And the Nominees Were...

The dog days of summer continue as ATNW covers 1972's family drama, Sounder. Mike and Jenny talk about hope, sweat, institutional racism, the desire to learn, dog stories, and how nice it is when nice people are nice to each other. Plus, Jenny goes back to high school, i.e., delivers a book report for a book she hasn't read.

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This week, ATNW covers the 1972 Swedish-language historical epic The Emigrants. And, assuming that most people have not seen this one, we walk you through the plot pretty thoroughly. How did this film make it to the big dance, and why is it relatively forgotten? Plus: Jenny's 90's YA Corner, the dark side of Carnival Cruises, and after the closing theme, CATS madness strikes!

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(CW: sexual assault)

ATNW's 1972 miniseries continues with Deliverance. Mike and Jenny untangle what makes this wilderness drama memetic, and also what it has to offer culture beyond inappropriate jokes. What's behind the title? Can city and country folk get along? How important is emotional engagement with movies?

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Mike and Jenny begin the 1972 miniseries with Cabaret, the feel-bad musical of the year. Which superlative about this film should you remember for your next Oscar trivia night? What makes this film especially topical (you can probably guess)? Plus Jenny accidentally does a deep dive into the 90's Broadway revival, and Mike tells tales of acting for The Stage.

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Mike and Jenny wrap up the 1927-28 miniseries with the winner of Outstanding Picture, the WWI flyboy drama Wings. How does it measure up to its lofty place in history? We talk action scenes, comics parallels, subtext, Clara Bow, and star quality. Plus, we rank the movies of the 1st Academy Awards, plan out our next two miniseries so you can watch along, and make another special announcement (which The Man forced our hand on).

When is a winner not a winner? When it's the retroactively demoted Unique and Artistic Picture, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. But it's still a winner in the hearts of minds of many, and Mike and Jenny will explore the reasons why. This week we talk expressionism (a bit), the city vs the country, The Killing Joke, how film affects your brain, and how Sunrise's male lead could better channel his rage.

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It's sewers, speakeasies and salvation this week as Mike and Jenny discuss the nominees for Outstanding Picture, The Racket and 7th Heaven. One's a gangster film with Not So Different main characters. One's a historical romance about moving up in the world (literally). Both are crowd-pleasers of different types, but does ATNW recommend them? This week, we talk shifty morals, quickie marriages, prime real estate, and which characters suck.

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The movies may be silent but we're most certainly not! Mike and Jenny kick off the first Academy Awards with the nominees for Unique and Artistic Picture, traveling from the jungle to the urban jungle with Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness and The Crowd. Are the animals the true stars of Chang (even though most of them get killed by humans)? Is The Crowd inspirational or soul-destroying (or both)? Which character does Mike relate to hard (hint: it's not Chang)? Plus talking monkeys, when a documentary isn't a documentary, and more New York City talk.

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Mike and Jenny wrap up 2017 the best way they know how: ordered lists! The duo rank the nominees and discuss what the Academy got wrong (or right), and whether there is a deeper message to be found. Then, an introduction to the next miniseries! Mike gives some context for the very first Academy Awards, from 1927-28, how they came about, and what they mean. Plus, what type of films show on which cable networks, and who really deserves an Oscar gift bag.

If I told you about this episode, what would I say? That it's 2017’s Best Picture winner, for one! Mike and Jenny cross swords over fairy tales and the propriety of romancing a fish-man. What are the rules of fish-religion? What is truly the moral of this story? Where does Koko fit in? All this plus Mike explains basic bathroom hygiene, and Jenny tries out rudimentary color theory and even more rudimentary flirting.

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