<![CDATA[THE OSCAR PROJECT - The Oscar Project Podcast]]>Fri, 30 May 2025 02:20:33 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[Author Special Episode 10-Ian Nathan]]>Tue, 24 Oct 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-10-ian-nathan​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
In this author interview, I speak with Ian Nathan for the second time on the podcast He joins me today to talk about his book, David Lynch: A Retrospective. 

Listen to hear the importance of Lynch's first film Eraserhead to his career, what exactly a Lynchian film is, and why Lynch is a mystery even to himself.
 

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]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 9-Andrew DeGraff]]>Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-9-andrew-degraff​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
In this author interview, I speak with Andrew DeGraff, a freelance illustrator and artist living and working in Maine. He graduated from Pratt Institute’s Communications Design program and returned to teach there from 2009 to 2014. His gallery work has been shown in cities around the world including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Calgary, Mexico City, and the Philippines. He published his book Plotted: A Literary Atlas in 2015 and he joins me today to talk about his book, Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies.  

Listen to hear what exactly a Cinemap is, how long it takes to make a single map, and what some of the challenges are in putting together these unique pieces of art.
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]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 8-Nat Segaloff]]>Tue, 26 Sep 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-8-nat-segaloff​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy. Picture
In this author interview, I speak with Nat Segaloff is a writer, broadcaster, teacher, film historian, and raconteur with a varied background in motion picture publicity, journalism, producing, and covering up other people's mistakes. Having begun his career during the exciting transition between the old studios and the film generation of the New Hollywood, he provides both perspective and commentary on a wide range of subjects, many of them having to do with movies. He joins me today to talk about his upcoming book, Say Hello to My Little Friend: A Century of Scarface. 

Listen to hear how the original Scarface film was impacted by the beginning of the production code, and why people gravitate to characters like Tony Montana in film.
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]]><![CDATA[Episode 1.10 - The Racket: Cops vs. Robbers]]>Mon, 18 Sep 2023 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/episode-110-the-racket-cops-vs-robbersPicture
Regular episodes of The Oscar Project are back and this week I'm discussing the 1928 film The Racket. This story is adapted from a play of the same name and was considered one of the most important cop/gangster films of the time when it was released. Listen now to learn about the threats made against the creators and as always, my own thoughts about the film.

Look for more episodes every Monday as I finish out the rest of the films nominated for Oscars at the very first Academy Awards.
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Music for this episode from https://filmmusic.io, "Onion Capers" and "Breaktime" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 7-Brad Weismann]]>Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-7-brad-weismann​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
In this author interview, I speak with Brad Weismann, an award-winning writer and journalist who has also worked as a stand-up comic and improv actor. He’s contributed to publications and websites worldwide such as Senses of Cinema, Film International, Backstage, Movie Habit, Colorado Daily and Boulder Magazine. His first book, Lost in the Dark: A World History of Horror Films, was recently published by the University of Mississippi and he contributed to the critical collection 100 Years of Soviet Cinema. He joins me today to talk about his new book, Horror Unmasked: A History of Terror from Nosferatu to Nope. 

Listen to hear about what horror is, how horror films are similar to today's superhero films, and why the horror genre has been kept out of the Oscars (with very few exceptions).
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]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 6-Koren Shadmi]]>Tue, 29 Aug 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-6-koren-shadmi​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
In this author interview, I speak with Koren Shadmi, the author of Bionic, Rise of the Dungeon Master, Gary Gygax and the Creation of D&D, and The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television. He joins me today to talk about his graphic novel, Lugosi: The Rise & Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula.

Listen to hear about how Lugosi's history as an activist, how Lugosi's career might have been different had he played Frankenstein's monster, and why Dracula is such an enduring story for film adaptation.
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]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 5-Ian Nathan]]>Tue, 15 Aug 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-5-ian-nathan​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
​In this author interview, I speak with Ian Nathan, the author of Stephen King at The Movies, Ridley Scott: A Retrospective and James Cameron: A Retrospective, and biographies of The Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, and Wes Anderson. He is the former editor and executive editor of Empire, the world's biggest movie magazine, and a regular contributor to newspapers, magazines, and TV. He joins me today to talk about his new book coming out September 7th, Clint Eastwood: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work. 

Listen to hear about how Eastwood fits in to both the old star tradition of Hollywood and the upstart filmmakers that came in the 1970s, how Eastwood can be considered a feminist filmmaker, and whether Eastwood will ever truly retire from filmmaking.
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]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 3-Suzanne Ferriss]]>Tue, 18 Jul 2023 14:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-3-suzanne-ferriss​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
In this author interview, I speak with Suzanne Ferriss whose first book about Sofia Coppola The Cinema of Sofia Coppola: Fashion, Culture, Celebrity was published in February 2021 and she edited The Bloomsbury Handbook to Sofia Coppola, which was published in early 2023. She joins me today to talk about her latest book, Lost in Translation from BFI Film Classics about Coppola’s film that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Listen to hear about Suzanne’s approach to writing about Coppola’s work, the wealth of films she recommends, and thoughts on who might be a good fit to cast in Lost in Translation if it were made today.
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John Kacere on Wikipedia, inspiration for the opening shot of Lost in Translation.

Video for Shawn Mendes's sons "Lost in Japan", inspired by Lost in Translation.
]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 2-Charlotte Booth and Brian Billington]]>Tue, 04 Jul 2023 14:50:57 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-2-charlotte-booth-and-brian-billington​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
​In my second author interview, I speak with guests Charlotte Booth and Brian Billington. Charlotte Booth is a professional writer of history books (including The History of the Undead, and How to Survive in Ancient Egypt), and was also an extra in a Bollywood movie. Brian Billington is an IT professional, amateur photographer, and a lover of movies who enjoys working out where those movies were filmed.

Over the years they’ve created personal movie location tours including Wells, Turin and London, and decided it was time to share this with others. They join me today to talk about their collaboration, The Movie Lover’s Guide to London.
 
Listen to hear about how Charlotte and Brian came up with the idea for the book, some diverging thoughts on James Bond, and the oddest dinner party guest list in film.
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]]><![CDATA[Author Special Episode 1-Mia Mask]]>Tue, 20 Jun 2023 04:00:00 GMThttps://www.theoscarproject.co/podcast/author-special-episode-1-mia-mask​Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and we receive a commission if you visit a link and buy something on our recommendation. Purchasing via an affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra and the opinions expressed in this post are the author's own. For more details see our disclosure policy and privacy policy.Picture
It's a first for The Oscar Project, an interview with an author who writes about movies. Today's guest is Mia Mask, a professor at Vassar College where she teaches African American cinema, Documentary History, and seminars on topics including horror film and auteurs like Spike Lee, Charles Burnett and Ava DuVernay. She also teaches feminist film theory, African national cinemas, and other genre courses. Her commentary can be heard on NPR and her first book Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film was published in 2009. Today she joins me to talk about her new book Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western.

Listen to hear about Mia's work with Criterion, including getting to speak with actor Sidney Poitier, what three of her favorite westerns are, and much more.
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Check out Wikipedia for more information about the Lobo Comics mentioned in the interview.

And check out this article from Collider featuring "10 Actors Who Were Pioneers of the Western Genre."

A Brief Intro to Black Westerns with Mia Mask

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