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Robert Licuria

@robertlicuria

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podcast & substack: awards heaven | freelance editor at Gold Derby | TV & film nerd | ICS, HCA, AACTA | Bluesky, Threads & X: robertlicuria

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The Best Director Oscar race is taking shape, and this week we’re diving deep into who’s really in contention.

Then comes one of my favorite Oscar anomalies: the great Best Director nominees whose films somehow missed Best Picture. Lynch. Kurosawa. Weir. Almodóvar. Kubrick. Some truly extraordinary choices and a few Academy omissions that look even crazier today.

I host, joined by Tony Ruiz and Christopher Tsang, for a celebration of great directing and the Oscar branch capable of throwing us a genuine surprise.

Awards Heaven Podcast ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/oscars-best-director-race-takes-shape

(Link also in bio) by @robertlicuria

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a day ago

Writer-director Paloma Schneideman joins me to talk about Big Girls Don’t Cry, finding the remarkable Ani Palmer, working with Noah Taylor, Jane Campion’s mentorship and finally giving her deeply personal debut away to audiences.

Full interview here ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/in-big-girls-dont-cry-paloma-schneideman

(Link also in bio)
#biggirlsdontcry @madmanfilms @pollyhillxoxo by @robertlicuria

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a day ago

I saw DIGGER prepared to dislike it, largely because of some of the online commentary I’d read. Well, I gotta say, I thought it was absolutely fantastic. What a film.

Absurdist, abstract, occasionally confounding and so audacious in its storytelling. There’s so much happening in the periphery that demands your attention, and I already know I need to see it again to properly take it all in.

I loved Alejandro González Iñárritu’s last film, BARDO, and I think this is even better. Tom Cruise is utterly captivating. The production design, cinematography and sound are exceptional, and the score is seductive and addictive. I loved the twists and turns, the meta elements and the sheer nerve of it all.

By the end, I was genuinely stunned. What a wildly ambitious, risky, avant-garde piece of filmmaking. I can see this becoming a genuine cult classic in decades to come.

I’m still thinking about it!

#digger @chivexp @gassnerdennis @cosmosheldrake @tomcruise @diggerthemovie by @robertlicuria

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2 days ago

Grammy-winning music supervisor Julia Michels makes ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ sing with the sound of Runway reborn.

Michels joins me to talk about curating the music for 'The Devil Wears Prada 2', reuniting with Lady Gaga, rediscovering the Prada sound 20 years later and why the perfect song ultimately comes down to feeling.

With Grammy voting underway, it’s a perfect time to celebrate one of the very best music supervisors in the business.

Full interview here ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/julia-michels-makes-the-devil-wears

(Link also in bio)

#thedevilwearsprada2 @20thcenturystudios @20thcenturystudios_aunz @juliamichelsmusic @lumos.pr by @robertlicuria

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2 days ago

I admit I was initially skeptical. Did I really want to watch an action thriller about a guy trapped inside a giant whale? Sounds horrifying. Absolutely not my cup of tea. Boy, was I wrong. I’ve seen plenty of great horror movies, but I genuinely cannot remember experiencing the kind of collective audience panic that swept through the cinema tonight. There’s a sequence early on that is so nerve-shreddingly tense that the entire theatre erupted in gasps and shrieks. The tension is almost unbearable.

But what really blew me away was the look and feel of this thing. What could have been a fairly routine creature-feature survival thriller is instead a gorgeously rendered underwater waking nightmare, as our protagonist is literally swallowed whole by a massive sperm whale.

The cinematography and visual effects are extraordinary. Ramsey Avery's blubbery, fleshy production design is positively obscene, in the best possible way. The sound team deserves serious Oscar consideration because the soundscape is insane. And Joseph Trapanese’s score is divine.

I remember snorkeling in Fiji years ago and unexpectedly encountering a little shark. The sheer unexplainable terror triggered a primal fight-or-flight response that I’ve never forgotten. This movie brought every bit of that fear rushing back.

For roughly an hour, there’s virtually no dialogue. Just this relentless, suffocating struggle for survival, brought to life with extraordinary technical precision. Director Brian Duffield and his team, including cinematographer Aaron Morton, Oscar-winning editor Pietro Scalia and Oscar-winning VFX artist Guillaume Rocheron, have created something genuinely special.

And then there’s Austin Abrams. Already one of my favorite young actors, Abrams has this wonderfully natural everyman charm that makes him so effortlessly watchable. Here, he takes that quality and combines it with an astonishingly convincing portrayal of absolute terror, physical agony and despair in the face of almost certain death. He’s terrific. You feel every second of his ordeal.

Loved it.

#whalefall @20thcenturystudios_aunz @briancduffield @joecomposer @ramseyaverydesign by @robertlicuria

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4 days ago

3-time Grammy winner and visionary filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund, the man behind iconic music videos from Madonna’s ‘Ray of Light’ to Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi,’ joins me to talk about his acclaimed documentary feature ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead’ and getting beyond one of rock’s most indelible images to find the man underneath.

We talk about going inside Billy Idol’s memories, the visual language of a life lived through punk and MTV, the deeply personal story of Billy’s relationship with his father and why original song ‘Dying to Live’ became the perfect final note for a film about survival, reflection and an artist who is still creating.

Full interview here ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/jonas-akerlund-finds-the-life-beneath

(Link also in bio) #billyidolshouldbedead @billyidol @livenationstudios @jonasakerlund by @robertlicuria

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4 days ago

Emmy-nominated cinematographer Christine Ng joins me to talk about Adults, reversing the rules of comedy coverage, making Toronto feel like Queens and creating a camera that lives inside the show’s glorious chaos.

Full interview here ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/dp-christine-ng-invites-us-into-the

(Link also in bio) @fxnetworks @adultsfx #adults by @robertlicuria

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5 days ago

The Oscar race is starting to take shape, so we’re putting our first Best Picture predictions on the record. Which films already feel secure, what’s fighting for those final slots and could a documentary finally break into the lineup?

Then our Top 5 gets personal: great films we admire, love and never want to watch again.

I host with Charlie Bright, Tony Ruiz and Christopher Tsang for our first proper Oscar deep dive of the season.

Awards Heaven Podcast ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/the-2027-best-picture-race-takes

(Link also in bio) by @robertlicuria

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7 days ago

Emmy-nominated composer Tom Howe joins me to talk about Ted Lasso season 4, returning to its beloved musical world, Brandi Carlile’s gorgeous take on the theme and finding the notes that make its quietest moments hit so deeply.

Full interview here ➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/tom-howe-reveals-the-richer-musical

(Link also in bio)
#tedlasso @appletv @tom.howe_music @brandicarlile by @robertlicuria

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7 days ago

Happy birthday mum - 78 years young today! by @robertlicuria

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13 days ago

Festival season is delivering answers and raising even bigger questions.

This week on the Awards Heaven Podcast, Charlie Bright hosts alongside Tony Ruiz and new regular Christopher Tsang, with returning guest Dan Bayer joining us fresh from TIFF and New York. We break down La Bola Negra, Ink, Tender Loving Care, international feature contenders and the films generating genuine Oscar buzz.

Then we switch gears for one of our most spirited Top 5 lists yet: the greatest music videos of all time. From Sledgehammer and This Is America to Freak on a Leash, Ray of Light and some truly unexpected deep cuts, the debate gets very passionate very quickly.

Awards Heaven Podcast - Episode 45
➤ https://awardsheaven.substack.com/p/fall-film-festival-round-up-oscar by @robertlicuria

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13 days ago

Hulu’s new crime thriller FURIOUS has me so hooked. Dark, tense and insanely addictive. Trust me, drop everything and watch it immediately.

Emmy Rossum is coming for all the awards, and the entire cast is unreal. And Ariel Marx’s score? Wow. Absolutely nerve-shattering in the best possible way.#furious @hulu @emmy @arielrosemarx by @robertlicuria

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14 days ago