Forrest Whitaker – This Had Oscar Buzz

We’re kicking off our May Miniseries on EW Movie Preview cover movies at the beginning of the calendar with the Spring Movie Preview spotlight on Panic Room. David Fincher’s post-Fight Club foray into elevating a straightforward thriller with his stylistic perfectionism, the film almost starred Nicole Kidman as a recently separated mother who hides with her daughter in the eponymous fortress when her new home is invaded by a trio of fledgling criminals. But when Kidman exited due to lingering injuries sustained during Moulin Rouge!, the extremely Oscar friendly Jodie Foster ditched Cannes jury president duties to work with Fincher. Though Foster’s name was still synonymous with Oscar after almost winning her third only a few years prior, this spring release was left in awards voters minds as a crowd pleasing thriller by year’s end.

This episode, senior entertainment writer for Variety Adam B. Vary joins us to discuss how the EW movie previews were made, including a deep dive into how movies were chosen for prime coverage, letters to the editor, and its bonanza of fonts. We also discuss the films’ mismatched brilliance of its three criminals played by Forrest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoakam, its breakthrough performance for Kristen Stewart, and covering Jodie Foster’s pregnancy during filming.

Topics also include EW’s Critical Mass grid as the early Rotten Tomatoes, movies delayed because of 9/11, and Free Winona.

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One year after giving us Nicole Kidman peeing on Zach Efron in The Paperboy, Lee Daniels delivered a late summer hit and Oscar hopeful with The Butler. Starring then-recent Best Actor winner Forrest Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, a White House butler to eight presidents, the film follows the arc of civil rights in America through the lens of one Black family. But it was the screen return of Oprah Winfrey that was the film’s closest brush with Oscar, and her work as Gloria Gaines remains an understated treasure.

This episode, we welcome back freelance writer and Bad Romance cohost Jourdain Searles to unpack the film’s high points as a family drama and shakier ground as a conveyor belt of cameos for famous people as presidents. We discuss the 2013 Supporting Actress contenders, and how the film’s Oscar chances were hindered three-fold: a summer release, a distributor that prioritized other films, and an Academy unwilling to consider multiple stories from Black filmmakers in one year.

Topics also include Yaya DaCosta, presidential movies, and the film’s sometimes effective, sometimes cringey makeup.

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Tag: Forrest Whitaker

192 – Panic Room (EW Spring Movie Preview) (with Adam B. Vary)

098 – Lee Daniels’ The Butler (with Jourdain Searles)