Sarah Silverman – This Had Oscar Buzz

After a career as an actress, Sarah Polley made her directorial debut with Away From Her, landing Oscar nominations for both her screenplay and Julie Christie’s performance. Her follow-up would be a slight gear shift: the intimate character study of infidelity, Take This Waltz. The film stars Michelle Williams as a writer who begins to feel a divide between her and her husband (Seth Rogen), exacerbated by her lust for her rickshaw-operating neighbor (Luke Kirby).

This episode, we talk about our love for Polley and the film’s inquisitive (if a bit divisive) portrait of marital malaise. We also discuss Sarah Silverman’s well-regarded supporting performance, Rogen’s very booked-and-busy first years of stardom, and the film’s expert use of “Video Killed the Radio Star.”

Topics also include Toronto geography, Dying for Sex, and Williams joins our Six Timers Club.

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One year after winning Best Actress for La La Land, Emma Stone returned with an even better performance but faced even tougher competition. In Battle of the Sexes, the recent winner starred as Billie Jean King as she faced off Bobby Riggs (played by Steve Carell) in the famed titular tennis match. Directed by Little Miss Sunshine duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the film had a warm festival and critical reception before quickly underwhelming at the box office and hung on with mentions for Stone and Carell during the precursors.

But Battle of the Sexes was quickly put on the backburner as two of Searchlights other contenders became Best Picture (and Best Actress) heavy hitters: The Shape of Water and Three Billboards. This episode, we discuss some reservations about the film and praise the work of Stone, who go on to again outdo herself a year later with The Favourite. We also discuss Dayton/Faris’ Ruby Sparks, Billie Jean King as that Oscar season’s Real Philomena Lee, and Sarah Silverman as a stealth player.

Topics also include 2017′s Supporting Actor fifth spot in flux, the Original Song race, and hot nepotism with Louis Pullman.

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Tag: Sarah Silverman

347 – Take This Waltz

154 – Battle of the Sexes