Who are the underdogs this awards season?

The Golden Globes are this Sunday, which means awards season is finally upon us.

After a year of blockbuster films and Hollywood strikes, Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud chats with comedians/podcasters Ashley Ray and Trevor Campbell and film critic Kristy Puchko about who they think deserves a golden statue.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Elamin: Who are you rooting for this award season, Ashley?

Ashley: Look, I went into this a big May December fan. I was rooting for May December. I love the movie. You have an amazing cast, great performances, and it's just a little too weird for the mainstream. So to me, it's a perfect underdog pick…. But then I watched The Holdovers, and now I've completely changed teams. I'm team The Holdovers.

Elamin: That's the Alexander Payne movie.

Ashley: Yes, about a student and a teacher who are forced to stay in a sad, cold Massachusetts campus together during the holidays. It also has Da'Vine Joy Randolph, who sold it for me. I'm so sorry, May December, but it just swept in and I was like, "This is what needs to win." And for the Golden Globes, they are in the same category, even though they're both in the best motion picture – musical or comedy category, which is another problem, but my two favorites are up against each other.

Elamin: I have to say that The Holdovers is the kind of movie that just wins you over. There's a lot of other movies that you go like, "I'm here to watch auteur cinema. I'm here to watch a master at work, a master of their craft doing their thing." And then you watch The Holdovers and go like, "I had a really good time, and I felt really nice the whole way through this movie." And sometimes that's just what you want movies to do, you know? So it's like movies as an art versus movies as a feeling.

I love the setup of those two things because I've got to say, Kristy, for the last little while movies as a feeling have been winning a lot more than movies as a craft. Think about CODA, for example. That's a movie that was up against a lot of auteur cinema, but it's a movie that made people feel so good and made people really cry, and then it kind of ended up winning the day. We've already had a lot of critics awards given out. We've got a lot more to come. How are you thinking about this year's race?

Kristy: It's interesting because I think 2023 was actually a stupendous year for movies.

Elamin: Yes!

Ashley: Oh yeah.

Trevor: Huge.

Kristy: And like the whole way through, too, which is really cool. Barbenheimer obviously was enormous this summer. But then we had the fall when all the normal prestige movies come out, and it's so wild because who to root for, for me? Not to be Miss America about it, like, "I'm rooting for everyone," because I'm not. But what I'd like to see as the awards season goes on is I'd like to see those awards spread around, which we're seeing in some of the critics circles, where different things are taking best picture and different things are taking the top acting categories, because there's so many very good movies this year.

I want to see different things get to win. Personally, Killers of the Flower Moon, I think, is amazing. I really think Poor Things is incredible. I think Barbie deserves a lot of attention. But I also don't want any of those to just sweep because it's such a cool year for cinema. Barbenheimer already had its moment. I'd like to see some other things getting attention during awards season and getting to pull that focus. I'm also a big May December fan.... I feel like that's Samy Burch's script to lose now for May December, because best original screenplay? I feel like it's May December.

Elamin: Yeah.

Ashley: Absolutely.

Kristy: And like, I love Samy Burch…. I think it's a very funny script and very smart in a really twisted way. And I love hearing her talk about it. Like, look up interviews with Samy Burch. She has such a sharp sense of humour. I want to see her Oscar speech so, so badly.

Elamin: Trevor, who are you rooting for?

Trevor: I loved May December. I think it was incredible. Though I think what May December does well, Elizabeth Olsen in Love & Death did better…. But for me the big pick of the year, which no one's brought up, is Past Lives.

Elamin: Yeah, Celine Song's Past Lives. Talk about it. Let's go.

Trevor: OK, so it's across the board Celine Song — director, screenplay, both I think. But also, I think the real sort of breakout star who is not a breakout star is Greta Lee. I mean, she's been on Broadway. She's been on TV a lot. She's had amazing cameos…. But in Past Lives, she is so thoughtful and nuanced. And as a film, on the highway of Past Lives, there are so many exits you can take where we're like, "Oh yeah, that makes sense." But Past Lives just keeps driving, and then the exit it finally takes, you're like, "That is very interesting, but ultimately feels more human." Like, I know this story and it makes sense. I love the movie.

Elamin: Trevor, I have to say the final scene of Past Lives wrecked me more than most movies I've seen in the last 10 years. It's a stunning accomplishment for Celine Song. It's a stunning accomplishment for Greta Lee, just in terms of that performance. All she's doing is walking, and it feels like the longest walk that anyone has ever taken in the history of cinema.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Nikky Manfredi.