Bradley Whitford – This Had Oscar Buzz

In 2018, we were rooting for the comeback of director Karyn Kusama, emerging with the promising crime thriller Destroyer. Centering on Nicole Kidman playing against type as a grizzled investigator haunted by a previous undercover case gone wrong, the film applies a serpentine structure to its breed of hard boiled LA noir to mixed results. After receiving a mixed reaction on the festival circuit but praise for Kidman’s performance, the film was one of several 2018 Annapurna Pictures films that struggled to gain momentum.

This episode, we talk about the strength of Kidman’s performance and the unfortunate fate that met some of Kusama’s films. We also talk about the film’s baffling ending, Sebastian Stan as Kidman’s hot love interest, and Kidman going ham on Bradley Whitford and Tatiana Maslany.

Topics also include “deglam” Oscar campaigns, The Invitation, and Kidman’s Golden Globe nomination.

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Early in the 1990s, two westerns emerged as Best Picture winners when the genre was first thought dead: Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. In 1993, those heralded actor-directors would unite for A Perfect World, casting Costner as an escaped convict who takes a small boy hostage and teaches him about masculinity, with Eastwood as the lawman in pursuit while also taking the directing reigns. That pedigree missed the Academy on this round, however, as the film’s downer telling was a poor fit to the holiday season to which it was launched.

This episode, we talk about the early poor reception for Costner’s new saga Horizon and our differing opinions on this film’s approach to masculinity. We also talk about Eastwood’s output in the 1990s, Laura Dern’s underserved role as a criminologist, and how the film disappointed for denying audiences an onscreen showdown between its male stars.

Topics also include Schindler’s List as the 1993 undeniable frontrunner, Costner’s sex appeal, and the Cahiers du Cinema.

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Tag: Bradley Whitford

407 – Destroyer

298 – A Perfect World