The AwardsWatch Podcast

On episode 137 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter discuss the first film in their Chantal Akerman series,  Je Tu Il Elle (1974). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to break down, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore...

On episode 136 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by AwardsWatch contributor Trace Sauveur to discuss the final film in their Warren Beatty series,  Rules Don't Apply (2016). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In...

The  Oscar nominations are in and we're wasting no time. On episode 329 of the AwardsWatch podcast, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and contributor Mark Johnson, aka The Awards Alchemist, break down the Oscar nominations for the 98th Academy Awards, including the record-setting number earned by Sinners , the total exclusion of Wicked: For Good and the most wtf nominati...

On episode 328 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Pop Culture Confidential host Christina Jeurling Birro to discuss the latest film from director Nia Dacosta,  28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can al...

On episode 327 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to discuss their final Oscar nomination predictions for the 98th Academy Awards coming this week on January 22. It's been a long run of this phase of awards season, which truly starts all the way...

On episode 135 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by Pop Culture Confidential host Christina Jeurling Birro to discuss the next film in their Warren Beatty series,  Bulworth (1998). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteu...

On episode 326 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to discuss their reactions to the 2026 Golden Globe Awards, as well as thoughts on the SAG, DGA, PGA nominations, BAFTA long list mentions, and preview next week's big episode as we went the final stages of Oscar voting for the 2026 nominations. You can listen to The...

On episode 134 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and Izzy of Be Kind Rewind to discuss the next film in their Warren Beatty series,  Dick Tracy (1990). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest a...

On episode 325 of the AwardsWatch podcast, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello leads the team of Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and contributor Mark Johnson on predictions for the massive week of SAG, DGA and PGA nominations and next weekend's Golden Globes. After attending the Critics Choice Awards last weekend, we turn our eyes to our first major bite of the top guild...

On episode 133 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello discuss the next film in their Warren Beatty series, Reds (1981). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will lo...

On episode 324 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, AwardsWatch contributors Jay Ledbetter, Josh Parham, Griffin Schiller, Cody Dericks, and Trace Sauveur to discuss their favorite films of 2025 in part two of the AW end of the year show. As we are about to begin an exciting new year of cinema in 2026, we say goodbye...

On episode 323 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, TV Editor Tyler Doster, Associate TV Editor Karen Peterson, as well as AwardsWatch contributors Mark Johnson and Dan Bayer to discuss their favorite films of 2025 in part one of the AW end of the year show. As we are about to begin an exciting new year of cinema in 2026,...

On episode 322 of the AwardsWatch podcast, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson is joined by Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Mark Johnson, aka The Awards Alchemist, to give their predictions for the upcoming Critics Choice Awards taking place on January 4, 2026. Recording the day after Christmas, the trio give a short version of their holiday experience (wine, so much wine) and then jump right into pre...

On episode 132 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter discuss the first film in their Warren Beatty series,  Heaven Can Wait (1978). Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what...

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at th...

On episode 321 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Cody Dericks to review the latest film from director James Cameron,  Avatar: Fire & Ash. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more. This podcast runs 1h01m. We wil...

Oscar pre-season is in full swing and nothing says that more than the annual Oscar shortlists , which expand to 12 categories this year, adding Casting and Cinematography. On episode 320 of the AwardsWatch podcast, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson is joined by Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello break down the morning's shortlist announcement, discussing what surprised...

On episode 319 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributors Dan Bayer, Mark Johnson, and Josh Parham to go back five years and take a look at the 93rd Academy Awards, covering the films of 2020. On this retrospective, the AW team take one last trip to the past for the year to talk about the pandemic year of cinema that saw one of the worst Oscar t...

No one is having as much fun making films as Rian Johnson. Over the course of the last twenty years, Johnson has delivered some of the most original, bold, entertaining films, dazzling audiences with noir mysteries, a sci-fi action thriller, and a journey to a galaxy far far away. But in his latest three pictures, Johnson has crafted his own IP, creating a new cinematic detective series with the h...

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at th...

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at th...

It's been a big first week of December with no less than five sets of critics groups announcing winners and nominations as we kick off the next three months of nonstop awards season. On episode 318 I am joined by AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to break down the awards landscape and more. Before we get into that we have to talk about the other huge p...

On episode 317 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson alongside AwardsWatch contributors Dan Bayer and Josh Parham to go back 30 years and take a look at the 68th Academy Awards, covering the films of 1995. On this retrospective, the AW team take a trip to 1995, where actor Mel Gibson rode off the with multiple Oscars, winning Best Pict...

Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision-making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at th...

On episode 316 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributors Josh Parham and Trace Sauveur to review the latest film from Universal Pictures,  Wicked: For Good You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. This podcast runs 1h54m. We w...