This Had Oscar Buzz – This Had Oscar Buzz

243 – Wonderstruck

We’re talking about one of our favorite filmmakers this episode and for one of his most mildly received movies. In 2017, two years after the critical success of Carol, Todd Haynes returned with a pivot to young adult literature with Wonderstruck. Based on the book by Brian Selznick, the film follows two deaf children across decades who trek into Manhattan in search of family: Rose in 1927 and Ben in 1977, respectively played by Millicent Simmonds and Oakes Fegley. With passing observations to film history and the invention of the talkie, the film takes a heady approach to a story of familial reconciliation across generations. But when the film widely disappointed viewers early on at the Cannes Film Festival, the film struggled to gain fans over the year, becoming the first of Amazon’s many awards duds over the season.

This episode, we discuss the film’s early tepid reception at the Cannes Film Festival and all of the talk of this year’s Cannes, including the debut of Haynes’ May December. We also discuss Simmonds’ work in the A Quiet Place franchise, the challenge in marketing Haynes’ films, and Julianne Moore’s dual roles in both storylines.

Topics also include Carter Burwell’s glorious score, another round of Alter Egos, and gossip from the 2017 Cannes.

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242 – Pride

This week’s episode is one we have promised for some time: 2014′s Pride. The film tells the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, a queer activist group that partnered with a Welsh town in the 1980s during the mining strike under Thatcher’s rule. Following the lives of both the straight townsfolk and the queer Londoners, the film paints a portrait of queerness, allyship, and activism that rings true today while also satisfying on a crowd-pleasing level. After launching at Cannes’ Directors Fortnight and winning the Queer Palm, the film launched in the fall of 2014 to some ardent critical fans, but didn’t cross the Oscar finish line.

This episode, we talk about the theatre career of director Matthew Warchus and the film’s comforts in this current tumultuous moment for queer people. We also talk about the film’s tremendous ensemble headlined by Imelda Staunton and Bill Nighy, gay infighting, and unofficial THOB mascot Men Trussler.

Topics also include the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, Monica Bellucci bluntly listing director names, and the concept of Festival Regret.

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241 – Selena (with Luis Rendon!)

And we’re back! We hope you all enjoyed the 100 YEARS, 100… SNUBS! May miniseries, but regular episodes are returning and did we come back with a special one! The Mixed Reviews co-host and journalist Luis Rendon joins us to talk about one of the most beloved musical biopics of all time, 1997′s Selena. The film follows the rise and sudden tragic end of Tejano music legend Selena Quintanilla, and catapulted actress Jennifer Lopez in a major way. Lopez stayed in the conversation to earn a Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy nomination at the Globes, but the Oscars overlooked her now-treasured performance that is often remarked on for her ability to recreate the real life icon that she played.

This episode, we discuss the many phases on Jennifer Lopez’s career from her breakout in 1997 to her emergence into a music career and triumph at the Super Bowl Half Time Show with Shakira. We also discuss the massive casting search that landed her the role, the film as a tool of healing in the immediate aftermath of Selena’s murder, and the visual style of Tejano music videos brought to the film.

Topics also include the 1997 Best Actress race, the tradition of post-Drag Race on VH1 cinema, and character actress legend Lupe Ontiveros.

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100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Five

We’ve arrived at the grand finale of our blowout May miniseries 100 Years, 100… Snubs! It’s all been leading up to this Red and Wild strawberry social with guests arriving, boots handed out with abandon, and our picks for the biggest Oscar snub of all time! We also dive into a feast of topics including hating Braveheart, corny 1970s disaster movies, running times of nominated Documentary Features, international feature eligibility issues, double Supporting Actor nominations in 1991, Nicole Kidman’s gaze, which one of us is a bigger You Can Count on Me fan, and 100 Years, 100… Snubs! SNUBS. Special thanks to all of our listeners for sticking with us week after week, film after film — we hope you all had fun with this miniseries!!

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100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Three

We’ve got 20 more snubs (plus guest appearances!) on deck for another installment of 100 YEARS, 100… SNUBS!, and this episode is out for blood! We dive into the much discussed 1999 Best Original Song category, two very famous snubs that DON’T make our list, Chris’ early stumping for one highly anticipated performance this year, a 1980s genre film loved by horse girls and soft boys alike, Leslie Caron getting gaslit by puppets, falling in love from across a fish tank, and lots more!

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100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Two

Our May miniseries continues this week with 20 more of our picks for the greatest snubs of Oscar history! As we march towards our pick for the single greatest snub of all time we’re talking about early 2000s emo music, Jessica Lange and Charlize Theron as bootable nominees, Beyonce’s trio of performances for nominated songs, horny acting, the most perplexingly snubbed movie of 2022, Jim Carrey’s fast rise in the 1990s, loving musical theatre people, and horror nominations!

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100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part One

It’s May miniseries time, Garys! And we’re doing something a little different!

In 1998, the AFI compiled a list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and turned the list into a primetime special complete with famous faces and a schmaltzy Trisha Yearwood song. It was such a success, the AFI continued to release Top 100 lists for love stories, comedies, stars, and more. For our May miniseries, we are paying a loving tribute to the tradition by selecting our choices for the 100 greatest Oscar snubs of all time, and we have several beloved THOB guests calling in to provide their picks as well!

In part one, we’ll cover our ground rules for selection, including no double mentions for a single category in a year, or double mentions for an artist. And we’ll also be giving the boot to the nomination we would replace in our snubs’ place. Here we kick off the month of May with our first (unranked!) 20 snub selections!

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240 – Private Life

We have another movie we adore to discuss this week! Writer/director Tamara Jenkins has long gaps between films, but has nevertheless delivered an all-killer-no-filler lineup, beginning in the late 1990s with Slums of Beverly Hills and returning a decade later with the Oscar-nominated The Savages. Her next film another decade later, Private Life, starred Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti as New York creatives going through every hurdle to have a baby, including considering their adrift niece (played by Kayli Carter) as a surrogate. The film was a part of Netflix’s awards slate, but didn’t receive nearly the push as some of the streamer’s other films in their awards slate, but we will always eagerly await the next Tamara Jenkins project.

This episode, we talk about Kathryn Hahn’s formidable career of praised (and sometimes undersign) television performances, and the culmination of appreciation for the actress around WandaVision. We also discuss Giamatti’s “shady record exec” period, Netflix’s emergence as an awards player, and Hahn’s appearance in the THR Actress Roundtable and swooning for Rachel Weisz.

Topics also include the AARP Movies for Grownups qualifications for Best Grownup Love Story, Applebee’s menus, and John Carroll Lynch joins our Six Timers Club.

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239 – Young Adult

After the Oscar winning success of Juno, 2011 gave us the reunited creative force of screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman, but in a different mode that that heartwarming crowdpleaser. Young Adult cast Charlize Theron, an author and former prom queen who returns to her hometown to win back her high school boyfriend, played by Patrick Wilson. After Reitman’s Up in the Air peaked early in its Oscar season, this film skipped the festival route and performed modestly, earning an immediate reputation as a mean and caustic movie. With brilliant supporting work from Patton Oswalt, Collette Wolfe, and Elizabeth Reaser, the film has earned ardent fans since, despite missing out on Oscar.

This episode, we discuss the film’s cutting observational humor and the thorny wit that makes Mavis Gary such a memorable character and performance by Theron. We also discuss the Best Actress and Original Screenplay field of 2011, the film’s use of Teenage Fanclub’s “The Concept,” and long-suffering Pomeranian, Dulce.

Topics also include KenTacoHuts, gay people liking mean women, and hating the 2011 Oscar lineup.

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238 – Mary Magdalene

We talk about awards hopes thwarted by release date pushes, and this week is the mother of all of them. Originally intended as Garth Davis’ speedy follow-up to Lion for Thanksgiving 2017, Mary Magdalene cast Rooney Mara as the biblical woman and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus. The film reexamines Mary Magdalene role among the disciples and how history has viewed her, and attempts a feminist perspective to biblical narratives. But shortly after it wasn’t announced for any fall festival lineups, the film was pushed to Easter 2018. When the Weinstein expose arrived, the film was then caught in US distribution limbo, arriving on schedule overseas but not seeing (few) American theatres until 2019.

This episode, we talk about Davis’ success with Lion in the 2016 season and our hopes for his upcoming Satires Ronan starrer Foe. We also discuss Joe’s Catholic upbringing and knowledge, how Jesus would’ve handled social media, and the chances Mara would have had in the Best Actress race had the film arrived in its original season.

Topics also include Phoenix’s whole vibe, MANY music references, and Hot Judas.

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