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One Oscar After Another: From Extras to Best Picture · Yeah Buddy! Podcast

• 0:00
  Yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo yo, yo.
• 0:01
  Let's get it!
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  Let's go, let's get it.
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  Live from the mic with the vibes explicit.
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  Hosted by Buddy, the legend in the game.
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  Laughter, stories, you'll never be the same.
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  Yeah Buddy, it's that podcast flair
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  where the stars align and we venture to share.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Stepping to the studio light, shining bright.
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  Buddy Ramones got the clue when the vibe's just right.
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  From comedians to actress, models, and more.
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  Entertainment biz, we're ready to explore.
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  Chilling with legends, having heart-to-heart chats.
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  Discussing personal journeys, new tips and hacks,
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  with laughs that echo and stories that amaze.
• 0:40
  Every episode's a treat, let the conversation blaze.
• 0:42
  Yeah, yeah, Buddy, hey!
• 0:44
  Welcome to the show.
• 0:48
  Yes, yes, yes, what's going on world?
• 0:49
  This is your man, Buddy Ramon, and we are back at it, y'all,
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  with another episode of the Yeah Buddy podcast.
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  And you know how we do every episode, man,
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  so if you are a returning guest,
• 0:59
  we always bring in one of our friends
• 1:01
  from the entertainment business.
• 1:02
  We sit down, chop it up, see what we got going on,
• 1:05
  whether it's an actor, comedian, filmmaker.
• 1:07
  And this episode, we got the,
• 1:09
  this, I guess, is the finale of our One Buddy
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  after another award season coverage
• 1:15
  of One Battle after another with co-host Brandon Larson.
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  So if this is your first time tuning in,
• 1:21
  this is a great episode to make your first one.
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  So let's just get right into this,
• 1:28
  let's get right into this, man.
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  We just finished wrapping up the Academy Awards
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  and the awards season in general.
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  Like y'all know, we've been following the film
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  One Battle after another throughout the awards season
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  because it was filmed up here in our hometown
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  of Sacramento, California.
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  So we just decided to pay a little homage to it
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  and just show people this journey that we've been on.
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  Because, you know, we was extras in the film,
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  and now all of a sudden,
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  at first we was just extras in a film,
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  but now we're extras
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  in an Academy Award winning best picture film.
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  You dig?
• 2:01
  Fantastic.
• 2:02
  Oh, I dig it.
• 2:03
  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  It's incredible, buddy.
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  And it's so, it's such a pleasure to be here
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  doing this podcast with you.
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  Yeah, man, thank you.
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  Thank you for being around all this journey with us, man.
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  So like I said, we just had the Academy Awards.
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  Let's just do a simple, simple little deep dive into,
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  what was your take on just the overall show?
• 2:28
  Yeah, I thought it was pretty well done, buddy.
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  You know, the biggest thing Conan O'Brien hosted,
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  I felt like it moved pretty quickly.
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  It was a typical Oscars.
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  I didn't think there was anything that was, you know,
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  unforgettable or anything like that.
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  But no, overall, I thought the show itself was good.
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  What about you?
• 2:57
  I thought it was good.
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  I thought it was very well put together.
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  Sitting back and just seeing all the nominees,
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  made me really just think about
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  how many good films there were this year.
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  We had a lot of good movies this year.
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  Absolutely.
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  And not just the movies that are, you know, redone,
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  like there were no reboots this year.
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  There were a lot of original stories
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  that were original IP or intellectual properties
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  that were unique.
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  I mean, Sinners, One Battle After Another
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  were all unique movies
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  that we don't typically see every year.
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  And there was a lot of love to horror this year.
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  Horror got a lot of love this year.
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  For sure.
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  Especially with Sinners and Frankenstein.
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  Those were two that took down a lot of awards
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  and nominations this year.
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  I think your predictions are right for Frankenstein.
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  The awards that it won.
• 4:00
  Yeah, yeah.
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  I was really excited that Frankenstein won
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  for production design.
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  And it was really nice to see them win three Oscars.
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  So they won the third most out of all the movies.
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  And I think that's good to note that.
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  And yeah, I was just really pleased
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  because I felt like they put so much hard work,
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  as I mentioned, the actual ship that they built
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  in a parking lot, a life-sized ship, you know,
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  you don't see that done typically in a movie.
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  And so for me, I felt like that elevated the film
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  and that's why it made it so real for me
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  to know that they put so much detail
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  in the production design itself.
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  Plus the makeup was incredible.
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  Like that's, it won for best costume.
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  It won for best production design.
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  And so I just felt like it was fantastic.
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  It was a fantastic film for me.
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  Yeah, yeah.
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  All right, so let's kick back a second.
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  And I want to talk about one battle after another
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  when we, like I said, being extras on it.
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  How do you feel now after seeing it,
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  after it becoming now this Academy Award best picture
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  and not only that, but it won the most Oscars
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  for the, of the evening?
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  Well, it's incredibly exciting, buddy.
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  I'm sure you're feeling the same way
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  just to have that in perspective
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  because not everybody gets the opportunity
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  to be on a major motion picture.
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  So if you're an extra on a film like this,
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  you are going to gain experience.
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  You are going to learn by watching and doing.
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  And for me, it's extremely meaningful, buddy,
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  to have been a part of a film that won best picture
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  here locally where we live and reside.
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  And it's, to be a part of something like this
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  is unforgettable as an experience.
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  And it's one that you're going to remember
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  for the rest of your life.
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  What was your feeling about it?
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  My feeling about it is, it's kind of twofold
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  watching the Oscars,
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  because like we had pointed out at the beginning,
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  the two most awarded films this year
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  was One Battle After Another and Sinners.
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  And the one thing they have in common,
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  outside of being with Warner Brothers,
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  but the one thing that they have in common
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  is their connection to Northern California.
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  Like I always say, One Battle After Another,
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  filming up here in Northern California
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  throughout Sacramento, Stockton area, Sinners,
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  Ryan Coogler, of course, from Oakland,
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  Delroy Lindo, roots from Oakland,
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  Rafael Sadiq, Oakland.
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  And then even when we went to,
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  we went to the screening of Sinners
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  out in Oakland and Ryan Coogler
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  and Delroy Lindo was up there.
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  And even the sound guys that was also there,
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  they was also from Oakland.
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  And I believe somebody had said,
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  I can't quote their stuff,
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  but I think somebody even said
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  the cinematographer has roots to the Bay area.
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  So-
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  It surprised me because they had
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  such a film family dynamic.
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  Like they all trust each other working together.
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  And I think that that's what you need on set.
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  And I imagine One Battle After Another,
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  they're working with people too,
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  that they know and trust.
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  And for films like this,
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  where they're big major motion pictures,
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  you've got to have a crew and a team
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  that are at the highest level
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  because every dollar and cent is important, right?
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  You've got to make your days.
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  And to know that we were a part
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  of a best picture winner is incredible, buddy.
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  Like it's fantastic.
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  I really thought that Sinners was going to win.
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  Earlier, before I thought One Battle After Another
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  and then I shifted to Sinners thinking
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  that Sinners was going to win the most Oscars ever.
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  And it fell short of that.
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  And One Battle After Another succeeded, right?
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  It won the most and it almost won 50%
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  of what it was nominated for.
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  Six out of 11.
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  It's incredible.
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah, like we said though,
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  that's what it was supposed to be from the beginning.
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  It was always supposed to be,
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  like I said, I feel like Sinners came
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  and knocked some of the wind out of them, you know?
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  I feel like they probably thought
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  that some of those four awards was theirs, you know?
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  I agree.
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  I agree wholeheartedly.
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  What the fuck?
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Even at the end of the day,
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  like looking at that,
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  with you say Sinners maybe only won four awards
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  or whatever, but I mean, shoot, Ryan Cooler,
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  he was winning from the beginning
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  because remember the deal that he signed
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  even going into making Sinners,
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  shoot, he owns that franchise.
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  Like he was winning before that movie even ever came out.
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  Everything else after this has just been
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  the icing on the cake.
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  And it's been cool really to kind of see
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  just because, let's say my first shoot,
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  like Ryan Coogler casted me,
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  I had auditioned in front of Ryan Coogler
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  for Fruitvale Station.
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  You know, Ryan Coogler cast me in Fruitvale Station.
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  And so being able to see even on set back then,
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  the dynamic between him and Michael B. Jordan,
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  and then now where it's at now, it's crazy.
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  It's crazy.
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  Motivating for sure.
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  Inspirational for sure.
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  Absolutely.
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  And especially when Michael B. took it down,
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  that was the standout for me, buddy, was him winning.
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  It was such a joy for me to see him win
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  and I was rooting for him to win.
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  So it's incredible to see,
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  you know, you don't get to see that.
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  And so I'm just really impressed with what Michael B. did
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  as, you know, he should have won and he did win.
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  And that's the thing was there was a question of that,
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  a lot of controversy with Timothy Chalamet.
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  And so we really didn't know who was gonna win
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  for best lead actor.
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  So to see Michael B. win when a lot,
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  the odds were against him was, I don't know about you,
• 10:56
  but it was just pure joy, right?
• 10:59
  No, I knew he was gonna win.
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  I knew he was gonna win when I see the setup,
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  when I see them sit in front row.
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  I was like, oh, he's got this.
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  Just, they're not gonna do that, Tim.
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  They're not gonna have, sit in front row
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  just to see somebody else win and stuff like that.
• 11:17
  Yeah, when I see that, I was like,
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  oh, he's got that in the bag.
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  And they had him involved with like the, you know,
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  the opening monologue with Conan O'Brien,
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  where they did like, you know,
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  he's like the sea fillers or whatever.
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  Like they're not gonna have you be a part of that, bro,
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  if you're not gonna win.
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  They're like, yeah, we got you, bro.
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  Yeah, I just, there was some doubts in my mind
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  because they put so much hype on Timothy Chalamet
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  throughout the entire year
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  and he did campaign well for the Oscar, right?
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  So he was certainly a contender,
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  but for me, I felt that Leo DiCaprio did a phenomenal job
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  in one battle after another.
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  His performance for me was extremely strong.
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  In fact, stronger than Timothy's performance
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  and well-deserving of a nomination from me, you know?
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  And so I think that you saw the love
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  between Leo and Michael B when he won too.
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  And then of course, the first guy to hug Michael B
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  when he won was Ryan Coogler.
• 12:21
  So to see that exchange was emotional, man.
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  Like that's, you could see the level of emotion
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  that Michael B was going through when he won.
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  Do you think he was surprised that he won
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  or do you think he had it in the bag in his mind?
• 12:39
  No, I think he was genuinely surprised.
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  I mean, because the Academy has a history
• 12:43
  of kind of doing our black actors like that,
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  just playing it in their faces,
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  you know what I'm saying, type of thing.
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  So, because it could have just as easily been,
• 12:50
  you know, pie in your face type of situation.
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  Just having them sit in their front row,
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  just like, damn, you know, look at Timothy.
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  But-
• 13:00
  Yeah, for sure.
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  But I think when you look at the reaction
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  that he got from the room,
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  like, man, last time I seen like a whole room
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  react to somebody like that,
• 13:13
  it was like Kendrick Lamar at the Grammys.
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  Like when he won, not like us, you know what I mean?
• 13:19
  Like people going crazy for that shit.
• 13:22
  It just shows to, like,
• 13:26
  we're talking about like with the campaigning,
• 13:27
  like this was all a whole public perception
• 13:30
  that Timothy Chalamet was putting on.
• 13:32
  You know, right around like,
• 13:33
  he's like, I'm the essence of Marty Supremen.
• 13:35
  This is what you get when you date a Kardashian.
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  But he's just running around being the whole like,
• 13:42
  it was like a publicity stunt.
• 13:43
  Oh, it was.
• 13:44
  When we're talking about an industry award,
• 13:49
  it just shows, especially in this situation,
• 13:55
  that sometimes it's just all, not just,
• 13:57
  but it's about also about being a good person.
• 14:01
  Because when it comes to being nominated,
• 14:04
  you know, everybody's talented.
• 14:07
  Everybody's worthy of winning.
• 14:09
  But now it just comes to the,
• 14:10
  it just comes down to the,
• 14:16
  those other intangibles.
• 14:19
  You know, can we sit down and do business together?
• 14:21
  Can we grab lunch together?
• 14:22
  Can I just stand being around you for a couple hours
• 14:26
  or, you know, days at a time, things like that.
• 14:29
  Like me hanging around you is not,
• 14:31
  is this going to ruin my reputation?
• 14:34
  You know, all those little types of things
• 14:37
  that you understand.
• 14:38
  And this is also where you gotta look at it from,
• 14:42
  like if we're talking about like the campaigning,
• 14:44
  what if Leo, what if behind the scenes,
• 14:47
  Leo's like, I don't want it.
• 14:49
  I'm not trying to campaign.
• 14:51
  Whatever campaign money you is gonna put towards me,
• 14:54
  put towards Michael B.
• 14:55
  Let him go get that.
• 14:59
  Yeah, I think that's,
• 15:00
  these are all valid points that you're making.
• 15:03
  And for me, Michael B.,
• 15:07
  the talent alone and the performance alone
• 15:10
  was the standout of the year
• 15:12
  where nobody else had to do what Michael B. did in a film
• 15:18
  to the level where from an acting standpoint,
• 15:21
  you're having to play two, three different characters
• 15:25
  and make that believable on screen
• 15:27
  and be so technical with your movements
• 15:30
  that you're playing twins.
• 15:33
  So now you add that element
• 15:35
  and that makes your job as an actor even more difficult.
• 15:39
  And he rose to the occasion,
• 15:41
  he rose to the occasion and he won.
• 15:43
  Plain and simple, no doubt about it.
• 15:46
  Michael B. won the Oscar, hands down.
• 15:49
  Nobody can ever take that away from him.
• 15:52
  And that's where, for me,
• 15:56
  that's why this is so meaningful to me personally,
• 15:59
  that he proved how many naysayers were there.
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  I'm just saying, because for me,
• 16:06
  it's like, it's good to see somebody,
• 16:09
  like you said, somebody humble,
• 16:12
  somebody that you can work with,
• 16:14
  who's not campaigning in a weird way, right?
• 16:18
  Like trying to make buzz about something like, right?
• 16:23
  Like you could see that with Michael B.
• 16:26
  And I think that that's why people
• 16:28
  are feeling the way they are
• 16:30
  and they're happy, genuinely happy for him.
• 16:35
  That's lovely to see, right?
• 16:37
  Like you should be rooting for somebody like that to win,
• 16:41
  in my opinion.
• 16:42
  Yeah, well, I mean,
• 16:43
  if we're talking about between him and Tim,
• 16:45
  like I said, one person brought Kylie Jenner as a date
• 16:49
  and then the other person brought their mom as a date.
• 16:51
  And then-
• 16:54
  Enough said, enough said.
• 16:56
  No, I'm just saying, this is,
• 16:58
  but like, no, I'm just seriously speaking
• 17:00
  for like what we're talking about
• 17:00
  from the industry standpoint,
• 17:02
  like times are changing.
• 17:07
  You could tell it, like ties are changing
• 17:09
  and stuff like that.
• 17:10
  They're like, this is what we want to represent
• 17:14
  the future of Hollywood, you know?
• 17:19
  And that's a good thing, isn't it?
• 17:21
  Yeah, oh, it's definitely a good thing.
• 17:22
  And then also want to go back to like how you're talking
• 17:24
  about like with the naysayers.
• 17:25
  I mean, when you look at the way,
• 17:28
  and I think this is how all circles should move,
• 17:30
  especially when you're moving to this industry,
• 17:33
  is that the only naysayers that should really be around you,
• 17:38
  or like in your ear, I guess you could say,
• 17:40
  is the people that like do a business,
• 17:46
  like if I'm auditioning and somebody says, no,
• 17:49
  no, no, you know, this isn't right.
• 17:50
  Or, you know what I'm saying?
• 17:51
  Or, you know, talk to a producer,
• 17:52
  like, no, maybe we don't want to buy your film
• 17:53
  and stuff all like that.
• 17:56
  But as far as like what their inner circle goes,
• 17:58
  and not necessarily gonna have like,
• 17:59
  yes, they're people that are gonna kiss your ass
• 18:01
  and stuff like that.
• 18:02
  People that are gonna keep you humble,
• 18:02
  keep you grounded, keep your, you know,
• 18:05
  morals, sense of ethics, you know,
• 18:08
  strong religion, and things like that.
• 18:11
  Those type of people in your circle that,
• 18:14
  to where these other naysayers and all this type of stuff,
• 18:16
  like, it's gonna be impossible to hear from them
• 18:19
  because the only people that you're hearing directly from
• 18:25
  are these close people from me.
• 18:26
  Like when he shouts out like his family
• 18:28
  and stuff like that,
• 18:29
  that's the only people you're gonna see around me.
• 18:31
  The only type of feature films you're gonna see me around
• 18:34
  is a situation like with the Ryan Coogler,
• 18:36
  who is my brother, you know?
• 18:39
  So I know my brother's not gonna go behind my back
• 18:42
  and do something foul to me.
• 18:46
  So it gives you the freedom,
• 18:48
  like it gives you not the freedom,
• 18:49
  but it gives you that just sense of fresh air,
• 18:54
  you know, fresh breath to where you guys like,
• 18:56
  oh, okay, I know I can do this
• 18:58
  because there's nobody around me
• 19:00
  that's trying to do harm to me.
• 19:04
  So if nobody around me is trying to do harm to me,
• 19:07
  I can only do good.
• 19:08
  Even if I fail, I'm still doing good.
• 19:14
  And those are the best sets to be on, buddy.
• 19:16
  You wanna be a part of a team that can trust each other.
• 19:21
  There's no drama on set, right?
• 19:23
  Zero drama.
• 19:24
  We don't got time for that.
• 19:25
  This isn't high school, you know?
• 19:27
  You've gotta be professional.
• 19:29
  You gotta show up early on time,
• 19:32
  be ready to work, know your lines,
• 19:34
  know what you're supposed to do on set and be prepared.
• 19:38
  That's what pre-production's for.
• 19:40
  That's before you even start the process.
• 19:43
  You've gotta do that work because there is no time.
• 19:46
  If you're gonna shoot a film in 20 days
• 19:49
  and you've got 20 days to shoot it
• 19:51
  and that's what you've got,
• 19:53
  boy, you better make your days, right?
• 19:55
  So depending upon a major motion picture,
• 19:58
  they've got more than 20 days.
• 20:01
  But I'm just saying 20 days
• 20:03
  because that's, I would say,
• 20:05
  the minimum that you need to make a really solid film.
• 20:10
  You'd like to have about 20 days to do a feature.
• 20:16
  But in terms of one battle after another
• 20:19
  and sinners, they had more time than that.
• 20:21
  They had more money.
• 20:23
  They had more support.
• 20:25
  They had more resources,
• 20:27
  but they still had to solve major issues on set.
• 20:32
  They had to rise above challenges.
• 20:35
  They had to solve those things.
• 20:37
  And as a result, you're seeing these films
• 20:40
  nominated for Oscars.
• 20:42
  And why?
• 20:43
  Because they were the best films of the year.
• 20:46
  And so in competition,
• 20:49
  when you're going up against,
• 20:50
  now that they have 10,
• 20:53
  I think they should maybe narrow that down
• 20:56
  to about seven films.
• 20:58
  Maybe 10 is a little too much to digest,
• 21:02
  but wonder what you think about that
• 21:05
  as well as because some of these films
• 21:09
  maybe could have been eliminated
• 21:12
  in terms of, let's be honest,
• 21:14
  that they were never gonna be contenders to win.
• 21:18
  So I'm thinking maybe you should narrow it down
• 21:20
  back to seven.
• 21:22
  What do you think about that?
• 21:24
  No, I'd like the 10.
• 21:25
  I'd like the 10.
• 21:26
  Okay.
• 21:27
  Cause I mean, realistically, even at seven,
• 21:30
  it's still gonna be one person that wins.
• 21:32
  I think they just have to,
• 21:36
  I think it's just 10 just to add more eyes onto it.
• 21:39
  You know what I'm saying?
• 21:40
  You get more, fill up the theater more,
• 21:42
  get more, just get more people watching it really.
• 21:45
  I think that just comes down to,
• 21:48
  we need ratings.
• 21:49
  How many people can we get to watch this?
• 21:52
  That's a valid point.
• 21:53
  I would say too,
• 21:54
  there were three strong contenders this year.
• 21:57
  You had One Battle After Another, Sinners, and Hamnet.
• 22:01
  Those were the top three movies of the year
• 22:04
  in terms of consideration.
• 22:07
  And I think that's usually how it always is.
• 22:09
  You know what I'm saying?
• 22:11
  So even if they was to cut it down to five,
• 22:13
  it's still just, you'd still just have your contenders.
• 22:16
  It would still be One Battle After Another,
• 22:18
  Sinners, Hamnet.
• 22:20
  And then you would just have your choice of,
• 22:21
  do I wanna put a sentimental value up there?
• 22:23
  Or I mean, Marnie Supreme might not make it, but.
• 22:30
  Yeah, so you just have,
• 22:32
  which other two just wanna feel good to be in that company?
• 22:38
  Were there any surprises for you
• 22:41
  in terms of who won in any category for you?
• 22:49
  No.
• 22:52
  No, I think that it was all pretty spot on.
• 22:59
  The only one that would have probably surprised me
• 23:05
  would have been, no, there was no surprises.
• 23:10
  I think I missed the first award,
• 23:12
  like there was a tie for the short film,
• 23:15
  but I just read the article about it,
• 23:20
  but I didn't see that actually be like announced,
• 23:23
  oh, we had a tie, but that's a surprise.
• 23:27
  I felt for me, Best Cinematography was the biggest surprise.
• 23:33
  For Sinners, you had Autumn Arkipoff who won
• 23:38
  and made history winning being-
• 23:41
  Oh, that wasn't a surprise to me either.
• 23:43
  Well, it was for me-
• 23:44
  I mean, I was surprised that she was the first woman
• 23:46
  to do it, but that wasn't a surprise to me at all.
• 23:50
  No way, yeah.
• 23:51
  Between seeing Sinners at IMAX
• 23:54
  and seeing One Battle After Another at IMAX,
• 23:56
  I was like, yeah, no, yeah, yeah, she definitely.
• 24:00
  Yeah, I guess it was the surprise that for me,
• 24:05
  that she actually did win.
• 24:07
  I personally felt it was the best cinematography,
• 24:12
  but I didn't know if Sinners was going to win or not.
• 24:16
  Truly.
• 24:17
  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 24:18
  I felt like it was competitive.
• 24:19
  It was a pleasant surprise, yeah.
• 24:21
  Yeah, and so for me, it was more about,
• 24:25
  I felt that One Battle After Another
• 24:28
  was right there and I didn't think it was something
• 24:32
  that was a category that was easily decided
• 24:38
  like Jessie Buckley winning for Best Lead Actress.
• 24:42
  There was no doubt in anybody's minds
• 24:46
  that she was going to win that award.
• 24:48
  And so for me, it was more just,
• 24:51
  it was a nice surprise to see that.
• 24:54
  And I felt the energy and buzz when she won
• 25:00
  because it was such a historic moment.
• 25:04
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 25:07
  And I liked her speech and everybody looked good.
• 25:11
  Everybody at the awards looked good.
• 25:13
  Tiana was looking good.
• 25:14
  Chase was looking good.
• 25:16
  Wunmi was looking good.
• 25:19
  Everybody was looking good.
• 25:20
  Absolutely, yeah.
• 25:22
  You know, it seemed like people were having a good time.
• 25:26
  That's what it felt like.
• 25:28
  Yeah.
• 25:28
  It felt like it was a more upscale version
• 25:35
  of like the MTV Awards, you know?
• 25:38
  Just, we just having fun with it.
• 25:41
  We're not going to take nothing too serious.
• 25:42
  I think they all, everybody,
• 25:44
  and that's why I think there was no surprise
• 25:45
  with the awards or whatever.
• 25:46
  Everybody pretty much knew who was going to win.
• 25:49
  So there was no like, you know, anticipation or anxiety.
• 25:55
  Everybody knew Sean Payne was going to win.
• 25:56
  It wasn't going to be there.
• 25:58
  It wasn't Delroy.
• 25:58
  Delroy didn't know.
• 25:59
  Delroy was mad.
• 26:00
  I won't lie, Delroy was mad.
• 26:02
  I ain't mad at him.
• 26:03
  Yeah.
• 26:04
  I mean, you know, and I kind of, I feel,
• 26:07
  I felt his vibe, you know, seeing him on camera
• 26:11
  when he won, when he didn't win, excuse me.
• 26:15
  But I just, I kind of felt for him, you know?
• 26:19
  I was team Delroy.
• 26:21
  I felt he gave the best performance.
• 26:24
  Personally, in the supporting actor category this year,
• 26:28
  he was a standout for me.
• 26:32
  And he deserved the nomination.
• 26:34
  Everybody deserved a nomination this year.
• 26:38
  There wasn't anybody that didn't.
• 26:39
  Yeah, everybody who was nominated was definitely, yeah.
• 26:43
  Definitely deserved it.
• 26:44
  And so even though Sean Payne didn't show for the awards,
• 26:50
  you know, he still won.
• 26:51
  And he gave a good performance.
• 26:53
  But for me, I felt there were some better performances.
• 26:58
  But that's just how I feel.
• 27:01
  Everybody's entitled to their opinion.
• 27:04
  We tend to think in extremes where it's like,
• 27:07
  who wins, who loses?
• 27:09
  That's kind of how we think in terms of these awards.
• 27:14
  And if you win, but in general,
• 27:17
  I think you're a winner if you're nominated.
• 27:20
  Wouldn't you agree, buddy?
• 27:21
  If you're nominated for an Oscar, that's a win in itself.
• 27:26
  Hell no, I want to win.
• 27:28
  But.
• 27:31
  Yeah, no for sure.
• 27:33
  I'm not going to be a sore loser, but I want to win.
• 27:37
  I'll leave it here with something.
• 27:38
  What did Zell say?
• 27:39
  I'll leave it here with something.
• 27:40
  Exactly.
• 27:42
  Delroy wanted to win.
• 27:43
  I think you could tell that.
• 27:45
  I felt like he had the best chance.
• 27:50
  If anybody was-
• 27:51
  I think he knew.
• 27:53
  I think he knew this was probably his best chance.
• 27:55
  They're like, if they didn't give it to him,
• 27:57
  if he didn't even get nominated for the five bloods,
• 28:00
  and then, you know, suffer with this,
• 28:03
  he's like, yeah, this might be it.
• 28:06
  Because what's the next time a Ryan Coole is going to,
• 28:08
  you know, give me, or somebody, you know,
• 28:13
  all these black directors are falling off.
• 28:16
  Well, they're getting older.
• 28:17
  Not falling off, they're getting older.
• 28:19
  Let's talk about the director category
• 28:21
  because Ryan Coogler was a contender, right?
• 28:26
  Like it wasn't hands down Paul Thomas Anderson
• 28:30
  because I was waiting for that.
• 28:32
  I was wondering, I genuinely didn't know.
• 28:35
  Like I felt it was between those two guys
• 28:38
  and Paul Thomas Anderson came out on top.
• 28:41
  He won three Oscars, right?
• 28:43
  He won for best writing, best director, and best picture.
• 28:49
  Ryan Coogler won for best writing and original screenplay.
• 28:56
  And that was well-deserving,
• 28:58
  but you and I both talked in one episode
• 29:03
  about how Ryan Coogler did, you know,
• 29:08
  the best job directing.
• 29:12
  Yeah.
• 29:15
  And I think he did.
• 29:16
  And I still stand by it.
• 29:17
  I still think he was the best director.
• 29:20
  And I mean, I'm reading it,
• 29:23
  this is beating like a dead horse, you know what I'm saying?
• 29:25
  But it's like the campaigning, you know?
• 29:28
  Like if this was, if Cirrus was a different studio
• 29:31
  outside of Warner Brothers, I think he would have won.
• 29:35
  But because it's an in-house thing.
• 29:36
  And like I said, Warner Brothers was all like,
• 29:39
  hey bro, we're letting you keep your franchise.
• 29:41
  We are letting you own this movie,
• 29:44
  but we're going to have to give Paul Thomas Anderson
• 29:46
  these trophies right here.
• 29:47
  You know what I'm saying?
• 29:48
  Like, from a studio standpoint,
• 29:51
  when you really look at it,
• 29:52
  it was kind of even exchange.
• 29:53
  You know what I'm saying?
• 29:54
  Like, hey, we'll let you own this.
• 29:58
  And maybe this is a deeper dive into how the business
• 30:02
  and all this, the studio stuff works.
• 30:05
  Maybe this also was part of why,
• 30:08
  what was also part of the whole setup with, you know,
• 30:11
  him getting the type of deal that he did that, you know,
• 30:14
  people kind of shitted on him and said,
• 30:16
  oh, you know, say, you know, black or whatever it may be,
• 30:19
  but it's all like, like,
• 30:21
  what if this is a deeper dive
• 30:22
  into just the business side of things
• 30:25
  to where, like I said, Warner Brothers Studios was all like,
• 30:28
  yo, this is a great ass movie and shit like this.
• 30:30
  Like this is an Academy Award best picture.
• 30:33
  It just so happens that this year's,
• 30:36
  yo, PTA's our dude.
• 30:37
  He's lost the past 25 years.
• 30:40
  Shit, this may be his last film.
• 30:43
  We got to do him this solid.
• 30:46
  Well, if you want to do that, then let me own this movie.
• 30:49
  Then let me own this movie.
• 30:51
  Right, and I don't know how many films
• 30:53
  Paul Thomas Anderson has left in the tank.
• 30:56
  Whereas Ryan Coogler, we're going to see a lot more from.
• 30:59
  He's not done at all.
• 31:01
  Ryan has already won an Oscar now.
• 31:05
  So the credibility and excellence
• 31:08
  that Ryan has in filmmaking,
• 31:11
  as it's at the highest level anybody could imagine,
• 31:15
  it's important to note that he broke the record
• 31:21
  for most nominations in Oscars.
• 31:25
  So you cannot take that away from Ryan
• 31:30
  in Sinners.
• 31:31
  At all.
• 31:32
  At all.
• 31:33
  And they didn't have to edit,
• 31:34
  and they don't even matter,
• 31:36
  they didn't even have to sweep.
• 31:38
  Just the fact that they said,
• 31:39
  hey, your picture is top five in everything.
• 31:43
  Not even top five,
• 31:44
  because you never know,
• 31:45
  it probably could have played second or third.
• 31:47
  Your movie is top three in everything, bro.
• 31:49
  Top three in everything.
• 31:52
  And that's what's important to note, buddy,
• 31:54
  is that it was, for me, the strongest film of the year.
• 32:00
  And even though it didn't win Best Picture,
• 32:03
  it should not take away from the brilliance
• 32:06
  of this movie.
• 32:07
  That's even better.
• 32:09
  Because now that's just gonna build up
• 32:12
  the cult following of it.
• 32:13
  That's just gonna make the movie bigger.
• 32:15
  The fact that it did lose is gonna make it,
• 32:18
  not now, but years from now,
• 32:20
  my opinion, this lost Best Picture?
• 32:23
  This movie didn't win?
• 32:25
  Like, congrats to Michael B. Jordan, of course,
• 32:27
  and Ryan Coogler and The Sound,
• 32:30
  and cinematographer.
• 32:31
  But when you talk about the overall aspect of it,
• 32:35
  like, when people watch that movie 10 years from now,
• 32:39
  however long from now,
• 32:41
  they're gonna sit back and watch that movie
• 32:43
  and think that whatever category there is for the Oscars,
• 32:47
  that movie won it.
• 32:50
  Well, I'd also like to mention
• 32:52
  that one battle after another won for Best Film Editing.
• 32:57
  I think that's important to note,
• 33:00
  because editing can make or break a film.
• 33:03
  So the fact that it won for that,
• 33:07
  the film kind of felt a little long to me,
• 33:10
  just a little bit,
• 33:11
  where I felt Sinners was stronger, personally.
• 33:17
  And then Sentimental Value
• 33:20
  was in really good editing as well.
• 33:22
  And so I felt like that, for me,
• 33:27
  I didn't really know who was gonna win that Oscar.
• 33:31
  So when one battle after another won for that,
• 33:36
  Andy Jurgensen is the editor for one battle after another.
• 33:42
  So when that won for Best Editing,
• 33:45
  for me, that means something for a film, right?
• 33:49
  Because the film can't drag, it's gotta be seamless.
• 33:53
  And what were your thoughts?
• 33:55
  Do you think that this should have won
• 33:58
  for Best Film Editing?
• 34:01
  I could only go back to my experience
• 34:03
  from working on this set,
• 34:04
  and maybe you could too, as well.
• 34:06
  But even simple establishing shots
• 34:11
  and people walking across the street or whatever,
• 34:15
  even like, I'll just use the scene that I'm in,
• 34:18
  where I'm walking across the street.
• 34:20
  Right.
• 34:21
  That simple scene, we probably did about eight takes.
• 34:25
  Which is a lot for a scene like that,
• 34:27
  where a character's just walking across the street.
• 34:31
  The scene that you were saying that you was in,
• 34:33
  it had got cut or whatever.
• 34:35
  Right, but we had 16.
• 34:37
  We did 16 takes.
• 34:39
  Exactly.
• 34:40
  So I don't know how many takes Ryan Coogler did on Sinners,
• 34:47
  but whoever was editing, they had a lot to work with.
• 34:52
  You know what I mean?
• 34:53
  There was just a lot of footage to work with.
• 34:57
  I agree, yeah.
• 34:58
  And, but in terms of the editing though, buddy,
• 35:02
  did you feel like the movie was tight?
• 35:06
  Did you feel like it dragged?
• 35:08
  Or did you feel like it moved at the pace that it needed to?
• 35:13
  I thought that movie moved fast.
• 35:14
  For like, for over a two hour movie?
• 35:17
  We're talking about one battle after another, right?
• 35:19
  Correct.
• 35:20
  Yeah, correct.
• 35:21
  I just want to get your-
• 35:22
  What was it, like two and a half hours?
• 35:25
  Yeah, over that.
• 35:26
  Yeah, it was about that.
• 35:27
  Yeah, it didn't feel like,
• 35:28
  when we watched it, I didn't feel like it.
• 35:34
  Yeah, it moved pretty seamlessly,
• 35:36
  but in comparison to Sinners now,
• 35:40
  I wonder what your feeling is,
• 35:42
  because I felt like those two films
• 35:45
  were the best in terms of editing.
• 35:49
  Mm-hmm.
• 35:50
  And so for me, I felt like Sinners was a stronger contender,
• 35:56
  but I don't know, what, I just, I'm thinking-
• 36:00
  I think that-
• 36:01
  It was so close.
• 36:03
  It was close.
• 36:04
  I think what happened, I mean,
• 36:06
  and I'm gonna give a shout out to Autumn,
• 36:08
  the cinematographer,
• 36:10
  is that maybe the shit that she did was so good
• 36:13
  that he's like, it was almost too good,
• 36:15
  like, I don't know what to do with this shit.
• 36:17
  Like, like, like, you know what I mean?
• 36:21
  Like, he's like,
• 36:22
  yo, this girl's kicking ass right here.
• 36:23
  Like, you know what I mean?
• 36:24
  Like, maybe that's just the case of what it was.
• 36:27
  He's like, he's like, this is so good,
• 36:30
  I don't know what to do with it.
• 36:31
  Well, then you have,
• 36:32
  then you made me think of the big one-er
• 36:35
  that they had in Sinners too,
• 36:37
  and do you think that that maybe-
• 36:40
  I think that won the, I think that,
• 36:42
  I think that won the cinematographer award.
• 36:45
  I think that-
• 36:46
  Yeah, but-
• 36:48
  What are you talking about, from the editing standpoint?
• 36:50
  Yeah, so did that detract from it winning Best Editing
• 36:56
  because they had that big one-er in the movie?
• 37:01
  I don't think so.
• 37:02
  Okay.
• 37:04
  Yeah, so then it took it down, you know,
• 37:06
  one battle after another, Best Film Editing of the Year.
• 37:09
  So, you know, hats off to them.
• 37:13
  Again, one battle after another,
• 37:16
  one for Best Adapted Screenplay, which we talked about.
• 37:21
  Did you feel like any of the nominees for that were better?
• 37:24
  You had Begonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet, and Train Dreams.
• 37:29
  So, one battle after another beat out all of those,
• 37:33
  which were really well-written films.
• 37:37
  Yeah.
• 37:39
  Um, no, I think he had that in the bag.
• 37:43
  Yeah, I don't think there was any,
• 37:45
  I don't think there was gonna be anything close.
• 37:48
  I felt like Hamnet was a really good script.
• 37:51
  I thought that that was really interesting
• 37:54
  and interesting take with the Shakespeare element.
• 37:59
  And, you know, Shakespeare is not easy to do in general.
• 38:04
  So, for me, I felt like that was strong writing.
• 38:09
  And then the flip side is,
• 38:11
  is then you have the other category
• 38:13
  of Best Original Screenplay.
• 38:16
  And Sinners, for me, there was no contender for that.
• 38:22
  I felt like Ryan was going to win that Oscar.
• 38:26
  No, yeah, I thought he was gonna win that.
• 38:28
  But when they was going through the nominees
• 38:29
  and I was sitting back and looking at the nominees,
• 38:32
  I was all like, that's a tough competition.
• 38:34
  Like, he was gonna win.
• 38:35
  But I was like, this is a tough competition
• 38:38
  for him to win against.
• 38:39
  So, and that's just more kudos to Sinners,
• 38:43
  you know, and Ryan Coogler's talent.
• 38:47
  Because like I said, any of those other films
• 38:50
  could have walked away with it.
• 38:53
  Because we talked so much about
• 38:54
  how much sentimental value resonated with just,
• 38:57
  you know, film and, you know, people in the film community.
• 39:00
  But, you know, that could have just as easily
• 39:04
  if it was in any other year.
• 39:11
  Yeah, I agree with everything you're saying, buddy.
• 39:15
  And so I wonder too, one battle after another,
• 39:20
  one for Best Casting, which is so important in a movie
• 39:26
  to have casting is such a critical.
• 39:30
  And we haven't seen,
• 39:32
  I can't remember a casting category in the Oscars.
• 39:37
  It's the first year.
• 39:39
  I believe this is the first year, buddy.
• 39:42
  So the fact that one battle after another,
• 39:46
  one for Best Casting is super critical.
• 39:53
  I myself had to talk to a casting director
• 39:57
  to just be even an extra in this film
• 40:02
  that won for Best Pictures.
• 40:03
  So to have a personal phone call,
• 40:06
  even myself having to talk to a casting director,
• 40:10
  I would say that's pretty well done,
• 40:13
  wouldn't you, buddy?
• 40:14
  Like to get down to who we're gonna cast for extras.
• 40:20
  Yeah, yeah.
• 40:21
  And it's interesting to see,
• 40:26
  like, cause you say one battle after another,
• 40:28
  one for Best Casting,
• 40:30
  but then opposed to like,
• 40:33
  Sinners won Best Ensemble for the Actors Award.
• 40:38
  So basically, Best Cast at the Actors Awards.
• 40:43
  So it's just interesting to see
• 40:49
  what people consider is a good, what makes a good cast.
• 40:55
  And then also speaks to the quality of the,
• 40:56
  like, hey, you know what else they did?
• 40:58
  You know what else they did?
• 41:00
  A secret that they gave away that I think people,
• 41:04
  like, if you're actors, you should tune in,
• 41:07
  is you just said casting directors
• 41:09
  are the people that put you in the movies, right?
• 41:12
  Right.
• 41:13
  So they just literally,
• 41:15
  the Academy Awards just gave you five casting directors,
• 41:19
  their names, that you could just as easily go onto IMDB,
• 41:24
  and it has their contact information,
• 41:27
  email, all this type of stuff.
• 41:30
  Shit, I'd be all like, hey, such and such.
• 41:32
  I was an extra in one battle after another.
• 41:36
  Thank you for casting.
• 41:37
  She don't even have to know that she did it.
• 41:38
  She probably wasn't the one that did cast me,
• 41:41
  but whoever it was, I'm to do, do, do, do.
• 41:43
  Shoot.
• 41:44
  Or at least now you know, now you know these connections.
• 41:46
  Like, what do I gotta do to audition for you?
• 41:49
  Well, I actually have that connection still
• 41:51
  because we also had written correspondence as well.
• 41:55
  So when you are invited,
• 41:58
  I should say is a good word to say,
• 42:00
  when you're invited on a major motion picture,
• 42:04
  there's a lot of thought that goes into that.
• 42:07
  They're not just willy nilly like,
• 42:11
  cause they could pick anybody, right?
• 42:13
  Any drop of the hat.
• 42:15
  Or they could pick nobody.
• 42:16
  Or they could pick nobody.
• 42:18
  The way AI is going, they could be nobody,
• 42:20
  but so that's why we just,
• 42:23
  but I'm just speaking to your point.
• 42:25
  Right, no, but I just,
• 42:26
  I felt like the level of detail that the casting went into
• 42:30
  just for someone like myself,
• 42:35
  I don't know if other film sets
• 42:37
  go to this level of detail, buddy.
• 42:39
  I'm curious, you've been on
• 42:42
  a lot of major motion pictures yourself.
• 42:45
  This was my first experience.
• 42:48
  So would you say that this is typical
• 42:51
  that a casting director would go to this lengths
• 42:55
  in terms of casting even extras?
• 43:02
  Yeah, to some degree.
• 43:03
  And like I said, the casting director that you're talking to
• 43:06
  may not be that actual casting director.
• 43:07
  It could be like their assistant, somebody like that.
• 43:12
  But especially because with like, say like,
• 43:15
  with you being a non-union actor,
• 43:17
  they're gonna have to do some sort of research
• 43:19
  because this is the one industry
• 43:22
  as far as like what we do with actors.
• 43:23
  We don't interview, we audition.
• 43:26
  So from a non-union person standpoint,
• 43:29
  if they're bringing you onto the set,
• 43:31
  they're like, yeah, we gotta make sure this person is right.
• 43:33
  Especially knowing what it is,
• 43:35
  like everybody already knowing
• 43:37
  what this movie is supposed to be.
• 43:39
  By the time it even gets to us,
• 43:41
  they know what this movie is gonna be.
• 43:44
  And so from that standpoint of just
• 43:47
  being so on top of everything, yes.
• 43:50
  And then also just from the,
• 43:55
  how much they try to keep a secret,
• 43:59
  and not try to give too much information
• 44:01
  because they didn't even,
• 44:02
  when they was sending out the casting notices,
• 44:04
  they didn't even say the movie
• 44:05
  was called One Battle After Another.
• 44:07
  Correct.
• 44:08
  It's called like what, Desert Highway
• 44:10
  or something like that?
• 44:11
  It started as that and then it turned into the BC Project.
• 44:16
  Yeah, see, and then when we did,
• 44:19
  when we did The Matrix 4,
• 44:21
  that movie was called Ice Cream,
• 44:26
  the Ice Cream movie.
• 44:27
  Oh, wow.
• 44:29
  Yeah, cause they don't wanna give it,
• 44:30
  they don't wanna divulge anything.
• 44:33
  Yeah.
• 44:34
  No, yeah.
• 44:34
  Interesting.
• 44:36
  Yeah, no, it was such an interesting experience
• 44:40
  going from submitting to it
• 44:42
  and then going through that entire process.
• 44:45
  So I encourage anybody who is an actor,
• 44:49
  get on a film set like this if you can,
• 44:52
  even if you're an extra,
• 44:54
  this is a good experience for you
• 44:56
  and it's gonna help you learn and grow as an actor
• 44:59
  to watch the pros do it.
• 45:01
  Because ultimately our goal is to get on these sets,
• 45:04
  right, buddy?
• 45:05
  Like we wanna be at the highest level too.
• 45:07
  And how are you gonna do that?
• 45:10
  If you're willing to be a production assistant,
• 45:13
  if you're willing to be open-minded to things,
• 45:16
  I think that's gonna better serve you as an actor
• 45:19
  if that's your goal to be an actor,
• 45:22
  be open-minded would be my advice.
• 45:26
  Yeah.
• 45:26
  So let me ask you something.
• 45:27
  Let's say like the quality of your equipment,
• 45:32
  like put that aside.
• 45:34
  What are some of the things that you take away
• 45:37
  from being on that set as far as professionalism goes
• 45:41
  that you see working on short films
• 45:46
  and then also things that you don't see,
• 45:51
  unprofessionalism?
• 45:54
  Yeah, I feel like when you're on a major motion picture,
• 45:58
  the level of detail that goes into every little thing
• 46:03
  from catering to logistics,
• 46:07
  everything is thought about
• 46:08
  and you have a lot of support
• 46:10
  when you're on a set like that.
• 46:14
  I didn't feel a stress personally, buddy.
• 46:18
  I didn't feel stressed out.
• 46:20
  The only thing that stressed me out
• 46:22
  with one battle after another was wardrobe
• 46:26
  because I had to bring about 10 different outfits
• 46:30
  and they didn't like any of my outfits
• 46:33
  where maybe like my pants and this,
• 46:36
  but they had to pull from a rack
• 46:39
  and decide what I was gonna wear on set.
• 46:42
  So they didn't end up using what I had brought,
• 46:47
  a lot of what I brought.
• 46:48
  They use some of it, but not all of it.
• 46:51
  I ended up wearing like a sweater and they asked me,
• 46:56
  whereas opposed to if you're on a short film,
• 46:59
  I feel like it's a little bit easier
• 47:02
  in terms of the wardrobe is like, okay,
• 47:05
  well, it's decided what I'm gonna wear.
• 47:08
  But in terms of makeup and all these things,
• 47:15
  overall, I feel like when you're on a major motion picture,
• 47:20
  everything is seamless and everything moves.
• 47:23
  And you might be in holding for a while.
• 47:27
  So if you're an extra,
• 47:28
  you might have to do a lot of hurry up and wait,
• 47:32
  but no, I feel like they know what they're doing
• 47:37
  and they have more time to do it
• 47:39
  where when you're on short films, there's less money,
• 47:44
  which means there's less time.
• 47:46
  So you've got to,
• 47:48
  I feel like your time has to be managed extremely well
• 47:51
  in both cases.
• 47:55
  Overall, I think that one battle after another
• 47:59
  did an outstanding job in terms of preparation.
• 48:03
  Wouldn't you agree?
• 48:06
  Yeah, not only just preparation,
• 48:07
  but just taking care of people,
• 48:10
  making sure people was well taken care of,
• 48:13
  even down to the craft service.
• 48:16
  I always tell people,
• 48:17
  you know how a film set is gonna be
• 48:19
  when you see craft service.
• 48:22
  When you see craft service,
• 48:23
  you know what type of day is gonna be.
• 48:24
  Is it gonna be either a really good day?
• 48:26
  Is it gonna be a really good film to work on?
• 48:29
  It's gonna be rough.
• 48:33
  And those lower budget short films like you speak of
• 48:37
  don't always have the money to buy the best catering.
• 48:41
  Now on my sets that I've produced,
• 48:45
  I really do make a point to try to feed the cast
• 48:49
  and crew well.
• 48:51
  So I do take that into consideration,
• 48:53
  but I can't afford the level of catering
• 48:57
  that one battle after another provided us.
• 49:00
  We had phenomenal food.
• 49:02
  Yeah, yeah.
• 49:03
  And we're just talking craft service.
• 49:05
  We're not even talking about lunch and breakfast.
• 49:08
  We just talk about-
• 49:10
  Oh, I had a great breakfast.
• 49:12
  Yeah, we ain't talking about the scrambled eggs
• 49:15
  and the bacon and biscuits and gravy,
• 49:18
  fruits and all that type of stuff.
• 49:19
  We just talk about the types of,
• 49:21
  like the chips and the cups of noodles and donuts.
• 49:24
  And I was like, goddamn.
• 49:25
  Like, yeah, you know.
• 49:28
  You know how a film, you know how a movie's gonna be.
• 49:31
  And this isn't even just like compared to short films.
• 49:34
  Like you'll even have other feature films like this
• 49:38
  or even short films where they have like,
• 49:40
  you know, that type of professional thing.
• 49:42
  So that's why I guess I wanna say like, you know,
• 49:45
  like technology and equipment aside or whatever,
• 49:49
  you see those signs, like how you say,
• 49:51
  being on the professional big set,
• 49:54
  you see those signs of professionalism
• 49:56
  and notice those on other short films
• 49:59
  and even on future feature films.
• 50:04
  Like if those films don't carry that same thing
• 50:06
  that one battle after another did,
• 50:08
  you know where this movie's going
• 50:10
  or at least the direction.
• 50:11
  It ain't going that direction.
• 50:16
  For sure, yeah.
• 50:17
  And I think, you know, you're speaking to all the points
• 50:20
  of what made this movie the best picture winner
• 50:25
  of the year to have won six Oscars is incredible.
• 50:31
  And it was-
• 50:32
  Six out of 11?
• 50:34
  Six out of 11, that's over 50%.
• 50:36
  God damn.
• 50:37
  So, like I said, you know, that's phenomenal.
• 50:42
  And that's something where people
• 50:46
  are gonna remember this film.
• 50:49
  But like you say, then in essence, you know,
• 50:52
  did Sinners fall short of their expectations
• 50:56
  or do you think Sinners is happy
• 50:59
  with the fact that they won four, winning the second most?
• 51:05
  I think you always want to say,
• 51:07
  you always want to win more, you know what I'm saying?
• 51:10
  But do I think they left it like shorthanded
• 51:14
  or like they should have?
• 51:16
  Man, I think that at the end of the day,
• 51:22
  Sinners comes down to two people,
• 51:25
  Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan.
• 51:29
  And as long as both of them went away with something,
• 51:32
  everybody went away with something.
• 51:35
  And that sounds a little bit cheesy,
• 51:36
  you know what I'm saying?
• 51:37
  Because, you know, of course you'd like to see them,
• 51:41
  you know, sweep it or whatever,
• 51:43
  or, you know, even their odds being better.
• 51:46
  But I mean, comparing it to one battle after another,
• 51:51
  it's like they said, everybody knew this year
• 51:55
  that it was going to be Paul Thomas Anderson,
• 52:01
  everything, everything, like they literally say,
• 52:03
  like one battle after another was supposed to,
• 52:07
  you know, probably, like Sinners probably took away,
• 52:12
  took some of their awards, you know what I mean?
• 52:14
  Like everybody knew from the beginning,
• 52:16
  like from when one battle after another was being made
• 52:18
  that this is Paul Thomas Anderson's crown achievement,
• 52:22
  where he already had lost out on 14 nominations,
• 52:25
  so they was going to give him everything.
• 52:28
  Just like when, like, I'm going to go back
• 52:30
  to the Grammy situation with Kendrick Lamar,
• 52:32
  they're not like us.
• 52:33
  They said, we're going to give you every single award.
• 52:34
  Here you go, Kendrick,
• 52:35
  all five awards that you're nominating for, here you go.
• 52:38
  That's the same thing with Paul Thomas Anderson.
• 52:40
  They was probably like, yo, bro, here you go.
• 52:42
  Here, here, every award's going to be yours.
• 52:45
  That's your swan song.
• 52:47
  You could write off into the Hollywood sunset,
• 52:50
  but he just happened to be in the studio
• 52:52
  with Warner Brothers that happened to produce
• 52:55
  a movie called Sinners.
• 52:56
  And not only Sinners, but Weapons,
• 52:58
  because Weapons was a Warner Brothers thing.
• 53:00
  And I'm looking at those five awards,
• 53:02
  like, listen, those five awards
• 53:05
  that Sinners and Weapons won combined,
• 53:09
  man, they was probably like,
• 53:11
  Paul Thomas Anderson was probably like,
• 53:12
  no, no, no, no, those were mine.
• 53:14
  Those were supposed to be my awards.
• 53:17
  I was supposed to sweep this.
• 53:18
  They was probably trying to set it up for him to sweep it.
• 53:21
  And Sinners came up out of nowhere and said, nah, bro.
• 53:24
  We leave it.
• 53:25
  Like Denzel Washington said,
• 53:26
  I'm leaving here with something.
• 53:28
  I'd like to talk about a best supporting actress
• 53:32
  because Teyana Taylor was nominated for her performance.
• 53:40
  Amy Madigan took it down.
• 53:43
  We spoke in our last podcast.
• 53:47
  I felt that she was the front runner.
• 53:50
  And she ended up taking it down, right?
• 53:53
  She created such an iconic character
• 53:57
  that people are gonna be wearing Halloween costumes
• 54:00
  forever now with her character
• 54:04
  to beat out Wunmi Masaku and Teyana Taylor,
• 54:08
  who were both incredible.
• 54:11
  I mean, that gives a lot of weight.
• 54:16
  The two other nominees were for the same movie.
• 54:19
  So it's not like, and this goes back to her,
• 54:25
  like how you said, she was previously nominated.
• 54:28
  So I'm not gonna take anything away from her like that.
• 54:32
  Like I said, she has that history
• 54:33
  with being with the Academy Awards
• 54:35
  and they're like, okay, we'll give it to you
• 54:37
  because we never know when you're gonna win another award.
• 54:41
  But when you look at it from the competition standpoint,
• 54:45
  they also probably look at it from,
• 54:47
  these are all a lot of newcomers as well.
• 54:49
  Cause it was Teyana, the two from the Sentimental Value,
• 54:53
  you know, she's still on the younger side.
• 54:55
  She's been there for a while,
• 54:56
  but you know, you'll still put,
• 54:57
  they're still gonna put her at the newcomer type
• 54:59
  of the newcomer situation.
• 55:01
  And then, and then the same with Wunmi.
• 55:04
  So they probably look at,
• 55:05
  they probably kind of be looking at the same situation.
• 55:07
  Like we're all, these people are all gonna be here before.
• 55:11
  It's interesting to see how much steam Teyana had lost
• 55:18
  leaving the Golden Globes.
• 55:21
  Yeah, it was, I really thought maybe she might take it down
• 55:25
  at that point because she won the Golden Globe.
• 55:28
  And so then I was like, wow,
• 55:30
  she could really very well win the Oscar
• 55:32
  because she did give an incredible performance
• 55:35
  in one battle after another.
• 55:37
  And I felt that she was a contender buddy,
• 55:40
  like she really brought her A-game on set.
• 55:44
  I got to see her at work and her laser focus was fantastic.
• 55:50
  Her and Leo worked really well together.
• 55:54
  So yeah.
• 55:56
  And I was mistaken too,
• 55:57
  cause I thought Amy Madigan,
• 55:59
  she was only in weapons for like 15 minutes.
• 56:02
  Yeah, she wasn't really in the movie that long, buddy.
• 56:05
  But what I'm telling you is,
• 56:08
  was her performance was so captivating
• 56:12
  that if you didn't have that performance
• 56:17
  in the movie weapons, it wouldn't have been,
• 56:20
  I'm sorry, but I don't think it would have been as good.
• 56:24
  Oh yeah.
• 56:24
  I just say, cause I thought she was in the movie
• 56:27
  for longer than 15 minutes.
• 56:29
  I'm not taking away from her performance.
• 56:31
  I just, I was mistaken
• 56:32
  cause I thought she was in it longer.
• 56:34
  But like, when you compare that to Tiana Taylor,
• 56:36
  that's the thing they have just about to say
• 56:37
  about a screen time.
• 56:39
  Yeah, they did, buddy.
• 56:40
  They actually did.
• 56:42
  And I think for me, it was like so close
• 56:46
  between those two and also Wound Me
• 56:48
  because that was a really difficult decision to make.
• 56:52
  All three of those actresses did a phenomenal job
• 56:55
  as well as both actresses and sentimental value.
• 56:59
  So I didn't really think that it was an easy decision,
• 57:02
  but based on everything that happened,
• 57:06
  I felt that Amy had the strongest chance
• 57:10
  just because her role was so iconic.
• 57:15
  Yeah.
• 57:17
  Yeah.
• 57:18
  And nothing to take away from Tiana.
• 57:20
  That was just, that was just that,
• 57:22
  the role just, like you said, became iconic.
• 57:26
  But it was good to see Tiana.
• 57:28
  She was just really excited to be there.
• 57:33
  And then when one battle after another,
• 57:35
  one for Best Picture,
• 57:38
  to see her kind of have that exchange
• 57:40
  with Paul Thomas Anderson was really cool.
• 57:46
  And so it seemed like everybody was really excited
• 57:49
  to win Best Picture.
• 57:51
  So I think that that was really
• 57:53
  what meant the most to everybody.
• 57:57
  And correct me if I'm wrong,
• 57:59
  but I feel like she even held the Oscar too.
• 58:03
  Yeah, she grabbed one of the Oscars.
• 58:04
  Yeah.
• 58:06
  So it was like she won, you know, winning Best Picture.
• 58:10
  You feel like, wow, our team, our team won.
• 58:15
  Right?
• 58:16
  Like it goes to the producers, but our team,
• 58:18
  it's a team effort.
• 58:19
  The producers get the Oscars, but yeah, it's a team effort.
• 58:22
  Right.
• 58:24
  But the whole cast comes up on stage.
• 58:27
  And so they're super excited about it and the awards.
• 58:31
  So that was really cool to see.
• 58:35
  And then it was also very interesting to see
• 58:37
  just even from the nominee standpoint,
• 58:40
  how many producers it took to make the movie
• 58:44
  and then who they were.
• 58:45
  Like when you, like, you don't say just,
• 58:46
  just like the relationships that they've had,
• 58:49
  stuff like that.
• 58:50
  You can tell like when the movies maybe had like five,
• 58:52
  six, seven different producers on it,
• 58:55
  as opposed to a film that just has like two,
• 58:58
  you know, maybe three.
• 59:00
  You just kind of tell this, okay,
• 59:01
  this is a person that's been,
• 59:02
  this is a group of people that have been working
• 59:03
  well together.
• 59:04
  And these are people that just, you know,
• 59:07
  got all the money, but then put it all together
• 59:08
  type of thing.
• 59:12
  But that speaks to like one battle after another
• 59:13
  and Sinners, you know what I'm saying?
• 59:14
  I think they had the smallest,
• 59:16
  the smallest number of producers
• 59:19
  and they made the best quality of films.
• 59:23
  Yeah.
• 59:24
  And I think it speaks to what you have to do
• 59:27
  to make a film.
• 59:28
  You have to coordinate with all these individuals.
• 59:31
  So imagine emails, phone calls, text messages,
• 59:36
  all this correspondence that happens
• 59:38
  during the making of a movie.
• 59:40
  You've got to have a really solid game plan
• 59:44
  when you're making a movie like this.
• 59:46
  And there's so much that goes involved.
• 59:48
  So it's not just throw money at it and have at it,
• 59:54
  you know, so there's a lot of planning
• 59:56
  that goes into these best pictures
• 59:59
  that were nominated this year
• 1:00:01
  and one battle after another takes it down.
• 1:00:05
  And years.
• 1:00:06
  Exactly.
• 1:00:07
  You know, there's money don't come for overnight shit.
• 1:00:09
  It takes years, years.
• 1:00:10
  Like how long we say Paul Thomas Andrews
• 1:00:12
  developing this movie for, 20 years?
• 1:00:14
  20, 20 years.
• 1:00:15
  Yeah.
• 1:00:16
  20 years.
• 1:00:18
  So that just makes our point even more impactful
• 1:00:24
  because if you've spent this amount of time
• 1:00:26
  to make this movie and you've had to shelve it
• 1:00:30
  for many years and go back to it
• 1:00:33
  and when is the right time to make this movie?
• 1:00:36
  That's, that goes into these decisions as well.
• 1:00:42
  Yeah.
• 1:00:43
  Also speaks to the struggle of the filmmaker, man.
• 1:00:46
  Like imagine having this film
• 1:00:48
  cause he basically made this whole entire career
• 1:00:50
  in between making this movie.
• 1:00:56
  Imagine like having to put that on the shelf
• 1:00:58
  and then, all right, let me,
• 1:00:59
  but there's still that excitement of making the other film
• 1:01:01
  but it's all like, it's almost like you look at
• 1:01:04
  for a boogie nights to there will be blood.
• 1:01:06
  Like there's, even though they always say
• 1:01:10
  like Paul Thomas Anderson movies
• 1:01:12
  are always kind of connected in some sort of way
• 1:01:13
  even though they don't follow like a certain genre
• 1:01:15
  or even a similar like storyline or anything like that.
• 1:01:19
  Like, you know, they kind of like follow each other.
• 1:01:23
  You can kind of see like something
• 1:01:26
  like behind the scenes that we did though.
• 1:01:29
  But like every movie, you know,
• 1:01:31
  is a continuation of this film.
• 1:01:33
  It's also him getting ready to film
• 1:01:38
  one battle after another.
• 1:01:41
  Well, then you also make me think buddy too
• 1:01:43
  that because he had to put this on the shelf
• 1:01:46
  for so many years,
• 1:01:48
  how many pitch sessions did Paul Thomas Anderson
• 1:01:52
  have to do in order to persuade the studios
• 1:01:57
  to back him on this project?
• 1:01:59
  If he was at it, you know, is he bringing this every year
• 1:02:04
  or is it every five years?
• 1:02:06
  You know, so there's that that we don't really know
• 1:02:09
  behind the scenes where you're thinking about
• 1:02:13
  how much level of effort did Paul Thomas Anderson
• 1:02:17
  have to do to make this movie?
• 1:02:19
  And isn't it more meaningful to him personally
• 1:02:24
  to have won this?
• 1:02:26
  And not only just winning one Oscar,
• 1:02:29
  but three, he takes down three Oscars.
• 1:02:33
  Well, yeah, well, especially because the movies
• 1:02:35
  that he was making, he was losing.
• 1:02:37
  He was like, I'm losing with Boogie Nights,
• 1:02:40
  I'm losing with Magnolia, I'm losing with There Will Be Blood.
• 1:02:43
  He's like, yeah, and Coherent Bites,
• 1:02:45
  I'm losing with everything, bro.
• 1:02:46
  Let me make my damn movie.
• 1:02:48
  They're like, all right, fine, I guess so.
• 1:02:51
  Right, and they gave him that.
• 1:02:52
  And what I really liked about One Battle After Another,
• 1:02:56
  buddy, was all the car chases.
• 1:03:00
  I really, and to hear that one of the car chases
• 1:03:03
  was on the fly, like they weren't even sure
• 1:03:06
  if they could even, you know, logistically do it
• 1:03:09
  because they didn't have the location that they had wanted.
• 1:03:13
  And I'm referring to the desert car chase.
• 1:03:17
  So a lot of that was on the fly, run and gun type stuff.
• 1:03:22
  And they had to move really quickly
• 1:03:26
  to make that whole sequence.
• 1:03:28
  Whereas in Sacramento, you've got to have those,
• 1:03:32
  everything planned out because you're in the city, buddy.
• 1:03:36
  Whereas like, if you're in a remote desert,
• 1:03:40
  maybe it might be easier.
• 1:03:41
  You still got to have permits, but what's easier?
• 1:03:46
  If something goes wrong, there's no hospital.
• 1:03:50
  There's no, you know, no nothing.
• 1:03:55
  So there's a level of danger.
• 1:03:57
  Yeah.
• 1:03:59
  But in terms of, you know, the car chase
• 1:04:04
  in the beginning of the film was done in Sacramento.
• 1:04:08
  So to see those two different car chases
• 1:04:11
  was really cool to me
• 1:04:13
  because they were so uniquely different.
• 1:04:15
  And I don't remember a movie
• 1:04:18
  that had two uniquely different car chases.
• 1:04:24
  The one movie that I remember most
• 1:04:27
  was an older movie called Bullet.
• 1:04:30
  And they filmed that in San Francisco.
• 1:04:32
  And there was a big car chase in that movie.
• 1:04:37
  And so, you know, other than like Fast and the Furious
• 1:04:41
  and all of these,
• 1:04:43
  I felt like one battle after another
• 1:04:46
  had iconic car chases.
• 1:04:48
  Wouldn't you agree?
• 1:04:53
  I don't know if the car chase,
• 1:04:54
  I think when Chase Affinity,
• 1:04:56
  when her character first like escapes or whatever,
• 1:04:59
  the captives or whatever,
• 1:05:01
  where she starts the car up and she's swinging it.
• 1:05:04
  And, you know, like the camera's like,
• 1:05:07
  I think it's like placed on the car, on the door,
• 1:05:10
  something like that.
• 1:05:11
  But that, I liked that shot.
• 1:05:12
  But I think I'd have to go back and watch it
• 1:05:15
  to really get a good gauge to say whether or not
• 1:05:18
  I think it's like one of the more iconic car chases.
• 1:05:22
  You definitely feel it though.
• 1:05:23
  It definitely feels like he was on a roller coaster
• 1:05:25
  with the hills and stuff.
• 1:05:30
  Yeah, and so I just think it brings to the point
• 1:05:33
  that all of these weigh into the decisions
• 1:05:36
  of who is best picture of the year.
• 1:05:40
  The biggest reason why I didn't have one battle after
• 1:05:45
  another as the best picture for me was the music.
• 1:05:49
  That was the only category where I felt that
• 1:05:53
  one battle after another was not as strong as Sinners,
• 1:05:58
  where it did win for, in terms of music wise.
• 1:06:05
  It didn't win for, Sinners did not win
• 1:06:09
  for best original song,
• 1:06:12
  but it won for best original score.
• 1:06:16
  And one battle after another was nominated for that.
• 1:06:20
  And so Sinners won.
• 1:06:23
  And for me, that was an easy decision
• 1:06:27
  for best original score.
• 1:06:29
  And I think, I don't think that musical scores
• 1:06:36
  are given as much credit as they need to in films,
• 1:06:40
  because for me, it can make or break a movie,
• 1:06:44
  how good the music is.
• 1:06:51
  Yeah.
• 1:06:53
  Yeah, I can see that, especially from,
• 1:06:58
  from the storytelling standpoint,
• 1:07:01
  the audio is definitely something that helps carry along
• 1:07:07
  with, the audio helps carry along with the dialogue.
• 1:07:10
  Gives it, it kind of helps give you a sense
• 1:07:15
  of what you're supposed to,
• 1:07:17
  maybe not what you're supposed to be feeling
• 1:07:19
  or what the, whoever the character is,
• 1:07:20
  what they're feeling at the time.
• 1:07:24
  Yeah, and in the case of one battle after another,
• 1:07:28
  that was the only criticism I had.
• 1:07:30
  And it's still won best picture despite all of that.
• 1:07:34
  So they didn't really put a lot of weight
• 1:07:37
  into that with the music.
• 1:07:39
  So for me, it was like, okay,
• 1:07:44
  so what do you think Buddy made one battle after another win
• 1:07:51
  for best picture this year?
• 1:07:53
  What do you think it was that said,
• 1:07:56
  it's better than Sinners, it's better than everybody else.
• 1:08:00
  Do you think it was Paul Thomas Anderson
• 1:08:03
  or do you think it was a combination of many things?
• 1:08:10
  I think, go back to like how we said,
• 1:08:14
  it just from the beginning of this movie,
• 1:08:15
  this movie was just made to be his movie.
• 1:08:18
  There was nothing else that was good.
• 1:08:20
  There are no other movie coming out this year
• 1:08:24
  was gonna stop the Academy from giving Paul Thomas Anderson
• 1:08:28
  best picture, best producer, best director.
• 1:08:34
  Yeah, I think you're right.
• 1:08:36
  Best picture, best director, best writer.
• 1:08:39
  There was nothing at all,
• 1:08:41
  nothing at all that was gonna go to stop
• 1:08:47
  the Paul Thomas Anderson train.
• 1:08:48
  Like this was probably, like I said,
• 1:08:51
  something that was going on in Hollywood.
• 1:08:52
  I said, hey, it's just his time.
• 1:08:55
  Everybody else, you just have to accept second place
• 1:09:00
  and consolation prizes and participation trophies.
• 1:09:05
  And that was Sinners, right?
• 1:09:06
  That was Sinners, that was runner up for-
• 1:09:09
  No, no, I would have called Sinners, no.
• 1:09:12
  Not even like, Sinners is the one outlier
• 1:09:17
  in this whole situation.
• 1:09:18
  Both Sinners and Weapons are the two outliers.
• 1:09:22
  And it's Sinners more specifically,
• 1:09:25
  just because of the cultural impact that it made.
• 1:09:27
  And then same with Weapons.
• 1:09:29
  I mean, maybe not like with black culture,
• 1:09:31
  but they're still, like I was saying,
• 1:09:33
  that Gladys lady is an iconic pop culture figure now.
• 1:09:38
  So those are the only two outliers.
• 1:09:41
  And like I said, they still didn't get in the way
• 1:09:43
  of Paul Thomas Anderson.
• 1:09:46
  They just may have gotten out of the way
• 1:09:47
  of one battle after another.
• 1:09:49
  But at the end of the day, it's like I said,
• 1:09:50
  all of those movies are under Warner Brothers.
• 1:09:54
  So it's not like Warner Brothers is tripping.
• 1:09:56
  It's not like they're upset.
• 1:09:58
  It's not like, it's still coming to us either way.
• 1:10:01
  They said, hey, PTA, we're gonna give you these awards.
• 1:10:04
  But we didn't, like Warner Brothers did not expect
• 1:10:07
  to do what they did last year
• 1:10:08
  from the box office standpoint,
• 1:10:10
  because it wasn't just Sinners and Weapons.
• 1:10:13
  But those were the two darlings,
• 1:10:15
  like the cinematic darlings of the group,
• 1:10:18
  to where they're like, hey man,
• 1:10:21
  I know we was gonna give you,
• 1:10:22
  I know we was gonna let you sweep the Oscars this year, PTA,
• 1:10:26
  but yo, Ryan is doing some shit, bro.
• 1:10:29
  You gotta see what Ryan's doing, bro.
• 1:10:32
  I mean, we wanna give him Best Director,
• 1:10:35
  but we made this deal with you a long time ago, bro.
• 1:10:38
  So we'll do what you could do, you know what I'm saying?
• 1:10:41
  But yeah, but no, Ryan's all your ass, bro.
• 1:10:44
  We're just letting you know, Ryan's all your ass, bro.
• 1:10:46
  So we're gonna give you these awards,
• 1:10:48
  but then we're gonna ask kindly
• 1:10:50
  that you get the fuck out the way.
• 1:10:54
  You know what I mean?
• 1:10:55
  Right, right.
• 1:10:57
  But yeah, maybe they did,
• 1:10:59
  maybe the Academy did decide
• 1:11:01
  that one battle after another was, in fact, the winner
• 1:11:06
  before we even got to-
• 1:11:09
  They knew it.
• 1:11:10
  By the time we get to these nominees,
• 1:11:12
  like I said, talent, it's all just about talent.
• 1:11:14
  And once the nominees are all picked,
• 1:11:19
  the talent goes out the window
• 1:11:21
  because they cancel out each other.
• 1:11:25
  That was all these other X factors
• 1:11:27
  that us, the audience, we can't see.
• 1:11:30
  That's why we say, well, this was our favorite movie.
• 1:11:32
  This movie deserved to win.
• 1:11:33
  They're like, yeah, this movie cinematically deserved
• 1:11:36
  to win, but behind the scenes,
• 1:11:39
  this is why it won.
• 1:11:42
  And do you think that campaigning has a lot to do with that?
• 1:11:45
  Do you think that through this process,
• 1:11:48
  the Academy goes through to make these decisions,
• 1:11:52
  they've gotta be difficult decisions?
• 1:11:54
  Like it can't just be super easy
• 1:11:57
  because they've gotta put some thought into it, right?
• 1:12:00
  I don't know their personal process
• 1:12:02
  of how they determine who wins and who loses,
• 1:12:05
  but I'm curious to know that process of what they do.
• 1:12:09
  And so if we ever get the insight
• 1:12:12
  of knowing how these decisions are made,
• 1:12:15
  I think that that could be made into a movie in itself
• 1:12:19
  because it's so secretive, you know?
• 1:12:23
  And so one battle after another,
• 1:12:26
  people are gonna either like it or they didn't like it.
• 1:12:29
  And so-
• 1:12:30
  That's the studio.
• 1:12:31
  Right.
• 1:12:32
  And so-
• 1:12:33
  No, the TV show, the TV show, the studio,
• 1:12:35
  Seth Rogen, like if you watch the TV show,
• 1:12:37
  but Seth Rogen, I guarantee you at some point,
• 1:12:40
  at some point, like it's very satirical,
• 1:12:42
  but a lot of stuff on that TV show
• 1:12:46
  is true to life to how this film industry
• 1:12:50
  works behind the scenes.
• 1:12:52
  So when you see, you know,
• 1:12:54
  like the things that Seth Rogen was going through
• 1:12:55
  just to win a Golden Globe on that TV show,
• 1:13:00
  he's probably like, he modeled it after a producer
• 1:13:02
  that he really, like a studio exec
• 1:13:06
  that he knows in real life that like,
• 1:13:07
  this is what he does to try to win a Golden Globe,
• 1:13:10
  or this is the chaos that he goes through
• 1:13:12
  and all this type of stuff.
• 1:13:14
  But anyway, that's off topic.
• 1:13:16
  No, that's right.
• 1:13:17
  I did see that.
• 1:13:18
  I did catch the studio and I enjoyed that series.
• 1:13:21
  And you speak to what we were just talking about
• 1:13:25
  in terms of that actually might go down,
• 1:13:28
  but we don't personally know
• 1:13:31
  if that's what's really happening
• 1:13:34
  in terms of we're not really in that position
• 1:13:37
  to know that information.
• 1:13:41
  So for me, it's like, I'm curious to know
• 1:13:45
  what is it the Academy does
• 1:13:49
  to decide who wins best picture
• 1:13:53
  in all these other categories?
• 1:13:58
  I think that goes to the studios.
• 1:14:00
  The studios and whoever, the campaigning
• 1:14:03
  and stuff all like that.
• 1:14:04
  It's like, what can you do for me sort of situation?
• 1:14:10
  I don't know.
• 1:14:13
  It goes about like putting a lot of ads out at the papers.
• 1:14:16
  That was digital ads or whatever,
• 1:14:18
  it's stuff all like that.
• 1:14:19
  But that's the gist of it.
• 1:14:21
  It's like, how much can I be in front of your face?
• 1:14:28
  Whether it be, like I said, a print ad or lunch, dinner,
• 1:14:33
  you know what I'm saying?
• 1:14:34
  Beat it up at all.
• 1:14:35
  We just happened to meet up at a concert randomly.
• 1:14:37
  Oh my word, that's crazy.
• 1:14:38
  We have seats right next to each other.
• 1:14:40
  That's wild.
• 1:14:42
  Courtside at the Kings, at the Lakers game.
• 1:14:44
  Oh, that's wild.
• 1:14:46
  No, yeah, that's where it all happens, you know?
• 1:14:49
  And like I said, it's Hollywood.
• 1:14:51
  When you get away from the Mystique of Hollywood,
• 1:14:52
  understand it's just a town.
• 1:14:54
  Like, where's his neighbors?
• 1:14:59
  Well, I liked what Ryan Coogler said in terms of,
• 1:15:03
  I watched one of his interviews
• 1:15:05
  and he was talking about how it can be a little somber,
• 1:15:12
  in terms of melancholy.
• 1:15:15
  Like this is maybe the last time
• 1:15:17
  they're all gonna be together as a team.
• 1:15:20
  And because Sinners did so well this year,
• 1:15:24
  they were able to see more of each other.
• 1:15:27
  And so I liked what he said about that.
• 1:15:30
  And I imagine that was the case for a lot of these films
• 1:15:34
  is that the award ceremonies
• 1:15:37
  got to bring the team back together
• 1:15:40
  so that they could see each other again
• 1:15:42
  because they're working on other projects, buddy.
• 1:15:45
  Ryan Coogler is working on another film.
• 1:15:47
  I don't know if Paul Thomas Anderson is,
• 1:15:50
  but I imagine he's thinking about it, right?
• 1:15:53
  And so all of that goes into play as well
• 1:15:57
  during these awards seasons.
• 1:16:01
  They have to make the time to attend these awards
• 1:16:06
  in their busy schedules.
• 1:16:09
  I think it's part of their schedule.
• 1:16:11
  Okay.
• 1:16:12
  You know, that's what it becomes.
• 1:16:14
  It becomes like for these next three months,
• 1:16:18
  this is your schedule.
• 1:16:19
  It's to be at all these awards
• 1:16:21
  and all these screenings and all this type of stuff.
• 1:16:24
  That's what their schedule is.
• 1:16:26
  It's not like they have to,
• 1:16:28
  I mean, now other things is getting,
• 1:16:30
  but that's part of the cycle of with filmmaking.
• 1:16:32
  Like Ryan Coogler said,
• 1:16:34
  like I've been on a year long ride with this movie.
• 1:16:38
  Same with Paul Thomas Anderson.
• 1:16:40
  I mean, from the production standpoint,
• 1:16:42
  I know he's been making it for 20 years,
• 1:16:43
  but from the production standpoint,
• 1:16:47
  he's been on this ride for a year.
• 1:16:48
  So that's just what,
• 1:16:49
  and this goes back to the campaigning
• 1:16:51
  and understanding what you're getting into.
• 1:16:53
  Like when you're making a movie
• 1:16:57
  that you planned on campaigning for an Oscar for,
• 1:17:01
  that's your schedule for the next year
• 1:17:03
  is whatever's gonna get you to the Oscars.
• 1:17:09
  But in the case of not knowing
• 1:17:11
  of how successful the film's gonna be too, right?
• 1:17:15
  In terms of the box office sales centers
• 1:17:18
  crushed it where one battle after another didn't, right?
• 1:17:22
  So-
• 1:17:23
  That doesn't matter.
• 1:17:25
  Clearly it doesn't because-
• 1:17:26
  Well, we're talking about-
• 1:17:27
  One battle after another won.
• 1:17:29
  It's never mattered.
• 1:17:30
  In the history of, with Oscars,
• 1:17:33
  box office has never mattered to Oscars.
• 1:17:37
  Shit, when sitters did what it did at the box office,
• 1:17:39
  the very first thing variety did was try to knock it.
• 1:17:43
  So, but just from the standpoint of like the,
• 1:17:46
  and this goes back to like the campaigning,
• 1:17:48
  it didn't matter how much money
• 1:17:51
  one battle after another lost or made at the box office
• 1:17:55
  because in order to qualify for the Academy Awards,
• 1:18:01
  there's just a specific window period
• 1:18:02
  that your movie has to be played in certain theaters
• 1:18:04
  and all this type of stuff.
• 1:18:05
  So it doesn't really matter from the box office standpoint.
• 1:18:08
  It just matters from what those guidelines are
• 1:18:12
  for beating the Academy Awards.
• 1:18:14
  So from that standpoint,
• 1:18:17
  it's never kind of been a factor
• 1:18:21
  as far as box office success.
• 1:18:24
  And that's maybe been one of the docs
• 1:18:26
  against the Academy Awards
• 1:18:27
  is that you're not recognized in a movie
• 1:18:29
  that's made a lot of money,
• 1:18:30
  but that's what keeps the integrity of the Oscars
• 1:18:33
  is because they put the money aside
• 1:18:36
  and just say, let's just look at this as art.
• 1:18:39
  Right.
• 1:18:40
  Yeah, that's a good point, buddy.
• 1:18:42
  In terms of popular opinion,
• 1:18:46
  I wonder if you take a poll and you say,
• 1:18:50
  who should have won best picture?
• 1:18:53
  Do people say that one battle after another should win
• 1:18:57
  the most Oscars?
• 1:18:59
  Do they feel that Sinners should win?
• 1:19:02
  I think people are gonna have different opinions
• 1:19:06
  based on their own personal preferences
• 1:19:09
  of whether they like a movie or not when they're seeing it.
• 1:19:12
  But actually thinking in terms of critically
• 1:19:16
  in each category, what makes a movie the best?
• 1:19:20
  We've got to have some level of grading system
• 1:19:26
  to decide whether or not a film is the best or not.
• 1:19:30
  And like you said,
• 1:19:33
  they don't consider box office success to be a factor,
• 1:19:38
  but all of the other categories that the Academy has
• 1:19:42
  is a factor or should be a factor in making that decision.
• 1:19:47
  Who wins best picture?
• 1:19:53
  You mean the voters?
• 1:19:55
  Yeah, so in terms of the deciding factor,
• 1:20:00
  in terms of the deciding factor,
• 1:20:03
  what we were talking about,
• 1:20:05
  the Academy puts more weight into the artistic value
• 1:20:10
  of a film versus the money standpoint.
• 1:20:14
  But is the Academy taking account on popular opinion
• 1:20:20
  of whether you or I like a film?
• 1:20:23
  No, they're thinking in terms of,
• 1:20:26
  they have to think in terms of some sort of critical
• 1:20:30
  thinking to be able to determine who wins best picture.
• 1:20:35
  Because clearly Sinners was runner up winning four Oscars
• 1:20:41
  and Frankenstein third place winning three,
• 1:20:45
  if we're thinking in terms of who took home the most Oscars.
• 1:20:49
  I think that that is a way to determine who is the best.
• 1:20:55
  And clearly one battle after another was best picture
• 1:21:00
  and it won the most amount of Oscars as well.
• 1:21:06
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, and that makes sense.
• 1:21:11
  It was the most like artistically shot, it was the best.
• 1:21:17
  Now, did it make a lot of money?
• 1:21:19
  No, it probably lost them some money,
• 1:21:22
  but Warner Brothers was okay with that
• 1:21:27
  because at the end of the day,
• 1:21:28
  they had a whole juggernaut full of films
• 1:21:30
  that made up for that loss.
• 1:21:32
  And they didn't care.
• 1:21:34
  They obviously didn't care.
• 1:21:35
  They was like, PCA, this is for you.
• 1:21:37
  We'll take that loss, bro, you made us way so much.
• 1:21:40
  He's made them way more money from his whole catalog
• 1:21:45
  than whatever they lost with one battle after,
• 1:21:47
  if they lost anything.
• 1:21:48
  And I honestly don't think,
• 1:21:50
  I don't think they'd lost really
• 1:21:51
  because the numbers that it's gonna do now
• 1:21:53
  will probably make up for it and stuff like that.
• 1:21:56
  I think the box office numbers are overrated
• 1:21:59
  as far as like determining whether a movie
• 1:22:04
  puts a studio in the red or not.
• 1:22:06
  I think that's kind of a little overrated and inflated.
• 1:22:13
  But going back to like with one battle after another,
• 1:22:15
  yeah, being the best stylistically shot,
• 1:22:17
  and yeah, one of that, they didn't care.
• 1:22:18
  The studio didn't care.
• 1:22:20
  They're like, we just want you to win this movie,
• 1:22:24
  win this award.
• 1:22:25
  And then now we just write off into the sunset.
• 1:22:28
  And they, like I said,
• 1:22:30
  everything else that fell after that,
• 1:22:31
  it's just icing on the cake.
• 1:22:37
  But man, shout out to Sinners though.
• 1:22:40
  It made the race more interesting
• 1:22:43
  having a movie that was nominated 16 times
• 1:22:48
  and actually made you question whether or not
• 1:22:51
  one battle after another was going to win or not.
• 1:22:54
  And I think for me,
• 1:22:55
  that's what made the Oscars exciting to watch
• 1:22:57
  because I wanted to know if Sinners
• 1:23:00
  was gonna break the record for most Oscar wins
• 1:23:04
  or if one battle after another
• 1:23:06
  was going to win best picture.
• 1:23:08
  So for me, I like competition.
• 1:23:11
  People like competition, right?
• 1:23:14
  And so isn't it more exciting
• 1:23:16
  not to know who's going to win best picture
• 1:23:19
  and have that kind of movie that could?
• 1:23:24
  And I think Sinners was that movie
• 1:23:27
  that surprised a lot of people on how well it did.
• 1:23:34
  And so, yeah, I'm just incredibly proud of Sinners
• 1:23:39
  doing as well as it did.
• 1:23:42
  And also one battle after another
• 1:23:47
  and the Northern California aspect
• 1:23:50
  that both of those films had something related
• 1:23:53
  to Northern California in one way or another.
• 1:23:58
  Yep, most definitely.
• 1:24:02
  All right, Joe.
• 1:24:03
  It was an exciting award season, buddy,
• 1:24:06
  and I enjoyed it.
• 1:24:08
  How about yourself?
• 1:24:10
  No, it was a good award season.
• 1:24:11
  It was good to follow.
• 1:24:12
  It was good to see.
• 1:24:13
  Like I said, there's a lot of good movies
• 1:24:14
  that had came out this year.
• 1:24:15
  It was good to see a lot of them get their shine.
• 1:24:20
  And then, yeah, we'll see what happens after this.
• 1:24:23
  Hopefully we'll start seeing more work come up here,
• 1:24:25
  California, Bay Area, Sacramento.
• 1:24:28
  Keep these movies rocking.
• 1:24:29
  Keep this movie rolling.
• 1:24:31
  Yeah, that's how we're going to rock though.
• 1:24:32
  We're going to wrap up this here.
• 1:24:35
  One buddy after another.
• 1:24:37
  One battle after another.
• 1:24:39
  Award seasons, it's done.
• 1:24:42
  It's a wrap.
• 1:24:43
  Followed it from the Golden Globes to the Academy Awards.
• 1:24:46
  See the highs, the lows, the surprises, the snubs,
• 1:24:50
  the tears, the cries, the smiles, the laughs,
• 1:24:53
  and everything in between.
• 1:24:55
  Like I said, man, there's your man, buddy,
• 1:24:57
  Randy, Brandon Larson.
• 1:24:59
  Feature film actor, extra actors,
• 1:25:01
  extra actors in Academy Award winning films now.
• 1:25:05
  We put that on our resume now.
• 1:25:06
  We are stepping our game up going into 2026 and beyond.
• 1:25:12
  This has been the Yeah, Buddy podcast, y'all.
• 1:25:15
  Thank y'all for tuning in,
• 1:25:16
  all my returning friends and new listeners.
• 1:25:19
  I hope to catch y'all next time.
• 1:25:20
  You can follow me everywhere at yeahbuddyent
• 1:25:23
  and yeahbuddyent.com for my podcast,
• 1:25:27
  stand-up comedy, and everything in between.
• 1:25:30
  Brandon, tell them where they can follow you at.
• 1:25:33
  You can follow me on Instagram at Brando Larson,
• 1:25:36
  and thanks so much for this opportunity, buddy.
• 1:25:41
  It's been a real pleasure
• 1:25:42
  following the entire awards season with you.
• 1:25:46
  No, yeah, this has been a blast, bro.
• 1:25:47
  This has been a blast.
• 1:25:48
  I'll catch y'all next awards season.
• 1:25:52
  So anyways, y'all, this is the Yeah, Buddy podcast.
• 1:25:56
  I'll catch y'all next time.
• 1:25:57
  Deuces.
• 1:26:01
  ♪ Yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah ♪
• 1:26:11
  ♪ Yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah ♪
• 1:26:25
  ♪ Yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah, buddy, yeah ♪