This Had Oscar Buzz

After passing off the reins of Veep, Armando Iannucci returned to movie screens with another political satire. Based on the graphic novel, The Death of Stalin farcically recounts the last days of the dictator and the scramble for power in the days after. With stars like Steve Buscemi, Jason Isaacs, and Simon Russell Beale, the film received solid reviews at its 2017 TIFF premiere and solid box office at its spring 2018 release. But thanks to BAFTA recognition and a Screenplay prize from the National Society of Film Critics, some folks predicted The Death of Stalin for a surprise Adapted Screenplay nomination that never came to be.

This episode, we talk about Iannucci’s career and how the surprise screenplay nomination for In The Loop stirred Oscar anticipation for this film as well. We also discuss the correct way to pronounce Buscemi, the film’s balance between serious-mindedness and farce, and our favorites from the film’s ensemble.

Topics also include the 2017 TIFF lineup and the 2018 Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actor races.

With the whispers and rumors that Terrence Malick’s Jesus film The Way of the Wind maybe possibly perhaps who knows could finally premiere this year after filming in 2019, we thought it was time to discuss his work. One year after The Tree of Life earned Oscar nominations and the Palme d’Or, Malick had perhaps his fastest turnaround with To The Wonder. A semi-autobiographical tale of a cross-continental love affair souring once it reaches America, the film starred Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko and Rachel McAdams as the onscreen love triangle. But once the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, it earned some of Malick’s harshest notices to date.

This episode, we discuss the mixed reception around Malick’s post-Tree of Life work and our own divided thoughts on the film. We also discuss the several famous names left on Malick’s cutting room floor, Javier Bardem’s performance as the town priest, and Rachel McAdams joins our Six Timers Club.

Topics also include Roger Ebert’s final review, Kurylenko as an action star, and “to the wonder, to the walls.”

As we begin to get hyped for a new Kelly Reichardt film on the horizon with The Mastermind, The Atlantic staff writer Shirley Li joins us to discuss her 2016 triptych Certain Women. The film adapts three Maile Meloy stories into one film, with each following a different woman whose voice is stifled in their Montana circumstances. With several stars populating the ensemble including Laura Dern, Michelle Williams, and Kristen Stewart, its biggest awards success was with its breakthrough star, Lily Gladstone.

This episode, we talk about our love for Reichardt’s filmography and Gladstone’s silent long take powerhouse moment in the film. We also talk about Williams as the definitive Reichardt actor, Dern’s comic subtlety in the film, and parallel universes for the Oscar ceremony envelope snafu.

Topics also include Lucy, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Reichardt as a purveyor of care.

Ooh wee ee ooh ooh ooh ooh wah, Gary! It’s about time we talked about another musical and we’ve got a first time guest this week to join us! Writer Tyler Coates is here to talk about 2014’s Jersey Boys, the screen adaptation of the Tony winning jukebox musical charting the rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The film was Clint Eastwood’s return to the cinema after one of his longest directorial sabbaticals, turning out to be a mild summer counter programming misfire. But a few months later, Eastwood would rush American Sniper into a limited release before the Academy deadline, leaving Jersey Boys quickly forgotten.

This episode, we talk about jukebox musicals onscreen and the casting of several stage stars in the film, including Tony winner John Lloyd Young as Valli. We also discuss late stage Eastwood, the film’s flat rendering of midcentury tunes, and the same-day AFI premiere’s of Selma and Sniper.

Topics also include the 2004 Tony Awards, Joe Pesci as narrative device, and Letterman as Oscar host.

We’ve got a new Wes Anderson movie on the horizon, so why not revisit one of his more divisive films: 2021’s The French Dispatch. The film features a bursting murderer’s row of cast members to fill out Anderson’s ode to journalism, a triptych of stories all set within the world of a fictional magazine. Originally promised for 2020’s Cannes Film Festival and delayed more than a year by COVID, the film arrived to American audiences and a growing faction of those growing restless with Anderson’s whole deal. 

This episode, we talk about our growing appreciation for the film since release and Anderson’s “nesting doll” approach to storytelling. We also discuss Jeffrey Wright’s celebrated performance, Christoph Waltz’s cameo that lands him in our Six Timers Club, and Anderson’s Oscar history.

Topics also include the 2021 Production Design nominees, Anderson’s win for Live Action short, and the weird 2021 official Globes tweets.

Perhaps the only silver lining in 2025 is that we have been given a Steven Soderbergh double dip, with both Presence and Black Bag in theatres. Among Soderbergh’s less discussed films is King of the Hill, a Depression-set drama of a boy living on his own in a St. Louis hotel. The film is a gem that showcases a great performance by a young Jesse Bradford (along with a slew of recognizable stars before they got famous), but even positive reviews upon the film’s release didn’t prevent it from being a box office disappointment.

This episode, we talk about Soderbergh’s first attempts to follow up Sex Lies and Videotape and Soderbergh’s varied filmography. Topics also include the 1993 Cannes Film Festival, top prominent top 10 lists the film placed on, and the film’s fractured connection to Robert Redford.

Topics also include Gramercy Pictures, this era of childhood movies for adults, and tuberculosis.

The beloved Bong Joon-ho is finally back in cinemas after his global success with Parasite, and to help us celebrate Mickey 17, we invited Vulture film critic Bilge Ebiri to discuss director Bong’s divisive Snowpiercer. Based on a French graphic novel, the film casts a global set of stars as the occupants of a train in the future whose segments are divided by class. The film was director Bong’s first foray into (mostly) English language filmmaking and became a cause célèbre for film critics and fans alike upon its delayed release.

This episode, we talk about the last gasp of Harvey Scissorhands that delayed its American release and the film’s place as one of the first examples of day-and-date release. We also talk about Tilda Swinton’s place in the supporting actress race, Chris Evans vs. Ryan Gosling, and the film’s vision in creating each of the train’s distinct sections.

Topics also include recent Sundance piracy, Netflix DVDs, and “babies taste best.”

We’re here with your Oscar hangover cure to break the seal on the THOB Class of 2023 and we brought Louis Peitzman along for the chaos. It’s Saltburn time! After the COVID-era Oscar success of Promising Young Woman, all eyes were on Emerald Fennell to deliver again with her follow-up. Barry Keoghan stars in the film as a social climbing Oxford student who freeloads off his wealthy classmate (Jacob Elordi), ingratiating himself to the family as he stays on the eponymous estate. With allusions to Brideshead Revisited and Tom Ripley, Saltburn was safely the most talked about film of 2023 to earn no Oscar nomination.

This episode, we talk about the controversies surrounding the film’s sexual content and what makes Fennell such a divisive figure. We also discuss Keoghan’s nude finale moment, Rosamund Pike’s performance as the matriarch, and the film’s mixed reception on the festival circuit.

Topics also include needle drops, eyebrow piercings, and movies with bathtub scenes.

Oh, the quaint economic anxieties of 20 years ago! We’re tackling 2004’s seriocomic tale of “what if your much younger boss slept with your newly adult daughter” and Paul Weitz film In Good Company, and writer Emily St. James returns to the show to help us unpack it. Modest lighthearted fare, the movie pits dad-mode Dennis Quaid opposite Topher Grace as advertising sales reps in the halcyon days of magazines. While it isn’t without its charms, the film was wedged into the very end of the season and didn’t make enough waves to earn much awards love.

This episode, we talk about the film’s intergenerational dynamics and the then economic anxiety of young people taking all the boomers’ jobs. We also talk about Scarlett Johansson’s high demand after Lost in Translation, the Oscar Original Song quality gap, and Clark Gregg joins our Six Timers Club.

Topics also include dad music needle drops, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and what went down on the set of The Brutalist.

Preorder WOODWORKING by Emily St. James

What a delight to have not one but TWO pals join us this week, The B-Side hosts Dan Mecca and Conor O’Donnell! Naturally, we’re going back to forgotten films from the 1990s with director Alan Pakula’s final film, The Devil’s Own. The film starred Brad Pitt as an IRA member hiding out in America opposite Harrison Ford as the police officer who shelters him. Presenting a very Americanized version of the Irish Troubles, The Devil’s Own is just about the mildest and best looking movie disaster you’ll find in the 1990s.

This episode, we unpack the tumultuous making of the film and how its on-set tug-of-war is still discussed. We also discuss Pitt’s notoriously derided dialect in the film, Ford’s relationship with male costars, and Pakula’s tremendous filmography.

Topics also include cinematographer Gordon Willis, Edward Zwick’s memoir, and Oscar movies about the Troubles.