AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 227: ‘Civil War’ Review, the Cannes Lineup, Our Favorite Political and Journalism Thrillers

On episode 227 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to discuss the latest film from director Alex Garland, Civil War, and discuss their favorite political and journalism thrillers.

Before they jumped into the review of Civil War, the 2024 Cannes Film Festival was announced this past week, with dozens of American and European films dominating the lineup. Films from Francis Ford Coppola, Paul Schrader, Andrea Arnold, Yorgos Lanthimos, Sean Baker, Jacques Audiard, Paolo Sorrentino, David Cronenberg and more will be having their world premiere next month at the prestigious festival. Not only is it one of the biggest film festivals in the world, but it has become an important stomping ground for International Features, especially the ones that make it into the Oscar categories later in the season. The gang break down what they can’t wait to see since Josh is going to the festival next month while Ryan, Erik, and Sophia will catch a lot of these titles at Telluride later in the year.

Moving onto the main event of the podcast, Civil War has become one of the most talked about films of 2024 so far, even before its premiere at SXSW. The trailer alone sparked discussion and anger from many thinking it is not the right time to be releasing a film like this as the United States is ramping up for another Presidential Election. But much to the surprise of all, early reactions indicated a much different movie than the trailer suggested. The gang break down their reaction to it the film, covering everything from the film’s political stance, the screenplay, the performances and so much more. After that, they dive into a fascinating, in-depth conversation over their favorite political and journalism thrillers, a topic that all of them love considering some of their favorite films of all time came out of the genres. Some of the films discussed in the extensive conversation include All the President’s Men, Nightcrawler, JFK, Zodiac, Munich, The Hunt for Red October, Blow Out, The Ghost Writer, Zero Dark Thirty and so many more.

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 2h17m. On our next episode, we will be doing the 2024 AwardsWatch Summer Movie Draft. You won’t want to miss 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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