Pop Culture Confidential

In this dispatch from the New York Film Festival 2026, Christina and Ryan McQuade (AwardsWatch) dig into the festival's Centerpiece film, Tony Gilroy's Behemoth!, starring Pedro Pascal. Plus, Digger talk!

A special episode of Pop Culture Confidential! Christina had the honor of interviewing Cristian Mungiu, director of the Palme d'Or film Fjord. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss the film, the themes that run through his body of work, the conversations Fjord has sparked, and much more.
Recorded live on stage following a screening in Stockholm, Sweden, September 2026.

Toronto just wrapped, closing out the fall festival trio of Venice, Telluride, and TIFF, and the Oscar picture is starting to come into focus. This week, Christopher Rosen (deputy editor at The Ankler, co-host of the Prestige Junkie podcast) joins the show to break it all down.
We dig into TIFF winner La Bola Negra, the sensation that had the festival buzzing, plus Martin McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine (which won John Malkovich Best Actor at Venice) and Simon Stone's Telluride/TIFF drama Elsinore starring Andrew Scott. We look at who's in the running for Best Picture and the acting categories, and look ahead to some of the fall's biggest swings, including Iñárritu's Digger with Tom Cruise, and so much more.
It's a big one, so settle in.

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's documentary "You Can See Everything" about Elizabeth Holmes blew the roof off the Telluride Film Festival at its secret screening. Christina sat down with Jay Ledbetter and Ryan McQuade of the Director Watch podcast (AwardsWatch) to process the experience!

High above Telluride, Christina hops aboard a gondola with Jorge Tenreiro and Sophia Ciminello of AwardsWatch to talk about La Bola Negra, the new film from Los Javis. From the Telluride Film Festival.