2018/19 Oscar Sprint Profiles

We're reviewing ALL of the feature films made by Pixar!

Episodes feature...
-Non-Spoiler & Spoiler Sections.
-History of the Pixar Company
-Heartbreaks & Happiness
-The 22 Rules of Storytelling According to Pixar
-Production Profiles detailing the Cast & Crew, Specs & Making Of
-Non Spoiler Reviews of the Script, Production Values, & Performances
-Spoiler Filled Review of the Plot

The Films of Pixar

Black Panther Review - Part 1 - Non-Spoilers

***Part One of Our Two Pod Review of Black Panther which is Spoiler FREE***

When reality sucks: An Intro - Episode Start

Black Panther Review Part 1 of 2

Cast & Crew Bio/ Filmographies:
Coogler, Boseman, Jordan, N’yongo, Gurira, etc… - 2:50
Production Profile - 18:50
Movie Specs - 28:03
Review of Production Values - 34:18
Performances - 42:53
Spoiler Episode Previews/Tease - 45:14
Cultural Touchstones - 46:10
Watch/Don’t Watch - 48:47


Spoiler Filled Review Coming Soon in Part 2.

“And we’re back!”  It was so good to podcast again alongside my pal, Mike No 1.  He had a tough week, and we explain why we haven’t posted since last weekend.  Just know we’re thrilled to dive back into things here with a two part Black Panther Movie Event Pod, which for the record, may also turn out to be an Early Bird 2018-19 Oscar Profile.  

We go off on tangents early and often, leave some bloopers in the episode cuz we think it's more amusing that way, and if it's possible, I think the few days away from recording leave us all the weirder.

Part One is jam packed.  We begin with the Cast & Crew bios and filmographies of Ryan Coogler, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita N’yongo, and Danai Gurira.  Then we gush over the rest of the dream cast including Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Sterling K. Brown, and break-out stars, Letitia Wright and Winston Duke.

Our Production Notes cover some of the highlights from the promotional tour interviews from Coogler and the cast.  Then we chronicle the long brewing development of the film from its early Wesley Snipes inception days to Ava Duvernay all the way to the launch of the Wakanda plotline in Captain America: Civil War and Ryan Coogler’s courtship with Marvel going into this film.

No 1 has all the movie specs, including the eye popping box office and critical / audience reviews of the film, and we then dive into our review of the production values.  We praise Rachel Morrison’s cinematography, the trademark Disney Marvel visual effects, Kendrick Lamar’s soundtrack, the rich tapestry of cultural influences affecting the costume and production designs, and  then we do a non-spoiler analysis of the screenwriting.  We have some quibbles throughout, but we’re mostly in awe of this landmark accomplishment.  The rest of the review teases some of our best / worst scenes and comments on the film’s impact on our culture and the industry at large.  

Part 2 of our Black Panther review will be a spoiler filled look at the plot, and we’ll discuss the reverberations this movie event has had upon Hollywood and upon the zeitgeist at large.  In retrospect, having the chance to digest the film for a bit longer has given us a greater perspective of this movie event, and we’re proud of the substantive discussion we have coming soon in Part 2.  So do stay tuned.

Our Best Original Screenplay, Director, and Picture category review pods are coming as soon as we can record, edit, and release.  We’ll be grinding through the weekend and sending them out ASAFP for you all over the next week as we continue to sprint through this Oscar Season.  We’ll have an Oscar Prediction pod, as well as the Mike Mike & Oscars, where we’ll give you our best films and performances on the year.

As always, thank you for all your support throughout our first Award Season in the life of this podcast.  We’re having a blast recording all these episodes, and if you can help us spread the word through social media or with some old school -tell a friend - word of mouth, then please do.  We truly appreciate the help.  When reality sucks, do watch movies with us.  We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Black Panther Part 1 - The spoiler FREE Review - Ep 42

***This Incredibles 2 Review has a Spoiler Section***
The first (36) minutes are spoiler FREE.  Then we play some spoiler music & dive into the plot.

Non-Spoiler Section for The Incredibles 2

Production Profile (Bird, Hunter, Long Development)  - 3:22
Movie Specs (Record Box Office + Critics) - 10:51
Expectations (Raised by the Brand of Pixar?) - 14:26
Theater Going Experience (Giggly Kids) - 18:14
Production Values (Sight to Sound) - 21:43
Performances (Our Favorite Characters) - 26:52
Best/Worst Scenes (Jack Jack is funny) - 31:27
Oscar Lens (Best Animated Feature Plus?) - 32:16
Final Nonspoiler Thoughts (Watch or Don’t) - 34:08

Spoiler Warning Music Break - 35:25

Spoiler-Filled Section for The Incredibles 2

Carryovers/Worst Scenes (A Villain Problem) - 36:35
Best Scenes (The Action Sequences) - 43:29
More Best Scenes (The Jack Jack fight) - 51:54
Final Final Thoughts (And Grades) - 54:15

SOCIAL MEDIA AND COMMENT ON OUR ITUNES!  - 56:58


The Incredibles 2 is breaking box office records for animated films and putting up numbers closer to MCU films.  Our production profile breaks down the cast & crew, the original film, and the production story behind the sequel.  Then we discuss some of those early box office numbers and the high marks from critics and audiences alike in our overview of the movie specs.

The Mikes took another field trip to the movies, and we share our theater going story.  We also discuss whether or not the Disney Pixar brand should raise our expectations, or do we lower them for animated films.  Then we dive into our reviews of the production values including the eye popping animation and nostalgic musical score.

These characters are fun and fantastic, and we share our favorites while also mentioning which storylines may have fallen a bit flat as we do a brief non-spoiler review of the script.  Then we glance over some best & worst scenes before offering our Oscar Lens on where the film may get nominated come awards season.

The spoiler music plays, and we open up with some of our worst scenes, but fear not.  We come back around for a lot more praise for the film’s action and comedy as we break down all those best scenes we alluded to in the non-spoiler section.  We end with our final grades and describe how we got there, putting a bookend on the two sections of the pod.  How do our expectations & particular tastes affect the takeaways from this kind of movie?  Tune in and fine out!

The Incredibles 2 is the latest in a long line of 2018 films we’ve reviewed as movie events.  Check out our episodes on The Cloverfield Paradox, Black Panther, A Quiet Place, Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Hereditary to catch up on possible Oscar contenders.  We’ve also given some way to early predictions for next year’s award season (ep 53), we’ve reviewed Cannes, Sundance, and SXSW in ep. 71, and we’ve previewed March & April (52), May & June (67), and we will preview July & August in our next episode.

Our Oscar Off-Season rolls on as we’ve also reviewed the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we’ve mined Oscar history for some fun retrospectives including 6 Best Original Song halfisodes, the 1989 Best Original Screenplay, and 1991 Best Actress races.  There’s a ton of fun movie talk.  So do check out our massive catalog of episodes.

Chat with us on social media, and let us know your thoughts on The Incredibles 2. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, and Gmail.  We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter.  Find our show on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, etc…, and please leave us a positive review if you enjoy our stuff. As always, thank you for listening.  When reality sucks, watch movies with us.

The Incredibles 2 Oscar Sprint Profile - New Oscars Race, Same Super Family - Ep 78

Rami Malek can act.

***This review of Rami- I mean, Bohemian Rhapsody has a Spoiler Section***

Intro / What’s an OSP? - Top of the Show
Cast featuring Mr. Robot & the kid from Jurassic Park - 2:00
Production Notes & the Saga of the behind the scenes backstory - 8:00
Movie Specs & Some Crazy Ass Numbers - 22:13
A Roller Coaster of Expectations - 26:44
Oscar Lens, which is focused on 1 Nom/Production Values - 31:17
Final Thoughts/Watch or Don’t - 40:42

Spoiler Music - 41:49


Immediate Carryovers + David Bowie/Worst Scenes - 43:31
Rami as Freddie - 54:18
Best Scenes/Live Aid/More Issues - 55:40
Screenwriting Class - 1:01:24
Final Grades - 1:03:20

Outro / A Bunch More OSPs to come - 1:04:15

Well, they sure played the hits, and I’m listening to the soundtrack as I write these show notes. So if one thing is for sure, the music did not disappoint. We had both praise and critique to throw around on this loaded movie review of Bohemian Rhapsody in this Oscars Sprint Profile.  

Go back and listen to our Filmography of Queen episode where we discuss and rank all the best Queen songs in movies. That’s halfisode 23.  We’ll also have a Music Movies special for you early next week where we breakdown our top 5 performances in biopics both fictional and true to life, plus all the great roles from chart toppers turned thespians.

Bohemian Rhapsody is also making some chart topping box office this weekend, and we’re all over it’s success with 3 episodes dedicated to the genre, the film, and the great band on which this blockbuster is based. So enjoy the soundtrack and then our review, or vice versa. MMO is all over this Rami Malek / Freddie Mercury movie event.

Our non-spoiler portion of the show opens up with a discussion of the loaded cast, headlined by the terrific performance by Rami Malek. Then we chronicle the saga about the director(s) of the film before giving you the lowdown on the production backstory.  We then gush over the production values as we get some serious movie goods delivered through more than just the visual sense from this movie.

The spoiler warning dance music plays, we riff on David Bowie opportunities missed, and then we dive into our analysis of the plot. There’s a lot of worst scenes mixed into the highs of this movie. Rami Malek is undeniably good as the epic frontman, but the script may commit some unforgivable sins.  Do you agree?

Let us know on social media. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, where we’re most active, and do send us those Six Degrees Of MMO responses for challenge number 4: Jamie Lee Curtis to Mike Myers. See if you can work in Bohemian Rhapsody as Mr. Myers is in it, and we’ll read our winners on the pod in a coming episode. Last, but not least, do remember our slogan. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us! We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar.

Bohemian Rhapsody Oscar Sprint Profile - Mr. Robot Turns Mr. Mercury - 2018 OSP - Ep 123

Mahershala, here’s another Oscar.

***This Review of Green Book has a Spoiler Section***
Although for the record, we spoil the ever living shit out of Hidalgo pretty early on in this podcast, if that means anything to ya. 

What is an OSP? - 1:14

Non-Spoiler Review of Green Book

Cast & Crew & Viggo / Mahershala Filmographies - 2:05
Movie Specs & Our Theories on the Critical Numbers - 11:54
Plot Premise / Expectations - 19:10
Best Picture / Director Oscar Lens & Our Teaser Review - 22:27
Review of the Production Values - 26:45
THESE Performances. Wow. - 29:42
Final Thoughts & Screenplay Criticisms - 34:12

Spoiler Warning Dance Music - 37:04

The Plot Overview - 38:55
Worst Scenes - 43:03
Best Scenes - 51:03
Final Final Thoughts & Grades - 1:00:43

Outro / Social Media / Words of Wisdom? - 1:01:43

Green Book is a MAJOR Oscars contender, worthy of an opening night review from us. The performances certainly lived up to the hype, but can the movie live up to pre-season expectations? Can it knock off A Star Is Born, & what is it’s path to victory? We dive into these questions & many more in this Oscar Sprint Profile.

As always, you get two reviews for the price of one. Our non-spoiler section discusses some of essential filmographies of the key cast & crew including Peter Farrelly, Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, and Linda Cardellini. We break down how and why that 70 metascore number has come to be, theorizing on some past trends in recent Best Picture votes. Then we view the rest of our non-spoiler review of the production values, performances, and script through an Oscar Lens before we dance.

In the spoiler section, we cover the essential plotline, but take the time to analyze several of the best & worst scenes & sequences. Since there’s a lot to like and dislike about the movie, we have substantive discussions on this genre and how it’s played to the Academy in year’s past. Plus, you get several anecdotes about Italian family dinners past, present, and future.

We’re burning the candle at both ends to cover as many of these Oscar films and movie events as we possibly can. Do check out our massive catalog of previous episodes and scroll down for our playlists on our Soundcloud account. As we did last year, we’ll cover all of the major nominees later if not sooner, but we will get to them all. Though we have had a ton of fun with these premiere night viewing / recording sessions, and Green Book was certainly another wild late night behind the microphones.

Did you see Green Book? Do you agree or disagree with our stances? Let us know on social media. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and our website mikemikeandoscar.com is under construction and nearing a launch date. 

Please have fun with our most recent SixDegreesOfMMO movie trivia challenge number 6. You can hear our round 5 winners on our most recent MMO Weekly episode that also featured our most recent Oscar Race update, & we’ll read our next set of winners on MMOW 3!

When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar!

Green Book Review - 2018 Oscar Sprint Profile - A New Leader in a Major Category - Ep 132

But will Roma win Best Picture?

***This Episode Has a Spoiler Section***

Intro / What’s an OSP? Our Experiences with Roma - Top of the Show

Non-Spoiler Review of Roma

Cast & Crew & Pre-School Teachers - 2:35
Production Notes of Robberies & Brawls On Set - 5:48
Movie Specs with some of the Highest Critical Numbers Ever - 9:20
Plot / Premise, Expectations, & Teaser Reviews - 11:32
Review of Production Values/Oscar Lens pt 1 - 17:32
Performances - 25:16
Script Thoughts - 32:06
Oscar Lens, pt 2 - 33:41
Final Nonspoiler Thoughts/Watch or Not - 39:34

Spoiler Warning Dance Music - 40:21

Immediate Carryovers/We Have to Talk About It - 41:52
Plot Walkthrough - 45:51
(Daddy’s Home - 48:02)
(Cleo’s Drama - 52:04)
(Bests + Worsts Throughout: Holidays - 54:57)
(Cleo’s Relationships - 59:53)
(Bests: Shopping for Cribs - 1:02:08)
(Worsts: More Fermin + CPR - 1:04:08)
(Bests: Far From Shore - 1:09:50)
Final Grades - 1:13:52

Outro / Social Media / Words of Wisdom - 1:15:09


Some films bowl us over upon first watch. Others must take several watches to affect us. As one of the major contenders of this awards season, Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma seemed to create each of these reactions from the Mikes, and we cannot wait to see how it affects both the Academy and the movie watching public at large. So be sure to let us know.

We follow our usual OSP format of non-spoiler and then spoiler filled reviews with a musical breakdown in between sections. There’s an Oscar Lens in between where we breakdown what the film has already accomplished and how it may fare after future red carpets. Our projections may surprise you.

This episode also proves to be one of our more technically focused reviews. Cuaron is a master of camerawork, and we compare his filmography with that of our other favorite directors. But this was not a film where style ruled over substance. We discuss how Cuaron’s childhood and how the women of his upbringing found their way here. Then we ask one of the biggest questions of awards season. Could the role of the streaming giant, Netflix help or hurt it’s ultimate chances at the major trophies?

This is our 27th Oscars Sprint Profile of the year, and as we did in 2017, we’re well on our way to reviewing all of the major nominees. In fact, perhaps we will have reviewed ALL of the nominees by the time it’s Oscars are handed out. Between our OSP series and our new MMO Weekly show, we’re working overtime to review and preview all of the best films of 2018. Keep watching those movies with us.

We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. We are at MMandOscar on Twitter, and you can find our show just about everywhere you might listen to podcasts: iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, and Spotify, to name a few. Please like, share, & review us when and where able. We certainly appreciate any help spreading the word about our show. Thank you once again, and happy holidays!

Roma 2018 Oscar Sprint Profile - One Big Package (of a Movie) - Ep 141

***This OSP of The Favourite has a Spoiler Section***

Intro / What’s an OSP? - Top of the Show

Non-Spoiler Review of The Favourite
Cast & Crew & Thomas the Tank Engine - 2:19
Production Notes & Why Churchill should get a writing credit - 9:18
Movie Specs - 17:48
An Excellent Premise & Our Expectations or lack thereof - 24:46
Production Values - 28:13
Performances & Script Thoughts - 36:16
Watch or Don’t - 37:24
Oscars Lens - 42:28

Spoiler Warning Dance Music - 44:53


SPOILER - FILLED REVIEW 
Plot Overview/Starting at the End - 46:55
Best Scenes - 54:43
Worst Scene - 56:42
(Who Sarah Really Is - 57:22)
More Bests - 58:29

Final Thoughts & Grades - 1:07:41

Outro/ Social Media / Words of Wisdom - 1:10:15


From the critical reception to the precursors to the film itself, the Favourite feels like one of the most Oscar-y movies of the year and one of the safest bets come nomination time. Perhaps that’s why this was one of the easier and smoothest recording sessions in our history. Or maybe we just took our cue from great screenplay of The Favourite. In any case, we thoroughly enjoyed this conversation about one of the year’s best.

Our non-spoiler review covers a lot of ground as we offer filmographies of Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, and Olivia Coleman, who all seem to be contenders. Then we dive into our reviews of the production values, which if they aren’t yet contenders, we think they probably should be. There’s also a ton of history to analyze both in terms of the production notes and the production process as Yorgos Lanthimos distinguishes himself from his previous films to deliver perhaps his most palatable, if not most polished film to date.

The spoiler section kicks off with an awkward joke, as they tend to do. Then we dive into many of our best scenes, the one we shared as our worst, and of course, we break down the final scenes. Now if you’re keeping score at home, we actually failed to mention one of our Best Scenes of the Year that we mentioned on Wednesday’s halfisode. So go back and enjoy that discussion as we kick ourselves now. But it just goes to show you how many great scenes we wanted to talk about in the episode.

It’s our 30th Oscars Sprint Profile on the year, and do go back to our massive catalog in order to plan your next movie night, or nights as you prepare to bone up on all your Oscar contenders before Hollywood’s big night now less than two months away.  We also have a ton of preview episodes and award season updates and primers, not the least of which, we bring to you on a weekly basis with our new variety show MMOW. 

Although we love everything Oscar related, our podcast does enjoy taking a detour whenever the mood strikes. We cover plenty of blockbusters in our Movie Event series as well as some of our favorite movie series like the MCU, Mission Impossibles, Conjuring films, Halloween Franchise, and we just finished reviewing 3 of our beloved childhood Christmas films this past month as we led you through the holidays by way of memory lane.

Bottom Line: we’re having a ton of fun, and we thank you for listening. Let us know what you think of this movie or any of the many others. We’re Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and our show is available wherever you may listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, watch movies with us!

The Favourite 2018 Oscar Sprint Profile - All About Abigail - Ep 145

Featuring some History on the Pixar Company & their 22 Rules of Screenwriting.

***This Review of Toy Story has a Spoiler Section***

How These Episodes Will Work - 1:29

NON-SPOILER SECTION
Cast and Crew - 3:11
How Pixar Got Here - 7:22
How Toy Story Got Made - 14:19
Movie Specs - 18:09
Plot Premise/Expectations - 22:30
Production Values - 25:31
Performances - 28:46
Oscars Lens - 31:22

Spoiler Warning - 32:30

SPOILER-FILLED SECTION
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting Number 1 - 33:48
Scenes of Heartbreak - 38:04
Swallowing Our Happy Pills - 39:33
Screenwriting, Story, Technical, and Settings Highlights - 47:21

Where This Film Fits in the Pixar Universe - 51:45
What’s Next? - 53:50

HOMEWORK FOR YOU and Thank You- 56:35

Words of Wisdom/Social Media - 57:32


By popular demand, with Toy Story 4 coming out at the end of June, and since as a film appreciation podcast, we couldn’t love a series of movies as much as these, Mike, Mike, and Oscar begins it’s Pixar re-watch. We did a full series on the entire Marvel Cinematic last spring. This year, we wanted to both hit our brand of Oscar films, while also staying current by previewing you for what will be a huge movie event with the next Toy Story. We also get to learn from both the Pixar business model & production story AND the 22 Rules of Pixar Storytelling, well known and studied by screenwriters around the world as a few added segments to these reviews.

In this episode, we begin where it all started for computer generated feature film animation, in Andy’s Room with 1995’s Toy Story. As promised, Mike 1 chronicles the early history of the Pixar brand, how it got off the ground at Lucasfilm, with steward Steve Jobs, and how they eventually found their home at Disney to make this inaugural Oscar winning film.

We otherwise follow some familiar formatting, as you’ve come to know & love with our Oscar Sprint Profile, Movie Event, & Retrospective film reviews. There’s a non-spoiler section filled with the background & behind the scenes information followed by a non-spoiler review of the production values, performances, script, & Oscar Lens before we dive into the plot in a spoiler section forewarned by some dance music.

Then once we begin that spoiler section, we debut our 22 Rules of Screenwriting segment and go over Rule No. 1, followed by two more unique additions of Heartbreaks and Happiness, AKA, where this cartoon film managed to tug on our heart-strings and then why it made us so happy. There’s still a look into some more of our bests and worsts, and we further break down why the screenplay is so very special before we complete the review & let you know what’s coming next in the series. Hint, we won’t always go in order. But don’t worry cuz there be monsters.

As always, let us know what you think. Which moments broke your heart & made you the most happy? We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Toy Story '95 Review - The MMO Pixar Series Re-Watch Part 1 - Getting to a Revolution - Ep 184

Feat. State of the Pixar Company, their 22 Rules of Storytelling + Heartbreaks & Happiness!

What is The Pixar Re-Watch Series? - Top of Show

NON-SPOILER SECTION
Cast and Crew - 3:12
How Pixar Got Here - 8:47
How the Monsters Movies Were Made - 19:42
Movie(s’) Specs - 23:56
(WAS MONSTERS U. NECESSARY? - 30:12)
Plot Premises/Expectations - 31:58
Production Values - 33:54
Performances - 37:18
(Including AlsoMike’s Amazing Billy Crystal Impression - 40:25)
Oscars Lens - 41:41

Spoiler Warning - 44:05

SPOILER-FILLED SECTION
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 2  - 45:25
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 3 - 50:01
Scenes of Heartbreak - 53:30
(Emotional Investment vs Emotionally Lacking - 57:00)
(Relying on Tech vs Relying on Counter Convention - 59:31)
Swallowing Our Happy Pills - 1:01:18
Highlights and Criticisms - 1:07:30

What’s Next? - 1:11:34

Words of Wisdom/Social Media - 1:13:10



Our Pixar rewatch continues, and we debut a new theme song! Mike 1 out does himself as he sings a parody of perhaps still the most recognizable song from the series at large, and boy, does he live large in this song. What a ham / gotta love him.

We had a blast once again reviewing 2 more Pixar films, Monsters Inc. & Monsters University. As advertised, we shall take on the pixar rewatch somewhat out of order so that we can discuss the separate franchises in one sitting, and then next major franchise of the series after the Toy Story films are these Monsters movies. So it’s fitting that we reboot our rewatch with these two thoroughly entertaining and heartwarming tales about monsters becoming and staying friends.

The format of these episodes sticks to our tried & true movie review structure that we’ve come to follow for all our Oscar Sprint Profiles, Movie Event, & Retrospective reviews. There’s a non-spoiler section complete with a production profile of cast & crew, movie specs, production nuggets, and spoiler free reviews of the production values, performances, and script. Then we have a spoiler warning dance musical interlude before we break down the plots in full during our spoiler section. But we also have added several important segments to this rewatch series. In the non-spoiler section, we dive into the state of the Pixar company and discuss the environment at the time of production going into the making-of these films. In the spoiler section, we discuss 2 more rules in the 22 Rules of Pixar Storytelling, and we also have a terrific chat about all of the moments that warmed our hearts by breaking them first and of course, all the moments that just made us super happy in segment we’re calling Heartbreaks & Happiness.

We finish with some more Best & Worst scenes in the spoiler section, and yes, we also talk about how both films played to the Academy in our non-spoiler Oscar Lens. Throughout the journey though, we also have a blast dissecting how Pixar tells their unique and uniquely entertaining stories. This rewatch has been a joy to prepare and record thus far, and we hope you have half as much fun as we are when you listen.

As always, let us know what you think. Which moments broke your heart & made you the most happy? We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Monsters Inc. + University Review -MMO Pixar Series Re-Watch P 2 - Long Beautiful Hair - Ep 188

We forgot how good this movie was. There’s a detailed update in our History of the Pixar Company segment, & we break down Rule 4 in Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.

What is Our Pixar Re-Watch Series - 2:05
 
NON-SPOILER SECTION
Cast and Crew - 4:01
How Pixar Got Here - 6:58
How the Monsters Movies Were Made - 15:41
Movie Specs - 18:47
Plot Premises/Expectations - 25:15
Production Values - 26:25
Script Thoughts/Performances - 30:51

Spoiler Warning - 33:08

SPOILER-FILLED SECTION
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 4 - 34:09
Scenes of Heartbreak - 36:39
Swallowing Our Happy Pills, Kind Of - 39:49
A Sopranos Moment?! - 43:26
Highlights and Criticisms - 45:31
Issues w/ the Male Gaze - 48:46
Final Thoughts - 51:35

Words of Wisdom/Social Media - 52:24


A Bug’s Life is a bit of a forgotten film in Pixar’s anthology. We analyze why that might be, but for the record - we also loved re-watching this film more than we thought possible. It’s another episode in our Pixar Re-Watch series heading into Toy Story 4, and it’s a joy.

Like our normal movie review episodes, there’s a non-spoiler section followed by a musical interlude warning you of the spoilers to come. We discuss all the talent involved in the cast & crew, we break down all the numbers that matter in specs, and we tell you about some of the production backstory happening behind the scenes. But we also add another segment to our introductory profile on the film. You get a detailed History of the Pixar Company so you can track the highlights and low-lights of how silicon valley produced one of the greatest and most successful series in the annals of cinema. (Probably shouldn’t have used the word, “annals,” but I’m gonna stick with it.)

Our non-spoiler section continues with reviews of the production values & in this instance, the animation, and then we review the voice acting performances & some script thoughts before giving you the spoiler warning dance music. Then in spoilers, we open with our segment on the 22 Rules of Pixar Storytelling. This episode discusses rule 4, and we continue to drop our jaws at how tight and terrific these scripts turn out to be.

We’ve also added another fun segment in our spoiler section: Heartbreaks & Happiness, where we discuss how these cartoons both touch our hearts and then somehow make us so very very happy. You get an additional script breakdown as well as more of our bests & worsts, and in this episode, we actually drop some MMO grades. We’re loving this re-watch thus far. So do please tell your friends. It’s been a blast.

As always, let us know what you think. Which moments broke your heart & made you the most happy? We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

A Bug's Life Review - MMO Pixar Re-Watch P 3 - You Look Like Better Antz From Up Here - Ep 190

Our Pixar Re-Watch continues, and yes, we timed The Incredibles for Avengers: Endgame. There’s the usual added segments on the History of the Pixar Company, their 22 Rules of Storytelling, and then of course, Heartbreaks & Happiness.

How This Show Works - 2:00

NON-SPOILER SECTION
Cast and Crew - 3:36
How Pixar Got Here - 6:42
Production Nuggets - 15:15
Movie Specs - 17:18
Plot Premises/Expectations - 21:00
Script Thoughts - 23:44
Production Values - 26:00
(Character Design - 31:24)
Oscars Lens - 34:06

Spoiler Warning - 35:50

SPOILER-FILLED SECTION
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 5 - 37:13
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 6 - 39:51
Scenes of Heartbreak/Heart Warming Joy - 43:42
Happy Pills + Highlights - 45:38
Worsts + Issues - 51:06
Final Thoughts - 56:32

Words of Wisdom/Social Media - 58:44


We allude to The Incredibles 2 in this film, but we focus on the first movie. There’s an OSP in our back catalog on last year’s Best Animated Feature nominee, as well as lots of coverage & prognostication during that awards season analyzing Brad Bird’s chances for another Oscar. Do check out our “Films of Pixar” playlist on Soundcloud, where we’ll add both this episode & that Oscar Season review of the long awaited sequel.

The Incredibles marks our 4th installment in the Pixar Re-Watch ahead of June 21st’s Toy Story 4. We’ll dive back into the Buzz & Woody sequels closer to the movie event. But do go back and enjoy our first 3 shows in this series where we reviewed Toy Story, both Monsters Inc. & University, and then A Bug’s Life. Though we’re taking the films somewhat out of order, we are having an absolute blast with these reviews.

Brad Bird broke through with audiences, critics, and Academy members with his Pixar debut, a relationship that’ll become both frequent & profitable for both Bird & the company. We chronicle some of the connections between Lasseter & Bird before we discuss why the company brought in some outside help instead of continuing to lean on their founding fathers. That History of the Pixar Company segment is our non-spoiler review addition. Then in spoilers, we add two new segments including our ongoing analysis of the 22 Rules of Pixar Storytelling before we discuss our bests & other best scenes in Heartbreaks & Happiness. We also pose a ton of questions about the target audience, the genre, and why this film broke through at the Oscars.

It’s another loaded installment in our Pixar Re-Watch. Stay tuned for future episodes as we still have another 15 films to go, and do check out our OSP of The Incredibles 2, which turned out to be one of our more listened to episodes at that time. So we were & we’re still proud of that one.

As always, we want to know what you think of these Pixar films. Do tell us your heartbreak & happiness moments. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

The Incredibles Review - A Movie for...Kids? - MMO Pixar Re-Watch P.4 - Ep 193

We have some hot takes & comps for both Finding Nemo & Finding Dory in this episode. There’s a non-spoiler section first with a History of the Pixar Company segment, and in spoilers, we discuss Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.


How This Show Works - 1:42

NON-SPOILER SECTION
Cast and Crew - 3:25
How Pixar Got Here - 9:08
Production Nuggets - 16:07
Movie Specs - 17:32
Plot Premises/Expectations - 24:15
Production Values:
Animation/Sight - 29:19
Sound - 34:34
Performances - 35:42
Script/Lens Thoughts - 38:21

Spoiler Warning - 43:47


SPOILER-FILLED SECTION
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 7 - 45:45
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Screenwriting No. 8 - 49:49
Scenes of Heartbreak - 53:33
Happy Pills + Highlights - 56:55
More Bests + Worsts - 58:48
Final Thoughts - 1:03:42

Your Homework/Coming Next for MMO - 1:05:43
Words of Wisdom/Social Media - 1:06:51


Another episode of our Pixar Re-Watch for the catalog, and we continue to learn so much from the company that took Silicon Valley to Hollywood. We discuss 2003’s Finding Nemo and 2016’s Finding Dory in this jam packed episode, and I’m as surprised as you are, but there are some hot takes. Yes, we love & respect these films. Though they’re not quite as critic proof as the others. There’s some shocking comparables for these plots, and we discuss fairy tale storytelling at its core.

The backstory might be as perilous and fascinating as the story onscreen for these films. The production values of these Pixar films continue to amaze us, and we discuss some of the innovations and struggles they had behind the scenes. Pixar and Disney also came to quite the stand-off coming out of the recording breaking box office of Finding Nemo. So we also set the stage for a major negotiation between the unstoppable newcomer and the immovable corporate giant. There are Godfather comparisons here, and that’s only the start of it.

After we complete our non-spoiler reviews, we dive into 2 more rules of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling. We’re up to numbers 7 & 8, and we love how the rules seem to jump back and forth from writing structure to writing process. Hopefully, the story junkies in our audience are enjoying this analysis half as much as we are. 

Of course, there are plenty of heartbreaking scenes in both films, as well as payoffs that leave us so happy, and we enjoy the heck out of our Heartbreaks & Happiness segment in spoilers. We also extrapolate into more bests & worsts before we close out the review. This is the fifth installment in our Pixar Series Re-Watch, and we’re having an absolute blast reliving all the action, drama, & comedy of these terrific Oscar worthy and predominantly nominated films.

As always, let us know what these Pixar films have meant to you. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!

Finding Nemo + Dory Reviews - Pixar Outgrows Disney - MMO Pixar Re-Watch P. 5 - Ep 196

MMO is talk radio for movie fans with weekly news shows, reviews, previews, and special guests. We celebrate the Oscars by making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. If you love cinema, if you love showbiz, welcome home.