The Oscar Project Podcast

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Today is the third of a five episode preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will be breaking down each and every category throughout the week. Today I am joined by Brandon MacMurray from the Short Stick Films website to break down Best Animated Short Film, Best Live Action Short Film, and Best Documentary Short Film. I've listed the nominees below along with a few other films mentioned throughout the episode.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get all the preview episodes this week, and head over to my Substack to submit your guesses for my annual Oscar prediction contest.

The nominees for each category are listed below.

Best Animated Short Film:

• “Beautiful Men”
• “In the Shadow of the Cypress”
• “Magic Candies”
• “Wander to Wonder”
• “Yuck!”

Best Live Action Short Film:

• “A Lien”
• “Anuja”
• “I'm Not a Robot”
• “The Last Ranger”
• “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”

Best Documentary Short Film:

• “Death by Numbers”
• “I Am Ready, Warden”
• “Incident”
• “Instruments of a Beating Heart”
• “The Only Girl in the Orchestra”

Other films mentioned in this episode include:

• "Ice Merchants" directed by João Gonzalez
• "An Almost Christmas Story" directed by David Lowery
• Anora directed by Sean Baker
• Dune: Part Two directed by Denis Villeneuve
• Nickel Boys directed by RaMell Ross

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In today's interview, I speak with Andrew Stanley Kiste, a campus life director and life long lover of all things Disney. He has written articles and books including Walt Disney and the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, and three volumes of A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World. He joins me today to talk about his new book, The Early Life of Walt Disney.
Listen to hear how Walt Disney's father Elias impacted how Walt became the man we know, where Walt learned his storytelling and artistic abilities, and some of the early animated creations before Walt's famous mouse Mickey.
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Early Life of Walt Disney by Andrew Stanley Kiste
• The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller
• Walt Disney: an American Original by Bob Thomas
• Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire by Bob Thomas
• Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler
• Walt Disney's Missouri: The Roots of a Creative Genius by Brian Burnes, Dan Viets, and Robert W. Butle
• Walt in Wonderland The Silent Films of Walt Disney by Russell Merritt and J. B. Kaufman
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons by David A. Bossert
• Disney War by James B. Stewart
• The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age by Jake S. Friedman
• The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt
• How Walt Disney Changed Animation Forever by Andrew Stanley Kiste (forthcoming in 2025)

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Cinderella directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs directed by David Hand
• Alice in Wonderland directed by Ben Sharpsteen, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
• "Der Fuehrer's Face" directed by Jack Kinney
• "The Thrifty Pig" directed by Ford Beebe
• "Alice's Wonderland" directed by Walt Disney
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit films
• Saving Mr. Banks directed by John Lee Hancock
• Napoleon Dynamite directed by Jared Hess
• Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis
• Toy Story directed by John Lasseter

Follow Andrew on Facebook (@Andrew Kiste-Author) and check out his website and Amazon Author Page for links to all of his books. Check out his articles in

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Happy New Year! It's my first interview author of 2024, and today I speak with Saul Austerlitz, a freelance writer whose work has been published in the New York Times, Esquire, Vanity Fair, and Rolling Stone. He is an adjunct professor of writing and comedy history at New York University, and the author of Generation Friends, Just a Shot Away, Sitcom, Another Fine Mess, and Money for Nothing. He joins me today to talk about his new book, Kind of a Big Deal: How Anchorman Stayed Classy and Became the Most Iconic Comedy of the Twenty-First Century.
Listen to hear the how Adam McKay and Will Farrell created some of the most memorable scenes in the film, how the film uses the character of Veronica to comment on the male dominated newsroom culture, and why the early 2000s spawned so many great comedy films. Follow Saul's Substack called Hope in the Dark.
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever by Nick de Semlyen
• Freaks, Gleeks, and Dawson's Creek: How Seven Teen Shows Transformed Television by Thea Glassman
• The Deluge by Stephen Markley
• The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy directed by Adam McKay
• Monty Python directed by Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam
• Don't Look Up directed by Adam McKay
• Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues directed by Adam McKay
• Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie directed by Adam McKay
• The 40-Year-Old Virgin directed by Judd Apatow
• Superbad directed by Greg Mottola
• Marvel Cinematic Universe
• Star Wars Franchise
• Bridesmaids directed by Paul Feig
• Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman
• Barbie directed by Greta Gerwig
• City Lights directed by Charlie Chaplin
• The Shop Around the Corner directed by Ernst Lubitsch
• Wes Anderson Netflix shorts
• Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson
• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby directed by Adam McKay

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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 film that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.
Listen to hear about Suzanne’s approach to writing about Coppola’s work, the wealth of films she recommends, and thoughts on who might be a good fit to cast in Lost in Translation if it were made today.
Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
• The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sofia Coppola edited by Suzanne Ferriss
• Sofia Coppola: The Politics of Visual Pleasure by Anna Backman Rogers
• Sofia Coppola: A Cinema of Girlhood by Fiona Handyside
• The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
• The Overstory by Richard Powers
• Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World by Lauren Fleshman

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Virgin Suicides directed by Sofia Coppola
• An Affair to Remember directed by Leo McCarey
• Manny & Lo directed by Lisa Krueger
• Girl with a Pearl Earring directed by Peter Webber
• Asteroid City directed by Wes Anderson
• Groundhog Day directed by Harold Ramis
• Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson
• On the Rocks directed by Sofia Coppola
• Past Lives directed by Celine Song
• Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho
• Somewhere directed by Sofia Coppola
• The Thin Man directed by W. S. Van Dyke
• Party Girl directed by Daisy von Scherler Mayer
• Silver Linings Playbook directed by David O. Russell
• Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Grand Budapest Hotel directed by Wes Anderson
• The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick

John Kacere on Wikipedia, inspiration for the opening shot of Lost in Translation.

Video for Shawn Mendes's sons "Lost in Japan", inspired by Lost in Translation.

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Today's episode is my recap of everything from the very first Academy Awards back in 1929. Listen as I walk through the nominees and winners of every category and give a final ranking of all 17 films I was able to watch from this first year of the Oscars. If you missed any of the episodes discussing specific films, you can go back in this feed or just tap on the links below.

• 1.3 The Circus: Chaplin's Sad Take on His Place in Cinema
• 1.4 Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness
• 1.6 The Jazz Singer: The Dawn of the Talkie
• 1.7 A Ship Comes In: An Immigrant Story
• 1.8 Speedy: Try Not to Laugh
• 1.9 The Patent Leather Kid: A Boxer goes to War
• 1.17 The Racket: Cops vs. Robbers
• 2.13-The Crowd-Love, Happiness, and Family Struggles
• 2.15 Sadie Thompson-When it Rains, it Pours
• 3.1 Street Angel with Beth Lisogorsky
• 3.4 Tempest with Amanda Kusek
• 3.5 Two Arabian Knights with Shawna Carroll
• 3.7 Underworld with Jeff Kramer
• 3.10 The Last Command with Vicki Lesley
• 3.12-Sunrise with Joe Cruz
• 3.14-7th Heaven with Maria Banson
• 3.15-Wings with Kevin Pettit

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get my 97th Academy Awards preview episodes covering all 23 categories at this year's Oscars in the lead up to the ceremony on March 2nd.

And if you want to be a guest on this very podcast for the 2nd Academy Awards, send me a message replying to this episode and let me know you're interested. I would love to have your voice join the podcast to share your insights on films from 1928 and 1929.