With a new Benoit Blanc out for you to devour, we decided it was a great time to talk about the great Rian Johnson. In 2012, Johnson delivered his genre hybrid Looper, set in a dystopic future where, through the magic of time travel, a hitman (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) faces off against his older self (Bruce Willis) to stop a mysterious force who’s hunting them. With mind-bending leaps and a stellar supporting turn from Emily Blunt, Looper cemented Johnson’s reputation and led to his hiring for The Last Jedi.

This week, we talk about Johnson’s confident grasp of twisty material and the layered world he creates with Looper. We also talk about Gordon-Levitt’s Willis-riffing turn, Willis’ late career in the years after this film, and Kazu Hiro’s makeup to make JGL look like BW.

Topics also include 2012 TIFF Galas, the 2012 Original Screenplay race, and the blunderbuss.

This week, we are talking about Charlie Kaufman in the director’s chair and how our thoughts have settled on what’s probably his most divisive film. In 2020, Kaufman returned to directing by adapting Iain Reid’s psychologically intense i’m thinking of ending things, told from the perspective of an unnamed woman visiting her new boyfriend’s rural home. With Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons at the forefront, the film folds in on itself for daring look at male dissociation.

This episode, we talk about our shifting thoughts on the film and the pricklier reception to Kaufman’s directorial efforts vs. his screenwriting credits. We also talk about Buckley’s swift rise after Wild Rose, Plemons’ television credits, and the film’s use of Pauline Kael.

Topics also include hot Oklahoma!, media consumption, and Toni Collette gets her Six Timers.

Our annual Thanksgiving tradition means The Ankler’s Katey Rich is back! And this year, we’re got a stone cold bummer to go with the turkey! In 2020, while we were all stuck in our homes, Netflix delivered a lockdown crime saga hit with The Devil All the Time. Directed by Antonio Campos, the film follows several generations in rural America as their family history is engulfed in religion and murder between American wars. With a cast of famous young stars like Tom Holland and Robert Pattison, the film garnered strong reactions to its grim tale but no ultimate awards payoff.

This episode, we’re talking about Antonio Campos’ independent cinema rise and later television work. We also talk about Netflix in 2020, Holland balancing Spider-Man with other projects, and umm… what the hell is going on with Pattinson in this movie.

Topics also include accents, covid coping, and Thanksgiving gender binaries.

Outside of his place in the Star Wars canon, Lawrence Kasdan has a quick rise in the 1980s after his debut Body Heat. With multiple Best Picture nominees to his name like The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist, Kasdan’s status took a downward trajectory in the 1990s, closing the decade with 1999’s Mumford. Starring Loren Dean as a man pretending to be a certified therapist who sweeps a small town off its feet, the ensemble film has its charms and problems in equal measure.

This week, we talk about Kasdan’s directorial career and his multiple screenplay nominations (but no director nomination). We also discuss Jason Lee as a quintessential 1990s performer, how Mumford‘s release was overshadowed by the arrival of American Beauty, and Hope Davis’ best-in-show turn as Dean’s patient-turned-love interest.

Topics also include David Paymer Six Timers, online shopping addiction, and Unsolved Mysteries.

One of 2023’s most quickly forgotten buzzed titles just so happened to star some of the most heralded actors of their generation. Based on the hyped Iain Reid novel, Foe cast Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal as a married couple in the dystopian future whose lives are upended with a visit from Aaron Pierre as a corporate representative tasked to prepare the husband for being drafted to a space station. With promise that an artificial “substitute” to take his place at home, the film gets twisty but predictable, leaving critics to quickly dismiss the film.

This episode, we talk about director Garth Davis’ first run of awards success with Lion and the diminishing returns that followed. We also discuss how Saoirse’s Oscar nominations tied to Best Picture nominees, Mescal’s Beatles future, and Pierre’s ascendancy.

Topics also include the 2023 New York Film Festival, Amazon MGM, and Top of the Lake.

We were heartbroken at the news of Diane Keaton’s passing, so we decided to quickly get another of her films in the THOB books. Keaton’s final directorial effort was Hanging Up, based on Delia Ephron’s fictionalized experience coping with distant sisters during the final years of their father’s life. Co-written by Delia and Nora Ephron, Meg Ryan took the lead with Keaton and Lisa Kudrow starring as the sisters and Walter Mathau as the aging father. Originally intended for a 1999 release, the film was received harshly by critics when it was ultimately released in 2000.

This episode, we talk about the behind-the-scenes tensions that played out onscreen and the unfavored collaborations between the Ephron sisters. We also talk about our favorite Keaton performances, Kudrow’s critical success with The Opposite of Sex, and Lisa Schwarzbaum F score reviews.

Topics also include Diet Coke commercials, Everything is Copy, and Keaton tributes.

With Halloween this week and Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt now in theatres, what better time to discuss the BONES! The 2022 fall festival season felt like the first real movie moment post-COVID and anticipation was high for Guadagnino reuniting with his Call Me By Your Name star, Timothee Chalamet. Bones and All was a tale of young love and primal urges, an emotional cannibalism story set in the midwest that placed Chalamet opposite the emergent Taylor Russell. Despite the film earning some devoted fans (spoiler: including us!), this gory Badlands riff was probably never going to please the Academy.

This episode, we talk about the divisive reactions that have met some of Guadagnino’s work, including this and After the Hunt. We also talk about Chalamet’s ascent towards Marty Supreme, Russell’s breakout in Waves, and our favorite Luca movies. And surprise: Chloe Sevigny Six Timers quiz!

Topics also include Mark Rylance doing his best Mr. Herbert, the film’s allegorical interpretations, and the 2022 Venice Film Festival.

In the 2011 summer movie season overcrowded with sequels and IP, J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 stood out as an original event film. Arriving with a mysterious marketing campaign that was the Abrams signature, the film follows a group of kids in the late 1970s who capture footage of an alien while shooting a monster movie in their hometown. The film earned early critical praise and was loaded with homage to Steven Spielberg. However, it proved more divisive as consensus begun to settle, with many finding the film to not be all that original or all that satisfying.

This episode, we talk about Abrams’ position as a director both then and now, and we unpack the degree to which the film is successful as a Spielberg retread. We also talk about the film’s mystery box marketing push, the film’s creature design, and co-star Elle Fanning joins our Six Timers Club.

Topics also include the 2011 Visual Effects race, lens flares, and Fanning’s Oscar chances this year.

We love talking forgotten awardsy films here on This Had Oscar Buzz and this week’s episode is a doozy. In 1992, Todd Graff’s off-Broadway play The Grandma Plays was adapted into the film Used People with both a high Oscar and theatre pedigree. The Beeban Kidron film starred Shirley MacLaine as a new widow finding love (in Oscar nominee Marcello Mastroianni, no less) and repairing her strained relationship with her daughters. With brief turns from the Jessica Tandy and Sylvia Sidney, the film didn’t get much further than stray nominations for MacLaine and Mastroianni.

This episode, we make up for our forgotten Shirley MacLaine six Timers quiz. We also talk about why it might be our Most Best Actress movie ever, Marcia Gay Harden dressed up in Barbra Streisand’s Oscar win, and how mean movies are to Kathy Bates.

Topics also include the 1992 Golden Globes, “Queen of the Night,” and Camp.

One of the defining stories of the 2000 Oscar year was the one-two punch of Steven Soderbergh delivering both Traffic and Erin Brockovich, making good on the past decade’s worth of promise kicked off by Sex Lies and Videotape. In 2001, the victory lap was Ocean’s Eleven, a Vegas heist remake that cast some of the biggest names in movies. The film was a box office smash, but ultimately considered just a fun blockbuster romp. It remains a classic but Soderbergh has yet to return to the Oscar club since.

This episode, we talk about the decade leading up to Soderbergh’s Oscar homecoming and the film’s surprising omission from the Globes Comedy races. We also have a quiz heavy episode, with George Clooney and Brad Pitt sharing a double Six Timers Quiz and Julia Roberts enters our Ten Timers Club.

Topics also include the MTV Movie Awards, Don Cheadle’s cockney accent, and the city of Las Vegas.