Lily Tomlin – This Had Oscar Buzz

204 – A Prairie Home Companion (with Clay Keller)

An episode long teased has finally arrived. Screen Drafts co-host (and proud Minnesotan) Clay Keller joins us to discuss the final film from beloved auteur Robert Altman, 2006′s A Prairie Home Companion. Based on and set within the eponymous radio show, the film follows the backstage goings-on during the show’s fictionalized final live recording, with a sprawling cast of Altman regulars and newbies including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Maya Rudolph, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, and Virginia Madsen as an angel of death. Altman would pass the November after its release, but sadly did not receive posthumous recognition for the film due to its somewhat divided reception.

This episode, we’re discussing the dual summer roles for Streep between this and The Devil Wears Prada, and we’re celebrating our tenth Streep episode! We also discuss Lohan’s turmoil at the time, Paul Thomas Anderson as a contractually obligated backup director, and Clay brings us stories from his experience as an extra on the set of the film.

Topics also include the Streep/Tomlin tribute to Altman at the previous ceremony, bad jokes, and a Screen Drafts-style ranking of the film’s best performances.

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131 – Tea with Mussolini

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t keep pushing this movie aside – and Tea with Mussolini breaks through for this episode for you! The film is one of Cher’s few post-Oscar films and stars the icon opposite acting legends Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Lily Tomlin – all cast as ex-pat women raising a young man during WWII Italy. While the film was an arthouse hit in the early summer and earned Smith a Supporting Actress BAFTA prize, this costume drama was left forgotten come Oscar time.

This week, we’re unpacking the reemergence of Cher in the late 90s, from If These Walls Could Talk to the megasmash success of “Believe” to her iconic Grammy Record of the Year competition. We also get into the 1999 Supporting Actress and the Globes Musical/Comedy field, the only absent dame from Tea With the Dames, and director Franco Zeffirelli.

Topics also include Cher shouting about her Picasso, movies that use “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, and the trauma of AOL Instant Messenger.

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072 – I Heart Huckabees

Fox Searchlight celebrates their 25th anniversary this year, and this week we’re looking back at their ascension to the Oscar titan that they are today. While 2004 saw Sideways become instrumental in their rise, they also shepherded a different offbeat comedy ultimately too quirky for Oscar’s tastes: David O. Russell’s farce I Heart Huckabees. The film is a chaotic mix of existential theory, absurdist humor, and bonkers cameos from Jean Smart to Shania Twain – and we love it… with the bonnet.

Notorious for the videos that surfaced years later of Russell and star Lily Tomlin in a profanity-laced verbal spar, Huckabees’ insanity makes sense in light of the many stories of Russell’s on-set behavior. This episode, we praise the film’s ensemble, recall the quirky indie comedy competition from Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and take a trip through Fox Searchlight’s history of This Had Oscar Buzz titles.

And don’t forget to send us your questions for our upcoming mailbag episode! You have two more weeks to submit to us on Twitter (@Had_Oscar_Buzz) or email us at [email protected]!

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