movies – Page 21 – This Had Oscar Buzz

123 – Life As A House (with LaToya Ferguson)

This week, we’re looking back at Oscar buzz molded from the success of American Beauty and the (new) hope of an incoming mega-franchise star: 2001′s Life As A House. Writer and podcaster LaToya Ferguson joins us to talk about the film that stars Kevin Kline as a dying man building a dream house with his estranged troubled son, played by Hayden Christensen. The film stayed long in season thanks to precursor attention for Christensen, recently announced as the next Anakin Skywalker – but Oscar wasn’t quite so eager to herald him as the next big thing before seeing his Darth Vader.

Much more unwell than you remember it, Life As A House features a slew of no-boundaries behaviors that we unpack including shower intrusions, milfs, toilets next to kitchen sinks, and going postal at the office. But this episode finds us in nostalgia mode as we look back at Entertainment Weekly’s It List, pre-movie trailer reels on VHS, and the WB’s “Oh What A Night” promo.

Topics also include the 2001 Supporting Actor race, Fred Durst’s directorial oeuvre, and “Anatomy 101 with Professor D’Angelo.”

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122 – Me And Orson Welles

While cinephiles celebrate the release of Mank this week, we’re looking back at a different Citizen Kane-adjacent awards hopeful: 2009′s Me and Orson Welles. The film stars Zac Efron as a young would-be actor who is plucked from the streets and cast in Welles’ landmark stage production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. With Christian McKay as the infamous creative force and Claire Danes as Efron’s love interest, the film has its charms despite its similarities to similar films.

Directed by Richard Linklater, the film’s unconventional semi-self-distributed release generated little fanfare despite major precursor mentions for McKay. This episode, we look at the underwhelming 2009 Supporting Actor race and Linklater’s filmography, including Dazed and Confused as a formative film education movie. We also celebrate Claire Danes’ seventh entry to THOB history, holding her place as our most discussed performer.

Topics also include Zoe Kazan as a quasi-manic-pixie-dream-ghost, the 90s evolution of middle-part butt hairstyles, and the impact of Welles’ Caesar production. Send us your Mailbag questions – now through Dec. 15!!

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121 – About Time (with Katey Rich)

Richard Curtis arrived in the early 90s with his Oscar-nominated screenplay for Four Weddings and A Funeral and immediately cemented a heartwarming brand of romantic British fare. In the 2000s, he leaped to the director’s chair as well, with a streak that ended in this week’s surprise box office bomb: 2013′s About Time. Once again, deputy editor of VanityFair.com and Little Gold Men co-host Katey Rich returns as a guest to discuss the film that stars Domhnall Gleeson as lovelorn time traveler and Rachel McAdams as the object of his affection.

While we are divided on the film’s sometimes uncomfortable mechanics as a love story, About Time reveals itself as a sentimental smell-the-roses family story. But audience and critical disinterest took this one out of its season pretty quickly. This week, we discuss the Richard Curtis ethos, Gleeson’s quite charming screen persona, and the stacked lineup at the 2013 New York Film Festival.

Topics also include McAdams’ career pre and post-Oscar nomination, slight softboy British actor crushes, and the foremost question of our time: “is all lost?”

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120 – Burn After Reading

After steamrolling in the previous season with No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers quickly returned to movie theatres with the brilliantly silly Burn After Reading. Though financially successful, the film proved divisive over the high dosage of standard Coen misanthropy despite brilliant, off-type casting for Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, and George Clooney. A veiled satire of the Bush administration, the film had a decent showing among precursors from the Golden Globes to the AARP Movies for Grownups, but still was shown no love by Oscar.

This episode, we look broadly at the odd particulars that kept Burn After Reading from nominations, from Pitt being overshadowed by Benjamin Button and an Original Screenplay field that proved surprisingly competitive even for the Oscar-favored Coens. We also look at McDormand’s evolution into “salt of the earth” roles and the 2007 Oscar ceremony as the launch pad for this film.

Topics also include Kate Winslet competing with herself, WGA ineligibilities, and what constitutes a “buddy drama”.

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119 – Solaris

After following up his 2000 Oscar triumph with audience favorite Ocean’s 11, Steven Soderbergh pivoted into a different mode in 2002, doubling up with the low-fi Full Frontal and the subject of this week’s episode: Solaris. A revisit of Stanislaw Lem’s novel (previously canonized by Andrei Tarkovsky), the film follows George Clooney as a therapist called to a a space mission on the titular planet, only to find a ghost of his dead wife among the planet’s strange happenings.

But audiences were expecting an epic romance in space thanks to a misleading marketing campaign, turning the film into a box office bomb with an F CinemaScore. In the years since, the film has gained a reputation as Soderbergh’s misunderstood masterpiece – and we agree! This episode, we look at Soderbergh’s career of making multiple films in one year and Clooney’s rise from television star to movie hunk to prestige director with uneven returns.

Topics also include a deep dive into our 2002 personal awards ballots, Viola Davis’s underrated supporting performance, Jeremy Davies as Jeremy Davies, and, of course, Clooney’s butt onscreen.

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118 – Far And Away

Plunge and scrub, listeners! We’re going back to the early 90s to look at Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and director Ron Howard for Far and Away. The film was both an intended inch toward Oscar’s embrace for Howard and a big budget romance for the recently wed stars, attempting David Lean-level grandeur with an Irish immigrant story. But middling reviews and tepid box office left this film in the dust with Oscar – and it would be nearly a decade before Howard would reap the benefit of his rising narrative.

The episode, we dive into the film’s upsetting depiction of the Oklahoma Land Rush, its place among 90s Irish cultural obsession, and its infamous bowl scene. We also discuss Kidman’s 90s evolution towards being taken seriously as an actress, the prospects for Howard’s upcoming Hillbilly Elegy, and Cruise’s current reign as death-wish movie star in the Mission: Impossible series.

But before we get into the MTV Movie Awards and Kidman yelling about her spoons, we have some news: we’re taking submissions for an end of the year Listeners’ Choice showdown! And don’t forget: you can now follow us on Spotify!

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117 – Melancholia

This episode, we’re bringing you one of our most requested films starring one of our most requested performers. In 2011, Kirsten Dunst triumphantly returned from a short break to work with a director notorious for lauded and tumultuous collaborations with actresses, Lars Von Trier. With Melancholia, the actress stars as a woman afflicted with severe depression as the end of the world looms, landing Dunst the best reviews of her career. But after the film’s rapturous premiere, Von Trier’s glib comments regarding Hitler and Nazism immediately tainted the film and perhaps his star’s awards potential, as well.

Dunst would win Best Actress at Cannes along with some critics prizes, but Von Trier’s banishment from the establishment kept the film from more mainstream consideration. This week, we look back at Kirsten Dunst’s underrated work, including her collabborations with Sofia Coppola and her versatile comedy trifecta in 1999-2000. We also discuss Lars Von Trier’s fraught history with actresses from Björk to Nicole Kidman.

Topics also include how 2011 was a great year for Best Actress despite an underwhelming set of nominees, the history of small distributor Magnolia Pictures, and the gender dynamics of “Actress Gets Consumption” movies.

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115 – The Death and Life of John F. Donovan

For his first English language film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Cannes darling Xavier Dolan assembled a stunning prestige cast that promised a major leveling up from the filmmaker. And then disaster struck. Filming began shortly after his critically reviled It’s Only the End of the World debuted and at Cannes and Dolan’s response cemented his bratty reputation. And then years of post-production and a reported four hour cut resulted in a very quiet premiere at TIFF 2018, with an even quieter release on VOD over a year later. Starring Kit Harington as a young hearthrob and Jacob Tremblay as a gay preteen who wrote fanletters, the film is also a story of mothers and sons and fame with Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, and Thandie Newton rounding out the cast.

In this episode, we unpack everything that makes Dolan a fascinating filmmaker, from his extensive career at a young age to openly sparring with his critics to his creative peak with 2014′s Mommy. We also discuss Jessica Chastain’s highly touted role cut from the film, Mads Mikkelsen’s memed reaction to Dolan’s Cannes win, and the film’s sometimes cringey use of popular music.

Topics also include Dolan’s video for Adele’s “Hello”, actresses we would like to see work with Dolan, and Magical Scarved Homosexual Strangers.

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114 – Nuts

One of the most notorious snubs of Oscar history is the directors’ branch not nominating Barbra Streisand, even though The Prince of Tides received a Best Picture nomination and the Golden Globes awarded her Best Director for Yentl. This week’s episode looks at the one and only Streisand in a film between those two achievements: 1987′s Nuts. Starring the icon as a sex worker charged with the murder of one of her clients, the film is a dull adaptation of a stage play that is nevertheless watchable due to Streisand’s indefatiguable screen presence.

This week, we go deep on Barbra lore, from the misogynist perception she was given as “difficult” in comparison to her male peers to appearing on the Rosie O’Donnell Show to the old-timey mall she has in her basement. We also discuss the incredible 1987 Best Actress lineup and posit the Oscar futures if Cher hadn’t won.

Topics also include Leslie Nielsen in tiny underwear, preventative Lea Michele damage homeowner’s insurance, and Barbra singing with Judy Garland.

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113 – Running With Scissors

Annette Bening remains one of our most beloved actresses without an Oscar, and one of the most notorious (assumed) second place finalists after losing to Hilary Swank twice. This week, we’re looking at her turn as a mentally ill poet and mother in 2006′s Running With Scissors, adapted from the famously outrageous memoir by Augusten Burroughs. Bening received a Golden Globe nomination, but a stacked Best Actress year combined with the film’s poor reception with critics and audiences left her work as an afterthought come nomination morning.

The film was big screen debut of none other than television legend Ryan Murphy. This episode, we unpack the Murphy ethos, from his impact on the television landscape to the mixed reception to some of his work. We also discuss the film’s off-balance mix of comedy and tragedy, Gwyneth Paltrow in Bo Derek braids, and Bening as one of the most iconic smokers in cinema.

Topics also include the age of scrutinized memoirists, an oceanside testimonial from Murphy ex Bill Condon, and the uncanny valley of butt hands.

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