Oscars Outsider

It's DRAFT DAY on Oscars Outsider!Craig and Dylan go head-to-head in our second annual Oscars Fantasy Draft, selecting 26 films they think will dominate the 2027 Academy Awards and the awards season leading up to them.With *The Odyssey* looking like the obvious first overall pick, is there any strategy that can beat Christopher Nolan's epic? And how much should we be willing to gamble on films like *Dune: Part Three*, *Project Hail Mary*, and *I Play Rocky*?Plus, we dig into the disastrous opening of *Digger*, debate whether Tom Cruise still has a shot at an Oscar nomination, and discuss what the Warner Bros. shake-up could mean for the future of ambitious studio filmmaking.There are risky picks, an actual draft-day trade, some immediate regrets, and a few movies we might already be betting against.**Follow the draft all season long:** https://oscarsoutsider.comWho has the stronger roster? What did we draft way too early? And which movie did we foolishly leave on the board?Let us know in the comments!#Oscars2027 #OscarsPredictions #TheOdyssey #Dune3 #OscarsOutsider

The Oscar race keeps getting messier. We break down the first reactions to Digger, the New York Film Festival relaunch of Paper Tiger, the growing momentum behind I Play Rocky, and the latest category-placement news around The Odyssey. Then we dive into what may be the most controversial Oscar category: Best Documentary. We make our early documentary predictions and get into NAZA, Musk, 14th, You Can See Everything, The History of Concrete, Once Upon a Time in Harlem and more — plus the bizarre history of a category where Academy voters once reportedly used flashlights to signal when they wanted a movie eliminated. And before we wrap up, we preview next week’s Oscars Outsider fantasy draft and some of the rule changes we’re making for year two.

Is Digger already in trouble before it even opens?With the film’s release approaching, we look at the warning signs around Warner Bros.’ campaign, the strange press tour built around Tom Cruise’s “Mr. Movies” persona, and whether Cruise can still sell an original movie the way his reputation suggests.We also wrap up TIFF, where La Bola Negra won the People’s Choice Award and cemented itself as a major Best Picture contender, before previewing the New York Film Festival. Which films could surge in New York—and which could leave with their Oscar stock damaged?Plus: Artificial, Behemoth!, Fjord, Paper Tiger, You Can See Everything, I Play Rocky, and more as the fall festival season starts reshaping the Oscar race.Oscars Outsider covers the awards race, film festivals, Hollywood history, and the movies fighting their way toward Oscar night.Our last year's Oscars fantasy draft: https://youtu.be/wlQ7VZcnNPo

The fall festival season is starting to reshape the Oscar race.We break down the surprising end of the Venice Film Festival, where Woman Unknown pulled off an unexpected Golden Lion win, before turning to one of the biggest questions coming out of Telluride and TIFF: is Fjord suddenly in trouble? After winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes, its North American reception has been much more divided—and the backlash could matter when awards season gets serious.We also get into the huge TIFF response to I Play Rocky, whether it could become this year’s crowd-pleasing Best Picture contender, the growing buzz around Artificial, Netflix finally giving some of its awards movies real theatrical windows, France’s latest International Feature dilemma, and some increasingly wild Oscar predictions.Oscars Outsider looks at the awards race, film festivals, Hollywood, and Oscar history from slightly outside the usual consensus.Subscribe for weekly Oscar predictions, reactions, and film history.I’d use “Is Fjord Starting to Fall?” rather than repeating “Is Fjord in Trouble?” verbatim—the thumbnail and title reinforce each other without saying exactly the same thing.

The Best International Feature Film Oscar is the most chaotic, politically charged, and scandal-ridden category in Academy history — and Dylan, Craig, and Sean are here to prove it.In this episode: a full history of the award from its 1948 origins to today, including the infamous 1993 Uruguay scandal (a disqualified film, a federal lawsuit, and a French co-production sitting on the same ballot), the 1967 race where The Battle of Algiers won the Golden Lion while French critics boycotted its Venice premiere and stormed out of the auditorium, and the Michael Haneke Caché controversy that rewrote the language rules forever.Plus: how the Anatomy of a Fall debacle directly caused a sweeping new AMPAS rule — and what it means for the 2025 race. Early country submissions are in: Romania is claiming the Palme d'Or winner Fjord, Japan grabbed the Hamaguchi film All of a Sudden, South Korea went with Possible Love over Hope. And the hosts react to mid-Venice buzz on Wild Horse Nine, Robert Pattinson in Prime Time, and Nathan Fielder's surprise Elizabeth Holmes documentary from Telluride.Films discussed: The Battle of Algiers, A Man and a Woman, Fjord, All of a Sudden, Possible Love, Wild Horse Nine, Anatomy of a Fall, Caché, Paradise Now, La Strada, A Place in the World, Close to Eden, Loves of a Blond, and more.Chapters:0:00 Venice & Telluride news13:58 History of Best International Film28:36 The 1993 Uruguay disqualification scandal42:15 The 1967 race: Battle of Algiers vs. A Man and a Woman1:09:28 New AMPAS rule & 2025 race submissions