Michael Sheen – This Had Oscar Buzz

Happy Halloween, Garys! Get ready for lots of whispers and accents as we close spooky season with one of our oft-referenced favorites, 1996′s uberflop Mary Reilly. A riff on the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tale starring Julia Roberts as an Irish maid who falls for both personalities of the mad scientist, the film was a bodice-ripping reunion of several Dangerous Liaisons collaborators: director Stephen Frears, screenwriter Christopher Hampton, and star John Malkovich. Despite the high pedigree and pre-production high hopes that landed Roberts a massive payday, the movie was critically lambasted and bombed at the box office.

This episode, we discuss the Frears filmography and his service to the culture of directing prestige actress vehicles. We also discuss the 1990s prestige reiterations of classic monster movies, Glenn Close’s deliciously bawdy performance as a hothouse matron, and we loop back to Julia Roberts’ Six Timers Club quiz.

Topics also include Tammie Brown makeup, how Malkovich should have been nominated in 1999 for playing himself, and Two-ster.

PLUS we are kicking off this episode with a fun announcement: we are partnering with Vulture for the new Fantasy Movie League!! Join us at moviegame.vulture.com!

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Long-time listeners of the podcast will recognize this week’s episode as one promised from the very beginning! In 2002, The Four Feathers arrived with major Oscar follow-up and star-on-the-rise pedigree. The film was Shekhar Kapur’s directorial follow-up to the Oscar anointed (and Cate Blanchett launching) Elizabeth, and starred three of the biggest young would-be megastars in its love triangle: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, and Kate Hudson. But on top of being one of many cinematic versions of A.E.W. Mason’s, the film bored critics and audiences when it world premiered as a TIFF gala, and fizzled entirely upon release a few weeks later.

This week, we talk about its three headliners at critical points of their careers: Ledger being foisted onto traditional leading man roles, Hudson following her Almost Famous Oscar nomination, and Bentley trying to escape that floating plastic bag. We also talk about Kapur’s dual Elizabeth films, the film’s supporting male cast of recognizable faces, and the film’s apolitical stance post-9/11.

Topics also include sideburns, the film’s brownface makeup, and Ledger’s final stretch of roles.

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Tag: Michael Sheen

217 – Mary Reilly

205 – The Four Feathers