Joseph Gordon-Levitt – This Had Oscar Buzz

Welcome all our new CIA listeners, because this week we are talking about 2016′s Snowden. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as controversial whistleblower Edward Snowden, the film follows Snowden’s journey through exposing the surveillance state and his exile to Russia, all while maintaining his relationship with girlfriend Lindsay Mills (played by Shailene Woodley). With Oliver Stone at the helm and Laura Poitras’ Snowden doc Citizenfour having recently earned the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, the film arrived with high expectations that it immediately disappointed when this bland biopic debuted at TIFF.

This episode, Joe gives us a recap of his New York Film Festival experience this year before we dive into Stone’s misfire. We also talk about Oscar winners that have played Oscar winners, Gordon-Levitt’s distracting baritone while playing Snowden, Peter Gabriel’s film awards history, and Stone’s fall from the height of his cultural significance in the 1980s and 1990s.

Topics also include TIFF premieres that open to general audiences during the festival, the 2011 Best Supporting Actress race that Woodley narrowly missed, and Chris’ ongoing journey with Survivor.

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Bonjour, listeners! This week, we’re returning to the work of Robert Zemeckis for a film whose buzz was built first by an Oscar winning documentary. In 2008, Man on Wire steamrolled the documentary race with the telling of highwire artist Philippe Petit’s daring tightrope performance between the World Trade Center towers – leading Zemeckis to give Petit the biopic treatment with The Walk in 2015. Promising awe-inspiring visual effects to put audiences in Petit’s shoes, the film nevertheless plummeted to an immediate death at the box office due to audiences’ waning favor for both 3D and the film’s star Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Despite some more embarrassing elements like JGL’s French accent and a climatic visit from a CGI bird, the film does deliver a satisfying and thrilling climax. But this episode, we unpack how even the film’s visual effects couldn’t crack Oscar’s lineup in a year with a surprising result in the category. We also look at Gordon-Levitt’s rise from teen star to capital “C” Charismatic leading man.

Topics also include the early films of Rian Johnson, An American Tale, and Werner Herzog saying science things.

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Tag: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

216 – Snowden

102 – The Walk