2021 Oscar Special

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Paul & Amy break down Nomadland, Mank, Judas & The Black Messiah, and all the Best Picture nominees before this year’s Academy Awards! They discuss which movies looked too depressing to tackle during a pandemic (and which are less depressing than you’d think), ask why the Best Picture and Best Director nominations aren’t one and the same, and give their predictions for the big category winners (and the shorts of course). Plus: some of their favorites from 2020 that didn’t get nominations!

Next week, we finish our Underdogs series with the fan-voted pick, Hoop Dreams! Learn more about the show at unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Spotify. You can also listen to our Stitcher Premium game show Screen Test right now at https://www.stitcher.com/show/unspooled-screen-test, and apply to be a contestant at unspooledpod@gmail.com! Photo credit: Kim Troxall

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Mank seems the most Oscar-baity of the Best Picture nominees. It's not a BAD movie, but it's not great either.
Fincher's film does try to make Mank more sympathetic to the left/Sinclair than we have any evidence of him being, BUT he also mocks his brother Joe (who actually worked on the anti-Sinclair campaign!) for his unionization efforts.

I second the recommendation of Sound of Metal as not just a bummer.

I also wasn't that into Meek's Cutoff, but I really like River of Grass and Wendy & Lucy. First Cow isn't as good as those two, but I liked it more than Meek's Cutoff or Old Joy.

It's depressing to think of Aaron Sorkin as "our Shakespeare", but fortunately the thought can't be taken seriously. The Coen brothers are better writers with more range.

The "doing it in front of real people" bit is why that Jackass Bad Grandpa movie really deserved the Oscar for best makeup/hairstyling. I know Paul said this after I wrote this note down, but it bears repeating anyway. However, as far as I'm aware Maria Bakalova didn't have to look like an old grandma.

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I actually like all of the Best Picture nominees to some degree (meaning if I were a guest on Siskel & Ebert I would give them all a thumbs-up), which is pretty unusual. In just about every other year there's at least one I would give a thumbs-down. The Trial of the Chicago 7 would be my least favorite, but it's not bad.

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Well, that ending was . . . awkward.