Bonjour, listeners! This week, we’re returning to the work of Robert Zemeckis for a film whose buzz was built first by an Oscar winning documentary. In 2008, Man on Wire steamrolled the documentary race with the telling of highwire artist Philippe Petit’s daring tightrope performance between the World Trade Center towers – leading Zemeckis to give Petit the biopic treatment with The Walk in 2015. Promising awe-inspiring visual effects to put audiences in Petit’s shoes, the film nevertheless plummeted to an immediate death at the box office due to audiences’ waning favor for both 3D and the film’s star Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Despite some more embarrassing elements like JGL’s French accent and a climatic visit from a CGI bird, the film does deliver a satisfying and thrilling climax. But this episode, we unpack how even the film’s visual effects couldn’t crack Oscar’s lineup in a year with a surprising result in the category. We also look at Gordon-Levitt’s rise from teen star to capital “C” Charismatic leading man.
Topics also include the early films of Rian Johnson, An American Tale, and Werner Herzog saying science things.
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