Golden Globes – Page 2 – This Had Oscar Buzz

342 – Strictly Ballroom (Festival Fever!)

This week, Festival Fever gives us our first Baz! Strictly Ballroom gave then-stage director Baz Luhrman his debut film, one of a number of Australian comedies that would achieve cult followings in the US. But this tale of young ballroom dancers who take artistic license and fall in love on the way also became a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival, winning the coveted People’s Choice Award. With a spring release the next year, the film is the only one of Luhrman’s to not be nominated by Oscar in any category.

This episode, we talk about the maximalist appeal of Baz and the road to TIFF’s People’s Choice Award becoming such an Oscar predictor. We also discuss the film’s first success as a midnight film in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, star Tara Morice’s exquisite performance, and the film’s surprise strong showing with BAFTA.

Topics also include Kath & Kim, “Time After Time,” and the 1993 Golden Globe musical/comedy lineup.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

331 – Saltburn (with Louis Peitzman!)

We’re here with your Oscar hangover cure to break the seal on the THOB Class of 2023 and we brought Louis Peitzman along for the chaos. It’s Saltburn time! After the COVID-era Oscar success of Promising Young Woman, all eyes were on Emerald Fennell to deliver again with her follow-up. Barry Keoghan stars in the film as a social climbing Oxford student who freeloads off his wealthy classmate (Jacob Elordi), ingratiating himself to the family as he stays on the eponymous estate. With allusions to Brideshead Revisited and Tom Ripley, Saltburn was safely the most talked about film of 2023 to earn no Oscar nomination.

This episode, we talk about the controversies surrounding the film’s sexual content and what makes Fennell such a divisive figure. We also discuss Keoghan’s nude finale moment, Rosamund Pike’s performance as the matriarch, and the film’s mixed reception on the festival circuit.

Topics also include needle drops, eyebrow piercings, and movies with bathtub scenes.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

319 – Bend It Like Beckham (Patreon Selects)

We have another episode from one of our beloved sponsor tier patrons from Patreon, this time returning us to our beloved movie year 2003! After becoming a 2002 British megahit, Bend It Like Beckham launched in the US at Sundance before becoming an early 2003 summer crowdpleaser. Directed by Gurinder Chadha, the film follows Jess (Parminder Nagra) as she secretly joins a soccer team against the wishes of her traditional Indian family. With nominations from the WGA and the Golden Globes, Bend It Like Beckham ultimately did not manage an Oscar nomination for its upbeat look at teenage womanhood.

This episode, we talk about Fox Searchlight’s 2003 lineup and 28 Days Later as a fellow UK crossover hit. We also discuss the film’s shoehorned romantic subplot, Parminder Agra’s run of prominent television roles, and costar Keira Knightley’s trio of breakthrough 2003 roles.

Topics also include international nominee Lagaan, the film’s soundtrack, and sports movies.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

315 – French Exit

Michelle Pfeiffer is a screen legend whose return always feels like an occasion–even if we’re all stuck at home. In 2020, Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit debuted at the New York Film Festival with Pfeiffer starring as a wealthy New York eccentric who loses her fortune and absconds to France, all while perhaps haunted by her dead husband in the form of her cat. Pfeiffer earned strong reviews for her performance, but the film itself proved grating to a number of critics and couldn’t sustain its presence as its release shifted.

This episode, we talk about Pfeiffer’s previous three nominations and the chaos of the covid year’s Golden Globe comedy nominations. We also talk about Valerie Mahaffey’s terrific supporting performance, the career of Imogen Poots, and Jacobs’ current contender His Three Daughters.

Topics also include our first thoughts on the current Survivor season, the 2020 NYFF lineup, and BAFTA’s changing rules.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

312 – Labor Day

With Saturday Night currently in theaters, we are revisiting the films of Jason Reitman for one of his biggest flops. Adapted from the novel by Joyce Maynard, 2013’s Labor Day casts Kate Winslet as a grieving mother who falls in love with the escaped convict (played by Josh Brolin) who hides out in her and her son’s home. The melodrama was something of a creative pivot for Reitman, but received poor reviews at festivals before stumbling towards a qualifying release. A Golden Globe nomination for Winslet was the end of the awards road for the film.

This episode, we talk about what makes the film so frustrating and Reitman’s recent output. We also talk about Brolin after his Oscar nomination for Milk, Winslet between her win for The Reader and nomination for Steve Jobs, and the 2013 Golden Globes.

Topics also include Friendly’s, No Country for Old Men supporting performances, and Golden Globe predictions.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

301 – Bernie

our old friend Kevin O’Keeffe and Texas native for a very Texas movie. Debuting in 2011 but arriving in theaters, Richard Linklater’s Bernie accounts a real-life Texan wink wink bachelor Bernie Tiede (played by Jack Black), beloved by the church ladies and local community. However, he is taken in by the town villain Margie (Shirley MacLaine) and ends up convicted for her murder, but not necessarily in the court of public opinion. Though the film was recognized as comedy (especially for Black’s delicate performance), its awards history was largely left as a footnote to the McConaissance.

This episode, we talk about the different vibes of Texas cities and the film’s spectacular ensemble of real-life witnesses. We also talk about Linklater’s outsider status to the Hollywood establishment, Black’s preceding failures, and reporter Skip Hollandsworth.

Topics also include “one of them CMT girls,” Linklater’s upcoming Merrily We Roll Along, and 2012 Best Actor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

297 – To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

Why not derail an originally planned episode to close pride season with a beloved queer 90s film with three praised performances? In 1995, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar spun a tale of three drag queens on a road trip that get stranded in middle America. Its headliners were two macho movie stars in Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes and one emerging theatre actor in John Leguizamo, resulting in Globe nominations for Swayze and Leguizamo. One of a few of the 90s drag centric movie hits, To Wong Foo was ignored by the Academy for both its performances and its costumes, a category won by The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the previous year.

This episode, we unpack how the film has stood the test of time in the queer canon and the performances from these straight performers. We also discuss the film’s divine female ensemble, how the film holds up to contemporary expectations for queer cinema, and title punctuation.

Topics also include favorite outfits from Snipes’ Noxeema Jackson, the drag road trip movie tradition, and 1995 Best Supporting Actor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

293 – Hair (with Natalie Walker) (70s Spectacular – 1979)

The 70s Spectacular comes to a close this week with actress Natalie Walker joining us to discuss 1979 and Milos Forman’s adaptation of Hair. The brainchild of Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, and James Redo, Hair took Broadway by storm in the late 1960s for its narrative and political audacity, presenting the free-love and anti-war hippie movement of the time. Forman wanted to bring the musical to the screen after seeing the Off-Broadway production, but wouldn’t achieve that goal until after his One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Oscar victory. This delay turned the once ripped-from-the-headlines musical into old news when it eventually became a film.

This episode, we discuss the 2009 Broadway revival and the changes made to the film to give the story a more linear structure. We also discuss the best hair of 1970s cinema, Dustin Hoffman being a monster on the set of Kramer vs. Kramer, and Actors Fund Benefit concerts.

Topics also include the follow-up musical Dude, step and repeat falls, and “gliddy glop gloopy”.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

292 – New York, New York (with Katey Rich) (70s Spectacular – 1977)

The 1977 Oscar year is famously when Annie Hall triumphed over the cultural behemoth of Star Wars, but elsewhere Martin Scorsese followed up his Taxi Driver Best Picture nomination with a big swing and a miss. The Ankler’s Katey Rich is back on the show to discuss New York, New York, Scorsese’s attempt at a movie musical. Starring then-recent Oscar winners Liza Minnelli and Robert DeNiro as two post-WWII lovers whose creative ambitions clash with their relationship, the film received a critical drubbing for its pointed attempts at pastiche and its meandering length, and remains one of Scorsese’s least seen and discussed films.

This episode, we get into what does and doesn’t work in the film and how it gave us its indelible title track, later made infamous by Frank Sinatra. We also talk about the film’s tangled behind-the-scenes relationship to Star Wars, the music branch snubbing Saturday Night Fever, and the surprising lack of current availability for 1970s films.

Topics also include Vanessa Redgrave’s notorious Oscar speech, Al Pacino’s …And Justice for All hair, and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

291 – The Ritz (with Christina Tucker) (70s Spectacular – 1976)

We’re on to 1976 (go sign up for our Patreon for 1975 and our Exception episode on Tommy!) and Christina Tucker rejoins us to talk about the 70s Spectacular’s wildest movie, The Ritz. From the play by Terrence McNally, the film is a mob farce set in a bathhouse with Jack Weston as a straight man hiding out from Jerry Stiller’s mob boss and living legend Rita Moreno as the sex establishment’s kooky cabaret headliner. Despite the pedigree of Oscar winner Moreno and then-newly-minted theatre icon McNally, The Ritz turned out to be a little too Looney Tunes for the stiff-upper-lip (and super straight) Academy.

This episode, we tackle the film’s harmless lunacy and McNally’s legacy. We also talk about Moreno’s Tony speech from the Broadway production, Rocky‘s victory over an incredible Best Picture lineup, and William Friedkin’s dour approach to producing the Oscar ceremony.

Topics also include the Continental Baths, Challengers, and Post Malone’s 2024.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS