September 2020 – This Had Oscar Buzz

113 – Running With Scissors

Annette Bening remains one of our most beloved actresses without an Oscar, and one of the most notorious (assumed) second place finalists after losing to Hilary Swank twice. This week, we’re looking at her turn as a mentally ill poet and mother in 2006′s Running With Scissors, adapted from the famously outrageous memoir by Augusten Burroughs. Bening received a Golden Globe nomination, but a stacked Best Actress year combined with the film’s poor reception with critics and audiences left her work as an afterthought come nomination morning.

The film was big screen debut of none other than television legend Ryan Murphy. This episode, we unpack the Murphy ethos, from his impact on the television landscape to the mixed reception to some of his work. We also discuss the film’s off-balance mix of comedy and tragedy, Gwyneth Paltrow in Bo Derek braids, and Bening as one of the most iconic smokers in cinema.

Topics also include the age of scrutinized memoirists, an oceanside testimonial from Murphy ex Bill Condon, and the uncanny valley of butt hands.

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112 – Goya’s Ghosts

Famous among Oscar predictors in the mid aughts, this week’s film had high sight unseen expectations that were thwarted by a prolonged release and dismal reviews. After twice winning Best Director, Miloš Forman followed a biopic heavy run in the 90s with the costume drama Goya’s Ghosts starring Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem. Cradling the period between the Spanish Inquisition and Napoleon’s later rule, the film is a murky rumination on art, religious power, and human corruptability from one regime to the next. Arriving stateside almost a year after its global release, the film was long forgotten by the time Bardem starting sweeping the season for No Country for Old Men.

The film also found Portman at a transitional point in her career, having earned her first nomination for Closer and leaving behind the Star Wars franchise. This week, we discuss Portman’s love of A Choice for better or worse, her 2010 win for Black Swan, and rapping on SNL.

Topics also include our beloved Flora Plum and other long-delayed Oscar hopefuls, the 2010 Hollywood Reporter Actress roundtable, and the film’s wild fake teeth.

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BONUS – And From Canada, Virtual Festival (A TIFF ’20 Recap)

BONUS EPISODE ALERT! Though physically returning to the Toronto International Film Festival this year proved impossible, we are delighted to bring you a special dispatch from the virtual festival. This year, TIFF went online (while still providing in-person screenings for Canadian viewers) and we unpack the awards potential from the lineup! We get into heavy hitters and possible acting nominees such as Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, Regina King’s One Night in Miami…, and Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman in The Father. Topics also include our May miniseries subject Naomi Watts, the fest’s strong slate of documentaries, and films that might not make it into the awards conversation but should.

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111 – Much Ado About Nothing

We’re tackling our first Shakespeare adaptation this week with Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing. After launching immediately into Oscar’s good graces with his directorial debut Henry V, Branagh returned to the Bard with this lighter and more star-studded adaptation – but couldn’t match that previous film’s favor. With a cast featuring Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, and Michael Keaton, this film instead remains as a delightful and sexy good time.

This week, we look at Branagh’s long and category spanning history with Oscar and his evolution towards a studio director of franchise films. We also dive into his affair with Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson’s double nominations in 1993, and the 1993 Golden Globe Musical/Comedy nominees.

Topics also include the recent film history of Shakespeare adaptations, Thompson’s “reveal” on the Ellen sitcom, and Imelda Staunton as beer wench.

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110 – The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)

Netflix and the Academy have had a rapidly evolving relationship in the past several years. This week, we look at the short trajectory from demonstrative shutout for Beasts of No Nation to a potential domination this season with a discussion of their 2017 awards also-ran The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected). The less heralded and less seen of Noah Baumbach’s two films for the streaming giant stars Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, and Elizabeth Marvel as extended siblings coping with their difficult father’s (Dustin Hoffman) waning health – and we kind of adore it.

Launched at the Cannes Film Festival (along with Okja) to boos at the sight of the Netflix logo, the film got lost in the shuffle for both critics and streamer-averse awards voters. Though Netflix would break through major categories that year with Mudbound, the streamer stigma would continue to play out in future seasons. This week, we’re talking about the whole Netflix thing, Noah Baumbach’s long break with Oscar post-The Squid and the Whale, and “Myron/Byron”.

Topics also include Marvel’s underrated performance, the 2017 Best Original Song nominees, and Sigourney Weaver introducing herself as herself.

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