On this week’s episode, editors Clinton Krute and Devika Girish were joined two excellent writers, both first-timers on the Film Comment Podcast: A. S. Hamrah, film critic at The Baffler, and writer and film editor Blair McClendon, whom you may know from his work on 2020’s The Assistant. The original plan was to chat about our recent home viewing, but the conversation kept returning to that age-old fountain of springtime small talk: the Academy Awards.

The group focused on a handful of notable nominees—Sound of Metal, Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah, and Nomadland, among others—and also dug into the massive Oscars marketing apparatus, ’90s zine culture, the phenomenon of professional “Oscarologists,” and much, much more. To top it off, the discussion was interrupted by a brief visit from New York’s finest. Fear not! Everyone is safe. Though Margaret, if you’re listening, please be advised.

Links & Things:

Blair McClendon’s tribute to DMX in n+1
The Assistant (Kitty Green, 2020), edited by McClendon
A. S. Hamrah’s interview with John Gianvito, director of Her Socialist Smile, in The Baffler, and his recent essay in Frieze on how Hollywood films portray “red” America
An excerpt from Raul Ruiz’s 1990 film The Golden Boat
Kyle Buchanan’s interview with Sound of Metal’s Paul Raci in the New York Times