Season 9 Bracket Challenge, Part 2: Round of 16

0:01 Today on the Film and Whiskey podcast, we are continuing our bracket challenge with the round of 16. We're going to be whittling this thing down to just 8 remaining movies. We're going to be drinking whiskey while we do it, and we're giving out the coveted Filmy Awards. That's all ahead on Film and Whiskey. Hey everybody, welcome into the Film and Whiskey podcast. I'm Bob Book. I'm Brad Gee. And Brad Gee, we didn't say this last time, but you know what kind of episode this is? This is a bracket episode, Bob. Well, I mean, but in the larger category, in the big scheme of things, it's a bonus episode. It's a. Bonus episode.

0:44 We don't do enough bonus episodes anymore, man. We have. We have busy lives now, so this is a real treat to get to hear that from you. Yeah, it it it does not get shared as often as it ought. And in the spirit of the bonus episode and not doing enough of them, we are bringing you extra bonus bonus episodes because for the first time ever, we have divided the bracket challenge into three episodes. We tried our damnedest to get that thing down to under an hour, and we've just barely made it, and we had only made it halfway through what we intended to do. So you get another episode, Brad. This is the first time we've done the round of 16 as its own thing. Yeah, and I'm very excited for it. I I think A, we went really long on the first round and B, this is A, this is a heck of a lineup of movies, Bob.

1:31 We watched a ton of great cinema this year. We sure did, man. Modern classics indeed. And I'll go ahead and real quick, let's go through the list of 16 films remaining. Folks, if this is your first time joining Film and Whiskey, why did you choose this episode? First of all, like, why is this your first one? But you know, welcome in and we're glad to have you. But maybe go back and listen to the prior episode where we start with the full battery of movies from this season. We started with 32 films, and these are the 16 remaining. Whiplash, Ratatouille 1917 La La Land, Parasite, Spider Man, Into the Spider Verse, Inside Out, The Holdovers, Oppenheimer, The Wolf of Wall Street, How to Train Your Dragon, Mad Max Fury Rd., Past Lives, JoJo Rabbit, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Godzilla -1 dude, I think things are going to start to get a little harder this time around, Brad.

2:34 Yeah, it's it's going to be a little spicy this round of 16 Bob. Now while we get through these, we are going to be trying 1W today from our friends at Old Hammer. We tried the West Fork Whiskey last episode. I liked it better than Brad did, but he has assured me that he likes these old hammers a little bit better. I think maybe today. Brad, do you want to do the cask strength Old Hammer or do you want to do the rum barrel finished? I think we should do the cast strength, you know, stick with a more typical expression, and then we'll move into their finished product with the final episode. I like it, man. But before we get into all that, folks, you can follow along with this bracket if you haven't already done so. Go to our website, filmwhiskey.com. That's film whiskey with an e.com. The Season 9 bracket will be at the top banner. You can download your own copy and please share with us who your pick for the Season 9 champion would be. Whether or not Brad, Brad and I have already thrown that movie into the fiery chasm, That doesn't mean it has to be in your fiery chasm.

3:35 You know what I'm saying? That sounds like a personal. Problem. As soon as I said it, I was like Dang, what's in? What's in your fiery chasm, folks? So. On that, it's a great question. On that note, Brad, first of all, folks, if if your chasm is fiery, you want to get that checked out by a doctor like let's. You should see a professional. 100%, Brad. Let's dive into the bracket. We have 16 films remaining. We're going to start in the top left quadrant. Last time around, we named these after celebrities and their birthdays. I don't remember a single thing about it. What are we calling this quadrant this time around, Brad? We are in the George Lucas universe over here. Oh, are we sticking with the old ones? You you're not going to take the opportunity to just rename. We're going to rename the brackets. Yeah, why not?

4:21 Yeah, sure, we could call this the Ryan Johnson Can Go blow a Fat 1. Yikes. OK, never mind. So the George Lucas quadrant here, we're starting with the number one overall seed Whiplash, up against the number 16 seed, Ratatouille. Now, I would hear arguments for Ratatouille in this in this matchup. Brad and I know a lot of people love that movie. I was slightly underwhelmed this time around. You know, when you watch a movie for the podcast with a really critical eye, kind of looking for flaws, you're going to find them, right? And I think I did with Ratatouille this time around. I think pretty crucially, I didn't find very many with Whiplash. Yeah, Whiplash is one of the closer to a perfect film like movies that we've ever watched.

5:12 I like, I truly don't know anything they could have done to make that movie better. I think if you didn't get hit by a semi truck and then just walk away, that probably would have been, that's like the only part of that movie that I'm like, you could have done something a little different here. Have him drive into a telephone pole or something, you know? Sure. Yeah, that, you know, totally that that was the choice. I'm pretty sure it's just, you know, a regular old like Dodge Ram. I I don't think it's a semi trap. Yeah, whatever. In any case, that's like the only flaw I can find in that movie, and for me it's a pretty easy candidate to move on into the round of 8. Yeah, Whiplash. I came into the season expecting it to be my number one movie. It was my #2 in my heart list.

5:58 So yeah, Whiplash is moving on. All right, so we have our first entry into the round of eight. It is whiplash. Now let's go to the final match up in the Lucas Quadrant. Here we're talking about the number nine overall seed 1917 versus the number 8 overall seed La La Land. I have a feeling you know where I'm going to go here, Brad. Yeah, in the wrong direction, Bob. Well, make your case. Make your case for La La Land. A It's a beautiful film. The jazz influence on Damien Chazelle and the movie as a whole is like so clear and beautiful and not just in the amount of jazz they talk about, but the way that they shoot the film.

6:45 The the, the lighting is Moody and beautiful and there's like bright colors where there need to be that. There is so much to love about the way this movie looks, paired with an absolutely heartbreakingly beautiful story of people who are doing their best to make it in life to fight their way to the top. Like it really is an American like story of people trying to find love on the way to making it in the world's that they occupy. And you know, they don't end up together in the end. And there's something beautiful about that. And there's a nostalgia between them as they see each other one last time, and yet a contentedness with where they're at. There's just so much to love about this movie. And on top of that, the music is great. So you can take your Fred Astaire comparisons and and eat them, but this is one of the greatest movies made in the last 20 years.

7:48 I really did think you were going to continue, like the fiery chasm metaphor, say that I can stick those Fred Astaire comparisons. Right up your fiery chasm. Listen, I just think the 1917 is a slightly better movie. La La Land is a good movie and I think on many views I would call it like a very good, bordering on great movie. I think 1917 is, I think I gave it a nine and a half. Like it's just it works like clockwork partially because it functions like a clock. It's just a great ticking time bomb of a movie. I had a blast watching that in the theater. I had a blast re watching it this time around. I did pick 1917 to move on. Now, Brad, because La La Land is the higher seated film in the bracket at the eight seed, it will be heads when you flip the coin of destiny to determine the winner here.

8:39 So La La Land is heads, 1917 is tails. Brad for a spot in the final eight. Flip that coin. Ah jeez, dropped it. Let me redo. Boo Boo Bob upon redo. Even though it fell and landed on heads, it was not a proper coin toss and it has now landed on tails. Oh man, a major upset for you. We almost had a Chazelle versus Chazelle. And I was looking forward. To it like a guaranteed Chazelle entry in the final.

9:21 Four, yeah, I there's something about Damien Chazelle and Edgar Wright that like, I just love those two guys as like young directors who have nailed a few really great movies and I like, I want to see everything that those two guys put out. So a top 8 Chazelle V Chazelle would have been awesome. Well, alas, it is not to be. So now we're moving down into the next quadrant, which again, I have no idea what this quadrant was called. We're going to say this was not the the Bobby Z quadrant. This was the Blanchette. Blanchette bracket. Yeah, that's right.

10:03 OK, So we're looking at the number four overall seed parasite up against the number 13 seed spider man Into the spider verse again, a really interesting match up. Brad, I was blown away by into the spider verse this time around. Parasite is a movie that every single time I try watching it again, I want it to be a 10 out of 10 for me. And it just like it never is. It's a very good movie and I would call it a 10 until the last like 20 minutes for me. And partially it's because of my in theater experience watching it. I I don't think I'm a qualified person to speak on these matters. What did you go with here?

10:44 I went with Parasite. I I think Into the Spider versus a very well made movie. It's very interesting and fun and dynamic. I think Parasite is a is a capital M movie. Like it was well deserving of the 2019 Oscar for best picture in a field that we have established was absolutely freaking stacked. So I in my in my opinion, I think Parasite is the very obvious winner here. I also chose Parasite. It's a little less obvious for me, but it's one of those instances where I have to kind of take a step back and even though in my heart I don't know which one I would pick here, I think it makes more sense for Parasite to move on.

11:28 So no drama in this one. Parasite moves on to the round of 8 and that takes us to our final match up on the whole left side of the bracket here. The number 12 seed inside out up against the number 5 seed, the holdovers. I have no idea what direction you went here Brad. Let me just say, this is the first match up in either round that I feel very strongly about and will be horrifically upset if it does not go my way. Oh man, that makes me want to make certain decisions. Bob, Here's the thing man, Inside out is a top tier Pixar film.

12:10 I do think that the second one might be better. I think this one's more streamlined than the second one, but man, the second one's incredible. I I think they nailed it with inside out. They they proved that they still had it in the mid twenty 10's. The Holdovers is, is better though. Yes. Yeah. I, I, I, I moved the Holdovers on. I love the holdovers, dude. I see the light. I've seen the light since the moment I saw it. I, I really like the holdovers. It is a well deserved Oscar nomination for Paul Giamatti, who is one of the best actors of our generation. Like he he is just incredible.

12:52 Dominic, you know, doesn't destroy the film. He is good and passable. Divine Joy Randolph is just killer in her supporting role. A true Paul Giamatti performance if there ever was 1. Dude I'm so happy this was a fairly drama free side of the bracket. Only one one bit of controversy between the two. Drama free for you, Robert. I have. I'm like what? How many have we done now? 16, We've done 20 picks. I've only missed one so far. I'm, I'm doing OK. I'm doing all right, man. I think I've only missed one as well. I Bob, I think this is a a unique year.

13:32 We're very much so in agreement. I know like. I'll tell you how how much goodwill I'm feeling towards you right now. Brad, before we dive into this whiskey, I think we should give out our first couple filmy awards of the season. Now folks, we have not been able to come up with a better name for the Film and Whiskey Awards than the Filmy's A a horrendous name for an award, but it's endearing. Yeah, it's great. So we've come up with quite a few filmies this season because we have now 3 episodes to fill and I thought we'd get a little bit fun with some of these possibilities this time around. Brad. So why don't you introduce our first Filmy Award to the general public, The 1st.

14:13 Filmy of 2025 is the most overqualified actor in a Thankless Role Award. Oh man, who? Is it Bob, who of these 32 films is just, you know, a, you know, we should, we should rename this the Kane and Duvall Second Hand Lions Award. Like, what are they doing in that movie? It makes no sense, but they're perfect in it. Do you want me to go first here? Because I I think I have my answer. Yeah, I'd love to hear yours. I think this goes to Stanley Tucci in Spotlight. Oh, that's a good one.

14:56 He freaking nails it. He he and Paul Giamatti are like the greatest supporting actors of all time. And it's so easy to forget that Tucci is in that movie because, you know, he's kind of got that wig and just, you know, he just looks different, but he nails it. And he brings that emotional weight at the end of the film when he's like, yeah, you nailed it. You did great. I'm going to talk to another victim right now. So here's why I'd push back on that because the category is overqualified actor in a thankless role. And I actually think that you need a Tucci in a role like that to make that role stick. Like when I think about this performance, I'm like it's more of just like why is he in this movie?

15:39 Like this could have been played by just like stock actor #3 and so I'm, I'm struggling, man. I think that a good one we talked about this on the episode would be John Goodman and Argo. Because like does John Goodman need to be in that role? No, but does it make the movie? Yes. That kind of takes away from the thanklessness. I think my part or my pick would be Rafe finds as the new M in Skyfall. You could get any British person to play M. He barely shows up. He just says ah Bond damn it. And then Bond walks away having an actor. But he says, but he says, ah, Bond, damn it so well. Better than anyone in the world.

16:23 So yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and go with Rafe Fines here. So what do you think, man? Who's who's the winner between our two? I'll give it to Rafe Fines. I think that's. Cool. All right, All right, Rafe, you can come collect your award at Brad's house. It will be waiting for you. All right, the second film me we're going to give out this time around, Brad, is an interesting one. Best final shot of a movie. Now, this is an interesting one because I know for a fact you probably can't remember half the final shots in most of these movies, but you seemed very opinionated when you brought this one up before we started recording. So I'm interested to hear your best final shot. Man, honestly, I think that there are a few great options. I think inside out when, you know, they talk about her growing up and the panel's expanding and they're all working together.

17:17 Great end of the movie. I want to say, oh man, you're going to hate this, Bob. I think I'm going to say parasite. Like you get that final shot. It's like a crane shot and you're like not sure about the reality of everything that's happening. There's like hope that's like almost like curdling into delusion and it like, I don't know, man. There's there's a depth of emotion there that is just nails it. If I pick 1917, do I get to count the entire movie as the final shot? Yes, Bob, that obviously. I did it all right.

18:03 Here's a couple other possibilities for me. Brad, I think Oppenheimer is is a pretty obvious choice here. The the shot of him imagining the world blowing up and then it ending on his harrowed face I think is a an all time great closing shot for a movie. A real sucker punch. I think the final shot of Whiplash where you just get him hitting the symbol and it cutting to black after everything that's just happened is really, really good. I think Mad Max Fury Rd. As you see the women and Furiosa getting lifted on that platform and then as it lifts off the screen, it just fades to black. That's a great. Shot, I was just thinking about Mad Max I I might have to change my answer. I think Oppenheimer is the one that probably has the most cultural cache, but I'd be OK with Mad Max if you want to go that route.

18:52 Yeah, I I think I'm going to go with Mad Max because it's one of the greatest movies ever created. All right, there you go, Mad Max Fury Rd. you have the best final shot in a movie that's not called 1917. So what? What a great award to win, Brad. Let's drink some whiskey, man. Before we get to the second part of this episode. Today we are sticking with West Fork Whiskey, but we're trying a different label of theirs called Old Hammer. Now we're going to go with the Old Hammer Cask Strength. We have another one to drink in episode #3 Oldhamer was an Indiana brand over a century ago that West Fork acquired the rights to the name for and and resurrected it. Now crucially, Brad, they are not using their own distillate in this brand.

19:36 They're using MGP for this distillate. It looks like the mash bill on this is 99% corn, 1% malted barley. So this is and almost entirely corn mash bill here. It's, you know, again made at MGP in new charred oak barrels, which now makes it a bourbon. Apparently they had bought the light whiskey distillate and then by putting it in those charred oak barrels, it is now a bourbon. It's only aged for three years, which I find interesting because we just drank the bottled and Bond from West Fork at four years and that tasted a little young to us. So I'm interested to see what MGP can do in even less time here.

20:17 This also is coming in at cast strength. It is 118.2 proof, which means it's got a little bit of heft to it. It sure does man. Now just for you know those people out there who are collecting every bottle of Old Hammer they can find, this is batch #32. Brad and I are both diving into it right now. Brad, what are your nosing notes on this cask strength Old Hammer? This is like a just a beautiful classic bourbon experience. There is caramel and vanilla. The vanilla reminds me of like a really rich vanilla frosting with the amount of corn that is in this. Like maybe it's because I knew the mash bill, but I was like sifting it around in my glass and I was like, oh, this kind of smells like like a cob of buttered corn before you put salt on it.

21:09 Like it's just really kind of creamy and there is like a little bit of a marshmallow vibe going on. Really pleasant nose overall. I'll I'll give it a 7 1/2 here. Yeah, I think that overall it's not a very complex nose. Like it's pretty one note and it's like dusty corn. It smells a little bit light and thin on the on the palate, on the nose, which does not bode well necessarily. But there was one interesting note that it was this kind of sweet powdery smell and I kept bouncing back and forth between. Is it toasted marshmallow or is it like pink bubble gum? And I think it's a little bit of both. You definitely nailed it on on the marshmallow.

21:49 I'll say bubble gum just so it's in our notes here, Brad. I'm going to give it just a 7 out of 10 on the nose. I. Think when you get into the pallet I I'm kind of on a serial kick with West Fork and old hammer. This reminds me of cornflakes quite a bit with like a little bit of sugar added. It got more spicy for me than I expected. There's like some really nice black pepper stuff going on. There's a little bit of a cherry note that I'm picking up, almost like a maraschino cherry juice. Really sweet. Overall man, this is a really pleasant drinking experience. I'm going to stick it a 7 1/2. Yeah, I like this a lot, dude. Again, could it have benefited from another year or two in the barrel? I think so.

22:32 Way more syrupy sweet than I thought it would be, and actually much more viscous too. It's it's spicy all the way through, right on the tip of the tongue, all the way across the palate. There's a lot of like alcohol burn and prickle here, but it opens up these layers of like black pepper. For me, it was a ton of like vanilla buttercream frosting right at the tip of my tongue, and then it expanded into some pretty classic bourbon flavors. I got Maple on this. I got a little bit of like the buttered popcorn Jelly belly on this as well. That's sort of sweetened corn. I really like this a lot man, and it does pack a punch, but I'm going to give it an 8 out of 10 on the palate. Wow, yeah, I I think the finish is really good. The black pepper really sticks around and gets a little bit oaky, but in a way that makes me appreciate the three years. It's like just enough of an oak taste to enhance the experience. The corn definitely sticks around to the end. I, I'm a little bit cooler on the finish. I, I wish it had a little more complexity of flavor. I, I wish it moved on from the nose and the palate, but it is what it is.

23:42 I'm going to give it a 7 out of 10 here. I think I'm going to give this an 8 out of 10. Again, I it's a very specific finish. It's pretty short and it's very, very sweet, but I think we've talked about this on the podcast before. Brad and I were part of a a spirits judging competition a couple years ago where I fell in love with this Mexican liqueur called Nicksta. It reminds me of like if I took a shot of that, which is just basically like sugar corn and then tried this to kind of see what it could become. It's a great bridge from like Nexta to this to more like high rye bourbons. And this has that syrupy sweet note at the very back. I really do love this a lot, man. This is kind of like an ideal for what a younger whiskey should taste like to me.

24:28 Like heavy on the on the sweetness and it nails like the notes it needs to to nail here. So I'm going to give it another 8 out of 10. And then when it comes to the balance, I'm quite high on this. I think I'll give it an 8.5 overall bread. I'll give it a 7 1/2. You know, I'm I've been at a 7 1/2 for everything but the finish. I think this is a overall really well balanced, fun expression of whiskey and I think the fact that they are selling it for $50.00 is a really good value. I'm going to give it an 8 out of 10 on value dude. I think I am too because like if you wanted somebody to taste, this is not necessarily, this is not categorized as a corn whiskey, right? So I don't want to compare this to Mellow Corn. But if you were trying to get an idea of what an all corn or a nearly all corn bourbon would taste like or something that has that corn forward profile, I would recommend this over Mellow Corn 100 times out of 100.

25:26 Dude, any day of the week. I know it's twice as expensive, but it's worth it. So I'm giving it an 8 out of 10 here, Brad, and that is taking me to an extraordinarily high 39.5 out of 50 here. Yeah, I'm two points below you. I'm at a 37.5 out of 50. So Westfork, I hope you guys listened to our second episode and not just the first one. I'm sorry that for the lower scores on the other whiskey. But listen, we we shoot straight here. This one is phenomenal. We're coming out to a 77 out of 100 or a 38.5 out of 50. Now, for context, 35 is where we usually start recommending with a pretty Hardy thumbs up. 40 is like a no brainer recommendation.

26:07 I'm very close to a no brainer here. Brad, for 50 bucks, this is damn good whiskey. Yeah, yeah. In in the current world of whiskey, 50 bucks doesn't go as far as it used to and I think you could spend it extraordinarily well on this old Hammer cast strength. All right, man. Well, man, what a great day we're having here. Very little disagreement. Good whiskey, good awards. What do you say we get back into the bracket, Brad? I am so ready, Bob. Let's get to it. All right, everybody. That was old Hammer Cast Strength. A whiskey that really impressed us, Bob. Yeah, that was really good, man.

26:49 Speaking of things that impress us, not Bobby Zemeckis, but this is his bracket, his memorial bracket in memory of a good filmmaker. He was very much still with us, yeah. Yes. Memorial bracket. It makes me laugh every time you say that, dude. All right, the first match up in the Bob Zemeckis Memorial bracket is the number two seed, Oppenheimer up against the 15 seed, The Wolf of Wall Street. Now, Brad, some match ups require a lot of conversation. I don't believe this is one of them, but who knows, maybe you'll throw me a curveball here.

27:29 Yeah, I mean, obviously Wolf of Wall Street's moving on. It's made by Martin Scorsese, Bob, I know. How could you not move it on? This is this is pure cinema, right here. Unimpeachable man. Did Robert Oppenheimer throw any little people at a dartboard? I think not. What a great movie. Dude. How many movies can you say that sentence about? I know, I'm trying to think of all the stuff when they're like going through the legality of it. You know what? I mean, it's, it's just pure comedy, like one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. It's a really good movie, however. Don't go watch Wolf of Wall Street. It's probably not good for your soul. Probably not.

28:12 At least don't go watch it with your mom. You know, that's that's certainly not a movie that you want to take home to Thanksgiving with you. Shouldn't that be a Film Me movie? You definitely shouldn't, because Wolf of Wall Street would probably. That weighs easily. I think Oppenheimer moves on here, Brad. Also a candidate for a movie I don't want to watch with my mom. Yeah, but I think, you know, we could share in the harrowing experience of Oppenheimer. I don't know if my relationship with my mom survives the wolf of Wall Street. That's. Just. You don't want to ask that of anyone, man. Oh man. Well, Oppenheimer, the 2024 Best Picture winner, is moving on. Our next match up is between How to Train Your Dragon and Mad Max Fury Rd.

29:02 How much do you want to be witnessed, Brad? I I want you to witness me so hard, Bob. Can I witness you right off into the fiery chasm, is the real question here, Brad. Dude, if you if you put how to train your dragon over Mad Max I. 100% put How to train your dragon over MAD. Max, get the heck out of here, dude. There's I really like Mad Max. Here's the thing about Mad Max. I I really like it. I really like it. And I think that it is certainly a bigger artistic achievement than How to Train your dragon. I think it's also one of those things where it's like this is a singular and unique work of art and I celebrate that.

29:43 But like, it's just a, it's a weird ass movie, you know, and like there, there are moments of the movie where it's like this is great for being a weird ass movie. And there are other parts of this movie that I'm like, this is an 8. I think in the balance of things, this is like a nine out of 10 for me. I'm kind of in the same place with How to Train Your Dragon, and maybe it's because I'm a a dad of small boys right now. I am truly shocked at how well How to Train Your Dragon works for people of all ages. Like it is a really well made action movie that also happens to be for kids. I moved it on. Oh, my. I, I didn't even expect this. I I wasn't prepared, Bob. I told you in the Mad Max Fury Rd. episode like it's a good movie. I think I ignored that cause your opinion is invalid. There's only one opinion on Mad Max Fury Rd. Bob and that is it's one of the greatest movies ever made. Listen, I I wholly and heartily understand that, like I am in the small minority, here it is.

30:48 It is perhaps the best reviewed movie of this entire century. It just isn't quite there for me. It's a good movie. It is certainly in the pantheon. It will be in our 21st century Canon, but if you're talking heart movies, I'm going How to Train Your Dragon Man. Oh man, I knew your heart was flawed, but here we are about to flip the coin. Mad Max Fury Rd. is going to be Heads as the number seven seed. How to Train Your Dragon. The lesser film is going to be our ten seed at Tails. So Are you ready, Bob? Before you flip it, can I? I will 100% admit to you it's probably the lesser film.

31:33 Thank you. But if you're asking me to be honest as a person, I have to choose it. I. Just you're how I am. You're gonna shove Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron up your fiery chasm. You're willing to? Threaten me with a good time, man. Brad, flip that coin. Hey, Bob. Yeah. What does mean? What does? Mean, I'm happy it moved on. That was a kind of indefensible pick for me. I had to be true to my heart. But like, you know, I'm glad. I'm glad Fury Red moved on. Like any good Disney Princess, Bob has been true to his heart. Mad Max is moving on.

32:18 Brad, I think before we get too contentious because my heart is on the line here with this next match up, let's give out a couple more filmies. You want to lead the way on these ones. Yeah, our next filmy is the Why wasn't this nominated for Best Picture award? I feel like that's half of our movies, man. Yeah, it could also be called The Dark Knight Award. I I. Believe very much. I don't, I don't know man, where are you at on best pictures that should have been from this season? Well, let's see. Was whiplash not committed? I would say the interesting thing is many of these films were nominated. I don't.

32:58 If Whiplash wasn't nominated, that's that's the winner. Yeah, it's got, I mean it's our number one seed. Yeah, so Whiplash was indeed nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards, Bob. All right, I'm looking through this list and it really is like at least 2/3 of these that were nominated for Best Picture. So that really whittles it down. I'm going to throw out a couple that I know weren't. I think the one that we could both kind of coalesce around here, Brad, is Godzilla -1. Yeah. I think Ratatouille and Inside Out probably could get not like nods as well, but Godzilla man.

33:42 Yeah, probably Godzilla. I I mean, we could also flip the award. Why did this get nominated for Best Picture? That's a great one. What what are the best picture knobs are you like I mean? A movie that won Best Picture. Yeah, I would say Argo. I'd say Ford V Ferrari. Joker. I don't. Oh yes, obviously. Didn't Joker win it? No, no, he won Best Actor, but thankfully it was one of the 2019 entries, so oh. Parasite. OK, Yep. All right, well Joker, we hate you. And also Godzilla -1 come pick up your You Should Have Been Nominated award. Yes, absolutely.

34:29 All right, our next film E is the most effective use of a non original song or as we like to call it, best needle drop. Now, we had a lot of movies this season that had fantastic scores, but we're not talking about that. We're talking about non original. So all the La La Land music, except for when they do the scene where they sing Iran is pretty much ineligible. It's got to be an existing piece of music from outside that movie that they plopped into a movie. Brad, where you going with this one? Man, that is a really good question. I mean, Tarantino is obviously a master of needle drops and I think Out of Time is really great in in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

35:14 I think though I am going to go with a foreign language song. I am going to go with the German version of Heroes by David Bowie at the end of JoJo Rabbit. That was my pick as well. Let's. Go dude, that was my pick. I I actually like that scene. I think people hate it and it is corny and it is cheesy, but watching those two kids dance and be happy at the end of that movie, it's just a it warms my cold, dead heart, you know? Yeah, it it fires up your fire inferno, Bob. No, it does not. Nope. We're not going there, Brad. Don't. Don't you dare put that on me, Sir. Don't you put that juju on me, Ricky Bobby. All right, JoJo Rabbit, you could come pick up your one and only award from film and whiskey because as we transition back into the bracket, we have a match up here, Brad. It's the number three overall seed. Past lives up against JoJo Rabbit, the number 19 seed. The only question to ask Brad is where did you go with this match up?

36:20 Because you know for damn sure where I went. Listen man, Past Lives is an incredible film. From start to. Finish like. You have just a. Beautiful. Like the opening scene where like 2 random people are discussing as anybody would like. What do you think's going on over there? Yeah, you got 2, you know, Asian folk and an American guy hanging out. They obviously don't also be the same language. And then suing film is this beautiful masterpiece of missed, you know, missed opportunities and the fluency of language and how that plays in our relationships. There's so much to love about past lives and that's why I moved it on past JoJo Ram.

37:09 Oh, thank God. Dude, listen, half the reason that I was excited about Fury Rd. winning the last match up is because I I've started to believe in in bad juju and karma in these brackets. And I was like, if I knock out Fury Rd. then Brad's gonna knock out Past Lives. I just knew it. So thank goodness there is no controversy here. The far superior Past Lives is moving on here. Bob. I I love. JoJo Rabbit I I think it's a beautiful, fun film that has an important message about humanity and brokenness and the ridiculousness of blindly following propagandistic dictators like it's a It's a great film. Past lives is a is a much.

37:57 Better movie, yes. I knew that I'd taught you something over the course of these nine seasons. Breath. All right, listen. Here's the last match up. It's a match up that's. Going to piss you all the way off, Brad, because you could just tell from the seeding of these two where I went. So it's Brad's number one seed or number one favorite heart film of the year. Everything Everywhere All at Once up against the number six seed. Godzilla -1 now Everything Everywhere is the 11 seed. So Brad had it at first. Where does that tell you about where I had it? It is a really good movie that is not as good. I don't know, like 25th.

38:42 Like somewhere in there? It's good, Oh my soul. It's good. Bob this. Everything Everywhere All At Once is so stunningly beautiful it the message it tells about human relationships is so vastly important, and it does it in a fun, wild like way that justifies the existence of movies as a medium. You've said that line a couple. Times Now about that movie and I'm I'm so happy for you. I like I love that it does that for you. I can't tell me it didn't do it. For you, because you walked out of the theaters feeling very similarly to me, I felt like it was a great.

39:23 Movie I don't know that I said this justifies the existence as if I was looking for a reason for cinema to exist, like having an existential crisis. And then I was like here, here is our savior. It's not that there is an. Existential crisis, Bob. It's just that moment when you're walking through life and suddenly a beautiful flower opens up right in front of you and you're just like, wow. Like the serendipity, the the the thing I most needed and I didn't even know it. That is Everything Everywhere all at once. For me it wasn't so much. Dildos and hot dog. Fingers and all. For me it wasn't so. Much a beautiful flower opening as much as it was an ancient nuclear monster rising from the deep, covered in icicles, prepared to blast a nuclear bomb upon the folks of Japan in a in a horrifically horrifying way.

40:19 That was also the most badass imagery I'd seen in years. It Godzilla -1 absolutely clears Everything Everywhere all at once for me and like dude. Will I hate to break your heart? If this if this flip doesn't go your way, I will, but I feel very strongly that Godzilla is just a better movie. Godzilla -1 is. Not a better movie The. It's an incredible film. I absolutely loved it. It was the joy of my life to bring Michael Klingis onto the show. Dear, dear friend. However, Everything Everywhere All at Once very clearly has a larger impact. It is a bigger film in a lot of ways. I Yeah, the choice is obvious here, Bob. We are moving on everything, everywhere, all at once. Well, I.

41:09 Mean, before we close out this episode, we're not. Maybe we are. But we got to do it through a coin flip. So by virtue of being the higher seed, Godzilla -1 is heads In this coin flip, Everything Everywhere is tails. Brad, for the future of your bracketing life, flip that coin. Robert the coin has been flipped. Destiny has spoken. The bagel consumes all. Nah, damn it. The bagel consumes all. Dang it, dude, I I truly hate to send Godzilla off into the abyss here, man.

41:53 I I. Don't worry, he will emerge about 200 years from now, full of nuclear power, ready to annihilate your hopes and dreams once again. Can I give? Out a a brief filmy for word Brad has mispronounced the most times over the course of this season. What would that be, Robert? That would be the word nuclear. Which George W Bush apparently taught you to say as nuclear and, and based on the fact that we had Godzilla and Oppenheimer and a whole bunch of war movies, You have used the word nuclear conservatively 7000 times this season, Brad, and you got to listen to it at. Least two or three times more if you would 'cause I was editing, you know. You are welcome.

42:38 It it's the curse of Saint Saint Louis all over again. It's one of those things that. That never bothered me before. And then by the end of the season, I was like screaming at my computer like it's, it's comes from the nucleus. It's nuclear. It's not nuclear. Like I have become a madman, Brad. Yeah. I. I was aware of that many years ago. Look, you're feeding. Into it more now. Hey, listen man, we've got a couple more filmies to give out here. I think in the spirit of this podcast, we are a group of people that really appreciate the old 90 minute movie. Not just because it's short, but because we respect when a filmmaker can condense the entire story and really maximize the movie per minute.

43:21 And I think that that's a good filmy right, like most movie per minute or like maximum amount of cinema bang for your buck. It doesn't have to be a short movie, but like which movie made the best use of its time for you? Brad Man that that is a. Good question. It's kind of tough. I mean are are we sticking to like a 99 or less minutes? No, I don't think so. OK, then it's whiplash. Like, I think whiplash is like an hour and 45 minutes, which, you know, if you, if you count credits, it's probably like an hour 3839.

44:02 I, I mean, if we're going for most bang for your buck, I have to say whiplash. I, I don't remember how long was spider man. It's long. It's like an hour and. 50 I think, and it took a while. To get going at the beginning. As I remember it did I, I. Was thinking like, you know, if that was a true 90 minute film that might be best bang for your buck as far as like action and fun and whiplash. Deed I. Think I wrote down 3. Candidates for this. Whiplash is one of them. I think it's, it's definitely skewed towards movies where the the plot of the movie means you can't waste a minute. So like Whiplash is an obvious one here. I think Fury Rd. is right there too. Like Yep, from the very beginning they're like, let's start chasing people.

44:50 And it's the same thing with 1917. You know, it's just like you get 30 seconds of set up of like here's these two guys. OK, now the Colonel wants to see you go on this mission. So any of those 3 movies I think would be a good choice. I really thought you'd go Fury Rd. here. But I'm with you man. I think Whiplash definitely wins this award. I. That's wild dude, because I I guess my brain was stuck on the 90 minutes elements of it. I I actually do think Mad Max gives you more movie for your minute. Oh, it definitely gives you a lot. Of movie, that's for sure. I'm I'm going. Mad Max for your Rd. like that. That is, if the qualification is most movie for your minute.

45:32 How can you get more cinema, more action, more witnessing than the two hours you would spend watching Mad Max Fury Rd. You know what? I'm not even going to argue. With you man, I I'll let you have this one. Fury Rd. is going to get a second filmy in this episode and that takes us to our final filmy of the day, one that I hope warms our hearts, Brad. It's the movie that's most improved by watching it with a friend. You know, we do this with every movie, Brad, despite our differences, one of my best friends in the world. Nice to talk about movies with you. But I think that there are certain movies that like we can sit at our laptops and watch a movie before we record, but there's just like some some layer of the communal experience makes that watching like just better.

46:20 And I think that again, there's this is going to skew towards movies that have an element of fun. Like you can't just be like, oh, Oppenheimer so that I could, you know, be shell shocked at the end of that movie communally, right? There's definitely got to be some watch Florence Pugh be. Naked with my friend, right? There's got to be an. Element of fun. So I'm sure it's going to skew that way. I'd love to hear what your finalists are for this one. I I think that. John Wick is up there. Like you know it's it's a fine action movie but like getting 3 or 4 guys together and having John Wick on and drinking whiskey would be a great time man. I I think some other options I mean Whiplash I have watched with a group of friends and it plays so well to a group of people especially because it's so quick.

47:10 I think District 9 would be a sneaky fun movie to watch with some buddies. But at the end of the day, I think. It's got to be mad. Max. It's freaking dominating. Tell tell me that that wouldn't. Be such a fun movie to just get a group of people together and be like, let's watch cars explode, let's witness it together. I am not I'm. Not disagreeing with you, here are my other finalists 'cause I think that there's a few. Godzilla -1 is. Up there, that was it was such a fun movie. I took a group of four people with me and at the end of it, like one, one person told me that was the first foreign language movie I've ever watched, which is like, I felt very honored that like this person would go to the movies with me, watch a whole movie in Japanese and then have that much fun with it.

47:57 Like that was really cool. I think, you know, for all of the weirdness I experienced at the theater, Parasite in the theater when that chick's head hits the back of the wall, I have never heard a group of people collectively go like, it was awesome so. Good dude. I really wish I'd saw that in theaters. And then honestly, I think a sneaky. Candidate here is also the holdovers because it's a Christmas movie. Like it really is a good movie. It's not like a theater movie necessarily, but it's a movie to watch with a group of people that you love. So I, I think those are all good candidates. I don't know that I'm gonna talk you out of Mad Max Fury Rd. here. Brad. Nah. Dude, even the way you talked about all the other ones were like, yeah, this is like a pretty good option. There's no beating Mad Max here.

48:45 All right, Well, we have now. Witnessed Mad Max win, I think three of our six warts this episode. So it is freaking dominating right now, which does not bode well for the film it's going to face in the final eight. So we're wrapping it up here today. Let's give this list of our final 8 movies. Brad. These are all absolute bangers. So we've got Whiplash 1917, Parasite, The Holdovers, Oppenheimer, Mad Max Fury Rd. Past Lives and Everything Everywhere All at once. What a great. Collection of films. Dude, I was going to say this is. My other than La La Land, this was my top 8. Like tell me this isn't one of the best brackets we've ever had.

49:34 Oh, it's real good. It's real good. Here's Here's the wild. Thing, dude, I think that this year has shifted my attitude on modern movies because it like, at the end of the day, we have spent so much time complaining about Disney and Marvel and you know, live action remakes deservedly, right? They have overwhelmed at the box office in ways that I don't think they deserve to. It doesn't mean that great movies aren't being made, and this season has proven that to me. What a great. Way to wrap up this episode. It's the first time we've ever done a round of 16 episode. I think we may need to institute it forever now 'cause this was great conversation. And again, a long episode, Brad.

50:18 So we'll be back on Tuesday to breakdown all the way to the championship, the round of eight, the round of four and the championship. We'll also list our top five whiskeys of the season. So join us on Tuesday for that episode. One more time folks. If you go to our website, filmwhiskey.com, grab your own bracket and tell us who your champion would be. We would love to hear from you on any of our social media accounts, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube at Film Whiskey, or if you want to join the. Conversation you can jump into our discord. We're on there every single day talking about movies and whiskey. So if you'd like to, you can find a link at the end of every single one of our show notes.

51:01 All right, make sure you join. Us on Tuesday as we wrap up season #9 but until then, I'm Bob Book, I'm Brad G. And we'll see you next. Time.