Barbra Streisand – This Had Oscar Buzz

The 70s Spectacular is dancing as fast as it can! And we’re spinning right into 1972 with one of the decade’s biggest stars, the one and only Barbra Streisand, and joining us is one of her superfans, writer Jordan Hoffman. This year saw the first films of First Artists, a production company that intended to give more power to stars to create their passion projects the studios wouldn’t touch. Streisand’s first effort with the company was Up the Sandbox, a timely satire that cast the legend as a housewife faced with a third pregnancy, who retreats into her wild and often politically charged fantasies. Indifference from audiences and the industry made this one of Streisand’s rare flops.

This episode, we talk about our love for Barbra and this legendary Oscar year that pit Cabaret against The Godfather. We also talk about the film’s bizarre fantasy sequences, how it exists as a product of a specific moment in time, and cinematographer Gordon Willis’ shockingly slim Oscar history.

Topics also include Paul Zindel books, Harry And Walter Go To New York, and Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure.

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One of the most notorious snubs of Oscar history is the directors’ branch not nominating Barbra Streisand, even though The Prince of Tides received a Best Picture nomination and the Golden Globes awarded her Best Director for Yentl. This week’s episode looks at the one and only Streisand in a film between those two achievements: 1987′s Nuts. Starring the icon as a sex worker charged with the murder of one of her clients, the film is a dull adaptation of a stage play that is nevertheless watchable due to Streisand’s indefatiguable screen presence.

This week, we go deep on Barbra lore, from the misogynist perception she was given as “difficult” in comparison to her male peers to appearing on the Rosie O’Donnell Show to the old-timey mall she has in her basement. We also discuss the incredible 1987 Best Actress lineup and posit the Oscar futures if Cher hadn’t won.

Topics also include Leslie Nielsen in tiny underwear, preventative Lea Michele damage homeowner’s insurance, and Barbra singing with Judy Garland.

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Tag: Barbra Streisand

288 – Up the Sandbox (with Jordan Hoffman) (70s Spectacular – 1972)

114 – Nuts