Podcast: Ben is Back, Beale Street, Vice, and those pesky SAG nods
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 9:04PM Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl welcome special guest Alfred Soto to talk new films & SAG fallout
Index (61 minutes)
00:01 SAG nomination leftover feelings
05:00 None of us liked Vice and the reviews are mixed. We still think it's an awards contender so we discuss the question of latebreakers in each awards season.
11:45 Randomness: Ethan Hawke, Bohemian Rhapsody, and the Florida Film Critics Circle
20:40 Ben is Back starring Lucas Hedges (with sidebars of Boy Erased and Beautiful Boy)
33:40 If Beale Street Could Talk
45:00 Reader Q: A fine element of a buzzy movie that's not being talked up
49:17 Reader Q: Is Best Actress actually set already?
51:00 Reader Q: If there wasn't Category Fraud this year what would be happening in Supporting Actress?
53:30 Reader Q: Reassign an Oscar win - what's the cascading effect?
59:40 Wrap up
Further Reading / References
• Murtada's If Beale Street Review
• Nathaniel's If Beale Street Quick Take
• Alfred's controversial review of Roma
• Alfred's Florida Film Critics ballot
• Best Actress Race
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?
Reader Comments (19)
Thank y’all for answering my questions! I especially agreed about Josh Hamilton deserving more love - he’s so crucial to Elsie and the film in the few scenes he’s in. Even if it hurt to hear Cardellini get discussed again, your reasoning makes sense. Surprised no one mentioned Michelle Yeoh.
Sight unseen, Kidman getting nominated for Destroyer would be a fun surprise. She’s never been recognized for her weird projects.
I think people are calling Roma Cuaron's "most personal" film because it's in Spanish and that must be more personal to a Spanish speaker.
The cascading effect?
*Anthony Perkins over Burt Lancaster. Burt Lancaster over Henry Fonda. Henry Fonda over James Stewart. James Stewart over Robert Donat.
*Montgomery Clift over William Holden. William Holden over Jose Ferrer.
*Robert De Niro over Peter Finch. Peter Finch over Gene Hackman. Gene Hackman over Art Carney.
Sight unseen, Kidman getting nominated for Destroyer would be a fun surprise. She’s never been recognized for her weird projects.
Oscar has never recognized Nicole for an R rated movie.
Ugh, Destroyer is horrible. I'm kinda glad it's not gotten much buzz -- not just because I don't like it (it's so intent on being twisty and her makeup is horrible), but also because I've been waiting for studio heads to realize that releasing a film in the last week of the year to try and get Oscar nominations is a strategy that fails more often than it succeeds.
Elements of buzzy films that aren't getting enough praise: If Beale Street Could Talk for Best Costume Design, Jonathan Pryce in The Wife for Best Actor (or Supporting Actor?).
Finally, do we really think Mary Poppins Returns is going to be the #1 movie in the country come January? (Heck, come Monday?) Aquaman will surely out-gross it, no?
Murtada - I agree with you about Beautiful Boy! It's not a perfect film, but the performances were suffused with empathic understanding, and many scenes resonated and affected me deeply.
Thank you for answering my question about cascading Oscar wins - and Nathaniel, never apologize for cat noises in the background.
Matt - well said, I feel the same and thank you for joining my lonely island.
Evan - yeah aquaman might get the top spot, still MPR will be a big hit even if not #1. People will be watching and talking about Blunt while voting, I think. And sorry I missed your question about Amazing Grace, I wasn't able to see it in the one week soldout run and then it didn't make the short list.
Rebecca, Nick T and All - keep the questions coming, we had fun answering and hope you enjoyed listening!
Helen Mirren gets supporting actress for Gosford Park; Meryl Streep gets 3rd oscar for The devil wears Prada; Viola Davis gets bests actress for the Help and doesn’t commit category fraud for Fences; Naomi Harris wins for Moonlighting. Done, solve it.
Great podcast! And I enjoyed the cascading question/discussion at the end. I'd be all about an earlier Penn win that opened up the Mystic River slot, since then Bill Murray could've won for Lost in Translation. Other ones I'd favor - Oldman winning for Tinker Tailor instead of Dujardin, since then Chalamet could've won last year, and Firth for A Single Man instead of Bridges for Crazy Heart, which then would've opened up space for Eisenberg to win for The Social Network the following year (instead of Firth for The King's Speech).
lss -- OOOOH GREAT CHOICES.
Geraldine Page wins for Sweet Bird of Youth in 1962 — which means Anne Bancroft wins for The Graduate in 1967 instead of Kathy Heps but most importantly, Whoopi wins for The Color Purple in 1985 and Diane Ladd upsets Lorraine Bracco in 1990 with Wild at Heart (this last one is unlikely, but still)..
Any more supporting actress smackdowns on the way? The smack is my crack!
Adam -- as discussed in this very podcast, other than the supporting actress smackdown of 2018 (once we have our nominees) it's just too difficult to do them time-wise during awards season so the next one will be 1972 in late March.
Oh well - as I am back in Australia on holidays I will have to revisit the back catalogue!
Murtada - No worries. I ended up seeing Amazing Grace after posting that question (at least, I think that was the order of events). It's good, but it's basically the concert filmed and presented as-is. After seeing it, I think it's appropriate that other more crafted films made the shortlist.
Re Beale Street's pretty look: The world Black folks are forced to live in is ugly, but the communities we create (physical, cultural, emotional, spiritual, religious) have and continue to sustain and carry us. Just like in Do The Right Thing, the beauty depicted in Beale Street is natural and necessary.
On the cascading actressing front: Jodie Foster (Nell) over Jessica Lange (Blue Sky) so that Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise) triumphs over Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs) so that Sigourney Weaver (Working Girl) gets her "supporting" win.
NewMoonSun: you endorse Jodie Foster's performance in NELL? That's a first.
Alfred: LOL It's a makeup Oscar, since I took away the Accused and Silence wins. I wasn't impressed with Jessica or the other nominees that year. And Oscar has rewarded worst performances (Jennifer Lawrence and Sandra Bullock to name just two).