Oscar Predictions with Devika Girish (Hour 3)

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That's me, baby.

Welcome back, everybody.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba, and we are kicking off at three on a Thursday night.

So if you missed the first two hours, folks, you missed some serious radio fun.

We had...

Hudson Hensley was here from the movie Song Song Blue, a child actor who absolutely crushed it in the movie.

And I said this before I even knew he was going to be on the show.

I want to say like last week that my favorite scene in the whole movie is him watching a video at the end of Hugh Grant.

I won't spoil what the video is for or why it's happening, but it's just a very sweet touching scene.

He was really good in the movie.

And we talked to him in hour number one.

So check that out at civicmedia.us where all the podcasts of nightlight are stored.

And then in hour two, we talked to director Jeff Blankenship who will be at the Door County Film Festival with his film, Houston We Have a Problem.

That's next week.

I'll be there myself, folks.

So if you're at the Door County Film Festival, I will be giving the keynote speech on Friday night.

And if you're there, check out some movies, check out the beauty that is Door County.

an absolutely lovely area and a film festival that has really found its footing and is just outstanding.

And then we also talk to Shannon Simon and Jaroski and Hope E. Rath from the Pesabic.

Names are crazy.

Pesabic 4-H up in Merrill, Wisconsin.

And Shannon Simon is from Cedar Crest Ice Cream.

They did this great contest.

And in Meryl, the Pysabic 4-Hers won.

And it's called Hold Your Horses Ice Cream, and it sounds delicious.

And you can look for it in ice cream shops pretty soon, because that's part of the grand prize.

So they made their popcorn picks.

And we are going to catch up on some texts here in hour number three.

And coming up in just a bit, Devika Girish, she is a great film critic and is the editor of Film Comment Magazine.

She really knows movies.

And I was so thrilled to have her on the show.

That's pre-recorded content.

So the last half hour of the show, we will not be live.

But listen to the interview.

She talks about the Oscars.

We talked about Sundance and just her process.

And it was a lot of fun getting to know her.

Erin Zommers is sitting in tonight for Conrad.

It's good to be in act three with you again.

I'm glad you haven't stormed out, thrown the done an actual mic drop and stormed out of the headquarters there.

Well, you know, believe me, the only thing stopping me is the fact that this microphone is on a stand.

It would be very difficult to drop it.

You could do a mic slap.

All right.

Yeah.

I just, it's, I don't know, that's not that impactful.

Get that out of your system.

Let's catch up on some text here, buddy.

We also have a phone call.

We have a phone call.

We got Ollie in the Northwoods.

Oh God, I hope it's not a long distance call.

We don't have that kind of money.

Ollie, how are you?

I

am good.

I've got a...

A soup for you.

Please.

Chicken dumpling soup.

Homemade chicken dumpling soup with lunger.

And that's what we call the dumplings.

Lunkers.

Lunkers.

That's an interesting name.

Is that an ethnic thing?

Well, it's just that they're heavier.

Most people put baking powder in their dumplings.

disease we don't and so they're a little bit thicker and chewier.

Much more old fashioned and also for a sweet soup I like Scandinavian or Norwegian fruit soup.

It's made with dried fruit and grape juice and golden raisins and cinnamon and sugar and it's yummy.

Never heard of that before that sounds outstanding

My daughter one time went to school and they had to do a project where they um showed Did something um and so her project was She made left stuff and fruit soup

And did she get an a

she did I should

hope

so

That's a lot of effort.

That's fantastic.

Ollie, I knew you were gonna call tonight because we had a food question and I love hearing your comments on food.

And I can't wait for that ice cream flavor to come out.

Oh, me too.

That's so

delicious.

I absolutely love it.

Thank you so much and have a lovely evening, Ollie.

Thanks for the

call.

You guys take care.

Bye-bye.

All right.

Ollie from the Northwoods.

Her phone calls regarding food are unparalleled.

Oh, yeah.

No, she's always ready.

It's always ready.

Let's go to the text line.

John and Oshkosh in the 920 says French onion all year long, not just a winter soup for John.

Troy from Madison in the 608 says my homemade chicken noodle soup is the bomb.

A little self-promotion there, nothing wrong with that.

I do like, I'll tell you this, bombers, I love chicken dumpling soup.

And I don't know if it's made with the, wouldn't she say baking soda or dough or whatever, but I've never even

I just think it tastes amazing, whatever those things are.

Oh yeah, a homemade chicken dumpling soup is the best, you know.

And I looked up Lunker, by the way.

Merriam-Webster says it is a noun for something that is unusually large for its kind.

So yeah, it works.

If she's talking about a big old dense dumpling, it is a Lunker.

I will say when she said Lunker, all I could think of was if I went to the Urban Dictionary, there would be something really despicable would be the meaning.

But I'm glad you did that and took one for the team.

Thank you.

Jack from Merrimack in the 414 says, my favorite winter soup is my own refrigerator, surprise chili.

It's an award winner and it's cooking as we speak, or as you speak.

Good to know.

Thank you, Jack.

Great night for soup.

Monica from Mount Horrib in the 608 says doesn't have to be winter, but my faves are lentil.

Oh, yeah lentils great and tons of fiber too My faves are lentil minestrone or tomato.

You should only correct people when they say gazpacho wrong getting cold soup thrown at you isn't as bad Okay, fair enough Monica.

Thank you John from Columbia County in the 608 says hot spicy Tom young

with shrimp and mushrooms and veggies.

Yeah, I love it.

God, I, Zomers, I bet it's been 15 years since I've had Tom Yum soup, but it is outstanding.

I've never had it.

Dude, I'm telling you, go down the street to one of those places on State Street, and it's so good.

You're gonna love it.

It's got like a lemony flavor, I think.

Maybe I'm thinking of lemongrass soup.

No, I know I've had Tom Yum though, and I love it.

Thank you, John.

Melissa from Willy Street in Madison in the 608.

Hi, boys.

Humble brag here.

Make a mean vegetable beef soup in the Dutch oven.

It's got to be my favorite.

Melissa, outstanding.

Would it kill you to bring us a batch?

Just down there.

You can drop some off for a Zomers.

Would that be weird if Melissa

showed up with soup?

I could go down there.

I could go over by Willy

Street.

I'll pick it up.

I don't want to sound like, because she'd probably do it.

They're so nice.

Melissa also says the other half, that's John Murray, says makes an amazing black bean soup.

I love black bean soup as well.

Great stuff.

Let's see, John, here he is, speaking of the devil.

John in the 608 says, evening gents, great show tonight, thank you.

My wife makes the best beef vegetable soup ever.

They're obviously not conversing.

It sounds like

they're listening to nightlight in opposite rooms.

But they have their story straight, so they at least,

you know.

Listen,

they're not

lying.

They're nothing if not honest, I agree.

Makes you gorge.

My other favorite is black bean with toppings like bacon and onions and shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream.

Mm-hmm good, and I love a fancy restaurant French onion soup with a sheet of thick cheese on top.

I Like that I like that less as I get older, but I always loved did you ever have it with Aaron with like the It's like a cheesy hard bread biscuit or something that they put in there

Yeah, something like that.

Um, I don't know.

I've only had French onion soup a couple of times It was very good when I did

but yeah, it's awesome

Tyler from Wisconsin Rapids says, Curly's calamitous clam chowder is yummy in the tummy.

You know what's funny?

I don't know how well you know Tyler, Zomers, but like he for a while had the reputation of having very kind of risqué texts.

So to hear him where he's obviously got kind of a mind that can go there, say Curly's calamitous clam chowder is yummy in the tummy.

He's obviously a very complex human being.

Oh,

yes, for

sure.

I've seen some of these other

texts.

Yeah, and I apologize now.

Well done, Tyler.

Great to hear from you.

Michael in Madison in the 608 says, hey, guys, ladle me up some duck soup.

It's not just a classic Marx Brothers film.

It is also a pretty tasty dish served with egg noodles, which is bested only by Colorado chili.

Contrary to its name, it's not from Colorado.

It's a Mexican stew.

And for its signature red chili sauce Colorado meaning colored red in Spanish featuring tender bits of beef and or pork I to feature some tender bits That's neither here nor there.

Love you guys.

Thanks for the show.

Well, thank you Michael took over for Tyler there

Yeah, people Tyler and then the thing with

Matt from Eau Claire.

I still don't get the garbanzo bean thing So you're gonna have to explain that to me.

Okay.

I will

And I'll feel stupid.

I think I have an idea, but my mind is not as warped as it used to be.

And obviously not as much as yours, or Matt's.

Matt says, I love getting the, this is Matt from Eau Claire again, Speak of the Devil.

I love getting the LED out, the let out, my favorite band, but I will concede to Pete's feelings on stairway.

only after one takes in Hart's performance at Zeppelin's induction to the Kennedy Center.

Oh, I was not aware of

that.

Yeah, that was on yesterday's question of the night, which was about songs you never need to hear again.

Correct.

But that one, I would definitely check out.

I bet that's I love when bands cover other bands.

Awesome stuff.

Okay, we've got social media texts to read as well.

Coming up in just a few minutes, folks.

Devika Girish will be here.

She is a film critic and the editor of Film Comment, and I love her insights on movies, and she will be here in just a few minutes.

On our social media page, we got some great responses.

Vince Moranto says, Progresso Italian wedding soup.

Boy, when you're going canned soup, you know it's good.

If you're picking canned soup over like...

the homemade stuff.

And progressive soups are pretty good.

I got nothing against canned soup.

Matt Cassane says, chowder.

All right, vague and beautiful.

Love it.

Jason Jerry, the Green Bay Lama says, cream of anything.

And Vince

Morano wrote.

Wait, what?

I said, careful what you ask for.

Exactly.

And then Vince responded.

They don't even know each other as great.

Vince says, Jason Jerry, some young guy.

Party on Wayne.

I was gonna say, yeah, a good old Wayne's World reference.

He

goes Wayne's World.

I love it.

Thank you, Vincent.

Thank you, Jason, Jerry.

Daniel Francis Thine on Facebook says, my mom's chicken dumpling soup, or her pea soup, or her corned beef and cabbage, or her chili, or I think we get the point.

Daniel's mom made outstanding soup.

Well done, Daniel.

Thank you.

Amanda Nimmer.

our outstanding social media guru here at WGBW and Civic Media says, chicken gnocchi soup from Olive Garden.

I won't budge on this.

Amanda, we're not going to push you off your point under no circumstances.

Have you been to the Olive Garden recently, Zomers?

I haven't been to Olive Garden in probably 10 years.

I think I have to go back because I remember it as being kind of a bland, like...

When I grew up in Chicago, there's a lot of Italians in the neighborhood, and there was outstanding Italian food.

My best friend's mom made great Italian food.

There were great Italian restaurants.

So going to the Olive Garden to me seemed like, why would I do that?

But a lot of people love it.

And now as an adult, I feel like I have to give it another chance.

It's

probably worth it.

I mean, I would go again.

I just haven't had a reason to.

I don't know.

And you know what I think we need to do?

We need a Pete and Aaron pal around day that ends at the Olive Garden.

Well, you know, maybe we could do that tomorrow.

There's probably one in Green Bay, right?

All right, we are coming back.

We'll finish reading some of these outstanding texts.

Keep them coming, folks.

You've got a few minutes to get one in, and then we will cut to our interview with Devika Yiddish.

We are coming right back after a very short break.

This is Pete Schwabba and Nightlight, and I'm going to tell you what they put in Honey.

And you're going to react really strange, and it might involve a surprise.

We're coming right back.

You're listening to Civic Media.

Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.

Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.

What's that call again?

A taste of honey by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass.

Herb Albert, I always know.

I could never remember the name of that.

I love that though.

That is very apropos.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba, folks.

Welcome back, Aaron Zahmer's spinning tunes there in the DJ booth.

And Taste of Honey is appropriate because if you, this is from Newsweek.

If you tasted honey by a certain manufacturer, I don't think it said who it was.

Oh yeah, yeah.

A A Carco.

They make.

What they actually make.

What happened is, Cialis got into honey and people were eating it and then they were being arrested for indecency.

No, I don't know about that, but a bunch of honey got recalled because the FDA found an ingredient in it meant to treat erectile dysfunction.

It's a weird brand market.

That's a way to boost energy.

They tested samples and found the active ingredient in Cialis.

Now, Cialis, as many of you know, are the people sitting in the tubs, I think, looking over a hill.

I think if you take Cialis or Viagra, you'd want to be in the same tub, but whatever.

I'm not a commercial director.

It says a bunch of honey just got recalled after the FDA found an ingredient meant for erectile dysfunction made by a company in Virginia called Ecarco.

They claim it's specifically formulated honey that gives you more energy.

Well, yeah, duh.

The FDA tested samples and found a drug called Todalafil.

Yeah, I used to work as a pharmacy tech and I can say this is a very expensive mistake.

Really?

Okay.

It's not cheap.

I wasn't going to question how you knew what that name was.

It says you probably wouldn't confuse it with a normal jar of honey.

It looks more like a medicine bottle and says energy support on the front.

Just make sure you're wearing baggy pants, I guess, if you eat that brand of honey.

Matt Harper says all of them at Bay Motel and Family Restaurant.

Talking about soups, of course.

And our pal Jimmy Kuska says goulash is a staple, minestrone, if I'm feeling fancy.

Love it.

Thank you, Jimmy.

Have you had goulash?

I have.

It's

very

good.

All right.

We got to get to this clip.

Here's part of my interview with Devika Yiddish.

Love her work.

Do you have any thoughts on the acting?

Best supporting actress, best actor, best actor, best actress?

God, can I just be a little catty here and say, please don't let Timothy Chalamet win this one?

Okay, I have not seen Marty Supreme yet.

I have seen Marty Supreme.

Even though I haven't seen it, I'm not ready for him to win an Oscar yet either.

I'm kind of pulling for Michael B. Jordan.

But having said that, I heard Timothy Chalamet is great.

He is not bad in it and I like the movie.

I think it's a good movie, it's smart, it's fun.

I do not think this is the best performance of the year and certainly not the best of Timothy Chalamet's career.

I think this, I've really loved some of his earlier performances.

I think in this one, you can see him wanting the Oscar.

you can see it, right?

It's good, but there is something about it that's like, capital A acting.

And I just, yeah, that I'm not rooting for him to win it.

I'm sure he will have many more opportunities in his career to win it.

I

I think Wagner Moura is actually, I mean, I love Sinners, but I think Wagner Moura's performance in The Secret Agent is really unbeatable in this category.

And Ethan Hawke has always had a special place in my heart.

I think he's a fantastic actor who takes on a lot of bold and independent projects.

I just saw a film starring him at Sundance called The Weight, which I thought was just so great.

I wouldn't be mad if he got it either.

And I do think his performance as Laurence Hart in Blue Moon is spectacular.

Even if I don't love that film, but I will recommend you watch it for Ethan.

I will.

That's on my list, too.

And I used to love Rodgers and Hammerstein's shows.

So I know all about that backstory.

We have time.

Let's do one more.

Let's do we've got about a couple of minutes.

Let's do Best Actress here in Wisconsin.

We have song sung blue that was supposed to be set in Milwaukee.

They didn't shoot it, Milwaukee.

But I thought, and again, I've only seen a handful of the films.

I'm deferring to you, but I loved Kate Hudson in that movie.

I thought she was outstanding.

Have not seen Jesse Buckley

yet.

I have not seen Kate Hudson.

Forgive me.

So I won't be able to weigh in on her performance.

But off the rest, to me, Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is the winner.

Renata Reinsberg in Sentimental Value is also very good.

Again, if I had legs, I'd pick you as a smaller movie.

So I just don't know how many people have seen it, you know, but it is a remarkable performance of a mother kind of losing it over the course, you know, of several days and dealing with apartment issues and child issues and work issues.

And those sorts of performances can often be cartoonish or

hysterical you know I mean the woman in crisis the mother being a mother so hard movies have been a little bit of a fad especially in the art house world lately but this is one where it feels both so realistic and it's so funny and I just thought kept thinking of my mom's face

when I was watching Roseburn's face, you know, like just something really, really hits home.

Relatable.

I think she deserves this one, you know, and she's never really been taken as a serious actress, you know, in the way that the other nominees are.

I mean, both Kate Hudson and her, I think it would be really fun to see them win for that group as well.

All right, we did that a little out of order.

That entire interview is coming up after the news, and it's great.

We talk Oscars and Sundance with Devika.

Vicky Savikina says, Veggie, Jay Campbell says, be Farley, folks.

That is the end of the live part of our show.

We'll be back tomorrow night.

Have a great night.

Welcome back.

I'm Pete Schwabba.

This is Nightlight.

It is great to have you here, folks, on this beautiful chilly night here in winter in Wisconsin, broadcasting statewide.

Talking Movies.

We are switching our show to talk about one of the things I like to talk about the most.

Certainly, as many of you know, Joining Me Now is a very talented, respected film critic and the editor of Film Comment Magazine.

She is also a talks programmer at the University, I'm sorry, at the New York Film Festival.

It is my pleasure to welcome Devika Giddish.

How are you?

Hi,

Pete.

Thanks for having me on the show.

Not...

It's not very usual that I get to speak to the people, the cinephiles of Wisconsin, so I'm so excited.

Well, that was the word on the street, and we thought we need to rectify that.

We need

more

David Guy here in Wisconsin, so

your

time is greatly appreciated, as is your knowledge.

I've been looking forward to having you on.

I think you're in, are you in LA or New York?

I'm in New York, and it's pretty chilly here too.

Okay, yeah.

It can't be Wisconsin chilly, but...

It's

getting closer and closer, it seems, but I bet we can't compete with y'all.

Well, okay, so tell us, before we get into some film talk, tell us a little bit about yourself as a reviewer, and then maybe we'll talk about a little bit of the work you do at Film Comment.

Yeah, so I'm editor of Film Comment.

Film Comment is a publication of film at Lincoln Center, which is the film

department of Lincoln Center.

So it's a very Matryoshka doll sort of situation.

I've been working for film comment since 2019.

You know, film comment is, you know, even if I say so myself, the premier US publication devoted to film criticism.

And so for film comment, I edit, write commission actually also host a podcast.

So not my first

rodeo

on the

radio, and sort of just shape the editorial direction of the publication.

But I also write about films for other publications, including The New York Times.

I've reviewed movies for them for a while, and I write a monthly column for The Times, picking out international films to stream, like new international films that people can

watch on streaming services.

And for the New York Film Festival, which is also organized by Phil Matlin Consenter, I program the talk section.

So I'm the person who, along with a co-programmer, along with the team, invites filmmakers and different artists to come together for a series of kind of curated conversations during the festival.

What a great gig you have.

That is so fun.

Can't complain.

Yeah, so have you what are your favorite aspects of film to talk about when you're hosting these panels or when you're working at film comment?

And then also when it comes to reviewing, I've read some of yours by the way on Rotten Tomatoes.

You're such a great reviewer.

Well, let's go to the panel first.

What

are

your favorite elements to talk about?

You know, film is special because

It brings together so many elements, unlike many of the other arts, right?

So there's like a technical technological aspect to it.

There's obviously an artistic aspect to it.

There's a people aspect to it, like it takes a whole village to pull it off.

There's a whole economic aspect to it.

I mean, Pete, before we went on air, we were just talking, you know, you were talking about how sometimes people write screenplays that just sit.

in a cupboard somewhere, you know, and never make it out there.

So there's like a labor and money aspect of it.

There's the aspect of, you know, how people receive cinema.

And so maybe this is a cop out, but I can't really say that I have a favorite aspect to me.

It's more in these panels trying to understand how all of these things work together.

Because as a viewer, you're just looking at the movie, like this finished product.

and it can seem like that just kind of grew out of the earth or something, you know, but

like

understanding that it takes so much time and coordination and so many different types of the arts working together, whether it's music and visuals and writing, acting.

Yeah, I really love, love kind of getting into how all those parts lock together in a movie.

How did you end up

as a critic and then now what you do too but like was it was it hard to like how do you break into that were you a journalist in another avenue at first and then you decide I love movies I'm gonna write about movies like it seems like that's almost it's harder to become a film critic almost than a writer with a produced film like there are very few film critics in America it seems

like well there are very few paid film critics in America let's put it that way

uh, you know, salaried or paid.

It is definitely not an easy world to break into or an easy world in which to sustain yourself.

So I consider myself very lucky that I was able to get a job doing what I love.

Um, I mean, I unfortunately don't have a very exciting story.

I studied film in college.

So, you know, I was a lover of cinema, didn't quite know what I wanted to do that at that point, you know, was like, maybe I want to write

Maybe I want to develop movies.

Maybe I want to work for a film festival.

Maybe I want to do a PhD.

But I'd also always loved writing and especially writing for magazines since I was a child.

You know, I was an avid reader of magazines.

And so while I was in college, I just I started reviewing movies for the school paper.

And

I remember the school paper would reimburse the cost of my ticket to the local cinema.

I don't know, it was like $5 and I felt so special.

I was

like,

I have made it.

And then I kind of, what happened was that I realized that writing about cinema allowed me to write about a lot of the things I care about, like culture, politics, society, history.

films for me became kind of an outlet to do the kind of broader cultural journalism that I think I'd grown up really admiring and it became my portal through which to do that.

So I was doing that and then I ended up interning at film comment.

Again, without like a master plan, it just was a magazine I read and admired and I needed to do something over the summer and I wanted to be in New York.

So I applied and I interned and that's when I understood that there was a real, there was this world, it's small, but there is a world of people who are all about watching, writing, thinking, showing movies.

And so yeah, I mean, I also did get a master's degree in arts journalism after that and you know, freelance for a little bit as well.

And then

landing the job was, you know, a mixture of all of that buildup and then pure luck.

Wow.

Well, the luckiest people appear to be the hardest workers, typically.

So you've obviously put your time in and that's great.

My guest is Davika Ghiris.

She is a film critic and works for, she is the talks programmer at the New York Film Festival and editor of Film Comment Magazine.

Definitely check those out, folks.

She does great work.

You just came from Sundance, I know.

What was the buzz?

What should we look out for?

From Sundance?

This was a very buzzy Sundance for many reasons.

It's the last edition of Sundance to be held in Park City, Utah, where it's been held for many decades.

It's been held in Utah for the...

you know, since it was founded in the 1970s and Park City for a large chunk of that.

It's now moving to Boulder, Colorado, next theater, which is a location they selected after a big bidding process.

And people were really contending with what that means and,

you

know, what it would mean to kind of lift this infrastructure, put it in a different place with a very different kind of community.

And in terms of the movies, God, I will say, so one movie that I saw at Sundance that's already out in some places and about to be, so I mean, people will have a chance to see it in cinemas, is The Moment, which stars Charli XCX as herself.

I'm not a huge fan of like, celeb-produced movies about themselves, but this totally bucks the trend.

and is a really smart and funny and self-deprecating satire, which kind of stars Charlie XCX as Charlie XCX about to grow on her brat world tour.

And everyone around her, her label and her managers and agents, everyone's like, how do we keep Brack Summer going forever?

And so she's dealing with this pressure.

and they decide that they're gonna make a concert film for Amazon Prime about the tour.

And it's kind of, the concert tour is, the concert film is being directed by a director played by Alexander Skarsgard, who was just on SNL.

And so the whole thing is about, you know, these different visions clashing, like Charlie wants to,

maintain her sort of very brash and provocative identity.

At the same time, she's like, I still like, I got mass appeal after so long.

How do I keep that going?

And so it's kind of about the class of commerce and individuality in art, which I think is a very pressing topic right now.

And it's just done with a lot of humor and wit.

Boy, that's a great recommendation.

Thank you for that.

So, my guest is Devika Girish.

She is a film critic and the editor of Film Comment.

We are talking to her.

We just finished talking to her about Sundance.

I want to move on, because I know we don't have that much time, but what are your thoughts on the best picture nominations for this year's Oscars, Devika?

Do you have... Did anything surprise you?

I mean, you must have been a little surprised about F1.

I was very surprised about F1, I have to say.

I don't think it's a cut.

above so many other brilliant movies I've seen this year.

So I'm a little bit, I'm a little sour about that.

What do you

think is up there?

How does that get in?

It's like basically an advertisement for, you know, racing.

You know, I think there is something about like right now we're seeing a lot of

you know, the actors who used to be our young heartthrobs in the 90s.

I mean, Leonardo DiCaprio in one back laughter, another is a case who are doing kind of interesting roles that also reflect on their kind of mortality or the fact that they're older.

And I think Brad Pitt embodies that a little bit in this film.

And I don't know, I think there is a little bit right now of nostalgia for the old school star.

People are just, you know, first of all, missing the good old days, guess why?

And also just, there's something really beautiful about seeing a star age, like George Clooney in J. Kelly,

a

movie by Noah Baumbach.

There's something like, you are able to measure the passing of your own life, you know, with these people that have been around for so long.

I really think Brad Pitt is the like...

is the secret sauce with F1 getting the nomination.

That's a great point.

I still don't, and it all holds true.

I still don't know why it had to be.

I mean, do I, can I read the minds of the Academy voters?

Absolutely not.

This is my guess.

Absolutely.

All right, so what do you think we've got about a minute left, Erin, before a break?

Okay, so let's do this.

We're gonna take a quick break and we'll come back with my guest, Devika Girish.

She is a

an excellent critic and she is also the editor of Film Comment Magazine and we will be right back with her to talk more about the Oscars.

This is Nightlight with Pete Schwabba on the Civic Media Radio

Network.

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Welcome back.

I'm Pete Schwabber.

This is Nightlight.

Thanks for being with me tonight, folks.

Talking about the things in life we love.

Movies and TV and music and comedy.

And joining me now over the stream from New York City is Devika Yiddish.

She is an excellent film critic and the editor of Film Comment Magazine.

We're talking Oscars and we talked to F1 a little bit.

Ivica and we both kind of agree it maybe shouldn't have been nominated for Best Picture but what are your thoughts on the rest of the nominees?

Do you have a favorite in that category?

Yeah, I mean I'm so glad you asked that question because I have a favorite that I think I don't know if it will win but absolutely the best film in this list of nominees is The Secret Agent.

which is a Brazilian film, a Brazilian film by the director Cleberman Doncephilio, who I've been following for a long time.

I'm a huge fan.

I love all of his movies.

And it is very rare for an international film, especially a non-Western film, to be nominated for Best Picture,

not

just Best Foreign Language Film, Best Picture.

It's such an achievement.

Yeah, The Secret Agent I think is a absolutely brilliant film.

I saw it first at Cannes last year where it premiered and nabbed some prizes as well.

It stars of Wagner Moura in an incredible performance.

Wagner Moura was also in I'm Still Here last year, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

And I think people here also know him from Narcos.

uh you know he was he was in narcos and so he has a lot of familiarity with american audiences as well but he's a phenomenal actor and this performance is really stunning and this film is you know it's set during the brazilian dictatorship of the 70s and it's kind of a thriller following this guy who's on the run from the authorities and mobsters and it's just this

atmosphere in Brazil of constant fear and paranoia, right?

So even when there isn't violence on screen, you feel like it's lurking at the corners.

Yeah.

And he goes, he basically goes into hiding and goes to Recife, where Cleberman Donsofiliu is from, in northeastern Brazil, and stays in a house where there's a bunch of people that you might call as refugees of the dictatorship.

and they're all living and hiding, you don't really know everyone's reasons, but this is the atmosphere.

And so the film is this like thriller about him, you know, trying to get out of the country with his son, trying to evade the people after him, trying to keep up his charade.

But what's also really special is that this is a movie about movies.

This is a movie about how movies help us make sense of the world, how movies, you know, help us make memories.

you know, especially

in the

last in the last century.

And so Jaws figures prominently in this movie.

And I kind of don't want to say too much because I really want listeners to discover it for themselves.

But there's homages to westerns to, you know, 70s, 60s and 70s Brazilian films to Hollywood blockbusters that

were screening in Brazil in the 1970s, and a lot of the action takes place around a cinema, which no longer exists in Recife.

I'm so anxious to see that movie, and I live in a small town, I don't have access, it's not streaming yet, but I love movies that were shot in the 70s as well.

It's just so great.

Okay, so that's the one you want to win, but realistically, I know that's kind of a long shot, as much as everybody seems to love the film.

Do you go sinners or one battle after another?

Do you think it's between those two?

I do think it's between those two.

Off those two, I would choose sinners, which I also think is like a fantastic film and a great example of a blockbuster mass kind of mass entertainment film that's also intelligent and creative and political.

I had a blast.

I do think the odds right now are stacked in favor of one battle after

another.

Based

on how the globes have gone, how the critics awards have gone, you know, both on both sides of the coast.

And one battle came out later.

I mean, there's often recency bias with these things.

And it just came out with like, just these, you know, strong word of mouth like raves from all these people in the film industry, you know, just raving reviews.

I think it's going to kind of ride that wave.

to the statuette

wow that's interesting because you know as we know sinners broke the record for the most nominations and i agree with you i think sinners has no weak link it's set design music acting it's got everything um but i i would say as a viewer i liked one battle a little bit more i love them both but i'm kind of pulling for sinners just because of that and either way it's a first time director winning

So I've had other critics on that said they might split the award.

Somebody might give it to the movie.

Somebody might give it to the director.

Do you have an opinion on that?

That is possible.

I think Sinners is going to take home several awards.

I am doubtful that it will take home Best Picture.

There is a chance that it could take home Best Director.

Paul Thomas Anderson has won a lot of those too in all the preceding awards.

I think and I'm actually

not as an amour of one battle after another, as a lot of people.

I actually think Sinners is the most deserving one, but one battle was shot on 70mm, was shot on VistaVision, a format that hasn't really been used in a long time.

Even if I didn't think the film was better than Sinners, it was stunning to watch.

And there's a lot of ways in which I think...

I just think it has the elements that Oscar voters are more likely to sort of fall for or you know than sinners which is so fun and amazing but it's a little bit like prickly too you know it changes form it gets at some like historical political commentary that some people I think were like I don't know what this is this doesn't make sense like

All the more reason.

That's what I like about it, though.

That's one of the reasons I would lean towards sinners.

I agree.

Boy, we need a next time if we can do it.

Let's do an hour with you.

I love how passionate you are about film and cinema, and it was so great to get to know you.

So I hope we can do this again and keep up the great work at Film Comment, the New York Film Festival, and all your reviews.

Just great work.

Thank you so much, Pete.

It was a pleasure.

You're welcome.

That's David Giddish.

I'd like to thank all my guests tonight, including Hudson Henley from Song Song Blue, and Jeff Blankenship, the director, Cedar Crest Ice Cream, Shannon Simon, Andrew Roskey, and Hope Ehrich.

Thank you for all your calls and texts.

Another fun night on Nightlight.

Thank you, Erin Zommers, for sitting in for the Kid Conrad Krieger.

We will be back tomorrow night to do this all over again.

Good night.

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