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PODCAST

Academy Vs Audience

Claire Bolton, Dan Gibbins, and Erin Weir

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

tv & film film history

All Episodes

103:54

1966: Old Testament Centrism (feat. Munsi Parker-Munroe)

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/10/05

It's 1966, and as the so-called "Golden Age" of Hollywood collapses, nobody's having a good year. The Oscars favour A Man For All Seasons, the story of Thomas Moore, a man bold enough to [checks notes] take no actions, speak no opinions, and "My name's Paul and that's tween y'all" Henry VIII's marriage controversies. Yeah. Great subject for a biopic. Meanwhile two underperforming would-be epics have a photo-finish for Box Office Champ, and we select

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65:55

1965: The Hills are Alive! RUN!

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/09/21

It's 1965, and Academy Vs Audience hits Film History's Second Juggernaut: Dame Julie Andrews and the late, great, Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music. Erin, Claire, and Dan dig into the sweet little musical about love, family, music, and the dangers of capitulating to Nazis... breaking down the kids, the king that is Captain Von Trapp and the glorious problem that's Maria, and lots of love for the songs*. Box office records are smashed, Oscar gold is hauled in, one of the other

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76:18

1964: POPPINS. VS. DOOLITTLE!

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/09/07

It's 1964 and it's all singing, all dancing, all grudge match for Julie Andrews! The Oscar goes to Lerner and Lowe's My Fair Lady, with Audrey Hepburn taking over the role Julie Andrews created onstage, because the future Dame wasn't "a big enough draw." In response, Andrews joins Walt Disney for the aggressively whimsical Mary Poppins, claiming the box office crown from the film that rejected her. But who did it best? When it comes to the tunes, Doolittle's doing

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106:02

1963: SEX BOMBS (feat. John Tebbutt)

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/08/24

It's 1963, and both Hollywood and the UK were starting to poke at the boundaries of film censors. First off, the best picture winner, England's Tom Jones, in which the title character tries to win his lady Sophie (whoa, She's a Lady), but can't resist saying "What's New Pussycat" to any woman with a come hither look. Our special guest, Video Vulture John Tebbutt, explains to Claire, Erin, and Dan that It's Not Unusual to find the appeal may have shifted since

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82:43

1962: Larry Arabia and the Long Day

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/08/10

War! Huh. Good god, y'all, what is it good for? In 1962, the answer is two surprisingly good movies. First, the Academy Award goes to Lawrence of Arabia, featuring stunning cinematography, deadly deserts, amazing breakout performances from Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif, and some DEEPLY uncomfortable casting choices for Arab leadership. But by a narrow margin, the box office crown goes to The Longest Day, an impressively thorough and nuanced examination of the D-Day invasion of Normandy

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74:20

1961: DANCE FIGHT (feat. Keith Kollee)

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/07/27

Welcome, listeners, to the Academy Vs Audience/Recovered crossover! Dan, Erin, and Claire welcome Dan's Recovered co-host Keith Kollee to dig into 1961's Joint Champion, West Side Story, the only movie whose every film remake is an Oscar contender. The gang digs into this story of rival gangs, racial tensions, corrupt cops, amazing progressive trans representation, and if there's time, the star-crossed lovers at the center of this Romeo and Juliet riff*. The songs, the dance fights,

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87:55

1960: The Spartacus Apartment

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/07/13

Welcome to the 60s, the decade that most changed Hollywood! But not quite yet. In The Apartment, Jack Lemmon is doing a sex farce while Shirley Maclaine is in a doomed romance tragedy, Billy Wilder tries to make both work at once, and the Academy was here for it. The Audience wasn't ready to give up sword and sandal epics, and turned out for Kirk Douglas' more secular take on the genre in Spartacus. It's black and white tragi-comedy vs full colour period epic, and both begin to chip

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80:31

1959: Ben of the Hurs (feat. Gina Stewart)

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/06/29

Here at the end of another decade, Dan, Claire, and Erin ask a question: can a movie have too much Jesus but also way too little Jesus at the same time? It's our second biggest Joint Champion Juggernaut, Ben-Hur, in which Charlton Heston pursues vengeance via chariot while Forrest Gumping his way through the New Testament. Claire and Erin cry out for slash-fic, Dan makes his final statement on the failures of 50s Bible Epics, and our guest Gina Stewart is here to tell us all about the original

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81:58

1958: Singing, Dancing, Soldiers, Sex Workers?

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/06/15

In our first all-musical episode (don't look at us like that, Broadway Melody doesn't count), Claire, Erin, and Dan dissect two musical movies from famous teams to see which aged worse. First, our Oscar winner, Lerner and Lowe bring us the story of a Parisian womanizer realizing he might have feelings for the teenage girl he's watched grow up... and be trained as a courtesan by her relatives... in the beautiful but deeply troubling Gigi. Then the people's champion, Rogers and

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57:30

1957: Bridge Over Troubled Kwai Waters

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/06/01

And we are back! It's 1957, and one film towers over some tough Oscar competition and... a lean year, box office-wise: The Bridge on the River Kwai. Claire, Erin, and Dan dig into the film's portrayal of cult-like devotion to duty, honour, and so-called principles via the film's main cast, led by our first appearance of Alec Guinness, as well as the modern feel, the criminally underrated (in one troubling way in particular) female supporting cast, and how in the 50s two hours and

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96:20

1952 Revisited

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/05/18

Our Best of Munsi Triptych wraps up in 1952, as Erin, Claire, Dan, and Munsi dig into two films with questionable romance content. First, An American in Paris, the quaint, charming, whimsical tale of a middle-aged painter trying to win the hand of a teenager away from the French singer who's groomed her since childhood. With Gershwin songs! And Gene Kelley sure can dance! Then flash ALL the way back to ancient Rome for some classic Boy Meets Girl, Boy Tries to Enslave Girl Into Loving Him, Girl

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98:42

1943 Revisited

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/05/04

Our hosts' various breaks continue, and we return to 1943, a year where the Academy couldn't have been more right and the Audience couldn't have been more wrong, and Munsi Parker-Munroe is back to witness both. Come to Casablanca to visit Rick's Café American, stay for the Stage Door Canteen... because there is no leaving the Stage Door Canteen. Maybe we're all still there. Maybe we always will be. Join us there. Show us if there's a doorway out.Find all of our episodes

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85:50

1933 Revisited

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/04/20

We've hit a perfect storm of host conflicts, so while we recharge in our various ways, enjoy a trip down memory lane, beginning with 1933, in which eventual recurring guest Munsi Parker-Munroe joined Claire, Erin, and Dan for, perhaps, the worst combination of movies we've yet discussed: Cavalcade and Eddie Cantor's... best?... movie, Roman Scandals. Look back and laugh with us!Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at

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126:05

1956: 80 Days in Ten Commandments (feat. Kevin Weir)

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/04/06

In 1956, two movies take their sweet time with two famous stories. Our Best Picture takes us Around the World in 80 Days (and 200 cameos) as this first film version of Jules Verne's novel loads the screen with exotic locales, familiar faces, and long, LONG shots of scenery. But 'tis but a blip next to our Box Office Champion, As Cecil B. DeMille brings the Book of Exodus to life through The Ten Commandments... a movie that must hold the record for "Longest Wait Before the Thing From

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89:08

Bonus: 95th Oscars Recap (feat. Olav Rokne)

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/03/23

Erin and Dan are joined by returning guest and Hugo Book Club co-runner Olav Rokne to dissect the latest crop of Best Picture nominees, in the wake of learning who won what, and how many of the ten nominees went home empty-handed (Claire will be back next time). Who deserved what? Who maybe snuck onto the shortlist undeservedly? Which of these movies is Erin willing to watch recreationally, and which do Dan or Olav talk her out of? And who was better at guessing the winners, our host or our guest

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72:27

1955: Love, War, and Tonal Clashes

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/03/09

It's 1955, and the films get simple in both a pleasant and insulting way. The Academy chooses Paddy Chayefsky's quiet romance of two people deemed unlovable finding each other in Marty, while the audience goes for the tonally confused war movie Mr. Roberts, which tries to be both a wacky wartime farce and a somber reflection on service and ultimately manages neither. Ernest Borgnine enjoys Oscar History's second biggest glow-up, Jack Lemmon makes his debut, and our hosts are divided

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83:52

1954: Waterfronts and White Christmases

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/02/23

Erin, Claire, and Dan get a break from feature-length Sunday School sermons to talk about two possible Good Actually movies! Thanks, 1950s! First, young Marlon Brando reinvents film acting for the better in the hard hitting On The Waterfront, and your hosts are here to, gush, unpack a few flaws, examine the line everyone thinks they know, and look at how the HUAC tried to ruin it. Then Bing Crosby and Irving Berlin are back for songs, spectacular dance numbers, banter, and a plot so thin you can

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57:16

1953: Sexy Beach Times, Also Jesus

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/02/09

It's 1953, time for what many consider a beloved classic in From Here to Eternity, and certainly some of our hosts agree. Romance, tragedy, and one heavily telegraphed surprise attack await... and then, due to poor choices by 50s audiences, it's time for more Sunday School with The Robe. Richard Burton joins the stars if Samson and Delilah and Quo Vadis as a Centurion who finds Jesus... a little too literally. And then things get weird. And dumb. For quite some time. From Here to Eternity

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68:35

1952: The Greatest Show Sarcastic Air Quotes

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/01/26

It's our first joint champion of the 1950s! Good news, no bible stories. Less good news, Cecil B. DeMille really wanted people to know how neat he thinks the circus is. There are love triangles that make a Hellraiser puzzle box look simple, criminals lurking in the shadows, many plot-relevant elephants, and yet all of it is somehow drowned out by monotonous circus montages and severe overacting. Claire, Erin, and Dan dig into 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth, and question the veracity of

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96:20

1951: Dancing, Disciples, Doofuses (feat. Munsi...

Academy Vs Audience ·

2023/01/12

Erin, Claire, Dan, and returning guest Munsi Parker-Munroe unpack some terrible leading men as the Oscars get musical while the audience goes to Sunday School. First, Gene Kelley brings us the songs of the Gershwins, some incredible dance numbers, and a romance that set gender relations back fifty years in An American in Paris. Does the dancing defy the duncery? We discuss, then jump back to the new testament where Quo Vadis dares to ask "How much less likeable can our male leads get," and

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