The Oscar Project Podcast

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 film White Shadows in the South Seas. My friend Matthew Brady from the Warren Peace newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about why this film was almost a shoe in for winning Best Cinematography at the 2nd Academy Awards, how interesting it was to be able to see some aspects of indigenous life on the South Pacific islands of around 100 years ago, and the cautionary tale that is this film.

You can watch White Shadows in the South Seas on YouTube or purchase a copy for your collection and be sure to check out Matthew's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Nanook of the North directed by Robert J. Flaherty
• Moana directed by Frances H. Flaherty, Robert J. Flaherty, and Monica Flaherty Frassetto
• The Birth of a Nation directed by D. W. Griffith
• Intolerance directed by D. W. Griffith
• Sadie Thompson directed by Raoul Walsh

Other referenced topics:

• White Shadows in the South Seas (novel) by Frederick O'Brien (also available on Project Gutenberg)
• "Rain" (short story) by W. Somerset Maugham
• Los Angeles Times article about Raquel Torres performing a voice test
• Motion Picture Magazine review
• The Film Spectator review

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In today's episode, I interview Allison Moy Hayhurst and Mike Hayhurst, the producer and director of the film And Through the Portal We Go. The film is a genre-bending time loop story that takes an earnest look at faith, friendship, and the search for belonging.

Listen to hear about the some of the research that was required for the film (and the dubious online searches that entailed), the level of detail required to keep everything straight in a time loop film, and how bloopers can sometimes lead to useable takes in a film like this.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life by Brian Grazer
• Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
• A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
• Not Even Nominated: 40 Overlooked Costars of Oscar-Winning Performances by John DiLeo

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• And Through the Portal We Go directed by Mike Hayhurst
• “BEAT” directed by Mike Hayhurst
• “Cook With the Heart” directed by Mike Hayhurst
• “Oma” directed by Mike Hayhurst
• The Trip to Bountiful directed by Michael Wilson
• Forked (web series)
• Groundhog Day directed by Harold Ramis
• Palm Springs directed by Max Barbakow
• Happy Death Day directed by Christopher Landon
• The Map of Tiny Perfect Things directed by   directed by 
• The Mandalorian (series)
• Noises Off directed by Peter Bogdanovich
• Waiting for Guffman directed by Christopher Guest
• Everything Everywhere All At Once directed by Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan
• Withnail and I directed by Bruce Robinson
• Goldeneye directed by Martin Campbell
• Casino Royale directed by Martin Campbell
• Romeo + Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann
• The Birdcage directed by Mike Nichols
• Tomorrow Never Dies directed by Roger Spottiswoode
• Her Majesty, Mrs Brown directed by John Madden

Check out the film this weekend at the Fisheye Film Festival in High Wycombe, UK this weekend on May 2nd at 7PM. You can also follow Evening Squire on Instagram @eveningsquire and the film @andthroughtheportalwego for more screening information.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 film Our Dancing Daughters. My friend Vicki Lesly from the Meandering Over the Pebbles newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about some incredible cinematography choices that absolutely merited a nomination in that category at the 2nd Academy Awards, how this film began Joan Crawford's rise to stardom, and subsequent films that have been influenced by Our Dancing Daughters.

You can watch Our Dancing Daughters on YouTube and be sure to check out Vicki's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• 2001: A Space Odessey directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Dr. Strangelove directed by Stanley Kubrick
• From Here to Eternity directed by Fred Zinnemann
• Babylon directed by Damien Chazelle
• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? directed by Robert Aldrich
• The Last Command directed by Josef von Sternberg
• Rebecca directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• The Brutalist directed by Brady Corbet
• Our Modern Maidens directed by Jack Conway
• Our Blushing Brides directed by Harry Beaumont
• The Atom: A Love Affair directed by Vicki Lesley

Other referenced topics:

• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Motion Picture Magazine review of Our Dancing Daughters
• Motion Picture Classic review of Our Dancing Daughters
• Our Dancing Daughters on joancrawfordbest.com

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In today's episode, I interview Lauren Melinda, the director of the short film "Before You." The film tells the story of a young couple dealing with the loss of a pregnancy while simultaneously expressing joy about an upcoming birth.

Listen to hear about the film's basis in Lauren's own experience of loss, the importance of looking back on difficult memories while also looking for the positives in life, and how she and her crew went about putting together some incredible practical effects shots in the film.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Before You" directed by Lauren Melinda
• Echoes directed by Lauren Melinda
• Legends of Tomorrow (series)
• Last Year at Marienbad directed by Alain Resnais
• Lola Montes directed by Max Ophuls
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind directed by Michel Gondry
• The Double Life of Veronique directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
• Muriel's Wedding directed by P. J. Hogan
• I Am Love directed by Luca Guadagnino
• Amelie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
• "I Could Dom" directed by Madison Hatfield
• Satisfaction directed by Alex Burunova

Follow Lauren on Instagram @laurenmelindafilm and the film @beforeyouthefilm. You can also follow her production company on Instagram @simbelleproductions and on YouTube @SimbelleProductions.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 film Glorious Betsy. My friend Enrico Banson from the Director's Notes newsletter joins me to discuss the film and we talk about how the viewing experience would be substantially different with the partial talkie segments that are now missing, Conrad Nagle's involvement in the creation of the Academy Awards, and where Glorious Betsy fits in with other films of the era that were experimenting with sound. I also have an unexpected guest on this episode with my dog barking at a squirrel outside while we were recording! We also touch briefly on the 1928 film The Cop which was supposed to be our topic on this episode, but is currently unavailable.

You can watch Glorious Betsy on YouTube and be sure to check out Enrico's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Riley the Cop directed by John Ford
• The Magnificent Ambersons directed by Orson Welles
• The Jazz Singer directed by Alan Crosland
• Don Juan directed by Alan Crosland
• 7th Heaven directed by Frank Borzage
• Pandora's Box directed by G. W. Pabst
• Wings directed by William A. Wellman

Other referenced topics:

• Glorious Betsy (novel) by Arline De Haas
• Glorious Betsy (play) by Rida Johnson Young
• New York Times review of the film
• Listen to Pasquale Amato's singing voice on Wikipedia

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In today's episode, I interview Emily Sheskin, the director of the short documentary "Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles." The film focuses on the unlikely pairing of Twitch with jigsaw puzzles and premiered at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival last fall.

Listen to hear about the incredible community around jigsaw puzzling that continues to grow around the world, the importance of representation in the puzzle world, and how we would all benefit from reinforcing community connections in our lives.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick
• Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980 by Rick Perlstein
• The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Livestreams with GrandmaPuzzles" directed by Emily Sheskin
• JessZilla directed by Emily Sheskin
• Wicker Kittens directed by Amy Elliott
• Join or Die directed by Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis
• The Remarkable Life of Ibelin directed by Benjamin Ree
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• Spirited Away directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• Princess Mononoke directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Little Mermaid directed by Ron Clements and John Musker
• Love on the Spectrum (series)
• The King of Kong directed by Seth Gordon
• Capturing the Friedmans directed by Andrew Jarecki
• The Art Star and the Sudanese Twins directed by Pietra Brettkelly
• Jesus Camp directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
• Star Trek: First Contact directed by Jonathan Frakes
• Doctor Strange directed by Scott Derrickson
• The Silence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan Demme
• Legally Blonde directed by Robert Luketic
• Parks and Recreation (series)
• Black Snow directed by Alina Simone
• Mistress Dispeller directed by Elizabeth Lo

To check out Adele's puzzle livestreams yourself, head over to justlovepuzzles on Twitch. Follow Emily on Instagram @emilysheskin and the film @puzzlepeopledoc. Check out Emily's production company's website at chickenwingpictures.com and her personal site at emilysheskin.com.

For more puzzle goodness, check out puzzlesofcolor.com, speedpuzzling.com, the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association, and the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1928 films Street Angel and Skyscraper. My friend Beth Lisogorsky from Beth's TV & Film Recommendations joins me to discuss the films and we talk about some of the visual touches in Street Angel, how vertigo inducing some of the images in Skyscraper are, and a wonderful relationship between to two leads in Skyscraper. Check out the previous episode where Beth and I first covered Street Angel.

You can watch Street Angel and Skyscraper YouTube and be sure to check out Beth's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans directed by F. W. Murnau
• Four Devils directed by F. W. Murnau
• Murnau's 4 Devils: Traces of a Lost Film directed by Janet Bergstrom
• "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station" directed by the Lumiere Brothers
• Speedy directed by Ted Wilde and Clyde Bruckman
• An Affair to Remember directed by Leo McCarey
• Love Story directed by Arthur Hiller
• Love Affair directed by Leo McCarey
• Good Will Hunting directed by Gus Van Sant

Other referenced topics:

• The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
• "At the Intersection of Love & Technology" by Beth Lisogorsky
• Variety review of Skyscraper
• Photoplay Magazine review of Skyscraper
• Letterboxd review of Skyscraper by @Christof
• Critique from silentsaregolden.com

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In today's episode, I am joined by Chris Etrata, the winner of the 2025 Oscar prediction contest on The Oscar Project. We talk about our reactions to the 97th Academy Awards, some movies from 2025 so far, and what we're looking forward to in the rest of 2025.
 
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Wicked directed by Jon M. Chu
• Anora directed by Sean Baker
• Conclave directed by Edward Berger
• A Complete Unknown directed James Mangold
• The Brutalist directed by Brady Corbet
• Mickey 17 directed by Bong Joon Ho
• Parasite directed by Bong Joon Ho
• Captain America: Brave New World directed by Julius Onah
• Joker directed by Todd Phillips
• Mission: Impossible-The Final Reckoning directed by Christopher McQuarrie
• Jurassic World Rebirth directed by Gareth Edwards
• Jurassic World directed by Colin Trevorrow
• Barbie directed by Greta Gerwig
• Oppenheimer directed by Christopher Nolan
• Top Gun: Maverick directed by Joseph Kosinski
• A Minecraft Movie directed by Jared Hess 
• Wicked: For Good directed by Jon M. Chu
• Avatar: Fire and Ash directed by James Cameron
• Emilia Pérez directed by Jacques Audiard
• I'm Still Here directed by Walter Salles
• RRR directed by S. S. Rajamouli
• One Battle After Another directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse directed by Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, and Rodney Rothman
• The Wild Robot directed by Chris Sanders
• Flow directed by Gints Zilbalodis
• Inside Out directed by Pete Docter
• Inside Out 2 directed by Kelsey Mann
• Predator: Badlands directed by Dan Trachtenberg
• Prey directed by Dan Trachtenberg
• Superman directed by James Gunn
• Guardians of the Galaxy directed by James Gunn
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 directed by James Gunn
• No Other Land directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor
• Porcelain War directed by Slava Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham

Check out the full list of films mentioned on Letterboxd.

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Today's episode is the beginning of my conversations about the films nominated at the 2nd Academy Awards. I'm joined by Lewis Beer who writes the Slow Moving Pictures newsletter and we break down some of the history of the 2nd Academy Awards, all of the nominees, and take some time to discuss some of the missing or hard to find films that won't be covered in individual episodes this season.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get all the news episodes delivered to your device every Friday from now through August and if you want to be a guest for a film from the 3rd Academy Awards, send me a message replying to this episode and let me know you're interested.

Nominees of the 2nd Academy Awards (linked films will take you to where you can watch the film online as of the recording of this episode):

• A Woman of Affairs
• Alibi
• Coquette
• Drag (unavailable)
• Dynamite
• Four Devils (unavailable but documentary Murnau's 4 Devils: Traces of a Lost Film is on YouTube)
• In Old Arizona
• Madame X
• Our Dancing Daughters
• Sal of Singapore (archive print only)
• Skyscraper
• Street Angel
• The Awakening (partial archive print only)
• The Barker (archive print only)
• The Bridge of San Luis Rey (archive print only)
• The Broadway Melody
• The Cop (unavailable)
• The Divine Lady
• The Hollywood Revue of 1929
• The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
• The Leatherneck
• The Letter
• The Patriot (unavailable)
• The Valiant
• Thunderbolt
• Weary River
• White Shadows in the South Seas
• Wonder of Women (unavailable)

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In today's episode, I interview John Kelly, the director of the short film "Retirement Plan," an animated short that follows a man as he dreams about what he will do in his retirement years. The film won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at SXSW.

Listen to hear about the inspiration for the story, the importance being nimble with style when creating over 100 animated shots, and the joy of getting to work with one of Ireland's leading actors of the moment.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder by Mark O'Connell
• Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood by Ed Zwick
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Retirement Plan" directed by John Kelly
• Bob's Burgers (series)
• A Grand Day Out (Wallace & Gromit) directed by Nick Park
• Peter Rabbit directed by Will Gluck
• Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens directed by J. J. Abrams
• Ex Machina directed by Alex Garland
• Up directed by Pete Docter
• Fargo directed by Joel Coen
• Raising Arizona directed by Joel Coen
• Barton Fink directed by Joel Coen
• American Movie directed by Chris Smith
• Crumb directed by Terry Zwigoff
• Grey Gardens directed by Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffie Meyer
• The Jerk directed by Carl Reiner
• Being There directed by Hal Ashby
• Bluey (series)
• Fleabag (series)
• Scavengers Reign (series)
• Common Side Effect (series)

You can follow John on Instagram @johnkelly_jnr and the film @retirementplan_film.

Check out the Wheelie Yellow channel on YouTube that John mentioned.

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