February 2020 – This Had Oscar Buzz

082 – Stranger Than Fiction (with Kevin Jacobsen)

This week we’re returning to a subject that never fails to summon Oscar buzz: comedic actors going dramatic. For this round, we welcome And The Runner Up Is host and writer for Gold Derby Kevin Jacobsen to discuss 2006′s Stranger Than Fiction. The high-concept seriocomedy starred Will Ferrell in his first major attempt at a dramatic role as Harold Crick, a man who hears a voice narrating his life and predicting his imminent demise. That voice belongs to an author played by Emma Thompson, with Harold being the subject of her next masterpiece.

But it wasn’t just Ferrell’s leap into drama that spelled Stranger Than Fiction’s Oscar potential. The film was directed by Marc Forster – already a rising Oscar commodity after directing Halle Berry to her win and following that up with Finding Neverland – with buzzed new screenwriter Zach Helm chasing the in-vogue absurdity of Charlie Kaufman. Despite good reviews, the film didn’t fully achieve the potential of its premise and was overshadowed by other counterprogramming options to Oscar’s brooding 2006.

This episode, we take a look back at the diminishing Oscar returns for Marc Forster and how Sacha Baron Cohen and Borat surprisingly stole this film’s thunder. Topics also include Amy Pascal at awards shows, films that made us look at film more critically, and canonical This Had Oscar Buzz superfan Don Gummer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

081 – Finding Forrester

After the disasterous reception to his shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, Gus Van Sant returned to territory closer to his previous Oscar success with 2000′s Finding Forrester. Another tale of a prodigy in academia, the film follows newcomer Rob Brown as a young writer who stumbles into the guidance of a famed recluse writer William Forrester, played by a late career Sean Connery.

Told in tropes made very familiar by the likes of Dead Poets Society and Scent of a Woman, Finding Forrester is ultimately a very dull version of a mentor/pupil story. And while the film’s moderate box office success made for a small comeback for Van Sant, stiff competition and a late release kept Sean Connery out of the Best Actor race. Now the film is most remembered for its catchphrase, crowed into consciousness in Connery’s brogue: “You’re the man now, dog!”

This episode, we also discuss Connery’s string of post-Oscar hits throughout the 90s and Van Sant’s tough-to-pin-down filmography. Topics also include Oscar presenters who make the envelope reveal more about themselves than the winner, Busta Rhymes, and our favorite pottymouth Shohreh Aghdashloo.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

080 – Enough Said (with Mathew Rodriguez)

One one our favorite female filmmakers to hover just outside of Oscar’s graces is Nicole Holofcener, and this week The Body’s Mathew Rodriguez joins us to talk about one of her more recent films: 2013′s Enough Said. The romantic comedy stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as a single mother preparing to send her daughter off to college while discovering the man she is dating is the ex-husband of one of her clients. One of Holofcener’s most celebrated humanist examinations of class and relationships, the film faced an uphill climb against Oscar’s bias against comedies and female stories.

But perhaps its closest shot was for Louis-Dreyfus’ love interest, the dearly departed James Gandolfini. Released after the beloved actor’s death, his against type (but true to his real-life persona) performance remains one of his best.

This week, we’re taking a look at our love for Holofcener’s work, including with her muse and Enough Said supporting star Catherine Keener. We also discuss this year’s exceptional Globes Actress in a Musical/Comedy lineup, what went down when Holofcener almost made Can You Ever Forgive Me? (which still led to her first writing nomination), and Bon Qui Qui from MadTV.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

079 – A Love Song for Bobby Long

The Golden Globes have a standing reputation for oddball nominations and this week we are discussing one of the peak examples: 2004′s A Love Song for Bobby Long. The film follows Scarlett Johansson as [ahem] Purslane Hominy Will, a young woman who inherits a home from her estranged mother only to find it occupied by two poet drunkards played by John Travolta and Gabriel Macht. Remembered far more as a trivia item for Johansson’s Best Actress in a Drama nomination at the Globes than the film itself, Bobby Long provides a fascinating time capsule to the exact moment when Johansson’s star was on the rise after her big 2003.

But this one was held by distributor Lionsgate for a post-Christmas qualifying release, with its fate doubly sealed when the then-tiny distributor’s other candidate Hotel Rwanda took off just a week before. This week, we take a look back at the history of Lionsgate from tiny indie label to the mini-major distributor they are today, and we argue that Johansson might not be the Globes darling that conventional wisdom claims she is.

We also discuss other qualifying releases that had varying degrees of success, Oscar’s history of actors getting double nominations, and galaxy brain what The Cell: The Musical would look like.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS