Month: May 2025

343 – White Noise (Festival Fever!)

Festival Fever comes to an end this week with a look at the last major film festival of the year, the New York Film Festival. In 2022, Noah Baumbach follow-up up his biggest Oscar success, Marriage Story, by tackling Don DeLillo’s unadaptable novel White Noise. The satire stars Adam Driver as the leading professor in “Hitler studies” whose family faces chaos and confusion from a cataclysmic disaster known as the Airborne Toxic Event. Prestigiously opening NYFF (after also opening Venice), the film left many scratching their heads.

This episode, we talk about our hopes for Baumbach’s upcoming Jay Kelly and the history of NYFF openers. We also talk about the film’s closing sequence set to LCD Soundsystem, Greta Gerwig’s acting return in the film, and the film’s large budget.

Topics also include 2022 Original Song, Little Hugs (which we incorrectly call Huggies), and the film’s production design.

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342 – Strictly Ballroom (Festival Fever!)

This week, Festival Fever gives us our first Baz! Strictly Ballroom gave then-stage director Baz Luhrman his debut film, one of a number of Australian comedies that would achieve cult followings in the US. But this tale of young ballroom dancers who take artistic license and fall in love on the way also became a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival, winning the coveted People’s Choice Award. With a spring release the next year, the film is the only one of Luhrman’s to not be nominated by Oscar in any category.

This episode, we talk about the maximalist appeal of Baz and the road to TIFF’s People’s Choice Award becoming such an Oscar predictor. We also discuss the film’s first success as a midnight film in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, star Tara Morice’s exquisite performance, and the film’s surprise strong showing with BAFTA.

Topics also include Kath & Kim, “Time After Time,” and the 1993 Golden Globe musical/comedy lineup.

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341 – Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (Festival Fever!)

estival Fever continues this week with a forgotten adaptation and the Venice Film Festival. Tom Stoppard earned his first Tony Award for Best Play for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an absurdist spoof of Hamlet and various theatre tropes from the perspective of two of the Bard’s minor characters. A film version was long delayed before Stoppard took over the director’s chair himself for his debut. Casting young actors Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as the interchangeable twosome, the film earned the festival’s Golden Lion despite mild reviews.

This episode, we talk about the history of the Golden Lion and how we think this film joined those ranks. We also discuss Oldman and Roth’s breakthrough in Mike Leigh’s Meantime, their major successes immediately after Stoppard’s film, and Richard Dreyfuss’ broad performance as The Player.

Topics also include Chloe Zhao’s upcoming Hamnet, listeners not being able to tell us apart, and our favorite Golden Lion winners.

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340 – Titane (Festival Fever!)

We’re kicking off this year’s May Miniseries this week! Introducing: Festival Fever!! We’re spending all month discussing the ethos around some of the most important film festivals–and if you subscribe to our Patreon, the mini has already begun! After the COVID year shut down the Cannes Film Festival for the first time in decades, 2021 rebounded with a robust edition. The Palme d’Or winner was a controversial pick: Julia Ducournau’s sophomore thriller Titane. The film garnered headlines for its audacious, no-holds-barred look at gender, parent-child relationships, and umm a serial killer who gets impregnated by a car.

This episode, we talk about the history of the Palme d’Or and the film’s unsuccessful placement as France’s International Feature submission. We also talk about our anticipation for Ducournau’s upcoming Cannes return with Alpha, Spike Lee accidentally spoiling the film’s win at Cannes, and queer reactions to the film.

Topics also include dancing firemen, Ducournau’s debut Raw, and our favorite Palme winners.

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