Erick Weber of Awards Ace joins us for The Midyear Oscars Report as we discuss the best of 2020 thus far & as we ask the burning questions from that Mulan / Tenet $$$ to the Netflix rise to & through all the movies we hope could capitalize on a weird season. INTRODUCING ERICK WEBER OF AWARDSACE.COM - Top of Show What is This Show?/What’s Coming Soon - 2:30 MIDYEAR OSCARS REPORT W/ ERICK WEBER: How Has Film Handled The Pandemic - 2:54 CONTENDER OR PRETENDER: Da 5 Bloods - 4:55 King of Staten Island - 6:20 Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always - 9:02 Shirley - 10:53 (and Women Directors Shining; The Invisible Man) First Cow - 14:45 Tommaso - 17:29 The Truth - 20:00 Bull - 22:14 HORROR MOVIES TO WATCH FOR: Promising Young Woman - 24:05 Saint Maud - 26:40 Rent-A-Pal - 30:45 BURNING QUESTIONS SHAPING AWARDS SEASON: Will $30 Mulan Rentals Work? - 33:04 Tenet. Just.Tenet - 34:53 What’s The Role of Film Festivals for 2020? - 38:50 Netflix Adjusting to the New Oscars Calendar - 41:01 Canaries in Coal Mines + French Dispatches - 43:10 What Type of Movie Ideally Shines in 2020 - 47:37 Pixar v Netflix in Animated Feature - 50:09 THE BIGGIES: Lead Actress - 52:20 (Where Erick Talks About The Goal of Awards Ace) Lead Actor - 56:16 Best Picture - 1:00:13 Erick’s Work and Socials - 1:04:11 Your Homework/Our Socials - 1:05:23 What’s Next For MMO - 1:06:04 We were thrilled to get Erick Weber of Awards Ace back on the show after he guested with us last Oscar season for our Best Picture Preview. So do make sure you make his website Awards Ace a go-to in your film life, and you can follow all his insider takes & read all his reviews at ErickWeber & at AwardsAce on Twitter, and at ErickWeber on Facebook and Instagram. For this special Oscar Race Checkpoint, we tackle The Midyear Oscars Report, and that means looking both backwards & forwards at the insane, but still rewarding 2020 film year and its upcoming awards season. So we begin by asking Erick his thoughts on 10 films that’re all over his Big Boards on Awards Ace & whether or not they’re bonafide contenders or wilting pretenders heading into our next Oscars. From springtime Netflix releases like Da 5 Bloods to indie gems like Bull to upcoming horror films like Saint Maud & Promising Young Woman, Erick shouts out his faves and a few of his disappointments on the year thus far. Then we don’t make it easy on him with 7 burning questions. Will Mulan & Tenet reopen big business? What’ll be the impact of this year’s fall film festival circuit & the Netflix release strategy? Will films like The French Dispatch shift to the winter or to PVOD? And what kind of indie & genre movies could actually see a boost in this insane year? Finally, we ask him for his thoughts, hunches, and hopes for 3 big categories including Actor, Actress, & Best Picture. As always, we want to hear your Midyear Oscars report. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thanks for clicking play.