Friday
Dec162016
Podcast: Manchester by the Sea & Reader Questions
Friday, December 16, 2016 at 7:00PM 
Katey, Nick, Joe and Nathaniel answer reader questions and discuss the new Kenneth Lonergan weepie
Index (43 minutes)
00:01 Manchester by the Sea
12:30 Separating art from artists
24:00 Director nominations and Ruth Negga in Loving
26:28 Things you should see that won't be nominated
31:00 Almodóvar's Julieta which we'll discuss later
34:30 Nomination Announcement Memories
37:20 Did we see these movies or not?
39:00 How did Nick, Nathaniel, Joe, and Katey meet?
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments. Next podcast: La La Land and Lion
Reader Comments (12)
Thanks for answering my question, guys!
(PS: Katey, I also loved Hunt for the Wilder People... so much so that I told everyone about it and a few friends and colleagues ended up going to see it too).
Where is the Avengers style movie filled with Beatrix Aruna Pasztor and Get Low jokes on how you all came to meet? I want that now!
Love the suggestions. Thanks!
Nathaniel, I'm even lower on Manchester than you. Love Lonergan in general but this film didn't click with me, and much as I love her Michelle Williams was the biggest problem for me. Her big moment escalated in a way I didn't find believable.
Nathaniel, I relate to your feelings on Michelle Williams' performance. I really liked the film (have seen it twice now), and overall, it's a great performance, but for some reason, her big scene didn't land for me the way I thought it would. When it happened, I thought: "Wait, that was it?" Maybe it's because my expectations were too high, since that scene was all everyone was talking about after Sundance.
I appreciated everyone's thoughtful discussion of Casey Affleck's sexual harassment allegations. I've been grappling with them myself too.
a) Margaret = Manchester by the Sea >>>>> You Can Count on Me - that last film really hasn't aged well.
b) Nick's never mean re Hedges but the Derek anecdote is very strong. Nick, you deserve a Film Bitch category for best story. All of you guys do, admittedly.
c) Really glad to hear someone else like The Skin I Lived In. I'm gonna go far and say that I preferred it to Volver and All About My Mother
d) No real oscar buzz film recommendation: Paterson and Aquarius
e) Charmer: Justin Timberlake + The Tennessee Kids - guys, Demme rocks.
f) Youtube has has the 1990 nominations and 1992 nominations but not 1991.
Michelle William's deserved an Oscar WAAAAAYYYYY more than Viola
Michelle Williams is young talented and white. Her Oscar is coming soon enough. And likely in the category that needs the most diversity expansion Best Actress.
/3rtful -- oh come on. there are hundreds of young talented and white actresses that have never won oscars. that guarantees you nothing except for (for a short time) access to good roles if you're somewhat famous.. Michelle Williams is 36 so she's only got a few years left of Hollywood interest since she's not as bankable as her peers.
arkaan -- i keep meaning to see that. Demme is so good at music films.
Fun fact: We've all seen Lucas Hedges before. He was in Moonrise Kingdom (he's the kid that Suzy attacks with lefty scissors) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (he has a cameo right before that chase down the mountains). Don't worry, I also didn't know it was him until I looked it up. Speaking of Moonrise Kingdom, did you all recognize Kara Hayward (Suzy) on Manchester by the Sea (she's Sylvie, the one who isn't Pat's girlfriend). Just a fun fact...
As for the whole Casey Affleck thing, I see both sides, but it's one of those performances that I would hate to see go unrewarded because it's just THAT good. Affleck plays a man so consumed by his own guilt that he pushes people away (in often very agressive ways) either because he wants to protect them from what he is or because he's so disgusted with himself he doesn't feel he deserves any kind of connection. It's one of those performances that sneaks up on you and Lonnergan helps with those slow reveals. I've always maintained that one must separate the art from the artist, because if we rejected all art that comes from an artist we are appalled by, we would miss out on some beautiful work of art. I think what complicates matters here is the celebrity culture and what impact that culture has on the way we consume art, especially when it comes to awards and celebrating these people. Still, if I'm judging just the performance I saw on the film, I do think Casey Affleck deserves to win that Oscar for what he did in Manchester by the Sea.
I also adore La Piel Que Habito (that's The Skin I Live In, sorry, but the Spanish titles in Almodovar films are just too beautiful not to type them up), but I think I know why people gravitate more towards Julieta. It's a more straightforward melodrama, a film that easier for people to stomach, while us Almodovar fans love him for how unscrupulous he is with what he's showing (La Piel Que Habito, being basically a kitschy horror film, is a perfect example of that). I liked the story of Julieta okay, though I do wish that if he had presented a toned down story, he would have toned down everything else about his style, since it makes this story feel out of place (I was actually very distracted by the score, since it felt like it belonged in another Almodovar movie). Anyway, it's still worth a watch (even if it didn't make the finalists list for Foreign Language Film, it's worth watching).
@Nathaniel R
Not pessimistic about Williams since she's a genuine talent. And there are personality types when it comes to talented white actresses who have never won to consider. Remember women are more petty than men and men are always weighting women by some sexist standard.
Lol at Dick Poop! I had forgotten about that. Remember when Anne Hathaway and Tom Sherak announced the Oscar noms together and their awkward chemistry was off the charts?
Thanks for answering my question! I enjoyed hearing how you all met.