Podcast Unchained: Top Ten Sneaks, Actresses of Color, Movie Gifts
Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 7:00PM 
Part 1 of 2
For this megamix conversation -- still shorter than most of the Best Picture Hopefuls! -- which is the last before the Oscar Nominations we ignored the act of "predicting" beyond a couple hazy hunches and dug into Quentin Tarantino's new slavesploitation western (which none of us like as much as the internet does as it so happens). But since this is the Film Experience we do love to meander through movie memories and Oscar digressions, Django Unchained is hardly the only film we visit in this 44 minute podcast. [With Nathaniel, Nick, Katey, and Joe.]
Topics include but are not limited to:
- Last minute Oscar hunches: Eddie Redmayne? Michael Haneke?
- Django Unchained
- Ann Dowd's self-funded Oscar campaign for Compliance
- Nathaniel's special Christmas Gift
- 1947 & 1991 Oscar Winner Flashbacks: Loretta Young and Mercedes Ruehl, anyone?
- Middle Of Nowhere's transfixing Emayatzy Corinealdi
- The power and powerlessness of physical beauty
- Podcast Bingo
You can download the podcast on iTunes or listen right here at the bottom of the post. Join in the conversation by commenting! Did you get any movie related Christmas gifts? What's #6 on your (current) top ten list?
Reader Comments (35)
What?!! It's Christmas again!
That is the greatest Mercedes Ruehl anecdote of all time!
I look forward to listening to this on my hour commute tomorrow.
but am perplexed. After reading Nick's tweet-review of Les Miz i figured that either he would be dis-invited from all future podcasts or the entire next episode would be a epic take-down b/w the 2 of you??
"Nicole, HI!"
OMG I love that so much.
If Eddie Redmayne is nominated, Les Miz will win for BP. It will indicate the depth of love for the film. His is a stunning performance but there are many more marquee names more likely to be nominated in this category. If he emerges in the top 5, it will send a clear signal.
The same goes for Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) in the supporting acress category.
I love that you guys mentioned the issue of lighting people of color. it's something that always bothers me and was, indeed, a problem in Django. Bradford Young does amazing work, his work in Restless City (another AFFRM release) is some of the best I've seen.
@3rtful: Thanks!
@Troy: Believe me, I was worried as well. But Nathaniel is a benevolent leader.
@The Film Junkie: This is a pet issue for me. Really got me cross at several moments in Django and even more in The Help. Glad to know there are listeners who care about this, too. Did you see Young's work on Mississippi Damned? He's just so great, and that was a good movie, too.
In case I haven't said it recently, I absolutely love every one of these. I must admit I'm hoping for a Les Mis mud fight - I'm Team Nathaniel. That Nicole clip, the Juliette Lewis story, even the mention of a Remains of the Day lunchbox... amazing. I need to see Middle of Nowhere and Miss Bala pronto.
Well now I'm pissed Starlet never opened down here. It was scheduled to for a hot minute but, at the very last minute, it was cancelled.
I didn't even like "Magic Mike" all that much, but the deepness that Nick was throwing at us with the deconstructions of that, "Miss Bala," and "Starlet" (never heard of this one before) was truly fascinating. Like, wow?! I want to see those three films back to back too! I guess it goes along with my Channing Tatum aversion. He's a gorgeous block of wood, but a block of wood all the same. A nod for MM would be kinda awesome though. "Miss Bala" sounds foreign, correct? Can you tell us anything about "Starlet"? And child slave labor is no joking matter.
@3rtful: Thanks!
@Troy: You're not the only one who worried! But Nathaniel is a benevolent ruler.
@TheFilmJunkie: A pet issue with me, and glad to hear it's one with you, too! Several moments in Django were so galling in this respect, as was true last year in The Help, too. Hopefully Young won't be stuck as the only go-to guy for working this well across complexions. Did you see his work on Mississippi Damned, which is also a really good movie?
@TinyTim: I wouldn't read too much about Starlet before eventually seeing it, except to say that it starts when a kind of driftless, pretty L.A. ingénue strikes up a friendship with an embittered old lady following a pretty costly misunderstanding that only one of them seems to know about. I know that's ambiguous, but it should be! Hope you like the movies and that you responded to the connections I drew among them, though I'm sure other people will think of spitting into the wind. (That joke was meant to be about the sheer absurdity of our commodities, for which other people labor so miserably, but I'm sure it didn't come out that way - sorry.)
Pete > I agree with you about Eddie Redmayne in the context of Les Mis' BP chances. "Depth of love" is correct. (I don't think it's there though, unfortunately).
However, if Jacki Weaver gets in, it changes nothing concerning the one Oscar Silver Linings will walk away with that night (Best Actress). She's more on the cusp than Redmayne. There's maybe one slot, if that, up for grabs in Supporting Actor. There very well may be two in Supporting Actress. Weaver's chances don't look that different from Smith, Adams, Kidman, [insert other name here].
Vince -- where did this Weaver business come from? Did i miss some article on some other site suggesting it? I can't really see that happening primarily because her part is so backgrounded. And y'all know I love her. and other than Bradley Cooper I thought she was best in show but in a really backgrounded thankless way.
Nathaniel, I really hope you're scanning that book page by page! Feed us!
You guys are such a highlight of the Oscar season. Can we please make Nick's Fireside Childhood Oscar Reminisces a permanent segment on the podcast in the future? That or Professor Davis's Cinema Studies Corner introduced with the "Professor Frink, Professor Frink, he'll make you laugh, he'll make you think" song from The Simpsons? (don't mind me, listening to Joe being hilarious has just made me miss EHG's great clips and Simpsons devotion).
But this was a really fascinating discussion and I loved the point about lighting for POC! Such an obvious thing once pointed out that I'd never considered before. Can't wait for the next part.
I second Peggy Sue. Nathaniel, you need to scan that book for the greater good! (the greater good...)
I can't wait to see Starlet...I only know Dree Hemingway from her modeling work, so it will be interesting to see her act.
I feel compelled to add that baseball games are not played in March, and on reflection, I feel sure that my Unbearable Lightness viewing blocked my brother from a rare live transmission of an NCAA March Madness game. Which is pretty bad. Though I think you'll all agree that what he did was way more heinous.
Would I foot my own bill for an Oscar campaign? Only if I'm allowed to do a ridiculous photo shoot that has NOTHING to do with the film as part of the campaign. Like, casket photos surrounded by crying Muppets for a musical comedy or performing as a clown in front of laughing children for a morose drama.
Nick's oscar memory had me laughing so hard I paused the podcast. Wonderful overall, as usual.
If this is podcast 1 of 2, then we totally need to create a podcast bingo before the next release.
Is it wrong that I'm hoping this ballot problem discourages some of the older Academy voters? Screw democracy, this is the Oscars!
Nick, that is an AMAZING story. I went to similar lengths as a child to keep everything under wraps until I was able to watch the taped ceremony (no TV or radio until I watched it all the way through), but never had a family member spoil or even threaten to spoil it for me. Needless to say, if they had, revenge would have been swift and sweet.
And now I am even more PISSED OFF that Miss Bala never played near me. That is one of very few foreign movies that could have very easily found a sizable audience with the right marketing campaign (think The Orphanage or Pan's Labyrinth).
Oscar Hunches
--The Intouchables gets nominated for best original screenplay (first screener, really popular flick, weak category.....)
--Amour misses out on a foreign film nomination but Riva makes it in (no director/writer/picture though).
--The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel gets a best picture nomination.
There's a Remains of the Day lunchbox?! LOL
@Nick- LOVED Mississippi Damned. I forgot that he did the conematography on that one. He's very talented.
I'm not sure what the mechanics of uploading these podcasts are - you mentioned something about it having to be under 45 minutes? - but I hope that these aren't edited or time-limit-ed for our sake, because I would gladly listen to you guys talk for hours on end, and in fact long for the day when you post the Redux edition of the podcast that runs for over three hours and includes a bunch of new Marlon Brando scenes that we were worried about but end up liking.
fabrizzio -- they are edited yes. SORRY. but i have to keep them under 45 minutes because of the way my website software works. can't be helped! my goal is to do them more frequently so that we don't have as much to say. lol.
Why use MP4 instead of MP3? MP4 makes downloading them slower.
Hey, I was the one who suggested the alarm clock thing :)!!! Now, I can die satisfied :)).
It was one of the funniest podcasts I remember. You should tell more anecdotes more often., though I kept waiting for Joe Reid's numbers six in the acting categories.
priceless Nick - adding to the love for the Mercedes anecdote
Re Viola and awards - she was recently added to Prisoners with Jake G and Hugh Jackman from director of Incendies and a black list screenplay - maybe she can win in supporting for this.
Um, this was amazing, Nate. One of your best sessions so far. Everything from the Nicole Kidman skype greeting to the refreshing Django Unchained non-stanning to the X-Mas Best Actress paperdolls gift to "MERCEDES RUEHL BEAT JULIETTE LEWIS!" to the championing of Middle of Nowhere to the fascinating discussion of what Magic Mike/Miss Bala/Starlet all have in common with their leads.
I seriously loved it.
Really, truly glad everyone is enjoying this session so much. And thanks for taking the time to say so!
So glad people are enjoying this installment and taking the time to say so. Thanks!
What's the balance of Ruehl vs. Lewis voters around here, anyway?
Nick -- does this call for a poll? Hmmm.
I love that you guys championed your favorites from the year. It gives me a lot of good movies to check out, a welcome respite from this year's uninspired awards fare.
And I couldn't agree more on the sad state of the Supporting Actor race. The six or so performances duking it out for that last spot are WAY more interesting than the four that are locked in.