Happy Saturday Before the Oscars

The big day is finally here! After all the jockeying and campaigning and prognosticating, it’s time to find out who will come out on top during Sunday’s Academy Awards. They’re starting earlier than usual, at 4pm Pacific time on ABC, because Sunday also happens to be the start of Daylight Saving Time. So don’t forget to spring forward.

But before then, meet me at our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel for a LIVE Oscar watch party! It’ll start at 345pm Pacific time on Sunday, a little before the actual ceremony, to give us a few moments to settle in and chat a bit. And this will be a vertical livestream, something we’ve been experimenting with lately. It’ll show up in your shorts feed and you can watch it on your phone or on your computer. Hit the Notify Me button on the link above to make sure you don’t miss a thing. My Boston terrier Baxter will make a special guest appearance, and you’ll probably see Nic and Chris wandering around in the background, too. So get dressed up, bring some movie-themed snacks and join me! Can’t wait to see you.

Let’s get down to it: What’s going to happen on Oscar night? What do you hope to see happen — and are those two different things? In case you missed our Oscar predictions live chat, you can watch it here before filling out your ballot. The witty and insightful Glenn Whipp, awards columnist for the LA Times and a dear friend, went category by category with me and offered his expertise. We both agree it’s going to be a huge night for “Oppenheimer” — that’s pretty easy to figure out — be we differ as to exactly many awards Christopher Nolan’s epic will win. I say seven, Glenn says eight.

A few other random picks: The wildly inventive “Poor Things” will win costume design over the meticulous recreations of “Barbie.” Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the safest bet of the night for her soulful supporting turn in “The Holdovers.” And Ryan Gosling performing “I’m Just Ken” is the moment I’m most looking forward to seeing. We’ll rehash the whole night at 9am PDT Monday with an Oscar reactions livestream at our YouTube channel, so check back with us and share your thoughts.

As for new movies, it was slim pickings over at our channel, as it tends to be around Oscar time. Most folks are playing catch-up with the nominees this weekend, then playing catch-up with the winners next weekend. But we had a couple of new reviews for you:

• KUNG FU PANDA 4. The world did not need another “Kung Fu Panda” movie, but here we are. The franchise wrapped up neatly with the third installment, with Po coming into his own as the Dragon Warrior, earning the respect of the Furious Five and enjoying the love and support of his two dads. This sequel lacks the delicate artistry and warm wit of its predecessors, and its frantic action sequences feel tailored toward a younger audience. Our great friend Kristian Harloff filled in here for Alonso, who’s had Covid this past week (but he’s feeling better!). And in case you’re interested in reading my RogerEbert.com review of “Kung Fu Panda 4,” here it is. In theaters.

• LOVE LIES BLEEDING. The brilliant Katie Walsh returns to help review this lurid lesbian noir, and she was the perfect person to share her thoughts. We both dug the second feature from director and co-writer Rose Glass (“Saint Maud”), a romance with crazy chemistry between stars Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian. It opens in New York and Los Angeles this weekend before expanding the weekend of March 15. In theaters.

• MOVIE NEWS LIVE! Alonso rallied for this but we kept it brief to save his voice. Among the topics we discussed were the “Inside Out 2” trailer, “MaXXXine” and the verdict in the fatal “Rust” shooting. Join us here live every Friday at Noon Pacific.

One of the most fun things I did this week was a segment on AirTalk with Larry Mantle, who also hosts the FilmWeek radio show on LAist 89.3 where I regularly appear. Larry wanted to do a segment on movies that are so bad they’re good, a topic I love. My go-to picks are always “Xanadu” and “Grease 2,” which are generally regarded as terrible but I love them with zero irony. Coincidentally, the Criterion Channel is doing a tribute to Razzie Award “winners” all month, including “Ishtar,” “Showgirls” and “Gigli.” We got lots of calls and emails from listeners with inspired choices of their own, and it was a lively conversation. If you’d like to listen to the whole thing, it’s right here. (Scroll to the bottom of the March 6 episode). What bad movies do you love? Let me know!

Also this week, I had the pleasure of appearing on the Pizza Pod Party Podcast, which is — as the title suggests — a podcast about pizza. My old friend and fellow critic Matt Singer and I talked about pizza in movies with co-hosts and lovely guys Arthur Bovino and Alfred Schulz. It’s a comedy podcast, and yes it was very silly, but I found actual examples of pizza as a means of character development in films like “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “Eat Pray Love.” This was super fun. Here’s the whole episode for your listening enjoyment.

Thank you so much as always for sharing some of your time with me. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, I’d be honored if you’d share it with a friend. Hope to see you or hear from you at some point over Oscar weekend, enjoy the show, and I’ll meet you back here next Saturday.