AARP Movies for Grownups – This Had Oscar Buzz

301 – Bernie

our old friend Kevin O’Keeffe and Texas native for a very Texas movie. Debuting in 2011 but arriving in theaters, Richard Linklater’s Bernie accounts a real-life Texan wink wink bachelor Bernie Tiede (played by Jack Black), beloved by the church ladies and local community. However, he is taken in by the town villain Margie (Shirley MacLaine) and ends up convicted for her murder, but not necessarily in the court of public opinion. Though the film was recognized as comedy (especially for Black’s delicate performance), its awards history was largely left as a footnote to the McConaissance.

This episode, we talk about the different vibes of Texas cities and the film’s spectacular ensemble of real-life witnesses. We also talk about Linklater’s outsider status to the Hollywood establishment, Black’s preceding failures, and reporter Skip Hollandsworth.

Topics also include “one of them CMT girls,” Linklater’s upcoming Merrily We Roll Along, and 2012 Best Actor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

295 – Let Them All Talk

Say it with us: confusion! In our episodes where we have discussed 2020, one of the major conversations we’ve yet to really tackle is the confusion around what films would be considered theatrical while most of the country’s theatres were closed. This week’s film occupied that undefined space: Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble comedy Let Them All Talk. Meryl Streep starred as a heralded author reunited on a cruise with old friends who may have inspired her work, played by Dianne Wiest and Candice Bergen. While at sea, conversations of art vs. commerce, authenticity, and inspiration play out in improvisational delight. But alas, no one knew whether Let Them All Talk was a movie or TV.

This week, we talk about Soderbergh’s films made for HBO Max and the Oscar nominated performances we would swap out this year in favor of the LTAT women. We also talk about Streep’s career post-The Devil Wears Prada, Wiest monologuing about the night sky, and Murphy Brown vs. Dan Quayle.

Topics also include the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, this year’s Emmy race, and Angels in America.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

294 – The Notebook

The May miniseries is over and we’re kicking off June with a dose of movie monoculture with 2004’s The Notebook. Adapted from the Nicholas Sparks romance novel, the film’s journey to the screen attracted a range of huge Hollywood names from Steven Spielberg to Britney Spears. The tale of two lovers divided by class in the south, the film captured lightning in a bottle with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the lovers and old school Hollywood legends James Garner and Gena Rowlands as their older versions facing dementia. Though Garner would see a SAG Supporting Actor nomination, the industry didn’t recognize what would become a beloved classic.

This week, we talk about the film’s double threat appeal between teens and their moms and how Gosling and McAdams recreated the film’s iconic kiss at the MTV Movie Awards. We also talk about Gosling and McAdams’ ascendant careers in the mid aughts, Joan Allen shouting “trash!”, and the unmissable similarities between Sparks movie posters.

Topics also include Gosling at the box office, the THOB Conference agenda, and (naturally) the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

276 – Spanglish

This week, we are talking about one of the biggest THOB titles that we haven’t yet discussed: 2004’s Spanglish. James L. Brooks returned nearly a decade after his Oscar success with As Good As It Gets with this story of two disparate families thrust together: an immigrant single mother and the rich Los Angeles family she works for. With Adam Sandler headlining one year after earning his first bout of buzz for Punch-Drunk Love, this looked to be a chance for the Academy to honor him as a serious performer within the Academy-beloved Brooksian seriocomic glow. But the movie… has some issues!

This episode, we talk about Cloris Leachman’s stellar boozy performance and Téa Leoni’s work tried to wrangle an impossible character. We also discuss Paz Vega as the film’s attempted breakthrough performance to American audiences, Brooks’ Oscar history, and the many mystery middle names in Hollywood.

Topics also include Mitski fans, the film’s cringe-inducing sex scene, and the history of the Tristar logo.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

249 – Love is Strange

Ahead of this week’s release of Ira Sachs’ Passages, we’re discussing perhaps Sachs’ most lauded film, 2014’s Love is Strange. The film stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as a newly married couple forced to live apart in New York City when one of them is fired from his Catholic school job for being gay. Charting the frustrating nuances of cohabitation and the unexamined financial hardships of city life, the film is a quiet wonder filled with humane performances, including Marisa Tomei as part of the couple’s social circle. Praised at Sundance and in its late summer release, the film managed to stay in conversation due to several Independent Spirit nominations, but was shut out by Oscar.

This episode, we discuss Sachs’ underappreciated filmography and Molina’s career rise as a trustworthy supporting player. We also discuss Lithgow’s consecutive Supporting Actor nominations in the 1980s, the film’s release in the year before the Obergefell ruling, and Sony Pictures Classics’ busy 2014.

Topics also include Best Grownup Love Story, the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and Asteroid City.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

235 – The Upside of Anger

Every prestige actress overdue for an Oscar deserves her showcase, and after three Oscar nominations in under a decade, Joan Allen got hers written and directed by her The Contender costar Mike Binder. The Upside of Anger cast Allen as a mother of four whose husband suddenly abandons her, and she finds boozy solace with the former baseball player down the street. The actress earned raves for her all-out performance, along with Kevin Costner as her new lover and compatriot. But the film was a spring release and struggled to get arrested in the awards race, despite a Critics Choice nomination and regional critics wins, despite what is largely seen as an uncompetitive Best Actress field.

This episode, we talk about Joan Allen’s three Oscar nominations and other ones we think she should have received. We also talk about Costner in Baseball Kevin mode, the National Board of Review’s 2005 “excellence in filmmaking” lineup, the film’s underwhelming portrait of siblings, and the 2005 Best Actress race.

Topics also include listeners not being able to tell Chris and Joe apart, Allen’s Tony Award and theatre history, and the maligned The Mind of the Married Man.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

233 – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

From Shakespeare in Love director John Madden and with a bursting prestige-y ensemble, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is one we have been saving. Led by Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, who both had other films in the race in this season, the film follows several seniors who seek fulfillment and romance in India, including Tom Wilkenson as a man seeking reconciliation with a former gay lover. With Dev Patel as a young hotelier, the film was a global box office success that showed up throughout the precursor season, but Oscar did not come calling.

This episode, we take a look at the 2012′s wide-spread acting races, with all previous winners in Supporting Actor and Jennifer Lawrence winning Best Actress. We also talk about Smith’s two Oscar wins, Dench’s near nomination this year for Skyfall, and the Ol Parker franchise ethos.

Topics also include our winner predictions for this year, “The Quartet,” and Dev Patel going from twink to hunk.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

232 – Waitress

We decided to bring you a slice of joy this week with 2007′s Waitress. Starring Keri Russell as a small town waitress and inventive pie master stuck in a harmful marriage, the heartwarming film would eventually be adapted to the megabit musical with songs from Sara Bareilles. Its beginnings, however, were marked by sadness: in the months before its Sundance premiere, the film’s writer/director/costar Adrienne Shelly was tragically murdered. Waitress won over Sundance, becoming a summer hit for Fox Searchlight and generating praise for both Russell’s performance and Shelly’s delicate tone. However, the film lingered in the shadow of the previous year’s Sundance/Searchlight Oscar success of Little Miss Sunshine despite earning fans.

This episode, we talk about Keri Russell’s career and how Waitress falls between her two definitive television success: Felicity and The Americans. We also discuss the Mickey Mouse Club, the era of movies where characters don’t have abortions, and Celine Dion’s upcoming screen debut.

Topics also include various types of pie, the Sundance Houndog controversy, and the power of Felicity cutting her hair.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

227 – The Old Man and the Gun

In 2018, it was reported that Robert Redford would be making his acting swan song with David Lowery’s crime caper The Old Man and the Gun. As the film received its festival debut, those retirement statements were backtracked, but audiences were still given a thoughtful and surprising fable about a real “Redford type” of character and a convincing love story with Sissy Spacek. Reviews were largely positive but muted, and with the film’s early season release and the dismissal of Redford’s earlier claims that this would be his last performance, the film remained an awards season trifle with a few devoted fans but no Oscar love.

This episode, we talk about Lowery’s varied and interesting directorial career thus far and Redford’s surprisingly spare history of awards traction for his performances. We also look back at the 1980 Academy Awards when Redford and Spacek won their Oscars, the lingering distaste among film lovers for Ordinary People beating out Raging Bull, and a post-Globe win and SAG nomination state of the current race.

Topics also include Spacek’s Oscar dominance in the 1980s, Elisabeth Moss joining our Six Timers Club, and the National Board of Review’s Top Independent Films of 2018.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS