musicals – This Had Oscar Buzz

353 – Mamma Mia! (w/ Jorge Molina!)

With Meryl currently on her first film set in years, what better time than to dance, jive, and generally speaking have the time of our lives. We’ve invited our friend, writer and programmer Jorge Molina to discuss the Meryl movie that didn’t get her an Oscar nomination in 2008. A post 9/11 hit on the stage, Mamma Mia! tells the story of a bride who invites three men to her wedding who might be her father, all set to the music of ABBA. The film showed off against Batman himself to become a global smash (if not one with critics), and it remains a rewatch classic.

This episode, we discuss our origins with the musical and Meryl’s other 2008 performance. We also talk about the film’s ensemble including the divine Amanda Seyfried, our favorite numbers from the film, and whose voice fares the worst when singing.

Topics also include Chris Klein’s bad audition, Tom and Rita, and downloading Oscar medleys to an iPhone.

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335 – Jersey Boys (with Tyler Coates!)

Ooh wee ee ooh ooh ooh ooh wah, Gary! It’s about time we talked about another musical and we’ve got a first time guest this week to join us! Writer Tyler Coates is here to talk about 2014’s Jersey Boys, the screen adaptation of the Tony winning jukebox musical charting the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The film was Clint Eastwood’s return to the cinema after one of his longest directorial sabbaticals, turning out to be a mild summer counter programming misfire. But a few months later, Eastwood would rush American Sniper into a limited release before the Academy deadline, leaving Jersey Boys quickly forgotten.

This episode, we talk about jukebox musicals onscreen and the casting of several stage stars in the film, including Tony winner John Lloyd Young as Valli. We also discuss late stage Eastwood, the film’s flat rendering of midcentury tunes, and the same-day AFI premiere’s of Selma and Sniper.

Topics also include the 2004 Tony Awards, Joe Pesci as narrative device, and Letterman as Oscar host.

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293 – Hair (with Natalie Walker) (70s Spectacular – 1979)

The 70s Spectacular comes to a close this week with actress Natalie Walker joining us to discuss 1979 and Milos Forman’s adaptation of Hair. The brainchild of Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, and James Redo, Hair took Broadway by storm in the late 1960s for its narrative and political audacity, presenting the free-love and anti-war hippie movement of the time. Forman wanted to bring the musical to the screen after seeing the Off-Broadway production, but wouldn’t achieve that goal until after his One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Oscar victory. This delay turned the once ripped-from-the-headlines musical into old news when it eventually became a film.

This episode, we discuss the 2009 Broadway revival and the changes made to the film to give the story a more linear structure. We also discuss the best hair of 1970s cinema, Dustin Hoffman being a monster on the set of Kramer vs. Kramer, and Actors Fund Benefit concerts.

Topics also include the follow-up musical Dude, step and repeat falls, and “gliddy glop gloopy”.

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292 – New York, New York (with Katey Rich) (70s Spectacular – 1977)

The 1977 Oscar year is famously when Annie Hall triumphed over the cultural behemoth of Star Wars, but elsewhere Martin Scorsese followed up his Taxi Driver Best Picture nomination with a big swing and a miss. The Ankler’s Katey Rich is back on the show to discuss New York, New York, Scorsese’s attempt at a movie musical. Starring then-recent Oscar winners Liza Minnelli and Robert DeNiro as two post-WWII lovers whose creative ambitions clash with their relationship, the film received a critical drubbing for its pointed attempts at pastiche and its meandering length, and remains one of Scorsese’s least seen and discussed films.

This episode, we get into what does and doesn’t work in the film and how it gave us its indelible title track, later made infamous by Frank Sinatra. We also talk about the film’s tangled behind-the-scenes relationship to Star Wars, the music branch snubbing Saturday Night Fever, and the surprising lack of current availability for 1970s films.

Topics also include Vanessa Redgrave’s notorious Oscar speech, Al Pacino’s …And Justice for All hair, and Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon.

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282 – Music (Patreon Selects)

On top of all the horrors of the pandemic, let’s not forget that that time also gave us cringe cinema directed by Sia. This week, we come to you with another Patreon Selects, where sponsor listener Stuart has tasked us with that very film. Initially shot in 2017, Sia’s Music cast Kate Hudson as a troublesome drug dealer tasked with taking over the care of her younger autistic sister, played by Sia protege Maddie Ziegler. The ill-conceived film earned a deserved firestorm of outcry for Sia not casting a neurodivergent performer and the singer’s initial dismissive reactions to the controversy, but then earned two shock Golden Globe nominations in the Musical/Comedy categories.

This episode, we unpack all that makes this our presumed worst film we have yet to discuss. We also talk about supporting star Leslie Odom Jr.’s presence in the film in the same season as his dual Oscar nominations for One Night in Miami…, Hudson’s newfound music career, and the films that the Globes could have sensibly nominated in Music‘s place.

Topics also include whatever the hell Mary Kay Place is doing in this movie, Hudson and Odom Jr. in Glass Onion, and the current hideous Globe statue.

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278 – Annette

Coming out of the COVID-led doldrums of 2020, the Cannes Film Festival loomed large as a “movies are back!!” starting gate for global cinema. Its opening film, Annette, was a long-in-development rock opera with music by cult fave Sparks and directed by visionary auteur Leos Carax, returning to the Croisette with his first film in nearly a decade. With Adam Driver at the helm as a batboy shock jock comedian who falls in love with opera star Marion Cotillard to disastrous results, the film is a bizarre fantasia about destructive creative ego and features a puppet as the titular baby singer. Though the film drew raves and buzz around Driver and Sparks’ score, Annette was alas too freaky for the Academy.

This week, we talk about Driver’s career and how his unique physicality makes him a worthy successor to Carax’s usual collaborator Denis Lavant. We also talk about the other famous castings while the film sat in development, the 2021 Original Song contenders, and Simon Helberg’s supporting performance.

Topics also include Baby Annette in the gay stan wars, Carax’s filmography, and the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.

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272 – 8 Women (Patreon Selects)

Our Patreon Selects series continues with another dive into French cinema! In 2002, director Francois Ozon delivered an actress bonanza with 8 Women, an homage of Douglas Sirk and Alfred Hitchcock that’s also a musical and also murder mystery and also a celebration of the biggest French actresses of the moment. Set at Christmas, its titular ensemble tries to discover who among them has killed the family patriarch. Despite a solid run for France in the aughts with their Oscars submissions, Ozon’s treacly affair did not make it to the Oscar ball.

This episode, we talk about Ozon’s filmography and France’s current difficulties nabbing an International Feature Oscar despite their stature in the race. We also talk about the career of Chris’ fave Isabelle Huppert, the film as Harold They’re Lesbians core, and our thoughts on The Taste of Things‘ chances this year.

Topics also include Frances Fisher’s new cause celebre, Streep/Short dating rumors, and Madarin Oriental “I’m a fan” commercials.

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270 – Sister Act (Patreon Selects)

All January we’ll be doing a series we call Patreon Selects with episodes chosen by members of our sponsor-level tier on Patreon (and they’ll be sharing their Oscar origin stories too)! First up is 1992’s megasmash musical comedy Sister Act! Originally designed as a showcase for Bette Midler, the film became a starring vehicle for Whoopi Goldberg hot off of her Oscar win for Ghost. With Whoopi as an on-the-run lounge singer who hides out in a convent and turns the church’s choir into a sensation, the film won the affection of audiences but not an Academy with a tricky relationship with comedy.

This episode, we talk about Whoopi’s career from theatre breakthrough to movie star to Oscar host. We also talk about Dame Maggie Smith’s two Oscar wins, the career of writer Paul Rudnick (who took his name off the film), and the divine Mary Wickes.

Topics also include Hook, Nuns Having Fun, and the MTV Movie Awards.

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204 – A Prairie Home Companion (with Clay Keller)

An episode long teased has finally arrived. Screen Drafts co-host (and proud Minnesotan) Clay Keller joins us to discuss the final film from beloved auteur Robert Altman, 2006′s A Prairie Home Companion. Based on and set within the eponymous radio show, the film follows the backstage goings-on during the show’s fictionalized final live recording, with a sprawling cast of Altman regulars and newbies including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Kline, Maya Rudolph, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, and Virginia Madsen as an angel of death. Altman would pass the November after its release, but sadly did not receive posthumous recognition for the film due to its somewhat divided reception.

This episode, we’re discussing the dual summer roles for Streep between this and The Devil Wears Prada, and we’re celebrating our tenth Streep episode! We also discuss Lohan’s turmoil at the time, Paul Thomas Anderson as a contractually obligated backup director, and Clay brings us stories from his experience as an extra on the set of the film.

Topics also include the Streep/Tomlin tribute to Altman at the previous ceremony, bad jokes, and a Screen Drafts-style ranking of the film’s best performances.

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128 – Cats

It’s time to finally talk about such serious things as digital fur technology and the perils of tribalism – you’ve been begging for it, we’re finally talking about Cats. Our first Class of 2019 film discussed on the podcast, Cats was announced to the immediate revulsion of many, but Oscar predictors saw some possibility thanks to the participation of two Oscar winners: director Tom Hooper and star Jennifer Hudson in the role of Grizabella. But Cats’ communal punchline status continued to snowball, from its heavily memed trailer, to its legendary Lincoln Center premiere, to its rowdy screenings.

This epsiode, we dive into our own relationships with the staged version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical and the composer’s underwhelming returns with screen adaptations. We also cover what made the film such a disaster including Hooper’s ill-conceived high-minded approach to the material and his reported mistreatment of the film’s visual effects team. We also discuss the “Butthole Cut”, visible wedding rings, and “Beautiful Ghosts.”

Topics also include our rankings of the musical numbers, Celine Dion’s television singing competition version of “Memory”, and what the hell “Jellicle” even means.

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