horror – This Had Oscar Buzz

289 – Don’t Look Now (with David Sims) (70s Spectacular – 1973)

In 1973, the Academy embraced horror in a big way by slapping cultural phenomenon The Exorcist with 10 nominations – but then The Sting would triumph over its success on Oscar night. Critic David Sims returns to the show to talk about a different iconic and formative horror title, Nicolas Rouge’s Don’t Look Now. With prestige stars Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie, the film follows a married couple grieving the loss of a child while working overseas in Venice. Clairvoyance, a serial killer, and disturbing visions all amount to a unique horror film that would influence many to come, but nevertheless one that the Academy was not ready to embrace.

This episode, we talk about the film’s notorious sex scene and the film as an odd middle ground between The Exorcist and Last Tango in Paris. We also talk about how the reputation of the film’s twist ending, Christie’s Oscar legacy, and how Sutherland was never nominated for an Oscar ahead of his honorary win.

Topics also include David’s favorites of 1973, Jefferson Mays on Broadway, and the Oscar streaker.

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261 – Hereditary

Happy Halloween, listeners! Naturally, this week we are returning to the shallow well of horror films that made it into the Oscar hunt with a recent highly debated and lauded terrifier. In 2018, Ari Aster made his feature debut at Sundance with Hereditary, the story of a family invaded from within by a demon worshipping cult. Aster’s bizarre vision quickly earned the film a reputation as one of the scariest ever made, but Toni Collette’s performance as a terrified and grieving mother received some career-best notices and feverish hopes that she could crack the Best Actress lineup. As you might expect, Hereditary was simply too much for the Academy.

This episode, we talk about everything that makes the film so divisive and Ari Aster’s whole thing. We also talk about Collette’s career and our favorites in her filmography, the rise of character actress Ann Dowd, and what makes the conversation around “elevated horror” so frustrating.

Topics also include putting the Saturn Awards on notice, coin parties, and the Gotham Awards.

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217 – Mary Reilly

Happy Halloween, Garys! Get ready for lots of whispers and accents as we close spooky season with one of our oft-referenced favorites, 1996′s uberflop Mary Reilly. A riff on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale starring Julia Roberts as an Irish maid who falls for both personalities of the mad scientist, the film was a bodice-ripping reunion of several Dangerous Liaisons collaborators: director Stephen Frears, screenwriter Christopher Hampton, and star John Malkovich. Despite the high pedigree and pre-production high hopes that landed Roberts a massive payday, the movie was critically lambasted and bombed at the box office.

This episode, we discuss the Frears filmography and his service to the culture of directing prestige actress vehicles. We also discuss the 1990s prestige reiterations of classic monster movies, Glenn Close’s deliciously bawdy performance as a hothouse matron, and we loop back to Julia Roberts’ Six Timers Club quiz.

Topics also include Tammie Brown makeup, how Malkovich should have been nominated in 1999 for playing himself, and Two-ster.

PLUS we are kicking off this episode with a fun announcement: we are partnering with Vulture for the new Fantasy Movie League!! Join us at moviegame.vulture.com!

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202 – Us

Few filmmaking ascents have been as exciting and heralded as Jordan Peele’s with the arrival of Get Out in 2017. After creating lasting cultural importance and winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, Peele’s follow-up was one of the most eagerly awaited films before it was even announced. And in early 2019, the follow-up would be Us, a sci-fi/horror film with American societal divides on its mind and a daring performance by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o at its center. The film was an equal box office success to Peele’s debut, though it received a less unanimous response in terms of how well he pulls off its metaphors. What kept the film in awards discussion was Nyong’o performance, including SAG and Critics’ Choice nominations, but missing out on the Oscar lineup.

This episode, we discuss our feverish anticipation of Jordan Peele’s upcoming Nope and unpack the layers of Us’ allegory. We also look at the brilliant and less recognized performances from Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss, the 2017 Oscars where Get Out faced stiff competition, and the 2019 Best Actress race.

Topics also include supposed genre bias against other actresses, critics groups as awards influencers, and our 2019 Best Actress ballots.

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199 – Shutter Island

This episode, we return to the work of director Martin Scorsese, with one of his very few films to receive zero Oscar nominations, 2010′s Shutter Island. The film was Scorsese’s highly anticipate follow-up to The Departed after finally securing his overdue Oscar win, and reunited him with that film’s star Leonardo DiCaprio. Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel about a WWII veteran investigating a woman’s disappearance from an island-bound mental institution, the film allowed Scorsese to indulge in Hitchcock and Asian horror genre tropes alike. However, Paramount’s financial woes couldn’t afford the awards campaign cost for such a behemoth in late 2009, and the film was pushed to February 2010.

Once released, critics were somewhat divided on the film and its somewhat cliche final twist, and another DiCaprio vehicle would earn higher praise and awards success that year: Christopher Nolan’s Inception. This episode, we discuss our own divided opinions over which 2010 DiCaprio performance we prefer and which overall DiCaprio performance we consider a favorite. We also talk Patricia Clarkson’s post-Oscar nomination career, the National Board of Review’s top ten of 2010, and the other few Scorsese films with no Oscar love.

Topics also include what films Paramount gave the 2009 Oscar push, the Ben Kingsley’s M4Gs nomination, and hype for next week’s massive 200th episode!

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169 – Suspiria

“Volk” intensifies this week, because we’re talking about Luca Guadgnino’s 2018 Suspiria remake! Diverging greatly in style and story from the Dario Argento original, Luca Guadagnino followed up his Oscar success with Call Me By Your Name with this riff on witches, post-WWII Germany, feminine power, and the art of dance. Guadagnino’s mounting pedigree stirred some to expect the film as a potential awards play, even after the first footage of the film had some losing their lunch at CinemaCon. Starring Dakota Johnson as a novice ballerina from a strict religious upbringing and Tilda Swinton in three wildly divergent roles, Suspiria ultimately proved to be too violent and esoteric for Oscar, even leaving critics divided over its very unique approach to genre.

This episode, we look back at a remake that was almost directed by David Gordon Green and starred Natalie Portman, and the rise of Dakota Johnson as a stealthily great actress. We also discuss Swinton’s Oscar win for Michael Clayton and the attempt to hide her prosthetic-aided performance as Lutz Ebersdorf as Dr. Josef Klemperer.

Topics also include “that’s not true, Ellen”, Thom Yorke’s original score, and Amazon’s patchy history as an Oscar player.

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019 – Hannibal

Happy Halloween, listeners! This week, we’re getting creepy with Ridley Scott’s follow-up to Best Picture winner Gladiator, the gross-out macabre sequel Hannibal. The legacy of The Silence of the Lambs made this one of the most heavily covered productions of the early 2000s and convinced that it might be similarly bound for Oscar glory. Maybe someone was just feeding us our brains.

With Jodie Foster out as Clarice Starling as well as Jonathan Demme passing off directing duties, Scott was chasing every actress in Hollywood that was also among the Academy’s favorites. Also on our mind’s this episode: producer Dino De Laurentiis, how the film (wisely) nixed its more problematic elements, and its terrifying makeup. Also Anthony Hopkins talking about poppers.

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