Rosemarie DeWitt – This Had Oscar Buzz

183 – Margaret (with Patrick Vaill)

#TeamMargaret, your day is here! This week, we are joined by actor Patrick Vaill to discuss the contentious backstory and reemergence story that is Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. Originally filmed in 2005, the film follows Anna Paquin as Lisa Cohen, a New York City teenager who witnesses a horrific accident and her search for restitution when she deems herself partly responsible. But Lonergan’s ambition with the film and its themes resulted in an arduous editing process, resulting in the ire of the film’s producer and Fox Searchlight. The years-long process led to lawsuits and the intervention of Martin Scorsese in the editing room, ultimately delivering a film that quietly snuck into a few theatres amidst contentiousness. Soon, a critical mass began to build along with change.org petitions and online outcry, and now Margaret is seen by some as one of the greatest films of the new century.

This episode, we discuss the various available versions of the film and Lonergan’s distillation of post-9/11 New York. We also unpack the brilliant central performance by Paquin, along with a stellar supporting cast of actresses including J. Smith-Cameron as Lisa’s actress mother, Jeannie Berlin as Lisa’s surprise confidante, and a one-scene-wonder Allison Janney (who joins our Six Timer’s Club).

Topics also include formative double features of The Apostle and Kundun, standing ovations for Andrea Martin, and what makes up J. Smith-Cameron’s “EGOT of television acting.”

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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”.

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058 – Men, Women & Children

A film that uses Pale Blue Dot as a quasi-pickup line and features a couple aligning their sex life with 9/11, Men, Women & Children is likely one of the most maligned films we’ve ever discussed. Directed by Jason Reitman and adapted from the novel by Chad Kultgen, the film stars a large ensemble of familiar faces as several families coping with love, sex, and identity in the age of Pornhub and Ashley Madison. Debuting at TIFF in 2014, the film faced an immediate death of scathing reviews and minimal box office, further diminishing Reitman’s once redhot Oscar profile.

This week, we discuss the film’s dated perspective and lack of nuance in its characterizations that make the film such a misfire, and whether or not we love Reitman only when Diablo Cody’s name is attached. We also take a look at the film’s ensemble of likely future nominees such as Ansel Elgort and Kaitlyn Dever, another 2014 film’s crass Oscar campaign, and Adam Sandler’s closest attempt at an Oscar-chasing role (and another performance that we both consider his best).

Last call for Mailbag questions, listeners! Send us your questions to @Had_Oscar_Buzz or [email protected]!

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