It's time for the Smartest People Oscar Predictions! Hopefully we are of some help to your ballots this weekend 🙏🏻 we also discuss the releases we're looking forward to in 2024.

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Oppenheimer*, Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Poor Things*, Nyad
• Eileen
• The Boy and the Heron, Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse
• Barbie
• The Zone of Interest*, Killers of the Flower Moon*
• 20 Days in Mariupol
• Anatomy of a Fall
• Maestro*, Society of the Snow
• A Star Is Born (2018)
• Green Book
• Asteroid City, Napoleon (2023)
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
• Godzilla Minus One
• American Fiction
• Following, The Prestige, Tenet, Vice
• Dune: Part 2, The Taste of Things, Drive-Away Dolls, Love Lies Bleeding, La Chimera
• Civil War (2024), Ex Machina, Annihilation, Inside Llewyn Davis, Drive, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, MEN*
• The First Omen, Challengers, Hit Man, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Mad Max: Fury Road, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Nosferatu (2024)
• Longlegs, Joker: Folie à Deux, Joker, Faces of Death (2024), The End (upcoming), Nightbitch, Gasoline Rainbow, I Saw the TV Glow, Maxxxine, Mickey 17, Megalopolis, The Way of the Wind, They Follow, It Follows
• Margaret

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠⁠.

Okay, so, we recorded this emergency podcast the Saturday after the Oscar nominees were announced, and then Maddie got too busy and is only just now uploading it. This episode is no longer topical, nor a hot take. Please forgive us but please listen anyway! (Also, Maddie knows the song is called "What Was I Made For?" but was too worked up to remember the title).

"Barbie Has Cellulite (But You Don't Have To)" from Jessica DeFino's newsletter The Unpublishable

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Barbie*
• Priscilla
• May December
• Past Lives, Eileen
• Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crash, Forrest Gump, Shakespeare In Love
• Nyad, Asteroid City
• Singin’ in the Rain, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
• The Eternals, Hamnet

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠⁠.

Things are getting back on track in 2024. We discuss awards season (recorded before the Oscar nominees were announce so don't @ us!), our Barbie's box office success, our favorite movies of 2023, and May December.

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Anatomy of a Fall, The Boy and the Heron
• Thelma (June Squibb’s film)
• Barbie, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Oppenheimer, The Lego Movie

• The Zone of Interest, Birth (2004), Sexy Beast, The Fall (2019 short), Under the Skin, La Chimera, Saltburn, Promising Young Woman, All of Us Strangers, A Thousand and One
• Killers of the Flower Moon*, Eileen, Beau Is Afraid*, Certain Women, The Holdovers, Dolemite Is My Name
• May December*, Napoleon (2023), Ferrari, Priscilla, Hustlers, The Go-Between, Babylon (2022), La La Land
• Asteroid City*, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The French Dispatch, Waves (2019), The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
• Past Lives*, Poor Things*, Sanctuary (2022), The Tragedy of Macbeth
• The Iron Claw*, Bottoms, How to Blow Up a Pipeline

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠⁠Bandcamp⁠⁠.

I know last time we said we were gettin' it together but, well, a lot has been going on! Maddie co-produced a movie, Rachel is a damn city planner, but we're here now to talk about festival buzz, actor-directors, stage-to-screen adaptations, and we pour one out for one of the greatest directors of our time, the late Terence Davies.

The Private Eye, the graphic novel we discussed

Passing Time, Terence Davies's final film, a short he did in collaboration with composer Florence Di Concilio for Film Fest Gent's 2x25 project.

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Wildcat, Fire Island
• The Exorcist: Believer, Bottoms, Stop Making Sense, Oppenheimer, Barbie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy (Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills, Halloween Ends), Jojo Rabbit, Next Goal Wins, Bend It Like Beckham
• Twilight*, The Twilight Saga: New Moon*, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2*
• Woman of the Hour, Gonzo Girl, Ezra, Poolman
• Kundun, Silence (2016), Phantom Thread, Hacksaw Ridge, 2010 Star Wars trilogy, Ferrari, Megalopolis, Killers of the Flower Moon
• The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, Benediction*, The Deep Blue Sea, The Long Day Closes, The Boys in the Band (1970)
• Fences, One Night in Miami, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Drive-Away Dolls, Challengers, Sanctuary, May December, Scream, Priscilla
• A Star Is Born (2018), Maestro, A Star Is Born (1954), A Star Is Born (1976), Wildlife, Joker: Folie à Deux, Joker, The Master, The Revenant, The Last Temptation of Christ

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠Bandcamp⁠.

We're gettin' it together, folks. This week we talk a lot about Matt Damon, Lily Gladstone, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sofia Coppola, plus Killers of the Flower Moon and Beau Is Afraid.

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Air, BlackBerry, The Martian, The Last Duel, Hustlers, Erin Brockovich, The Departed*, Promised Land, Downsizing, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator: Dark Fate
• Beau Is Afraid, Hilma, Showing Up, First Cow
• Killers of the Flower Moon*, Uncharted, The Whale, Certain Women
• Body Double, Phantom of the Paradise, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• The Wolf of Wall Street, Romeo + Juliet, Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood
• The Night of the Hunter, Far from Heaven, All That Heaven Allows, Days of Heaven, Heaven’s Gate
• Hereditary, Midsommar, Babylon
• The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring, Priscilla, The Sweet East, Saltburn, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, American Animals
• May December, The Holdovers, Sideways, You Hurt My Feelings, Master Gardener, Occupied City, Small Axe: Mangrove, Small Axe: Lovers Rock, Small Axe: Education, Bad Education (2019), La mala educación (Bad Education) (2004), An Education, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, The Starling Girl, White Men Can’t Jump (2023)
• Of An Age, Before Sunset, Ghosted, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Little Mermaid (2023), The Lure
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Book Club: The Next Chapter

Deadline's viral Martin Scorsese interview

Sofia Coppola: The Politics of Visual Pleasure by Anna Backman Rogers

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠Bandcamp⁠.

This week we talk about Rachel's problem with Mia Goth, touch on the films of Kelly Reichardt, and share the upcoming films we're excited about. Plus, Maddie details her recent experience working on an indie film production which shall not be named.

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• MaXXXine, Emma., Suspiria (2017), X, Pearl, Infinity Pool*
• Resurrection (2022), Call of the Wild (1935), Hail, Caesar!, Air, Moneyball, Showing Up
• River of Grass, Night Moves, Wendy & Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff, Strictly Ballroom, Poison, Carol, Dark Waters, Wonderstruck
• Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Armageddon Time, Eileen
• John Wick: Chapter 4, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, 80 for Brady, Book Club 2, Predator, High Hopes, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Beau Is Afraid, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on ⁠Bandcamp⁠.

Ahhh, the Oscars. First half of the episode is Rachel and Maddie making their picks for winners, and the second half is their reactions to the winners. Irene and Yayoi both stop in with their opinions. OVER IT: Oscar bait war movies, fat suits, apology Oscars. HERE FOR IT: Naatu Naatu, first-time nominees, animation is film.

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Nomadland, Tár
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• Babylon, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Black Panther
• All Quiet on the Western Front, BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, Empire of Light
• The Batman, The Whale*, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
• Top Gun: Maverick
• The Fabelmans
• Banshees of Inisherin, La La Land
• RRR
• My Year of Dicks
• All That Breathes, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Fire of Love, House Made of Splinters, Navalny
• Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast, Turning Red
• Argentina, 1985, Close, EO, The Quiet Girl, Saint Omer, Decision to Leave
• Triangle of Sadness
• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Living, Women Talking
• Causeway
• Showing Up
• Aftersun, Ikiru, La chambre
• Blonde, To Leslie
• The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
• The Secret Life of Pets, In the Mood for Love, Nope, Titane, The Northman, Monster, CODA, Parasite
• Past Lives, The Persian Version, Shortcoming, Passages, Magazine Dreams
• The Souvenir, The Souvenir: Part II, Scream VI, Showing Up, A Good Person, Garden State

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on Bandcamp.

No Maddie until next time, but join Rachel and special guest Spencer Campbell for this episode themed around the films of Bennett Miller!

Movies discussed (* indicates spoilers):

• Moneyball*, Capote*, Foxcatcher*
• Goon, Remember the Titans, Ford v Ferrari
• Boogie Nights, Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked)
• The Social Nework, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Molly’s Game, His Girl Friday
• In The Bedroom, Fight Club

The Smartest People in the Room is hosted by Rachel Casey and Maddie Weiner. It is edited by Maddie Weiner. Original theme and interstitial music is by Scott Boice - follow him on Instagram @sc00gle and find more of his work on Bandcamp.