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Frontrunners and Challengers

Sasha Stone

AwardsDaily.com is a site dedicated to tracking the Oscar race and exposing its rich underbelly. With Founder and Editor Sasha Stone, who is joined by writers Jeremy Jentzen and Scott Kernen.

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  • 29 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 1 hr 48 min
  • English

Episodes 29

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  • October 22 · 1 hr 38 min

    Ep. 102 - Your Oscar Primer for You Can See Everything

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss the Oscar chances of Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s You Can See Everything and what it would take to get it into the various guilds. What does it take to get into Best Picture and Best Director? We go through what has to happen for it to make it all the way and what it might win. Scott went to the Montclair Film Fest and saw I Play Rocky, which played like gangbusters. And we talked a bit about the Netflix show East of Eden. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • October 15 · 1 hr 43 min

    Ep. 101 - Is Hollywood Ready for AI?

    Hollywood is at a crossroads in many ways, but one major one is its use of AI. It is here, whether they are ready or not. In this year’s Oscar race, some films and documentaries use AI. We don’t know how the industry voters will react to those movies. We also talk about the Narnia trailer, the new Daily Wire movies, and more. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • October 8 · 1 hr 42 min

    Ep. 100 - Frontrunners and Challengers: Can Tom Cruise Still Win an Oscar if Digger Bombed?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss the current Oscar race as shaped by the pundits and bloggers (there is no THERE there yet). I think Tom Cruise is still in play, but Scott and Jeremy disagree. We talk about The Social Reckoning, Artificial, and what the Best Picture race looks like. Lots of spicy gossip too. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • September 24 · 1 hr 31 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers: Ep. 99: Tom Cruise in Digger! Is It a Best Actor Winner?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss the Digger reception. Mixed, divisive- what does that mean for Oscar? Can identity-driven stories be enough? The Odyssey remains the strong frontrunner that, so far, no film has matched or challenged. The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth trailer drops, and boy does it look good. Then we try to suss out who took Digger out of their predictions after the screening. What happened to the Social Reckoning? The Invite remains one of the best of the year. For the Emmy Sidebar: the absolutely terrible Netflix show, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • September 11 · 1 hr 40 min

    Ep. 97: Talking Best Actor after Telluride, Andrew Scott? Tom Cruise? Where Are We in the Race?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen catch up on everything that happened at the Telluride Film Festival and the Best Actor shakeup - John Malkovich drops out of play in Israel, the Digger trailer drops, but will Andrew Scott just win the whole thing anyway? Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • September 3 · 1 hr 11 min

    Ep. 96: Hollywood's Free Speech Hypocrisy, The Telluride Film Festival Begins!

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen talk about Mark Ruffalo and the lies Hollywood tells itself about censorship and freedom of speech. We also talk Telluride! Scott is leaving on a jet plane and will be covering the festival every day. We go through the lineup and talk the Oscars from here. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • August 20 · 1 hr 50 min

    Oscar Podcast: Can The Invite Be a Major Contender?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss whether or not The Invite will land in the major categories. We also talk about ideal Oscar pairings for presenting awards, wading into the JK Rowling debate, and what happened at the most recent Oscar meeting. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • August 14 · 1 hr 59 min

    Oscar Podcast: Frontrunners and Challengers: Who Has the Buzz, Matt Damon or Tom Cruise?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen talk about the Best Picture race and whether this is Tom Cruise's year or Matt Damon's. Does Tom Cruise getting an Honorary Oscar hurt his chances? How do the new voters vote? Also talking Bucking Fastard and the Fall film festivals. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • August 7 · 1 hr 51 min

    Ep. 92 Frontrunners and Challengers: Can Obsession Be A Major Player?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss the Oscars and whether Obsession can crack not just Best Picture but the other categories. The Odyssey seems like the film to beat, but do people really like the movie? Will Cancel Culture ever end? Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • July 30 · 1 hr 58 min

    Ep 90: Frontrunners and Challengers: Who Will Save the Golden Globes!?

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss the HFPA’s $150 million lawsuit against Penske Corp. in an attempt to take back the Golden Globes. Can they break up the unethical Penske monopoly on the trades and the Globes? Also Behemoth! Starring Pedro Pascal. We talk Best Actor and Best Actress. We talk The Odyssey. We talk Ryan Gosling and his chances for Project Hail Mary. And we read from Joseph Kahn’s brilliant piece in the Hollywood Reporter: Bring Back the Hollywood A*****e. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • July 23 · 1 hr 45 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers - Ep. 89: How Many Oscars Can The Odyssey Win?

    [If you don’t want these drops, you can deselect “Frontrunners and Challengers” in your preferences] Sasha Stone talks with Scott Kernen and Jeremy Jentzen about The Odyssey, how they liked it, and how many Oscars it will win. We also talk about the new Little House and whether it’s “woke” or not. We also talk about the Venice and Toronto announcements of upcoming films. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • July 9 · 1 hr 53 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers: The Odyssey Dives Into the Culture War

    Sasha Stone, Jeremy Jentzen, and Scott Kernen talk about the “woke” casting choices in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and how that has turned it into yet another battle in our ongoing culture war. The film is on track to make close a billion worldwide but it is also becoming a target by the Right and a virtue signal by the Left. How will it do in the Oscars? Also, we go through Armie Hammer’s walk-back of his performance in Citizen Vigilante, and the various categories, and where they stand now. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • June 18 · 1 hr 55 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers Podcast

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen talk about the state of the film industry and the Oscar race. Sean Penn’s January 6th movie, the first AI movie, Disclosure Day’s box office, Uwe Boll’s new movie, and whether Obsession has any Oscar prospects. We also talk about how Hollywood has become so alienating because of its politics, and whether there is any hope that they will stop being so completely partisan in the future. Have a listen. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • June 11 · 1 hr 56 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers: Talking Cannes, Obsession and the Oscar Race

    After a bit of a break, Sasha, Scott, and Jeremy are back to talk about Obsession and why the horror genre allows people to be more creative. We talk about the current Oscar race and whether Cannes will be a factor this year. We talk about AI and why it is not going away anytime soon. We also go through Scott’s most recent predictions and try to find the “Woke Movie” we know will win Best Picture. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • May 8 · 1 hr 54 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers: Is it Tom Cruise's Year?

    Sasha Stone, Jeremy Jentzen, and Scott Kernen talk about the very early Oscar race, Tom Cruise in Digger, and why we are getting ahead of ourselves and how that’s not great for the Oscars. Also, can Jafar Jackson get a nomination for Michael or is the film too controversial and the Best Actor race in general. Plus, 9/11 conspiracy theories. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • April 16 · 1 hr 45 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers: The Paramount Merger, The Cannes Lineup and the Emmy Sidebar

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen discuss the Paramount/WB merger and why it’s better for Hollywood, the Cannes Lineup that has no American movies, and we talk a bit about the catastrophic year of 2020 and how it broke America. If you’d like to opt out of these emails you can do so in your subscriber preferences. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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  • March 26 · 1 hr 26 min

    Frontrunners and Challengers: Lessons from 2026 and Project Hail Mary's Oscar Chances

    Sasha Stone, Scott Kernen, and Jeremy Jentzen ruminate on last year’s Oscar race and what mistakes were made, and how the Oscars can improve. Project Hail Mary and way too early Oscar predictions for Best Picture. Plus, will controversy chase the Michael Jackson movie? How will Greta Gerwig’s Narnia fare? You can stop getting these emails by clicking on your subscriber preferences. Get full access to AwardsDaily's Daily at awardsdaily.substack.com/subscribe

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Showing 1–20 of 29 episodes