On episode 164 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by AwardsWatch Editor In Chief Erik Anderson and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to discuss the last and latest film in their Christopher Nolan series, The Odyssey (2026).
Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you’ve got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.
How does Nolan follow up the most commercially, critically successful film of his career that landed him onto of the cinematic world and landed him two Oscars? You get a blank check to create your version of the oldest story ever told, The Odyssey, and you spare no expense in make a grand epic that rivals all other blockbuster released this year. In doing this, Nolan has conjured up another monumental, technical achievement, one that audiences are already obsessing over, seeing in the largest formats they can find. But is the film worth the hype? Ryan, Jay, Erik, and Sophia break down their complicated thoughts on Nolan’s latest, why it’s the perfect “Nolan film” and a clumsy adaptation, what the film’s themes are, how gives the best and worst performances in the film, their favorite scenes, just how smelly is must’ve been inside that Trojan horse, and the logistics of The Odyssey’s popcorn bucket. Ryan and Jay also give out their final Nolan rankings as well as preview their next director series.
You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can also listen on the AW YouTube page.
This podcast runs 3h07m. The guys will be back later this week to begin their series on the films of Jane Campion with a review of her first film, Sweetie. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let’s get into it.
Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and “B-3” from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).
