On episode 299 of the AwardsWatch Podcast, it's an all editors show as Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello look at the wealth of fall festival lineup announcements that came in this week from Venice and Toronto. In the pod, the trio start with Venice , which will be the kickoff of no less than three Netflix titles: Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein , Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly and the return of Kathryn Bigelow with A House of Dynamite...
Jul 25, 2025•1 hr 14 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 109 of the...
Jul 24, 2025•2 hr 8 min
On episode 298 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Griffin Schiller to review the latest film in the MCU, The Fantastic Four: The First Steps . You can also read the published review from Trace Sauveur on the website here . You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more. This podcast runs 1h27m. We will be back soon t...
Jul 23, 2025•1 hr 27 min
On episode 297 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello and AwardsWatch contributors Dan Bayer, Josh Parham, and Jay Ledbetter to go back 50 years and take a look at the 48th Academy Awards, covering the films of 1975. On this retrospective, the AW team take a look back at what might’ve been the greatest Best Picture lineup of all time, featuring the films One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , ...
Jul 21, 2025•2 hr 40 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 108 of the...
Jul 17, 2025•2 hr 42 min
It's still warm from the heat of the nominations this morning for the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, where Apple dominated the competition, leading both the drama and comedy fields with the long-awaited second season of Severance (27) and the first season of The Studio (a record-setting 23). On episode 296 I am joined by The Ankler's Katey Rich to break down this year's nominees. From the ongoing strength of The White Lotus , continuing to dominate the acting categories, to buzzy new shows like The...
Jul 15, 2025•35 min
On episode 295 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Griffin Schiller to review the latest film from director James Gunn, Superman , starring David Corenswet as the Last Son of Krypton (and Clark Kent, of course), Rachel Brosnahan as intrepid reporter Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as evil real estate tycoon turned government-overthrowing villain Lex Luthor. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever...
Jul 12, 2025•1 hr 39 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 107 of the...
Jul 10, 2025•1 hr 57 min
On episode 294 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributors Josh Parham and Jay Ledbetter to play the Director Stock Market Game. Two years ago, the AW podcast team talked about the state of modern movie stars and discussed who might be the future movie stars of films. Given how the trend of the film industry is leaning more towards IP driven films and becoming a director’s medium, it’s only right the team did a follow-up episode to talk about s...
Jul 07, 2025•2 hr 19 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 106 of the...
Jul 03, 2025•2 hr 3 min
On episode 293 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Dan Bayer to review F1: The Movie , and talk about their favorite films of 2025 so far, which include conversations on Black Bag, Sinners, The Life of Chuck, and more. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more. This podcast runs 1h21m. We will be back in next wee...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 21 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 105 of the...
Jun 26, 2025•2 hr 1 min
On episode 292 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to review the latest film from Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, 28 Years Later. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more. This podcast runs 1h08m. We will be back in next week for a review of F1: The Movie , and talk about our favorite films of th...
Jun 23, 2025•1 hr 9 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 104 of the...
Jun 19, 2025•2 hr 42 min
On episode 291 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Karen Peterson to review the second feature film from Oscar-nominated writer-director Celine Song, Materialists. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music, YouTube and more. This podcast runs 1h05m. We will be back in next week for a review of the latest film from Pixar, Elio , as...
Jun 16, 2025•1 hr 5 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 103 of the...
Jun 13, 2025•2 hr 22 min
Good horror films should terrify audiences with memorable monsters and eerie effects, but great horror will also fearlessly tackle timely issues with complex characters and impactful resolve. This is exactly what Tina Romero does in her feature debut, “Queens of the Dead,” with her talented team of collaborators. Though she never expected to make a movie about zombies, the title makes for a beautiful nod to her dad, George, aka the “Father of the Zombie Film” or “Godfather of the Dead,” while st...
Jun 10, 2025•40 min
On episode 290 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, AwardsWatch contributor Mark Johnson, and special guest Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly Content Update Editor and host of the And the Runner Up Is podcast, for part two of their Best Actress Tier Rankings. In the second part of the Best Actress tier rankings (listen to Part 1 here ), the team return to the scene of the crime from last week t...
Jun 09, 2025•4 hr 18 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 102 of the...
Jun 05, 2025•1 hr 44 min
On episode 289 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, AwardsWatch contributor Mark Johnson, and special guest Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly Content Update Editor and host of the And the Runner Up Is podcast. Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night. While everyone is settling into the summer blockbuster season and recovering from the Cannes Film Festival from the month of May, th...
Jun 02, 2025•3 hr 58 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 101 of the...
May 29, 2025•2 hr 25 min
The 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has ended but not without a few bumps along the way, including a full city power outage just hours before the Closing Ceremony. AwardsWatch Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello (along with a handful of contributors) were on the ground, watching the films that will soon be hitting future festivals and cinemas near you. On episode 288, we discuss our impressions of this year's fest as a first...
May 27, 2025•1 hr 25 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 100 of the...
May 22, 2025•2 hr 54 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 99 of the ...
May 16, 2025•2 hr 30 min
On episode 287 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello, and special guest Christina Birro of Pop Culture Confidential to preview the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, which they will all be attending for the next two weeks. They talk about what it is like going to the festival, the film’s in and out of competition that they are looking forward to see, and which film they think will win the Palme d'Or this ye...
May 08, 2025•56 min
to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 98 of the Director...
May 08, 2025•1 hr 22 min
On episode 286 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch contributor Karen Peterson to review the latest film from the MCU, Thunderbolts* , in a discussion full of SPOILERS. They also take a look into what the future plan for the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like via the post credit scene of this newest project. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amaz...
May 05, 2025•1 hr 26 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 97 of the ...
May 01, 2025•2 hr 20 min
On episode 285 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributors Karen Peterson and Mark Johnson to preview the films coming during the 2025 Summer. Summer movie season is upon us. As Sinners and A Minecraft Movie dominate the Spring box office, we’re heading into the time of the year where everyone is going on vacation, out of school, and looking to cool off from the heat by going to see some of the biggest films of...
Apr 28, 2025•1 hr 44 min
Welcome to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. On episode 96 of the ...
Apr 24, 2025•1 hr 48 min
