An acclaimed writer and director, nominated for many Oscars but with zero wins, makes the most accessible movie of his career — an entertaining crime thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio alongside an enviable ensemble cast. After years of being nominated for more esoteric, arty works, it’s the big, studio-produced hit that finally wins him best picture.
As much as that sounds like a prediction of the future for One Battle After Another, I’m actually talking about The Departed — the 2006 drama that finally earned Martin Scorsese his first Oscar and became an entirely unlikely awards season juggernaut. Yes, The Departed and One Battle After Another are very different movies. But as all good Oscar nerds know, Academy Awards history tends to rhyme and the (friendly) ghosts of awards seasons’ past often haunt the current race — and there’s a whole lot to learn from looking at the past as precedent.
You, beloved After Party subscriber, are surely one of those Oscar nerds. So I hope you’ll join us for today’s exclusive bonus episode, where Joyce Eng joins me and Christopher Rosen to explore the many historical parallels in this year’s Oscar race and how those echoes might predict the future.
