The Bull Sheet #5: Small Golden Men
Bi-weekly news and updates on what's going on at The Bull's Eye.
Welcome to a new edition of The Bull Sheet—my bi-weekly musings, rants, and personal reflections on film, writing, journalism, and everything happening with The Bull’s Eye.
The Oscars are soon upon us again, and while it might have become increasingly political and zeitgeist-driven in recent times, it is impossible to ignore what is, without a doubt, the biggest film awards ceremony in the world.
The other day, a Norwegian podcast (which I think I guested on at some point) reached out with an idea. They’re planning an Oscar special where they’ll talk to various film journalists and critics in Norway, each recording a short soundbite with their predictions for one or more categories. I contributed mine, but it got me thinking about what films I actually believe will win this year.
So here are some of my predictions. They might be different from what I recorded for the podcast, as my opinions about these things will often change from day to day. But here and now, these are some of my predictions:
Actor in a Leading Role: Timothée Chalamet—A Complete Unknown
Actor in a Supporting Role: Guy Pearce—The Brutalist
Actress in a Leading Role: Demi Moore—The Substance
Actress in a Supporting Role: Ariana Grande—Wicked
Animated Feature Film: Flow
Cinematography: Dune: Part Two
Costume Design: Wicked
Directing: Brady Corbet—The Brutalist
Film Editing: Emilia Pérez
International Feature Film: Emilia Pérez
Makeup and Hairstyling: Nosferatu
Music (Original Score): Wicked
Music (Original Song): El Mal from Emilia Pérez
Best Picture: The Brutalist
Production Design: Conclave
Sound: Dune: Part Two
Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Sing Sing
Writing (Original Screenplay): September 5
These are the ones I believe have a good chance to win. Are they all the films I hope will win? Not at all. But there are many great and deserving titles this year, to be sure.
And if you happen to be comfortable with Norwegian and want to check out the podcast, you can find it here:
Maybe I’m Just Shy
Working in film journalism, especially here in Norway (and, I imagine, in many other places), is first and foremost about passion. No one—at least no one I know—gets rich doing this, but it’s worth it.
Of course, anyone can write about film, television, or media. But as I often tell friends and colleagues in the field, if you want to take it up a notch, it’s also about access and strategy. You need those interviews, press conferences, and preview screeners to stand out.
If you’ve been reading my website and newsletter for some time, you’ve probably noticed that I don’t cover quick tabloid news. I’m just not interested in writing about what dress this or that actress wore to an event or which actor posted something controversial on Instagram or X… ten years ago. And you won’t find clickbait like “10 Movies with Real Sex Scenes!” in my work—though I’m sure that article would get plenty of engagement.
I started writing about film and TV about five or six years ago, and one thing I’m still uncomfortable with is one-on-one interviews. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s imposter syndrome, or maybe I just get starstruck.
Roundtable interviews, where multiple journalists take turns asking questions, are a bit easier. But even then, when I’m invited, I tend to agonize over it for days, if not weeks, beforehand.
It has gotten easier over the years, though. I still remember my first one-on-one interview. It was with Karen Allen from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Here was my childhood action heroine from one of my favorite films ever, and Paramount asked if I wanted to talk to her for 15 minutes on the phone for the film’s 40th anniversary.
But it turned out well. When I started this Substack, that interview was one of the older articles I translated and posted. You can read it here.
But, as the years went by, interviews became easier, especially face to face. But these days, many, of not most interviews are conducted via Zoom, and maybe it’s something about the format that makes it slightly uncomforable.
But I’m often surprised about how easy it is after I first start the interviews and the conversation gets going. An example is this one, with the Irish actor Liam Cunningham about his role in the amazing sci-fi Netflix series 3 Body Problem. That’s one of the friendliest and, indeed, funniest interviews I’ve ever done, despite it being via Zoom:
Referrals and the Leaderboard
On The Bull’s Eye, all articles are free for one month. After that, they go behind the paywall, where only paying subscribers can access them. I see this as a good middle ground between free and paid content—new subscribers can read everything that’s current, but access to older articles requires a paid subscription.
That said, there are ways to read paywalled articles without paying. One option is the free sample feature, which appears as a prompt when you try to access a locked article.
Another option is the referral system. Here’s how it works: if you refer others to subscribe to The Bull’s Eye—whether they sign up as paid or free subscribers—you earn free access to paywalled articles for a set number of months, depending on how many people you’ve referred.
You can check out the Leaderboard for more details on how it works.
Status on Articles
I’m just going to say it—this week didn’t go as planned, and as a result, your inbox might have been a little busier than usual. I try to keep it to one article per week, plus The Bull Sheet every other week.
Originally, I planned to cover the Zoom press conference for Netflix’s new political thriller, Zero Day, starring Robert De Niro, Joan Allen, Jesse Plemons, and others. The idea was to write an article focusing on De Niro’s quotes and skip reviewing the series altogether.
But De Niro—legend that he is—had very little to say. In fact, he seemed… elsewhere. Maybe lost in thought. Maybe nodding off. But if there’s one actor who’s earned the right to take a power nap whenever he damn well pleases, it’s De Niro.
So, I had to pivot. Instead, I wrote a review of the series, which you can find here:
On top of that, we’ve got the new season of Reacher on Prime Video. And while I was working on Zero Day, my wife—who happens to be a fan of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels—stepped in as a guest writer to review the third season of the show.
You can find her review here:
Next week, I’m planning to take a break. Well, not really—I’ll finally start working on a screenplay that’s been occupying way too much space in my brain for the past year. My goal is to organize my screenwriting calendar, set my weekly writing days, and get started on the first couple of scenes.
In fact, I have three screenplays in various stages of development. These are:
Ancestors: A modern adaptation of HP Lovecraft’s short story “The Shadow Over Innsmouth.” The story follows a young woman who travels from Boston to Eastern Norway to find her long lost brother, who has become a part of an island cult.
Før meg til din leder (Take Me to Your Leader): A Norwegian satire about a friendly alien landing his UFO in the middle of Oslo, Norway, asking to see the manager of the planet. Think Forrest Gump meets Arrival, and meant as look at Norwegian culture, media and our place in the world.
The Punishment: Based on the novel “Straffen” by the Norwegian author Ragnar Kvam, this is the story of the 19th Century artist (and my ancestor) Knud Bull (brother of the famous composer Ole Bull), who was sent as a convict from London to Australia after being convicted for forgery.
I also plan to set up a “Section” (Substack-speak for a secondary newsletter) here on The Bull’s Eye, where I’ll write a series of articles about my screenwriting process. If you’re interested, you’ll need to subscribe to that Section separately.
But fear not—after next week, I’ll be back with my planned articles, including an exploration of Star Wars’ live-action series on Disney+, a deeper look at FX’s incredible historical drama Shōgun, and a look at the 50th anniversaries of two iconic cult films—but that’s later in the spring.
And, of course, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the Oscar winners in the next issue of The Bull Sheet.
And That’s a Wrap!
That’s all for now.
Until next time!