Aspect Radio

Ben and Corey jump right into the melee known as the Oscar season to analyze the races and prediction the nominations in the major categories for the 2014 film year.

The nominees will be announced on Jan. 15, but the guys think they mostly know what to expect.

But that doesn’t mean you won’t hear any surprises next Thursday in several categories, even if the fields are a little drier than usual.

They expect “Boyhood,” “Birdman,” “The Imitation Game” and other usual suspects to rack up nominations, so stay tuned to see if they’re right so you can point and laugh when they’re wrong.

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Music heard in AR #110

Ben and Corey hop aboard Christopher Nolan’s deep space opus “Interstellar” starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain.

The guys get into only slight spoiler territory as they break down Nolan’s latest and perhaps most ambitious blockbuster and determine whether it lived up to their lofty expectations.

They also discuss writer/director Dan Gilroy’s Los Angeles-set comedy/thriller “Nightcrawler,” starring a brilliant Jake Gyllenhaal as a morally bankrupt crime journalist looking to conquer a competitive and dangerous industry.

The guys then hit director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s grim meta-comedy “Birdman,” starring Michael Keaton in a comeback role that may or may even outshine the film and what few consider a style-over-substance technical and immersive experience.

Finally, Ben and Corey spend some time on Pixar’s recent announcement that we’ll get “Toy Story 4,” among other sequels that Corey thinks defies the standard in original storytelling the animation studio set years ago.

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Music heard in AR #109

Ben and Corey dive into David Fincher’s latest film, the adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s popular novel “Gone Girl,” starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

The guys both dig it, one more so than the other, and insist Fincher stays true to form, at least for the most part. Note: We mostly avoid spoilers in this discussion.

They also get weird with Kevin Smith’s even weirder body horror comedy “Tusk,” starring Justin Long and Michael Parks. Should Smith have let this nutty germ of an idea drift away into the smoke-filled podcasting studio, or did he actually capitalize and create a new cult classic? Don’t think too hard.

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Music heard in AR #108

Ben and Corey break down the fall/winter movie season, which brings a bevy of highly anticipated films from some of our favorite directors.

David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson and others have new work to share this year, and those three alone could get the job done themselves.

But it happens that movies like “Birdman,” “Nightcrawler,” “Selma,” “The Interview” and others also warrant similar attention this year as we close in on another memorable season in theaters.

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Music heard in AR #107

Ben and Corey finally find their inner children and dive into Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” the long-gestating experimental film chronicling 12 years in the life of a boy and his family in Texas.

Like pretty much everyone else, they liked it quite a bit.

Later in the episode, they also each share their five favorite Richard Linklater characters and discuss the rest of his eclectic 16-film career.

Ben’s brother Graham Flanagan also joins the guys to talk Woody Allen’s latest romantic comedy “Magic in the Moonlight,” starring Colin Firth and Emma Stone. Two out of three agree it’s another home run for Allen, but one tries to bring that notion back down to Earth.

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Produced by Andrew Richardson

Music heard in AR #106

Ben talks to Sidewalk Film Festival lead programmer Rachel Morgan about what people can expect from the Birmingham-based event in its 16th year.

Morgan talks about how the festival has changed after nearly two decades, what films people should not miss and how the the less-seasoned moviegoer can enjoy a festival format. Read more about the festival.

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Music heard in this AR Nugget:

Photo credit: Joe Songer/AL.com

Upon hearing the tragic news of the great Robin Williams’ untimely death, Ben and Corey reflect on the man’s career, on which each of them grew up.

The four-time Oscar-nominee and best supporting actor-winner for “Good Will Hunting” brought an unparalleled energy to the big screen and pioneered aspects of comedic performance in films like “Aladdin,” “Mrs. Doubtfire” and “Good Morning, Vietnam.”

But we also found out he had a tremendous talent for drama in a handful of harrowing performances in “Dead Poets Society,” “Awakenings” and “The Fisher King.”

A consummate entertainer who lit up nearly everything he touched, Williams will be missed by all who saw or will see his work in film.

Ben and Corey share their three favorite Williams performances. Joining them to celebrate his career are FilmNerds.com’s Graham Flanagan, Matt Scalici, Ben Stark and Craig Hamilton.

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Music heard in AR #105

Ben and Corey dive into Marvel’s slightly more obscure but highly ambitious property “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which both guys mostly dig quite a bit.

They also wonder if “Guardians” has legs as Marvel’s next big franchise on or near the level of “Iron Man” or “Captain America.”

The guys also talk the release date switch for “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar,” their interest in Kevin Smith’s movies and much more.

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Produced by Andrew Richardson

Music heard in AR #104: