John Goodman – This Had Oscar Buzz

With another George Clooney film on the horizon with Wolfs, it’s time to revisit the diminishing returns of his directorial career. In the 2013 season, his WWII quasi-comedy true story ensemble film The Monuments Men was an on-paper awards magnet. With a cast that included Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, and Bill Murray as a team attempting to rescue centuries worth of art from destruction by the Nazis, the film released two underwhelming trailers before being punted into the next year. Released in February 2014, the film made much more money than you probably remember, but failed as an awards vehicle.

This episode, we rehash Clooney’s directorial career and discuss the film’s struggle in the editing room. We also talk about the film’s mismatching of its stars into pairs, Jean Dujardin’s Oscar run with The Artist, and Clooney’s reaction to Tarantino saying he’s not a movie star.

Topics also include Drunk History, Tim Walz’s summer playlist, and Alexandre Desplat.

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As The Fabelmans is welcomed into theatres and Spielberg nostalgia is about to come back into conversation, we naturally are here to talk about one of his least discussed films: 1989′s Always. Based on the 1943 Victor Fleming film A Guy Named Joe, Always follows an aerial firefighter played by Richard Dreyfuss who dies saving his friend (John Goodman) in a mission, only to watch from the afterlife as his lover (Holly Hunter) grieves and finds new romance. Spielberg was a big fan of the original, turning this into a bit of a passion project that nevertheless received middling box office and reviews before becoming one of his most forgotten films.

This episode, we talk about Spielberg’s twofer years and the Oscar success of the related films. We also discuss Hunter’s slew of projects immediately after her first nomination for Broadcast News (and our wish to see her in another Spielberg film), Spielberg losing Best Director nominations to other director legends, and the era of cigarette ads and The Marlboro Man.

Topics also include Goodman’s status as a nominationless actor, bickering over the current Bake Off season, and Audrey Hepburn as an afterlife greeter named Hap.

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Tag: John Goodman

308 – The Monuments Men

219 – Always