Oscar Loves Film Club
38 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago -Two Best Pictures, one link, many thoughts.
Join Mark, Chris, Amelia and Izzy as they watch their way through the entire history of Academy Award Best Picture winners, and discuss the Oscar Loves link between them.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Oscar Loves... Sequels
February 20, 2023 10:48 - 1 hour - 85.7 MBSometimes the Academy just can't get enough. This month, your friendly Oscarologists look at those Best Pictures whose successors also picked up the grand prize. The films we explore in this episode are: The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974). This episode was recorded remotely. Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... American Gothic
January 17, 2023 00:45 - 53 minutes - 74 MBFor our first deep dive of 2023, Mark and Izzy delve into what exactly defines American Gothic and how this relates to our two Best Pictures. The films we explore in this episode are: Rebecca (1940) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). This episode was recorded remotely. Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... The Theatre
September 22, 2022 22:08 - 1 hour - 55.4 MBThis month, your friendly Oscarologists delve into the films that connect the magic of the theatre to the joy of film, winning Best Picture in the process. The films we explore in this episode are: All About Eve (1950) and Birdman (2014). Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... The 'Luck' of the Irish
August 16, 2022 18:40 - 1 hour - 89.3 MBThis month, Mark and Izzy look into the films that walked away with Best Picture, which highlight their connection to Ireland. The films we explore in this episode are: Going My Way (1945) and Titanic (1998). Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... Hyperlink Cinema
July 16, 2022 09:17 - 1 hour - 84.6 MBThis month, your friendly Oscarologists dive into those rare films with multiple perspectives and narrative tributaries which have walked away with the Best Picture award. The films we explore in this episode are: Cavalcade (1933) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... Biographical Fiction
June 16, 2022 16:00 - 1 hour - 92.9 MBThis month, Mark and Izzy discuss the Best Picture winners that seem like biopics and yet their protagonists are completely fictional. The films we dive into in this edition are: Tom Jones (1963) and Forrest Gump (1994). Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... Noir
May 16, 2022 22:04 - 57 minutes - 78.5 MBIn this edition, Mark and Izzy discuss the Academy's continued interest in film noir and neo noir. And just what is noir anyway? To answer that, we discuss best picture winners All The Kings Men (1950) and No Country For Old Men (2008). Thank you to Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork and Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music.
Oscar Loves... Making History
April 16, 2022 22:36 - 1 hour - 52.8 MBThis month, Mark and Izzy divert from their planned double feature to discuss this year's Best Picture winner CODA and the ceremony itself. In a year that will no doubt go down in history for one specific moment, there were many others that were also groundbreaking. DIrected and adapted by Sian Heder, CODA tells the story of Ruby (Emilia Jones) - the only hearing child of deaf adults, Jackie (Oscar winner Marlee Matlin), and Frank (Oscar winner Troy Kotsur) - who must balance the needs o...
Oscar Loves... Sports
February 16, 2022 23:11 - 1 hour - 59.5 MBThis month, your friendly Oscarologists rally to discuss the most athletic of Best Picture winners. Written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, Rocky (1976) charts the sudden rise to fame of Rocky Balboa, a down on his luck southpaw boxer from Philadelphia. The film also began one of the most successful film franchises in cinema history, with eight sequels. In Chariots of Fire (1982), we follow the competition and shared experiences between fellow 1924 Olympic athletes Harold Abrahams and ...
Oscar Loves... Adaptations
January 16, 2022 14:15 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBThis month, we delve into the archives for a previously recorded but unreleased episode where the original OLFC gang discuss those Best Picture winners that also have an adapted screenplay. Edmund Goulding's Grand Hotel is based on Vicki Baum's 1929 novel of the same name. The star-studded ensemble includes Greta Garbo, John and Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery and a very young Joan Crawford. Produced by Irving Thalberg, this MGM extravaganza is the only Best Picture winner not to be nomina...
Oscar Loves... A Western
December 16, 2021 20:31 - 1 hour - 84 MBThis month, the OLFC gang delve into the Oscars' relationship with the wild west and great frontier. Wesley Ruggles' Cimarron depicts the vast change that took place in the west of America between the Oklahoma land rush of 1889 and 1931, through the eyes of Yancey and Sabra Cravat, played by Richard Dix and Irene Dunne. In Unforgiven, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, notorious outlaw William Munney, now living out his final years in obscurity as a farmer, is persuaded to take one...
Oscar Loves... Semi-Autobiography
November 21, 2021 19:00 - 1 hour - 84.7 MBThis month, your friendly Oscarologists examine how those writer-directors who brought a flavour of their real life into their work secured the highest accolade at the Academy Awards. Annie Hall was seen as departure for actor, director and writer Woody Allen, turning his hand to something 'serious'. With an Oscar-winning performance from Diane Keaton, this comedy-drama delves into the hows and whys of a failed relationship. In Platoon, Oliver Stone brought many of his experiences from ...
Oscar Loves... Fantasy Films
October 16, 2021 12:55 - 1 hour - 86.6 MBThis month, Mark and Izzy look at the Academy's relationship with all things fantasy and explore those in the genre that have won Best Picture. The Return of the King was the final instalment of Peter Jackson's Tolkein magnum opus The Lord of the Rings. With a star ensemble, epic battles and the stunning backdrop of New Zealand, viewers flocked to the cinema to see if Sam and Frodo would make it to Mordor and save Middle Earth. Fourteen years later, Guillermo Del Toro gave us his dark a...
Oscar Loves... the Inevitable Remake
September 17, 2021 00:11 - 1 hour - 93.2 MBThis month, Izzy, Vincent and Mark discuss the films that have been made... and then made again, this time with Oscar-winning success. Mutiny on the Bounty stars Clark Gable and Charles Laughton as mutineer Christian Fletcher and the infamous, harsh Captain Bligh as they set sail to Tahiti on HMS Bounty. William Wyler's Ben Hur is a true epic that contains one of the most famous action sequences of all time - the chariot race in the grand circus. The plot follows Jewish prince Judah Ben-...
Oscar Loves... Musicals
August 18, 2021 10:38 - 58 minutes - 49.4 MBThis month, the team discuss the musicals that have won Best Picture: the good, the bad, and the never agains. Gigi, directed by Vincente Minelli, and starring Leslie Caron, tells the story of 16 year-old Gigi, who begins her training as a courtesan and, in the process, tames the heart of Paris' most eligible bachelor Gaston - played by Louis Jordan. Rob Marshall's Chicago is a razzle dazzle screen adaptation of the broadway musical by Kander and Ebb, starring Renee Zellwegger and Cather...
Oscar Loves... Swords and Sandals
July 17, 2021 00:38 - 59 minutes - 82.4 MBThis month, your friendly Oscarologists, Mark, Izzy and Vincent, discuss the Academy's penchant for historical epics. Braveheart, directed by and starring Mel Gibson, tells the story of hero and warrior William Wallace, who leads the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence against wily King Edward I played by Patrick McGoohan. Director Ridley Scott - one of modern Hollywood's main purveyors of sword and sandal movies - gained a Best Director nomination for Gladiator, winning Best...
Oscar Loves... Shakespeare
June 18, 2021 22:14 - 58 minutes - 50 MBThis month, Mark and Izzy discuss The Bard and Best Picture - those Oscar winners who capture Shakespeare's work on screen or use it as the basis for inventive adaptations. Hamlet, directed by and starring Sir Lawrence Olivier as the Danish prince, won both Best Picture and Best Actor at the 1948 ceremony. Also starring Jean Simmons as Ophelia, the film features a powerful score from Sir William Walton. Based on Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story tells the tragic love story of Tony (Rich...
Oscar Loves... Leading Ladies
May 16, 2021 14:03 - 58 minutes - 80.7 MBThis month, terrific trio, Mark, Izzy and Vincent, discuss those Best Pictures that shared Oscar glory with the leading ladies who won Best Actress too. Mrs Miniver, directed by William Wyler, stars Greer Garson in the titular role and tells the story of how a quiet family's and community's life is upended by World War II. In Terms of Endearment, we follow the life and tempestuous relationship between Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Thank you to...
Oscar Loves... East Asia
April 17, 2021 22:28 - 57 minutes - 79.4 MBThis month, Team OLFC gather to discuss the Academy's fascination with East Asia, and the landmark moment in which the first film not in the English language took home Best Picture. The Bridge on the River Kwai is directed by Sir David Lean and stars Sir Alec Guinness as Colonel Nicholson, the senior British officer held with his troops in a Japanese POW camp tasked to build a bridge over the River Kwai in Burma, as Majors Warden (Jack Hawkins) and Shears (William Holden) attempt to preven...
Oscar Loves... Black History
March 16, 2021 19:02 - 1 hour - 91.1 MBThis month, our Oscarologists gather to discuss how the Academy loves Black History. Or do they? The team also discuss this year's freshly announced nominations for Best Picture. Gone With the Wind remains the highest grossing Best Picture of all time, with Hattie Mc Daniel becoming the first African American to win an Academy Award. An epic of the American South set against the backdrop of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction era, the story follows the tumultuous relationship be...
Oscar Loves... A Courtroom Drama
February 16, 2021 15:51 - 1 hour - 83.7 MBAs award nominations for Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 continue to amass, our Oscarologists explore the only two Best Picture winners to feature a prominent courtroom scene. Sir Carol Reed's film adaptation of Lionel Bart's successful stage musical Oliver! pushed child actors Mark Lester and Jack Wilde into the spotlight for their performances as Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger respectively, with Wilde garnering a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work. In Kramer vs...
Oscar Loves... Taking The Bait
January 16, 2021 23:05 - 59 minutes - 81.8 MBLove 'em or hate 'em, a good marketing strategy can make all the difference when it comes to success at the Academy Awards. This month our Oscarologists gather to chat about two films whose publicity campaigns changed the game. Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and John Cazale as the soldiers and civilians from a small town in Pennsylvania affected by the Vietnam War. Judi Dench and Gwyneth Paltrow both won Oscars for their performanc...
Oscar Loves... Playing Mind Games
December 16, 2020 19:09 - 1 hour - 82.9 MBThis month our Oscarologists gather to discuss two Best Picture winners that explore neurodivergence and mental illness... to very different degrees of success. Barry Levinson's Rain Man tells the story of Charlie Babitt – played by Tom Cruise – who discovers he has a secret brother with savant syndrome, Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, who went on to win the Oscar for Best Leading Actor for his role. In A Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard, Russell Crowe portrays John Nash, the No...
Oscar Loves... The Open Road
November 17, 2020 11:37 - 1 hour - 82.8 MBWhether it's hitchhiking or the night bus, this month our Oscarologists gather to discuss the Academy's love of an epic road trip. Frank Capra's It Happened One Night see Claudette Colbert's socialite flee her imposing father only to run into Clark Gable's ramshackle reporter in desperate need of a story. In Midnight Cowboy we watch an unlikely friendship form between two hustlers in New York, newly-arrived Joe Buck (Jon Voight) and ailing conman 'Ratso' Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman). Thank ...
Oscar Loves... The Overdue
October 16, 2020 18:29 - 1 hour - 82.8 MBOur Oscarologists kick off Season 3 by a look at those great, oft nominated Directors, who finally secure their Oscar late into their careers. The Greatest Show on Earth is Cecil B DeMille's forensic exploration of day to day life within a successful 1950's circus, with all the excitement and peril that entails. Led by Matt Damon and Leonardo Di Caprio, The Departed is Martin Scorsese's intense tale of cat and mouse (or should we say rat) between Boston's police and criminal underworld....
Oscar Loves... WW1
September 06, 2020 13:18 - 1 hour - 65 MBMark and Izzy return after a long hiatus to bring you an archive episode from November 2019 before launching into series 3 this Autumn. This month, your friendly Oscarologists discuss the Academy's interest in exploring unique perspectives on World War 1. All Quiet On The Western Front is director Lewis Milestone's epic, realistic and harrowing account of WW1 told through the eyes of the german 2nd company, based on the Remarque novel of the same name. Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa is...
Oscar Loves... Female Filmmakers
October 31, 2019 23:06 - 1 hour - 72.1 MBThis month, Izzy, Chris and Mark discuss female firsts at the Academy Awards, in particular, directors and producers. We start by joining the long con with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting, directed by George Roy Hill. This film also has the honour of being the first to garner an Oscar for a female producer - the wonderful Julia Philips. Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is a searing look at the experiences of a military bomb disposal unit during the Iraq war, delivered with ...
Oscar Loves... The Biopic
September 30, 2019 16:14 - 1 hour - 71.6 MBIzzy and Mark gather round the microphone to discuss the real lives recreated on celluloid that went on to win Best Picture. The Life of Emile Zola directed by William Dieterle portrays the life of the great french playwright and author (played by Paul Muni), focussing in particular on the Dreyfuss Affair of 1894-1906. Often called the greatest biopic ever made, Izzy and Mark discuss whether they agree with this moniker, particularly within the social context of the time. Based on the 1...
Oscar Loves... The Musical Bio-Pic
August 28, 2019 19:20 - 1 hour - 56.9 MBThis month, it's dynamic duo Mark and Izzy discussing the musical geniuses that caught the Academy's attention when their lives hit the screen. Released only a few years after Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. died, Robert Z Leonard's The Great Ziegfeld was an epic musical spectacle showcasing the ups and down of Ziegfeld's life and the many famous faces he discovered. Milos Forman's Amadeus is not only a biopic about the brilliance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but of another man's life: Antonio Sal...
Oscar Loves... To Cannes Cannes
July 21, 2019 23:16 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBAfter a short hiatus, Amelia, Mark and Izzy reconvene to discuss the only two Best Picture winners to win the highest honours at the Cannes Film Festival. Directed by the great Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend is a stark look at the effects of alcoholism on writer Don Birnam, played by Ray Milland (who also won an Oscar for his work on this film). Marty, written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Delbert Mann, based on the teleplay from 1953, is a romantic drama spanning just 36 hours in ...
Oscar Loves... The Exposé
April 16, 2019 23:18 - 1 hour - 66.6 MBThe group gather to discuss the Academy's fascination with the power of the press and a love of investigative journalism. Directed by Elia Kazan, Gentleman's Agreement stars Gregory Peck as reporter Phil Green, looking for a fresh angle whilst reporting on anti-semitism in America, discovering just how prevalent and embedded this prejudice has become. Written by Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, directed by McCarthy, Spotlight tells the true story of the Boston Globe team who uncovered the...
Oscar Loves... The Director's Medium
March 25, 2019 00:01 - 1 hour - 68.5 MBThis month, a trio of OLFC podsters gather to discuss two films that won Best Picture but were not nominated for Best Director - a rarity for the Academy; and debrief on 2019's Oscars ceremony. Driving Miss Daisy, directed by Bruce Beresford, is the only off-broadway play to be adapted for screen that has ever gone on to win an Academy Award. A 25-year journey exploring the relationship between Miss Daisy (Best Actress winner Jessica Tandy) and her driver, Hoke (Morgan Freeman), it's a ch...
Oscar Loves... The Royal Family
February 17, 2019 02:20 - 1 hour - 67.3 MBThis episode, three of our podsters gather to talk all things royal and Oscars' obsession with King and country. Paul Schofield delivers a spellbinding (and Oscar-winning) performance as Thomas More during his final years and fatal fall-out with King Henry VIII in Fred Zinnemman's A Man For All Seasons, also featuring one of John Hurt's earliest screen performances, and not one, but two Redgrave appearances. In Tom Hooper's The King's Speech, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush go head to head...
Oscar Loves... The Big Five
February 16, 2019 22:39 - 1 hour - 70.3 MBAn extra bonus episode, originally recorded in July 2018, with additional material to bring it bang up to date for this year's Oscars race. What links One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and The Silence of The Lambs (1991)? And what's The Big Five when it comes to the Oscars anyway? We thought that had to do with safari. As if that isn't, there's also a bonus fifth Oscarologist, with Chris standing in for Chris. They're practically the same person, with the same name, but one's a li...
Oscar Loves... The English Language
January 25, 2019 01:07 - 1 hour - 63.6 MBThis episode, the podsters gather to discuss the Academy's aversion to honouring films not in the English Language, with one yet to win Best Picture. With Alfonso Cuaron's Roma hotly tipped to take the award in 2019, is everything about to change? Bernardo's Bertolucci's The Last Emperor tells the extraordinary true story of Pu-Yi, the last emperor of China; the first feature film to be shot within the Forbidden City, the film features dialogue in Chinese, Mandarin and Japanese. With twe...
Oscar Loves... A Black Renaissance
January 16, 2019 12:16 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBThe group gather to discuss two films that tackle the black experience in America, the paradigm shift that has taken place in Hollywood over the last fifty years and how this all relates to this year's Oscar Best Picture potential nominees. Directed by Norman Jewison, In The Heat Of The Night pairs Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger (who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance) in the story of a murder investigation in a racially hostile southern town, featuring 'the slap that was heard a...
Oscar Loves... Actors turned Directors
December 16, 2018 01:02 - 1 hour - 62.7 MBThe gang discuss the directorial debuts of Robert Redford and Kevin Costner, both of whom won Oscars for their efforts. With A Star Is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper, a strong contender for this year's statuette, actors turned directors are back in the spotlight once again. Thank you to Thomas Whitelaw for our intro music and Rachel Valentine Smith for our artwork.
Oscar Loves...A Rematch
November 14, 2018 21:40 - 1 hour - 59.3 MBThe gang gather to discuss how Hollywood loves a do-over. With a potential rematch between Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle at next year's Oscars, we revisit another classic Academy Awards rematch. In 1951 A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Elia Kazan was tipped to win Best Picture, with Marlon Brando a shoo-in for Best Actor. But it was not to be. An American Paris, directed by Vincente Minelli took the prize, and to the shock of the public, Humphrey Bogart shut out Brando, winning hi...