It’s only August, & awards season is already rife with controversy & MMO debate. After we react to the Little Women trailer & review Martin Scorsese’s Bob Dylan doc, we analyze the Tarantino / Bruce Lee, Disney / Jojo Rabbit, & WGA / ATA showdowns in the trades this past week.

What is an Oscar Race Checkpoint? - 1:04

OSCAR TRAILER REVIEW:

Little Women Trailer 1 - 1:34

Dolemite is My Name Trailer 1 - 7:17

Portrait of a Lady on Fire Trailer 1 - 10:33

Parasite Trailer 1 - 13:41

A Hidden Life Trailer 1 - 17:18

American Factory Trailer 1 - 19:55

MAKE THE CASE: DOC FEATURE CATEGORY - 21:51

RECAPPING A WEEK OF CONTROVERSIES:

Tarantino’s Bruce Lee Controversy Will Not Die - 27:33

Disney Fears Jojo Rabbit - 40:22

Mike and Mike Fight About Disney, Part 2 - 43:12

FILM FESTIVAL NEWS:

TIFF Adds More Movies - 55:47

Blackbird Opens San Sebastian FF - 57:39

BREAKING DOWN THE WGA/ATA NIGHTMARE - 58:26

RIP PETER FONDA - 1:05:40

AND RIP RICHARD WILLIAMS - 1:07:03

BLOW THE MAN DOWN GOES TO AMAZON - 1:08:20

Your Homework/PLEASE LEAVE US 5*’S - 1:10:55

What’s Next From MMO/Words of Wisdom - 1:11:37

These early Oscar Race Checkpoint episodes were supposed to be a testing ground for a bunch of new segments we wanted to try. But instead, we’ve had 3 weeks full of Oscar contender trailers, film festival news, and some controversies we could not ignore. So be it.

This series debuted in the nick of time. We’re finally getting some first looks at some of the most anticipated contenders of awards season. This week, we react to the trailers for Little Women, Dolemite Is My Name, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Parasite, A Hidden Life, and American Factory. In fact, we’re so impressed with one aspect of one of these trailers that we declared a new frontrunner. But what’s most fun about these trailer reviews is that we can have side conversations about our hopes & dreams for these films, including some speculation about campaign strategies.

There’s a Make The Case segment where we discuss Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, now on Netflix. Does it feel like a Best Documentary Feature contender? And are we rooting for or against it?

Then let the controversies continue. Mike & I try to look at the Bruce Lee / Tarantino controversy from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood from multiple angles. Could Quentin have avoided it? Should he have avoided it? And will it derail some of OUATIH’s momentum?

The leaked Jojo Rabbit reactions & Bob Iger’s comments spark the biggest debate of the episode though. We get you up to speed on our ongoing argument, & then have round 3, or is it round 4 now in what’s becoming an epic MMO battle of wits & lungs. There’s also an Also Mike prophesy in here for good measure.

Finally, Mike 1 is able to shine some light on what’s happening between the Writers Guild & Talent Agency stalemate. Why has it come to this? And is there another storm on the horizon? Then of course, we must pay some tribute to Peter Fonda & Richard Williams before we finish with an updated look at Amazon’s Oscar hopefuls.

Where do you fall on all these hot button issues in the movie world? Let us know. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you listen to podcasts. When reality sucks, keep watching movies with us. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar!