Oscar Poker Podcast

Jeff and Sasha face the music…uhm, the issues of the moment. Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein schnozz. Rachel Zegler’s woke Snow White flick. The sad finances behind the “Blind Side” situation. Telluride forecastings. Some useful videos…. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heplus.substack.com/subscribe

On a fine Sunday afternoon, Jeff and Sasha hopped around from topic to topic like Brer Rabbit —- hippity-hop, hippity-hop. It’s a little early to call any Oscars, but (a) white males will once again face an uphill challenge and (b) how does Greta Gerwig not land a Best Director Oscar next year? Plus a short riff on “Jules,” the white-skinned, black-eyed alien who befriends Ben Kingsley while shari...

No topics du jour this time. Instead Jeff and Sasha let their hair down and share abbreviated versions of their life stories and career histories. Who they are, what they’ve been through, how they got to this point, etc. Jeff writes for Hollywood-elsewhere.com , and Sasha writes for awardsdaily.com (and Substack ). Jeff’s photos: Sasha’s photos: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss t...

Monday’s Sasha-and-Jeff chat was all over the map. Recalling the late William Friedkin, of course, and “The Exorcist” in particular. The “Barbie” Oscar prognosis. The annual competition for woke identity politics awards, formerly known as the Oscars. Jeff’s cat interjects now and again. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...

Jeff checks in from Canada. Will Barbie’s blow-out box office launch it into the Best Picture race? And if so, how many Oscar nominations are we talking about? With a rumination on happiness for women and how Isabella Rossellini has found it by running a farm in the Hamptons . We talk film festivals and the landscape of the awards race. From Box Office Mojo: This is a public episode. If you'd like...

Jeff and Sasha discuss (and argue about to some extent) the glorious monetary success of the misandrist “Barbie” as well as the successful, much-respected “Oppenheimer.” Plus an assessment of the sudden difficulty faced by the early fall festivals due to the SAG/AFTRA and WGA strikes. Annette Bening with Diane Nyad and Jodie Foster. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with othe...

Sasha shares her impressions of a recent “Oppenheimer” screening (which included with a pair of selfish 20something women who were texting all through it). Jeff, who won’t see “Oppie” until Thursday evening, asks questions about this and that aspect while quoting from other reviews. Plus a little “Barbie” action. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

Jeff and Sasha examine the surprising surge of “Sound of Freedom,” the apparent absence of a horrific nuclear climax in “Oppenheimer,” that WaPo piece about lost younger men and the general wokester assault upon masculinity. . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heplus.substack.com/subscribe

Jeff and Sasha barely touched upon the wonderful world of cinema, save for reminding each other that “Mission Impossible 7” opens on Tuesday, and that a full-blast trailer for Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” will be attached to the feature. Topics were mostly of social-cultural nature, and that’s fine. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus...

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” shortfall, but they didn’t have anything novel or exciting to add to the conversation.  So they kicked around the new Rock Hudson doc (“All That Heaven Allowed,” MAX) and then pondered some Telluride ’23 possibilities and recalled the assassination of “Empire of Light”….aagghh, I don’t know.  It all just kind of mashed and merged together after a while.’ Lin...

No matter what the topic, Jeff and Sasha are reminded that there isn’t a single aspect of Hollywood diversion these days that hasn’t been modified, influenced, or compromised by the urge to educate and enlighten by way of progressive guilt-tripping.  Hollywood, in short, has totally torpedoed the classic idea of entertainment and Average Joes are sick of the preaching. Talking Indie 5, Drive-Away...

Average Joes & Janes appear to be pushing back against non-binary fanaticism in the form of “The Flash” and “The Elemental”, both of which have decisively tanked.  There’s also an allegedly fair-minded doc called “No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care” that was dumped by AMC after strong wokester pressure to do so.  Plus there’s the mixed matter of Jennifer Lawrence’s “No Hard Feelings...

Jeff and Sasha hopped all around this time — Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance”, “Air”, the still unexplained “French Connection” censorship thing, Kate Hepburn and Arnold Schwarzenegger docs, etc.. They recorded a few hours before the announcement of the motorcycle death of Treat Williams…condolences. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonu...

What will Best Picture 2024 look like? We get into it. Talking Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Killer, Barbie… Jeff and Sasha recorded too early to discuss the outrageous ”French Connection” censorship matter — that’ll be for next time. For now the topic is the likeliest 2924 Best Picture contenders & why identity is all that matters today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to d...

“Jeff and Sasha talk about Pauline Kael’s “problematic comments” on Othello, whether actors must be gay to play gay roles, and how would Carnal Knowledge play today?” The Pauline Kael passage in question: Olivier is the most physical Othello imaginable. As a lord, this Othello is a little vulgar—too ingratiating, a boaster, an arrogant man. Reduced to barbarism, he shows us a maimed African prince...

Jeff and Sasha spend more time than usual due to Jeff’s need to do his laundry. The first part is slightly nosier than the second part. Topics covered: Louise Malle’s “Damage” and its sexuality, the new “Dead Ringers” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” toward the end. And of course, why “Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret” bombed. PROFANITY warning, F-bombs, etc. This is a public episode. If you'd...

Jeff and Sasha dig into three filmed dramas with strong female leads — one excellent and two that are fairly deplorable.  The goodie is “Full Time,” a currently-streaming French drama about a divorced mother of two struggling to stay afloat.  Baddie #1 is “Obsession” (Netflix), a multi-part, woke-minded adaptation of Josephine Hart’s “Damage” but mainly a remake of Louis Malle’s same-titled 1992 f...

Jeff and Sasha talked just to talk. Despite having nothing burning in their minds they wound up chatting for nearly an hour about…well, interesting stuff. Really. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heplus.substack.com/subscribe

Consumed by exhaustion and depression over the deranged and grotesque Oscar triumph of “Everything Everywhere All Once,” Jeff and Sasha contemplate the end of the Hollywood world they’ve known for decades…a world they lived on and off and worshipped like evangelicals since they were teenagers. And now it’s wokey-woke time, and the Monsters Are Feasting on Maple Street. In Memoriam segment: This is...

Jeff and Sasha talk about whether Everything, Everywhere All At Once and Bonnie and Clyde can be compared, along with the state of Hollywood and the awards race, and various issues in culture. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heplus.substack.com/subscribe

Jeff and Sasha assess the state of the world (and perhaps even the universe) in the wake of the glorious BAFTA Awards, which celebrated “All Quiet on the Western Front” and all but blanked “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”  Sasha basically ran the table and Jeff listened, but it was all to the good. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to...

As if into a swimming pool, Jeff and Sasha slip into three topics of immediate interest — the death of Racquel Welch, reflections upon “Deliverance” and “The Banshees of Inisherin”, and a letter of complaint sent to the N.Y. Times about alleged “dangerous inaccuracies” in its reporting about trans issues.   Our understanding is that the NY Times is totally in the woke progressive camp on pretty mu...

Hours after the Armie Hammer Air Mail  story broker, Jeff and Sasha jumped right into it.  They considered all the metaphors and woke ramifications.  They also contemplated the Pamela Anderson doc (Netflix), which moved Sasha to tears, as well as Anderson herself (and, in Jeff's view, her appalling taste in husbands).  Also some more Oscar stuff. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss...

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit heplus.substack.com/subscribe

Two days ago (1.21) Sasha Stone and I discussed Tuesday morning's (1.24) announcement of the '23 Oscar nominations , and the obvious fact that Top Gun: Maverick , which will certainly be among the chosen few, is the only prospective nominee that feels truly commanding. Authoritatively, I mean. "Despite the familiarity and the formulaic strategy, TG:M is the only finalist that feels home - runnish...