Oscar Podcast #15: Venice, Telluride and TIFF festivals; Birdman, A Most Violent Year, Wild, The Imitation Game
In this podcast, Peter and Jason (Dirk Diggler!) join Erik to discuss the flurry of fall festivals, including the just opened Venice Film Festival which began with rapturous reviews for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman. We also venture into Telluride and TIFF (which Jason is attending), discuss Harvey Weinstein‘s track for The Imitation Game and the recent first test screening (attended by AwardWatch members) of A Most Violent Year starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. That breaks into a discussion of Supporting Actress which covers Chastain, Patricia Arquette, Laura Dern, Keira Knightley and Carmen Ejogo (which itself breaks off into a conversation about Selma). And all in under an hour and a half! Bonus!
Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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- Critics Association of Central Florida (CACF) Awards: ‘Sinners’ Wins 7 - January 9, 2026
DiscussingFilm’s Global Film Critics Awards Nominations: ‘Sinners’ Leads with 20 
Pittsburgh Film Critics Association (PFCC) Winners: 9 Wins for ‘Sinners’ 
Critics Association of Central Florida (CACF) Awards: ‘Sinners’ Wins 7 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 134 – ‘Dick Tracy’ (Warren Beatty, 1990)