The Oscar Project Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In the my second of the three part Thanksgiving special, I interview Iain Forbes, recent recipient of the Silver Medal in the Narrative category at the 2023 Student Academy Awards. He was recognized for his film "Revisited" which explores how a family reacts when the father they thought was dead for 20 years suddenly returns to their home. Listen to hear Iain discuss the...

Send us Fan Mail In the first of a three part Thanksgiving special, I interview Giorgio Ghiotto, recent recipient of the Gold Medal in the Documentary category at the 2023 Student Academy Awards. He was recognized for his film "Wings of Dust" which shines a spotlight on the activism of Vidal Merma, an independent journalist in Peru. Listen to hear Giorgio discuss the challenges of making...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Nate Patrin, a freelance writer based in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has covered nearly every imaginable genre of music for outlets including Bandcamp, Stereogum, Pitchfork, The Vinyl Factory, and Red Bull Music Academy. His first book Bring That Beat Back: How Sampling Built Hip-Hop was published in 2020, and he joins me today to talk about his...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Ian Nathan for the second time on the podcast He joins me today to talk about his book, David Lynch: A Retrospective .  Listen to hear the importance of Lynch's first film Eraserhead to his career, what exactly a Lynchian film is, and why Lynch is a mystery even to himself.   Books mentioned in this episode include: "David Lynch Kee...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Andrew DeGraff, a freelance illustrator and artist living and working in Maine. He graduated from Pratt Institute’s Communications Design program and returned to teach there from 2009 to 2014. His gallery work has been shown in cities around the world including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Calgary, Mexico City, and the Philippines....

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Nat Segaloff is a writer, broadcaster, teacher, film historian, and raconteur with a varied background in motion picture publicity, journalism, producing, and covering up other people's mistakes. Having begun his career during the exciting transition between the old studios and the film generation of the New Hollywood, he provides both p...

Send us Fan Mail Regular episodes of The Oscar Project are back and this week I'm discussing the 1928 film The Racket . This story is adapted from a play of the same name and was considered one of the most important cop/gangster films of the time when it was released. Listen now to learn about the threats made against the creators and as always, my own thoughts about the film. Look for more e...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Brad Weismann, an award-winning writer and journalist who has also worked as a stand-up comic and improv actor. He’s contributed to publications and websites worldwide such as Senses of Cinema , Film International , Backstage , Movie Habit , Colorado Daily and Boulder Magazine . His first book, Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Film...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Koren Shadmi, the author of Bionic , Rise of the Dungeon Master , Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D , and The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television . He joins me today to talk about his graphic novel, Lugosi: The Rise & Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula . Listen to hear about how Lugosi's history as an activist, how Lu...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Ian Nathan, the author of Stephen King at The Movies , Ridley Scott: A Retrospective and James Cameron: A Retrospective , and biographies of The Coen Brothers , Quentin Tarantino , and Wes Anderson . He is the former editor and executive editor of Empire , the world's biggest movie magazine, and a regular contributor to newspapers, magaz...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Kristen Lopez, the film editor at The Wrap whose articles have appeared at Variety, MTV, TCM, and Roger Ebert. She joins me today to talk about her latest book, But Have You Read the Book? , a look at fantastic books that have been made into films over the last 100 years. Listen to hear about how Kristen went about picking the books to includ...

Send us Fan Mail In this author interview, I speak with Suzanne Ferriss whose first book about Sofia Coppola The Cinema of Sofia Coppola: Fashion, Culture, Celebrity was published in February 2021 and she edited The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sofia Coppola , which was published in early 2023. She joins me today to talk about her latest book, Lost in Translation from BFI Film Classics about Coppola’s f...

Send us Fan Mail In my second author interview, I speak with guests Charlotte Booth and Brian Billington. Charlotte Booth is a professional writer of history books (including The History of the Undead , and How to Survive in Ancient Egypt ), and was also an extra in a Bollywood movie. Brian Billington is an IT professional, amateur photographer, and a lover of movies who enjoys working out where t...

Send us Fan Mail It's a first for The Oscar Project, an interview with an author who writes about movies. Today's guest is Mia Mask, a professor at Vassar College where she teaches African American cinema, Documentary History, and seminars on topics including horror film and auteurs like Spike Lee, Charles Burnett and Ava DuVernay. She also teaches feminist film theory, African national...

Send us Fan Mail My analysis of the 1927 film The Patent Leather Kid , starring Richard Barthelmess  and Molly O’Day. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail My analysis of the 1927 film Speedy , starring Harold Lloyd. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail My analysis of this film is pieced together from various sources. A Ship Comes In tells the story of an immigrant family trying to fit into American society in the run up to WWI. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail An in depth look at the first feature length film featuring synchronized speech and sound. It was seen as groundbreaking at the time, has been studied for nearly the last century, and maintains a firm place in film history. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail A brief overview of the 53 films nominated for Academy Awards in 2020. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Our second deep dive of the season covers discussion about Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness . This psuedo-documentary from 1927 was directed by Meriam C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, who would go on to collaborate on the 1933 film King Kong . A film that was made in the jungles of Siam, Chang shows us the brutal nature of life in the jungle, from leopard and tiger attacks to d...

Send us Fan Mail In this first film specific episode, I take a deep dive into the 1928 Charlie Chaplin film The Circus . I begin with a short history of Chaplin's life, move into an overview of the film, with contemporary reviews and critique from the intervening years. I also bring in a special guest on the show today. Thanks for listening and I hope to see you at the movies soon! Support th...

Send us Fan Mail A brief look at the eight films I have been unable to find for this podcast including directors, lead actors, and which award categories each was nominated for. The films included in this episode are: Glorious Betsy, Sorrell and Son, The Devil Dancer, The Dove, The Magic Flame, The Noose, The Private Life of Helen of Troy, and The Way of All Flesh. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first episode of The Oscar Project Podcast. In this inaugural episode, I cover a brief history of the Academy Awards along with information about the very first Academy Award ceremony. I also provide a complete list of the films that I will be covering in season one of The Oscar Project Podcast. Support the show