no debate.
1917 2019
Amanda's a no; Sean would still find room for it.
Ford v Ferrari 2019
Cut, a movie for Bobby's father-in-law.
The Irishman 2019
In.
Jojo Rabbit 2019
Out.
Joker 2019
Out.
Little Women 2019
In.
Marriage Story 2019
In.
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood 2019
In.
Nomadland 2020
Would've been nominated in almost any year.
The Father 2020
Amanda sets it aside despite loving Hopkins's performance.
Judas and the Black Messiah 2021
Debated, ultimately doesn't survive the cut to 10.
Mank 2020
In, largely on the strength of Fincher's craft.
Minari 2020
Makes the cut once the field is set at 10 movies.
Promising Young Woman 2020
Didn't click for Sean.
Sound of Metal 2020
Didn't click for Sean.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 2020
Didn't click for Sean.
Mailbag: Oscar Bait, Voice Acting, and What's Next
Terms of Endearment 1983
Amanda's example of an '80s family coming-of-age film built the same way as Minari.
Hillbilly Elegy 2020
Cited as the kind of prestige-bestseller adaptation that no longer plays.
West Side Story 2021
The Spielberg remake; Amanda is nervous after seeing its Oscars-night promo.
Nightmare Alley 2021
The French Dispatch 2021
House of Gucci 2021
Dune 2021
Licorice Pizza 2021
Referred to by its then-rumored working title, Soggy Bottom.
In conversation
Adam McKay on
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 2004
Adam McKay on
Step Brothers 2008
Adam McKay on
The Big Short 2015
McKay's father lost his house in the crash; the film came from that.
Adam McKay on
Godzilla vs. Kong 2021
Its day-and-date streaming numbers, to McKay, as proof theatrical isn't dead.
Adam McKay on
Don't Look Up 2021
His then-unreleased Netflix film, discussed at length re: cut length and theatrical rollout.
Adam McKay on
The Wolf of Wall Street 2013
His example of a film that played too long in theaters and perfectly on a TV rewatch.
Adam McKay on
Casino 1995
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingRise of the Planet of the ApesShrekGone with the WindAvengers: Endgame
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Small AxeSchitt's CreekSuccessionQ: Into the Storm
Podcasts Death at the WingS-Town
Ads Black Girl SongbookBoar's HeadAmerican Express Business