August 2024 – This Had Oscar Buzz

306 – Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her

A film with strong festival reviews that gets dumped to cable television because its commercial prospects appear slim? Sounds like something ripped from today’s cinema headlines, but it’s the case for this week’s film, Rodrigo Garcia’s Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her. Led by a prestigious cast of awards show mainstays, the film is a tapestry of loosely interconnected stories that detail the inner lives of women living in the San Fernando valley. After successful trips to both Sundance and Cannes, the film’s distributor sold the film to Showtime when even its good reviews weren’t considered enough to merit a theatrical release.

This episode, we talk about the understated work of writer/director Garcia and the critical community’s reaction at the time to the film’s punting to cable. We also talk about Calista Flockhart’s run on Ally McBeal, Kathy Baker and Valeria Golino’s absence from the film’s marketing, and how Glenn Close and Holly Hunter went from Oscar beloveds to Emmy perennials.

Topics also include the Emmys, MGM’s then-looming bankruptcy, and the Tyra Banks game.

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305 – Peterloo (with Fran Hoepfner)

With the upcoming return of Mike Leigh to cinemas with Hard Truths, we invited writer and Fran Mag creator Fran Hoepfner to join us to talk about his last theatrical effort, 2019’s Peterloo. The film tells the story of the buildup to the Peterloo massacre, in which years of political movement to get parliamentary representation for the people of Manchester resulted in bloodshed. Told with the attention to detail that has long been Leigh’s trademark, the film had a cold fall festival response in 2018, which led American distributor Amazon to punt the film to an unceremonious 2019 release.

This week, we dive into the film’s underrated and underexamined merits and what contributed to its unfair reception. We also talk about our anticipation for Hard Truths, this film’s lack of marquee Leigh players, and some of Leigh’s other undervalued films.

Topics also include the film’s political timeliness, Amy Raphael’s Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh, and Leigh on the THR Director Roundtable.

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304 – American Psycho

Time to get controversh with with one of the most argued about films of the century, 2000’s American Psycho. Based on Bret Easton Ellis’ lightning rod novel, the film passed through multiple directors before landing in the inspired hands of Mary Harron. The independent director struck the right satirical note on Ellis’ difficult blend of consumerism and masculinity, and found a flawless muse as the titular psycho Patrick Bateman in Christian Bale. But the film’s sex, violence, and dark humor incited its own controversies and was too much for the Academy despite the praise for Bale’s performance.

This episode, we talk about the film as a launchpad for Bale’s adult career and how his lesser known status at the time almost lost him the role. We also talk about Bateman’s musical obsessions, the other casting choices for Bateman, and Reese Witherspoon joins our Six Timers Club.

Topics also include the Broadway musical version, the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, and 2000 Best Actor.

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303 – Red Rocket

With Anora anointed with the Palme d’Or this year, one of the narratives ahead in the coming season will be whether Sean Baker’s microbudgeted cinema will be embraced by the Academy in a big way. After lots of buzz for Tangerine and an acting nom for Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project, Baker was buzzed again for Red Rocket and its showcase performance for Simon Rex. With Rex as a manipulative down-and-out porn star returning to the small town that cast him out, Red Rocket‘s moral minefield and rueful comedy was ultimately not embraced by Oscar.

This week, we talk about Rex’s dynamic performance and the film’s recreation of the 2016 election cycle. We also talk about the meta elements of Rex’s casting, Baker’s rise among the ranks of independent cinema, and the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

Topics also include donuts, 2021 Best Actor, and READ posters.

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