Rooney Mara – This Had Oscar Buzz

We talk about awards hopes thwarted by release date pushes, and this week is the mother of all of them. Originally intended as Garth Davis’ speedy follow-up to Lion for Thanksgiving 2017, Mary Magdalene cast Rooney Mara as the biblical woman and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus. The film reexamines Mary Magdalene role among the disciples and how history has viewed her, and attempts a feminist perspective to biblical narratives. But shortly after it wasn’t announced for any fall festival lineups, the film was pushed to Easter 2018. When the Weinstein expose arrived, the film was then caught in US distribution limbo, arriving on schedule overseas but not seeing (few) American theatres until 2019.

This episode, we talk about Davis’ success with Lion in the 2016 season and our hopes for his upcoming Satires Ronan starrer Foe. We also discuss Joe’s Catholic upbringing and knowledge, how Jesus would’ve handled social media, and the chances Mara would have had in the Best Actress race had the film arrived in its original season.

Topics also include Phoenix’s whole vibe, MANY music references, and Hot Judas.

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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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Tag: Rooney Mara

238 – Mary Magdalene

071 – Pan (with Katey Rich)