# "Train Dreams" And Netflix’s Quest For Best Picture

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666/train-dreams-and-netflix-s-quest-for-best-picture
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666/train-dreams-and-netflix-s-quest-for-best-picture.md
Podcast: [Critical Darlings](https://stenobird.com/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666)
Published: 2026-01-29T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/THI2824801497.mp3?updated=1774620210
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/THI2824801497.mp3?updated=1774620210
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/critical-darlings-7771666/episodes/train-dreams-and-netflix-s-quest-for-best-picture
Duration seconds: 3792

## Resource

On today’s show, Richard and Alison hop on a boxcar and stare wistfully as the 20th century passes them by with Best Picture nominee Train Dreams. They discuss director Clint Bentley’s lush, if somewhat sanded-down take on Denis Johnson’s novella about a lumberman haunted by his past, starring a very quiet Joel Edgerton. Train Dreams is one of Netflix’s Best Picture nominees this year, but the film was not an original production. It was acquired by the streamer at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. On the occasion of this year’s festival (which is happening as we speak) we also discuss how Sundance works, and what, exactly gives a movie that ineffable Sundance flavor we have come to associate with small-scale American indies like Little Miss Sunshine. We also discuss Netflix’s seemingly endless quest to win Best Picture, why the Academy is so resistant to giving them the big prize, and why the most popular streamer in the world is so desperate for Academy validation in the first place. Subscribe to Richard's newsletter, ⁠⁠Premiere Party,⁠⁠ and read Alison's work ⁠⁠at Vulture. ⁠Follow Critical Darlings on Instagram⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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