Sorry for the short hiatus. But we are back with this rave review of Pixar’s Soul. There’s nearly 40 minutes of Oscar Lens analysis of its awards season chances in non-spoilers. Then for our final half hour, you get movie comps & screenplay discussion you won’t hear elsewhere. MMO is Back/What is This Episode? - Top of Show SOUL 2020 OSP: SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Plot Premise/Expectations, Review Scores, + Crew - 3:51 Does/Should This Get a Best Picture Nom? - 7:30 “Through the Eye of a Needle” - 14:12 Production Values: Score/Sound - 17:25 Editing/Cinematography/Animation - 21:47 Character Designs/Performances - 26:06 co-Directors + Screenplay - 29:07 How Many Total Noms? - 34:03 SPOILER WARNING - 39:26 SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW: Let’s Talk About Cats, Baby - 40:26 New Premise for an Old Trope - 44:00 Deus Ex Yay-ina - 46:50 Bests, Highlights, + The Non-Kids Kids Movie - 52:21 Representation Done Right - 59:37 Lowlights + Nitpicks - 1:01:53 FINAL GRADES - 1:08:30 Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:10:32 Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:11:34 Unfortunately, 2020 struck one more time, and we needed to take a 10 day hiatus. It was the longest we’ve been away from the microphones in our 3+ years. But it especially hurt us all the more because we had to delay our thanks and well wishes to you all for 2021. So after some belated tidings of good cheer at the top of the show, we’re even happier to come back to review this particular movie. This Oscar Sprint Profile review of Pixar’s Soul is indeed, a rave. It’s one of our favorite films of the 2020/21 film year, and we are here to celebrate it. We also try and take a negative and turn it into a positive. Obviously, we’re getting to the film a bit later than we hoped. But that also means we were able to do more research and react to more fallout. So this non-spoiler section is nearly entirely filled with awards season speculation, punditry research, analysis, and our projections on all the possible categories where Soul could and should contend. Plus, we do have some unique qualifications for this review. You can find our entire coverage of everything Pixar in our (now) 22 episode long, Soundcloud playlist, “The Films of Pixar.” This rewatch series features our analysis of Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling, and our behind the scenes research on the History of Pixar Company. So we certainly reference that series in this episode, and if you enjoyed this show, do go back and enjoy this playlist. As for our spoiler section, this is where you get some hardcore film study done. We make comparisons to other films you won’t hear elsewhere, and we analyze this script in ways you won’t find on other shows. This movie is truly a joy to behold and worthy of celebration. So let’s get behind its Oscars chances and push it every way we can. Otherwise, and as always, we want to hear your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar 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. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.