In retrospect, the best-picture victory of Titanic feels like fate. When the Oscars were held on March 23, 1998, the epic drama was still the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office (in its 14th week!), and well on its way to becoming the biggest movie in history at the time. But if you were the film’s producer Jon Landau that night, you were nervous that there might be more support for the artier, more sophisticated L.A. Confidential. And if you were director James Cameron, you were mostly concerned with making sure your pants didn’t fall down.
On this week’s Little Gold Men podcast, Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Correspondent Rebecca Keegan joins to discuss her special awards issue story (which will be online March 2) about what the 1998 Oscars were like for the people behind Titanic, and how the film’s best-picture win allowed them to release the tension that had been building ever since the infamously scathing reports about its troubled production. Titanic marks the last time the year’s highest-grossing movie was also named best picture—but according to Keegan, the Academy has not changed so much that a blockbuster can never win again. There just need to be more blockbusters like Titanic.
Also on this week’s episode, a discussion of the BAFTA Awards, where Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won yet another slew of awards—but didn’t necessarily come closer to a best-picture win. Hosts Mike Hogan, Richard Lawson, Katey Rich, and Joanna Robinson also take a look at this year‘s short-film nominees in the documentary, animated, and live-action categories. Now playing in theaters, and available on various on-demand platforms starting February 27, the shorts range from the whimsical tale of a playground lost-and-found box come to life to the devastating story of two married ninetysomethings forcibly separated. There is also an animated short about frogs that might actually be about Donald Trump, and a live-action short that has only become more compelling since the most recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Listen to this week’s episode above, and find Little Gold Men on Apple Podcasts, where ratings and reviews are always appreciated. Next week look out for two new episodes—one on Tuesday and one on Thursday—in which we’ll be predicting all of this year’s Oscar nominees. We’ll also be recording a special episode on Monday morning, immediately after the Oscars, to dissect everything that happened at the show, as well as the Vanity Fair party, where Mike Hogan will be co-hosting a livestream alongside Catt Sadler. Tune in! Then listen to Little Gold Men for all the details you didn’t see on the screen.
Get Vanity Fair’s HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:Oscar Babies 2018: Kids Re-create Every Best-Picture Nominee
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Top, Sadie (5); Bottom, Frances McDormand.Photo: Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by Merrick Morton/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
The Post
Top, Sophia (7), Sloane (2), Sadie (5); Bottom, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Tom Hanks.Photo: Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, Courtesy 20th Century Fox.
Phantom Thread
Top, Sophia (7), Sadie (5), Sloane (2); Bottom, Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps.Photo: Left, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; right, Courtesy Focus Features.
Dunkirk
Top, Sadie (5); Bottom, Harry Styles.Photo: Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Lady Bird
Top, Sloane (2), Sadie (5), Sophia (7), cousins; Bottom, Saoirse Ronan.Photo: Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by A24/Courtesy Everett Collection.
Get Out
Top, Sloane (2); Bottom, Daniel Kaluuya.Photo: Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by Justin Lubin/Courtesy Universal Studios.
The Shape of Water
Top, Sophia (7), Sadie (5); Bottom, Doug Jones, Sally Hawkins.Photo: Left, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; right, Courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures.PreviousNext
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Top, Sadie (5); Bottom, Frances McDormand.Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by Merrick Morton/Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
The Post
Top, Sophia (7), Sloane (2), Sadie (5); Bottom, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Tom Hanks.Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, Courtesy 20th Century Fox.
Phantom Thread
Top, Sophia (7), Sadie (5), Sloane (2); Bottom, Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps.Left, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; right, Courtesy Focus Features.
Dunkirk
Top, Sadie (5); Bottom, Harry Styles.Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, courtesy of Warner Bros.
Call Me by Your Name
Top, Sadie (5), Sloane (2); Bottom, Timothée Chalamet.Left, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; right, courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Darkest Hour
Top, Sloane (2), Sophia (7, as Churchill), Sadie (5), kindergarten/first-grade classmates; Bottom, Gary Oldman.Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by Jack English/Focus Features.
Lady Bird
Top, Sloane (2), Sadie (5), Sophia (7), cousins; Bottom, Saoirse Ronan.Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by A24/Courtesy Everett Collection.
Get Out
Top, Sloane (2); Bottom, Daniel Kaluuya.Top, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; bottom, by Justin Lubin/Courtesy Universal Studios.
The Shape of Water
Top, Sophia (7), Sadie (5); Bottom, Doug Jones, Sally Hawkins.Left, by Maggie Storino/DontCallMeOscar.com; right, Courtesy Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Vanity FairVanity Fair features in-depth reporting, gripping narratives, and world-class photography, plus heaping doses of Oscar-blogging, royal-watching, and assorted guilty pleasures.
[contf] [contfnew] 
Vanity Fair
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
