Bebe Neuwirth – This Had Oscar Buzz

After Diner earned an Oscar nomination for its screenplay and the hearts of dads everywhere, writer/director Barry Levinson’s star quickly rose in Hollywood, culminating in Rain Man sweeping the Oscars. In the 1990s, Levinson had his share of hits and misses, but ended the decade with the final entry of his Baltimore films, Liberty Heights. The film tackles antisemitism and racism in the midcentury from a boomer lens with a young cast led by Ben Foster and Adrien Brody, but even strong reviews failed to draw an audience or the attention of awards voters.

This episode, we talk about Levinson’s filmography and the film atmosphere that led to this film being quickly forgotten. We also talk about Foster’s recent output overlooked by Oscar, Joe Mantegna’s career before being lost to the CBS soup, and Brody being mostly cut out of The Thin Red Line.

Topics also include Forget Paris, Bebe Neuwirth cast as a mom shortly after the Chicago revival, and retro movie chain pre-shows.

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The Sundance Film Festival is an elusive mistress that giveth Oscar buzz only to taketh away when at lower altitudes. Case in point is this week’s would-be Oscar title: 2002′s Tadpole. The film was a sensation of the festival, winning a Best Director prize for Gary Winick and stirring buzz for newcomer Aaron Stanford and Bebe Neuwirth. But the newfangled digital technology that won praise at the festival for all the new filmmaking possibility it represented ended up looking amateurish and garish upon release.

Tadpole ultimately got lost in a slew of 2002′s rich boy movies and disappointed on release after Miramax’s big $6M acquisition. This riff on The Graduate by way of Voltaire quotes may have been lost to time, but for a minute, it was kind of A Thing. This week, we’re also talking about the distinctions between regular Oscar buzz and Sundance Oscar buzz, the Meryl Streepness of The Hours vs. the Nicole Kidmanness of The Hours, and the National Board of Review’s “prize as party invitation” special recognitions.

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Tag: Bebe Neuwirth

316 – Liberty Heights

021 – Tadpole