Ep. 43: Pierrot Le Fou & The 2016 Oscars

On today's show, Monica Castillo, contributor for RogerEbert.com, IBTimes, and whole host of other prestigious publications, makes her debut appearance on our little podcast. She's joining Lady P and Martin Kessler for a discussion about the 43rd film on the Sight and Sound Critic's Poll, Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 feature PIERROT LE FOU. This is Godard's third appearance on the S&S list - the first two being BREATHLESS (#13)  and LE MEPRIS (#21). The panelists discuss the ways in which Godard uses PIERROT LE FOU to comment on his past achievements, while still attempting to tackle more contemporary political subject matter.

And speaking of contemporary subject matter, the 88th Academy Awards Ceremony is coming up on Sunday, Feb 28th. For our second topic, we're taking a break from our usual cinema history analysis to talk about the annual awards show - though one could make the case that the Oscars are more of a relic of movie history than any of the films we discuss on this show. The Academy has come under fire in recent years for it's lack of diversity and its myopic focus on films that appeal largely to an older white audience. They've recently taken steps to try and bring a new crop of younger people of varying ethnicities into the fold, but will that be enough to renew interest in the show? They discuss.