Shortly before the ReelBlend hosts hopped on the line to record this week's episode, the Academy dropped a few bombshells. In addition to attempting to make its annual Oscars telecast shorter (three hours now), and to move the date of the show earlier (February 9 by 2020), the Academy announced a new category honoring Achievement in Popular Film. Wow. How will they define "Popular"? What exactly does "Achievement" mean? And doesn't this decision water down the eventual Best Picture winner?

Sean O'Connell, Jake Hamilton, and Kevin McCarthy try to answer these questions, as well as react to IMAX footage of Damien Chazelle's "First Man," their thoughts on "The Meg," and wrap things up with their favorite movie endings. #EndingBlend

Special thanks to @ShutUpKaleena for our awesome intro this week!

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