Little Gold Men

Two incredible guests this week: Whoopi Goldberg, a four-time Oscars host, Oscar winner, and presenter at this year’s awards, shares her stories from the stage and her thoughts on Hollywood’s ongoing push for more diversity, at the Oscars and beyond. Then we’re joined by Tom McCarthy, the Oscar-nominated director of best picture contender Spotlight. He discussed how he and his co-writer Josh Singer became journalists themselves to make the movie, and how little he expected the real-world implications the film has had.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the wake of #OscarsSoWhite and the Academy's bold new rule changes to try to correct the problem, we talk about Hollywood's overall diversity dilemma, with some input from Spike Lee, Don Cheadle, and John Legend. From there we catch up on the biggest news from Sundance, including Nate Parker's record-busting hit The Birth of a Nation, and do our best to predict one more mysterious category, Best Director.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

With the Oscar nominations now behind us, we take a look at the closest best picture race in recent memory, and bring back Decider's Joe Reid to talk about This Had Oscar Buzz, the 2015 class. We also make bold predictions about one of the year's trickiest categories, best supporting actress, where any one of the five nominees could conceivably win.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We react to the 2016 Oscar nominations with surprise, resignation, and in the case of Mad Max: Fury Road, awe that it happened at all. From there we share our interview with Domhnall Gleeson, who stars in two best picture nominees (The Revenant and Brooklyn) as well as two more films that received multiple Oscar nominations (Ex Machina and Star Wars: The Force Awakens). Even he agrees he probably deserves a break at this point.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

While Hollywood recovers from its hangovers, we gather for a special Little Gold Men episode to digest the Golden Globes— the winners, the losers, the many surprises, and the standing ovations that tell us a lot about Oscar season.   Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

As New York floods with awards hopefuls getting in face time before Oscar voting closes, we have two great interviews to share: first with Ridley Scott and Drew Goddard, the director and writer, respectively, of The Martian, and then with Sarah Silverman, the SAG-award nominated star of I Smile Back. We also squeeze in some discussion of the Golden Globe nominees and make our picks for who will win the best original score Oscar.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

For the final episode of the year, we look back at the year in film and the wacky Oscar race that has resulted. Plus, a conversation with Elizabeth Banks, star of Love and Mercy and the final Hunger Games movie as well as director of Pitch Perfect 2. Finally, we check in on the state of the extremely competitive best actress race.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Adam McKay, director of The Big Short and a fellow podcaster, joins us to talk about the sense of anger— but also humor— that led him to make the financial crisis film The Big Short, and why he absolutely had to bring in Anthony Bourdain to help him do it. From there we’re joined by Vanity Fair’s executive West Coast editor Krista Smith to dig into Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, which is just one of two movies this Christmas about men killing each other in the snow. Finally we go big before we go home and weigh on whether Leonardo DiCaprio is a lock to win the best actor category.    Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We’ve finally seen the new Star Wars film, so we discuss (with minimal spoilers!) whether it lived up to the hype, and what its Oscar potential might be. From there we talk to Jennifer Jason Leigh, a Golden Globe nominee for her role in Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight and one of the three voice actors in Charlie Kaufman’s Anomalisa. Finally we make our predictions for who will win best cinematography— and can Emmanuel Lubezki make history?  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

After a crazy week of awards nominations, top ten lists, and everyone complaining about “snubs,” we sort through the SAG and Golden Globe Nominations and the critical buzz to figure what’s really happening with awards season now. Then we use all of that newfound knowledge to make our predictions, once again, of what will win the best picture Oscar. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

We’ve finally seen The Revenant, so we dig into the awards potential of the grim, long Western that should finally get DiCaprio his little gold man. From there we look back at our favorite Oscar wins of the recent past, and then forward to the upcoming Golden Globe nominations. Finally, we go big before we go home and predict who we think will win best supporting actress. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Special guest Karina Longworth, host of the Hollywood history podcast You Must Remember This, joins us to explain how producer David O. Selznick bucked Hollywood tradition to put his weight behind future Oscar behemoth Gone With the Wind. We also discuss the much-loathed Oscar tradition of “category fraud” and whether or not it even matters, pick some movies we think might surprise us this year, and make our bold predictions for who will win the best supporting actor Oscar.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Vanity Fair’s executive west coast editor Krista Smith joins us to give a real insider’s look at the year’s Oscar campaigns so far, and make a bold prediction about the Best Picture hopes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And speaking of bold predictions, we close with our best guess of who will win Best Director.  Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Special guest Joe Reid joins us to talk about his Tumblr This Had Oscar Buzz and look back at movies that didn’t quite make it into the annual derby. Plus we discuss your choices for under-appreciated Oscar contenders of years past, ponder the awards possibilities for Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, and make our boldest predictions for who will win Best Actor. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Our special guest Jason Segel, who plays David Foster Wallace in The End of the Tour, tells us what was scary about taking on the role, what it was like to attend the Oscars with The Muppets, and how the help of friends like Paul Rudd has raised the profile of this tiny— but Oscar-buzzy— indie film. Plus, we go over the highs and lows of Steve Jobs, talk about your answers to our question about which overlooked talents deserve awards attention this year, and make our bold, probably foolish picks for who will win Best Actress. This episode is sponsored by Audible.com. Get a free audiobook of your choice at www.audible.com/GOLD Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Oscars may not be until February, but awards season has already kicked off. In the first episode of Vanity Fair’s Little Gold Men, Katey Rich, Mike Hogan, and Richard Lawson discuss the two buzziest titles from the Toronto Film Festival, Room and Spotlight, and then look at two A-list actors— Johnny Depp and Matt Damon— who are making a run for best actor. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices