Christian Bale – This Had Oscar Buzz

We as Oscar watchers can’t quit predicting Ridley Scott just like Ridley Scott can’t stop making historical epics that end up underwhelming. In 2014, he gave us one of them – a retelling of Moses story (minus all that religion) called Exodus: Gods and Kings. With Christian Bale at the forefront, the film stirred controversy for casting all white actors led to a tepid box office, with the film becoming one of many late year disappointments in 2014.

This week, we unpack how this film stands up against previous versions of the exodus story, The Ten Commandments and The Prince of Egypt. We also lament some of Scott’s big budget habits (that he might be returning to later this year with The Last Duel) and the many ways that Exodus: Gods and Kings’ does not stand up to his best work.

Topics also include Joel Edgerton’s rising Oscar trajectory, our top ten films of 2014, and the Oscar-winning dueling divas of “When You Believe”.

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For this week’s episode, we have another quintessential prestige picture that flubbed with Oscar: it’s-a Captain Corelli’s Mandolin! Coming off of a Best Picture win with Shakespeare in Love, director John Madden returned with a WWII romance set on a gorgeous Greek island between recent Oscar winner Nicolas Cage and next-big-thing Penélope Cruz. But this love story was instantly derided for its tepid sparks and cringe-worthy dialect work from Cage, making it more of a punchline come Oscar time than the viable contender it seemed to be before release.

This week, we look back at Madden’s very THOB-friendly filmography and the behind-the-scenes business maneuverings that crossed this film with Miramax. We also take an extended look at 2001′s acting categories and imagine what a Best Picture ten could have been in the year of A Beautiful Mind and the first Lord of the Rings installment.

Topics also include Cruz’s busy 2001 amid her relationship with Tom Cruise, how movie-going was impacted by 9/11, Christian Bale’s butt, and prostitute pasta.

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Tag: Christian Bale

085 – Exodus: Gods and Kings

083 – Captain Corelli’s Mandolin