Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 87 of the Director Watch Podcast, the boys are joined by our Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson to discuss the next film in their Mike Nichols series,&nbsp;The Birdcage (1996).   For the better part of two decades, Mike Nichols was chasing the idea of directing some version of the iconic play, La Cage aux Folles. Nichols called the play “one of the greatest comedy structures” of all time, and knew he to be involved with it somehow. So in the mid-1990s, he was able to convince the studios and producers to let him make an American remake of the play and have his longtime, iconic stage collaborator, Elaine May, to write the script; and thus The Birdcage was born. Centering around a gay Miami couple whose son is set to marry the daughter of a conservative U.S. senator, The Birdcage is a groundbreaking, iconic comedy that remains hilarious and timely to this day thanks to the incredible ensemble cast, May’s sharp script, and Nichols steady direction bringing it all together. Ryan, Jay, and Erik discuss their thoughts on the film, what their favorite performance is in the movie, how Nichols was able to wrangle Robin Williams’ persona in, the dozens of iconic lines, the entire third act of the film, and tangents, tangents, tangents.   You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.   This podcast runs 1h55m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Mike Nichols with a review of his next film, Primary Colors. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.   Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 87 - 'The Birdcage' (Mike Nichols, 1996)

There are some major changes coming to the very next Oscars ceremony...and they're not good.

Yesterday, the Academy, in a bombshell announcement, revealed that they would be creating a new category: Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film. 

After yet another year of dropping ratings, this attempt to secure viewership from audiences that have shelled out their money to the year’s blockbusters like Black Panther, Mission: Impossible Fallout and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, can be assured that ‘popular’ will now equal ‘best.’ 

The Board of Governors have also committed to a 3-hour telecast. Even though ad rates for the Oscars are still among the highest in television, the length of the Academy Awards has always been the butt of jokes, often by the host themselves. One of the ways the show intends to shorten the running time won’t be asking winners to make quicker speeches but to move some categories to commercial breaks. Other awards shows implement this already, like the Tonys or the the MTV Movie Awards, and it’s likely that categories such as Live Action Short (and its kind) will be moved there. 

The third big change won’t involve next year’s Oscars but the 92nd Academy Awards. They’re moving up from their previously announced date of February 23rd to February 9th. That is going to result in a seismic shift in every other awards show, nomination date and give pause for every studio in how they dole out their fall and winter releases. 

In this podcast, I am joined by returning guest Daniel Joyaux, freelance film writer (The Verge, Vanity Fair, Moviemaker magazine and more) and publications editor for the Sundance Film Festival.

We discuss in enraged detail each of these changes (and the real reason behind them), whether they'll be able to withstand the barrage of hate they received on social media and I posit a way that maybe, just maybe this new category nonsense might actually work the way they want it to. 

This podcast runs 1h 29m

Oscar Podcast #67: Academy Drops Bombshell New Category and more

This week gave us the lineups of two of the fall’s biggest festivals, Venice and Toronto.

On this 66th Oscar podcast, I am joined by freelance film writer (you can find his work at The Verge, Vanity Fair, Moviemaker magazine and more) and publications editor for the Sundance Film Festival, Daniel Joyaux.

While these festival announcements always give us great intel on how studios are positioning their fall and winter awards releases, it’s often the films that are missing that give us even bigger clues. Where are Bohemian Rhapsody, Boy Erased, Destroyer and Mary Queen of Scots? Some may show up at Telluride, others may be added to Toronto’s lineup next month (there are still three Gala spots and 30 Special Presentation slots open).

Venice will give us premiere of Damien Chazelle’s First Man, while Toronto will world premiere Steve McQueen’s Widows and If Beale Street Could Talk from Barry Jenkins. Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma looks set to hit every major festival – Venice, Toronto, NYFF and Telluride. All eyes will be on the follow-ups of these Oscar-winning directors.

The Cannes/Netflix kerfuffle earlier this summer proved to be the gain of both Venice and Toronto as each festival is flush with debuts from the streaming service. The Coen brothers’ anthology series (which will apparently compete as a feature film for the Oscars) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Paul Greengrass’s 22 July and the final film from Orson Welles, The Other Side of the Wind are all set to kick off at Venice.

I will be at the Toronto International Film Festival this year for the first time. Keep your eyes and ears open for more podcasts leading up to, at, and after TIFF.

With music this podcast runs 1h 27m.

Opening song: “Sulk” by TR/ST

Closing song: “New York City by Day” by Thomas Newman from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of Desperately Seeking Susan

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 87 - 'The Birdcage' (Mike Nichols, 1996)

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