This Had Oscar Buzz
336 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 16 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 1.1K ratingsA podcast about movies the awards forgot
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
301 – Bernie
July 22, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 110 MBour old friend Kevin O’Keeffe and Texas native for a very Texas movie. Debuting in 2011 but arriving in theaters, Richard Linklater’s Bernie accounts a real-life Texan wink wink bachelor Bernie Tiede (played by Jack Black), beloved by the church ladies and local community. However, he is taken in by the town villain Margie (Shirley MacLaine) and … Continue reading "301 – Bernie"
300 – Collateral Beauty
July 15, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 122 MBWe’ve hit another year of the podcast, arriving at our milestone 300th episode! No better way to celebrate that by finally revisiting one of the past decades most notorious bombs, 2016’s Collateral Beauty. Starring Will Smith as a grieving father, this all-star cast includes Edward Norton, Michael Peña, and Kate Winslet as his three friend who … Continue reading "300 – Collateral Beauty"
299 – The Matrix Resurrections
July 08, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 98.6 MBThis week’s film has Joe and Chris on opposite sides of a divisive reception. The Matrix not only revolutionized genre filmmaking in 1999, but it resulted in a resounding Oscar success. Reception to its first two sequels in 2003 was decidedly unappreciative, but the franchise has received some critical reassessment in the two decades since. … Continue reading "299 – The Matrix Resurrections"
298 – A Perfect World
July 01, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 84 MBEarly in the 1990s, two westerns emerged as Best Picture winners when the genre was first thought dead: Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. In 1993, those heralded actor-directors would unite for A Perfect World, casting Costner as an escaped convict who takes a small boy hostage and teaches him about masculinity, with Eastwood as the … Continue reading "298 – A Perfect World"
297 – To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
June 24, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 92.7 MBWhy not derail an originally planned episode to close pride season with a beloved queer 90s film with three praised performances? In 1995, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar spun a tale of three drag queens on a road trip that get stranded in middle America. Its headliners were two macho movie stars in Patrick … Continue reading "297 – To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar"
296 – Take Shelter
June 17, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 94 MBWe return this week to one of the Oscar years we bemoan the most, 2011, to talk about Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter. After Michael Shannon landed a surprise acting nomination for Revolutionary Road, it seemed he’d somewhat cornered the market on onscreen psychosis. In this film, he plays a rural father who begins to see apocalyptic visions … Continue reading "296 – Take Shelter"
295 – Let Them All Talk
June 10, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 106 MBSay it with us: confusion! In our episodes where we have discussed 2020, one of the major conversations we’ve yet to really tackle is the confusion around what films would be considered theatrical while most of the country’s theatres were closed. This week’s film occupied that undefined space: Steven Soderbergh’s ensemble comedy Let Them All Talk. … Continue reading "295 – Let Them All Talk"
294 – The Notebook
June 03, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 89.3 MBThe May miniseries is over and we’re kicking off June with a dose of movie monoculture with 2004’s The Notebook. Adapted from the Nicholas Sparks romance novel, the film’s journey to the screen attracted a range of huge Hollywood names from Steven Spielberg to Britney Spears. The tale of two lovers divided by class in the … Continue reading "294 – The Notebook"
293 – Hair (with Natalie Walker) (70s Spectacular – 1979)
May 27, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 101 MBThe 70s Spectacular comes to a close this week with actress Natalie Walker joining us to discuss 1979 and Milos Forman’s adaptation of Hair. The brainchild of Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, and James Redo, Hair took Broadway by storm in the late 1960s for its narrative and political audacity, presenting the free-love and anti-war hippie movement of the … Continue reading "293 – Hair (with Natalie Walker) (70s Spectacular – 1979)"
292 – New York, New York (with Katey Rich) (70s Spectacular – 1977)
May 23, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 106 MBThe 1977 Oscar year is famously when Annie Hall triumphed over the cultural behemoth of Star Wars, but elsewhere Martin Scorsese followed up his Taxi Driver Best Picture nomination with a big swing and a miss. The Ankler’s Katey Rich is back on the show to discuss New York, New York, Scorsese’s attempt at a movie musical. Starring then-recent Oscar winners … Continue reading "292 – New York, New York (with Katey Rich) (70s Spectacular – 1977)"
291 – The Ritz (with Christina Tucker) (70s Spectacular – 1976)
May 20, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 84.2 MBWe’re on to 1976 (go sign up for our Patreon for 1975 and our Exception episode on Tommy!) and Christina Tucker rejoins us to talk about the 70s Spectacular’s wildest movie, The Ritz. From the play by Terrence McNally, the film is a mob farce set in a bathhouse with Jack Weston as a straight man … Continue reading "291 – The Ritz (with Christina Tucker) (70s Spectacular – 1976)"
290 – The Front Page (with Roxana Hadadi) (70s Spectacular – 1974)
May 16, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 111 MB1974 brings us to one of the final films of Billy Wilder, which also reunited a screen duo beloved by both Oscar and audiences, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Vulture writer Roxana Hadadi is back to the show to talk about The Front Page, an oft-adapted farce about newspapermen getting wrapped up in the case of … Continue reading "290 – The Front Page (with Roxana Hadadi) (70s Spectacular – 1974)"
289 – Don’t Look Now (with David Sims) (70s Spectacular – 1973)
May 13, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 95 MBIn 1973, the Academy embraced horror in a big way by slapping cultural phenomenon The Exorcist with 10 nominations – but then The Sting would triumph over its success on Oscar night. Critic David Sims returns to the show to talk about a different iconic and formative horror title, Nicolas Rouge’s Don’t Look Now. With prestige stars Donald Sutherland and … Continue reading "289 – Don’t Look Now (with David Sims) (70s Spectacular – 1973)"
288 – Up the Sandbox (with Jordan Hoffman) (70s Spectacular – 1972)
May 09, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 102 MBThe 70s Spectacular is dancing as fast as it can! And we’re spinning right into 1972 with one of the decade’s biggest stars, the one and only Barbra Streisand, and joining us is one of her superfans, writer Jordan Hoffman. This year saw the first films of First Artists, a production company that intended to … Continue reading "288 – Up the Sandbox (with Jordan Hoffman) (70s Spectacular – 1972)"
287 – Harold and Maude (with Katie Walsh) (70s Spectacular – 1971)
May 06, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 95.7 MBThe 70s Spectacular continues with critic and podcaster Katie Walsh joining us to discuss 1971 and Hal Ashby. After making his directorial debut with The Landlord after a career as an editor (including an Oscar win for In the Heat of the Night), Ashby returned to the director’s chair for what might be the film that became his … Continue reading "287 – Harold and Maude (with Katie Walsh) (70s Spectacular – 1971)"
286 – Something for Everyone (with Chris Schleicher!) (70s Spectacular – 1970)
May 01, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 97.1 MBIt’s time to kick off our May miniseries – the This Had Oscar Buzz: 70s Spectacular! For 1970, television writer Chris Schleicher joins us for a forgotten tale of wealth, deception, and Bavarian castles. The directorial debut of stage legend Hal Prince (and with a screenplay by his frequent collaborator Hugh Wheeler, from the novel … Continue reading "286 – Something for Everyone (with Chris Schleicher!) (70s Spectacular – 1970)"
Intro to 70s Spectacular
April 29, 2024 11:56 - 48 minutes - 38.9 MBMay is upon us and that means it’s time for another May miniseries! How could we top last year’s 100 Years, 100… Snubs! success? Well, we’ll be doing a deep dive into the Oscar era that was the 1970s! In the month of May, we will be looking back at each year of the decade … Continue reading "Intro to 70s Spectacular"
285 – A Bigger Splash
April 22, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 113 MBWe’re stoked for Challengers this week, so naturally we’re talking about one of our favorites in the Luca Guadagnino resume, 2016’s underdiscussed and hot as hell A Bigger Splash. Premiering at the 2015 Venice Film Festival and playing internationally in 2015, but opening late spring 2016 in the States, A Bigger Splash is a rock-and-roll-inflected tale of sex and ego … Continue reading "285 – A Bigger Splash"
284 – The Sisters Brothers
April 15, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 89 MBIf you think we are too dismissive of westerns, allow this week’s episode to contradict that notion! In 2018, Jacques Audiard made his English language debut with an adaptation of Patrick deWitt’s novel The Sisters Brothers. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix starred as gunslinging assassin siblings in 19th century America, with both on the pursuit … Continue reading "284 – The Sisters Brothers"
283 – Garden State
April 08, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 105 MBWe’re finally diving into the time capsule that is 2004’s Garden State. The writing and directing debut of Zach Braff, the film stars Braff as a depressed actor who returns to his Jersey home to attend his mother’s funeral. Once there, he reunites with former friends and maybe meets the love of his life (played … Continue reading "283 – Garden State"
282 – Music (Patreon Selects)
April 01, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 78.8 MBOn top of all the horrors of the pandemic, let’s not forget that that time also gave us cringe cinema directed by Sia. This week, we come to you with another Patreon Selects, where sponsor listener Stuart has tasked us with that very film. Initially shot in 2017, Sia’s Music cast Kate Hudson as a troublesome drug … Continue reading "282 – Music (Patreon Selects)"
281 – Fair Game
March 25, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 105 MBWe return to the work of Naomi Watts this week for a discussion on 2010’s Fair Game. Costarring with Sean Penn for the third time in a decade, Watts starred as outed CIA agent Valerie Plame with the film detailing the leaking of Plame’s identity amidst her husband Joseph C. Wilson’s criticisms of the Bush administration. … Continue reading "281 – Fair Game"
280 – State and Main
March 18, 2024 13:48 - 2 hours - 98.1 MBForgotten cinema, you ask? This week, we’re coming to you with 2000’s State and Main, a Hollywood satire and ensemble comedy from lauded playwright David Mamet. A farce about a film production wreaking havoc on small town America, the film featured a very Mametian cast of Alec Baldwin and William H. Macy along with of-the-moment stars … Continue reading "280 – State and Main"
279 – Nope
March 11, 2024 16:36 - 2 hours - 115 MBWith another Oscar ceremony coming to a close, it’s time to crack the seal on the Class of 2022 movies and we couldn’t wait to talk about Jordan Peele’s Nope! Priming audiences for a big summer alien invasion film, Peele also delivered a film with a lot on its mind about society’s relationship to witnessing and … Continue reading "279 – Nope"
278 – Annette
March 04, 2024 19:48 - 2 hours - 101 MBComing out of the COVID-led doldrums of 2020, the Cannes Film Festival loomed large as a “movies are back!!” starting gate for global cinema. Its opening film, Annette, was a long-in-development rock opera with music by cult fave Sparks and directed by visionary auteur Leos Carax, returning to the Croisette with his first film in nearly … Continue reading "278 – Annette"
277 – Beautiful Boy
February 26, 2024 14:16 - 2 hours - 139 MBAttention, Dune-heads, we’re talking about Timothee Chalamet this week! In 2018, fresh off of his first Oscar nomination, Chalamet joined Steve Carell for Beautiful Boy, an adaptation of David and Nic Sheff’s memoirs about a young man’s addiction and his father’s attempts to help him. Directed by Felix van Groeningen (who’d directed nominated international feature The Broken Circle … Continue reading "277 – Beautiful Boy"
276 – Spanglish
February 19, 2024 14:36 - 2 hours - 119 MBThis week, we are talking about one of the biggest THOB titles that we haven’t yet discussed: 2004’s Spanglish. James L. Brooks returned nearly a decade after his Oscar success with As Good As It Gets with this story of two disparate families thrust together: an immigrant single mother and the rich Los Angeles family … Continue reading "276 – Spanglish"
275 – The Woman in the Window (Patreon Selects)
February 12, 2024 14:25 - 2 hours - 131 MBWe’re wrapping up our run of Patreon Selects episode with a real doozy! Originally intended for 2019, The Woman in the Window was meant as a prestige adaptation of a popular thriller, packing quite the pedigree. With the attached talents of director Joe Wright, writer Tracy Letts, and star Amy Adams (along with a stellar supporting cast), … Continue reading "275 – The Woman in the Window (Patreon Selects)"
274 – Certified Copy (Patreon Selects)
February 05, 2024 15:22 - 2 hours - 123 MBOur patrons said we must stay in Tuscany! This week, we’ve got another Patreon Selects episode and it has us talking about one of our least favorite Oscar years. In 2010, Abbas Kiarostami returned to Cannes with yet another masterpiece in Certified Copy, a dense and transfixing musing on reproductions of art, authenticity, and perception. … Continue reading "274 – Certified Copy (Patreon Selects)"
BONUS – Sundance the Night (with Cameron Scheetz)
February 02, 2024 14:00 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBWe’re breaking into your regular podcast schedule to bring you a special bonus episode recapping our thoughts on the films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival! And we’ve asked Queerty’s Cameron Scheetz back on to tell us what the festival was like on the ground at Park City (along with thoughts on non-virtual films like … Continue reading "BONUS – Sundance the Night (with Cameron Scheetz)"
Class of 2023
January 29, 2024 14:14 - 2 hours - 131 MBIt’s here! Our most awaited and beloved episode of every year! We’re here this week to look back at the This Had Oscar Buzz Class of 2023, celebrating all of the films that had some kind of Oscar hopes that managed zero nominations last week. We’re giving our categories a minor facelift, while still discussing … Continue reading "Class of 2023"
273 – Under the Tuscan Sun (Patreon Selects)
January 22, 2024 15:42 - 2 hours - 111 MBThis week, our Patreon Selects episodes continue and they’re staying in Europe! One of our sponsors has selected for us an Oscar nomination follow-up star vehicle for the divine Diane Lane, 2003’s Under the Tuscan Sun. Loosely adapted from Frances Mayes’ memoir, the film follows Lane as a new divorce gifted a Tuscan vacation who decides … Continue reading "273 – Under the Tuscan Sun (Patreon Selects)"
272 – 8 Women (Patreon Selects)
January 15, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 106 MBOur Patreon Selects series continues with another dive into French cinema! In 2002, director Francois Ozon delivered an actress bonanza with 8 Women, an homage of Douglas Sirk and Alfred Hitchcock that’s also a musical and also murder mystery and also a celebration of the biggest French actresses of the moment. Set at Christmas, its titular … Continue reading "272 – 8 Women (Patreon Selects)"
271 – Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Patreon Selects)
January 08, 2024 17:29 - 2 hours - 115 MBOur Patreon Selects episodes continue this week with a pick from Audrey: the beloved 2019 lesbian romance Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The film launched at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Best Screenplay prize and skyrocketing director Céline Sciamma to the names of most beloved contemporary directors. However, when the Oscar race began, France … Continue reading "271 – Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Patreon Selects)"
270 – Sister Act
January 01, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 103 MBAll January we’ll be doing a series we call Patreon Selects with episodes chosen by members of our sponsor-level tier on Patreon (and they’ll be sharing their Oscar origin stories too)! First up is 1992’s megasmash musical comedy Sister Act! Originally designed as a showcase for Bette Midler, the film became a starring vehicle for Whoopi … Continue reading "270 – Sister Act"
270 – Sister Act (Patreon Selects)
January 01, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 103 MBAll January we’ll be doing a series we call Patreon Selects with episodes chosen by members of our sponsor-level tier on Patreon (and they’ll be sharing their Oscar origin stories too)! First up is 1992’s megasmash musical comedy Sister Act! Originally designed as a showcase for Bette Midler, the film became a starring vehicle for Whoopi … Continue reading "270 – Sister Act (Patreon Selects)"
269 – Eyes Wide Shut
December 25, 2023 06:00 - 2 hours - 140 MBListeners have been asking for this episode for years and today, Santa is bringing it to you! Happy Holidays, it’s time for Eyes Wide Shut! In 1999, the film was hotly anticipated for many reasons: it starred Hollywood’s most famous couple, it was the final film of master of masters Stanley Kubrick, its very long … Continue reading "269 – Eyes Wide Shut"
268 – Shattered Glass (with Richard Lawson!)
December 18, 2023 16:35 - 2 hours - 307 MBHayden Christensen arrived seemingly out of nowhere to land the role of pre-Vader Anakin Skywalker, becoming one of Hollywood’s hottest stars overnight and largely untested as a screen presence. After a respected turn in Life As A House(see previous episode!), the Attack of the Clones reviews soured audiences on this brand new star. The very next year, he … Continue reading "268 – Shattered Glass (with Richard Lawson!)"
267 – Heat (with Roxana Hadadi!) (Patreon Selects)
December 11, 2023 16:31 - 2 hours - 133 MBThis week, our first film selected by one of our sponsor-tier Patreon subscribers arrives, and we brought back Vulture’s Roxana Hadadi to celebrate. In 1995, audiences were hyped to finally see an onscreen showdown between Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in Michael Mann’s Heat. But what promised to be a standard actioner on paper (on top … Continue reading "267 – Heat (with Roxana Hadadi!) (Patreon Selects)"
266 – The Nest
December 04, 2023 14:00 - 2 hours - 105 MBWe who loved his debut Martha Marcy May Marlene (see previous episode!) waited eagerly for director Sean Durkin’s follow-up feature while he worked in television and produced other films. That sophomore feature came almost a decade later with The Nest. Starring Carrie Coon and Jude Law, the film follows a married couple who move to England to follow … Continue reading "266 – The Nest"
265 – Brideshead Revisited
November 27, 2023 17:25 - 2 hours - 121 MBWe all know that Oscar fawns over costume dramas of literary adaptations… or so we tell ourselves when forming predictions and one with a whiff of prestige arrives. In 2008, director Julian Jerrold delivered a new adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited with an up-and-coming young cast paired with Dame Emma Thompson as the devoutly religious Lady … Continue reading "265 – Brideshead Revisited"
264 – Everest (with Katey Rich!)
November 20, 2023 16:18 - 2 hours - 117 MBFollowing Thanksgiving tradition, Katey Rich returns to This Had Oscar Buzz to discussant film with indistinguishable white male actors, and this year we have chosen 2015’s Everest. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur and featuring a massive cast led by Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, and Jake Gyllenhaal, the film follows the true story of a disastrous trip … Continue reading "264 – Everest (with Katey Rich!)"
263 – A Good Year
November 13, 2023 14:00 - 1 hour - 77.5 MBAfter the Oscar and box office success of Gladiator, director/star duo of Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe decided to reunite in 2006 for a very different kind of film, A Good Year. Starring Crowe as a finance bro who returns to the French vineyard of his beloved but estranged and now deceased uncle (played by Albert Finney), … Continue reading "263 – A Good Year"
262 – Inside Man
November 06, 2023 14:43 - 1 hour - 90.1 MBWe return to the filmography of Spike Lee this week with his biggest box office success, 2006’s Inside Man. With a star-packed cast led by Denzel Washington as a hostage negotiator, Clive Owen as the bank robber opposite him, and Jodie Foster as a nefarious fixer, Lee took a standard crime thriller and made it his … Continue reading "262 – Inside Man"
261 – Hereditary
October 30, 2023 13:19 - 2 hours - 132 MBHappy Halloween, listeners! Naturally, this week we are returning to the shallow well of horror films that made it into the Oscar hunt with a recent highly debated and lauded terrifier. In 2018, Ari Aster made his feature debut at Sundance with Hereditary, the story of a family invaded from within by a demon worshipping cult. … Continue reading "261 – Hereditary"
260 – The Deep Blue Sea
October 23, 2023 18:03 - 2 hours - 96.8 MBA few weeks ago, we lost the great and greatly undervalued filmmaker Terence Davies, who listened have heard our love of on our previous episode for The House of Mirth. In 2011, Davies adapted the play The Deep Blue Sea for the screen, with Rachel Weisz taking the role of a post-WWII married woman devastated by a failed … Continue reading "260 – The Deep Blue Sea"
259 – Ammonite (with Christina Tucker!)
October 16, 2023 14:14 - 1 hour - 93.2 MBAfter Francis Lee’s celebrated queer debut God’s Own Country, the director leveled up with another gay romance Ammonite, this time with Oscar-pedigreed stars. Kate Winslet stars as 19th century paleontologist Mary Anning opposite Saoirse Ronan as Charlotte Murchison; the two develop a seaside romance of opposites between the gruff Anning and the unfulfilled Murchison. But Lee’s follow-up, … Continue reading "259 – Ammonite (with Christina Tucker!)"
258 – Kill Bill – Vol. 2
October 09, 2023 18:36 - 1 hour - 95.7 MBLast week we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Kill Bill – Vol. 1, so naturally we had to bring you Vol. 2 this week! Six months after the release of the original (and its shafting at the Oscars), The Bride returned to finish her vengeance list and kill that Bill. Surprisingly, the finale earned stronger reviews and earned … Continue reading "258 – Kill Bill – Vol. 2"
257 – Kill Bill – Vol. 1
October 02, 2023 16:06 - 2 hours - 103 MBWe’re here celebrating a 20th anniversary for a beloved film this week, listeners! After his longest break between movies to date, Quentin Tarantino delivered a samurai epic while trying to crack the script for another epic, Inglourious Basterds. That ultraviolent actioner, Kill Bill, would also reunite Tarantino with his Pulp Fiction star Uma Thurman, given a major showcase as … Continue reading "257 – Kill Bill – Vol. 1"
256 – Burnt
September 25, 2023 17:43 - 1 hour - 92.6 MBThis week, we’re bringing you an episode to make you yell “YA BURNT!” Back in 2015, Bradley Cooper was to headline an ensemble dreamed about an unruly addict chef trying to earn his third Michelin star. Switching from the anonymously titled Adam Jones to the equally anonymous Burnt, the film had already earned a little bit of punchline … Continue reading "256 – Burnt"