Mike, Mike, and Oscar

Olivia Wilde’s not afraid of Virgina Woolf. That’s for sure. She used the Mike Nichols’ film as her “North Star” in making this film, and it’s very apparent to us as we discuss all of the Oscars implications and awards season possibilities for The Invite, starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF THE INVITE: The Production Backstory - 2:01 Reception Scores...

We discuss awards from the Midseason Astra’s & Annecy Film Festival + Odyssey first reactions, TIFF first film premieres, the July 4th Box Office downturn and a host of trailers & reviews, including our Top 10 Films of the Year & Top 5 Most Anticipated. HEADLINES: The Odyssey first reactions - 0:55 The 9th Midseason Astra Movie Awards - 4:09 OUR BEST OF THE YEAR THUS FAR & MOST ANTICIPATED LISTS:...

Minions & Monsters is the movie we Mikes NEED right now, and therefore, we are proud to do a film study, especially because of how fun this movie was and what a terrific homage it was to film history. NON-SPOILER REVIEW: Reception & Box Office Discussions - 3:11 WHY WE NEED THIS MOVIE SO DESPERATELY - 8:38 A Pierre Coffin & Co-Filmmakers Profile - 10:22 General Thoughts & Rave Reviews - 13:21 Perf...

What Is This Episode - Top of Show + SPOILER WARNING at 40:15 . MMO INTERVIEWS JEFF BARKER OF OBSESSION! . A Fellow Cinephile and his Mental Health Background - 3:25 Jeff’s Upcoming Short Films: Good Tape + Medium Rare - 9:59 Similarities in Writing Between Jeff and Curry - 13:11 Professor of Chill + Screenplays - 16:32 . Script Consulting on Obsession + Anything But Ghosts - 21:05 Hansel, Gretal,...

New Academy Member: Jacob Elordi - can M1 deal with this? Then we discuss Venice Film Festival rumors and another Obsession centric Box Office Report before we dive into reviews for Supergirl, Voicemails for Isabelle and a bunch of other films old & new. And if that’s not enough, you get a Trailer Thoughts segment with our thoughts on ALL of the new trailers. NEWS: New Academy Members Invited incl...

Toy Story 5 is a smash hit at the box office. But will it be nominated at the Oscars? We break it all down in this Oscars Profile review episode. NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION FOR TOY STORY 5: Reception, Scores & Box Office Projections - 3:14 The Premis & Our Movie Watching Stories - 5:41 Non-Spoiler Story Thoughts - 8:03 Voice Performance Reviews - 13:53 Music & VFX Reviews - 16:08 Animation Innovat...

Scott Yager of Challenge Mania joins us for a 30th Anniversary celebration & retrospective of The Rock (1996), starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage & Ed Harris. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF THE ROCK (1996): Great Action Film Scores - 3:55 Scott’s 1st Viewing Experience - 6:10 The Mikes’ 1st watches - 13:30 Its Legacy Holds Without A Sequel - 17:48 The James Bond Theory - 20:04 30th Anniversary - 24:11 Do...

Knicks superfan Timothee Chalamet referenced his Oscars loss in a viral moment after NY’s championship win. Will it hurt his chances? Glenn Close, Floyd Norman and Ridley Scott will receive Honorary Oscars at the Governors Awards. Plus, we have Tribeca Stories, Academy Initiatives, Box Office Reports & Contender Trailers all to discussion on this overdue episode of Oscar Race Checkpoint. THE KNICK...

In part 3 of our MMO UFO miniseries, we review Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Coleman Domingo, Colin Firth and Eve Hewson (which we mispronounce as Hewitt for the entire film because ....Jennifer Love Hewitt?) NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION: Difference in Opinion? - 2:32 Production Profile - Inception - 3:49 Best Spielberg in the last 20 years? - 5:40 Critical...

We study Steven Spielberg’s E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial for our MMO UFO (mini) series leading up to Disclosure Day. NON-SPOILER REVIEW - 4:53 M1’s 1st Watch Memory & Does it live up to our childhoods? - 7:07 Development Backstory - 10:07 Reception: Box Office, Critical, Audience, Oscars Profile, etc - 14:59 Tremendous Child Actors Made This Movie Work - 17:25 Little Green Men & Men In Black Trope...

What Is This Episode - Top of Show . MMO UFO: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF A THIRD KIND . Spoiler-Free Review: Background, Spielberg’s Inspirations - 2:28 Spielberg: Good; Not an A-Hole - 7:15 Reception in the 70’s - 11:00 Script Thoughts - 16:31 Performances - 24:28 Do The VFX Hold Up After 50 Years? - 30:33 Other Production Values - 33:58 The 1977 Best Picture Conversation - 35:13 . SPOILER WARNING - 37:...

What Is This Episode - Top of Show . BACKROOMS OSCARS PROFILE . Spoiler-Free Review: The 4Chan Origins - 2:26 Scores, Projected Box Office, The YouTube of It All - 6:34 “He DiDn’T dIrEcT tHaT!” - 10:42 Script Thoughts - 15:34 Do You Go In? - 17:43 Do We Have Faith Answers Will Come Eventually? - 20:04 Performances - 25:21 Production Values (Backrooms’ Obsession Problem) - 28:23 . SPOILER WARNING -...

Forastera opens this weekend. Make sure to check out the film at the Film Forum if you’re in NYC. Make sure to check it out in Santa Barbara, and seek out this film in the upcoming weeks and months as it expands theatrically. Information on the Film https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/forastera/ Tickets for Opening Weekend https://filmforum.org/film/forastera Watch The Trailer https://www.youtube.com...

Fjord wins the Palme! All of a Sudden’s Virgine Efira & Tao Okamoto win Best Actress, the boys from Coward win Best Actor, and La Bola Negra and Fatherland tie in Director. The Cannes Awards are here, and we discuss them all. Plus, we continue to review the reviewers and tally the ovations in Part III of our coverage of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. BOX OFFICE REPORT: The Mandalorian and Grogu Re...

What Is This Episode - Top of Show . NETFLIX IS PUTTING CLIFF BOOTH IN IMAX - 1:43 . CANNES 2026, PART 2: The Black Ball Gets a TWENTY MINUTE* Ovation - 8:53 Fjord is a Palme Threat - 14:31 The Man I Love Brings Malek Back to Oscars Fringe - 23:36 Sheep in the Box/Bitter Christmas Are Middling - 28:00 Minotaur Makes 4 - 34:28 The Unknown’s Review Leads to a Mike Fight - 36:51 . Overall Ovation Sta...

Conan returns as the Oscars Host, and we discuss the advantages of this. Then we dive into the Cannes Film Festival in part I of our coverage episodes, including an early Palme D’or and Best Picture favorite that one of us already predicted!!! CONAN RETURNS AS OSCARS HOST - 2:10 CANNES COVERAGE 2026 Part I - 10:20 Paper Tiger and the Mikes have separate rants about the applause timers - 10:42 All...

It’s our film study of Curry Barker’s film - Obsession, and yes, we debate some Oscar / other Awards chances here for this new horror smash hit. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF OBSESSION: Production Profile + Reception & Scores - 2:22 Theater Going Stories + Composition Thoughts - 8:46 Performance Reviews - 17:15 More Writing Thoughts + Original Screenplay Oscar Category Forecast - 21:48 Production Value Re...

What Is This Episode - Top of Show . SUMMER BOX OFFICE OVER/UNDERS: . Comparing January - March of the Last Few Years - 2:19 Project Hail Mary: O/U $700M? - 8:08 April Box Office/Super Mario Bros O/U $1B? - 10:11 Michael O/U $800M - 12:55 . May/Devil Wears Prada 2 O/U $750M? - 16:53 AM Reviews Mortal Kombat II/The Sheep Detective - 21:57 Mandalorian and Grogu O/U $700M? - 26:00 Rest of May’s Slate...

It’s Part 2 of our 100% Accurate Way Too Early Oscar Predictions, where we discuss the Best Picture, Screenplays, Director and many of the other craft categories. Plus, you get our Nomination Tallies for our overall leaders and Winner Picks! Post Narnia-Move Prediction Changes - 1:54 Original Screenplay - 4:45 Adapted Screenplay - 9:28 Makeup and Hairstyling - 12:55 Costume Design - 17:33 Producti...

New Academy Rules add significance to the Film Festival Circuit, and they add intrigue to the acting categories amongst many others. Then we discuss the Narnia calendar change, a Box Office Report on Devil Wears Prada 2 & Michael +++ new trailer reviews for The Odyssey, Tony, Resident Evil, etc. NEW ACADEMY RULES: Re: A.I. - 1:46 International Feature Shake-Up - 9:15 Acting Category Changes - 25:2...

Variety’s Jazz Tangcay joins the show for the central 40 minutes of the episode to discuss The Devil Wears Prada 2’s production values, including work by some rather famous artisans in Costume Design, Music, etc. Plus, she stays with us in our Spoiler Section to dish on those fitting ends and the future for this film and the franchise. NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION: The Production Backstory, Timeline...

100% Accurate Way Too Early 2026/27 Oscar Locks! - ep 528 by MMO

What Is This Episode - Top of Show . YEAR IN PREVIEW PART 36: CINEMACON + THE PICTURES, P.5 . CinemaCon Updates to YIP Studios: Amazon/MGM Has Spaceballs 2, 007 Updates, and a Potential Best Actor Contender - 1:17 Disney Has a Huge Slate, and Doomsday Questions, and Their Own IMAX?! - 5:42 Paramount’s Street Fighter Looks GREAT, and Brad Pitt Going Oscar Hunting - 21:44 Sony Drops Zelda First Look...

Our Oscars Year In Preview Series continues with deep dives into the slates at Sony and Universal. Plus, we review Exit 8, Normal, The Super Mario Bros Galaxy Movie, & more! NEWS UPDATES: Cannes Directors Fortnight Announcement Includes Clarissa - 1:59 Exit 8 and Normal reviews - 3:38 Paramount’s Big Oscars Contender Revealed! (?) - 8:00 Release Date & Acquisition Updates - 10:26 THE SONY SLATE: I...

Our Oscars Year In Preview Series continues with Part III of “The Pictures!” In this episode, we discuss the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Lineup and the slates for NEON and Paramount. 2:24 - Cannes Carryovers discussed in last episode including Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Fatherland starring Sandra Huller and a Russian filmmaker who might be a free agent for Best International Feature this...