Academy Awards – Page 19 – This Had Oscar Buzz

151 – Lucy in the Sky

We’ve got another long anticipated episode this week! In 2019, Natalie Portman teamed up with Fargo creator Noah Hawley to bring to the screen a highly fictionalized account of a NASA astronaut who suffered a psychotic break and stalked her lover and co-worker across the country. The more salacious details (namely the urban legend diaper that she wore to prevent stopping her car) were ommitted and a ceaseless slew of aspect ratio shifts were added, resulting in a film that critics and audiences immediately dismissed.

But the film was dead on arrival not only because of its quality, it also released in the immediate takeover of Fox and Fox Searchlight by Disney’s acquisition. With little effort put behind the film, it was gone from theatres faster than jokes could be made about it. This episode, we talk discuss Portman’s boldness as a performer and look back at her previous episodes as she joins our 6 Timers Club! We also discuss Hawley’s flat approach to material, Jon Hamm’s lack of charisma in his movie roles, and Ellen Burstyn talking about “astronaut dick.”

Topics also include the 4DX Experience, the film’s late TIFF premiere burief at the end of the festival, and the still unawarded Saturn Awards.

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150 – The Shipping News

We’re marking a milestone this week with our 150th episode. And for such a momentous occasion, we’re finally digging in to one of the most notorious films of THOB history with Lasse Lasse Hallström’s The Shipping News. Adapted from Annie Proulx’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, the film cast Kevin Spacey as a meak man who uproots his life to his Newfoundland home after the tragic death of his wife, Petal (Cate Blanchett). Also starring awards magnets Julianne Moore and Dame Judi Dench, the film had massive on-paper goods that went down in flames when the film faceplanted onto screens on Christmas Day, earning dismal reviews for its ungraceful handling of a literary work.

Especially cursed in retrospect for all of the obvious reasons, the film also met a Hallström backlash after Chocolat and The Cider Houses Rules back-to-back. This episode, we look at Miramax’s 2001 awards contender reshuffling and the film’s shockingly robust precursor tally, including a Best Picture nomination from the Critics Choice Awards. We also revisit our past Judi Dench episodes and our list of superlatives for episodes 101-150.

Topics also include the film’s absolutely bonkers character names, seal flipper pie as the best part of its love story, and Cate Blanchett’s 2001 triptych of critics prize awarded performances.

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149 – The Prize Winner of Defiance, OH

Can you believe it’s only our third episode discussing Julianne Moore? This episode we’re diving into the mid-00s period between nominations for Moore with 2005′s The Prize Winner of Defiance, OH. Starring the eventual Oscar winner in the true story of Evelyn Ryan, a mother of ten who supported her family through sweepstakes contests and jingle writing, the film looked to hit the actress’s sweet spot with a plum prestige role. But due to the financial woes of Dreamworks Pictures, the awards prospects died when the film was given a release too miniscule to draw attention.

The film marks the end of two eras: Dreamworks’ solo output and Moore in the period housewife mode. This episode, we get into Moore’s downturn period between nominations, including such misses as Freedomland and The Forgotten. We also discuss the career of director Jane Anderson and what makes the film worth more than the tiny release it received.

Topics also include the Golden Satellites, Toys R Us shopping sprees, and The Chumscrubber.

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148 – Concussion

Finally, we are telling the truth! In 2015, Will Smith took on another biopic with Concussion as Dr. Bennett Omalu, the forensic pathologist whose research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy experienced by football players found opposition with the NFL. After premiering at AFI Fest, the film received middling reviews and opened on Christmas Day only to be gobbled up by the storm that was The Force Awakens, resulting in one of Smith’s paltriest openings.

Will Smith’s strong performance landed him a Golden Globe nomination, but missed out of the Oscar lineup on nomination day, becoming one of the most cited performances in Oscar So White conversation. This episode, we discuss whether or the film goes easy on the NFL and their attempts to silence Dr. Omalu, and how it takes on toxic masculinity in football culture at large. We also look at the abysmal 2015 Best Actor race, how this film showed up in the Sony hack, and how Albert Brooks can sell a crass line about his anatomy.

Topics also include 5 disk CD changer technology, how Avatar 2 is just Mare of Easttown 2, and Concussion’s MTV Movie Award nominations.

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147 – Boy Erased (Focus Features – Part Five)

Our Focus Features miniseries comes to a close with 2018′s Boy Erased. Based on the memoir by Garrard Conley, the film stars Lucas Hedges as a young man from a religious family who is subjected to conversion therapy when his parents (played by Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) discover that he is gay. Though sensitively approached by director/star Joel Edgerton, the film is ultimately is too reserved and stumbles to get inside the head of its protagonist, resulting in a milquetoast response from awards voters and audiences.

This episode, we discuss Hedges’ busy fall of 2018, his soft coming out of sorts, and the Ben Beautiful Boy Erased is Back blur of movies in that season. We also look at Crowe’s quiet end to being considered an Oscar darling and Kidman’s dual THOB fall 2018 with Destroyer. And we get into the film’s ups (a strong cast of bit players!) and downs (that perfume ad scene!) in telling a queer story, and of course “Bloom.”

Topics also include 2018′s Original Song race, sprained ankles at TIFF, and our Top 10 favorite Focus Features films.

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146 – The Place Beyond the Pines (Focus Features – Part Four)

This week, our Focus Features miniseries brings us to The Place Beyond the Pines, Derek Dianfrance’s epic, novelistic tale of fathers and sons. The film reunited Cianfrance with his Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling as a motorcyclist who turns to crime, with consequences that will reverbate across households and generations. After launching at TIFF in 2012, Focus Features held the film until the following spring, leaving it as a highly divisive afterthought come awards season.

We unpack Cianfrance’s ambitious triptych vision with a stellar ensemble cast of Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Dane DeHaan, Ray Liotta, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, and Eva Mendes. We discuss the film’s underserved female characters, early 2010s Gosling fatigue, and its emotionally intelligent exploration of masculinity that still left some viewers cold. And there’s still room to rave over cinematographer Derek Cianfrance and his bold work for this film that left him with a concussion.

Topics also include Cianfrance’s underseen HBO limited series I Know This Much Is True, Michelle Williams’ nomination for Blue Valentine without one for Gosling, and reading A Little Life on vacation.

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145 – Lust, Caution (Focus Features – Part Three)

We’ve come to the midpoint of our Focus Features miniseries with a work from a modern master, 2007′s Lust,Caution from Ang Lee. An erotic thriller set in Hong Kong and Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, Lust, Caution follows a breakthrough Tang Wei as Wong Chia-Chi, a woman who joins an assassination plot where she must seducce the target, played by icon Tony Leung Chiu-Wai. Lee earned a back-to-back Golden Lion win for the film at Venice after Brokeback Mountain, but several factors likely played into Oscar overlooking the film: its NC-17 rating, Lee’s recent Brokeback success, and Oscar deeming the film ineligible for Best Foreign Language Film.

This episode, we go deep on the minutiae regarding the Foreign Language / International Feature elibigibility and nomination process in recent years, including 2007 as a beginning to Oscar adapting procedure for the category. We also look at Tang Wei’s brilliant performance, the film’s international assemblage of talent behind the camera, and Lee’s history of exploring sexual themes.

Topics also include Focus Features’ sizzle reels, the 2007 Venice Film Festival, and the surprising Focus film that unites our three THOB miniseries so far.

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144 – Possession (Focus Features – Part Two)

Our Focus Features miniseries continues with the first official Focus release, 2002′s Possession. Adapted by Neil LaBute from A.S. Byatt’s celebrated novel, the film follows Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart as poetry scholars who fall in love while unearthing a secret love affair between two Victorian poets, played by Jennifer Ehle and Jeremy Northam. The adaptation had a long development process that drew such prestigious names as David Henry Hwang and Sydney Pollack, but arrived to theatres with a whimper of a release due to mild reviews while Focus’ other titles immediately emerged as their bigger Oscar opportunities.

This episode, we look back at Focus’ successful inaugural Oscar year (namely with Far From Heaven and The Pianist) and the history of Paltrow’s British dialect. We also look back at Ehle’s brilliant but under-celebrated career, the final days of USA Films, and what films we think would’ve made it in a Best Picture 10.

Topics also include the film’s perfect sweaters, 2002 cinematic bisexuals walking into bodies of water, and Ehle reading Pride and Prejudice on Instagram.

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143 – The Muse (Focus Features – Part One)

We’re kicking off our May miniseries on Focus Features with the winner of our Listeners’ Choice poll, 1999′s The Muse. To kick things off, we’re looking at how Focus was birthed from the previous companies of USA Films, October Films, Gramercy Pictures and Good Machine. Written and directed by Albert Brooks, The Muse stars Sharon Stone as the titular eccentric tasked with reviving the career of a once-celebrated Hollywood screenwriter (also played by Brooks). The antics result in a slew of cameos, Andie MacDowell baking cookies, and multiple trips to an aquarium, and it all resulted in a Golden Globe nomination for Stone before Oscar looked elsewhere.

But that Globe nomination is now remembered as one of the many bumps in the history of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s practices, namely for the watches they received as part of Stone’s FYC campaign. This episode, we look at the lineup of films from the companies that merged into Focus Features, Brooks’ surprisingly limited Oscar history, and Stone’s ascension in the 1990s.

Topics also include our other Listeners’ Choice film options, the film’s datedness even for 1999, and Elton John’s abysmal original song for the film.

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142 – Friends with Money

This episode, we are returning to the career of the great Nicole Holofcener with 2006′s enesemble comedy Friends With Money. The film stars Jennifer Aniston as the housemaid friend to three wealthy women played by Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Frances McDormand, and studies class and friendship with the kind of wit and grace that’s made Holofcener’s films so special. But despite strong notices for Aniston’s off-type performance and rising appreciation for Holofcener’s work, the film peaked with a Supporting Actress win for McDormand at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Once again, we praise the Holofcener ouevre and exhalt the Holofcener/Keener partnership. We also look at Cusack’s rare multiple comedy Oscar nominations, Aniston’s love of working with comedic actors like Adam Sandler, and McDormand going off in an Old Navy.

Topics include creative differences between Holofcener and Julianne Moore attempting to make Can You Ever Forgive Me?, films that might have overshadowed her work in their Oscar seasons, and our Holofcener rankings.

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