Rants included on Close vs Colman II, Mank & Minari momentum, the Borat 2 problem, the big appeal of The Little Things, and we have recommendations, reviews, and synopses for some shorts, most international films, & all but one of the docs on Oscar Race Checkpoint.

What is This Episode?/AlsoMike is Crazy - Top of Show

OSCAR SHORTLIST REACTIONS:

Makeup + Hairstyling - 2:46

(AlsoMike’s Hillbilly Rantegy - 9:05)

VFX - 13:03

Original Score - 22:23

Original Song - 29:33

Best Picture Puzzle Round Up - 38:38

Documentary Feature - 40:00

(AlsoMike Gives a Synopsis of FOURTEEN Entries)

International Feature - 54:33

(AND THEN HE DOES IT AGAIN)

Live Action/Animated/Doc Shorts - 1:06:26

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:09:57

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:11:11

The Oscar Shortlist selections could tell many stories about the strength of certain campaigns and candidacies. Which contenders showed the most strength? Which films got hurt by some costly omissions? We break down the first four categories of Make-Up & Hair, Visual FX, Score, and Song with eyes toward the big prizes, and there are some rants about Glenn Close, Mank & Minari momentum, the Borat 2 problem, and why there’s appeal for The Little Things. Plus, we discuss how other noms from the Choice, Globes, Spirits, & critics awards could factor into these races as to who are the frontrunners in these shortlists.

Then after a lot of movie-watching this season, Also Mike reviews a few of the shorts, most of the International films, and all but one of the documentary features as we run through the shortlists in 5 categories. Where can you watch them? Which films should you prioritize? And what are our early predictions? There are some sad, heavy movies in these lists. But so many are worth your time and patronage. So check them out.

As always, we want to hear your thoughts on the Oscar Shortlists. What do you celebrate? What were your snubs? We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

The Critics Choice nominations lead us into a study of the big 8 Oscars categories, including a huge opening discussion on Best Picture, plus analysis on best director, the 4 acting & 2 screenplay categories.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

CRITICS CHOICE NOM REACTIONS:

Best Picture Noms:

Da 5 Bloods, Ma Rainey’s, Mank - 2:55

Minari, News of the World, Nomadland - 10:10

One Night in Miami, PYW, Sound of Metal - 15:58

Chicago 7 - 21:47

Snubs and Stats - 25:15

Best Ensemble - 33:32

Best Comedy - 35:18

Best Director - 36:50

Lead Actress - 44:06

Lead Actor - 50:20

Supporting Actress - 56:35

Supporting Actor - 1:03:21

Best Young Actor-Actress/Screenplay Categories - 1:09:40

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:18:17

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:19:10

The Critics Choice Award nominations seemed to settle both of us down quite a bit after we spent most of the last SAG / Globe reaction show on a highway to a very special hell. Either that, or all the Super Bowl food and dancing masked men wearing white face jocks led us into a state of acceptance. Whatever happened, Mike and I were in a much better place with this recording.

So we used the Critics Choice noms to focus on the Big 8 Oscars categories that we love to cover most of all. That included a HUGE opening conversation on all the potential contenders in Best Picture, and then 7 other sizable chats about best director, the 4 acting & 2 screenplays. Plus, we covered some of the Critics Choice Super Awards, Best Ensemble, Best Comedy, and Best Young Actor or Actress.

For each category, we also cited the Globe & SAG noms from our previous episode, and we played some catch up on the Indy Spirits, National Board of Review, AFI, and Critics Awards. Plus, we didn’t shy away from mentioning a bunch of our own personal favorites in each group that may have been overlooked throughout the awards process.

If you liked we covered these big 8 categories in this Critics Choice centric episode, then stay tuned for our next show where we’ll be using the Oscar Shortlists to discuss the rest of the Oscars field. That’ll include more analysis on the Choice, Globe, Spirit, and Critics Awards, and of course, we won’t shy away from sharing our own takes.

But we want to hear your opinions as well. So as always, let us know your takes on these nominations or any awards talk we covered in this episode. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

Mike 1 returns as we react to the nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Golden Globes. Yes, we find some silver linings and many nominees we can praise. But dammit all, some of these picks were RIDICULOUS, and we do not hold back in our criticisms.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

GOLDEN GLOBES + SAG NOM REACTIONS:

Best Picture/Ensemble - 3:20

(Comedy/Musical - 17:34)

Best Director - 28:36

Best Actress - 35:01

(All Things Elegy - 41:22)

Supporting Actress - 46:00

Lead Actor - 52:01

Supporting Actor - 58:44

(Leto, Leto, Leto - 1:01:31)

UNDERCARD NOMS:

Screenplay - 1:05:25

Stunt Ensemble - 1:08:52

Original Score - 1:10:47

Original Song - 1:12:16

Animated/International Feature - 1:14:10

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:17:33

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:18:43

Also Mike here: ...soooo, I feel very stupid after relistening to my analysis on the Globes Best Screenplay category at the end of this episode. I completely misread a statistic about the crossover between the 5 Globe Screenplay noms and the Oscars, I remembered my rage for Jordan Peele Get Out snub, and ignoring common sense, I became wildly wrong about the overall stat. Of course, the Globes screenplay category has over an 85% crossover on their last 11 years of nominations. Of course, I let my selective memory run wild. Of course, I was wrong. Anyway, Mike 1 sets me straight... somewhat. But he didn’t have the stats in front of him to correct me all the way. So yeah, sorry about that, and we thank you for the understanding.

Otherwise, this episode was a swirl of passionate feelings. We’re glad to be recording together again as Mike 1 has recovered from his surgery, and to show our love, we make a lot of jokes that range from some of the best we’ve ever told to some of the worst. Again, you’re welcome, and we’re sorry.

We’re also furious at some of these nominations as a few critically panned films have now, somehow been propped up as awards worthy. Worse than that, this is not unprecedented. So to show our rage, we drive home some long angry arguments against all the belligerent to the baffling decisions made by the HFPA and yes, to a much lesser extent, by SAG. Maybe the cabin fever of our pandemic quarantines is finally getting the better of the both of us. Maybe Mike 1 has officially brought me over to the dark side. Or maybe we’re right to structure much of this particular show to argue against some of these nominations, even if it’s at the expense of taking more time to celebrate the many others we love.

I truly don’t know if our party pooper mentality in this episode was right or not, and you will have to be the judge. There are legions of more positive episodes of MMO to enjoy in our past catalog and to look forward to in our upcoming programming if the vibes you prefer are elsewhere. In any event, we’re glad at Mike 1’s return, we’re thrilled to be nearing the launch of MikeMikeAndOscar.com, and we’ll be hitting record again soon to react to Monday’s Critics Choice Award Noms and Wednesday’s Oscar Shortlists.

As always, and especially after this one, do please reach out and let us know your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

Andrew Morgan of The NOMcast returns to review Malcolm & Marie, which features some epic scenes & rants about film criticism and the business we have chosen. But above all, we celebrate the miracle of this pandemic production.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

Introducing Andrew of the NomCast!

MALCOM AND MARIE REVIEW:

NONSPOILER REVIEW:

Movie Watching Experiences - 4:53

Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores - 8:30

Critics Getting Fed and Fed Up - 14:17

Script/Story Thoughts - 24:31

Production Values - 31:04

More Criticism of Critics - 38:40

How Many Noms? - 41:03

(ft Malcom and Marie and GOT)

SPOILER WARNING - 51:19

Actual Lowlights - 52:42

Fanning Each Others’ Flame - 1:02:00

Peaks and Valleys and Closure - 1:03:14

Awards Frustration - 1:10:03

Wrapping Up Highs and Lows - 1:17:22

FINAL GRADES - 1:25:30

Where To Find Us + Andrew/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:29:40

Do make sure to seek out Andrew at JokesOnDrew on Twitter and The NOMcast at nomcastpod on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and dot com. We’ve enjoyed many recent collaborations, including an exclusive NOMcast feed episode reviewing many 2020 hidden gems like The Life Ahead, The Forty-Year-Old Version, I’m No Longer Here, and A Sun in his NOMcast “What We Missed” special. Also check out our episode on Mank, as part of our MMO Mank Miniseries.

As for M&M, we released this episode on a Monday ahead of its Friday Netflix release, and therefore, we wanted to make sure to give you a thorough non-spoiler section. This lasted over 50 minutes, a whole episode worth, and we are able to get into several of the controversial stories surrounding the film and build that up to an awards discussion. Here, we make some unfortunate predictions, even if we feel extremely fortunate to have enjoyed this film so much.

Otherwise, we lead our spoiler section with some lowlights and a few serious criticisms both on the craft and the content. Did the critics ignore these issues? Or did we ignore their attentions? Obviously, we must elaborate on our arguments made in the non-spoiler first half. So if you did listen to the first part before your watch, it could be worth a second click.

As always, we want to hear your thoughts on this film. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

Kolby Mac returns to review News of the World and enjoy a Tom Hanks Top 5 with Also Mike. That’s right. It’s another episode of Mike, Mac, and Oscar, and you’re correct, I will punch myself in the face for making such a terrible dad joke. Good thing this is a good Dad movie.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

Introducing The One And Only Kolby Mac!

NEWS OF THE WORLD NONSPOILER REVIEW:

Cast; Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores - 1:42

Movie Watching Experiences - 4:12

Script/Story Thoughts - 11:48

Act By Act Breakdown - 15:38

How Good Is This Hanks? - 19:03

Helena Zengel - 21:02

Production Values - 24:01

Wrap Up + Final Grades - 30:04

DUELING TOM HANKS TOP 5

The Ground Rules/Criteria - 31:20

5s - 33:00

4s + 3s - 38:26

2s - 52:12

1s - 1:01:18

Where To Find Us + Kolby/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:09:40

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:10:50

Make sure you all seek out everything from Kolby Mac at KolbyToldMe dot com, on social media, on his new youtube channel, and at The Kolby Told Me Podcast. He’s a longtime friend of the show, who’s also a 3 time returning MMO guest host with previous episodes on Ford v. Ferrari and Tenet. He’s a film critic we trust, he makes fun youtube videos, and he’s a podcaster we love to have on our show.

So in this latest installment of Mike, Mac, and Oscar, Kolby & Also Mike enjoy a 30 minute non-spoiler review of the latest Tom Hanks Dad Movie, News of the World before they dive into A Tom Hanks Top 5 countdown.

As always, we build our non-spoiler reviews from analysis of the script, performances, and production values to an Oscar Lens, where we discuss the potential awards chances for this film. Is Tom Hanks gonna surprise on nomination day? Can Helena Zengel break through in a wide open Supporting Actress category? And just how good is this score and cinematography? We break it all down before enjoying a duelling top 5 to celebrate one of our favorite actors and national treasures, Tom Hanks.

What’s your favorite Tom Hanks performance? What are his best films? And how did you rank his latest film up against the rest of the Oscars field. We want to hear your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

With so many Oscar possibilities, we wonder which ones could go the distance. But one thing’s for sure, Amazon Prime has a big fat glorious hit on their hands. So you get the full Oscars Profile treatment of a non-spoiler first half and a plot breakdown after that.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI 2020 OSP:

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:

Cast; Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores - 1:56

Awards Profile/Regina King’s Direction - 5:39

(Including How We Know We’ll Never Know)

Script Thoughts - 8:10

(Theater Watching vs THEATER Watching)

Performances - 15:41

(Goree, Odom, Category Placement, and Parsing Through 4 GREAT Performances)

Production Values - 23:05

How Many Total Noms? - 28:15

(Does the Long Calendar Help This?)

SPOILER WARNING - 32:48

SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW:

A Change Is Gonna Come - 34:04

Slow It Down - 45:47

Why Is Sam Here? - 49:50

The Rest of the Bests - 53:58

FINAL GRADES - 1:00:18

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:02:23

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:03:00

One Night In Miami has become the movie of the moment. Could it become the movie of the year? That’s why we do what we do. Our spoiler free first half discusses its script, direction, performances, and production values, and we contextualize all our talk around it’s many Oscar possibilities. Then in spoilers, we break down the ending and all our best and worst scenes.

Yes, we reviewed the film atop our Fall Film Festival Variety Show. But a movie like this deserves its own episode, and we were glad to give One Night In Miami the full film study treatment. So if you enjoyed this episode, check out our recent catalog with reviews on Promising Young Woman, Pieces of a Woman, Soul, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Mank. Then stay tuned for our next episode on News of the World w/ special guest Kolby Mac, as well as planned February reviews on The Little Things, Malcolm & Marie, Judas and the Black Messiah, Nomadland, and The Father.

As always, we want to know your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

Could it be this year’s Parasite? Well… as was the case with Parasite, the Mikes disagree and debate many of the finer points. But as is the case with all our film studies, we build our spoiler free first half to an Oscars discussion before analyzing the plot.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN 2020 OSP:

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:

Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores - 3:06

Awards Profile/Script Thoughts - 9:40

Production Values:

Sight - 15:25

Sound - 17:11

Performances:

Carey Mulligan - 21:13

Bo Burnham/Laverne Cox - 25:50

Rest of Cast - 27:26

How Many Total Noms? - 33:17

SPOILER WARNING - 35:38

SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW:

What’s Real? - 36:56

Mulholland Driving - 46:50

Subversion + Recontextualization - 51:01

Don’t I Know You? - 57:41

Highs + Lows Throughout The Plot - 1:03:40

FINAL GRADES - 1:17:00

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:20:51

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:21:40

Promising Young Woman was one of our most anticipated films of the year, and we begin with a discussion of these high expectations. Then we analyze the Oscar possibilities throughout the rest of the non-spoiler first half as we give you some opposing thoughts on the direction & script. But we come back together for the underrated cinematography and rightfully celebrated music. Finally, although we save more debate on where the performances of Carey Mulligan and cast rank in this year’s acting categories, we deliver some high praise to the ensemble.

As for our massive spoiler section, we begin with some of the issues hinted at in the first half. It’s not a throwback blow-out argument like the MMO old days. But we do get into a debate as we analyze some of the main plot points before a big discussion on the film’s end. Then we backtrack and go chronologically through a bunch of our shared best scenes until it’s time to drop our final grades.

This is the latest of many recent Oscars Profile Movie Review episodes including Mank, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Soul, and Pieces of a Woman. It’s also the first of the next flurry of film studies as we have One Night In Miami and News of the World coming soon. So stay tuned.

As always, and especially with this episode, we want to hear your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

The Gothams kick off awards SHOW season, and we recap & react to all the best moments. We also catch up on the Critics Awards and Golden Globe category classifications before a final Oscar Trailers segment where we discuss the possible late breaking contenders.

What is This Show? - Opening

GOTHAM 2021 RECAP:

A Rough Presentation - 1:42

6 Special Tributes - 5:29

Seek Out This Moment - 10:41

GOTHAMS + CRITICS SCOREBOARD:

Lead Actress - 13:57

(Behari’s Big Night and a Carrie vs Frances convo)

Best Picture - 18:05

Best Actor/Breakthrough Actor - 24:18

Best Director - 27:29

Screenplay Categories - 31:54

Documentary/International Feature - 34:05

GOLDEN GLOBES CONTROVERSIES:

Minari Competing as a Foreign Film - 36:08

The Hamilton Mess - 39:43

Promising Young Drama - 44:15

(or THE GREATEST ALSOMIKE MONOLOGUE, EVER.)

Bakalova; Miami; Tucci Categorizations - 49:33

CONTENDER TRAILER REVIEWS:

Malcolm and Marie Trailer 1 - 52:23

Cherry Trailer 1 - 57:34

The United States vs Billie Holiday Trailer 1 - 1:01:08

The Little Things Trailer 1 - 1:03:30

Judas and the Black Messiah, Awards Season, + Wrap Up - 1:04:45

Your Homework/Our Socials - 1:10:21

What’s Next For MMO - 1:11:06

We begin with our recap & reactions to the 30th Annual Gotham Awards, and although we’re not gonna dwell on the technical issues of a virtual awards show, we do have to acknowledge some of the pitfalls of a zoom delayed live event. But this first Awards Show of this tumultuous Awards Season did overcome its difficulties, and we must celebrate its many triumphs through its tributes.

Then we figured we ought to catch up on the Critics Award scoreboard (shoutout to our friends at NextBestPicture for their record keeping), and we decided to discuss the critics award tallies alongside our commentary on the Gotham Award Winners. So you get our discussions on Lead Actress, Picture, Lead Actor, Director, the Screenplays, International & Documentary film as we toggle back and forth from the latest Gotham win to how the critics are putting forward their picks.

The catch up segments must continue as we need to finally address the controversies coming from the HFPA and the Golden Globes. Minari is forced into “Foreign Language” film, Hamilton seems to be confusing pundits and voters as it’s eligible for their 3 Comedy or Musical categories, Promising Young Woman has been forced into the Dramatic side of things, and we have lead/supporting changes for Maria Bakalova, the men of One Night In Miami, and Stanley Tucci. Soooo, we go on some rants.

Now since we’ve been discussing many of these major Oscar categories for most of the episode, it’s only fitting that we try and solidify the final wave of upcoming films and potential late breaking contenders through an Oscar Trailers segment. Here, we review the latest first looks and initial critical reactions for Malcolm & Marie, Cherry, The United States vs Billie Holiday, and Judas and the Black Messiah.

But that’s not quite all. We do get pretty silly during the outro with how one Mike busts the balls of the other for some recent tweets. This was another loaded episode of Oscar Race Checkpoint, and there’s many more to come. Up next, we’ll have reviews of Promising Young Woman, One Night In Miami, and News of the World. So stay tuned.

As always, we want to hear your thoughts on anything or everything we discussed. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

Hey, Academy. Don’t forget about Vanessa Kirby & Ellen Burstyn! Our review Pieces of a Woman is loaded with heavy subject matter. But we also get the chance to praise some incredible filmmaking.

What is This Episode? - Top of Show

PIECES OF A WOMAN 2020 OSP:

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:

Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores, + Crew - 2:18

Performances:

Vanessa Kirby - 9:03

Ellen Burstyn - 12:03

Molly Parker - 14:38

Everything About Shia - 16:44

Script Thoughts/Direction - 22:26

Production Values:

Cinematography - 26:13

Score/Sound - 28:44

How Many Total Noms? - 30:09

SPOILER WARNING - 31:44

SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW:

Stunning Story Structure/What Eva Knew - 32:53

Gut-punch After Gut-punch - 36:27

Kirby vs Burstyn - 42:02

The Big Speech - 48:45

The Audacity - 55:00

FINAL GRADES - 1:00:14

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:04:33

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:05:24

As we’ve been saying for weeks, Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn are bonafide contenders in this year’s awards season. So we begin our non-spoilers discussion with an Oscar Lens on these two performances and how they stack up in the lead & supporting actress races. Then we also have a lot of praise for Molly Parker before we regrettably must have a talk about Shia Lebeouf.

Our non-spoiler first half does follow the lead of the film’s trailer and marketed premise, and we’ll outline more of this story in our first half hour than perhaps we usually do. But we do think it’s necessary in this instance, and we explain why in our script thoughts section before we each gush about our favorite production values.

The spoiler section begins with our thoughts on the plot structure from the 30 minute cold opening to how the characters must reckon with it. Our glowing reviews of the performances, script & direction carry through into a list of our best scenes before we footnote a few of our issues and layout how Pieces of a Woman stacks up to the rest of the 2020/21 film year.

As always, and especially with this episode, we want to hear your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.

Sorry for the short hiatus. But we are back with this rave review of Pixar’s Soul. There’s nearly 40 minutes of Oscar Lens analysis of its awards season chances in non-spoilers. Then for our final half hour, you get movie comps & screenplay discussion you won’t hear elsewhere.

MMO is Back/What is This Episode? - Top of Show

SOUL 2020 OSP:

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW:

Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores, + Crew - 3:51

Does/Should This Get a Best Picture Nom? - 7:30

“Through the Eye of a Needle” - 14:12

Production Values:

Score/Sound - 17:25

Editing/Cinematography/Animation - 21:47

Character Designs/Performances - 26:06

co-Directors + Screenplay - 29:07

How Many Total Noms? - 34:03

SPOILER WARNING - 39:26

SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW:

Let’s Talk About Cats, Baby - 40:26

New Premise for an Old Trope - 44:00

Deus Ex Yay-ina - 46:50

Bests, Highlights, + The Non-Kids Kids Movie - 52:21

Representation Done Right - 59:37

Lowlights + Nitpicks - 1:01:53

FINAL GRADES - 1:08:30

Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:10:32

Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:11:34

Unfortunately, 2020 struck one more time, and we needed to take a 10 day hiatus. It was the longest we’ve been away from the microphones in our 3+ years. But it especially hurt us all the more because we had to delay our thanks and well wishes to you all for 2021. So after some belated tidings of good cheer at the top of the show, we’re even happier to come back to review this particular movie.

This Oscar Sprint Profile review of Pixar’s Soul is indeed, a rave. It’s one of our favorite films of the 2020/21 film year, and we are here to celebrate it. We also try and take a negative and turn it into a positive. Obviously, we’re getting to the film a bit later than we hoped. But that also means we were able to do more research and react to more fallout. So this non-spoiler section is nearly entirely filled with awards season speculation, punditry research, analysis, and our projections on all the possible categories where Soul could and should contend.

Plus, we do have some unique qualifications for this review. You can find our entire coverage of everything Pixar in our (now) 22 episode long, Soundcloud playlist, “The Films of Pixar.” This rewatch series features our analysis of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling, and our behind the scenes research on the History of Pixar Company. So we certainly reference that series in this episode, and if you enjoyed this show, do go back and enjoy this playlist.

As for our spoiler section, this is where you get some hardcore film study done. We make comparisons to other films you won’t hear elsewhere, and we analyze this script in ways you won’t find on other shows. This movie is truly a joy to behold and worthy of celebration. So let’s get behind its Oscars chances and push it every way we can.

Otherwise, and as always, we want to hear your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.