Host – Page 36 – This Had Oscar Buzz

006 – 1492: Conquest of Paradise

Brace yourselves for some slow motion colonialism set to the dramatics of Vangelis – this week, we are discussing 1992′s Christopher Columbus epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise. With star Gerard Depardieu having a moment in American cinema and director Ridley Scott fresh off of his first nomination for Thelma and Louise, what could possibly go wrong?

Listen as Joe and Chris remember Sigourney Weaver’s costumes, trailer packages on VHS tapes, and how the film is the prototype for Ridley Scott’s slew of historical epics.

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005 – Courage Under Fire

This week, we are taking you back to 1996 for Edward Zwick’s Rashomon-esque half-examination of the Gulf War and sexism in the military, Courage Under Fire. While most of the praise on release was granted to star Denzel Washington and supporting player Lou Diamond Phillips, we take a look at the case for Meg Ryan and how an Oscar nomination eluded her career.

Other discussion points include Zwick filmography as consistently mild Oscar success, Matt Damon “getting” thin for his breakout role, and the constantly shifting landcape of Meg Ryan’s southern dialect. And we change up the format and add a closing trivia showdown: The IMDb Game, AKA Known 4.

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004 – Ask the Dust

What’s that? You’re not familiar with the 2006 romantic drama Ask the Dust? Where a handsome young writer played by Colin Farrell moves to California, negs the hell out of waitress Salma Hayek, and begins a torrid love affair amid the dusty environs of the Great Depression? That’s probably because the early Oscar buzz on this one — goosed by the presence of writer/director Robert Towne (Chinatown) — died a swift death. Let’s talk about it!

Topics include Salma Hayek’s very emotional 2006, whether Colin Farrell’s sex tape made him look good or bad, and whatever the hell Idina Menzel was doing here (and which Looney Tunes character she reminded us of).

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003 – Pay It Forward

This week we’re calling all angels as we discuss 2000’s major critical disaster and thwarted Oscar grab, Pay It Forward. That’s right, the one where a post-Sixth Sense Haley Joel Osment teaches the world to pass on one favor to three strangers. A film notorious in This Had Oscar Buzz lore, Pay It Forward‘s awards hopes were spoiled by epic failures of miscasting and egregious emotional manipulation, not to mention the ever-changing landscape of Kevin Spacey’s burn makeup.

On this episode, we look back at the beloved Entertainment Weekly Fall Movie Preview issues, Jon Bon Jovi’s emerging acting career, and composer Thomas Newman copying himself in the span of a single Oscar season. Just one of several failed awards players from the major studios in 2000 (as well as one of several Helen Hunt movies), Pay It Forward is perhaps the most infamous.

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002 – Tulip Fever

This week’s piece of failed awards bait is the 2017 costume drama/romantic “thriller” Tulip Fever, and by “2017,” we mean “filmed in 2014 and originally intended to be released at various times over the course of the next three years, only to finally limp into theaters after several waves of frantic test screenings, horrid buzz and derisive jokes.” From the director of The Other Boleyn Girl, people! How could it have all gone so very wrong?

Topics include: Dane DeHaan and baby pandas, Judi Dench running Goldman-Sachs-for-flowers, whether we’re living in a post-costume-drama world, whether this would have been Alicia Vikander’s Norbit, and how much would have been different if DreamWorks had been able to make this movie in 2004 as originally intended.

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001 – Mona Lisa Smile

Our first episode of This Had Oscar Buzz is about 2003’s Mona Lisa Smile, director Mike Newell’s Wellesley College period melodrama, starring Julia Roberts and all of the It Girls of the early Aughts. Come for the art history lesson, stay for the dashed awards hopes.

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It Didn’t Come True

Joe Reid and Chris Feil discuss the origins of This Had Oscar Buzz, their first experiences with Oscar failures, and give a sneak peek at episodes to come…

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