Oscarbate (Oscarbate)

we have returned to attend the 2024 Oscars in beautiful sunny California

we pause our timeline deep dive to give you this special gem of an episode. Just to prove we aren’t completely out our gourds, we enlist the help of legendary film critic and Zemeckis enthusiast, Dave Kehr, to illuminate just exactly what the hell it is we have been up to this last month

curious about our Polar Express tease at the last H+L? What could it all Mean?

for now, we dig into the world of motion capture for Zemeckis, which includes The Witches and yes, the wooden Italian boy known as…Pinocchio

Its the kick off episode everyone, with things to come… Abbott & Costello, De Palma's The Black Dahlia, Shu Lea Cheang, Jess Franco, Raoul Walsh, Eagle Pennell, Nomadland, & probably more…

We talk about their book and our upcoming Chicago screenings

12/3 - Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers at Music Box

12/5 - Trust Fall at the Davis Theater

I hate computers, does anyone know how to drop music tracks into ableton without it fucking up the timeline order? The audio clipping chills out after a couple minutes, but you all can chill out as well.

Also our friend Courtney Stephens (The American Sector, Terra Femme) drops in to talk De Palma

We have it again, we have Oscar fever! The gold! The stars! The marvels of stage and screen are at it again and this time, they are looking great as usual. All eyes are on Oscar! The prize will be anyones and we are here to capture it as the stars roll in. But before we get into our surefire picks for your ballots, we read some recent Oscar-related news and profile this years cool new producer! Plus, all the rumors. Will this be the best oscars yet? Join us in the first installment of our 2022 Oscar race to the gold coverage

The beep button gets a lot of use on this one

we come back to you all full of love in our hearts, our little hats clasped in our sweet dainty hands, with a few words of sincerity. But not for long, because we are re-charged and ready to get down and dirty with Netflix, AMC, the Daniels, China, and the possibility that the Oscars, as well as movies, may be done forever

Returning once again to finish what we started. Thank god we are no longer indebted to peoples horror movie fetishism. Back to business, and we felt this needed it’s own spotlight. Let us convince you why you were all wrong about Forrest and Bubba and their time hopping antics. People, time to delete those trad letterboxd posts! You weren’t getting likes anyway

the three of us drill in on a space known as Twitter and it’s movie loving denizens

we did what you all assumed we would do

Upcoming Screenings

11/12 - Visible Secret at Drafthouse Chicago

11/18 - Little Murders at Music Box w/ Samm Deighan

11/21 - Trust Fall at Davis Theater w/ Samm Deighan

12/3 - Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers w/ Caden Mark Gardner and Willow Catelyn Maclay

been gone for a minute because we are goth now baby. Didn’t really get a lot of sleep, but we talked about some funny stuff. My neighbors across the street are doing karaoke with a cop right now in the middle of the street, happy Halloween

…scheduling made this episode rollout what it is but, so what? The next episode won’t be like some retrospective ranking of Stuart Gordon movies or whatever.

But thanks to Theresa Mercado (Scream Screen/Vinegar Syndrome) and Keith Garcia (Denver Film Society/Sie FilmCenter) for humoring us and talking about another less-than-forgotten film craze in the mid to late 1990’s + early 2000’s that our fevered minds couldn’t leave alone - - the brief, brief moment when the distinguished slasher genre was once Big again, and Rose McGowan ruled my pre-teen adolescent fantasies

We tackle 8 Franco titles including Sadomania and Bloody Moon

we take a special moment to highlight Severin’s newly restored masterpiece DRACULA PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN, how Franco got to this place in his filmography, how Universal’s horror dept changed in a decade, as well as highlighting some unmade Universal monster movies that sound like they could’ve been Jess Franco movies

we will be presenting the North American premiere of this hypnotic Gothic horror excursion Thursday, March 28th at the Davis Theatre in Chicago, as well the Hollywood Theatre in Portland on Sunday, April 14

get tickets to both shows here!

3/28 at the Davis

4/14 at the Hollywood Theatre

Before we continue with Armond, we had to address the recent hubbub at Warner Bros involving The Batgirl and Clint, the time warp effect of ads for Bullet Train, seeing the new Wai Ka Fai movie, and probably something else. After about 30 min of that we continue our Armond series, starting with his humble beginnings + opinions of him according to his fellow Critics

We dig through the rubble to pull out the gems, as Franco says goodbye to his old mode of filmmaking.

first part in our possibly never ending dive into the writings of the controversial critic Armond White, the enfant terrible of modern Film journalism. We start by catching up with Armond’s latest article calling out rolling stone for criticizing his choice for the greatest film of this century, Zack snyders’ Justice league

we break down our double feature playing May 2nd at the Music Box Theatre

As another year ends so another begins, and so with this, we begin anew. We stroll down the snowy meadows of time, and reflect pensively on the year and some of its cinematic offerings.

We get into the nitty gritty over the sight and sound controversy. Cameron and Rebecca from the Chicago Film Society join us in Hell

here we go, the second part of our thoughts covering our series at Music box theatre this month. Lets getit

The finale in 2 parts

Our magnum opus is ready. Time to reclaim the subversive bad boy of commercial holllywood filmmaking. This is part one in what will be a 5-part series.

we did it. Now it’s morning, we are sipping our coffee and cracking the paper, taking a look, slamming our widdle bottles of advil liqui-gels. Also thanks to everyone for coming to see us. We also meant to cover the Oscars this morning but didn’t have it in us. We know you all want it, and you will get it.

We return with more Franco movies, this time featuring Revenge in the House of Usher and his unfortunate misadventures in the jungle

The files are re-opened, actually this is an old episode we forgot to release so here it is. This will be the beginning of the end for the Franco files as we prepare to round them out. Also for all future episodes, Will has agreed to giggle less at his own jokes

We take a pit stop at the Texaco for a quick hit of that hot new MoviePass kush, then we start to tease a forthcoming Armond and his recent thoughts on the Oscar’s latest course correction. Then we are joined by programmer Raul Benitez and Viviana García Besné of the Permanencia Voluntaria Archivo Cinematográfico, for a chat about restoring The Batwoman, The Panther Women, and a few other gems of Mexican cinema

It’s the start of lean mean season 2 mfs. We are joined once again by everyone’s favorite Nick Pinkerton, getting caught up with his latest endeavors and thoughts, with topics ranging from Jean Eustache, west side story, the NFL playoffs, plus the heavy winds of Cyrano fever sweeping the nation

we repeat our guests once more, but this time we’re doubling up. Cameron and Rebecca (Chicago Film Society) pop their heads down into our little rabbit hole, and we get after it

also:

https://musicboxtheatre.com/events/highs-and-lows

we sit down with label-head/filmmaker David Gregory of Blue Underground + Severin & try to trick him into giving up exclusive news on air but he doesn’t fall for it, so we talk about the career of British filmmaker Terence Fisher and Severin’s much anticipated Christopher Lee boxset instead

you know what it is

welcome to the show! We are hanging out LIVE inside with all the biggest stars of the evening, wanna know whose gonna win? We got you, in the second installment of our Oscar triptych

We dig into Tom Green's Freddy Got Fingered + Lars Von Trier's The Idiots. Both screening this Tuesday, Dec. 12th at 7pm at the Music Box Theatre

• Tickets here

We have returned full of that good good, addressing some recent brush ups we had, along with bringing you all the news you wanted to hear us go off on. We take to task Joyce Carol Oates, M3GAN, straight musicals, Kevin spacey and the rest of Italy, and our good wine boy, Francis Coppola.

(Also we know we confused Deadly Blessing and Deadly Friend. It was a glaring error we know. We are not perfect. We are listening and learning)

We wish they all could win! We love the movies! We finish this puppy out on this one

https://www.instagram.com/oscarbatepod/?utm

we are joined by multiple Rebeccas (Hall & Lyon) of the Chicago Film Society to talk about what they have coming up, more thoughts on schrader and Clint, as well as the majestic beauty of trains and the sweet hum of the Bayou

as we ramp up to our Robert Zemeckis retrospective, we have a nice chat with Filmmaker, Author, & Actress, Leslie Zemeckis & remind you all why you should already have your Marwen tix

J Hertz of Fun City Editions joins us to delve into topics such as wait…that’s right, you guessed it. It’s the Movies. Because we all love Movies, right? Guilty as charged officer, take me to the Movies

its hollywoods biggest night, and all the stars are out and everyone is wondering who will walk away, with the gold... also RIP Monte Hellman

we continue on in our exploration of filmmaker Jess Franco, and the period of his career where he worked with problematic producer Harry Alan Towers, beginning with their foray into the even more problematic world of Fu Manchu, alongside their first De Sade adaptations + Venus in Furs

it’s over, we did it. Now back to other things for now. We round this puppy out with two stone cold stunners, Allied and Welcome to Marwen

Cameron Worden (of the Chicago Film Society) stops by to give us a status update, as well as chat about famously male director Quentin Jerome Tarantino and his heavily maligned masterpiece

(we don’t sorry talk about the soundtrack , sorry nerds)

The Armond train is shoveled full of coal and we are taking this baby out the station. We continue discussing his removal from the critics circle, as well as remembering a sweeter time when Armond wrote Criterion essays.

we originally roped in our buddy Mike Perry to discuss the American pie movies and Tomcats but it turned into a Proustian time warp through our collective memories of being horny middle schoolers from the years 1999-2001.... we hope some of you can take this hallowed journey back with us to the carefree days when the antics of Stifler and the fellas were poised to shape the minds of young people forever (yes Kazaa and limewire are discussed)

two and the Pink, one with the stink (one of us is smoking weed). we deep dive on end of days shit but also discuss the importance of saving the Oasis.

And also…Abbott & Costello (again), poverty row film noir, Ready Player One, Tsai Ming-liang, Goodbye Dragon Inn, cruising in movie theatres, and probably more.

We review Friedkin’s final film, along with Fincher’s The Killer and Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon

It’s britney time, with our favorite drag queen, Ramona Slick

Crossroads + Morvern Callar - June 18 at Music Box

8/7 - She Killed In Ecstasy

8/10 - Jess Franco Mystery Marathon

Highs and Lows is back and we start by giving you a little rundown of what to expect. Then we give you an episode we did a minute ago that we didn’t want to put out because it felt too genuine. Our widdle hearts were raw, our brains smooth but full, and we second guessed ourselves. Do you wanna know the real us? This is our Blood on the Tracks. We review 3 new movies.

We take a moment to reflect on where we’ve come and where we are going. We list off 5 films each that have made this journey so far memorable

Our top ten favs of the year

What kept us away this time you might wonder? It certainly wasn’t poor life decisions, it was because we are BUSY. And are we ever, as we return with our Hot takes on the headlines, and our fingers in the air, taking a read on the blowing winds

The finale in 2 parts

the weather is killing us all..but the news never stops. We talk about the upcoming One PerfectShot series, Spike Lee being 9/11 based, China's censorship laws, and other hot news items. We also read a Variety article meticulously outlining the "slowed-down-pop-songs-for-movie-trailers" phenomenon, and we learn a lot

Patreon

like certain sequels, this follow-up is bigger, more expensive, but leaner at the same time. How do we do it? Take a listen as we continue down Bobby Z avenue

bleep bleep, who got the keys to jeep, right? Will makes me censor myself on this one. Join the drunken revelry of Christmas party cheer as we veer from topics left and right, from pedo Hollywood and it’s ties to pop punk and the movie licorice pizza, all they way to spielberg and his racism. We even end on a note of seasonal sincerity. We are getting our act together for the holidays as we continue to grow and learn

we take a pause from Zemeckis world (for a very good reason this time) to get back to our old tricks, as well as promote our upcoming double feature at the music box theatre…in sparkling 35mm! Let this be the skeleton key to help see you past and through the bleakness

We return to check in on the most notable films playing the current fest circuit, starting with a shocking revelation about John’s personal history with Olivia Wilde. After we process that, we talk about some of the notable titles soon to get all the PR engines spamming IMDb every time you try to look up Mia Goth’s relationship status

ooowee it’s rundown the Cannes lineup time, and if you haven’t seen we have a patreon yet then sign up below please and get what we couldn’t say herepatreon.com/Oscarbate

another day another episode, how did we even get here? After putting out some fires, we return with our thoughts on our Highs and Lows series kickstarter, The Craft + Duelle. This freewheeling and kaleidoscopic journey dovetails with a brief solemn salute to JLG, a teaser of an upcoming series, and a few quick thoughts on the soon-to-be-revealed CIA psy-op known as the genre of pop punk

The files are opened once again as we discuss The Sinister Dr. Orloff through to The Shadow Judoka vs Dr. Wong

What a world we live in. We are fired up and burnt out on this one, simultaneously. Expect some real treats soon

Another double feature primer, this time for our sweet deceased boy Jean Luc’s Keep Your Right Up, plus arguably Dante’s peak…Looney Tunes Back in Action.

Both of these films play Tuesday at 7pm, in 35mm. You can purchase tickets below:

https://musicboxtheatre.com/series-and-festivals/highs-lows-a-film-series

We reveal more upcoming shows and dig into Ringo Lam’s Prison on Fire + John McTiernan’s Rollerball. Both screening on 35mm this Wednesday, Sept 27th at 7pm at the Music Box Theatre

• Get tickets here

we start with a few RIPS before getting into our latest Highs & Lows double feature of Chuck Russell’s THE MASK (1994) and Hiroshi Teshigahara’s THE FACE OF ANOTHER (1966), playing tonight at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago

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https://musicboxtheatre.com/films-and-events/the-mask-the-face-of-another

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patreon.com/Oscarbate

Who doesn’t want that? Uh, sign us up. We are also back with the hottest of takes, we have been invited to the HOTTEST premieres, and we are here to dish

We crack the files just a bit today as we get back into the zone, this time with Franco mega fan Will Sloan, who walks us through some personal favorites

That’s right folks, it’s coming, or is it here? Now that the snowflake Oscars have done the unthinkable, how can a modern man like Armond White fight against the scourge of guys in bike hats and gals with stick-and-poke tattoos eating all of his wealthy buddies at the National Review? Well once we run down some news headlines and deal with audio issues, we will dive headfirst with scuba gear into this vexing issue

to return the favor for the staggering amount of emails/texts/internet praise for our latest episode about American pie 1 AND 2, we’d like to share with you a bonus episode. thank you guys!

Will reports back from going on deep assignment into the sleazy underground subculture known as the world of the straight-to-dvd American pie releases

We talk about that rolling stone article

The files are opened again proper. We sift through 8 of Jess’ early 80s period, featuring Macumba Sexual and Oasis of the Zombies

oh boy, we go in on the buzzworthy indie filmmaker/auteur A24, via an article on Collider. You may be surprised to learn how connected Danish bad boy Carl Theodor Dreyer is to the modern behemoth behind such notable films as Antebellum, Lamb, mid90s, and Woodshock

The rest of our year end favs

Our pal Olivia joins us to speak on Paul Schrader’s much-maligned The Canyons, Lindsay Lohan, and Internet porn

Olivia Wiilke Substack

more Zemeckis talk as we continue through his post-Gump period: contact, what lies beneath, and cast away. They are all covered.

We talk about that rolling stone article more

breaking this up so we can do other things than pod for a few weeks…but in this one we hit on Flight and The Walk

we discuss some true bangers from Jess Franco, six films from 1969-1970

We are switching things up today for a scoop months in the making. Will is on pod probation so I am joined by war correspondent + journalist + documentarian Cory Popp, who has just returned from Ukraine to talk Hollyweird. We discuss the salacious details of private investigator to the stars, Anthony Pellicano, his subsequent arrest, and how he became involved with the troubled production of John McTiernan’s 2002 maligned masterpiece, Rollerball. This is the real deal people, actual hard work was put into this (which is why Will is not here)

The files are freshly opened again but this is not an old episode we forgot to upload - this is part 1 of 3 episodes left to round this puppy out

9/16 - Vampyros Lesbos at Los Feliz 3

9/17 - Bloody Moon + Night of Open Sex at Brain Dead Studios

9/18 - Snakewoman at Whammy! Analog

9/19 - Severin Films Pop-Up at Cine File Video (4 - 8 PM)

9/20 - Venus in Furs + The Other Side of the Mirror at 2220 Arts

We talk Clint once again. We get into the romantic entanglements circling his life around the time he made Bridges of Madison County. After we say some words about Cassavetes’ Gloria (which we are showing with Bridges this Monday) it’s all talk about Clint’s romantic soft boy side

Tickets

• we return to the Music Box on July 11th for the next installment in our heavily lauded and hotly praised Mubi-sponsored film series, Highs and Lows. This month, we examine the similarities between 1997’s CANT HARDLY WAIT and 1994’s US GO HOME
• Subscribe to our patreon for additional episodes plus things we cannot say on our regular eps
• Tickets
• Patreon