John Heard – This Had Oscar Buzz

Letterboxd senior editor and podcast co-host Mitchell Beaupre joins us this week and is bringing their favorite film along, and it’s our oldest film yet: Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. In the mid-80s Scorsese was rebounding from his closest call with Oscar yet in Raging Bull and a first attempt to make The Last Temptation of Christ falling apart. In a quick turnaround, he made what some may call his most atypical film and freaked some critics out with its dreamlike, absurd take on male ego. With Griffin Dunne leading a cast that includes a delightful female ensemble of Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, Linda Fiorentino, and Catherine O’Hara, the film remains one of Scorsese’s most fascinating.

This episode, we get into the film’s underrated status and the oddball first Independent Spirit Awards where the film took top honors. We also discuss the Globes Comedy races where Dunne was nominated for Best Actor, going long distances for rep screenings, and the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.

Topics also include Ordinary People beating Raging Bull, the Bridesmaids SAG drinking game, and the To Leslie Oscar season surprise campaign.

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We move forward with our May miniseries this week by looking back at the 1993 holiday season with EW’s Holiday Movie Preview and The Pelican Brief. And this week, we have returning guest and Who? Weekly cohost Bobby Finger joining us to unpack all of the John Grisham vibes. Based on Grisham’s novel and released in the same year as The Firm, The Pelican Brief stars Julia Roberts as a law student Darby Shaw caught in a political conspiracy who solicits help from Denzel Washington’s journalist Gray Grantham while on the run. Despite the presence of two Oscar caliber megastars and the great Alan J. Pakula in the director’s chair, The Pelican Brief was ultimately considered a popcorn movie by awards bodies, but remains as entertaining as ever.

This episode, we discuss Julia Roberts’ career in the early 1990s amid the tumultuous tabloid fodder about her love life and her short break between films. We also look back at Macaulay Culkin’s Nutcracker movie, EW’s underplaying of major Oscar contenders in the issue, and formative terrifying gay moments in early 1990s mainstream cinema.

Topics also include the MTV Movie Awards Most Desirable Male, holiday shopping guides, and the River Phoenix being recast in Interview with a Vampire after his untimely death.

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Tag: John Heard

228 – After Hours (with Mitchell Beaupre!)

195 – The Pelican Brief (EW Holiday Movie Preview) (with Bobby Finger)