Richard Curtis – This Had Oscar Buzz

Whoopsie daisies, we have come to the close of our May miniseries taking a deep focus look back at Entertainment Weekly’s seasonal movie preview issues. And the closer was chosen by you, listeners! For your Listeners’ Choice, you have selected the Summer Movie Preview for Notting Hill. The film famously went head-to-head with grand behemoth Star Wars: Episode One – The Phantom Menace and still emerged victorious at the box office, thanks in part to Julia Roberts’ reemergent romcom power and the charms of Hugh Grant back in bumbling mop-haired mode. Notting Hill stars both respectively as the most famous actress in the world and a modest travel bookstore owner who fall in love against the odds, and it comes with all of the signatures of the combined powers of director Roger Michell and screenwriter Richard Curtis.

This episode, we look back at the oft-revisited 1999 movie year and unpack why it remains so fascinating to talk about. We also discuss Roberts’ double-header of romcom hits that summer with Runaway Bride, Pulp Fiction’s influence on films like Go, and South Park’s movie mission to wage war with the MPAA.

Topics also include capsizing in a boat with Tilda Swinton, Eyes Wide Shut’s veil of mystery before release, and VH1 Divas Live 1999.

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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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Tag: Richard Curtis

196 – Notting Hill (EW Summer Movie Preview – Listeners’ Choice)

121 – About Time (with Katey Rich)