Jazz Tangcay of Variety joins us to discuss The Odyssey. We talk through the box office and enjoy her review for about 25 minutes more of Non-Spoilers before we dive into each of the film’s major set pieces in our Spoiler Section. Make sure to follow Jazz Tangcay on social media, on Rotten Tomatoes, and of course, enjoy all of her work at Variety. https://variety.com/author/jazz-tangcay/ And if you want to listen to a much longer Non-Spoiler section, then go back to Part 1 of our Film Study on The Odyssey where we go a full 75 minutes of Non-Spoilers and Oscars Lens discussions. NON-SPOILER REVIEW SECTION: Rewatch Experiences - 2:26 Updated Reception Scores - 6:16 Box Office - 9:12 Jazz Tangcay’s Review - 16:38 What’s the early Oscar buzz? - 19:04 Her process and plans to cover the film this season - 22:41 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: The Prologue - 26:33 Cyclops Puppets & The Practice Effects Imperative - 31:08 Troy & Popcorn Buckets & Production Design - 36:56 Laestrygonians, Dolphins & Hot Tickets - 42:05 Circe, Dolby Sound Mix Scares & Samantha Morton Hype - 47:36 Hades & His Stylistic Statement - 51:37 The Sirens, Damon Superlatives & A Tom Holland Defense - 54:50 Charbydis & Scylla and Understanding VFX - 58:18 Modern Day Themes & Smart Decisions - 1:01:08 Filming Techniques Used In That Finale - 1:08:21 OUTRO: Two nitpicks - 1:11:26 Re-Ranking The Acting Performances on Rewatch - 1:13:10 The last few nitpicks - 1:15:20 Final Grades - 1:22:19 The Words of Wisdom today are to follow Jazz Tangcay on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazzt21/ Follow her on X/Twitter: https://x.com/jazzt And make sure to subscribe to her podcast alongside Clayton Davis & Co at Variety’s Awards Circuit. https://variety.com/t/awards-circuit-podcast/ Also please follow us on Letterboxd. We just joined Letterboxd, but we already have 2 reviews and 5 lists posted with a whole lot more coming. https://letterboxd.com/MikeMikeOscarAM/

Non-Spoilers for nearly 75 Mins, we discussed Oscars potential in all categories for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, before we dive into about 20 minutes on the film’s final act. This is Part I of our coverage of The Odyssey, followed by Part II with a very special guest in Variety’s Jazz Tangcay. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF THE ODYSSEY: Critical & Audience Reception Numbers & Box Office Projections - 2:40 Exceeded Expectations and the Plot Premise - 7:36 Best Picture & Discussing Producers Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan - 8:12 Is Best Director over? - 11:44 Adapted Screenplay Thoughts & Should AlsoMom come see this - 17:14 Jennifer Lame’s Film Editing - 24:31 Matt Damon’s Lead Actor Candidacy - 28:34 Anne Hathaway, Casting, Other Supporting Possibilities & Ensemble Awards - 30:46 Sound Design - 42:55 Ludwig Goransson’s Original Score - 44:49 Then Original Song: When I’m Home - 50:03 VFX - 51:52 Ellen Mirojnick’s Costume Design & The MUAH - 54:20 Hoyt van Hoytema’s Cinematography - 1:00:06 Production Design - 1:03:08 The Final Oscar Lens Assessments & Over / Under - 1:07:38 A SHORT SPOILER SECTION ON THE ENDING OF THE ODYSSEY - 1:16:42 OUTRO: Stay tuned for Part II of our coverage of The Odyssey next week when we are joined by a very special guest for a larger spoiler filled discussion. In the meantime, you can read Jazz Tangcay’s coverage at Variety here: https://variety.com/author/jazz-tangcay/ We’ll also be LIVE on Chaz and AJ in the Morning on Monday 7/20 around 8:20am EST to discuss our reactions to the film. Listen here: https://www.wplr.com/listen-live And finally, you can find links to all our other episodes and social media here: https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

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 & Box Office - 6:13 More Reasons Why We’re Rooting For This - 8:30 The Way Too Early Awards Profile - 12:55 The Premise & Our Watch Stories - 13:47 Non-Spoiler Script Thoughts & the Mike Nichols’ Influence - 17:25 Reviewing These Stellar Performances & Why It’s a Gothams Movie - 21:49 The Production Values - 27:24 An Oscars Lens + The Actor Awards speculation - 32:49 SPOILER WARNING // SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF THE INVITE - 40:23 A SHOCKING CLAYTON DAVIS THEORY CONFIRMED? - 41:01 The Set-Up & Bone Chilling Resemblances to a Mike’s Family - 45:34 Verbal Jousts & The Family Guy joke that’ll be OUR north star for this episode - 47:24 More Superlatives for Olivia Wilde - 49:26 The Most Memorable Scenes & Commentary on Male Thinking - 51:01 A Series of Clever Moves By These Filmmakers - 56:28 Central Conflict & How Our Podcast Is Basically A Marriage - 1:00:35 That Ending - 1:07:28 Final Grades / Final Thoughts - 1:10:22 OUTRO: Stay tuned for upcoming Oscar Profile Reviews for huge new movies like The Odyssey, etc. Stay tuned for upcoming Oscar Race Checkpoints and upcoming special episodes discussing the ever-evolving Oscars Race. And stay tuned to our feed for our upcoming rewatch series on the films of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. But when you get all these, we have no idea and don’t want to jinx it - maybe soon, maybe never. Until then, we thank you for supporting our show with positive ratings, reviews and of course, by telling your friends about us. Thank you. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

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: AlsoMike’s Top 10 Best Films of the Year Thus Far - 6:28 Mike1’s Top 10 Best Films of the Year Thus Far - 11:00 Our Most Anticipated Films still to come + Tarantino Talk - 13:06 OSCAR NEWS: Chief Oscars Officer resigns - 23:50 TIFF NEWS: Being Heumann, Prima Facie & The Assassins announced - 27:01 ANNECY FILM FESTIVAL NEWS: including the Gatto Teaser & Awards - 29:44 BOX OFFICE UPDATE: Minions & Monsters struggles as July 4th sees a downturn - 36:36 Obsession still progresses well, but did it go to PVOD too soon? - 40:23 The Rest of the Top 13 including AM’s Review of Leviticus - 43:28 TRAILER THOUGHTS: Werwulf, our worries & way too early Oscar guesses for Eggers - 47:50 Late Fame & M1’s heel turn on one of his favorite filmmakers - 51:16 The Weight, starring Ethan Hawke & Russell Crowe - 55:06 Super Troopers 3 is hopefully better than ST2 - 57:04 Wildwood (Featurette) has us dazzled - 58:42 OUTRO: We try not to jinx what’s coming next, but tell you anyway. Then we blabber on another few minutes about how we were efficient during the recording. Plus, we discuss our excitement for Evil Dead Burn, or lack thereof. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

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 Performance Notes & More General Thoughts - 17:50 A Review of the Production Values - 22:17 An Oscar Lens & Overview of the Animated Feature Race - 24:23 SPOILER WARNING - 26:30 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW: A Tribute To Hollywood History ONLY the Minions could pull off - 27:15 The only legitimate complaint Mike1 has - 30:19 The Framing Device & Why these A & B Storylines work so well together - 32:17 Mike1’s Screenwriting Lesson - 39:25 That Ending & Stinger Scenes - 41:14 What’s Next for the Minions & Despicable Me Franchises? - 47:13 Disney vs Illumination Round 2 - 48:53 Box Office Over/Unders for Moana + Minions & Monsters - 50:24 OUTRO: Stay tuned for more 2026 Film Study Episodes on The Invite, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, etc. We’re also going to enjoy more episodes of Oscar Race Checkpoint including our Top 10 Films of the Year Thus Far + Fall Festival Lineup Announcements. Plus, we’ll soon be diving into to our Summer Series including our Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Rewatch Series and Mid-Year Oscars Report. Aaaand we discuss Obsession and oh by the way our final grades. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

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, and Jeff - 24:45 A Special Moment for A Special Family - 29:05 . Jeff’s Feelings on an Obsession Oscars - 33:00 Curry an Immediate Horror Comedy Maestro + Hollywood Royalty - 38:07 Texas Chainsaw Talk - 42:55 . Curry as a Storyteller Forever + Dad Advice - 45:12 . SPOILER WARNING at 40:15. Not really, but almost. . Find Jeff Online/What’s Next From MMO/Leave Us 5 Stars! - 52:05 - https://jeff-barker.com/ - https://x.com/JB_JeffBarker - https://www.instagram.com/p/DYYFnNPD1D8/?img_index=9 - https://www.youtube.com/@Jeff-Barker

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 including Elordi, so we discuss 007 casting - 1:20 The Knicks are Champions / Life of Pi Metaphor - 7:15 The Venice Film Festival selects its Jury President, Maggie Gyllenhaal - 8:32 Venice Film Festival Rumors including known and unknown (to us) contenders - 10:43 Anything Emmy’s? Sure. We hint at our favorite races incoming + Doc thoughts - 24:37 BOX OFFICE REPORT: Toy Story 5’s second week - 28:14 We remain Obsession Obsessed - 28:58 A word on the early buzz for The Invite - 36:02 Supergirl’s Flop & AlsoMike’s Review - 37:44 MORE WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Voicemails From Isabelle was great. WTF - 48:19 M1’s regularly scheduled watching of previous noms: The Grifters & Prizzi’s Honor - 54:02 M2’s regularly scheduled addiction to new films: Power Ballad, Pressure, I Love Boosters, The Furious, Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie & Scary Movie - 58:15 TRAILER REVIEWS: Digger (Teaser 2): The Tom Cruise Oscars Campaign Has Begun - 1:08:45 The Debut: Which Mike liked Magnolia and which did not REVEALED! - 1:14:37 Sense & Sensibility: The Finest Fee Fee Film of our Time - 1:20:08 I Want Your Sex: Olivia Wilde’s statement film - 1:22:42 Spider-Man: Brand New Day: Just release it. We’re ready - 1:25:28 Rapid Fire Takes for Primetime, Whalefall, Klara and the Sun, Shrek 5 & Hexed - 1:27:17 OUTRO: stay tuned to our feed for upcoming Oscar Race Checkpoints on the Fall Film Festival Lineup announcements amidst all our coverage of the rest of this big movie summer we’re about to start. Plus, did we just come up with the name for our Inarritu Rewatch Series??? https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar #mmo

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 Innovations - 19:23 Oscar Lens: How many noms are we predicting? - 23:12 SPOILER WARNING: 24:42 Using Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule No. 1 - What we admire in these characters - 25:34 Rules No. 6 & 13 - How To challenge and equip your protagonist - 31:02 Rule No. 16. - Raising the stakes - 34:44 Themes - 37:30 That Ending - 40:12 More Best Scenes - 43:22 Toy Story 6 speculation - 45:39 Final Grades & looking forward to more animated features this year - 48:42 OUTRO: Stay tuned to our feed for more Oscar Profiles in the Animated Feature category this year. We have several that we’re anticipating in the coming months. Plus, we’ll be diving into more Summer Movies set for release like Supergirl, The Odyssey, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, etc. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

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 we want a sequel or a remake? - 26:40 If we cast the remake - 31:45 Best San Francisco movie ever - 37:35 What Action Movies Still Have The Same Effect Today? - 41:02 SPOILER WARNING - 46:33 What Tarantino and Sorkin wrote (?) - 47:33 That Hans Zimmer Score - 55:04 Act I Discussions on Fun Character Intro’s & Plots Ahead of Their Time - 56:40 The Suite at the Fairmont Hotel & Running Amok in San Francisco - 1:10:45 Into the Alcatraz Scenes w/ a stacked crew - 1:17:13 Mid Movie Action Sequences & Must Have Merch - 1:26:18 Barreling to the End - 1:32:22 That Ending, A Fun Epilogue & More Sequel Thoughts - 1:34:40 Final Thoughts & Grades - 1:38:39 OUTRO: Follow Scott Yager’s work: https://challengemania.live/ https://x.com/SHOTOFYAGER https://www.patreon.com/ChallengeMania https://www.instagram.com/challengemaniapodcast/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/ChallengeManiaPodcast/ And enjoy Mike, Mike, and Oscar here: https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

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 KNICKS ARE THE 2025-26 NBA CHAMPIONS: Top of the Show But does Timothee’s viral moment haunt him? - 3:48 AWARD NEWS: Governors Awards Picks are in - Glenn Close, Floyd Norman & Ridley Scott - 11:52 Disclosure Day & Obsession Box Office could raise their Oscars Chances - 21:21 AMPAS to launch list of 50 Exceptional Indie Theaters after the 99th - 34:44 Elon Musk slams The Odyssey’s casting choices - 39:47 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Also Mike's Tribeca Festival Stories: Win Son Bakery + Doc Meets World - 45:31 Clean Hands w/ a special appearance by Robert De Niro - 49:33 The Lions Bar + In Memoriam starring Marc Maron, Lily Gladstone etc - 54:16 Mike1 Recommendations: M1 shouts out The Tony’s - 59:25 M1 reviews Nirvana the band the show the movie - 1:00:16 M1 reviews Omaha starring John Magaro - 1:02:06 CONTENDER TRAILERS: The Social Reckoning seems like appointment viewing, but politically pointed - 1:04:54 Wildwood looks like an Animated Feature frontrunner - 1:07:32 Heart of the Beast could be much more of a contender than we first thought - 1:08:52 How To Rob A Bank makes us rethink our September biases - 1:10:32 OUTRO: Thanks to Jalen Brunson, Leon Rose, Mike Brown and everybody at the New York Knicks for giving AlsoMike the greatest weekend of his life. Thanks to all of our listeners who allowed us to spin this into an Oscars story. And thanks to everybody at the Academy and the Tribeca Film Festival, etc… for giving us more than enough movie topics to discuss in addition to AM’s Knicks miracle. Thank you! The Knicks are the champions! The Knicks are the Champions of the basketball world!!! https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar