After earning an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach followed up that film’s success by partnering with the recently Oscar-ed Nicole Kidman for Margot at the Wedding. The film cast Kidman opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh (then married to Baumbach) as verbally warring sisters, the youngest of who is planning a quick wedding to a bumbling idiot, played by Jack Black. Those looking at the film’s on-paper Oscar prospects were greeted with a daring showcase for Kidman, but a film even more caustic and cruel than Baumbach’s previous film. To date, it remains his worst reviewed directorial effort, but maintains a cult of ardent defenders.
This episode, Kyle Buchanan from The New York Times joins us to discuss his book Blood, Sweat, and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, the Fury Road Oscar year, and what makes Margot such a brilliant Kidman performance. We also get into the botox criticisms that plagued the film’s reviews, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s close calls before her Oscar nomination, and Kidman’s cringey virtuoso book store monologue.
Topics also include which Drag Race contestant Margot is, bucket hats, and the value of Oscar clips.
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