We’re on to 1976 (go sign up for our Patreon for 1975 and our Exception episode on Tommy!) and Christina Tucker rejoins us to talk about the 70s Spectacular’s wildest movie, The Ritz. From the play by Terrence McNally, the film is a mob farce set in a bathhouse with Jack Weston as a straight man … Continue reading "291 – The Ritz (with Christina Tucker) (70s Spectacular – 1976)"

1974 brings us to one of the final films of Billy Wilder, which also reunited a screen duo beloved by both Oscar and audiences, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Vulture writer Roxana Hadadi is back to the show to talk about The Front Page, an oft-adapted farce about newspapermen getting wrapped up in the case of … Continue reading "290 – The Front Page (with Roxana Hadadi) (70s Spectacular – 1974)"

In 1973, the Academy embraced horror in a big way by slapping cultural phenomenon The Exorcist with 10 nominations – but then The Sting would triumph over its success on Oscar night. Critic David Sims returns to the show to talk about a different iconic and formative horror title, Nicolas Rouge’s Don’t Look Now. With prestige stars Donald Sutherland and … Continue reading "289 – Don’t Look Now (with David Sims) (70s Spectacular – 1973)"

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 … Continue reading "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 … Continue reading "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 … Continue reading "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 … Continue reading "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 … Continue reading "285 – A Bigger Splash"

If you think we are too dismissive of westerns, allow this week’s episode to contradict that notion! In 2018, Jacques Audiard made his English language debut with an adaptation of Patrick deWitt’s novel The Sisters Brothers. John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix starred as gunslinging assassin siblings in 19th century America, with both on the pursuit … Continue reading "284 – The Sisters Brothers"

We’re finally diving into the time capsule that is 2004’s Garden State. The writing and directing debut of Zach Braff, the film stars Braff as a depressed actor who returns to his Jersey home to attend his mother’s funeral. Once there, he reunites with former friends and maybe meets the love of his life (played … Continue reading "283 – Garden State"