 All right the Oscars Are this Sunday and Part of the tradition of the Oscars is we have the great Legendary movie critic Jeffrey Lyons on with us, and he joins us today on the phone Jeffrey. How you doing? Hi, Michael. I'm looking forward to seeing you and the upcoming season. It's been a very strange couple of days what with Kobe Bryant and Mookie Betts and Kirk Douglas. I'm a friend of my family for 70 years and Now Oscars coming up. It's gonna. It's been an interesting up-and-down emotional time Now I'm hearing a rumor that you are actually gonna be the Red Sox manager. They'll name you the manager the next couple of days Okay, tell me what you think of this guys Don you're here, too. I suppose sure and Peter. Let's let's say the commissioners has suspended out Alex Cora for a year Who's to say he can't come back because everybody loves him I think that's their play. Yeah, I really believe that's their play Wow That'll be something in the meantime Jason Veratek is my new guide to succeed him. I'll be a temporarily All right, let's talk about best picture. Who do you like? I think it's between it's it's between 1917 which I loved and my favorite film of the year once upon a time in Hollywood But I think the the vibe that I get is that it's gonna be 1917. I don't know if you've seen it But I have a facial film. Did you see once upon a time in Hollywood? Yes, I didn't I liked it a lot I take back everything I've ever said about most of Quentin Tarantino's movies I met Sharon Tate in London one time and she appears in the movie as you know in that clip that Margot Robbie watches herself on screen, right? And I was terrified about how the movie might end Do I have to sit through a recreation and as you know, I don't want to give anything away It's the biggest surprise. I've ever seen in the 30,000 movies. I've seen it. It was just but I think the buzz is 1917 I don't think it's gonna a lot of ratings because Everybody's won a lot of almost all the preliminary awards the ones I voted for the critics choice awards Awards and and every other SAG awards. So it's I don't know. There's gonna be much suspense this year I'm just curious about one thing. Sorry Don. So I really enjoyed once upon a time in Hollywood But a lot of people there are many people out there who did who thought it paled to compared to Tarantino's best work You said it was almost the opposite for you. Why did you like it more than? And as I say, I met Sharon Tate and I remember Hollywood being like that back then And if you remember the New York Times had a full-page dissection of how every single little thing in the film looked authentic from the ads for the local news anchor On whom the character of Ted Baxter was was based on the Mary Tyler Moore show and Every little detail was done perfectly and it just took me back to another time And I think that two great performances from these I think Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are the bird Lancaster and Kirk Douglas Of our age parallel stars De Niro and Pacino Joan Crawford and Betty Davis I love parallel stars who have similar careers coming up at the same time So I love I loved a lot about it and and I just hope it wins But I'm not sure it will I know we're prisoners of the moment But when I saw it I thought this is Tarantino's best work And this is coming from somebody that loved reservoir dogs love pulp fiction But doesn't it make sense that a guy 25 years later would be better at his craft And it really seems like he came it just all of his experience came together in that one film Yeah, and you know what he said at the critics show I think to you the critics choice of the saga words He said he won he won for best screenplay. So I don't have to thank anybody. I wrote this all by myself No, I'm wondering about one thing so the Irishman is nominated and I know this is maybe it's blast for me I think I think people are saying it's great just because it's Corsese. I watched it I wonder what ended up on the cutting room for nothing Hitchcock said tell it in two hours and it's three hours and 40 minutes or so and I'm not talking about watching it in Netflix I'm talking about being in the theater and If you anything over two hours, I usually expect Egyptian sandals pyramids chariots gladiators Not the wise guys popping each other in the brain again with guns and even though De Niro's mother I believe is Irish-American He has defined his career as an Italian-American actor and he speaks Italian in the movie I never for a second thought he was Irish and I also don't care about Jimmy Hoffa anymore I mean who cares about that it's it's it's 20 years overdue and also Al Pacino's accent is Jimmy Hoffa. It came in Jimmy Hoffa either he got a he became a caricature of himself. This is a horrifying collection of takes all around I loved it. It's phenomenal. Maybe the reason I loved it is because maybe We're different ages. I never really felt like I ever understood or knew the Hoffa story I kind of got caught up in that a little bit more just because I And I thought the Hoffa movie with the Jack Nicholson didn't do it justice at all I thought this one did if you can't win a golden globe of any sort What are your chances of winning an Oscar and I could understand that this might also be prisoner of the moment too But I was talking to the guys. I finally got a sent chance to see the Joker I don't know if I ever remember a performance quite as good as what walking Phoenix gave I was really blown away and I know that was inspired by by two different movies taxi driver and Scorsese's movie Why am I my drop of the ball with Jerry Lewis? Comedy He captivated me. I thought he was I was blown away by the performance Film I didn't like the film cuz I didn't want to spend two hours within the within saying person But I think he's a lot to win the Oscar and it's deservedly So I think it takes somebody who's part crazy to play a crazy person sometimes and cuz he's he's unless he's doing a whole Gig on on on on us he comes across as somebody who's unpredictable and loony and That that whole thing in the the staircase up in the Bronx was brilliant He did it so well and and he's a lock. He's won every he's won every preliminary award I think it's hands down. Do you know Jeffrey that I spent four hours a day with a lunatic? Well, you can decide whether it's Don or Peter. He's talking about me. Yeah, okay now real quick. I Felt the entire season of awards snubbed Adam Sandler and uncut gems can't nominate everybody How about John Lithgow for before? bombshell as As you know the head of Roger as I was Roger Ailes. He was brilliant. You can't nominate everybody Here's my question Banderas was the name that kind of popped up during the award season that at least as a casual fan I wasn't aware that movie was that great was Banderas that great in pain and glory. I look. I'm the biggest fan of Pedro mold of our I speak his dialect of Spanish fluently. I Antonio Manderas is an old friend of mine. I did the first English language One of the first English language interviews with him and I know the towns where he would be a street actor And I like Banderas's work And anything he does just about but I thought all mold of ours movies about women are great This one didn't hold my interest at all and it's got Penelope Cruz And I did a first English language interview for there and and I've stayed in touch with them And I'm connected to them I like to feel that way anyway, and I just didn't get into it. I didn't care about his life I maybe I should have but I wanted to make more movies about women. Nobody does it better So I don't think he has a chance to win though But you can always give somebody an award for their career, but he's not old enough for that That's why John Wayne one late in his life It was for his whole career wasn't necessarily for playing Rooster Cogburn talking with the legendary film critic Jeffrey Lions The Oscars are this Sunday actors in a leading role a Jody and I sat down and watched Judy the other day and Renee Zellweger was just unbelievable. I mean, I would think it's a slam dunk, right? Exactly She's won every award up to this. I I saw Judy Garland live and my dad knew her I never met her but I saw her live and my and my and my dad told me certain characteristics about her and Renee Zellweger Recreated those perfectly. She was marvelous in it. She was born to play the role. Do you just forget forget that it's Judy Garland, you know who I did know I know the guy who was her last husband He used to be a matriot D at Arthur Sybil Burton's Disc a tech as they were called back then I used to see him every night and this was the guy who was her fourth husband And it didn't last very long as you know, if you've seen the movie She was born to play the roles. It was she was great in it. And how about the supporting actress? Supporting actress, I think Laura Derns won everything and she's going to be a sweep and it's who she was great All the performances were good. There are a couple of other snubs Gretta Gerwig should have been nominated for best director for little women I am not the intended audience for little women and it is such a sweet movie and it's put a completely new take On the movie which has been made about six or seven times before and I think Brad Pitt's going to win for once upon a time In hollywood, he's overdue. He was great. He exposed a weak side and of his character and the fight with bruce lee is enough That you know when I have to put we take a family picture and I want to put a fake smile on I think of bruce lee being slammed against the car door and I can't stop laughing Is it true that the lee family had a problem with that? Oh, yes, they did and you can't you know the loss at least along this country says you cannot The fame a dead person you can say whatever you want about a dead person, but they didn't defame him I thought they brought back his memory. I thought it was fine It was it was it was funny. I didn't get a chance to see it. I desperately want to but what did you think of tom hanks? And does he have a chance at the supporting role? No, he's got what does he have 12 Oscars or something? It seems he's a male meryl street, but he was fine. I thought he was a lead actually because he's He's the one that was in elderly ads And I thought he was fine and tender and remarkably well cast and he's also related Uh to mr. Rogers. He's a distant relative of his incidentally So, uh, he was born to play that role too, but I think he's not over. He has his oscars. Brad Pitt does not Now before I let you go, I love that netflix exists I just don't think that they should use the little okie dokie on us to put the Irishman in theaters for For a month to get it nominated for an academy award. I don't think that's fair I mean there's netflix and there's not right The good thing is that they bought the paris theater on fed next to the plaza hotel here in new york And it's a magnificent theater movies used to play there for a year And and they're showing that's the rule. I think my I said to my son. Do you think we're gonna have Uh movie theaters 50 years from now will everything be on netflix and amazon and all that's a great time to be an actor There's plenty of work out there He said yes because you can't take a date to the living room to watch something It's a day. It's gonna become more of a date. You sure can No, that's where the date ends peter. Oh, sorry So you're looking forward to this sunday right jeffrey you like this Look at the oscars as the toll booth through which I have to pass to get the baseball So in that sense, I am even though mukibets is gone at least for this year That's right. They could bring him back. They could bring him back. He told he told big poppy He doesn't want to leave I guess the red sox made him an offer and he didn't want to scrape by on 600 000 dollars a week Can you blame him? No, not it's not when you think you could get a million a week What's the difference? How does that extra money make that's how they keep score? Oh for goodness sake. He could have been the next you know just remski almost if he'd stayed out He's not a big guy. Didn't have a great year last year as you guys know. He had a pretty good year But uh, it's it's it's high in bloom is taking a lot of heat But they did they have the smallest stadium they have 35 000 people on the highest prices They have to keep under the salary cap. It's going to be a tough year He should not take the heat though jeffrey because he the marching orders came from john henry Of course and john henry is knows what he's doing And if you there are a couple of down years the yankees have had them too You got to regroup I guess I just just hope i'm wrong and I hope they went on the field and not on paper Good stuff jeffrey. Thank you for joining us. I love this spot. See you guys soon. It's always an honor. Thanks. Thank you so much