New Academy Member: Jacob Elordi - can M1 deal with this? Then we discuss Venice Film Festival rumors and another Obsession centric Box Office Report before we dive into reviews for Supergirl, Voicemails for Isabelle and a bunch of other films old & new. And if that’s not enough, you get a Trailer Thoughts segment with our thoughts on ALL of the new trailers.

NEWS:

New Academy Members Invited including Elordi, so we discuss 007 casting - 1:20

The Knicks are Champions / Life of Pi Metaphor - 7:15

The Venice Film Festival selects its Jury President, Maggie Gyllenhaal - 8:32

Venice Film Festival Rumors including known and unknown (to us) contenders - 10:43

Anything Emmy’s? Sure. We hint at our favorite races incoming + Doc thoughts - 24:37

BOX OFFICE REPORT:

Toy Story 5’s second week - 28:14

We remain Obsession Obsessed - 28:58

A word on the early buzz for The Invite - 36:02

Supergirl’s Flop & AlsoMike’s Review - 37:44

MORE WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:

Voicemails From Isabelle was great. WTF - 48:19

M1’s regularly scheduled watching of previous noms: The Grifters & Prizzi’s Honor - 54:02

M2’s regularly scheduled addiction to new films: Power Ballad, Pressure, I Love Boosters, The Furious, Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie & Scary Movie - 58:15

TRAILER REVIEWS:

Digger (Teaser 2): The Tom Cruise Oscars Campaign Has Begun - 1:08:45

The Debut: Which Mike liked Magnolia and which did not REVEALED! - 1:14:37

Sense & Sensibility: The Finest Fee Fee Film of our Time - 1:20:08

I Want Your Sex: Olivia Wilde’s statement film - 1:22:42

Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Just release it. We’re ready - 1:25:28

Rapid Fire Takes for Primetime, Whalefall, Klara and the Sun, Shrek 5 & Hexed - 1:27:17

OUTRO: stay tuned to our feed for upcoming Oscar Race Checkpoints on the Fall Film Festival Lineup announcements amidst all our coverage of the rest of this big movie summer we’re about to start. Plus, did we just come up with the name for our Inarritu Rewatch Series??? https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

Toy Story 5 is a smash hit at the box office. But will it be nominated at the Oscars? We break it all down in this Oscars Profile review episode.

NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION FOR TOY STORY 5:

Reception, Scores & Box Office Projections - 3:14

The Premis & Our Movie Watching Stories - 5:41

Non-Spoiler Story Thoughts - 8:03

Voice Performance Reviews - 13:53

Music & VFX Reviews - 16:08

Animation Innovations - 19:23

Oscar Lens: How many noms are we predicting? - 23:12

SPOILER WARNING: 24:42

Using Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling:

Rule No. 1 - What we admire in these characters - 25:34

Rules No. 6 & 13 - How To challenge and equip your protagonist - 31:02

Rule No. 16. - Raising the stakes - 34:44

Themes - 37:30

That Ending - 40:12

More Best Scenes - 43:22

Toy Story 6 speculation - 45:39

Final Grades & looking forward to more animated features this year - 48:42

OUTRO: Stay tuned to our feed for more Oscar Profiles in the Animated Feature category this year. We have several that we’re anticipating in the coming months. Plus, we’ll be diving into more Summer Movies set for release like Supergirl, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, etc. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

Scott Yager of Challenge Mania joins us for a 30th Anniversary celebration & retrospective of The Rock (1996), starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage & Ed Harris.

NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF THE ROCK (1996):

Great Action Film Scores - 3:55

Scott’s 1st Viewing Experience - 6:10

The Mikes’ 1st watches - 13:30

Its Legacy Holds Without A Sequel - 17:48

The James Bond Theory - 20:04

30th Anniversary - 24:11

Do we want a sequel or a remake? - 26:40

If we cast the remake - 31:45

Best San Francisco movie ever - 37:35

What Action Movies Still Have The Same Effect Today? - 41:02

SPOILER WARNING - 46:33

What Tarantino and Sorkin wrote (?) - 47:33

That Hans Zimmer Score - 55:04

Act I Discussions on Fun Character Intro’s & Plots Ahead of Their Time - 56:40

The Suite at the Fairmont Hotel & Running Amok in San Francisco - 1:10:45

Into the Alcatraz Scenes w/ a stacked crew - 1:17:13

Mid Movie Action Sequences & Must Have Merch - 1:26:18

Barreling to the End - 1:32:22

That Ending, A Fun Epilogue & More Sequel Thoughts - 1:34:40

Final Thoughts & Grades - 1:38:39

OUTRO:

Follow Scott Yager’s work:

https://challengemania.live/

https://x.com/SHOTOFYAGER

https://www.patreon.com/ChallengeMania

https://www.instagram.com/challengemaniapodcast/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/ChallengeManiaPodcast/

And enjoy Mike, Mike, and Oscar here: https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

Knicks superfan Timothee Chalamet referenced his Oscars loss in a viral moment after NY’s championship win. Will it hurt his chances? Glenn Close, Floyd Norman and Ridley Scott will receive Honorary Oscars at the Governors Awards. Plus, we have Tribeca Stories, Academy Initiatives, Box Office Reports & Contender Trailers all to discussion on this overdue episode of Oscar Race Checkpoint.

THE KNICKS ARE THE 2025-26 NBA CHAMPIONS: Top of the Show

But does Timothee’s viral moment haunt him? - 3:48

AWARD NEWS:

Governors Awards Picks are in - Glenn Close, Floyd Norman & Ridley Scott - 11:52

Disclosure Day & Obsession Box Office could raise their Oscars Chances - 21:21

AMPAS to launch list of 50 Exceptional Indie Theaters after the 99th - 34:44

Elon Musk slams The Odyssey’s casting choices - 39:47

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:

Also Mike's Tribeca Festival Stories:

Win Son Bakery + Doc Meets World - 45:31

Clean Hands w/ a special appearance by Robert De Niro - 49:33

The Lions Bar + In Memoriam starring Marc Maron, Lily Gladstone etc - 54:16

Mike1 Recommendations:

M1 shouts out The Tony’s - 59:25

M1 reviews Nirvana the band the show the movie - 1:00:16

M1 reviews Omaha starring John Magaro - 1:02:06

CONTENDER TRAILERS:

The Social Reckoning seems like appointment viewing, but politically pointed - 1:04:54

Wildwood looks like an Animated Feature frontrunner - 1:07:32

Heart of the Beast could be much more of a contender than we first thought - 1:08:52

How To Rob A Bank makes us rethink our September biases - 1:10:32

OUTRO: Thanks to Jalen Brunson, Leon Rose, Mike Brown and everybody at the New York Knicks for giving AlsoMike the greatest weekend of his life. Thanks to all of our listeners who allowed us to spin this into an Oscars story. And thanks to everybody at the Academy and the Tribeca Film Festival, etc… for giving us more than enough movie topics to discuss in addition to AM’s Knicks miracle. Thank you! The Knicks are the champions! The Knicks are the Champions of the basketball world!!! https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

In part 3 of our MMO UFO miniseries, we review Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Coleman Domingo, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson (which we mispronounce as Hewitt for the entire film because ....Jennifer Love Hewitt?)

NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION:

Difference in Opinion? - 2:32

Production Profile - Inception - 3:49

Best Spielberg in the last 20 years? - 5:40

Critical Reception vs Audience Scores & Early Box Office - 6:55

Why Obsession is a Best Picture nominee side rant & Back to DD Reception - 12:51

Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts - 16:22

Does Emily Blunt Get Nominated? - 21:56

Glowing Reviews of the Score, Cinematography, Editing - 26:24

Oscar Lens: Our Over/Under to how many, if any noms it’ll get - 33:06

SPOILER WARNING - 37:25

SPOILER REVIEW SECTION:

Mike 1 on why politics have ruined the ending & message - 38:23

AlsoMike psychoanalyzes Mike 1’s belief in aliens - 45:14

Updated Spielbergian Themes & Remaining Generic - 48:37

Abandoning Intriguing Possibilities & Emily Blunt’s worst scene - 50:11

Issues with the Sci-Fi - 54:21

Issues with the bad guy - 59:45

Even the beginning didn’t get a follow through - 1:02:11

Some Best Scenes & Strong Starts - 1:03:30

Final Grades - 1:06:19

OUTRO: Discussion on how we like to do film festivals after spending some time at Tribeca and hinting at what’s next. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

We study Steven Spielberg’s E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial for our MMO UFO (mini) series leading up to Disclosure Day.

NON-SPOILER REVIEW - 4:53

M1’s 1st Watch Memory & Does it live up to our childhoods? - 7:07

Development Backstory - 10:07

Reception: Box Office, Critical, Audience, Oscars Profile, etc - 14:59

Tremendous Child Actors Made This Movie Work - 17:25

Little Green Men & Men In Black Tropes - 22:04

Other Performance Reviews including the voice of E.T. - 28:41

Production Values featuring the illustrious John Williams - 32:50

SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: 36:50

Bad Friends, but Relatable Families - 38:05

Adorable Meet Cutes, Language Barriers & Frogs - 48:56

Peter Pan Storytime & Halloween is a rough day for mom - 57:07

Gripes - 1:01:39

That Glorious Ending - 1:07:18

OUTRO: We continue to discuss our expectations for Disclosure Day. So yes, make sure to stay tuned to our feed for upcoming episodes on Disclosure Day, the Tribeca Film Festival, The Rock, Toy Story 5, Supergirl, Summer Oscar Bets, The Odyssey etc… etc..

What Is This Episode - Top of Show

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MMO UFO: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF A THIRD KIND

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Spoiler-Free Review:

Background, Spielberg’s Inspirations - 2:28

Spielberg: Good; Not an A-Hole - 7:15

Reception in the 70’s - 11:00

Script Thoughts - 16:31

Performances - 24:28

Do The VFX Hold Up After 50 Years? - 30:33

Other Production Values - 33:58

The 1977 Best Picture Conversation - 35:13

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SPOILER WARNING - 37:26

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Spoiler-Filled Review:

Literally Though, What IS a Spoiler? - 38:34

Maybe WE are the Dumb Ones - 45:57

WOW to Meh - 48:50

Gone Roy: Bud Heavy as the Soundtrack to the Forgotten American Dream - 50:28

Working Through the Plot - 56:30

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How Would a Secret Sequel Work? - 1:06:43

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FINAL GRADES - 1:10:15

(And New Spielberg vs the New YouTube Director Crews)

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What’s Next From MMO/Leave Us 5 Stars! - 1:14:20

What Is This Episode - Top of Show

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BACKROOMS OSCARS PROFILE

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Spoiler-Free Review:

The 4Chan Origins - 2:26

Scores, Projected Box Office, The YouTube of It All - 6:34

“He DiDn’T dIrEcT tHaT!” - 10:42

Script Thoughts - 15:34

Do You Go In? - 17:43

Do We Have Faith Answers Will Come Eventually? - 20:04

Performances - 25:21

Production Values (Backrooms’ Obsession Problem) - 28:23

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SPOILER WARNING - 36:18

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Spoiler-Filled Review:

Best Guesses At Themes - 37:14

Is She Gone? What’s With Mom? ANSWER THESE! - 44:46

Dinner’s Ready. But Why is She? - 49:07

Rope Diving and a Theory of Evolution - 54:10

Ahoy Matey - 58:07

The Most Important Question - 1:02:10

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FINAL GRADES - 1:03:07

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What’s Next From MMO/Leave Us 5 Stars! - 1:09:32

Forastera opens this weekend. Make sure to check out the film at the Film Forum if you’re in NYC. Make sure to check it out in Santa Barbara, and seek out this film in the upcoming weeks and months as it expands theatrically.

Information on the Film

https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/forastera/

Tickets for Opening Weekend

https://filmforum.org/film/forastera

Watch The Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq1Mjl8Bni8

Fjord wins the Palme! All of a Sudden’s Virgine Efira & Tao Okamoto win Best Actress, the boys from Coward win Best Actor, and La Bola Negra and Fatherland tie in Director. The Cannes Awards are here, and we discuss them all. Plus, we continue to review the reviewers and tally the ovations in Part III of our coverage of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

BOX OFFICE REPORT:

The Mandalorian and Grogu Reviewed - 1:35

Obsession Rewatched - 4:36

CANNES COVERAGE PART III:

Fjord wins the Palme and a bunch of independent awards - 9:44

Minotaur takes 2nd - 15:37

A tie in Director between La Bola Negra and Fatherland - 18:03

Netflix Acquisitions: La Bola Negra, Gentle Monster & In Waves - 20:31

Best Actress to Efira & Okamoto from All of a Sudden - 21:40

Best Actor to Macchia & Champagne of Coward & MUBI’s Acquisitions - 23:58

The Jury Prize to The Dreamed Adventure - 23:36

Best Screenplay to A Man of His Time - 27:54

Un Certain Regard’s FIPRESCI PRIZE & Camera D’or to Benimana - 29:43

Everytime and Elephants in the Fog take 2 other top prizes - 33:58

Past Un Certain Regard Film That Have Gone onto Oscar Noms - 37:47

The Queer Palme goes to Teenage Sex and Death - 38:43

A24’s Club Kid scores the largest acquisition price at Cannes - 39:23

Victorian Psycho isn’t set in the Middle Ages but has contemporary music - 41:59

Out of Competition Discussions - 46:51

John Travolta’s Propeller One Way Night Coach, South Korea’s Zombie Film - Colony, Nicholas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell, Andy Garcia’s Diamond & Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s The Samurai and the Prisoner.

The Final Standing Ovations Tally - 55:22

OUTRO: Make sure to follow us on social media as we comment on everything happening in the movie business. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar