Michelle Williams – This Had Oscar Buzz

243 – Wonderstruck

We’re talking about one of our favorite filmmakers this episode and for one of his most mildly received movies. In 2017, two years after the critical success of Carol, Todd Haynes returned with a pivot to young adult literature with Wonderstruck. Based on the book by Brian Selznick, the film follows two deaf children across decades who trek into Manhattan in search of family: Rose in 1927 and Ben in 1977, respectively played by Millicent Simmonds and Oakes Fegley. With passing observations to film history and the invention of the talkie, the film takes a heady approach to a story of familial reconciliation across generations. But when the film widely disappointed viewers early on at the Cannes Film Festival, the film struggled to gain fans over the year, becoming the first of Amazon’s many awards duds over the season.

This episode, we discuss the film’s early tepid reception at the Cannes Film Festival and all of the talk of this year’s Cannes, including the debut of Haynes’ May December. We also discuss Simmonds’ work in the A Quiet Place franchise, the challenge in marketing Haynes’ films, and Julianne Moore’s dual roles in both storylines.

Topics also include Carter Burwell’s glorious score, another round of Alter Egos, and gossip from the 2017 Cannes.

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Reunited at TIFF!

It’s an annual tradition! Joe and Chris (reunited for the first time in years!) are reporting on the films of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, including this year’s (Not Grolsch) People’s Choice Award winner: Steven Spielberg’s The Fablemans. And we’ve got bets against each other gaining some heat! This episode, we unpack our feelings about some of the festival’s biggest titles including Glass Onion, Women Talking, The Woman King, The Banshees of Inisherin, and The Inspection. We also discuss potential THOB titles of the future, Taylor Swift crowd control, and the dire Best Actor race. Topics also include the TIFF preroll ads, International Feature contenders, and TIFF’s history of People’s Choice winners and Oscar.

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199 – Shutter Island

This episode, we return to the work of director Martin Scorsese, with one of his very few films to receive zero Oscar nominations, 2010′s Shutter Island. The film was Scorsese’s highly anticipate follow-up to The Departed after finally securing his overdue Oscar win, and reunited him with that film’s star Leonardo DiCaprio. Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel about a WWII veteran investigating a woman’s disappearance from an island-bound mental institution, the film allowed Scorsese to indulge in Hitchcock and Asian horror genre tropes alike. However, Paramount’s financial woes couldn’t afford the awards campaign cost for such a behemoth in late 2009, and the film was pushed to February 2010.

Once released, critics were somewhat divided on the film and its somewhat cliche final twist, and another DiCaprio vehicle would earn higher praise and awards success that year: Christopher Nolan’s Inception. This episode, we discuss our own divided opinions over which 2010 DiCaprio performance we prefer and which overall DiCaprio performance we consider a favorite. We also talk Patricia Clarkson’s post-Oscar nomination career, the National Board of Review’s top ten of 2010, and the other few Scorsese films with no Oscar love.

Topics also include what films Paramount gave the 2009 Oscar push, the Ben Kingsley’s M4Gs nomination, and hype for next week’s massive 200th episode!

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Mail Bag: Vol. 2

And we’re back with the conclusion of our mailbag! This time, we are talking about a few Oscar What Ifs: what new categories should Oscar adopt? what if a different actress had won Supporting Actress in 2005? what if there was a Best Actress season of Survivor? We also answer your questions about the podcast, including our ongoing cash bets against eachother, what episodes would be on our Known For, and whether its more fun/interesting to discuss bad or good movies. Topics also include the best and worst acting winners of this century, nominee reaction shots, and character descriptions of acting nominees on the telecast.

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153 – A Thousand Acres

It’s time for yet another long-promised episode in This Had Oscar Buzz lore, and also from a Pulitzer Prize winner! Adapted from Jane Smiley’s novel (which itself was loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear), A Thousand Acres cast two-time Oscar winner Jason Robards as one town’s beloved titan farmer and a trio of dynamo actresses as his daughters: Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The daughters inherit the farm as their father’s dementia starts to take hold, leading to a struggle for control of the farm in the shadow of revelations about the sexual abuse they endured at his hand. Though the film netted a Best Actress nomination for Lange at the Globes, the film’s harsh critical drubbing pushed it out of Oscar’s view.

This episode, we get into the film’s shortcomings while discussing how it might have been more kindly received today. Also, Pfeiffer is the latest performer to join our 6 Timer’s Club while we discuss Lange’s career resurgence thanks to Ryan Murphy and Leigh’s long road to her first Oscar nomination after several attempts in the 1990s.

Topics also include the films of director Jocelyn Moorhouse, Ving Rhames passing his Golden Globe off to Jack Lemmon, and our Best Actress pick for 1997.

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130 – The Station Agent

For this episode, we’re returning to 2003 with the film that almost won the Listeners’ Choice for our previous 2003 miniseries: Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent. Starring Peter Dinklage in his breakout role as Finn, a loner who inherits a vacant train station in rural New Jersey and reluctantly makes a small circle of friends with a grieving artist and food truck operator, respectively played by Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Canavale. Though a critical darling and major Sundance prize winner, scattered Oscar priorities for the film’s distriutor Miramax likely kept this one from Oscar success.

This week, we look at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and the triptych of prized Patricia Clarkson performances that were launched there, including this film, Pieces of April, and All the Real Girls. We also explore how Clarkson was nominated for the less beloved Pieces, the film’s three nominations with SAG, and the work of Tom McCarthy.

Topics also include Michelle Williams breaking out from the Dawson’s Creek mold, early 00s independent cinema as a comforting vibe, and another round of playing Alter Egos.

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