Oscars – Page 33 – This Had Oscar Buzz

077 – Seven Years in Tibet

As Brad Pitt cements his status as a frontrunner in this year’s Oscar race for his performance in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, we decided to take another look back at his reign as prestige hottie in the 90s. After nearly missing a win on his first nomination for 12 Monkeys, Brad Pitt’s red hot persona yielded an Oscar expectation that was met with disappointing projects before Fight Club reignited. But one of his most prominent misfires of that era was the misguided and milquetoast Seven Years in Tibet.

The film follows Pitt as mountaineer Heinrich Harrer, who becomes tutor to the young Dalai Lama before and during the invasion of Tibet. While the film fumbles in trying to generate the kind of epic period sweep that Oscar often rewards, its biggest issues lie in a narrative that indulges in cultural tourism, pacifies its true-life protagonist’s Nazi associations, and offers one of the most underwhelming uses of Pitt’s star persona. This week, we’re looking at Pitt’s ascension as 90s peak sexpot, and the Oscar year that favored another epic (you know, the boat one) and a different handsome blond actor.

Topics also include the 90s pop culture obsession with the Dalai Lama (including Scorsese’s Kundun in the same year), the 1997 Toronto International Film Festival, and Pitt’s shaky abilities with dialects.

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076 – In Her Shoes

Though it was not the victor of our Listeners’ Choice, the very vocal fans of In Her Shoes told us we shouldn’t make you wait for this one any longer. Starring Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette, this one has slowly gained its admirers after disappointing box office and failing to turn Shirley MacLaine’s 2005 comeback into awards gold. Count Chris and Joe among that fanbase.

Dismissed initially by critics as a “chick lit” trifle in favor of more masculine fare, In Her Shoes is an emotionally rich tale of two sisters reconciling their relationship and the baggage from their mother’s untimely death. With MacLaine as the grandmother they didn’t know they had, the film is a perfect match of coziness and pathos that we adore. My Marcia would never speak ill of In Her Shoes, My Marcia loves In Her Shoes.

This week, we long for the return of Cameron Diaz as we dub this her greatest performance. We also discuss the underrated filmography of director Curtis Hanson, Diaz’s MTV Movie Awards dominance, and Collette’s history as one half of iconic female cinematic duos.

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075 – Cloud Atlas

We’re bringing 2019 to a close with another Listeners’ Choice, and our listeners have chosen perhaps what will be our most daunting title yet: 2012′s interconnected science fiction opus from Lana & Lilly Wachowski and Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas! This tale of several stories spanning generations, genres, and continents launched its Oscar hopes with a jaw-dropping, mega-sized trailer, and lost them just as quickly with an extremely divisive critical reception at TIFF. Led by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, the film takes massive narrative and emotional leaps that were ultimately too much for Oscar and general audiences.

But you can consider both Chris and Joe as firmly in the positive for this film, while also accepting of its ambitious flaws. This week, we spend the majority of this episode unraveling the many threads and issues within the film (Yellow face makeup, its near three hour length, its dizzying construction), and just what stirs our affection for it (its spiritual convictions, general audacity, and of course “The Cloud Atlas Sextet”).

Topics also include Ben Whishaw’s whittle butt, Hurricane Sandy, and who would play our own personal Old Georgies. You true-true-ly chose a great movie for us, and we love you all the more for it!

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A Holiday Mailbag!

As an exciting holiday treat to show our love to our lovely listeners, Joe and Chris have wrapped up a special mailbag episode to answer all of your burning questions! This week, we’ll be unpacking everything from This Had Oscar Buzz lore to the current Oscar season to Oscar history. We’ll be looking back at recent Oscar nomination morning presentations, the 2002 Best Actress lineup, and decide our pick for the greatest Oscar host of all time.

Topics also include what a Hustlers Christmas special might look like, our specific menu for essential movie snacks, and the THOBiest round of Fuck Marry Kill you’ve ever heard. And thanks to one brilliant listener, we even have a fun new game thrown into our rotation! Thank you so much to all of you for your exceptional questions and your support throughout the year!

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074 – Welcome to Marwen

We’re cracking open the lid on the coffin of the This Had Oscar Buzz Class of 2018 for the first time this week! And as promised, the first title that we’re diving into is Robert Zemeckis’s uncanny valley disasterpeace Welcome to Marwen. Based on the documentary Marwencol and the life of artist Mark Hogancamp, the film follows Hogancamp (played by Steve Carell) in the fallout of a brutal attach as he creates a fictional village of dolls inspired by the women in his life.

But the film half takes place in Marwen, bizarrely trapping the film in Mark’s imagination while only loosely relating to his real-world troubles and subjecting us to Zemeckis’ unintentionally horrifying dolls-come-to-life CGI. Naturally, we spend most of the film wishing it developed the female characters beyond their role as caregivers instead of wasting the talents of Leslie Mann, Merritt Weaver, Janelle Monáe, and Gwendoline Christie.

This episode, we look back at Zemeckis’ increasingly diminishing returns beginning with The Polar Express, Carell’s less successful performances, and the perils of Forrest Gump.

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073 – Hairspray (with Cameron Scheetz)

We’ve got a film notorious in the history of the IMDb Game this week: 2007′s Hairspray! After pointing out the film’s omnipresence in our trademark game during our first Mailbag episode, the nicest kid in town The AV Club’s Cameron Scheetz joins us this episode to talk about the film’s delights, from its stellar cast to its joyful tunes. But this summer release couldn’t get ahead in the fall awards season gamut, getting overshadowed by late-breaking musicals Sweeney Todd and Enchanted despite major nominations at both SAG and the Golden Globes.

This episode, we look at the Oscar season that almost left us without an Oscar telecast because of the long writers’ strike. Topics also include John Travolta’s so-wrong-it’s-right place in the Edna Turnblad legacy, Oscar-nominated performances in musicals, and the unforgettable Adele Dazeem. “Nikki Blonsky From The Movie Hairspray”, we salute you!

Last call for question entries for this month’s Mailbag episode!! We’ll still be taking your questions about Oscar history, the current Oscar race, the podcast in general, or anything that might be on your mind through the end of the week! Tweet at us at @Had_Oscar_Buzz or email at [email protected]!

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072 – I Heart Huckabees

Fox Searchlight celebrates their 25th anniversary this year, and this week we’re looking back at their ascension to the Oscar titan that they are today. While 2004 saw Sideways become instrumental in their rise, they also shepherded a different offbeat comedy ultimately too quirky for Oscar’s tastes: David O. Russell’s farce I Heart Huckabees. The film is a chaotic mix of existential theory, absurdist humor, and bonkers cameos from Jean Smart to Shania Twain – and we love it… with the bonnet.

Notorious for the videos that surfaced years later of Russell and star Lily Tomlin in a profanity-laced verbal spar, Huckabees’ insanity makes sense in light of the many stories of Russell’s on-set behavior. This episode, we praise the film’s ensemble, recall the quirky indie comedy competition from Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and take a trip through Fox Searchlight’s history of This Had Oscar Buzz titles.

And don’t forget to send us your questions for our upcoming mailbag episode! You have two more weeks to submit to us on Twitter (@Had_Oscar_Buzz) or email us at [email protected]!

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071 – Pan (with Katey Rich)

This week, we welcome back our first ever returning guest: VanityFair.com deputy editor Katey Rich! And what better topic to discuss (as mutual defenders of the work of director Joe Wright) than 2015′s Pan? The film was yet another retelling of the Peter Pan story, this time arriving amidst expectations for Wright to deliver another design spectacle before receiving a savage critical drubbing.

Much as we would love to defend Wright’s honor, we unpack how Pan is an unfortunate spectacle of bizarre design, racial insensitivity, and motifs ripped off from Moulin Rouge!. Also in this trivia-packed episode, we look back at Best Picture and the PG rating, decipher the difference between our Garrett Hedlunds and Charlie Hunnams et al., and how this Neverland saga compares to that other critically reviled one, Steven Spielberg’s Hook.

And at the top of the episode, we announce something special coming to you very soon: another mailbag episode! Send your questions to us on Twitter (@Had_Oscar_Buzz) or email us at [email protected]!

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070 – Prêt-à-Porter (Ready to Wear)

Robert Altman had a major comeback in the early 90s, scoring back-to-back lone Director nominations for The Player and Short Cuts. His follow-up, 1994′s Prêt-à-Porter (that’s Ready to Wear for American audiences and fellow philistines), aimed to skewer Paris Fashion Week to comedic effect, but instead ended Altman’s Oscar hot streak that wouldn’t be reignited until 2001′s Gosford Park.

This week, we take on Altman’s improvisational style when it doesn’t work for this imprecise satire starring an underutilized Julia Roberts, Linda Hunt in Edna Mode mode, and Tracy Ullman in an Amy Sherman-Palladino hat. The film is a convergence of early 90s fashion and supermodel obsession, house music, and independent cinema stars. Still landing Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture – Musical/Comedy and Supporting Actress for Sophia Loren (in the year of her Cecil B. DeMille prize), it ultimately was too much of a disappointment to get Oscar’s favor.

We also discuss a never-better Kim Basinger, the recent history of Oscar’s lone director nominees, and one-hit-wonder Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper”. It’s fruitcake time, listeners!

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069 – Ladies in Lavender (with Danita Steinberg)

A perfect example of an early, long-list Oscar prediction movie, 2005′s Ladies in Lavender arrived after multiple festivals to a successful arthouse run thanks to the presence of its Dame headliners Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. But despite coming in the era primed to reward this kind of women’s picture and both actresses in particular, the film ultimately was too early and too small (on top of being overshadowed by Dench’s Miramax picture Mrs. Henderson Presents later in the year) to make a major awards dent on the season.

This week, We Really Like Her podcast cohost Danita Steinberg joins us to talk about the aughts dominance of Dames Judi and Maggie, and their outsider potential for Supporting Actress nominations this year. Topics include the near miss Oscar potential of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the 2005 Best Actress lineup, and Oscar resentments from costar Miriam Margoyles.

We also discuss the film’s shocking lack of the titular lavender and the one actor that Meryl Streep hating working with. And as you might expect, all roads lead back to The Hours.

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