Best Director – Page 2 – This Had Oscar Buzz

219 – Always

As The Fabelmans is welcomed into theatres and Spielberg nostalgia is about to come back into conversation, we naturally are here to talk about one of his least discussed films: 1989′s Always. Based on the 1943 Victor Fleming film A Guy Named Joe, Always follows an aerial firefighter played by Richard Dreyfuss who dies saving his friend (John Goodman) in a mission, only to watch from the afterlife as his lover (Holly Hunter) grieves and finds new romance. Spielberg was a big fan of the original, turning this into a bit of a passion project that nevertheless received middling box office and reviews before becoming one of his most forgotten films.

This episode, we talk about Spielberg’s twofer years and the Oscar success of the related films. We also discuss Hunter’s slew of projects immediately after her first nomination for Broadcast News (and our wish to see her in another Spielberg film), Spielberg losing Best Director nominations to other director legends, and the era of cigarette ads and The Marlboro Man.

Topics also include Goodman’s status as a nominationless actor, bickering over the current Bake Off season, and Audrey Hepburn as an afterlife greeter named Hap.

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204 – A Prairie Home Companion (with Clay Keller)

An episode long teased has finally arrived. Screen Drafts co-host (and proud Minnesotan) Clay Keller joins us to discuss the final film from beloved auteur Robert Altman, 2006′s A Prairie Home Companion. Based on and set within the eponymous radio show, the film follows the backstage goings-on during the show’s fictionalized final live recording, with a sprawling cast of Altman regulars and newbies including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Maya Rudolph, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, and Virginia Madsen as an angel of death. Altman would pass the November after its release, but sadly did not receive posthumous recognition for the film due to its somewhat divided reception.

This episode, we’re discussing the dual summer roles for Streep between this and The Devil Wears Prada, and we’re celebrating our tenth Streep episode! We also discuss Lohan’s turmoil at the time, Paul Thomas Anderson as a contractually obligated backup director, and Clay brings us stories from his experience as an extra on the set of the film.

Topics also include the Streep/Tomlin tribute to Altman at the previous ceremony, bad jokes, and a Screen Drafts-style ranking of the film’s best performances.

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183 – Margaret (with Patrick Vaill)

#TeamMargaret, your day is here! This week, we are joined by actor Patrick Vaill to discuss the contentious backstory and reemergence story that is Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. Originally filmed in 2005, the film follows Anna Paquin as Lisa Cohen, a New York City teenager who witnesses a horrific accident and her search for restitution when she deems herself partly responsible. But Lonergan’s ambition with the film and its themes resulted in an arduous editing process, resulting in the ire of the film’s producer and Fox Searchlight. The years-long process led to lawsuits and the intervention of Martin Scorsese in the editing room, ultimately delivering a film that quietly snuck into a few theatres amidst contentiousness. Soon, a critical mass began to build along with change.org petitions and online outcry, and now Margaret is seen by some as one of the greatest films of the new century.

This episode, we discuss the various available versions of the film and Lonergan’s distillation of post-9/11 New York. We also unpack the brilliant central performance by Paquin, along with a stellar supporting cast of actresses including J. Smith-Cameron as Lisa’s actress mother, Jeannie Berlin as Lisa’s surprise confidante, and a one-scene-wonder Allison Janney (who joins our Six Timer’s Club).

Topics also include formative double features of The Apostle and Kundun, standing ovations for Andrea Martin, and what makes up J. Smith-Cameron’s “EGOT of television acting.”

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181 – Leatherheads

This week, we are once again returning to the diminishing returns of George Clooney’s directorial career with 2008′s Leatherheads. The directing follow-up to his Oscar-nominated Good Night and Good Luck, this lighthearted film about the early days of American pro football stars Clooney as a player opposite Renée Zellweger as a journalist trying to break the story of a college football star (John Krasinski) who falsified the war hero story that made him famous. The film was received positively by critics and mildly by audiences, but was quickly forgotten as a hodgepodge of screwball comedy, sports crowdpleaser, and post-war drama.

In this episode, we look back at Clooney’s directorial attempt to follow in the footsteps of his collaborators and the 2005 Oscars where George Clooney earned three Oscar nominations, including winning in Best Supporting Actor for the forgotten Syriana. We also discuss Zellweger’s post-Oscar career fade, a what-if scenario for Clooney not winning for Syriana, and just how unsafe early football seems.

Topics also include the Zellweger movie we call “SOS backwards”, being blocked by LightsCameraJackson, and another round of Alter Egos.

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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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137 – Live By Night

After landing a Best Picture winner that famously left him without a Best Director nomination for Argo, Ben Affleck made his director-star return in 2016 with Denis Lehane adaptation Live By Night. Affleck cast himself as a criminal caught between the Irish and Italian mobs in Tampa (with an ensemble that included Chris Messina, Zoe Saldana, and Elle Fanning) and is a muddied mess of mob movie tropes. The film shuffled release dates and opened with a whiff at the end of the year, failing to catch audiences amid a packed Oscar season and its own floundering reviews. Live By Night was forgotten and out of theatres once nominations arrived.

This episode, we talk about Affleck’s successes and stumbling blocks, including our own conflicting feelings about him as an actor, director, and celebrity. We also look back at Affleck’s shocking Best Director snub, his habitual casting of himself shirtless, and Warner Bros. disappointing 2016 which also included the introduction of Batfleck.

Topics also include our Top 10 films of 2016, Affleck’s meta casting in Gone Girl, Sienna Miller facial blindness.

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114 – Nuts

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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