Lucas Hedges – This Had Oscar Buzz

321 – Ben Is Back

Guess who’s back in the house?! We finally close the loop on the 2018 troubled son trifecta of films with Ben is Back, a grim Christmas tale of a family in the throws of addiction recovery. Lucas Hedges stars as the titular Ben, who returns home from a recovery center for the holiday, and against the advice of his sponsor. Ben’s presence is somewhat unwelcome, even with the complicated feelings of his doting mother (played by Julia Roberts), and it’s not long before the demons of his addiction come to haunt. The film lingered just outside of predictions in a competitive year before an unceremonious and short-lived December release.

This episode, we talk about the film’s portrait of the opioid crisis and the career of writer/director Peter Hedges. We also talk about the 2018 Best Actress race, the film’s very quiet TIFF premiere, and the unfulfilled potential of the August: Osage County adaptation.

Topics also include “that’s Ben,” being an uncle, and the AARP’s Best Intergenerational Film.

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315 – French Exit

Michelle Pfeiffer is a screen legend whose return always feels like an occasion–even if we’re all stuck at home. In 2020, Azazel Jacobs’ French Exit debuted at the New York Film Festival with Pfeiffer starring as a wealthy New York eccentric who loses her fortune and absconds to France, all while perhaps haunted by her dead husband in the form of her cat. Pfeiffer earned strong reviews for her performance, but the film itself proved grating to a number of critics and couldn’t sustain its presence as its release shifted.

This episode, we talk about Pfeiffer’s previous three nominations and the chaos of the covid year’s Golden Globe comedy nominations. We also talk about Valerie Mahaffey’s terrific supporting performance, the career of Imogen Poots, and Jacobs’ current contender His Three Daughters.

Topics also include our first thoughts on the current Survivor season, the 2020 NYFF lineup, and BAFTA’s changing rules.

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312 – Labor Day

With Saturday Night currently in theaters, we are revisiting the films of Jason Reitman for one of his biggest flops. Adapted from the novel by Joyce Maynard, 2013’s Labor Day casts Kate Winslet as a grieving mother who falls in love with the escaped convict (played by Josh Brolin) who hides out in her and her son’s home. The melodrama was something of a creative pivot for Reitman, but received poor reviews at festivals before stumbling towards a qualifying release. A Golden Globe nomination for Winslet was the end of the awards road for the film.

This episode, we talk about what makes the film so frustrating and Reitman’s recent output. We also talk about Brolin after his Oscar nomination for Milk, Winslet between her win for The Reader and nomination for Steve Jobs, and the 2013 Golden Globes.

Topics also include Friendly’s, No Country for Old Men supporting performances, and Golden Globe predictions.

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295 – Let Them All Talk

Say it with us: confusion! In our episodes where we have discussed 2020, one of the major conversations we’ve yet to really tackle is the confusion around what films would be considered theatrical while most of the country’s theatres were closed. This week’s film occupied that undefined space: Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble comedy Let Them All Talk. Meryl Streep starred as a heralded author reunited on a cruise with old friends who may have inspired her work, played by Dianne Wiest and Candice Bergen. While at sea, conversations of art vs. commerce, authenticity, and inspiration play out in improvisational delight. But alas, no one knew whether Let Them All Talk was a movie or TV.

This week, we talk about Soderbergh’s films made for HBO Max and the Oscar nominated performances we would swap out this year in favor of the LTAT women. We also talk about Streep’s career post-The Devil Wears Prada, Wiest monologuing about the night sky, and Murphy Brown vs. Dan Quayle.

Topics also include the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, this year’s Emmy race, and Angels in America.

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147 – Boy Erased (Focus Features – Part Five)

Our Focus Features miniseries comes to a close with 2018′s Boy Erased. Based on the memoir by Garrard Conley, the film stars Lucas Hedges as a young man from a religious family who is subjected to conversion therapy when his parents (played by Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) discover that he is gay. Though sensitively approached by director/star Joel Edgerton, the film is ultimately is too reserved and stumbles to get inside the head of its protagonist, resulting in a milquetoast response from awards voters and audiences.

This episode, we discuss Hedges’ busy fall of 2018, his soft coming out of sorts, and the Ben Beautiful Boy Erased is Back blur of movies in that season. We also look at Crowe’s quiet end to being considered an Oscar darling and Kidman’s dual THOB fall 2018 with Destroyer. And we get into the film’s ups (a strong cast of bit players!) and downs (that perfume ad scene!) in telling a queer story, and of course “Bloom.”

Topics also include 2018′s Original Song race, sprained ankles at TIFF, and our Top 10 favorite Focus Features films.

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