The Movie Forums Podcast - 2-20-09

[Yoda]

Voila. Have a listen to the first ever Movie Forums Podcast. You can use the embedded player below, or download it directly with the link underneath it.

http://www.movieforums.com/podcasts.php?podcastid=1&switch=1

The Movie Forums Podcast - February 20th, 2009 (http://www.movieforums.com/podcasts.php?podcastid=1)

It's a brisk 13:55, as it was a bit of a rush job, being that it's Oscar-themed and I'm just becoming familiar with the software and equipment involved. It should get a bit more polished as time goes on.

If you have an RSS reader, you can use the podcast feed (http://feeds2.feedburner.com/movieforumspodcast) to automatically receive new editions. I'll also be submitting the feed to iTunes shortly, and I'll be sure to update everyone when it's available there.

UPDATE: as promised, we're on iTunes. :) I'm still fiddling with a logo and will be tweaking some of the info on there, but you can subscribe using this link (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=306197266).

Enjoy. :)

[mikeython1]

Is that you Soda? Pretty cool. :cool:

[John McClane]

Oh hell yes, Chris. That opening is great. You fixed it just right.

[SamsoniteDelilah]

heh... I've got a bad feeling about this... :D

[SamsoniteDelilah]

LOL re "complaining about who wasn't"

[SamsoniteDelilah]

That four-note range of Jackman's spells "C A N ' T M I S S" for Oscar night!!! whoo!

[SamsoniteDelilah]

Nice job, Yoda. :D Very informative and you have a really pleasant voice.
I will say, it kinda sounded like you were reading in the back half, but not distractingly so.
Thanks for the work you put into this and congrats on getting a round toit. ;)

[KasperKristensen]

Awesome. The little box isn't moving across the line for me though. I can still jump through it though.

[Yoda]

Thanks, guys. :) Appreciate the kind words, and I appreciate the constructive criticism, too; hopefully it'll get better over time.

And yeah, the embedded player is being a little goofy for me, too; sorry about that. I'll see what I can do about it.

[Ðèstîñy]

I was wondering what was next. Between certain things you've been saying lately, I thought something else very neat was on the way.

As always, it's freakin' trick!

[KasperKristensen]

You do realize that you don't sound like Yoda in my head anymore don't you? It added flavour :D

[n3wt]

Very nice job Yoda I enjoyed listening and im looking forward to hearing more Podcasts.

[Powdered Water]

Good stuff Chris! That opening was terrific indeed. I don't have anything else witty to say other than I am amazed that a podcast can add ten pounds much like being on television does. Weird huh?

I kid, and I enjoyed the show. Thanks.

[Sir Toose]

Great job Chris!

And, yes, I saw what you did there ;)

I have to say, now that I've heard your voice your posts will take on a slightly different tenor to me. I'm not sure why, I guess I just had a 'voice' assigned to you in my head and you sound much different than I expected. For some reason your diction is much crisper than I had thought it would be but you have been on the radio, right?

Anyway, you're the perfect voice for MoFo as would be expected :D

[spudracer]

Now there's a voice for radio...you wouldn't happen to go by the name Handsome Dan, would you?

Actually sounds like you've been doing it for a while, so kudos!!

[TheUsualSuspect]

I enjoyed that, well done buddy.

[Tacitus]

Top work there!

It's great! In fact, it's podcastastic! ;D

My Firefox RSS bookmarker is working overtime lately...

[Naisy]

I was hesitant about clicking play, but so so so glad I did. Good Job Chris. The force is strong in you.

[Sexy Celebrity]

You need to do call-in shows. That way more Movie Forums members can be heard. It'll be surreal.

[adidasss]

Verreh nice...you're a fast talker ain't you? :D

[Yoda]

Thanks a lot, guys. :) Definitely feels a little weird to put something like this out, but I figure it'll become more natural over time.

I have to say, now that I've heard your voice your posts will take on a slightly different tenor to me. I'm not sure why, I guess I just had a 'voice' assigned to you in my head and you sound much different than I expected. For some reason your diction is much crisper than I had thought it would be but you have been on the radio, right?
Yeah, my old man was a radio host for many years (he still guest-hosts occasionally), and he had me on a number of times; usually to talk about movies, but a few other things, as well.

Mainly, I think it's just that I've grown up around radio. I was screening calls at about 12 and booking guests by 14 or so, so it's just something I'm very familiar with and comfortable around.

Now there's a voice for radio...you wouldn't happen to go by the name Handsome Dan, would you?
:laugh: Genius.

"I could say anything right now, like: you're a complete tool."
"Uh-huh!"

You need to do call-in shows. That way more Movie Forums members can be heard. It'll be surreal.
This is more or less the way I see things going eventually, yes.

Verreh nice...you're a fast talker ain't you? :D
I am! I've been told that all my life. I tried to deliberately slow it down a few times, but I think it ended up sounding, as Sam pointed out, a little scripted/read. Slower talking doesn't come very naturally to me, but hopefully I'll get a bit better at it. :)

[adidasss]

Dude it's awesome. I just love hearing a native speaker speak, especially when one is as eloquent as you. That sounded weird. Anyhoo, you've got a great radio voice, like others have said....:) So like.....wanna go out sometime...? :randy:

[Caitlyn]

Awesome job O' Wise One... I love the accent... ;):D

[adidasss]

What accent? http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc220/diezelpower/unsure.gif

[Sir Toose]

Western PA accent

[Caitlyn]

Western PA accent



Yes... that would be the accent Chris said he doesn't have... :D

[Yoda]

Of course I don't have an accent! I talk normally. It's you crazy southerners that have the accents. ;D

[Holden Pike]

I didn't even know there was a podcast, I've been so busy with the Film Festival craziness. But good job.


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/sic_kid/TheDarkKnightTheJoker13.jpg

As for the content, I don't get all of this Dark Knight lament, really. To say genre movies don't get their due in a decade that has seen Best Picture winners The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gladiator and The Departed doesn't pass the smell test for me. Dramas will always remain the staple of "Oscarness" for whatever the reasons, but if you want to spotlight the odd group out it is comedies, not action or sci-fi and the like. You mention that a movie like Jurassic Park was somehow snubbed but fail to recognize that Jaws, Star Wars (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T. all got Best Picture nominations since the inception of the "blockbuster era".

As for courting a potential audience by including a requisite blockbuster every year, who even cares what the ratings are? The producers of the show itself and the network, sure, as it determines what kind of outrageous ad rates they can set. But unless you're part of that, what possible difference could it make that last year only 32 million people in the U.S. watched the telecast? If The Dark Knight had been nominated for Picture and Director and the ratings spiked up to, say, 40 or even 60 million....so what? The Oscars are what they are. It's never going to get Super Bowl-like ratings in this age of multimedia and so many other televised awards shows in the season, but so what? I just don't get the whole 'the Oscars need Batman to save them' thing I've been hearing since the Fall. Save them from what? You mean unlike say 1988 when all the kids tuned in to see The Last Emperor beat Broadcast News and Moonstruck or 1967 when A Man for All Seasons got by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Sand Pebbles, in this era it's all different and The Academy has lost touch with the lowest common denominator of illegal internet downloader? What a shame.

I'm not jumping on you specifically, Yoda, as you are certainly not the first nor last to raise such concerns in recent years. I just had to get it off of my chest.


ANYway, more podcasts, please. http://smilies.vidahost.com/cwm/cwm/wink.gif

[Yoda]

Fair points, but I would quibble with a few things:

You mention Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T.; true, these are all part of the "blockbuster era," as you mention. But the newest of these is 27 flippin' years old.

Also, I wasn't citing just genre pictures, but specific types of genres, though I think the definition of "genre picture" is rather nebulous. Gladiator may have looked like an action picture at times, but it had to gussy itself up in all sorts of epicness and high drama in order to be taken seriously. You can make the case that The Departed is a special exception, as well, given that the terrible possibility of never properly honoring Martin Scorsese was hanging above the voters' heads.

As for The Dark Knight "saving" the Oscars -- I certainly wouldn't go that far. The Oscars will chug along whether they get 20 million viewers or 60 million viewers...but I don't know if that's true if they get, say, 5 million viewers. Every award is a construct whose value comes only from its prestige and visibility, and both of those diminish with the award's viewership. Unless, of course, someone wants to melt Oscar down and sell the gold to Ed McMahon and MC Hammer.

It's possible that everyone in the business will be just fine with being honored in front of each other, rather than in front of the world, but I think the awards would take on far less importance even in the industry, eventually.

Anyway, glad you dug the thing; I've been scribbling down ideas for other topics and am looking into a few other possible segments. Odds are I'll be expirmenting for a couple of months to see what works. Really appreciate the encouragement, though. :)

[Yoda]

Oh, by the by, we've been accepted by iTunes. :) Ya'll can subscribe using this link:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=306197266

[Holden Pike]

Fair points, but I would quibble with a few things:

You mention Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T.; true, these are all part of the "blockbuster era," as you mention. But the newest of these is 27 flippin' years old.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/110000/images/_114988_spielberg_with_oscars_300.jpg http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ilq27Dptexd8zM:http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Jurassic_Park/jurassic_park_movie_logo.jpg http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:x9KRXccOQUPRwM:http://faculty.washington.edu/kgb/horror/jaws_facetoface.jpg

But you're the one who went to the Jurassic Park well....not exactly a current blockbuster, either, and in all but Lucas' Star Wars I was showing also that Spielberg in particular can't say he hasn't gotten his Best Picture attention, going all the way back to the 1976 ceremony. So they nominated only three of his mainstream megahits and not four or six of 'em (and of course Jurassic Park's "snub" also being the year he won for Schindler's List). That LOTR: Return of the King won Picture as well as a zillion other awards doesn't make the plea of genre poverty seem very credible.

When you consider that Titanic only had 55 million viewers (and thems was 1998 people) and that Return of the King's year was about 43 million, I don't think a popular blockbuster even as the heavy favorite is going to make THAT big a difference, audience wise. Obviously the producers will take 43 over thirtysome every day, but my larger point is it doesn't matter, these things are cyclical, the Oscars will always maintain a large core audience, and for movienerds it's always going to be the biggest game in town so...Dark Knight, Dark Schmight, I says.

[spudracer]

Not to mention, the Oscars have been getting more obscure every year...recognizing films that only a small few have if not watched, but heard of. I remember the "goold 'ole days" when Billy Crystal hosted and always had a good little monologue entrance that, if you ask me, was pretty much the only reason to watch.

I'm sorry, but you can't base viewers on what films are nominated, especially these days. When politics crossed over into the mainstream film industry, I lost interest. The sole reason for watching any film is the escapism you, sometimes, can achieve. I can live in a surreal world for 2+ hours and forget the reality of my life.

I probably won't watch the Oscars, simply because, they're not fun anymore.

[Holden Pike]

I probably won't watch the Oscars, simply because, they're not fun anymore.

Again, were The Last Emperor and Out of Africa and Lawrence of Arabia "fun" by that definition? The Oscars are what they always were.

[nebbit]

:love: it Yods nice voice :yup:

[FILMFREAK087]

Whoa! My mind is blown... In no way did I ever imagine that to be your voice. I figured an older, slightly grittier tone. Man, I HATE the sound of my voice, it's a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Harold Ramis! Good job, by the way.

[Sir Toose]

By the way, Yoda, I like the way you say 'genre'. :)

[undercoverlover]

Bada$$ intro Yoda!

[Yoda]

Hey guys; just wanted to let you know more podcasts are coming. I had to co-host a local radio show a little over a week ago, which took a lot of my attention for awhile. That, and I'm still fiddling with some technical issues to try to improve things.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to record something next week. Thanks for all the downloads and comments so far. More to come! :)

[TheUsualSuspect]

I just subscribed. Looking forward to the updates.

[n3wt]

Im looking forward to the next podcast's :yup: :up: :up: