Episode 30: The New Episode 20

The Overthinkers tackle listener questions, Barack Obama’s cult of personality, and the 2009 Oscar Nominations.

The Overthinkers (well, some of them) gather in New York’s East Village. Matthew Wrather hosts a panel including Matthew Belinkie, Mark Lee, Jordan Stokes, and Ryan Sheely (live), and Peter Fenzel and Dave Shechner (remotely) to Overthink listener questions, the inauguration, Barack Obama’s cult of personality, and the Oscars.

As always, call 20-EAT-LOG-01 (that’s (203) 285-6401) to leave a voicemail. (Email is still down.)

Download Episode 30 (MP3)

7 Comments on “Episode 30: The New Episode 20”

  1. Matthew Belinkie OTI Staff #

    Slumdog just won the Screen Actor’s Guild Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture. C’mon people, this is getting out of control. Even if you loved Slumdog Millionaire, did it really have the best ACTING of 2008? Really?

    This just seems weird to me. Slumdog didn’t get nominated for a single acting Oscar. Not one. Doubt got nominated for FOUR. (And of course, I would have given the award to The Dark Knight, but that’s because I’m a Philistine Joe Six Pack who is ruining American culture for everyone.)

    Reply

  2. Gab #

    Belinkie: Slumdog did NOT deserve any best acting nods, let alone victories, and especially not with other and better performances out there. They GAVE it to Slumdog and didn’t even nominate TDK, and that bothers me- I’m not saying it as a fangirl, but as a fan of movies: the acting of the group in TDK was much better. But best ensemble cast from what I saw should have gone to Frost/Nixon- I’m irked over its loss.

    Reply

  3. Gab #

    Re: Inauguration Quartet- ::raises hand:: String player. There’s a reason orchestras don’t play outside in that kind of weather, so yeah, it is perfectly acceptable for them to have done what they did. And John Williams is just America’s Composer- he gets commissioned for stuff having to do with “America” all the time, like (Special) Olympics, bicentennial anniversaries (Statue of Liberty), and the Air Force itself, even.

    Re: Obama- YES! Higher level of scrutiny later because he has been totally pedestalized and iconized by the masses. But I too hope that yes, we can.

    Re: Frost/Nixon- Actually, John Adams was a miniseries. ;) But I did really enjoy Frost/Nixon. I don’t think Slumdog was better for the same reasons (I think Belinkie) said, but it will probably win. But as for how Jamal gets on the show, I think it’s heavily implied he does it at work somehow.

    Re: Oscars in general- I saw the trailer for The Visitor- a white professor finds an illegal African immigrant couple living in his apartment in New York and bonds with them by playing drums with the husband.

    And I think it’s bullshit that they cut the number of nominees for best song just because they don’t want the ceremony to go longer- proof right there how it isn’t about the art any more.

    Re: California- California was functioning so well the year before the Governator that it actually would have had the THIRD largest economy in the world if it was its own country. First was Wal-Mart. Second was China. I remember reading that in something like _Newsweek_ or _Time_. I’m too lazy to look it up to be certain, though.

    Souljaboy Week?

    And is it ironic that this stuff is vegetarian?

    http://www.baconnaise.com/

    Reply

  4. Barney #

    Do check out The Visitor, its a great little film.

    Reply

  5. stokes OTI Staff #

    As someone who liked Slumdog a lot, I’d tend to agree… overall the acting was the weakest part of that movie. Mind you, the child actors were never obnoxious (a non-trivial accomplishment!), and Anil Kapoor was a hoot. But The Dark Knight definitely had better acting overall. As did the Wrestler, also not nominated.

    @Gab – yeah, they slip it in that one of the people at Jamal’s office set up the phone system that they use to pick the contestants.

    @Barney, can you tell us more about The Visitor? Or should we see it without any preconceptions?

    Reply

  6. Randombilly (from Orlando) #

    For now I just wanted to make mention to future (and I suppose, also past?) time travelers that on this date at this time I can be found at 28°24’49.29″N, 81°26’44.69″W, which is, according to Google Earth (version 4.3.7284.3916 beta), 76 feet above sea level, in the north western corner of the house, and if you knock 3 times on the front window and use the keywords “GREAT SCOTT” I will believe anything you tell me and follow your instructions exactly. I suppose that should happen immediately upon me hitting “Submit Comment” below…
    You could also just leave a note on my car if it is, for some reason, unsafe to make personal contact, it’s the silver and black Smart Car in the driveway. I’ll go check it now.

    Reply

  7. Gab #

    This week’s podcast should be about the Superbowl/NFL- TOTALLY part of The Popular culture, eh?

    Reply

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