Monday
Jul292019
Got a question for the podcast?
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:04AM 
We're recording tomorrow.
Ask away and Murtada and I will try to answer a handful or two of them... along with a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood discussion.
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:04AM
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Reader Comments (26)
If Quentin Tarantino were to make another "alternate history" movie where things worked out better than in real life, what event or era would you be interested in seeing him cover next?
In honor of the Cats trailer: what's the best (real) cat performance in a film?
Nathaniel, I know you fell out of love with Renee Zellweger years ago, but is there any part of you that is excited about the prospect of a comeback nomination for Judy? I’ve missed her.
If you could have cast any other actress to play Mary Louise on Big Little Lies, who would you have picked? Me, I would’ve gone with Mary Kay Place. I normally love Meryl but she was a big distraction in season 2. Give other actresses a chance, people!
Movie stars you have masturbated to more often. Go!
Of all the Best Actress winners this century which will be the hardest to explain in 20 years? Cough Brie Larson cough
@Fred. Nah. "Room" was a TIFF Audience Award winner, it got healthy BO numbers and even if there's low esteem for the performance, it has "Oscar moments" as suffering mom.
Also, with the recent success of "Captain Marvel", that Oscar would be classified as "useful" for Hollywood purposes.
Any tips for visiting Telluride or Toronto as a civilian? without any kind of press pass?
or: what other film festivals can you recommend making a special trip to? That I could get tickets to some events as a civilian and have a good time? Looking to make some 2020 vacation plans :-)
who is the next Nicole Kidman?
Top three Brad Pitt roles
also.. when is the 1957 Smackdown?
Which actress is your favourite Dame? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Actresses_awarded_British_damehoods
Big Little lies 3 season- do they want? Do people want? Even if it is not as Good as season 1 ...could it help change the scenario of untold stories (considered not bankable)?
A few months ago, you mentioned possibly doing a podcast dedicated to revisionist history of the Oscar for Best Actress. i.e. I would have given this Oscar to this actress this year, so another actress could have received an award. You stated that it would take planning to prepare that podcast. Might I suggest you think about it for next summer, when there are not as many movies that piqued your interest. You and Murtada mentioned how slim the movie choices were this summer. I would love to hear a podcast dedicated to you awarding actresses when movies are not at their best!
BTW - Please invite Leslye Headland back for another podcast. I really enjoyed her take on movies from the writer/director perspective.
What is Sharon Tate's film legacy? Best/worst performance? Would she have been one of the greats had she lived, or was she just a marginal actress better known for her beauty, marriage to Polanski, and her horrific tragedy? I've never seen any of her work, but the scene with Margot Robbie watching the real Tate in "The Wrecking Crew" was one of my favorites! Any thoughts?
What are your thoughts on the ending? I mean, Tarantino is well known for his alternate histories, but the climax of this just felt kind of tacked on, like it came out of nowhere and didn’t totally fit into the overall narrative. (Granted, we know what could’ve—and did—happen, in real vs. reel life, but the absurd flame-thrower sequence took me out of it, for example.)
SFOTroy - Toronto is a fantastic festival to go to as a civilian. Plenty of accommodation choices in the city, transparent value options for buyimg tickets (the advance packages are great value) and such a hige selection of films you can't help but watch a mix of top quality movies as well as gems that you never anticipated. London is also pretty good, although the depth of the programme is much less (and I live here so don't know the experience is for someone not balancing the films with daily life).
Talking of the festival circuit Nathaniel, Murtada, we've had announcements from Toronto, Venice, New York & London. Do they feel slim this year? Partly because summer has been so poor I'm getting the vibe that 2019 is going to be a year of largely forgettable cinema with few classics and very few films that I'm hotly anticipating. Do you feel the same?
If you adjusted the film bitch awards to include all movies you are seeing for the first time regardless of whether or not they are from that year, would your awards be the same? I do my own awards from July to July when my birthday is. This year my nominations came out like this:
Picture
Body Heat
Frenzy
Pariah
The Professional
What’s Up, Doc?
Director
Spike Lee- BlacKkKlansman
Alfred Hitchcock- Frenzy
Quentin Tarantino- Inglourious Basterds
Dee Rees- Pariah
Luc Besson- The Professional
Actor
Henry Fonda- Mister Roberts
Paul Newman- Absence of Malice
Jack Nicholson- About Schmidt
Laurence Olivier- The Entertainer
Jean Reno- The Professional
Actress
Amy Adams- Nocturnal Animals
Doris Day- The Man Who Knew Too Much
Adepero Oduye- Pariah
Gabourey Sidibe- Precious
Rachel Weisz- The Favourite
Supporting Actor
Trevor Howard- Sons and Lovers
Lee Kinsolving- The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Gary Oldman- The Professional
Christopher Plummer- All the Money in the World
Christoph Waltz- Inglourious Basterds
Supporting Actress
Angela Lansbury- The Dark at the Top of the Stairs
Melanie Laurent- Inglourious Bastsrds
Madeline Kahn- What’s Up, Doc?
Nicole Kidman- Boy Erased
Going by the thumbnail my question is - is Murtada single? hubba hubba!
Questions!
1) I went down the rabbit hole of past nominees for Independent Spirit Awards and came across 1994's ceremony where something called "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" was nominated for Best Feature. Have you seen this? Do you know what/how/why an installment of the Freddy Krueger franchise ended up a Best Feature nominee at the Spirit Awards? What was going on in 1994 for the Spirit Awards to be super into Wes Craven? It just feels like there is a story here.
2) I recently rewatched Mask, and besides being absolutely blown away by Cher (robbed is an understatement; this was like Ethan Hawke being shut out this year), the movie was clearly a top contender in all categories. How could this film be shut out of Picture/Director/Screenplay? It has such a heart to it. I found it irresistible.Was there a plot against it?
3) Now that the season is over, have we figured out why Pawel Pawlikowski got that lone director nomination? I loved the film, but I still do not understand how he got that nomination. He is not like a David Lynch or Robert Altman where it is obvious why the Directors Branch loved him enough to get him in without his film. How did he do it? I still don't get it.
I would like to hear you guys in the Podcast explaining the difference between "casting against type" and "miscasting" and when these things happen together, because I'm sure there are a lot of people who mix up
both themes. Give examples.
Can you give us a teeny tiny hint at your next predictions update?
What do we make of Jessica Chastain's career these days?
7-8 years ago she looked on track to be the next Streep/Blanchett. Obviously that steam has faded. Loved her in Molly's Game, but usually she seems so stiff and actorly, even though the camera loves her.
Should she move to TV/streaming?
Nothing about The Irishman is instilling any sort of faith in me. Pacino and Deniro have been washed for a while and I can't imagine those two rekindling their magic just because their buddy Marty decided to include them. Prove me wrong, or agree with me...
If you were a member of the Academy, would you vote for a supporting player you thought was "category fraud" if you felt they gave the best performance in category. I like your idea of how to combat that (first two names above the title being automatically leads)--have you been able to present that to anyone from the Academy who can do something about it?
Pawlikowski is a really great director, Charlea, and obviously has the support of his peers. That's how he got the nomination.