Jim Broadbent – This Had Oscar Buzz

We wanted to take this week’s episode to tribute the recently departed Dame Maggie Smith and finally take a look at one of her final awards contenders, 2015’s The Lady in the Van. Reprising the role she played on the stage, Smith stars as the titular lady, who lives in a van that just so happens to take up residence near the home of playwright Alan Bennett. Alex Jennings stars as Bennett, and the film examines both his evolving relationship with his neighbor and, in metatextual ways, Bennett’s conflicted feelings about telling her story.

This episode, we talk about Dame Maggie Smith’s late career resurgence and she joins our Six Timers Club! We also talk about the film’s cameo lineup from the cast of The History Boys, tributes posted after Smith’s passing, and our first Halloween watches of this season.

Topics also include director Nicholas Hytner, 2015 Best Actress, and Philo-mania.

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We’re bringing 2019 to a close with another Listeners’ Choice, and our listeners have chosen perhaps what will be our most daunting title yet: 2012′s interconnected science fiction opus from Lana & Lilly Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas! This tale of several stories spanning generations, genres, and continents launched its Oscar hopes with a jaw-dropping, mega-sized trailer, and lost them just as quickly with an extremely divisive critical reception at TIFF. Led by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, the film takes massive narrative and emotional leaps that were ultimately too much for Oscar and general audiences.

But you can consider both Chris and Joe as firmly in the positive for this film, while also accepting of its ambitious flaws. This week, we spend the majority of this episode unraveling the many threads and issues within the film (Yellow face makeup, its near three hour length, its dizzying construction), and just what stirs our affection for it (its spiritual convictions, general audacity, and of course “The Cloud Atlas Sextet”).

Topics also include Ben Whishaw’s whittle butt, Hurricane Sandy, and who would play our own personal Old Georgies. You true-true-ly chose a great movie for us, and we love you all the more for it!

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Tag: Jim Broadbent

311 – The Lady in the Van

075 – Cloud Atlas