What makes a blockbuster, or a box office bomb? The truth is, as famed screenwriter William Goldman put it, “Nobody knows anything.” Join us each week as we put your favorite actors, directors, and writers through the wringer (aka through a series of games) to see if they’ve got what it takes to make it in this wild town.

This episode is all about coming-of-age stories — movies and TV shows about first loves, schoolyard scrapes, and the realization that the world is far bigger than the block you live on.

Guests: Actor, writer and director Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face,” “Russian Doll”); actor and comedian Sherry Cola (“Joy Ride,” “Nobody Wants This”); director and Oscar-winning screenwriter Cord Jefferson (“American Fiction”).

“NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING” is a production of The Black List and LAist Studios, in partnership with The Ankler. This episode is presented by FX.

Support for this podcast is also brought to you by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes L.A. a better place to live.

New episodes premiere Tuesdays and you can listen to the show on the radio at LAist 89.3 on weekends. The premiere episode is supported by presenting sponsor FX.

The 97th annual Academy Awards is this Sunday— with dozens of films having campaigned across 23 categories this awards season— and many spectators are unsure on which folks will come home with Oscars. With all that drama comes our 23rd annual FilmWeek Oscars Preview, which was held this year at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA. Eight of our FilmWeek critics joined host Larry Mantle on stage and broke down their picks in all the major categories; categories mentioned include Best Picture, Director, International Feature, Animated Feature, as well as each acting and screenwriting category.

For a list of all the nominees this year, click here.

With Hollywood getting ready for the biggest awards show in movies, this episode of the new LAist Studios podcast NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING is all about the Oscars! Hear Oscar nominees Peter Straughan and Kris Bowers, and actress Caitlin Reilly duke it out for the ultimate award — winning a game show where the points are made up by our host, Franklin Leonard.

Guests: Screenwriter Peter Straughan (“Conclave”), composer Kris Bowers (“The Wild Robot”), and actress and comedian Caitlin Reilly (“Hacks,” “Loot”).

NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING is a production of The Black List and LAist Studios, in partnership with The Ankler.

Support for this podcast is also brought to you by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes L.A. a better place to live.

New episodes premiere Tuesdays and you can listen to the show on the radio at LAist 89.3 Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 10 p.m.

The Best International Feature category at the Academy Awards has grown in prominence over the years, coinciding with the inclusion of more international voters. It’s now meant more films typically confined to the Best International Feature category are now making their way to the conversation for Best Picture. This year, I’m Still Here and Emilia Perez serve as examples of films being nominated in both categories. In the recent past, we’ve seen the likes of Drive My Car and Parasite gain recognition from Academy voters in both categories. For this week’s FilmWeek feature, we’ll focus on this year’s crop of films for Best International Feature, and discuss our critics’ favorites. Joining us are Manuel Betancourt, Lael Loewenstein, and Christy Lemire.

FilmWeek: 'The Monkey,' 'Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,' 'Millers in Marriage,' 'Cleaner' and More

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Manuel Betancourt and Lael Loewenstein review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.

The Monkey

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy

Millers in Marriage

Ex-Husbands

Cleaner

The Unbreakable Boy

Old Guy

FilmWeek: 'Captain America: Brave New World,' 'Paddington in Peru,' Becoming Led Zeppelin,' 'Sky Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius),' and More

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Christy Lemire and Tim Cogshell review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.

Captain America: Brave New World

Paddington in Peru

Becoming Led Zeppelin

Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)

Universal Language

The Gorge

Mom

I Love You Forever

Kid Snow

Rez Comedy

Feature: ‘Nickel Boys’ writer-director RaMell Ross discusses creative ways of adapting Colson Whitehead’s novel

Since the book was released in 2019, Colson Whitehead's historical fiction novel The Nickel Boys has reached great critical acclaim, having most notably won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. So to adapt the book into a feature-length film seems like it’d offer a lot of pressure, but it’s one the RaMell Ross seemed willing to take on following his Oscar-nominated documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening. This year, Ross now finds his Nickel Boys adaptation nominated for multiple Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. Similar to the book, the film follows the lives of two boys at the now-defunct Nickel Academy, a reform school in Florida that had a track record of abusing the African American children who attended. Ross also takes a unique approach, leaning heavily into his protagonist’s perspective, with most of the film switching between Elwood and Turner’s first-person point of view. Joining us to discuss the work put into Nickel Boys is the film’s co-writer and director, RaMell Ross.

Nickel Boys is out in select theaters and is now on VOD/digital.

Feature: 'Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat' director discusses Jazz greats and their relationship to post-colonial Africa

The Oscar-nominated documentary Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat has received critical success through it’s focus on an international incident, a relationship between developing countries in a post-colonial era, and how artists can unknowingly play a role in this. The documentary, directed by Johan Grimonprez, uses jazz music from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Max Roach as an entryway into post-colonial Africa. Grimonprez spends much of the documentary getting into newly independent African nations, the most notable being the Democratic Republic of Congo, and how their relationship with colonial powers involved in the United Nations can impact their new democracies. This narrative is put together with prominent jazz musicians at the time and how their performances in these new nations were used for political purposes unbeknownst to them. So, for this week’s FilmWeek feature, we sit down with Johan Grimonprez, director of Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat.

“Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat” is out now in select theaters and available on VOD

FilmWeek: 'Love Hurts,' 'Jazzy,' 'Parthenope,' 'Bring Them Down,' and More

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Manuel Betancourt and Tim Cogshell review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.

Love Hurts

No Other Land

Parthenope

Suze

Jazzy

Armand

Dark Nuns

Bring Them Down

Hazard

FilmWeek: 'Companion,' 'Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story,' 'Dog Man,' and More

Larry Mantle and LAist film critics Charles Solomon, Lael Loewenstein, and Tim Cogshell review this weekend’s latest movie releases in theaters and on streaming platforms.

• Companion

• Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

• Dog Man

• You're Cordially Invited

• Love Me

• Valiant One

• Lucca's World

   

Oscar Animated Shorts

*Only one film (Wander to Wonder) is available online; all the animated shorts will be bundled up in a limited theatrical release starting February 14*

• Beautiful Men

• In the Shadow of the Cypress

• Magic Candies

• Wander to Wonder

• Yuck!