Tag: Jim Gaffigan

317 – Chappaquiddick (Patreon Selects)

This week’s episode comes selected by one of our sponsor tier patrons over at our Patreon! The 2017 festival season brought us Chappaquiddick, director John Curran’s recounting of the titular incident where Senator Ted Kennedy was responsible in the accidental death of party secretary Mary Jo Kopechne. With Jason Clarke as Kennedy and Kate Mara as Kopechne, the film earned solid festival reviews (with even stronger notices for Clarke) but a planned qualifying release before the end of the year never came to be.

This episode, we talk about the short life of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures and the 2017 qualifying release for the film that was canceled. We also talk about Clarke’s career in grunt roles, the film’s frustrating post-script in relation to Ted Kennedy’s career, and Bill Crystal’s Oscar hosting duties.

Topics also include vague movie titles, TIFF Galas, and Frederica Kimmel’s friend.

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222 – Away We Go

After winning Best Picture and Best Director for his zeitgeist-seizing debut feature American Beauty, Sam Mendes instantly became a director who generate awards chatter no matter the project. In 2009, he took a noticeable tonal downshift with Away We Go, a minor key comedy about a young pregnant couple on a road trip to decide where they want to grow their roots. Despite praise for Maya Rudolph’s performance as a soon-to-be mother still grieving the untimely death of her parents and John Krasinski opposite her as her jokester partner, the film didn’t succeed as summer counter-programming and mostly forgotten in the season to come.

This episode, we talk about the harsh reviews that found the film more judgmental than reflective and Rudolph’s understated and absorbing performance. We also talk about Alexi Murdoch’s soundtrack, possibly semi-autobiographical screenwriter marrieds Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, and the film’s bursting ensemble of fantastic character actors from Melanie Lynskey, Allison Janney, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Topics also include this year’s New York Film Critics Circle award winners, Mendes’ pivot to Bond, and the lure of Montreal. Don’t forget to get submissions in for our upcoming mailbag episode!

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