Jared Leto – This Had Oscar Buzz

304 – American Psycho

Time to get controversh with with one of the most argued about films of the century, 2000’s American Psycho. Based on Bret Easton Ellis’ lightning rod novel, the film passed through multiple directors before landing in the inspired hands of Mary Harron. The independent director struck the right satirical note on Ellis’ difficult blend of consumerism and masculinity, and found a flawless muse as the titular psycho Patrick Bateman in Christian Bale. But the film’s sex, violence, and dark humor incited its own controversies and was too much for the Academy despite the praise for Bale’s performance.

This episode, we talk about the film as a launchpad for Bale’s adult career and how his lesser known status at the time almost lost him the role. We also talk about Bateman’s musical obsessions, the other casting choices for Bateman, and Reese Witherspoon joins our Six Timers Club.

Topics also include the Broadway musical version, the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, and 2000 Best Actor.

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192 – Panic Room (EW Spring Movie Preview) (with Adam B. Vary)

We’re kicking off our May Miniseries on EW Movie Preview cover movies at the beginning of the calendar with the Spring Movie Preview spotlight on Panic Room. David Fincher’s post-Fight Club foray into elevating a straightforward thriller with his stylistic perfectionism, the film almost starred Nicole Kidman as a recently separated mother who hides with her daughter in the eponymous fortress when her new home is invaded by a trio of fledgling criminals. But when Kidman exited due to lingering injuries sustained during Moulin Rouge!, the extremely Oscar friendly Jodie Foster ditched Cannes jury president duties to work with Fincher. Though Foster’s name was still synonymous with Oscar after almost winning her third only a few years prior, this spring release was left in awards voters minds as a crowd pleasing thriller by year’s end.

This episode, senior entertainment writer for Variety Adam B. Vary joins us to discuss how the EW movie previews were made, including a deep dive into how movies were chosen for prime coverage, letters to the editor, and its bonanza of fonts. We also discuss the films’ mismatched brilliance of its three criminals played by Forrest Whitaker, Jared Leto, and Dwight Yoakam, its breakthrough performance for Kristen Stewart, and covering Jodie Foster’s pregnancy during filming.

Topics also include EW’s Critical Mass grid as the early Rotten Tomatoes, movies delayed because of 9/11, and Free Winona.

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025 – Alexander (with David Sims)

Grab some snakes and prep that Dionysus monologue, because this week we are taking it back to 2004′s Alexander. Starring Colin Farrell filling the historic shoes of Alexander the Great, this film was a passion project for Oliver Stone that defeated a rival biopic from Baz Luhrman and Leonardo DiCaprio – but lost the war to critics and audiences alike. And we’ve brought along another special guest to help us on the journey: staff writer for The Atlantic and co-host of the Blank Check podcast, David Sims.

Alexander was a notorious bomb that failed to walk the road that Gladiator had paved for it, but was initially thought of for Oscar almost on Oliver Stone’s name alone. But that hasn’t stopped the director for making several extended cuts of this already very long film. This episode will go into Stone’s diminishing Oscar returns after his heyday in the 80s and 90s, Colin Farrell’s Hollywood explosion, and take our first look at the Razzies.

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