Meryl Streep – Page 2 – This Had Oscar Buzz

042 – Evening (with Richard Lawson)

This Had Oscar Buzz has always been a long day’s journey into Evening! In 2007, the film strangely opened in the summer and quickly became the poster child for the “Oscar bait” moniker. Starring a massive female ensemble including [inhales sharply] Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Glenn Close, Mamie Gummer, Eileen Atkins and Meryl Streep, the film is an unfortunately vague journey through one dying woman’s regretful memories of a fateful wedding weekend on the coast.

Joining us for this episode is Vanity Fair’s chief critic Richard Lawson to help unpack the many, many things that make Evening such a disappointment and a dreary, sex-negative enterprise. We also discuss our accidental obsession with Claire Danes (here discussed in her fifth episode), how the film borrowed heavily from our relationship with The Hours, and the 2007 era of Focus Features. Get ready to howl like Close and chase some moths!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

032 – Ricki and the Flash

After a string of August (yes, early buzzed) hits, Meryl Streep collaborated with two Oscar-winning names that sent Oscar obsessives to get lost in their rock and roll: director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Diablo Cody. 2015′s Ricki and the Flash didn’t set the box office on fire and a very competitive Best Actress year possibly kept it out of the conversation, but that doesn’t mean the film doesn’t reveal why we once had such high hopes for it. The film isn’t as much of a harmonious fit as we originally expected for this trio, but they do give us something uplifting that deserved more of a shot than Oscar gave it.

This week we look at the gifts of Diablo Cody, Ricki’s parallels to his recent (foolishly underloved by Oscar) masterpiece Rachel Getting Married, and the major flub of 2015′s Best Original Song nominees and eventual winner “The Writing’s On The Wall”. Just as Ricki gives and takes with her family, we rewrite history to take some of Meryl’s Oscar nominations away to give them to some of her underrated performances.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

013 – It’s Complicated

Close your eyes. Picture the movie about kitchens you’ve always wanted. Now open them. Is Alec Baldwin blowing pot smoke into your face? That’s kind of what it’s like to experience the 2009 romantic comedy It’s Complicated, from celebrated (and beleaguered) director Nancy Meyers.

Since Oscar buzz follows Meryl Streep around like a heartsick ex-husband wherever she goes, this was a no-brainer of a selection for This Had Oscar Buzz. Join us for discussion of Steve Martin’s banjo commitments, the utility of Mary Kay Place as a gal pal, and whether John Krasinski was at one point a gay assistant.

Join Chris, Joe, and two very flirty Jack Ryans for our episode on It’s Complicated.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

007 – Lions For Lambs

In 2007, the movies went hard on the War in Iraq. But what happened when that righteous roar, bolstered by some of the biggest names in Oscar and cinema history, gave the weakest bleat in the barnyard?

This week we are looking at Lions for Lambs, one of several politically motivated films of its year and the one that thudded the loudest. With Robert Redford directing and starring alongside Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise, our immediately assembled Oscar expectations were dismantled even faster once its empty talking head preachiness hit movie screens. Topic also include: a pre-Social Network Andrew Garfield, the thwarted hopes of resurrecting a flailing United Artists, and the joy of a perfect Kevin Dunn line reading.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS