061 – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

A title that became a punchline all its own, this week we are discussing 2012′s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. A light romantic drama about project management and Western relationships with the Middle East, Lasse Hallström’s film accidentally stumbled into the Oscar race when the Golden Globes decided the film was a comedy and gave the spring release three surprise nominations.

This episode, we discuss the career and outsider awards trajectory for Salmon Fishing star Ewan McGregor and how the film’s Globes nomination tally ultimately meant nothing for the film as an awards player. Get ready for lots of Globes talk as we spotlight 2012′s most glaring comedy omission by the Globes and recall perhaps the greatest presenter duo of all time: Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell. You get outta here, listeners!

Topics also include movies narrated by dogs, left-field Globes Comedy picks both good and bad, and assassination attempts thwarted by fishing hooks.

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023 – The Tourist (with Katey Rich)

Remember that time a movie where Johnny Depp explains vaping to Angelina Jolie made everyone super mad at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association? That’s right, we’re talking this week about The Tourist, a film so notorious in Oscar buzz history that we’ve invited a special guest to unpack it: deputy editor for VanityFair.com Katey Rich!

The Tourist had a labored pre-production history that eventually landed it in the lap of recent Foreign Language winning director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. However our Oscar-watching eyes were mostly (perhaps cynically) directed toward its stars: a waning Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie as an arresting but nondescript fancy European lady. Toss in a very convoluted plot of spies, assumed identities, and flatlining humor and you have a recipe for a critical and commercial misfire.

But immediately after The Tourist thudded into theatres, it earned its notoriously generous Golden Globe nominations. We dissect the movie’s lunacy, defend the HFPA’s recent Musical/Comedy picks, and most importantly, we Consider Melissa Leo.

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Joe: @joereid
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Katey: @kateyrich