J.K. Simmons – This Had Oscar Buzz

221 – The Front Runner

We’ve previously discussed the work of Jason Reitman with our Men, Women, and Children episode, and this week we have another Reitman bomb: 2018′s The Front Runner. The film features Hugh Jackman as Senator Gary Hart and dramatizes Hart’s failed presidential campaign that was thwarted by an infidelity scandal. Released on Election Day after a very mild fall festival run, the film posits Hart’s case as the beginning of political muckraking in America, but fails to make a compelling case for that argument or find a pulse on the political climate in the immediate year’s following the 2016 Presidential Election.

This episode, we talk about Jackman’s prestige run in the shadow of Wolverine and his prospects this year with the reviled The Son in a weak Best Actor field. We also welcome Reitman regular J.K. Simmons into our Six Timers Club, and discuss Reitman’s other 2018 release Tully, post-Hart political sex scandals, and Vera Farmiga Phone Acting.

Topics also include Phil Hartman’s Clinton impersonation, current awards season malaise, and our upcoming mailbag episode!

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218 – The Meddler (with Richard Lawson)

Vanity Fair’s chief critic Richard Lawson return to us this week to talk about a piece in a trend of films about aging women self-actualizing, Lorene Scafaria’s The Meddler. Starring Susan Sarandon as a widow ingratiating herself to her writer daughter (played by Rose Byrne) and her circle of friends, The Meddler provides a hilarious and heartwarming showcase for Sarandon, all told with uncommonly holistic observation by Scafaria. The film premiered at TIFF in 2015, earning deep affection from some critics like Richard and Joe, but was ultimately held until the following late spring, leaving an uphill climb in 2016′s stacked Best Actress race.

This episode, we talk about our love of the film and Richard’s placement of it at the top of his best films of 2016. We also talk about Scafaria’s depiction of her own mother, Byrne’s underrated brilliance within a varied career, and tense Apple store Q&As. And we’ve got an update on Vulture’s Movies Fantasy League!

Topics also include J.K. Simmons’ glorious mustache, old-baiting the AARP Movies for Grownup voters, and Joe’s personal paradise, The Grove.

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