In this episode’s Oscar Fairy Flashback, we go back to the 88th Academy Awards, held on February 28, 2016 and honoring the films of 2015. Some of the big contenders that year included Mad Max: Fury Road, Spotlight, The Revenant, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Steve Jobs, and The Martian. Which snubs will we correct? Which films will divide or unite us? How many more Oscars will we try to give to Mad Max: Fury Road? And why was Jen the only one who saw The Revenant when it came out in 2015? Listen to find out!
What is an Oscar Fairy Flashback? At the Long Take Review, we have one eye always on the Oscar race. Usually, that means we are looking forward to the upcoming Academy Awards, talking through the race as it happens. But given our collective history of caring about these silly awards, we occasionally step back and train our eye on an earlier year in Oscar history. Regular listeners know we frequently talk about what we would change in the current race if we had the power of an Oscar Fairy; we decided to use that magic wand on the past with this Oscar Fairy Flashback, in which we’ll discuss what we would, in hindsight, like to change about the nominees and winners from a chosen year.
To spice up the discussion, P.T. designed a point spending system. Each co-host will receive 10 points for this round, and carry over any leftover points from the previous Oscar Fairy Flashback if we participated. To swap out a nominee in a below-the-line category (the technical and production crew categories as well as speciality film categories like International, Animated, Documentary), we have to spend 1 point; swapping out a nominee in an above-the-line category (screenplay, acting, or directing) requires 2 points; and swapping out a best picture nominee is 3 points. To change the winner within a given category costs double points: so 2 points to change the winner below-the-line, 4 points for above, and 6 points for best picture.
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