August 2020 – This Had Oscar Buzz

109 – The Way Way Back

We decided to end the summer with another Listeners’ Choice episode and your triumphant film was 2013′s Sundance title The Way Way Back. The film was another massive Sundance buy for Fox Searchlight, who sold it to audiences very much in the mold of its successful Little Miss Sunshine. But even with two of Sunshine’s Toni Collette and Steve Carell among the cast, audiences and critics alike were far less enthusiastic about The Way Way Back’s summer vibes, leaving the film forgotten by year’s end. Well, except by our good friends at the AARP M4Gs.

The highest praise for the film was granted toward Sam Rockwell, still in the phase of his career as a critics darling before his first Oscar nomination. We get into his newfound typecast as racists, how the film feels like it should be a period piece, and the ethos of festival fever.

Topics also include the Black List, water park culture, and Allison Janney as various anthropomorphized types of alcohol.

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108 – A Dangerous Method

If you look at many of the bizarre and not-safe-for-work fascinations embedded in the filmography of David Cronenberg, it might be surprising that the auteur’s work ever made it close to Oscar conversations. But this week, we’re looking at one of his films that did: 2011′s Freud and Jung horny costume drama A Dangerous Method. Starring Michael Fassbender as Jung and frequent Cronenberg star Viggo Mortensen as Freud, the film looks at the relationship between the two foundational psychologists and the women caught between their ideologies, Sabina Spielrein – played by Keira Knightley, in a divisively received performance.

The film also played a major part in Fassbender’s 2011 omnipresence, though Shame would be his closest Oscar contender of his many films this year. But it was the director’s then-increasing favor with Oscar that set most early predictions’ sights on this film. This episode, we take a close look at the Cronenberg resume and all of its fascinating perversions.

Topics also include 2011 Supporting Actress, Knightley’s relationship to costume dramas, and how A History of Violence came close to a deeper embrace by Oscar.

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107 – Prime

We’re back to discussing Meryl Streep (for the SIXTH time!) this episode for a film starring the legend opposite an actress who was overlooked for a defining work. After Oscar ignored the hyperviolent Kill Bill films and its iconic star, Uma Thurman seemed poised for future Oscar success. When she was cast opposite Streep for 2005′s Prime (in addition to a few other high profile roles that year), it looked like this could be more to Oscar’s tastes. Starring Thurman as a woman who falls for a younger man who happens to be the son of her beloved therapist, Prime ultimately was a misfire romantic comedy that quickly got forgotten.

This episode, we look at how the film is unsatisfying because it focuses too much on Bryan Greenberg as the male love interest and how it almost starred Meryl’s Oscar rival in a later season: Sandra Bullock. And we welcome Meryl to the THOB Six-Timers club and look back at the previous Streep films we have discussed.

Topics also include performer spouses of Real World castmembers, the accumulation of unhinged storylines on Boston Public, and “it’s fashion!”

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106 – Dr. T and the Women

This episode, we’re returning to the career of Robert Altman for one of the most bizarre films we’ve ever discussed. With a stacked female cast surrounding Richard Gere as a beloved Texan gynecologist, 2000′s Dr. T and The Women baffled audiences straight to its well-earned F CinemaScore. Erased from our memories one year later by the Oscar success of Gosford Park, this film lacks Altman’s distinct touch and interesting characters before it (literally) drives into a bizarre conclusion.

With a cast that also includes Helen Hunt, Kate Hudson, Tara Reid, Laura Dern, and a nude Farrah Fawcett frollicking in a mall fountain, Dr. T makes good on little of its promise. We look at Richard Gere’s screen persona prior to his near-nomination for Chicago, Altman’s stint in director jail post-Popeye, and how this film factored into the year’s narratives for Hunt and Hudson.

Topics also include the brief life of Artisan Entertainment, rich lady mall culture, and assassination tours.

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105 – Somewhere (with George Civeris)

After reaching Oscar success in 2003 with Lost in Transalation, Sofia Coppola has stayed mostly on the fringes of Oscar conversations with her distinct but understated filmography. This week, comedian and StraightioLab cohost George Civeris joins us to look back at perhaps her quietest film, 2010′s Somewhere. Starring Stephen Dorff as a B-movie star and Elle Fanning as his preteen daughter visiting him at his home at the Chateau Marmont, the film received a muted release at the end of the year and has since gained more ardant fans of its subdued emotional insight.

We discuss the film’s triumph and mishegoss at the Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the Golden Lion by a jury led by Coppola’s friend Quentin Tarantino. We also look at Coppola’s frequently revisited portraits of privilege, her exceptional taste in song choices, and her performance in The Godfather Part III.

Other topics include the 2010 Best Actor lineup, newspaper ads as a bygone Oscar campaign tool / gay recruitment tool, and Britney Spears’ “Everytime” video.

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