Paul Dano – This Had Oscar Buzz

378 – Being Flynn

Is the “buzzy literary adaptation to Oscar bonafide” pipeline kaput? This week, we’ve got a forgotten, pre-production-buzzy title on deck: 2012’s Being Flynn! Based on Nick Flynn’s memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, the film follows Paul Dano as the author grappling with addiction, grief, and an absent, addict father played by Robert De Niro. While critics praised De Niro’s work as a return to form, the film quickly died at the box office without strong reviews or the noise of a festival launch.

This episode, we talk about De Niro’s eventual Silver Linings Playbook nomination in the same year and his connection to the film’s director Paul Weitz. We also discuss post-Little Miss Sunshine Dano, Julianne Moore gets the rare Ten Timers Club, and the film’s Weitz-ian approach to heavier material.

Topics also include early aughts icon Olivia Thirlby, the film’s title downgrade, and Judd Hirsch’s The Fablemansnomination.

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370 – Looper

With a new Benoit Blanc out for you to devour, we decided it was a great time to talk about the great Rian Johnson. In 2012, Johnson delivered his genre hybrid Looper, set in a dystopic future where, through the magic of time travel, a hitman (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) faces off against his older self (Bruce Willis) to stop a mysterious force who’s hunting them. With mind-bending leaps and a stellar supporting turn from Emily Blunt, Looper cemented Johnson’s reputation and led to his hiring for The Last Jedi.

This week, we talk about Johnson’s confident grasp of twisty material and the layered world he creates with Looper. We also talk about Gordon-Levitt’s Willis-riffing turn, Willis’ late career in the years after this film, and Kazu Hiro’s makeup to make JGL look like BW.

Topics also include 2012 TIFF Galas, the 2012 Original Screenplay race, and the blunderbuss.

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251 – Love and Mercy (with Taylor Cole!)

Are you loving our new original intro music, listeners? We’re joined this week by its composer and our friend Taylor Cole to muse on the genre musical biopic with 2015’s Love and Mercy. The film follows different chapters of Brian Wilson’s life and mental wellness journey, with Paul Dano taking on Wilson’s life as he experimented with The Beach Boys’ sound and John Cusack as the later Wilson. After a debut at the 2014 TIFF, the film launched in the summer to positive reviews and a slew of precursor nominations for Dano. But much like the Academy voted with The Fablemans this past year, Dano was left out at the last moment.

This episode, we discuss how the film’s structure appropriately tells Wilson’s story while creatively twisting the standard biopic framework. We also discuss Elizabeth Banks’ performance headlining the later portions of the film, divisive feelings about Dano’s earlier performances, and 2015 Best Supporting Actor.

Topics also include Cusack strike tweeting, presenting Chicago to Social Studies class, and our relationships with the music of The Beach Boys.

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