Academy Vs Audience
Media & Entertainment Podcasts
Ever since 1928, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed out trophies to what it considered the best in film. Sometimes they were absolutely right, sometimes they were entirely wrong, sometimes they were so, so basic. But in all...
Location:
United States
Description:
Ever since 1928, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed out trophies to what it considered the best in film. Sometimes they were absolutely right, sometimes they were entirely wrong, sometimes they were so, so basic. But in all that time, audiences have had their own opinions, sometimes better, sometimes much worse. And sometimes, when the stars align or the fates allow, they even agree. Academy Vs Audience is a deep dive into Oscar history, revisiting film history from the 1920s to the 2020s; from the Studio Era to the age of the IP Franchise; from the age of the silent film to the age of the novelty silent film. Claire, Erin, and Dan take on each year’s Best Picture according to the Academy, and the Box Office Champ selected by audience dollars*. It’s a fascinating look at enduring classics and a descent into madness, because History Is Always Terrible and audiences make questionable choices.(*Based on revenue earned during its initial run, and the year said run began in. No re-releases. Lots of movies become audience favourites years after their initial release, you are not special, Billy Jack.)
Language:
English
Episodes
2013: 12 Years Catching Frozen Fire (feat. Gina Stewart)
3/5/2026
It's 2013, and it's all about oppressive systems! And Disney. Award season cleared a path for the historical tragi-horror 12 Years a Slave, recounting the true story of a free man forced into a dozen years of brutal servitude, so clear a winner that the Globes had some record-high category fraud to avoid competing with yet, and yet it fell short in many categories? Audiences were split: in North America, audiences came out in droves for Katniss Everdeen's return to the arena in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, while worldwide audiences were lured by the question, do you wanna build a snowman? Book devourer Gina Stewart returns to tell Claire, Erin, and Dan how 12 Years had to soften the trues tales of southern slavery, and join Erin in spiraling into all things Hunger Games, while Claire has a lot of emotions about Frozen. Which film reigns supreme? Who sides where? Find out here!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:02:10:24
2012: The Argovengers
2/19/2026
Ben Affleck escapes Hollywood purgatory while the Marvel Age begins as we reach 2012! Affleck directs a tense yet also funny thriller on the Iran Hostage Crisis and makes it an awards darling by skipping over the international cooperation and diplomacy parts to focus on six people being saved by The Power of The Movies, just what the Academy loves. Audiences, however, could not resist the pull of Marvel Studios rolling their previous movies into one mega-hit, the Fast Five of superhero movies, The Avengers. Claire, Erin, and Dan dig into both to see if they are, in fact, actually that good. Dig in with us!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:04:07
2025's Oscar Snubs
2/5/2026
While Claire and Erin are away, Dan digs into the idea of Oscar snubs, why the term still matters, and which big or acclaimed films of 2025 are conspicuously absent from the 2026 Oscars. Wicked: For Good and Avatar: Fire and Ash are follow-ups to past Best Picture nominees; why couldn't they make the shortlist? And which two films does Dan think the internet is right to feel should have been more loved by the Academy? Find out here!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:00:28:06
2011: The Artist and the Furious
1/22/2026
We reach the second silent movie to win Best Picture, and it only took 83 years. French-made silent era throwback The Artist claims Best Picture, and briefly launches Jean Dujardin in America, through nostalgia, hijinks, and one adorable dog. Erin, Claire, and Dan find themselves charmed, partially from having experienced this era at the beginning of this journey. But audiences were flocking to Brazil, as the Fast and Furious films evolved into their best self with Fast Five, in which Dom and Brian form a supergroup of car-based criminals to pull off a heist while avoiding the pursuit of Dwayne Johnson's Agent Hobbs. Dan and Claire are excited to talk Fast Saga, Erin is experiencing it for the first time: how does it treat her? Does the Artist top the Fast Gang? Find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:43:54
2010: The King's Toys (And Everything is Cute)
1/8/2026
It's a new decade, and intentionally or not, everything is cute. The King's Speech pulled in as many Oscar-bait elements as it could to take the trophy, but the earnest friendship of King George VI (aka Bertie) and speech therapist Lionel Logue is cute and charming enough that Claire and Erin get swept up anyway, although Dan has some notes on their loosey-goosey approach to history. But the audience came out in droves for one "last" adventure with Woody, Buzz, and the gang in Toy Story 3, a movie where the hosts struggle to find nits to pick, beyond stern warnings NOT to unpack how this world works. Who was best? Or cutest? find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:01:51
Year in Review 2025
12/25/2025
As the year comes to a close, it's time to look back at a year of cinema, and look forward to what our 2025 episode may look like. Erin, Claire, and Dan try to figure out what might be crowned Best Picture. Erin compares her heart favourite to what she thinks might win, Claire tries to remember if she saw a movie not for this podcast (She did! Several! Go Claire!), and Dan shows how fun he is at parties by presenting multiple ranked lists. What's leading the Oscar race so far? What Wicked: For Good hot takes do we have? Why is Dan actively rooting for an Avatar sequel? Find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:17:16
(Trans)Formative Franchises with Munsi Parker-Munroe
12/11/2025
As we take our last between-decade break, Munsi Parker-Munroe returns to challenge Dan to a game. Munsi looks back at franchises from their youths, and asks Dan to guess which they genuinely liked, which they pretended to like because they were popular and boy-coded (and Munsi was at the time also boy-coded and hoping to be popular), and which they would have liked if only they'd felt safe indulging in them. Dan weighs in as someone who knew he wasn't supposed to like certain girl-coded shows, but figured what the patriarchy didn't know wouldn't hurt it. What holds up when you stop letting gender norms tell you what to like? Find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:09:14
2009: The Na'vi Locker (w/ Kevin Weir)
11/27/2025
Awards season 2009 came down to a telenovela-worthy duel between Kathryn Bigelow with her war drama The Hurt Locker, and her ex-husband James Cameron, delivering his second consecutive Highest Grossing Movie Ever with Avatar. Kevin Weir re-joins Erin, Claire, and Dan to break it all down. Claire is not thrilled, Dan explains how a later release makes Hurt Locker seem much better, Erin posits you can only like movies about one war. But then it's off to Pandora, to dig into the groundbreaking visuals and threadbare narrative of Avatar, the global phenomenon everybody forgets is one of history's most successful movies. Which do our hosts prefer? Find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:46:04
2008: The Slumdog Knight
11/13/2025
After the directors of Goodfellas and Fargo won Oscars for their bleakest movies to that point, Danny Boyle won over the Academy with something basically uplifting: the story of a poor Indian youth chasing his fairytale ending via a western game show in Slumdog Millionaire. First time viewers Erin and Claire ponder Jamal's journey, while on his third viewing Dan finds some grace for Jamal's dirtbag brother. But the people's champion became a snub that changed everything, as Christopher Nolan's Batman saga reached its apex in The Dark Knight. A billion dollars later, it changed the very face of the Oscars going forward, and we have some takes. Lock in your final answer: listening in.
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:30:23
2007: No Country For Disappointing Threequels (w/ Keith Kollee)
10/30/2025
In the wake of Martin Scorsese getting nominated for his bleakest movie (pre-Silence), the Coen Brothers deliver their bleakest effort (pre-A Serious Man) with No Country For Old Men, pitting an opportunistic hunter Josh Brolin and a pragmatic sheriff Tommy Lee Jones against human Terminator Javier Bardem. Audiences, however, are torn between two threequels that fail to live up to the originals, as Jack Sparrow and Spider-Man face off. Is At World's End a better Pirates movie than it gets credit for? Which Spider-Man villain should have been cut our? Recovered's Keith Kollee returns to help Erin, Claire, and Dan break it down. Join in, lest Anton Chigurh hunt you down for refusing.
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:02:07:47
2006: Departed Pirates
10/16/2025
It's 2006, and get ready for the most thrilling, action packed, high quality bummers of a movie. The Oscar finally found its way to Martin Scorsese, with his tense remake of Hong Kong flick Infernal Affairs, The Departed. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon go head to head in the Battle of the Snitches, and nobody walks away clean. Speaking of nobody being clean, audiences flocked back to Tortuga for the long awaited return of Jack Sparrow and the gang, as the Pirates of the Caribbean seek the Dead Man's Chest. Fish Monster Pirates and colonizing capitalists pursue our heroes while they all manage to scheme against each other. Claire, Erin, and Dan dissect both, while getting flummoxed by which actor got an Oscar nomination. Join in!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:23:08
Does That Best Picture Need a Remake?
10/2/2025
While schedules align, Dan presents a one-man crossover between us and Recovered by asking the question... do the Best Pictures of the 20th century need or warrant a remake? From Wings to American Beauty (at which point they're all so recent it's a hard no), Dan skims through 72 years of Oscars darlings to sum up potential remakes: which could be, which should be, which must not, which already have been, and some fancasts along the way. Do we need a 2020s take on Gone With the Wind? Marty? Platoon? Dan assumes you asked, and he has the answers.
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:00:17:46
2005: Crashing Jedi (feat. Munsi Parker-Munroe)
9/18/2025
It's 2005, and Munsi Parker-Munroe rejoins Erin, Claire, and Dan to discuss what is often called one of if not the worst Best Picture winner ever... by people who have not seen The Broadway Melody. It's Crash time, and Paul Haggis is trying to say something about racism but not managing more than "Racism, boy I dunno." Will the box office champ improve the viewing experience? It's Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, often called the best of the Star Wars prequels, which to some is a badge of honour and to others akin to Roman Scandals being the best Eddie Cantor vehicle. Which side do our co-hosts and guest fall on? Find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:33:43
2004: Million Dollar Ogre
9/4/2025
In the wake of Lord of the Rings dominating the Oscars the previous year, the Academy decided to go small and serious again, while the audience remain here for fantasy good times. The Oscar went to Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood's story of three broken people bonding over boxing until boxing breaks them all the further. Meanwhile, audiences around the world had a relapse of Shrek Fever, flocking to Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey in greater numbers than they had for multiple pop culture icons that year. One has too many subplots and a 40 minute epilogue engineered to ruin your day, one has a high-energy needle-drop every time the escapades pause. Which do Claire, Erin, and Dan prefer? Find out!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:08:45
2003: One Rings to Rule Them All (feat. Gina Stewart)
8/21/2025
It's 2003, and we reach our final Joint Champion, as after two years of being Best Picture nominees and lurking near the top of the box office, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy reached its grand finale with The Return of the King. Gina Stewart is back to help Erin, Claire, and Dan break down the full Lord of the Rings experience, novel and movie versions, as we follow Frodo and the Fellowship past the Two Towers and all the way to Mount Doom. Who's the real king of our trilogy? What was Peter Jackson right to cut from the books, and what was he wrong to cut from the theatrical releases? We tackle it all, join us!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:02:14:07
2002: Spider-Cago
8/7/2025
It's 2002, and Hollywood is swinging, be it to all that jazz, or by webs through the city. The Academy, still waiting to see if Lord of the Rings could stick the landing, gave the big prize to musical adaptation Chicago, which managed the singular achievement of blending the gritty realism Hollywood thinks prestige pictures need with the glitzy, showy song and dance numbers musicals thrive on. Meanwhile, only one man could triumph over Frodo, Star Wars, AND the boy wizard in one year...a SPIDER-Man. Erin, Claire, and Dan dissect the year that Academy and Audience decided not to think too hard and just have a good time. Have a good time with us!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:23:31
Erin's Men of Spider
7/24/2025
While we align schedules, Erin gives us a sneak peek at next episode and beyond as she breaks down the first entries of all three live-action Spider-Man eras, from someone who never read the comics and only knows these as movies. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Sam Raimi's first go-round with the character? How does Amazing Spider-Man reassess the origin in a post-Nolan/Iron Man landscape? And when Spidey comes to the MCU, what's working and not? Who's Erin's favourite Man of Spider? Find out in our special Spider-Sode.
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:00:25:04
2001: A Shrekiful Mind
7/10/2025
In 2001, the question on the mind of Academy voters was "Well we can't risk just awarding Lord of the Rings three years in a row, can we?" and thus an alternate Best Picture was needed: Ron Howard's call-it-a-biopic of John Nash, genius mathematician struggling through schizophrenia, with Russell Crowe taking us from coming-of-age to espionage thriller to one man's battle with his own mind in maybe too little time for all three of those. The audience, however, was all about high fantasy, and of the three beloved franchises that kicked off in 2001, we present the timeless tale of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, both boy and girl are ogres, also there is a donkey, as Dreamworks cracks their Pixar-fighting code with Shrek. Crank some Smash Mouth and come on the journey!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:16:14
2000: Gladiator Impossible
6/26/2025
We enter a new century by jumping back to an old trend and an adaptation of an old TV show, seems about right for 21st century Hollywood. First, the Oscar goes to Ridley Scott's Gladiator, a return to old-school sword and sandal action, only without the Jesus angle. Historical accuracy is nowhere to be found, the plot doesn't merit a lot of deep thought, but Erin, Claire, and Dan answer the important question: are they, in fact, entertained? And then Dan gets a special treat: one and only one (unless the Academy makes wild choices in 2026) chance to talk about the oeuvre of one Ethan Hunt in Mission: Impossible 2, and boy if you thought the LAST one was goofy... The action is as intense as the plots are thin, join us to unpack both!
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:01:36:13
The Secret Masterpieces of the 90s (feat. Munsi Parker-Munroe)
6/12/2025
Before we enter the 21st century, Munsi Parker-Munroe returns to present their Top Ten Secret Masterpieces of the 1990s: ten films that weren't hits, didn't get Oscar love, but delight our guest to no end and they would argue are worthy of your attention just the same, because as films they're weird, they're passionate, and they're more than a little wonderful. Also Dan is here briefly. Erin and Claire will be back soon, but in the meantime, let Munsi introduce you to ten films that should be better known than they are.
Find all of our episodes and the rest of Writing Therapy Productions' various entertainments at www.writingtherapyproductions.com
Duration:00:30:42