Golden Globes – Page 2 – This Had Oscar Buzz

354 – Best in Show

Grab your half-butter-half-salt popcorn because this week, we’ve got something to make you howl! After the critically-hailed success of Waiting for Guffman, Christopher Guest returned with another improvisational comedy set in a world of deeply specific eccentrics played by an ensemble of geniuses. Best in Show is set in a world of competitive dog shows, with all the beloved pooches mirrored in their idiosyncratic owners. The film helped cement Guest’s brand of humor and earn an ever-expanding devoted fanbase, but Oscar was just out of reach.

This episode, we talk about how the film’s precursor run was more robust than you think and the Guest films’ increasing Oscar pedigree. We also talk about the film’s endless quotability, how Fred Willard became the performance to be singled out from the ensemble, and the bittersweetness that runs through Guest’s work.

Topics also include the 2000 Best Original Song race, lingering misunderstandings around improvisational vs. scripted, and Almost Famous.

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353 – Mamma Mia! (w/ Jorge Molina!)

With Meryl currently on her first film set in years, what better time than to dance, jive, and generally speaking have the time of our lives. We’ve invited our friend, writer and programmer Jorge Molina to discuss the Meryl movie that didn’t get her an Oscar nomination in 2008. A post 9/11 hit on the stage, Mamma Mia! tells the story of a bride who invites three men to her wedding who might be her father, all set to the music of ABBA. The film showed off against Batman himself to become a global smash (if not one with critics), and it remains a rewatch classic.

This episode, we discuss our origins with the musical and Meryl’s other 2008 performance. We also talk about the film’s ensemble including the divine Amanda Seyfried, our favorite numbers from the film, and whose voice fares the worst when singing.

Topics also include Chris Klein’s bad audition, Tom and Rita, and downloading Oscar medleys to an iPhone.

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352 – Freaky Friday

You might not expect a family-friendly live action Disney movie to draw awards attention, but not all of those types of films star Jamie Lee Curtis. In 2003, JLC starred in a Freaky Friday remake starring then ascendant teen star Lindsay Lohan. The two spin comedy gold as a tenuous mother and daughter who wake one morning to find they’ve been body swapped. Lohan show smart comedy chops as the square mother, but it was Curtis in rebellious teenage mode that earned high praise, including a Golden Globe nomination.

This episode, we talk about Lohan’s fast rise of films in the aughts and Curtis’ place in the 2003 Best Actress race. We also discuss director Mark Waters, Curtis’ prestige road to a Supporting Actress Oscar win, and the film’s aughts fashion.

Topics also include Kept, Lois Duncan books, and The Hives vs. The Vines.

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351 – The War of the Roses

After a pair of successful adventure movies together with Robert Zemeckis, the trio of Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito got the band back together for one last time in 1989. With DeVito in the director’s chair and adapted from the Warren Adler novel, The War of the Roses follows the disintegration of one materialistic couple and the divorce battle that ensues. It’s an acidicly comedic satire that nevertheless became a holiday season hit, but failed to capture Oscar’s affection.

This episode, we talk about DeVito’s directorial career and the film’s muddled framing device. We also talk about the Oscar legacy of Driving Miss Daisy, Turner’s too brief period as a commanding leading lady, and Douglas’ emergence into serious leading man.

Topics also include Romancing the Stone‘s horniness, entering the paté business, the chandelier finale.

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346 – Madame Sousatzka (w/ Taylor Cole!)

Our friend and theme music composer Taylor Cole returns to us this week to talk about one of our most beloved stars on This Had Oscar Buzz, Shirley MacLaine. After finally winning her Oscar for Terms of Endearment, MacLaine took a few well-earned years off. Her return was this tale of a hardened piano teacher and the young Indian student, Manek (Navin Chowdhry), that she takes on. But even with a showcase for MacLaine at the head of an ensemble that also included Dame Peggy Ashcroft, this chamber drama didn’t garner enough attention to land in the Academy’s graces.

This week, we talk about director John Schlesinger and MacLaine’s late 1980s run of iconic roles. We also discuss music teacher philosophies, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala working outside of Merchant/Ivory, and the 1988 Best Actress race including the famous three-way tie at the Golden Globes.

Topics also include Twiggy, MacLaine sparring with Letterman, and other awards show ties.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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