MTV Movie Awards – This Had Oscar Buzz

283 – Garden State

We’re finally diving into the time capsule that is 2004’s Garden State. The writing and directing debut of Zach Braff, the film stars Braff as a depressed actor who returns to his Jersey home to attend his mother’s funeral. Once there, he reunites with former friends and maybe meets the love of his life (played by Natalie Portman in an urtext manic pixie dream girl mode) who helps him reevaluate his life. The film was a Sundance sensation and unleashed a gangbusters trailer package, igniting the love of young cinephiles, if not the Academy.

This episode, we discuss what about the film has aged poorly and its place in Fox Searchlight’s very busy 2004. We also talk about the film’s incredibly popular and definitive soundtrack, Portman’s performance and career up to her first Oscar nomination, and Jackie Hoffman’s brief performance in the film hilariously singing Lionel Ritchie.

Topics also include the personal stages of life we were in when we first saw the film, how gross it is to share headphones, and Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling winning Best Kiss.

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270 – Sister Act (Patreon Selects)

All January we’ll be doing a series we call Patreon Selects with episodes chosen by members of our sponsor-level tier on Patreon (and they’ll be sharing their Oscar origin stories too)! First up is 1992’s megasmash musical comedy Sister Act! Originally designed as a showcase for Bette Midler, the film became a starring vehicle for Whoopi Goldberg hot off of her Oscar win for Ghost. With Whoopi as an on-the-run lounge singer who hides out in a convent and turns the church’s choir into a sensation, the film won the affection of audiences but not an Academy with a tricky relationship with comedy.

This episode, we talk about Whoopi’s career from theatre breakthrough to movie star to Oscar host. We also talk about Dame Maggie Smith’s two Oscar wins, the career of writer Paul Rudnick (who took his name off the film), and the divine Mary Wickes.

Topics also include Hook, Nuns Having Fun, and the MTV Movie Awards.

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267 – Heat (with Roxana Hadadi!) (Patreon Selects)

This week, our first film selected by one of our sponsor-tier Patreon subscribers arrives, and we brought back Vulture’s Roxana Hadadi to celebrate. In 1995, audiences were hyped to finally see an onscreen showdown between Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in Michael Mann’s Heat. But what promised to be a standard actioner on paper (on top of a battle of titans) was in actuality an existential tone poem on masculinity, with audiences feeling let down by the lack of fireworks in Pacino and DeNiro’s brief but mighty scene. The film has since been reassessed, earning a vocal and devoted fanbase that hail the film as Mann’s masterpiece.

This week, we talk about Mann’s work studying the masculine mind and Pacino and DeNiro’s 1990s periods. We also talk about Val Kilmer’s Batman year, how the 1995 Oscars largely rejected darker material, and our thoughts on Mann’s Ferrari.

Topics also include bisexual eyebrow piercings, our diner orders, and the Nyad towel.

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261 – Hereditary

Happy Halloween, listeners! Naturally, this week we are returning to the shallow well of horror films that made it into the Oscar hunt with a recent highly debated and lauded terrifier. In 2018, Ari Aster made his feature debut at Sundance with Hereditary, the story of a family invaded from within by a demon worshipping cult. Aster’s bizarre vision quickly earned the film a reputation as one of the scariest ever made, but Toni Collette’s performance as a terrified and grieving mother received some career-best notices and feverish hopes that she could crack the Best Actress lineup. As you might expect, Hereditary was simply too much for the Academy.

This episode, we talk about everything that makes the film so divisive and Ari Aster’s whole thing. We also talk about Collette’s career and our favorites in her filmography, the rise of character actress Ann Dowd, and what makes the conversation around “elevated horror” so frustrating.

Topics also include putting the Saturn Awards on notice, coin parties, and the Gotham Awards.

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258 – Kill Bill – Vol. 2

Last week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kill Bill – Vol. 1, so naturally we had to bring you Vol. 2 this week! Six months after the release of the original (and its shafting at the Oscars), The Bride returned to finish her vengeance list and kill that Bill. Surprisingly, the finale earned stronger reviews and earned praise for David Carradine’s turn as the titular assassin. But even with Uma Thurman’s towering work coming into full focus at the story’s close, Vol. 2 marked one of the last times that Oscar would decide Tarantino wasn’t in their wheelhouse.

This episode, we look at how the two films differ and how some scenes may have played in one long film. We also talk about Daryl Hannah’s career, why we think the film received better reviews than its predecessor, and Beatrix Kiddo’s travel logistics.

Topics also include David Carradine’s position in the 2004 Supporting Actor race, Uma post-Bill, and the most recent Best Picture nominee we haven’t seen.

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257 – Kill Bill – Vol. 1

We’re here celebrating a 20th anniversary for a beloved film this week, listeners! After his longest break between movies to date, Quentin Tarantino delivered a samurai epic while trying to crack the script for another epic, Inglourious Basterds. That ultraviolent actioner, Kill Bill, would also reunite Tarantino with his Pulp Fiction star Uma Thurman, given a major showcase as an unnamed blood soaked bride bent on vengeance. But Tarantino made so much movie, it had to be split into two.

Vol. 1 arrived in 2003 and became a sizable hit, wild mild critical praise that didn’t quite know what to do with its non-stop violence, time-hopping structure, and incomplete narrative arc. This episode, we talk about Kill Bill – Vol. 1‘s excellent female ensemble, its triumph at the MTV Movie Awards, and the all-timer needle drop “Battle Without Honor or Humanity”.

Topics also include first experiencing the film’s cliffhanger, its strong performance at BAFTA, and early aughts trailer descriptions.

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195 – The Pelican Brief (EW Holiday Movie Preview) (with Bobby Finger)

We move forward with our May miniseries this week by looking back at the 1993 holiday season with EW’s Holiday Movie Preview and The Pelican Brief. And this week, we have returning guest and Who? Weekly cohost Bobby Finger joining us to unpack all of the John Grisham vibes. Based on Grisham’s novel and released in the same year as The Firm, The Pelican Brief stars Julia Roberts as a law student Darby Shaw caught in a political conspiracy who solicits help from Denzel Washington’s journalist Gray Grantham while on the run. Despite the presence of two Oscar caliber megastars and the great Alan J. Pakula in the director’s chair, The Pelican Brief was ultimately considered a popcorn movie by awards bodies, but remains as entertaining as ever.

This episode, we discuss Julia Roberts’ career in the early 1990s amid the tumultuous tabloid fodder about her love life and her short break between films. We also look back at Macaulay Culkin’s Nutcracker movie, EW’s underplaying of major Oscar contenders in the issue, and formative terrifying gay moments in early 1990s mainstream cinema.

Topics also include the MTV Movie Awards Most Desirable Male, holiday shopping guides, and the River Phoenix being recast in Interview with a Vampire after his untimely death.

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177 – Secretary

After a few minor roles in American indies, Maggie Gyllenhaal broke out in a big way with Sundance hit Secretary in 2002. The story of a young woman who copes with her mental health issues while entering a BDSM relationship with her boss (played by James Spader), Secretary was praised for its dark wit and daring, and immediately put Gyllenhaal on the map. But while she earned breakthrough prizes throughout the season, the film’s risque subject matter and a notoriously competitive Best Actress race kept Gyllenhaal out of Oscar contention.

This week, we discuss how the film holds up in terms of its handling of sensitiive subject matter and its place in the filmography of (surprise THOB heavy-hitter) Erin Cressida Wilson. We also discuss Gyllenhaal’s chances this season for her directorial debut The Lost Daughter, Spader’s run as an erotic psychodrama mainstay, and how the 2002 Best Actress race was shifted by contenders campaigning for multiple roles.

Topics also include the proposed Indecent Proposal remake, what we are programming at our imaginary repertory cinema, and the MTV Movie Awards Breakthrough Female Performance category.

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165 – The Counselor

There are few names in modern literature with more prestige than Cormac McCarthy, and his work has been adapted into the likes of Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men. For his first produced original screenplay, he partnered with one of the most prestigious names in movies and our most discussed director, Ridley Scott. Together they brought an all-star cast led by Michael Fassbender for a tale of violence and hubris called The Counselor. With scenes of Cameron Diaz humping a car and Brad Pitt being slowly beheaded by a mechanized wire lasso, The Counselor was immediately dismissed by (most) critics and audiences for its interminable plot and excessive violence.

This episode, we talk about film adaptations of Cormac McCarthy’s work and Ridley Scott’s upcoming twofer Oscar hopefuls this season in House of Gucci and The Last Duel. We also discuss offensive onscreen representations of Mexico, Fassbender’s hard-to-place screen persona, and bastardization of the MTV Movie Awards.

Topics also include Ridley Scott trailers, Bardem’s styling in the movie, and “The Continental.”

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129 – When A Man Loves A Woman

For our third episode on Meg Ryan, we’re going back to 1994 with When A Man Loves a Woman. One year after her megasmash in Sleepless in Seattle, the film stars Ryan as a woman entering recovery for alcoholism and Andy Garcia as her husband struggling to find normalcy. Though the film was a critical and box office success, an early summer release and scattered Best Actress year kept Ryan from her elusive first Oscar nomination.

This episode, we talk about how the film subverts romantic drama expectations by not letting the male lead off the hook when it shouldn’t. We also talk about Tina Majorino and Mae Whitman in their child star days, Meg Ryan’s Lead Actress nomination from SAG in their inaugural awards, and Andy Garcia as eternally hot.

Topics also include the MTV Movie Awards’ Most Desirable categories, movies from the 90s that exist only as titles or posters, Lauren Tom when she broke up Ross and Rachel.

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