Oscars – Page 27 – This Had Oscar Buzz

135 – The House of the Spirits

By today’s standards, this week’s film stands out for its gobsmacking cast of Meryl streep, Gleen Close, Jeremy Irons, Antonio Banderas, and Winona Ryder. But back in the 90s, The House of the Spirits caught attention as both an adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel and the biggest acquisition Miramax had ever landed. Set over decades in Chile with mild mysticism and political revolution, the film whitewashed and condensed the novel into a poorly received epic long forgotten by year’s end – with Miramax enjoying their biggest success yet in Pulp Fiction.

The film was the follow-up to back-to-back Palme d’Or wins for director Bille August, after The Best Intentions and the Oscar-annointed Pelle the Conqueror. This episode, we look to Palme d”or winners for a round of Alter Egos as we discuss the film’s many problems. We discuss the false narrative of Streep vs. Close among Oscar obsessives, Ryder as a quintessentially 90s star, and Streep’s early 90s roadblocks.

Topics also include “an abundance of juices”, Irons’ expanding set of false teeth, and Close’s Oscar chances this year.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

134 – Big Eyes (with Jorge Molina)

After years of cast announcements, a biopic of painter Margaret Keane escaped development hell thanks to director Tim Burton and Oscar hopeful Amy Adams with 2014′s Big Eyes. A departure from Burton’s late-career big-budget preexisting IP efforts, the film promised a showcase for Adams that could earn her that elusive Oscar after her previous five nominations. This week, writer and Just To Be Nominated creator Jorge Molina joins us to talk about the film’s underwhelming insight into Margaret Keane and its wild miscasting of Christoph Waltz as her scheming husband that took credit for her work.

This episode we look at the diminishing returns of Tim Burton’s career, from a filmmaker formative to the taste of a generration of young cinephiles to the forgettable spectacle that fills his current era. We also discuss how close Adams might have been to a win in her nominations, the biopic screenplays of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and the sparse lyrics of Lana Del Rey’s Globe-nominated title song.

Topics also include the year of Alejandro González Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón, and Guillermo Del Toro arrived as a lasting Oscar narrative for Mexican filmmakers, previous nominations for Burton films, and when they handed out craft category Oscars in the aisles.

Follow Us on Twitter!
@Had_Oscar_Buzz
Joe: @joereid
Chris: @chrisvfeil
Jorge: @colormejorge
Just To Be Nominated: @JTBNpodcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

133 – The Other Boleyn Girl

Heavily anticipated by Oscar predictors in fall 2007, Justin Chadwick’s historical fiction The Other Boleyn Girl paired Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johnasson as their Oscar stars were rising. But when the film was rescheduled into early 2008, all signs pointed towards a disappointment that the film ultimately proved to be. With Eric Bana as King Henry VIII, the film is a soapy and scattered take on the Boleyn sisters vying for the king’s affections. Even with the beloved Sandy Powell on costuming duties, the film’s poor reception canceled out its chances to make an impact in the 08 Oscar races.

This week, we go into Oscar’s long history of awarding films surrounding the royals and how this film is weighted with historical inaccuracies. We also dive into screenwriter Peter Morgan’s place as current royals’ biographer with an Oscar pedigree and Johansson’s long road to her two first Oscar nominations last year, beginning with her two 2003 competing performances through souring her public favor in later years.

Topics also include the Teen Choice Awards, a cringe-inducing plot turn that turns Jim Sturgess into a royal Kombucha Girl, and the musical Six.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

132 – Promised Land

Most remembered as “that movie about fracking”, this week we are talking about 2012′s Promised Land. Originally developed and written by John Krasinski and Dave Eggers, the film began as a potential directing vehicle for Matt Damon before the star brought on his Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant to take the reins. Damon stars as a representative of a fracking company attempting to lease land in a small town, but this reunion was released too late in the season to register as more than an afterthought.

This episode, we get into the film’s mild and confusing approach to being an issue movie and Damon’s history as one of THOB’s most discussed performers. We also talk about the film’s rushed turnaround, its minor precursor mentions with both AARP’s Movies for Grownups and the National Board of Review, and the Oscar season that saw Hunting pal Ben Affleck miss out on a Best Director nomination for the Best Picture frontrunner.

Topics also include the Oscar nominated fracking documentary Gasland, unrewarded older male performances opposite nominated actresses, and “Dick Poop”.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

131 – Tea with Mussolini

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t keep pushing this movie aside – and Tea with Mussolini breaks through for this episode for you! The film is one of Cher’s few post-Oscar films and stars the icon opposite acting legends Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Lily Tomlin – all cast as ex-pat women raising a young man during WWII Italy. While the film was an arthouse hit in the early summer and earned Smith a Supporting Actress BAFTA prize, this costume drama was left forgotten come Oscar time.

This week, we’re unpacking the reemergence of Cher in the late 90s, from If These Walls Could Talk to the megasmash success of “Believe” to her iconic Grammy Record of the Year competition. We also get into the 1999 Supporting Actress and the Globes Musical/Comedy field, the only absent dame from Tea With the Dames, and director Franco Zeffirelli.

Topics also include Cher shouting about her Picasso, movies that use “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, and the trauma of AOL Instant Messenger.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

BONUS – Sundancing at Lughnasa

We’re bringing you a special BONUS episode to talk about all the goings on at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival! Chris and Joe both just participated in the virtual festival and have some exciting films to talk about. First, we discuss the few films eligible in this current Oscar season, including the one with (we think) the most promising prospects, Judas and the Black Messiah. Next, we look ahead at the Sundance films with awards potential such as Passing, Mass, and the biggest success of the festival, CODA. We also discuss other favorites of the festival including Censor, Together Together, Summer of Soul, and We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

129 – When A Man Loves A Woman

For our third episode on Meg Ryan, we’re going back to 1994 with When A Man Loves a Woman. One year after her megasmash in Sleepless in Seattle, the film stars Ryan as a woman entering recovery for alcoholism and Andy Garcia as her husband struggling to find normalcy. Though the film was a critical and box office success, an early summer release and scattered Best Actress year kept Ryan from her elusive first Oscar nomination.

This episode, we talk about how the film subverts romantic drama expectations by not letting the male lead off the hook when it shouldn’t. We also talk about Tina Majorino and Mae Whitman in their child star days, Meg Ryan’s Lead Actress nomination from SAG in their inaugural awards, and Andy Garcia as eternally hot.

Topics also include the MTV Movie Awards’ Most Desirable categories, movies from the 90s that exist only as titles or posters, Lauren Tom when she broke up Ross and Rachel.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

127 – Conviction

This episode, we’re looking at 2010′s Conviction starring Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters, a real life Massachusetts woman who earned a law degree to fight for the innocense of her brother wrongly convicted of murder. With a cast that includes Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher, and Sam Rockwell as Betty’s jailed brother Kenny, the film received a middling festival reaction and fizzled at the box office before getting buried among Fox Searchlight’s bigger contenders. Though Swank and Rockwell respectively earned SAG and Critics Choice nominations, the film disappeared quickly.

Perhaps Conviction’s biggest stamp on Oscar culture was Swank’s appearance in that year’s formative Hollywood Reporter Actress roundtable. This episode, we unpack what makes that year’s roundtable a high bar for actress obsessives and go deep on the history of the THR Actress Roundtable. We also get into Rockwell’s unfortunate recent typecasting and the brief and impressive performances by Juliette Lewis and Clea Duvall in the film.

Topics also include Melissa Leo’s Oscar-triumphant 2010, the Oscar history of Swank vs. Bening, and Helena Bonham-Carter becoming one with her many bangles.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS