Coen Brothers – This Had Oscar Buzz

After steamrolling in the previous season with No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers quickly returned to movie theatres with the brilliantly silly Burn After Reading. Though financially successful, the film proved divisive over the high dosage of standard Coen misanthropy despite brilliant, off-type casting for Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, and George Clooney. A veiled satire of the Bush administration, the film had a decent showing among precursors from the Golden Globes to the AARP Movies for Grownups, but still was shown no love by Oscar.

This episode, we look broadly at the odd particulars that kept Burn After Reading from nominations, from Pitt being overshadowed by Benjamin Button and an Original Screenplay field that proved surprisingly competitive even for the Oscar-favored Coens. We also look at McDormand’s evolution into “salt of the earth” roles and the 2007 Oscar ceremony as the launch pad for this film.

Topics also include Kate Winslet competing with herself, WGA ineligibilities, and what constitutes a “buddy drama”.

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2017 was a rough year for Paramount and their awards slate, but none of their films bombed as hard as George Clooney’s Suburbicon. Retooled by Clooney and his writing partner Grant Heslov from a Coen Brothers’ script that sat unproduced for 30 years, the Coens’ brand of misanthropic crime saga is infused with a very white perspective on racism in middle America. The film was DOA on the fall festival circuit and evaporated even faster with audiences.

As if his foot-in-mouth comments weren’t enough, 2017 was also a year that earned no favor for for Suburbicon’s miscast Matt Damon – particularly when he also led Paramount’s other misfire Downsizing. This week, we discuss how Damon killed his post-The Martian favor, Oscar Isaac’s inevitability as a future Oscar nominee, and Clooney’s status as a de facto pick for early predictions despite increasingly diminishing returns.

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Tag: Coen Brothers

120 – Burn After Reading

039 – Suburbicon