247 – Breakfast on Pluto

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 gave us a Cillian Murphy three-peat with Batman Begins, Red Eye, and this week’s film Breakfast on Pluto. With Murphy starring as a transwoman reconciling her family history in Ireland and Britain during the 1960s and 1970s, the Neil Jordan film ran the fall festival gamut and earned strong notices for Murphy (if not the film). But Murphy faced a stacked 2005 Best Actor lineup and this smaller queer film was left in the cold.

This episode, we talk about the film’s relationship to Jordan’s Oscar success The Crying Game and the director’s wide-ranging filmography. We also talk about Murphy’s career ascent as somewhere between character actor and leading man, the film’s dated presentation of queerness, and Murphy’s Golden Globe nomination.

Topics also include our Barbenheimer plans, The Borgias, and hating David Zaslav.

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