EW Summer Movie Preview – This Had Oscar Buzz

Whoopsie daisies, we have come to the close of our May miniseries taking a deep focus look back at Entertainment Weekly’s seasonal movie preview issues. And the closer was chosen by you, listeners! For your Listeners’ Choice, you have selected the Summer Movie Preview for Notting Hill. The film famously went head-to-head with grand behemoth Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace and still emerged victorious at the box office, thanks in part to Julia Roberts’ reemergent romcom power and the charms of Hugh Grant back in bumbling mop-haired mode. Notting Hill stars both respectively as the most famous actress in the world and a modest travel bookstore owner who fall in love against the odds, and it comes with all of the signatures of the combined powers of director Roger Michell and screenwriter Richard Curtis.

This episode, we look back at the oft-revisited 1999 movie year and unpack why it remains so fascinating to talk about. We also discuss Roberts’ double-header of romcom hits that summer with Runaway Bride, Pulp Fiction’s influence on films like Go, and South Park’s movie mission to wage war with the MPAA.

Topics also include capsizing in a boat with Tilda Swinton, Eyes Wide Shut’s veil of mystery before release, and VH1 Divas Live 1999.

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Our EW Movie Previews miniseries continues this week with a look at the summer season! After the ubiquity of the best-selling book, The Da Vinci Code was primed for a glossy movie adaptation even before it landed the Oscar pedigree pairing of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. Considered prestigious enough to open the Cannes Film Festival, the film received middling reviews for its schlock factor and was ultimately added to the heap of another bad movie in a cursed summer movie season. Though the film stayed somewhat in awards consideration thanks to earning nominations from various crafts’ guilds, the film was quickly destined to a life on cable television.

This episode, we look at the film’s handling of controversies from an upset Catholic Church and EW’s positioning of the summer’s biggest films, including eventual Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine. We also discuss Hans Zimmer’s Oscar nomination history, Hanks’ much discussed longer hairstyle for the film, and Ian McKellen leading Mary Magdalene’s stan army.

Topics also include Paul Bettany at Provincetown Catholic Week, scrunts and narfs, and forgotten studio animated films of the aughts.

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Tag: EW Summer Movie Preview

196 – Notting Hill (EW Summer Movie Preview – Listeners’ Choice)

193 – The Da Vinci Code (EW Summer Movie Preview)