Alternate Ending - Movie Review Podcast · Alternate Ending

The 98th Academy Awards

March 17, 2026·1 hr 16 min·1 clip

James Gunn's top three superhero films: Deadpool, Superman 1978, Spider-Verse

Alternate Ending pauses its usual horror rotation for a special Oscars conversation. Tim Brayton brings in Cameron Shaw and Caleb Wimble to talk through the 98th Academy Awards, and Cameron starts by describing what it was like being in the room, even if Jacob Elordi's seat blocked his view. Caleb is in the mix too. The three of them settle into the show's usual overlap-heavy rhythm pretty quickly, where one person's complaint turns into another person's correction and the point lands through banter as much as through any formal analysis. Grogu comes up early. They split over the cut to the audience puppet, with some appreciation for the actual puppet work and a much bigger annoyance at the way the Oscars keep turning into a trailer reel for upcoming movies. The Devil Wears Prada 2 bit goes down better. That joke gets a warmer response because Anna Wintour's presence makes the whole thing feel stranger and less like the standard celebrity promo beat. The panel is not generous about everything else. When Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman introduce best picture, their Moulin Rouge reference lands as the wrong kind of callback at exactly the wrong moment. They do not let that one go. From there the discussion moves into a disagreement about a performance in One Battle After Another, and the mood gets blunt in a way that makes both the praise and the criticism feel earned rather than polite. One of them never quite gels with it. Another treats it as exactly the kind of oversized supporting turn the Oscars tend to reward, and the argument becomes a good example of how the show likes to leave a real disagreement hanging. The episode stays with specifics. Instead of a tidy awards recap, it keeps circling back to presentation choices, comic timing, and whether a bit works because it is funny or just familiar. That gives the chatter a lived-in feel. The whole thing sounds like movie people processing the ceremony in real time, with irritation, deadpan affection, and a willingness to say when a moment missed badly. The ending is practical. The show signs off with a look ahead to next week's Daybreakers discussion, plus a brief plug for Caleb's Babysitter's Club podcast back catalog while that show is on hiatus.

As heard by us

A loose Oscars hangout that favors blunt reactions over polish.

Alternate Ending takes a detour from its usual horror lane for a watchable Oscars side trip, with Tim Brayton joined by Cameron Shaw and Caleb Wimble. The talk stays loose and opinionated, which suits it.

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Why you'd press play

You want a special Oscars episode that feels like a loose roomful of reactions, not a recap sheet.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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