Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Review - Win For This, Awarded For That - 2020 OSP Ep 344

Mike, Mike, and Oscar

A new 2020 movie finally delivered for Mike 1. It’s a Christmas miracle! So we give Ma Rainey the full Oscars Profile, with a non-spoiler 1st half building to our predictions of its award chances before a spoiler warning and a 2nd half, where we review the plot. What is This Episode? - Top of Show MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM 2020 OSP: SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Film Background + Cast/Crew - 2:27 Plot Premise/Expectations - 4:39 Script Thoughts - 7:45 Production Values - 14:10 Performances/Oscars Lens: Chadwick Boseman/Lead Actor Category - 20:44 Viola Davis/Lead Actress Cat - 25:30 Coman Domingo - 33:52 How Many Total Noms? - 37:38 SPOILER WARNING - 41:52 SPOILER-FILLED REVIEW: CONSPIRACY: Chadwick, Hopkins, New York, + Tinfoil Hats - 43:07 Bests: “One of the Strongest Act 1s of the Year” - 52:28 Lowlights: Rushed Expositions + Eggshell Coworkers - 57:31 High Notes All Around - 1:02:25 What’s It All About, Dussie? - 1:04:20 FINAL GRADES - 1:07:30 Where To Find Us/LEAVE US A 5* REVIEW! - 1:09:23 Words of Wisdom/What’s Coming Next - 1:10:06 Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is the latest and perhaps the greatest of the Netflix awards slate. So we’re here to give it the full Oscar Sprint Profile movie review. That means you get a full non-spoiler first half, building to an Oscar Lens where we predict the film’s awards chances. Then you get a spoiler warning before we dive into the plot for the last half hour. Will Chadwick Boseman win an Oscar for this film? For Da 5 Bloods? Or will the Academy screw it up? Can Viola Davis come out of this crowded Best Actress field with the trophy? And which supporting actor do we want to get into the awards conversation? Ma Rainey may certainly be a performance showcase for this ensemble, but we also have praise for the production values. You’ll hear most of our projections before we finish the non-spoiler section, and then we leave one big conversation for the beginning of spoilers. If you enjoyed this episode, do check out the rest of our awards profiles with the “2020/21 Oscar Sprint Profile Movie Reviews” playlist on our Soundcloud. Mank, Borat 2, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Nomadland, and Tenet are some of films we’ve already covered, and we’re still planning episodes for Soul, Promising Young Woman, One Night In Miami, News of the World, Pieces of a Woman, and more coming this January. Plus, you can also keep up with all the latest awards talk with Oscar Race Checkpoint, our weekly, sometimes bi-weekly news show. As always, let us know your thoughts. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are at Mike, Mike, and Oscar on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & hear us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thank you! And do stay safe, everybody.