The Wife 2018
Glenn Close's Critics' Choice tie with Lady Gaga prompts a confession from both hosts that neither has seen it.
The Big Picture · Discussion
What Does 'Best Picture' Even Mean? | The Oscars Show (Ep. 117)
January 15, 2019/ 48 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda work through Critics' Choice, the guild nominations, SAG's tantrum, the Green Book scandal cycle, and what "Best Picture" should actually mean, five weeks before the Oscars.
36 films across 5 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.
Critics' Choice, the Guilds, and the BAFTAsPGA, DGA, WGA, SAG, and BAFTA nominations roll out
Roma 2018
Wins Best Picture and Best Director at Critics' Choice, its first big glitzy win after a quiet awards season.
Black Panther 2018
BlacKkKlansman 2018
Bohemian Rhapsody 2018
Crazy Rich Asians 2018
The Favourite 2018
Green Book 2018
A Quiet Place 2018
A Star Is Born 2018
Nominated by nearly every craft guild but hasn't won anything besides "Shallow"; Amanda's theory is it's too well-rounded to isolate a single element to reward.
Vice 2018
The Hosting CircusKevin Hart's exit and the Avengers-as-host plan
The Upside 2019
Hart and Bryan Cranston's dramedy tops the box office that same weekend, proof his fan base hasn't gone anywhere.
Avengers: Infinity War 2018
The pitch: put the cast in tuxes and let them present instead of naming a single host.
Mr. Wrong 1996
Amanda's example of a great Oscars host with almost no actual connection to movies: Ellen DeGeneres's one big-screen credit.
Green Book-pocalypseStock Up, Stock Down
Green Book 2018
A co-writer's old tweet and a resurfaced Peter Farrelly profile from the '90s roil the campaign a week after its Globes win; both hosts doubt it moves the nominations.
What Does "Best Picture" Even Mean?Amanda's two-part test: genuinely great, and a movie people keep talking about
Roma 2018
A Star Is Born 2018
Black Panther 2018
Amanda's pick for where the Oscars should be looking: a comic book movie doing what westerns and musicals used to do.
Shoplifters 2018
Sean's counterpoint: it moved him but didn't stay with him the way Black Panther has.
The Apartment 1960
Amanda's example, from her piece, of the Oscars actually rewarding something sophisticated.
Driving Miss Daisy 1989
The regression, three decades later.
The Shape of Water 2017
Last year's winner, technically impressive, and nobody talks about it anymore.
The Social Network 2010
The recurring should-have-won comparison for A Star Is Born: a big, likable movie that didn't change anyone's mind.
Working Girl 1988
Turned 30 the year before and people were still writing about it, Amanda's bar for staying power.
The Greatest Show on Earth 1952
Sean's example of a Best Picture winner that only tells you about the voters, not the movies.
Moonlight 2016
La La Land 2016
Get Out 2017
Phantom Thread 2017
Lady Bird 2017
Looking Ahead to NominationsGuesses ahead of next week's announcement
Crazy Rich Asians 2018
Phantom Thread 2017
BlacKkKlansman 2018
John David Washington and Adam Driver keep showing up everywhere; Sean expects four or five nominations.
First Reformed 2018
Paul Schrader's Critics' Choice screenplay win for a film that's been a critical darling, not a commercial one.
Leave No Trace 2018
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV True Detective
Ads The Flat Circle