THE FIXATE & BINGE PODCAST, with Host, Joe Curdy: Deep dives into cinema and storytelling with voices who create it · Joe Curdy

PLACE YOUR BETS! Writer & Director DiAnté Jenkins Makes His 2026 Oscar Predictions!

·1 hr 24 min·6 clips

Nobody sees this one coming, but it could sweep several categories

Joe frames the podcast as a place for movie and television conversation, and he keeps that promise by opening with the kind of loose, personal energy that carries the rest of the episode. He talks through the week, then shifts into awards-season speculation with the confidence of someone who has been following the race closely. The guest conversation centers on the current Best Picture field. Joe and his guest narrow the list to a small set of films that still feel alive in the conversation. Hamnet comes up as a title that has lost some steam. Marty Supreme is discussed as a film where attention is going to the performance as much as the movie itself, even though the film is also regarded positively. One Battle After Another is treated as the steady force in the race. Joe keeps coming back to its momentum. Sinners also gets serious attention. The discussion gives that film credit for its box office, its critical reception, and the sense that it would not alienate most voters if it won. They also talk through how awards precursors shape perception, and Joe notes that the film with the most nominations does not always turn that advantage into wins. Historical examples are used to back that up. The conversation does not stay abstract for long. It keeps circling back to what actually seems plausible from the Academy’s point of view. Joe and his guest weigh whether the race has settled or whether recent reactions have changed the field. The back-and-forth feels immediate rather than rehearsed. It has the rhythm of two people thinking out loud with the evidence in front of them. Joe’s style stays conversational, with some repetition and self-correction, but that looseness is part of the appeal. The episode also keeps the show’s habit of sounding host-shaped, not corporate or polished to death. By the end, Joe closes by pivoting from awards talk to a direct message about mental health and letting light and positive influences into your life. That ending gives the episode a different temperature from the prediction segment. It leaves the listener with something warmer and less competitive than the Oscar race that came before it.

As heard by us

A brisk awards debate with enough personality to feel immediate.

Joe keeps the episode in the awards-season lane, pairing brisk commentary with a clear-eyed look at Best Picture contenders and a few acting nods.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want Oscar predictions with personality, not a sterile awards rundown.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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