Oscar Wild

Even though the midway point of this decade passed when the ball dropped on New Year’s Day (yeah, a chill went down my spine, too), Nick and Sophia spend today’s new episode honoring some of the best films of the 21st Century (so far) after crossing the halfway point of 2025. They chat about the recently released lists from The New York Times and Rolling Stone and debate which may have the best selection.

Check out the lists they discuss below:

New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/movies/best-movies-21st-century.html

Ro...

After 20 years, the shock of Brokeback Mountain losing Best Picture still stings just as much. Ang Lee’s beautiful and affecting western about finding love in a hopeless place is grounded by expert craftsmanship and nuanced performances. Listen as Sophia and Nick detail their love for the film, share some of their favorite shots and scenes, and thank the movie theater gods for rereleasing it in theaters worldwide.

Despite its remarkable awards run, there’s no forgetting that Crash went home with the big prize instead at the 2006 Academy Awards (42:43). Find out how they’d rank these two mo...

Is it true that “Love don’t cost a thing” or could J.Lo just have been jaded by a materialistic lover? Nick and Sophia ponder this question as they review and react to Celine Song’s latest feature, Materialists, before diving into spoilers at (12:27). If you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t worry! Skip ahead to the next segment and come back for all of their steamy, love triangle thoughts.

Then they share their very early Oscar predictions in all acting categories, Director, Picture, and for the first time ever, Casting! (29:22) Enjoy their fun banter as th...

This cinematic collaboration may be one of the most beloved, well-known pairings in all of Hollywood history. From the instantly recognizable two- actually three!- notes Sophia and Nick discuss in depth later on to the far off lands you’ll discover in every adventurous theme, there’s no doubt that a Steven Spielberg-John Williams film is much more than the sum of its parts.

After a detailed examination of their tightly bound careers, enjoy a fun review of Jaws to celebrate its 50th anniversary (15:02). They also discussed the film five (!) years ago during their first season, so c...

“I love limes. They’re so great, I love them so much.” [insert your favorite Dakota Johnson quote here] This week’s new episode began as a celebration of Dakota Johnson’s career in preparation for Materialists opening next week, but shifted to showcase the artistic collaborations between her, Luca Guadagnino, and Tilda Swinton. Suspiria highlights the unique talents of each of these artists while expanding the supernatural world Dario Argento created in his 1970’s giallo classic. Listen to hear Nick and Sophia’s thoughts on the film and why they think this was an important step in all of their caree...

Another awards season has begun in the most elegant of fashions with some of cinema’s finest (no small thanks to Jury President Juliette Binoche). Sophia and Nick are excited to recap this 78th rendition of the Cannes Film Festival including the big winners, some highlights and disappointments, and just how this could start to shape the 2026 Oscars. Listen to Sophia’s firsthand experience on the ground to find out what could end up on your Best of 2025 list at the end of the year!

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With another great season comes great responsibility…to craft an entertaining theme that showcases a new crop of Oscar nominees and winners. For season six, Nick and Sophia are excited to announce a series on frequent cinematic collaborators, between directors and actors, cinematographers, costume designers, writers, and more! This inaugural episode features a look into the decades-long working relationship between two of cinema’s most talented artists: Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune.

Listen to find out why they are so widely beloved and remembered as two of the greats, including memorable scenes, shots, and quotes. Both films disc...

A life lost way too soon at 24 years old, James Dean will always be remembered as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors. Add to that feat the fact that he only had leading roles in three films and his potential becomes infinitely more devastating. In honoring him seventy years after his passing, Sophia and Nick look back at two of his films that were also released that same year: Elia Kazan’s triumphant adaptation of John Steinbeck’s epic novel, East of Eden, and Nicholas Ray’s definitive portrait of 1950’s America, Rebel Without a Cause (34:24). Listen as they discuss De...

With summer right around the corner, Nick and Sophia recap 2025 releases thus far to highlight some of their recommendations and analyze the dynamic state of Hollywood. First, they announce some recent Oscar changes and category updates. Then, to celebrate the one year anniversary of Challengers, their first favorite film of 2024, they share a spoiler-free review of Ryan Coogler’s equally sensational and latest film, Sinners (12:01). Stay tuned for their thoughts on other early 2025 releases, including our favorite highlights, Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag and Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet, and which coming attractions they’re most excited for (32:24).

Welcome back to Oscar Wild’s sixth season! Sophia and Nick are excited to premiere with a film they both love, one about responsibility and passion and art and rock music: Almost Famous. What do they love about it? In the famous words of Russell Hammond, “To begin with, everything.” In celebrating its 25th anniversary, they review the film and share their favorite scenes, quotes, and characters. Then, they discuss the film’s award season run, including Cameron Crowe’s win at the Oscars.

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And that's a wrap on the 97th Academy Awards and Season 5 of Oscar Wild! Listen as Nick and Sophia recap the exciting ceremony and relive all of the performances, surprises, and WTF moments. They share all of their opinions and fun new stats about the winners, hold out hope for the losers, and congratulate Anora, the new Best Picture winner and reigning 4-win champ!

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Music: "The Greatest Adventure" by Jonathan Adamich

And that’s a wrap on the 97th Academy Awards and Season 5 of Oscar Wild! Listen as Nick and Sophia recap the exciting ceremony and relive all of the performances, surprises, and WTF moments. They share all of their opinions and fun new stats about the winners, hold out hope for the losers, and congratulate Anora, the new Best Picture reigning champ which won four other Oscars!

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Music: “The Greatest Adventure” by Jonathan Adamich

After an unexpectedly wild awards season, Sophia and Nick are excited to share their final Oscar predictions. Like in previous years, they break up all 23 categories into three groups: In the Bag, Toss Up (11:38), and Anybody’s Guess (38:51). With more than half of the categories too close to call, they debate every possibility and look forward to a nail-biter of a ceremony!

Tune in this Sunday, March 2nd on ABC or Hulu at 6:30 ET/3:30 PT for the Red Carpet Show and 7pm ET/4pm PT for the ceremony!

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Here’s to the final installment in this year’s Oscar Contenders series, when Nick and Sophia discuss each nominee in the final four above-the-line categories. They share their write-in votes along with some fun facts for: Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay (11:08), Director (20:26), and last but not least, Best Picture (26:49). Less than one week until the Oscars ceremony!

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More content including updated predictions @ oscarwild.squarespace.com

Music: “The Greatest Adventure” by Jonathan Adamich

If you’re following along in the Contenders series, you’ve heard about some films three, four, or even eight times! Today though, Sophia and Nick discuss a whole new slate of movies save for three. For feature films, they share the significance of International Feature, Documentary Feature (18:13), and Animated Feature (29:35), highlighting their write-in votes and which they think should win. Then for all three Shorts categories- Live Action (39:06), Animated (45:45), and Documentary (52:12)- they mention previous nominees and winners in debating which they want the Academy to vote for.

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In nearing the halfway point of the Contenders series, it’s time to focus on the wonderful performances nominated this year! Listen as Nick and Sophia break down the following categories while also sharing their favorite scenes they hope will be shown during the Oscars telecast: Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress (35:42), Actor (58:49), and Actress (1:23:17). Stay tuned for some fun picks for who their write in votes would be!

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For the final crafts related Contenders episode, Sophia and Nick share all of the fun looks and designs, including practical and digital effects, in building out all of these imaginative, Oscar-nominated worlds. Listen to find out more about your favorite nominees in: Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume Design (23:32), Production Design (41:57), and Visual Effects (1:03:55).

The Substance BTS video: https://youtu.be/8H64HNvXrqU?si=7RZe7aLY06-h8Q4h

Filmmaker Magazine with Judy Becker: https://filmmakermagazine.com/128283-history-made-concrete-production-designer-judy-becker-on-the-brutalist/

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For their continued discussion of the craft categories, Nick and Sophia look at two of their favorite technical aspects in moviemaking: Cinematography and Film Editing (38:05). Listen as they talk through each nominee and share captivating facts about each production!

Lol Crawley & The Brutalist featurette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80zMHi_bxjM&ab_channel=Variety

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More content including updated predictions @ oscarwild.squarespace.com

Music: “The Greatest Adventure” by Jonathan Adamich

With the final countdown to the Oscars underway, it’s time once again for the most thorough series on this year’s nominees! Sophia and Nick begin with the sonic categories to not only hear from their expert song guest, Bennett Prosser, but to also understand how epic studio films and music heavy movies all function to transport audiences alongside stunning visuals. Listen to hear their category breakdowns including production facts, write-in votes, and what they think should win for Original Song, Original Score (34:36), and Sound (1:05:40).

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The race to the 97th Academy Awards has officially begun! Nick and Sophia are excited to discuss all of their reactions, ecstatic and mournful, to the Oscar nominees being announced a few days ago. Listen to hear about all of the Best Picture nominees, the most nominated films and what records they’ve set, and of course the many surprises and snubs that will shake up the race!

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More content including updated predictions @ oscarwild.squarespace.co...

It’s nearly time to find out the nominees for the 97th Academy Awards! Sophia and Nick have done plenty of deliberating, and even though it may not be over until they hear the nominees, it’s time to share their picks and their complex reasoning. Enjoy predictions in all 20 feature categories, including plenty of alternates that could spoil or surprise. How did the SAG nominees influence their decisions and could BAFTA change that? Will Pamela Anderson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste or Fernanda Torres get into Best Actress? Do horror flicks Nosferatu or The Substance have a chance at multiple noms? Stay...

There’s no better way to celebrate a new year than by perusing a fresh slate of movies that is sure to dazzle and shock us. Nick and Sophia are back and excited to share 75 new releases coming throughout the year, and they’re positive there’s something for everyone! First, they recap the Golden Globes from this past weekend where Emilia Perez came out on top with four awards. Who’s the frontrunner for Best Picture at the Oscars? Why didn’t Anora win anything?! They discuss this and much more, including The Brutalist’s fine showing.

Then, they...

There’s no better way to look forward to an exciting new year and a fresh slate of movies than by sharing the best of 2024. In typical fashion, Sophia and Nick start by going through their Letterboxd Wrapped to highlight how many movies they watched, which actors and directors they watched most, and some other fun stats. Then, they use a bunch of very scientific and informative superlatives to talk about their favorite movies from the past year (15:41) including some impressive listener submitted categories (1:30:36), such as Favorite Ending, Best MTV Movie Kiss Award, Favorite Nepo Baby Performance, Wildest Line De...

There’s something for everyone this episode as Nick and Sophia dive into three of the last and most exciting releases of 2024: Babygirl (12:45), A Complete Unknown (31:04), and Nosferatu (51:09). But before they opine and share a spoiler-free review of each film, they start with an update on the ten Oscar shortlists and what this could foreshadow when Oscar nominations are announced in three weeks! Thank you for listening to Oscar Wild in 2024 and here’s to a happy 2025!

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There’s nothing more idyllic than waking up Christmas morning and finding everything outside dusted with a glistening layer of snow. Or so the song goes. That isn’t quite the case traveling with the performing duos Wallace & Davis and the Haynes Sisters during their misadventures in White Christmas. Listen as Sophia and Nick celebrate the movie’s 70th anniversary, sharing their favorite scenes and songs and explaining why this Oscar nominee is such an eye-popping, nostalgic holiday classic.

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Foll...

Nick and Sophia welcome back returning guest and Best Original Song category extraordinaire, Bennett Prosser, to talk through critics prizes and initial nominations that have kicked off this year’s awards season. They highlight the films that earned the most nominations at the Golden Globes and debate what happened with certain solo nominees. Does Emilia Pérez have the best chance at winning Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy considering its 10 nominations? Listen to find out what they think!

Then, they answer listener questions to help make sense of other surprises and snubs (48:46). Will Denis Villeneuve be...

Stanley Kubrick went all out for what would become his final picture— and it’s nothing like you’d expect. Its subtext descends into Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell then does a U-turn at the corner of Pop Culture and Reality. Christopher Nolan would ask you, “Are you watching closely?” Kubrick assumes the impossible, that the viewer may, like the film’s lead character, Bill Harford, like the rest of society, have their Eyes Wide Shut.

Enjoy another deep dive courtesy of Sophia and Nick as they venture through a disconcerting yet convincing New York City at Christmasti...

Way before Dorothy Gale landed in Oz, The Wicked Witch of the West wasn’t wicked at all! The origin story to The Wizard of Oz is all laid out in this season’s most spectacular book to stage to screen adaptation, Wicked. Nick and Sophia, along with special returning guests Connor and Dylan MacDowell from the DRAMA. podcast start by discussing their relationships with the stage musical and how that informed their first viewings of the new film.

Then, they dive into their thoughts on the casting, including some favorites from the stage musicals, before highlighting Cynt...

Sophia and Nick are channeling their Italian heritage this week as they re-enter the Colosseum and prepare for the grand battles in Gladiator II. Enjoy their spoiler-free review of the new release and see how they compare it to the original Gladiator which won 5 Oscars and 12 total nominations. Then, they chat about the film’s Oscar potential and predict which categories it could be nominated in come January (28:01).

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Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! That phrase, let alone many, many others, is instantly and universally recognized from the 1939 classic, The Wizard of Oz. Nick and Sophia are excited to share their in depth discussion of this inspirational gem and shocking facts from its production, how the Emerald City has fascinated (and scared) them since they were kids, and their favorite scenes and songs that truly remind them that there’s no place like home. Of course, they also chat about its two Oscar wins and debate if they think it should’ve won or been nominated for...

Sophia and Nick return for an historic episode to discuss the director with the most Oscar wins and the first to win consecutively: John Ford. Revered by many filmmakers throughout history and known for his Westerns, Ford blazed a trail that also showcased his Irish background, his actors- many of whom also won Oscars- and the fractured American Dream.

They begin with a thorough history of his illustrious career before reviewing The Informer, the 1935 film for which he won his first Oscar. Even though he didn’t win for Stagecoach four years later, he was successful the fo...

“The secret lies with Charlotte.” So begins an unforgettable treasure hunt to some of America’s most historic monuments and beyond. This week, Nick and Sophia join Nicolas Cage and his motley crew in their search for gold in National Treasure. This adventure has remained a staple for them after all these years, so listen to find out why it’s one of their favorite Disney live-action films. Even though it wasn’t nominated at the Oscars, they honor the award ceremonies that did celebrate it and its team which accounted for over 75 Oscar nominations and wins!

If you wou...

Sophia and Nick are excited to celebrate Halloween with their devilish review of The Omen. They share their thoughts on both the recent prequel, The First Omen, and the original classic along with exalting its winning performance at the Academy Awards. (They promise there’s no chanting of “Ave Satani.”) Listen to find out their favorite scenes, performances, and kills before they debate what was snubbed and which one Oscar they’d award the film!

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Music: “The Greate...

The second half of this year’s New York Film Festival brought other previous festival favorites, like the Sundance hit A Real Pain, featuring Kieran Culkin and writer-director Jesse Eisenberg, and highly-anticipated auteur releases, like Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, and Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door. Nick and Sophia densely pack this week’s episode with reviews of all of these and more, including chatting Oscar buzz and potential in multiple categories, like Costume Design, Actress, and International Feature.

Then, enjoy a spoiler-free review of Sean Baker’s latest and 2024 Palme d’Or wi...

Audiences have been flooding Lincoln Center for this year’s exciting 62nd edition of the New York Film Festival and Sophia and Nick are here to highlight its exceptional first week. They begin with reactions to some hits and award winners from Cannes and Telluride, like The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Emilia Pérez, Maria, and Nickel Boys. Then, they showcase a special architect double feature with Megalopolis and The Brutalist, more distant cousins than siblings (28:03). They wrap up by sharing some memorable #NYFF62 moments, superlatives for favorite shots and quotes from anything they’ve seen, and what one O...

“Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect.” This simple, yet expansive idea frames the timely new release, The Substance, a hyper-stylized modern fairy tale that heavily satirizes Hollywood and the beauty industry. Nick and Sophia thoroughly break down this wildly thrilling body horror award winner from Cannes, including: Demi Moore’s daring performance, the gruesome prosthetic and makeup effects, the meaning behind its many movie references, and its continued awards potential. If you haven’t seen the film yet (we definitely recommend finding a packed screening), there’s a spoiler warning mid-episod...

Now that all of the Big Five film festivals (Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, and Venice) have ended and handed out their awards, it’s time for Sophia and Nick to recap how their premieres will influence the rest of awards season. Listen as they discuss initial reactions from Venice, Telluride (18:31), and TIFF (37:21), and preview some releases coming at the New York Film Festival (46:21). Afterwards, they answer some fun listener questions related to buzzy performances and their chances at competing on Survivor, older films that would pair well with recent releases, and some category specific possibilities, like in Screenplay or Pi...

Even though the yearly transition from the dog days of summer into sweater weather always feels too abrupt, it also means that there’s an exciting crop of new releases on its way! To talk about over 40 of these movies headed to the big screen and on streaming, Nick and Sophia are joined by Benjamin VanHoose, @People’s Associate Editor, Movies. Listen as they highlight blockbusters and indie films alike being released in September, October (27:34), November (44:42), and December (1:04:50). Are you a fan of horror? Then The Substance, Heretic, or Nosferatu might be for you. Looking for a family night at t...

Sophia and Nick are looking back on 1974 once more, this time to a wonderful comedy double feature: both Oscar nominees and both made by the same director! Here’s to Mel Brooks’ odd couple, the unforgettable Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein (22:09). Listen as they uncover behind the scenes facts and share their favorite quotes and scenes alike. Gene Wilder and Madeline Kahn aren’t the only ones seeing double! Do you think either of these classics deserved to win at least one Oscar?

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Fall festivals are about to begin which means it’s time for Oscar Wild’s biggest episode of the year! Nick and Sophia are excited to invite back eight extraordinary guests to compete in their fifth Awards Season Fantasy Draft: All-Stars Edition. Part competition, part movie madness, the draft showcases what they believe to be the biggest players throughout the coming awards season, possibly even taking home some Oscar gold come March.

Each of their teams select films, cast and crew, and some fun creative picks that could earn them the most points via critics prizes, multiple guil...