Joan Allen – This Had Oscar Buzz

294 – The Notebook

The May miniseries is over and we’re kicking off June with a dose of movie monoculture with 2004’s The Notebook. Adapted from the Nicholas Sparks romance novel, the film’s journey to the screen attracted a range of huge Hollywood names from Steven Spielberg to Britney Spears. The tale of two lovers divided by class in the south, the film captured lightning in a bottle with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as the lovers and old school Hollywood legends James Garner and Gena Rowlands as their older versions facing dementia. Though Garner would see a SAG Supporting Actor nomination, the industry didn’t recognize what would become a beloved classic.

This week, we talk about the film’s double threat appeal between teens and their moms and how Gosling and McAdams recreated the film’s iconic kiss at the MTV Movie Awards. We also talk about Gosling and McAdams’ ascendant careers in the mid aughts, Joan Allen shouting “trash!”, and the unmissable similarities between Sparks movie posters.

Topics also include Gosling at the box office, the THOB Conference agenda, and (naturally) the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards.

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100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part One

It’s May miniseries time, Garys! And we’re doing something a little different!

In 1998, the AFI compiled a list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and turned the list into a primetime special complete with famous faces and a schmaltzy Trisha Yearwood song. It was such a success, the AFI continued to release Top 100 lists for love stories, comedies, stars, and more. For our May miniseries, we are paying a loving tribute to the tradition by selecting our choices for the 100 greatest Oscar snubs of all time, and we have several beloved THOB guests calling in to provide their picks as well!

In part one, we’ll cover our ground rules for selection, including no double mentions for a single category in a year, or double mentions for an artist. And we’ll also be giving the boot to the nomination we would replace in our snubs’ place. Here we kick off the month of May with our first (unranked!) 20 snub selections!

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235 – The Upside of Anger

Every prestige actress overdue for an Oscar deserves her showcase, and after three Oscar nominations in under a decade, Joan Allen got hers written and directed by her The Contender costar Mike Binder. The Upside of Anger cast Allen as a mother of four whose husband suddenly abandons her, and she finds boozy solace with the former baseball player down the street. The actress earned raves for her all-out performance, along with Kevin Costner as her new lover and compatriot. But the film was a spring release and struggled to get arrested in the awards race, despite a Critics Choice nomination and regional critics wins, despite what is largely seen as an uncompetitive Best Actress field.

This episode, we talk about Joan Allen’s three Oscar nominations and other ones we think she should have received. We also talk about Costner in Baseball Kevin mode, the National Board of Review’s 2005 “excellence in filmmaking” lineup, the film’s underwhelming portrait of siblings, and the 2005 Best Actress race.

Topics also include listeners not being able to tell Chris and Joe apart, Allen’s Tony Award and theatre history, and the maligned The Mind of the Married Man.

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041 – The Ice Storm

Hello Charles! This week, we talk about a real headscratcher: how did Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm get no Oscar nominations? Debuting at the Cannes Film Festival and Lee’s follow-up to his first Oscar success Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm is perhaps even more critically beloved than when it debuted in 1997. But this was also the year of every other movie chasing Titanic’s shadow.

The film had several potential points of entry into the Oscar race – Adapted Screenplay, its authentic period design, and especially Sigourney Weaver as a near nominee in Supporting Actress. But we discuss some of why it was shut out, whether it was the fallout for small movies caught in Titanic’s wave or fledgling indie distributor Fox Searchlight focusing its energy on The Full Monty. Topics also include BAFTA’s emerging days as an Oscar forecaster, the Oscar field that surrounded that incomparable front runner, and the injustice of Joan Allen’s Oscar narrative.

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