Is there an Oscar ceremony from before you were born that you wish you could have seen live?
I would have loved to have been at the 1951 Oscars because I’m a huge All About Eve fan and that film won six Oscars including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for my favorite actor from that movie, George Sanders. Unfortunately Sanders accepted the award without giving a speech — if I had been there I would have bounded up to the stage and encouraged him to say something!
In an age where there are so many award shows, why have the Oscars continued to matter?
The Oscars are simply the gold standard, the ones that matter more than any other. And I do believe that for the most part, their choices do stand the test of time.
If you won an Oscar, who would be the first person you’d thank in your acceptance speech?
I’d thank my first boss, Mark Harris, who took a chance on a kid two months out of college and hired me as his assistant at Entertainment Weekly in 1995. Since then he’s gone on to become one of the most acclaimed film historians and authors — it was a full-circle thrill for me to interview him on TCM about his Mike Nichols biography last year.
Do you think the Oscars should add new categories? If so, what categories should they be?
I think it would be fun to honor the Best Scene, just like the Grammys have awards for Album of the Year and Record of the Year. That would be a fantastic way to honor a film that wouldn’t necessarily win Best Picture but has an unforgettable moment in it.
What’s a forgotten Best Picture winner that you think deserves more attention?
Mrs. Miniver is certainly less well known than some of the other Best Picture winners of its era, like Casablanca and Gone With the Wind, but I think it’s a beautiful film that feels especially relevant in this unsettling moment in history.
What’s a Best Picture nominee that you think should have won the big award?
Broadcast News. No disrespect to The Last Emperor, but James L. Brooks’ whip-smart and hilarious drama gets my vote for best film of the 1980s.
A couple years ago, ‘Parasite’ became the first Foreign-Language feature to win Best Picture. Do you think there’s a chance a documentary or an animated feature could ever win Best Picture?
I’m not sure that’s as likely. No documentary has even been nominated, and animated films seem to be relegated to their own separate category now. But then again, I doubted that a foreign-language film would ever win, so never say never.
Who do you think will win Best Picture this year? Who do you hope will win?
I’m a sentimental guy so I’m rooting for Belfast or CODA, but I do think The Power of the Dog will likely win it and it will be well deserved.
