This Had Oscar Buzz

A perfect example of an early, long-list Oscar prediction movie, 2005′s Ladies in Lavender arrived after multiple festivals to a successful arthouse run thanks to the presence of its Dame headliners Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. But despite coming in the era primed to reward this kind of women’s picture and both actresses in particular, … Continue reading "069 – Ladies in Lavender (with Danita Steinberg)"

In the fall festival season, a primo premiere status can assert a film as having major Oscar ambitions. This week’s title, 2013′s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, is a such a case – after debuting an eye-catching trailer, the film debuted as the centerpiece selection of that year’s New York Film Festival. But this … Continue reading "068 – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"

This week, Bitch Media writer and Bad Romance podcast host Jourdain Searles joins us to talk about 2008′s musical multi-biopic Cadillac Records. Most famous for Beyoncé’s performance as Etta James, the film arrived when audiences and Oscar were getting fatigued with the genre. But detailing the groundbreaking Chess Records, the film spreads its attentions over … Continue reading "067 – Cadillac Records (with Jourdain Searles)"

This episode, we have another psychotic romance for you with 2000′s Bounce. One of Miramax’s 2000 awards-hopeful misfires (which ultimately led to the rise of Chocolat), the film stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Ben Affleck as two would-be lovers brought together by a plane crash – only she doesn’t know that he’s the one that gave … Continue reading "066 – Bounce"

With the incoming arrival of a new Martin Scorsese film with The Irishman, naturally we had to talk about the master, right? But rare is the film that results in no Oscar nominations for Scorsese – except for this week’s film which came at the end of the director’s downward trend with the Academy. Even … Continue reading "065 – Bringing Out The Dead"

Is there a faster fast track to Oscar buzz than being a sequel to a Best Picture winner? While there may not be much of a sample pool beyond The Godfather series, 1996 gave us The Evening Star, a follow-up to Terms of Endearment and Shirley MacLaine’s Aurora Greenway. This time without writer/director James L. … Continue reading "064 – The Evening Star"

What was it that placed a light comedy like Morning Glory on early Oscar predictions in 2010? Was it the potential for a morning news riff on Broadcast News brilliance? The ascendancy of Rachel McAdams that we knew would eventually pay off with an acting nomination? Or the late career turn as journalist curmudgeon from … Continue reading "063 – Morning Glory"

Certainly one of the biggest Oscar narratives this season will be Renée Zellweger’s return to the big screen, starring as the timeless Judy Garland in Judy. So to mark the occasion (with Chris highly anticipatory and Joe more hesitant in how far Judy can go), we’re discussing one of the actress’ few attempts at Oscar … Continue reading "062 – Miss Potter"

A title that became a punchline all its own, this week we are discussing 2012′s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. A light romantic drama about project management and Western relationships with the Middle East, Lasse Hallström’s film accidentally stumbled into the Oscar race when the Golden Globes decided the film was a comedy and gave … Continue reading "061 – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"

You asked for it and it’s finally here! While Joe and Chris are away at TIFF, we are bringing you our first ever MAILBAG EPISODE! We have been taking your questions in the recent weeks and are so excited to bring you this jumbo sized episode devoted just to the Oscar obsessive minutiae that you … Continue reading "And From Canada MAILBAG!"