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This Had Oscar Buzz

315 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1K ratings

A podcast about movies the awards forgot

TV & Film
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Episodes

281 – Fair Game

March 25, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 105 MB

We 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 MB

Forgotten 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 MB

With 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 MB

Coming 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 MB

Attention, 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 MB

This 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 MB

We’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 MB

Our 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 MB

We’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 MB

It’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 MB

This 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 MB

Our 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 MB

Our 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 (Patreon Selects)

January 01, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 103 MB

All 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)"

270 – Sister Act

January 01, 2024 14:00 - 2 hours - 103 MB

All 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"

269 – Eyes Wide Shut

December 25, 2023 06:00 - 2 hours - 140 MB

Listeners 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 MB

Hayden 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 MB

This 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 MB

We 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 MB

We 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 MB

Following 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 MB

After 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 MB

We 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 MB

Happy 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 MB

A 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 MB

After 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 MB

Last 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 MB

We’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 MB

This 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"

Back to TIFF!

September 18, 2023 17:51 - 1 hour - 92.8 MB

We’re back from our annual trip to the Toronto International Film Festival! Once again, we’ll be dissecting our festival experience, the films we saw, and what lies ahead for the season. We discuss the Peoples’ Choice Award winner American Fiction and its chances in the awards race, several International Feature contenders at the festival including Perfect Daysand The Teachers’ … Continue reading "Back to TIFF!"

255 – Win Win

September 09, 2023 20:17 - 2 hours - 112 MB

Before Tom McCarthy would deliver an Oscar triumph with Spotlight (and a bomb with The Cobbler), his critically beloved films centering on everyday people culminated in Win Win. The film starred Paul Giamatti as a lawyer and wrestling coach who takes in the grandson of an elderly client, one who he has taken guardianship of solely to alleviate his … Continue reading "255 – Win Win"

254 – The Killing of a Sacred Deer

September 04, 2023 17:37 - 1 hour - 93.4 MB

Some might call Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar ascent an unlikely one, given the oddness at the core of his films. But with the Foreign Language Feature nomination for the explicit Dogtooth and the Original Screenplay for The Lobster, the Greek auteur cemented his status in the Oscar club. A victory lap of sorts came with The … Continue reading "254 – The Killing of a Sacred Deer"

253 – Moby Dick (with Emily St. James!)

August 28, 2023 18:49 - 2 hours - 101 MB

We’re going back further than ever before this episode and we’ve got writer/critic/author Emily St. James along for the ride! After a consecutive run as an Oscar favorite in the late 1940s to early 1950s, director John Huston gave us 1956’s Moby Dick, an adaptation of perhaps the greatest novel of all time and often … Continue reading "253 – Moby Dick (with Emily St. James!)"

252 – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

August 21, 2023 14:55 - 2 hours - 104 MB

Ahead of this season’s Nyad, we are looking back at the Oscar history of Annette Bening and 2017’s Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool. One year after missing out on a nomination for 20th Century Women, Bening returned with this film, starring as actress Gloria Grahame . Told from the perspective of actor Peter Turner … Continue reading "252 – Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool"

251 – Love and Mercy (with Taylor Cole!)

August 14, 2023 14:31 - 2 hours - 104 MB

Are you loving our new original intro music, listeners? We’re joined this week by its composer and our friend Taylor Cole to muse on the genre musical biopic with 2015’s Love and Mercy. The film follows different chapters of Brian Wilson’s life and mental wellness journey, with Paul Dano taking on Wilson’s life as he … Continue reading "251 – Love and Mercy (with Taylor Cole!)"

250 – Her Smell

August 07, 2023 12:46 - 2 hours - 123 MB

We’ve come up on another anniversary episode of This Had Oscar Buzz, and we’ve got another favorite that long-time listeners have heard us praise before: 2019’s Her Smell. Debuting on at TIFF 2018, the Alex Ross Perry film is a daring and ambitious take on the riot grrrls of the early 1990s. Starring Elisabeth Moss … Continue reading "250 – Her Smell"

249 – Love is Strange

July 31, 2023 18:10 - 1 hour - 85.7 MB

Ahead of this week’s release of Ira Sachs’ Passages, we’re discussing perhaps Sachs’ most lauded film, 2014’s Love is Strange. The film stars John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as a newly married couple forced to live apart in New York City when one of them is fired from his Catholic school job for being gay. … Continue reading "249 – Love is Strange"

248 – Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (with Jourdain Searles!)

July 24, 2023 20:03 - 1 hour - 77.8 MB

We are returning to the work of Jennifer Jason Leigh this week, and Jourdain Searles is joining us once again with an underrated and underseen gem. Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle takes on the life of indelible writer Dorothy Parker, capturing her days with the insular Algonquin Circle and her later dissolution with the … Continue reading "248 – Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (with Jourdain Searles!)"

247 – Breakfast on Pluto

July 17, 2023 20:18 - 2 hours - 100 MB

The cementing of Cillian Murphy as a major actor has been a long time in the making, possibly coming to fruition this weekend with the release of Oppenheimer. Audiences likely most know the actor for his starring role in Peaky Blinders, but his cinematic arrival began in the early 2000s with films like 28 Days Later. However, 2005 … Continue reading "247 – Breakfast on Pluto"

246 – First Cow

July 10, 2023 13:14 - 1 hour - 68.8 MB

Though this episode brings talk of the gloom of covid lockdown, we still get to talk about one of our favorite films of the last several years. The story of two men who become friends in the harshness of the 19th century Pacific Northwest and start a business by stealing the milk of the area’s … Continue reading "246 – First Cow"

245 – Dolores Claiborne (with Louis Peitzman!)

July 03, 2023 19:15 - 1 hour - 92.5 MB

In the small hall of Oscar-endorsed horror films, the centerpiece must be Kathy Bates brilliant and terrifying win for Best Actress in Misery. A few years after that win, Bates returned to Stephen King territory (though you can debate how much of a horror story it is) with Dolores Claiborne, the mystery of whether or not a … Continue reading "245 – Dolores Claiborne (with Louis Peitzman!)"

244 – Everything is Illuminated

June 26, 2023 20:18 - 1 hour - 88.7 MB

In the early aughts, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated was an inescapable book, launching the young author’s career (and more than a few skeptics). Naturally, the film adaptation came along, though with the unexpected pedigree of cherished actor Liev Schreiber making his director debut. Starring Elijah Wood as a fictionalized version of Foer traveling to Ukraine … Continue reading "244 – Everything is Illuminated"

243 – Wonderstruck

June 19, 2023 17:50 - 5 MB

We’re talking about one of our favorite filmmakers this episode and for one of his most mildly received movies. In 2017, two years after the critical success of Carol, Todd Haynes returned with a pivot to young adult literature with Wonderstruck. Based on the book by Brian Selznick, the film follows two deaf children across decades … Continue reading "243 – Wonderstruck"

242 – Pride

June 12, 2023 19:04 - 5 MB

This week’s episode is one we have promised for some time: 2014′s Pride. The film tells the true story of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, a queer activist group that partnered with a Welsh town in the 1980s during the mining strike under Thatcher’s rule. Following the lives of both the straight townsfolk and … Continue reading "242 – Pride"

241 – Selena (with Luis Rendon!)

June 05, 2023 20:19 - 5 MB

And we’re back! We hope you all enjoyed the 100 YEARS, 100… SNUBS! May miniseries, but regular episodes are returning and did we come back with a special one! The Mixed Reviews co-host and journalist Luis Rendon joins us to talk about one of the most beloved musical biopics of all time, 1997′s Selena. The … Continue reading "241 – Selena (with Luis Rendon!)"

100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Five

May 29, 2023 14:25 - 5 MB

We’ve arrived at the grand finale of our blowout May miniseries 100 Years, 100… Snubs! It’s all been leading up to this Red and Wild strawberry social with guests arriving, boots handed out with abandon, and our picks for the biggest Oscar snub of all time! We also dive into a feast of topics including … Continue reading "100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Five"

100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Four

May 22, 2023 19:58 - 5 MB

The penultimate episode of our May miniseries is here! And this week, we are returning to a few repeat boot victims and some of our favorite oft-discussed films and performances. This round of snubs and boots includes terrifying bundles of sticks (cough), being 4′8″ and dying, codpieces, visions of the afterlife, lump twins, Mike Leigh … Continue reading "100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Four"

100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Three

May 15, 2023 18:28 - 2 hours - 130 MB

We’ve got 20 more snubs (plus guest appearances!) on deck for another installment of 100 YEARS, 100… SNUBS!, and this episode is out for blood! We dive into the much discussed 1999 Best Original Song category, two very famous snubs that DON’T make our list, Chris’ early stumping for one highly anticipated performance this year, … Continue reading "100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Three"

100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Two

May 08, 2023 18:42 - 2 hours - 124 MB

Our May miniseries continues this week with 20 more of our picks for the greatest snubs of Oscar history! As we march towards our pick for the single greatest snub of all time we’re talking about early 2000s emo music, Jessica Lange and Charlize Theron as bootable nominees, Beyonce’s trio of performances for nominated songs, … Continue reading "100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part Two"

100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part One

May 01, 2023 14:04 - 2 hours - 138 MB

It’s May miniseries time, Garys! And we’re doing something a little different! In 1998, the AFI compiled a list of the 100 greatest American films of all time, and turned the list into a primetime special complete with famous faces and a schmaltzy Trisha Yearwood song. It was such a success, the AFI continued to … Continue reading "100 Years, 100… Snubs! – Part One"

Guests

Richard Lawson
2 Episodes
Kyle Buchanan
1 Episode
Tara Ariano
1 Episode

Books

The Human Stain
1 Episode

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