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Academy Vs Audience

Academy Vs Audience

by Claire Bolton, Dan Gibbins, and Erin Weir

Latest episode
2022: Every Maverick, Every Avatar, All At Once (w/ Kevin Weir)

About this podcast

Ever since 1928, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed out trophies to what it considered the best in film. Sometimes they were absolutely right, sometimes they were entirely wrong, sometimes they were so, so basic. But in all that time, audiences have had their own opinions, sometimes better, sometimes much worse. And sometimes, when the stars align or the fates allow, they even agree. Academy Vs Audience is a deep dive into Oscar history, revisiting film history from the 1920s to the 2020s; from the Studio Era to the age of the IP Franchise; from the age of the silent film to the age of the novelty silent film. Claire, Erin, and Dan take on each year’s Best Picture according to the Academy, and the Box Office Champ selected by audience dollars*. It’s a fascinating look at enduring classics and a descent into madness, because History Is Always Terrible and audiences make questionable choices.(*Based on revenue earned during its initial run, and the year said run began in. No re-releases. Lots of movies become audience favourites years after their initial release, you are not special, Billy Jack.)

Episodes

The newest 20 of 125 episodes

  • 2022: Every Maverick, Every Avatar, All At Once (w/ Kevin Weir) · 2 h 6 min · Season 10 Episode 4Two years after the lowest rated Oscars ever, two different Box Office Champions and one sleeper hit vied for the throne! Everything Everywhere All At Once took the title…
  • 1989 Revisited (feat. Munsi Parker-Munroe) · 2 h 7 min · Season 10 Episode 3While we sort some technical difficulties and get schedules aligned for our final episodes, please enjoy this look back at the end of All 80s Summer/Fall, as Munsi Parker-Munroe…
  • 2021: CODA Way Home · 1 h 27 min · Season 10 Episode 2It's singing and spiders and Hollywood began to emerge from lockdown! A fierce awards race between two lauded competitors resulted in an unexpected result as CODA took the…
  • 2020: Demon Hunter Nomad Boys (w/ Munsi Parker-Munroe) · 2 h 22 min · Season 10 Episode 1In the year of 2020, a global heath crisis shut down the film industry, and the Academy chose to meet the moment by extending deadlines and loosening rules on theatrical release…
  • 2009 Revisited (feat. Kevin Weir) · 1 h 46 min · Season 9 Episode 17As we begin to enter the decade of Way of Water and Fire and Ash, we look back to 2009, when Kevin Weir joined Erin, Claire, and Dan to unpack James Cameron's Avatar, and how it…
  • 2026 (so far) In Review (w/ Olav Rokne) · 1 h 12 min · Season 9 Episode 16While the stars align to kick off the 2020s, Dan takes a look at what 2026 has had to offer so far: the best of what he's seen up until mid July, the penultimate month before…
  • 2019: Avenging Parasites · 1 h 39 min · Season 9 Episode 15Is 2019 the apex year for Oscars and audience? Some say the Oscars made one of their best choices ever as embarrassment over Green Book caused voters to look overseas to South…
  • Extra Credit: Claire's Top 10 Dogs · 31 min · Season 9 Episode 14The dogs were good in cinema, here are Claire's top 10. We've talked about the best in Best Pictures, the champions of Box Office Champions, but have missed a key factor: the…
  • 2018: Green Panther: Infinity Book · 2 h 8 min · Season 9 Episode 13It's 2018, and Marvel is lurching towards the climax of ten years of interconnected movies, while the Academy manages to trip over itself. The Oscar went to Green Book, now…
  • 2017: The Shape of Jedi (feat. Kevin Weir) · 1 h 59 min · Season 9 Episode 12It's 2017, and it's time for space wizards and award-winning amphibian erotica! Guillermo Del Toro made a Creature From the Black Lagoon slashfic so beautifully realized it ends…
  • 2016: Rogue War in the Moonlight · 1 h 44 min · Season 9 Episode 11In 2016, the Oscar race seemed to be hurtling towards "White people get their dream show biz careers but are still sad about it," until a mid-acceptance speech twist handed the…
  • The Comics That Made the MCU (w/ Munsi Parker-Munroe) · 1 h 1 min · Season 9 Episode 10Here in the heart of Peak MCU Times, we pause our trek through the 2010s to look at the actual Marvel Comics event books that at minimum leant their titles to major Marvel…
  • 2015: The Spotlight Awakens · 1 h 39 min · Season 9 Episode 92015 is all about nostalgia, be it for classic space operas or this old-timey thing called "investigative journalism." The Oscar went to Spotlight, an unassuming yet star-studded…
  • 2014: Birdman (And The Unexpected Virtue of Optimus Prime) (w/ Munsi Parker-Munroe) · 1 h 59 min · Season 9 Episode 8It's 2014, and the gang hits another good news/bad news situation. First up, the Michael Keaton Renaissance began with Birdman, in which a former superhero actor fought a career…
  • The 2026 Oscar Recap (feat. Olav Rokne) · 1 h 24 min · Season 9 Episode 7As the 98th Oscars recede into the background, Erin, Claire, and Dan run down the nominated films and look ahead to our 2025 topic. Dan's seen them all, Erin's seen some, Claire…
  • Should it Have Been Nominated? · 22 min · Season 9 Episode 6While Erin and Claire are away, Dan is left unsupervised, and thus takes us on a journey through the remaining years of the 2010s, looking at popcorn movies (often if not only…
  • 2013: 12 Years Catching Frozen Fire (feat. Gina Stewart) · 2 h 10 min · Season 9 Episode 5It's 2013, and it's all about oppressive systems! And Disney. Award season cleared a path for the historical tragi-horror 12 Years a Slave, recounting the true story of a free…
  • 2012: The Argovengers · 1 h 4 min · Season 9 Episode 4Ben Affleck escapes Hollywood purgatory while the Marvel Age begins as we reach 2012! Affleck directs a tense yet also funny thriller on the Iran Hostage Crisis and makes it an…
  • 2025's Oscar Snubs · 28 min · Season 9 Episode 3While Claire and Erin are away, Dan digs into the idea of Oscar snubs, why the term still matters, and which big or acclaimed films of 2025 are conspicuously absent from the 2026…
  • 2011: The Artist and the Furious · 1 h 43 min · Season 9 Episode 2We reach the second silent movie to win Best Picture, and it only took 83 years. French-made silent era throwback The Artist claims Best Picture, and briefly launches Jean…

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