This Had Oscar Buzz
319 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1K ratingsA podcast about movies the awards forgot
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Episodes
155 – Moonlight Mile
July 26, 2021 17:53 - 1 hour - 94.9 MBJake Gyllenhaal is the latest to join our Six Timers Club this week with 2002′s Moonlight Mile. Written and directed by Brad Silberling, Gyllenhaal leads the film as a young man living with the parents (played by Susan Sarandon and Dustin Hoffman) of his fiance’s parents in the aftermath of her murder. A light dramedy with … Continue reading "155 – Moonlight Mile"
154 – Battle of the Sexes
July 19, 2021 18:37 - 1 hour - 95.4 MBOne 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 … Continue reading "154 – Battle of the Sexes"
153 – A Thousand Acres
July 12, 2021 22:28 - 1 hour - 85.7 MBIt’s time for yet another long-promised episode in This Had Oscar Buzz lore, and also from a Pulitzer Prize winner! Adapted from Jane Smiley’s novel (which itself was loosely based on Shakespeare’s King Lear), A Thousand Acres cast two-time Oscar winner Jason Robards as one town’s beloved titan farmer and a trio of dynamo actresses … Continue reading "153 – A Thousand Acres"
152 – De-Lovely
July 05, 2021 17:05 - 1 hour - 83.5 MBBirds do it, bees do it; let’s do it, let’s talk De-Lovely! Reuniting Kevin Kline with his Life As A House director Irwin Winkler, the film casts Kline as the legendary songwriter Cole Porter. Also starring Ashley Judd as his devoted wife Linda, De-Lovely caught attention for its depiction of the Porters’ marriage amid his open homosexuality and … Continue reading "152 – De-Lovely"
151 – Lucy in the Sky
June 28, 2021 18:07 - 1 hour - 86.2 MBWe’ve got another long anticipated episode this week! In 2019, Natalie Portman teamed up with Fargo creator Noah Hawley to bring to the screen a highly fictionalized account of a NASA astronaut who suffered a psychotic break and stalked her lover and co-worker across the country. The more salacious details (namely the urban legend diaper that she … Continue reading "151 – Lucy in the Sky"
150 – The Shipping News
June 21, 2021 18:19 - 1 hour - 94.3 MBWe’re marking a milestone this week with our 150th episode. And for such a momentous occasion, we’re finally digging in to one of the most notorious films of THOB history with Lasse Lasse Hallström’s The Shipping News. Adapted from Annie Proulx’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, the film cast Kevin Spacey as a meak man who uproots his … Continue reading "150 – The Shipping News"
149 – The Prize Winner of Defiance, OH
June 14, 2021 17:01 - 1 hour - 90.8 MBCan you believe it’s only our third episode discussing Julianne Moore? This episode we’re diving into the mid-00s period between nominations for Moore with 2005′s The Prize Winner of Defiance, OH. Starring the eventual Oscar winner in the true story of Evelyn Ryan, a mother of ten who supported her family through sweepstakes contests and … Continue reading "149 – The Prize Winner of Defiance, OH"
148 – Concussion
June 07, 2021 20:27 - 1 hour - 76.3 MBFinally, we are telling the truth! In 2015, Will Smith took on another biopic with Concussion as Dr. Bennett Omalu, the forensic pathologist whose research on chronic traumatic encephalopathy experienced by football players found opposition with the NFL. After premiering at AFI Fest, the film received middling reviews and opened on Christmas Day only to … Continue reading "148 – Concussion"
147 – Boy Erased (Focus Features – Part Five)
May 31, 2021 16:34 - 1 hour - 91.2 MBOur Focus Features miniseries comes to a close with 2018′s Boy Erased. Based on the memoir by Garrard Conley, the film stars Lucas Hedges as a young man from a religious family who is subjected to conversion therapy when his parents (played by Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) discover that he is gay. Though sensitively approached … Continue reading "147 – Boy Erased (Focus Features – Part Five)"
146 – The Place Beyond the Pines (Focus Features – Part Four)
May 24, 2021 19:02 - 1 hour - 87.5 MBThis week, our Focus Features miniseries brings us to The Place Beyond the Pines, Derek Dianfrance’s epic, novelistic tale of fathers and sons. The film reunited Cianfrance with his Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling as a motorcyclist who turns to crime, with consequences that will reverbate across households and generations. After launching at TIFF in 2012, Focus Features … Continue reading "146 – The Place Beyond the Pines (Focus Features – Part Four)"
145 – Lust, Caution (Focus Features – Part Three)
May 17, 2021 20:33 - 1 hour - 84.5 MBWe’ve come to the midpoint of our Focus Features miniseries with a work from a modern master, 2007′s Lust,Caution from Ang Lee. An erotic thriller set in Hong Kong and Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, Lust, Caution follows a breakthrough Tang Wei as Wong Chia-Chi, a woman who joins an assassination plot where she must seducce the target, played … Continue reading "145 – Lust, Caution (Focus Features – Part Three)"
144 – Possession (Focus Features – Part Two)
May 10, 2021 22:17 - 1 hour - 199 MBOur Focus Features miniseries continues with the first official Focus release, 2002′s Possession. Adapted by Neil LaBute from A.S. Byatt’s celebrated novel, the film follows Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart as poetry scholars who fall in love while unearthing a secret love affair between two Victorian poets, played by Jennifer Ehle and Jeremy Northam. The … Continue reading "144 – Possession (Focus Features – Part Two)"
143 – The Muse (Focus Features – Part One)
May 03, 2021 16:14 - 1 hour - 84.1 MBWe’re kicking off our May miniseries on Focus Features with the winner of our Listeners’ Choice poll, 1999′s The Muse. To kick things off, we’re looking at how Focus was birthed from the previous companies of USA Films, October Films, Gramercy Pictures and Good Machine. Written and directed by Albert Brooks, The Muse stars Sharon Stone as the … Continue reading "143 – The Muse (Focus Features – Part One)"
142 – Friends with Money
April 26, 2021 20:11 - 1 hour - 85.5 MBThis episode, we are returning to the career of the great Nicole Holofcener with 2006′s enesemble comedy Friends With Money. The film stars Jennifer Aniston as the housemaid friend to three wealthy women played by Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Frances McDormand, and studies class and friendship with the kind of wit and grace that’s made … Continue reading "142 – Friends with Money"
141 – Carlito’s Way
April 19, 2021 19:47 - 1 hour - 83 MBWe return to the filmography of Brian DePalma this week with 1993′s Carlito’s Way. The film reunited DePalma with his Scarface star Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante, a former criminal struggling to go straight after his release from prison and his shady circle that keeps pulling him back in. Released the year after Pacino’s long-awaited … Continue reading "141 – Carlito’s Way"
140 – A Home At The End Of The World
April 12, 2021 17:09 - 2 hours - 98.1 MBAfter the success of The Hours in 2002, author Michael Cunningham was a hot commodity in prestige cinema. At the same time, Colin Farrell emerged as the next big thing and was seemingly inescapable at the movies. The two converged in 2004 for A Home at the End of the World, an adaptation of Cunningham’s novel delivered by … Continue reading "140 – A Home At The End Of The World"
139 – Carnage
April 05, 2021 20:03 - 1 hour - 92.7 MBAfter becoming a Broadway sensation, landing the Tony Award for Best Play and lead acting nominations for each member of its acting quartet (including a win for Marcia Gay Harden), Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage looked primed to become yet another stage-to-screen adaptation with Oscar in its sights. But when the movie version arrived, it eschewed the … Continue reading "139 – Carnage"
138 – All the King’s Men
March 29, 2021 19:48 - 1 hour - 70.5 MBWe’re finally getting around to one of the most notorious of aughts era failed awards plays, Steven Zaillian’s All the King’s Men. A remake of the former Best Picture winner and originally heavily predicted in the 2005 season, the adaptation was unceremoniously punted into the following year. The next September, the film had a disastrous debut … Continue reading "138 – All the King’s Men"
Class of 2020
March 28, 2021 17:36 - 1 hour - 83.6 MBIt’s finally here: our This Had Oscar Buzz Class of 2020! Even in a COVID-impacted Oscar year that saw a longer eligibility calendar and much fewer trips to the theatre, we still have a slew of movies with Oscar hopes that were left out in the cold on nomination morning. And we are here to … Continue reading "Class of 2020"
137 – Live By Night
March 22, 2021 20:25 - 1 hour - 80.5 MBAfter landing a Best Picture winner that famously left him without a Best Director nomination for Argo, Ben Affleck made his director-star return in 2016 with Denis Lehane adaptation Live By Night. Affleck cast himself as a criminal caught between the Irish and Italian mobs in Tampa (with an ensemble that included Chris Messina, Zoe Saldana, and … Continue reading "137 – Live By Night"
136 – White Oleander (with Nathaniel Rogers)
March 15, 2021 20:13 - 1 hour - 89.9 MBPfor this week’s episode, we’ve invited The Film Experience creator and Michelle Pfeiffer superpfan Nathaniel Rogers back to discuss one of our listeners most requested films, 2002′s White Oleander. Based on the beloved novel by Janet Fitch, the film stars Allison Lohman as the teenage Astrid, who is plunged into the foster care system after … Continue reading "136 – White Oleander (with Nathaniel Rogers)"
135 – The House of the Spirits
March 08, 2021 18:03 - 1 hour - 83.3 MBBy today’s standards, this week’s film stands out for its gobsmacking cast of Meryl streep, Gleen Close, Jeremy Irons, Antonio Banderas, and Winona Ryder. But back in the 90s, The House of the Spirits caught attention as both an adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel and the biggest acquisition Miramax had ever landed. Set over decades in … Continue reading "135 – The House of the Spirits"
134 – Big Eyes (with Jorge Molina)
March 01, 2021 20:03 - 2 hours - 102 MBAfter years of cast announcements, a biopic of painter Margaret Keane escaped development hell thanks to director Tim Burton and Oscar hopeful Amy Adams with 2014′s Big Eyes. A departure from Burton’s late-career big-budget preexisting IP efforts, the film promised a showcase for Adams that could earn her that elusive Oscar after her previous five … Continue reading "134 – Big Eyes (with Jorge Molina)"
133 – The Other Boleyn Girl
February 22, 2021 20:23 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBHeavily anticipated by Oscar predictors in fall 2007, Justin Chadwick’s historical fiction The Other Boleyn Girl paired Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johnasson as their Oscar stars were rising. But when the film was rescheduled into early 2008, all signs pointed towards a disappointment that the film ultimately proved to be. With Eric Bana as King … Continue reading "133 – The Other Boleyn Girl"
132 – Promised Land
February 15, 2021 20:52 - 1 hour - 87.6 MBMost 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 … Continue reading "132 – Promised Land"
131 – Tea with Mussolini
February 08, 2021 21:20 - 1 hour - 82.2 MBNo matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t keep pushing this movie aside – and Tea with Mussolini breaks through for this episode for you! The film is one of Cher’s few post-Oscar films and stars the icon opposite acting legends Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Lily Tomlin – all cast as ex-pat women raising … Continue reading "131 – Tea with Mussolini"
BONUS – Sundancing at Lughnasa
February 05, 2021 14:01 - 1 hour - 64.7 MBWe’re bringing you a special BONUS episode to talk about all the goings on at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival! Chris and Joe both just participated in the virtual festival and have some exciting films to talk about. First, we discuss the few films eligible in this current Oscar season, including the one with (we … Continue reading "BONUS – Sundancing at Lughnasa"
130 – The Station Agent
February 01, 2021 16:17 - 1 hour - 78.4 MBFor this episode, we’re returning to 2003 with the film that almost won the Listeners’ Choice for our previous 2003 miniseries: Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent. Starring Peter Dinklage in his breakout role as Finn, a loner who inherits a vacant train station in rural New Jersey and reluctantly makes a small circle of friends with … Continue reading "130 – The Station Agent"
129 – When A Man Loves A Woman
January 25, 2021 20:51 - 1 hour - 181 MBFor our third episode on Meg Ryan, we’re going back to 1994 with When A Man Loves a Woman. One year after her megasmash in Sleepless in Seattle, the film stars Ryan as a woman entering recovery for alcoholism and Andy Garcia as her husband struggling to find normalcy. Though the film was a critical and box … Continue reading "129 – When A Man Loves A Woman"
128 – Cats
January 18, 2021 19:10 - 2 hours - 103 MBIt’s time to finally talk about such serious things as digital fur technology and the perils of tribalism – you’ve been begging for it, we’re finally talking about Cats. Our first Class of 2019 film discussed on the podcast, Cats was announced to the immediate revulsion of many, but Oscar predictors saw some possibility thanks to the participation … Continue reading "128 – Cats"
127 – Conviction
January 11, 2021 22:15 - 2 hours - 100 MBThis episode, we’re looking at 2010′s Conviction starring Hilary Swank as Betty Anne Waters, a real life Massachusetts woman who earned a law degree to fight for the innocense of her brother wrongly convicted of murder. With a cast that includes Minnie Driver, Peter Gallagher, and Sam Rockwell as Betty’s jailed brother Kenny, the film received a … Continue reading "127 – Conviction"
126 – Reservation Road
January 04, 2021 19:44 - 1 hour - 85.2 MBFor our first episode of the new year, we’re taking things back to the very This Had Oscar Buzz beginning. Back when this old podcast was just a single service Tumblr, the first THOB entry was 2007′s Reservation Road, a domestic drama starring Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly as a family mourning the loss of a … Continue reading "126 – Reservation Road"
Mailbag Fishing In The Yemen
December 28, 2020 18:34 - 2 hours - 111 MBHappy New Year, listeners! To close out 2020, we’ve compiled all of your questions for this special mailbag episode! We kick things off by surveying the state of the current, pandemic-delayed Oscar race including First Cow’s win with New York critics. the New York Times’ 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century list, and how the … Continue reading "Mailbag Fishing In The Yemen"
125 – Widows
December 21, 2020 18:31 - 2 hours - 98.1 MBYou asked for it and it’s finally here! To close the year, we are doing another Listeners’ Choice episode and the landslide victor is 2018′s Widows. The follow-up to Steve McQueen’s Best Picture winning 12 Years a Slave, Widows places Viola Davis at the head of a group of Chicago women caught in the middle of political corruption when … Continue reading "125 – Widows"
124 – Suffragette
December 14, 2020 20:58 - 1 hour - 85.1 MBIn 2015, the ongoing efforts to champion stories told by and about women placed large awards expectations on Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette. A fictionalized telling of the women’s suffrage movement in Britain, Suffragette stars Carey Mulligan as Maud, a laundress who begins as a passive outsider and becomes a passioned activist. But once it debuted at the Telluride Film … Continue reading "124 – Suffragette"
123 – Life As A House (with LaToya Ferguson)
December 07, 2020 21:11 - 1 hour - 93.8 MBThis week, we’re looking back at Oscar buzz molded from the success of American Beauty and the (new) hope of an incoming mega-franchise star: 2001′s Life As A House. Writer and podcaster LaToya Ferguson joins us to talk about the film that stars Kevin Kline as a dying man building a dream house with his estranged troubled son, … Continue reading "123 – Life As A House (with LaToya Ferguson)"
122 – Me And Orson Welles
November 30, 2020 20:09 - 1 hour - 80.4 MBWhile cinephiles celebrate the release of Mank this week, we’re looking back at a different Citizen Kane-adjacent awards hopeful: 2009′s Me and Orson Welles. The film stars Zac Efron as a young would-be actor who is plucked from the streets and cast in Welles’ landmark stage production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. With Christian McKay as the infamous creative force … Continue reading "122 – Me And Orson Welles"
121 – About Time (with Katey Rich)
November 23, 2020 19:48 - 1 hour - 92.6 MBRichard Curtis arrived in the early 90s with his Oscar-nominated screenplay for Four Weddings and A Funeral and immediately cemented a heartwarming brand of romantic British fare. In the 2000s, he leaped to the director’s chair as well, with a streak that ended in this week’s surprise box office bomb: 2013′s About Time. Once again, deputy editor of … Continue reading "121 – About Time (with Katey Rich)"
120 – Burn After Reading
November 16, 2020 21:29 - 1 hour - 88.1 MBAfter steamrolling in the previous season with No Country for Old Men, the Coen Brothers quickly returned to movie theatres with the brilliantly silly Burn After Reading. Though financially successful, the film proved divisive over the high dosage of standard Coen misanthropy despite brilliant, off-type casting for Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, and George Clooney. A veiled satire … Continue reading "120 – Burn After Reading"
119 – Solaris
November 09, 2020 21:04 - 1 hour - 80.2 MBAfter following up his 2000 Oscar triumph with audience favorite Ocean’s 11, Steven Soderbergh pivoted into a different mode in 2002, doubling up with the low-fi Full Frontal and the subject of this week’s episode: Solaris. A revisit of Stanislaw Lem’s novel (previously canonized by Andrei Tarkovsky), the film follows George Clooney as a therapist called … Continue reading "119 – Solaris"
118 – Far And Away
November 02, 2020 21:31 - 1 hour - 86.4 MBPlunge and scrub, listeners! We’re going back to the early 90s to look at Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and director Ron Howard for Far and Away. The film was both an intended inch toward Oscar’s embrace for Howard and a big budget romance for the recently wed stars, attempting David Lean-level grandeur with an Irish immigrant … Continue reading "118 – Far And Away"
117 – Melancholia
October 26, 2020 18:30 - 2 hours - 97.3 MBThis episode, we’re bringing you one of our most requested films starring one of our most requested performers. In 2011, Kirsten Dunst triumphantly returned from a short break to work with a director notorious for lauded and tumultuous collaborations with actresses, Lars Von Trier. With Melancholia, the actress stars as a woman afflicted with severe … Continue reading "117 – Melancholia"
116 – 54
October 19, 2020 19:54 - 1 hour - 81.8 MB1998 was a brief moment in time of Studio 54 nostalgia, thanks in part to this week’s film. Starring Mike Myers chasing prestige in a dramatic role as clubowner Steve Rubell, 54 took an inside look at the notorious, celeb-packed New York City nightclub from the eyes of a fictional bartender played by Ryan Phillippe. But no … Continue reading "116 – 54"
115 – The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
October 12, 2020 19:11 - 1 hour - 92.5 MBFor his first English language film The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, Cannes darling Xavier Dolan assembled a stunning prestige cast that promised a major leveling up from the filmmaker. And then disaster struck. Filming began shortly after his critically reviled It’s Only the End of the World debuted and at Cannes and Dolan’s response cemented … Continue reading "115 – The Death and Life of John F. Donovan"
114 – Nuts
October 05, 2020 18:47 - 1 hour - 84.6 MBOne of the most notorious snubs of Oscar history is the directors’ branch not nominating Barbra Streisand, even though The Prince of Tides received a Best Picture nomination and the Golden Globes awarded her Best Director for Yentl. This week’s episode looks at the one and only Streisand in a film between those two achievements: … Continue reading "114 – Nuts"
113 – Running With Scissors
September 28, 2020 20:11 - 1 hour - 87.1 MBAnnette Bening remains one of our most beloved actresses without an Oscar, and one of the most notorious (assumed) second place finalists after losing to Hilary Swank twice. This week, we’re looking at her turn as a mentally ill poet and mother in 2006′s Running With Scissors, adapted from the famously outrageous memoir by Augusten Burroughs. … Continue reading "113 – Running With Scissors"
112 – Goya’s Ghosts
September 21, 2020 20:00 - 1 hour - 84.7 MBFamous among Oscar predictors in the mid aughts, this week’s film had high sight unseen expectations that were thwarted by a prolonged release and dismal reviews. After twice winning Best Director, Miloš Forman followed a biopic heavy run in the 90s with the costume drama Goya’s Ghosts starring Natalie Portman and Javier Bardem. Cradling the … Continue reading "112 – Goya’s Ghosts"
BONUS – And From Canada, Virtual Festival (A TIFF ’20 Recap)
September 19, 2020 20:46 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBBONUS EPISODE ALERT! Though physically returning to the Toronto International Film Festival this year proved impossible, we are delighted to bring you a special dispatch from the virtual festival. This year, TIFF went online (while still providing in-person screenings for Canadian viewers) and we unpack the awards potential from the lineup! We get into heavy … Continue reading "BONUS – And From Canada, Virtual Festival (A TIFF ’20 Recap)"
111 – Much Ado About Nothing
September 14, 2020 19:33 - 2 hours - 96.5 MBWe’re tackling our first Shakespeare adaptation this week with Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing. After launching immediately into Oscar’s good graces with his directorial debut Henry V, Branagh returned to the Bard with this lighter and more star-studded adaptation – but couldn’t match that previous film’s favor. With a cast featuring Emma Thompson, Denzel … Continue reading "111 – Much Ado About Nothing"
110 – The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
September 07, 2020 17:47 - 1 hour - 83.6 MBNetflix and the Academy have had a rapidly evolving relationship in the past several years. This week, we look at the short trajectory from demonstrative shutout for Beasts of No Nation to a potential domination this season with a discussion of their 2017 awards also-ran The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected). The less heralded and less seen of … Continue reading "110 – The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)"