This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast more what You Hear
Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive. The nominations are out. Film critic Ryan Jay
is with us to talk about these nominations, and Ryan, I apologize in
advance. We here in Oklahoma are just a tad bit giddy for all the
love the Oscar seemed to be showing Killers of the Flower Moon as well you
should. That film is a masterpiece, agreed. And one of the things
that I love about it is when I see DiCaprio with de Niro, even
when they're in character so beautifully in character. I sit there and I see,
Okay, this is the master and the student. This is you know,
Plato Aristotle going on here. It really is, and especially under the
direction of one Marty SCORSESEI who just you know, under the title of most
nominated director in history, previously tied along with Spielberg. It's a shame and
it's a little bit of a snub that Leonardo was not nominated in the Leading
Actor category. But that film, wow, it really is. That's the
kind of movie, even though you know, everybody knew it was long going
in but a little bit you know, you know a little bit about the
premise and that it's a true story, but you go in and at every
moment you're almost leaning forward into the screen. It's so well done for a
movie to be as long as it was and not feel that long. We've
all been to the movies that were ninety minutes and felt like they were seven
hours. So what they did with Killers of a Flower Moon is a true
accomplishment. Well, speaking of which, that's how I felt about Oppenheimer.
I felt it was about forty five minutes longer than it should have been.
Really okay, that's cool. I you know, interesting about Oppenheimer is the
way it unfolds. You know, there's a lot of use of color in
black and white and jumping back back and forth in time and unfolds and even
when and this is so typical of Christopher Nolan as a director. And I
do believe he'll win the and the film will in Best Picture, but you
know, he kind of he makes very interesting creative choices to his credit,
but also but sometimes at the dismissal of what the audience would really want.
You know what I mean in terms of sound design, in terms of what
we're seeing in certain moments, and what you know, we want to see
isn't necessarily what he's showing us, because he's controlling what we have access to
see through the power of what he chooses to film in that moment and edit.
Well, that honestly is why I didn't enjoy the film. I felt
the emphasis was more on the Communist Party and the Communist Party potential influences than
what actually did happen and the coming together of two extraordinary men who are completely
different, diversely, but they work together for a common end. But that's
not what they're judged upon. I realize that they're judged upon how complicated it
is and the story. And Robert Downey June, you're almost unrecognizable, so
good, Oh, no good. I mean that man can do no wrong
as far as I'm concerned. So yeah, And he's been sweeping awards season,
so he is the one to watch. But did you see Poor Things?
I did not yet. I've not seen that yet. I read about
it. I do want to see it, and I'm interested in it.
Yeah, I'm not necessarily recommending it. It's not for everyone because it's directed,
you know, by yu Roslanthemos. And it's he's like an experimental filmmaker
that somehow broke mainstream. I mean, there are plenty of them out there
that do great work, but somehow he just really sort of cracked the code.
I guess after Olivia Colman won Best Actress for the Favorite, one of
his previous films. But it's just what Mark Ruffalo did though in that supporting
role category in Poor Things is really really spectacular if you're a fan of his.
Ah, but the movie, the movie is not for everyone. Ryan
Jay is with us. We're talking about the Oscar nominations. I came home
Friday and I had to work late. Lovely wife was sitting down in front
of Barbie. My first instinct was, oh my god, no, And
within a few minutes I was hooked. I was really entertained unexpectedly by that
film. It's a good film. That's the thing. It's that's the achievement
is that it surprised us, you know every other I mean, based on
the intellectual property alone. It's it's a surprise and it's interesting. It almost
souldn't have been what it is, you know what I mean, Like we
don't when we see animated family films or we see other live action family films,
they certainly are winners if they can appeal to all audiences, if they
can have innuendo that speaks to the adults in the room but still please the
children in the room and the audience. You know, But what Bobby did
on so many different levels in messaging, in color, in fantasy, in
sound and music and story and plagnancy, it's like kind of unbelievable. And
that's why. And also when that happens, it doesn't always become a billion
dollar, record breaking box office hit. So it is a real cultural moment
and phenomenon in of itself. And I'm glad you gave it a chance because
it's certainly entertaining. That last scene, which I won't give away to me,
was the best punchline of the whole movie. Her last scene, Right
as they went cut and the credits rolled, I was rolling laughing. Yeah,
yeah, seriously. I mean, if we want to talk about the
difference between fantasy and reality, I mean, have at it, right.
Ryan Jay's with Us, one of America's most popular, nationally syndicated entertainment critics,
were talking about the Oscars. There seemed to me to be a lot
of Best Picture nominees and an extraordinary number of movies that were be considered comedies
nominated. Yeah, that's a really that's a really good point, because that's
that is kind of rare. But we do see some comedies, but I
think they're also the kind of dramedy, if you will, And I think
that turns really happens. That happened in the genre of romantic comedy recently.
Certainly we never really see those nominated for anything when we talk about award shows,
but just in general, in terms of film genre, romantic comedy was
one of the most popular genres in history, but it somehow became stale,
you know, in the early part of the millennium, right, and we
saw less and less of them, or we'd see them and there would be
a moment where it's it's cut with some kind of tragedy, and that's sort
of justified making a new rom com because the formula has just become so stale,
you know, where boymet's girl loses, girl gets you know, and
predictable. So now we're seeing that with comedies as well, where they're they're
less comedies and more dramedies and less of course they're a straightforward, will feral
comedy. You know, a lot of these kinds of comedies are more i'd
say dramedies. But yeah, that's that's even rarer to get in this Best
Picture category. It's like they're sneaking it in because usual. And I say
that because it's very rare. I don't think a comedy has one Best Picture
ever, or if they have, it's very rare. Gosh, I can't
even think of one. I mean, as it is horror to win.
That was a surprise that we built back at and talk about the Lambs.
Yes, absolutely, well, the Oscar nominees are out, and before we
go, I guess we need to talk about Best Actor and Best Actress categories.
Yes, definitely Leading Actor. I mean I think it's really up to
Killian Murphy or Paul Giamatti for the Holdovers, or Killian Murphy's or Oppenheimer.
It's between those two. There. Actress in a leading role. You know,
God blessed in that Benning, but I don't think she stands a chance.
It's going to be between Emma Stone for poor things who's been sweeping and
it really is sort of the role of a lifetime just because it's such a
again talking about that director and how experimental he is. But the other interesting
and deserving performer in that category is Lily Gladstone, the first Native American acting
nominee in history for Chillers The Flower Moon. That's that's who It earned My
vote. Well, she checked out let really have it, share the love
well, and she checks all the boxes as well. She's it would be
a first. The film is complimentary to her story and to the story of
Native Americans, and it illustrates it all. And I know the Academy likes
that kind of thing when they vote absolutely, I mean, that's good for
us to get the you know, the first not only first nominee, but
the first winner. I mean, I hope they go in that direction.
To be honest. We will see Ryan Jay, one of America's more popular,
nationally syndicated entertainment critics. Check out his website Ryanjreviews dot com, and
we'll see what happens come March with the oscars. Thank Lee, thanks for
listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast, and remember to
listen to The Drive Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation,