That’s right people, it’s Oscars time! We’ve certainly got that Oscar fever, but more a fever of chaotic distress. Instead of the usual baseless predictions, we try to make sense of the Academy Awards and this American institution that seems to dominate the industry. Our equally chaotic film choice for this episode, The Congress (Ari Folman, 2013), certainly helps us dissect the flaws within the current institution. All the while, Tom tries grappling with the power of lists, and his picks of Oscar Award moments, Kiriko provides a perfect rendition of her favourite acceptance speech, despite her indifference to the whole ceremonial affair, and Hugo remains the tortured film critic divided between love and duty. We also tackle a question from one of our listeners, and discuss the importance of forming our own individual opinions regardless of lists.

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It’s all about Nightmares & Nostalgia, as we discuss childhood trauma at the movies, the films that shocked and impacted us as kids. How has nostalgia changed the way we look at films and how does it fuel a never-ending strain of sequels and remakes?

Film Club

In Steven Spielberg’s massive blockbuster, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. While the park’s mastermind, billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures everyone that the facility is safe, they find out otherwise when various ferocious predators break free and go on the hunt.

Films mentioned

• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Leonard Nimoy, 1986)
• Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016)
• La La Land (Damien Chazellle, 2016)
• Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2020)
• The Congress (Ari Folman, 2013)
• Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
• Driving Miss Daisy (Bruce Beresford, 1989)
• Green Book (Peter Farrelly, 2018)
• The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology (Sophie Fiennes, 2012)
• Wonder Woman (Patty Jenkins, 2017)
• Black Panther (Ryan Coogler, 2018)
• Monster’s Ball (Marc Forster, 2001)
• The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1973)
• Mank (David Fincher, 2020)
• Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
• Shakespeare In Love (John Madden, 1998)
• Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)
• The Matrix (Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski, 1999)
• The Handmaiden (Park Chan-wook, 2016)
• Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012)
• The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, 2019)
• The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
• What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962)
• Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019)
• Il Conformista (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
• There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
• Cool Hand Luke (Stuart Rosenberg, 1967)
• Grave Of The Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988)
• My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964)
• Mean Girls (Mark Waters, 2004)
• Der Goldene Handschuh (Fatih Akin, 2019)
• The Devil’s Advocate (Taylor Hackford, 1997)

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