The Oscar Project Podcast

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It's time for my 2025 podcast year in review where discuss some of the popular episodes from this year. Take a listen to hear clips from my Oscar nominated movie discussions with Beth Lisogorsky, Kevin Pettit, Maria Banson, Jeff Kramer, Enrico Banson, and Amanda Kusek. You'll also hear parts of my interviews with Jonathan Hammond, Madison Hatfield, Aaron Blaise, Tatiana McCabe, Xindi Zhang, Sam and David Cutler-Kreutz, and recent Osar winners Victoria Warmerdam and Trent. You can listen to all the full episodes by going back in this podcast feed and find many more interviews and movie discussions from the past year.

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Today's episode is the first of several year end episodes where I recap 2025 and look ahead into 2026. First up are my top 10s of 2025 where my lists include:

• Top movie books I read in 2025
• Top short film of 2025
• Biggest surprises and disappointments of 2025
• Top first time watches in 2025
• Top films of 2025

Be sure to check out my Substack newsletter for full articles on each of these as we count down to the new year and my next episode where I will be recapping everything that happened on the podcast in 2025.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1930 film The Divorcee. I'm joined by Beth Lisogorsky from the You Need to Watch This! newsletter and we talk about Norma Shearer's Oscar-nominated performance, how different the film might have been had it been released a few years later under the Hayes Production Code guidelines, and the complex set of relationships the film uses to delve into all sorts of love and loyalty.

You can watch The Divorcee online for yourself or pick up a DVD copy, and be sure to check out Beth's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• King of Jazz directed by John Murray Anderson
• When Harry Met Sally directed by Rob Reiner
• The Philadelphia Story directed by George Cukor
• War of the Roses directed by Danny DeVito
• The Roses directed by Jay Roach
• Their Own Desire directed by E. Mason Hopper
• The Gold Rush directed by Charlie Chaplin
• The Jazz Singer directed by Alan Crosland
• All Quiet on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone
• The Big House directed by George Hill

Other referenced topics:

• Ex-Wife (novel) by Ursula Parrott
• Variety review of the film
• Danny Reid writing on pre-code.com
• Jessica Stewart writing on attaboyclarence.com
• Cinerama.com review

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In today's episode, I interview Giovanna Ferrari, director of the animated short film "Éiru," her directorial debut which is currently on the shortlist for Best Animated Short Film for the 98th Academy Awards.

Listen to hear about the inspiration for the story that stemmed from Giovanna's own travels around the world, the importance of being willing to see the world through the eyes of people not like ourselves, and whether an entire generation can feel like they lack a voice in the world.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Victory City by Salman Rushdie
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Q by Luther Bisset

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Éiru" directed by Giovanna Ferrari
• Song of the Sea directed by Tomm Moore
• The Breadwinner directed by Nora Twomey
• Wolfwalkers directed by Ross Stewart and Tomm Moore
• "Screecher's Reach" (Star Wars Visions episode)
• My Father's Dragon directed by Nora Twomey
• Princess Mononoke directed by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Power of the Dog directed by Jane Campion
• Amarcord directed by Federico Fellini
• Alien directed by Ridley Scott
• Silence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan Demme
• Hamnet directed by Chloé Zhao
• "Late Afternoon" directed by Louise Bagnall
• Julián directed by Louise Bagnall

Follow the film on Instagram @eiruofficial and Giovanna @ferrarianimation.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1930 film King of Jazz. I'm joined by Matthew Brady from the Warren Peace newsletter and we talk about the use of color in this film that sets it apart for many other films of the time, the relative success of various comedy bits throughout the film, and how many of the sequences throughout are reminiscent of the vaudeville days.

You can watch King of Jazz online for yourself or pick up the Criterion release of the film, and be sure to check out Matthew's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• "Sinkin' in the Bathtub" directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising
• All Quiet on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone
• "Africa" directed by Walter Lantz
• Hollywood Revue of 1929 directed by Charles F. Reisner
• Singin' in the Rain directed by Stanley Donen and Eugene Kelly
• The Wizard of Oz directed by Victor Fleming
• Duck Soup directed by Leo McCarey
• Bulldog Drummond directed by F. Richard Jones
• The Love Parade directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• Sally directed by John Francis Dillon
• The Vagabond King directed by Ludwig Berger

Other referenced topics:

• Bewitched (series)
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
• "Rhapsody in Blue" (song) by George Gershwin
• Reviews from A New Movie and The New York Times on Wikipedia
• Danny Reid writing on pre-code.com
• Now You Has King of Jazz essay on The Criterion Collection

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In today's episode, I interview Alex Thompson, director of the short film "Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting," the story of a mother and daughter faced with difficult choices as they take part in a coming-of-age hunt set in a fictional 1930s America.

Listen to hear about how Alex's world building for the film began with the characters, the process of casting the main characters of the film to ensure they had the right level of humanity for the story, and the challenge of creating a set of digital creatures to inhabit the world that would look like high quality blockbuster effects on a small short film budget.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Aesop's Fables
• Grimm's Fairy Tales
• The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype by Erich Neumann
• Baudolino by Umberto Eco
• The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting" directed by Alex Thompson
• Jurassic Park directed by Steven Spielberg
• Hereditary directed by Ari Aster
• The Walking Dead (series)
• The Grapes of Wrath directed by John Ford
• "La jetée" directed by Chris Marker
• 12 Monkeys directed by Terry Gilliam
• "Un Chien Andalou" directed by Luis Buñuel
• "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" directed by Robert Enrico
• Avatar directed by James Cameron
• Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott
• 2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Everything Everywhere All at Once directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
• Night of the Hunter directed by Charles Laughton
• Come and See directed by Elem Klimov
• The Passion of Joan of Arc directed by Carl Th. Dreyer
• The Seventh Seal directed by Ingmar Bergman
• Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari directed by Robert Wiene
• 12 Angry Men directed by Sidney Lumet
• Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
• The Thin Red Line directed by Terrence Malick

Follow the film on Instagram @emandselmagogriffinhunting and Alex @alexanderthompsonfilms.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1930 film Sarah and Son. I'm joined by Matthew Carlson from the What Am I Making newsletter and we talk about whether the film would even survive today if not for Chatterton's Academy Award nomination for her performance as Sarah, compare lost films to what it would be like if our music catalog was missing dozens of Elvis or Beatles recordings, and learn about interesting familial connections and an actress who was a bit of a daredevil in her spare time.

You can watch Sarah and Son online for yourself and be sure to check out Matt's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• Anna Christie directed by Clarence Leon Brown
• "The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station" directed by the Lumière Brothers
• The Devil's Holiday directed by Edmund Goulding
• All Quiet on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone
• Gone With the Wind directed by Victor Fleming
• Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) directed by Rouben Mamoulian
• The Best Years of Our Lives directed by William Wyler
• Inherit the Wind directed by Stanley Kramer
• Death of a Salesman directed by László Benedek
• The Fighting Lady directed by Edward Steichen
• Raising Arizona directed by Joel Coen
• The Divorcee directed by Robert Z. Leonard

Other referenced topics:

• Roseanne (series)
• The Big Bang Theory (series)
• Young Sheldon (series)
• New York Times review of the film
• Catherine writing on obscurecinemamagic
• Homeward Bound (book) by Ruth Chatterton

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In today's episode, I interview Christoffer Stenbakken, director of the short film "The Thief," which follows a boy in a remote town in East Greenland as he looks for his dog that has gone missing.

Listen to hear about the challenges of filming with a small crew in a remote location, trying to find the film's lead actors around town when they didn't have phones, and the story's foundation in the personal life of the lead actor.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
• Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
• The Strange Bird: A Borne Story by Jeff VanderMeer

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "The Thief" directed by Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken
• La Promesse (The Promise) directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
• Le Fils (The Son) directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
• A Prophet directed by Jacques Audiard
• Killing of a Chinese Bookie directed by John Cassavetes
• Winter's Bone directed by Debra Granik
• The Big Lebowski directed by Joel Coen
• Unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood
• Scooby-Doo directed by Raja Gosnell
• Annihilation directed by Alex Garland

Follow Christoffer on Instagram @christofferstenbakken.

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Today's episode is my conversation about the 1930 film Anna Christie. I'm joined by Swabreen Bakr from the Anti-Brain Rot newsletter and we talk about Greta Garbo's first words heard on screen, how the film addresses women's issues at a time when that was not a topic of conversation in film, and how the film looks at characters of lower social status in a time when many movies focused on the rich and well off.

You can watch Anna Christie online for yourself and be sure to check out Swabreen's newsletter.

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• The Manchurian Candidate (1962) directed by John Frankenheimer
• Grand Prix directed by John Frankenheimer
• The Island of Dr. Moreau directed by John Frankenheimer
• A Woman of Affairs directed by Clarence Brown
• The Big House directed by George Hill
• Reds directed by Warren Beatty
• Dynamite directed by Cecil B. DeMille
• Anna Christie (1923) directed by John Griffith Wray
• Eleanor the Great directed by Scarlett Johansson
• The Love Parade directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• Hell's Angels directed by Howard Hughes and James Whale
• All Quite on the Western Front directed by Lewis Milestone
• With Byrd at the South Pole directed by Julian Johnson
• The Divorcee directed by Robert Z. Leonard
• Anora directed by Sean Baker

Other referenced topics:

• Audiobook recording of the play
• Anna Christie (print version of play) by Eugene O'Neil
• New York Times review by Morduant Hall
• Variety review
• Danny Reid on pre-code.com
• TCM write-up on the film

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In today's episode, I interview Liz Rao, director of the short film "The Truck," which explores the story of a teenage girl and her boyfriend seeking out the morning-after pill in a small town.

Listen to hear about Liz's need to tell this story following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, how she made a film with a strict script that still allowed for improvisation from her actors, and some perfect behavior from the weather when it came to shooting the pivotal scene in the film.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Stay True: A Memoir by Hua Hsu
• Weather Girl by Brian Watkins
• Racecar Racecar Racecar by Kallan Dana

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "The Truck" directed by Liz Rao
• Beast Beast directed by Danny Madden
• Dìdi directed by Sean Wang
• Funny Pages directed by Owen Kline
• Ratcatcher directed by Lynne Ramsay
• The Godfather directed by Francis Ford Coppola
• Do the Right Thing directed by Spike Lee
• The Sopranos (series)
• Paper Moon directed by Peter Bogdanovich
• There Will Be Blood directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Follow Liz on Instagram @lizrao and check out the film's website at www.thetruckfilm.com.

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