AwardsWatch Podcast #188: Golden Globes Drama, Reviewing ‘Elemental,’ and 2024 Best Picture Oscar Prospects

On episode 188 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, AwardsWatch Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Nicole Ackman to review Pixar’s Elemental and take their first look at the 2024 Oscar Season.

Before getting into the meat of this episode, big news out of Hollywood this past week as the Golden Globes were bought out by Dick Clark productions and the HFPA has been dispensed. It is a big revelation as the Globes are still in an ongoing struggle to move on from their checkered past. The team discuss what this could all mean going forward for this year’s telecast as well as the future of their voting body.

After that, they moved on to talk about this weekend’s releases, with Nicole giving brief thoughts on WB’s The Flash, and the group at large talking about Elemental, both which underperformed at the box office. While the DCEU seems to be crumbling before our very eyes with each new entry in the franchise, Pixar seems to be at a crossroads as Elemental received good reviews but had the lowest opening weekend box office returns in the studio’s history. Part of it could be the film, or Pixar’s recent decisions to put their films on Disney+. Either way, the team talk about what they liked and didn’t like from the film and the studio’s future.

Usually when a Pixar film releases, this means we could talk about its Oscar chances or even potential win in the Best Animated Category. But since Elemental underwhelmed and Across the Spider-verse has exceeded expectations, it seems like we have our animated frontrunner that also has a small chance to get into Best Picture. Speak of that, since we are closing in at the halfway point of the year, and we are living in a post Cannes Film Festival world, the team take a look at the films that have been released so far that could make it into the Best Picture lineup, followed by the films this fall that they think will be the ones to look out for to win the Oscar’s top prize.

You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

This podcast runs 1h47m. We will be back next week to review Asteroid City and give out our Top 5 Wes Anderson films. Till then, let’s get into it.

Music: “Modern Fashion” from AShamaleuvmusic (intro), “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).

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Ryan McQuade

Ryan McQuade is the AwardsWatch Executive Editor and a film-obsessed writer in San Antonio, Texas. Raised on musicals, westerns, and James Bond, his taste in cinema is extremely versatile. He’s extremely fond of independent releases and director’s passion projects. Engrossed with all things Oscars, he hosts the AwardsWatch Podcast. He also is co-host of the Director Watch podcast. When he’s not watching movies, he’s rooting on all his favorite sports teams, including his beloved Texas Longhorns. You can follow him on Twitter at @ryanmcquade77.

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