




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 an unnamed blood soaked bride bent on vengeance. But Tarantino made so much movie, it had to be split into two.



Vol. 1 arrived in 2003 and became a sizable hit, wild mild critical praise that didn’t quite know what to do with its non-stop violence, time-hopping structure, and incomplete narrative arc. This episode, we talk about Kill Bill – Vol. 1‘s excellent female ensemble, its triumph at the MTV Movie Awards, and the all-timer needle drop “Battle Without Honor or Humanity”.



Topics also include first experiencing the film’s cliffhanger, its strong performance at BAFTA, and early aughts trailer descriptions.



Follow Us on Twitter!@Had_Oscar_BuzzJoe: @joereidChris: @chrisvfeil

257 – Kill Bill – Vol. 1

TV & Film






The 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 give more power to stars to create their passion projects the studios wouldn’t touch. Streisand’s first effort with the company was Up the Sandbox, a timely satire that cast the legend as a housewife faced with a third pregnancy, who retreats into her wild and often politically charged fantasies. Indifference from audiences and the industry made this one of Streisand’s rare flops.



This episode, we talk about our love for Barbra and this legendary Oscar year that pit Cabaret against The Godfather. We also talk about the film’s bizarre fantasy sequences, how it exists as a product of a specific moment in time, and cinematographer Gordon Willis’ shockingly slim Oscar history.



Topics also include Paul Zindel books, Harry And Walter Go To New York, and Shelley Winters in The Poseidon Adventure.



Follow Us on Twitter!@Had_Oscar_BuzzJoe: @joereidChris: @chrisvfeilJordan: @jhoffman

288 – Up the Sandbox (with Jordan Hoffman) (70s Spectacular – 1972)






The 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 signature. Harold and Maude cast recent comedy breakthrough Bud Cort as a death-obsessed, disaffected youth who falls for a free spirit who just so happens to be 60 years older, played by recent Oscar winner Ruth Gordon.



This episode, we talk about Ashby’s prolific career in the 1970s, where Harold and Maude would be his only film without Oscar nominations. We also talk about Gordon’s three screenwriting Oscar nominations with her partner, Vivian Pickles’ underpraised performance as Harold’s mother, and the musical contributions of Cat Stevens.



Topics also include T-Mobile ads, the secret hotness of Norma Rae, and Charlie Chaplin’s honorary Oscar win.



Follow Us on Twitter!@Had_Oscar_BuzzJoe: @joereidChris: @chrisvfeilKatie: @katiewalshtx

287 – Harold and Maude (with Katie Walsh) (70s Spectacular – 1971)






It’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 The Cook by Harry Kressing), Something for Everyone starred a pre-Cabaret Michael York as a young man who weasel’s his way into the good graces of a wealthy family in order to claim their family castle. As the family matriarch, Angela Lansbury earned a Golden Globe nomination that didn’t translate to Oscar.



This episode, we talk about the 1970 Oscar year dominated by controversy surrounding George C. Scott’s rejection of Oscar pomp and circumstance and this film’s very obvious similarities to Saltburn. We also talk about Lansbury’s Oscar and Tony run preceding the film, Michael York as canonical cinematic bisexual, and Prince’s directorial failure adapting A Little Night Music.



Topics also include “It Goes Like It Goes,” the supporting actresses of Five Easy Pieces, and our disdain for Love Story.



Follow Us on Twitter!@Had_Oscar_BuzzJoe: @joereidChris: @chrisvfeilChris Schleicher: @cschleichsrun

286 – Something for Everyone (with Chris Schleicher!) (70s Spectacular – 1970)






May 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 with not only a discussion of a film from that year, but also the Oscar history of each year. Before that kicks off, here’s your intro episode to get you excited for what’s to come!



Follow Us on Twitter!@Had_Oscar_BuzzJoe: @joereidChris: @chrisvfeil

Intro to 70s Spectacular






We’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 that loosely remakes La Piscine. With a foursome of stellar performances by Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Dakota Johnson, the film earned strong notices especially for Fiennes’ bawdy dance moves, but category confusion and the spring release hindered his chances.



This week, we talk about the film’s portrayal of desire and deception, and how slyly the film weaves in themes of morality. We also discuss Tilda’s vocal acting choice, Johnson’s career emerging from 50 Shades, and the 2015 Venice jury. And we reveal the topic for the coming May miniseries!!



Topics also include poolside etiquette, adult braces, and Regina King being edited out of Beastly.



Follow Us on Twitter!@Had_Oscar_BuzzJoe: @joereidChris: @chrisvfeil

257 – Kill Bill – Vol. 1

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