Podcast: Bohemian Rhapsody and the Best Actor Race

Nathaniel R, Murtada Elfadl and Chris Feil talk new films and the Oscar race

Index (65 minutes)
00:01 Bryan Singer's Bohemian Rhapsody, homophobic storytelling, and cat reaction shots
10:25 Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, the limits and strengths of the performance
14:08 The Best Actor race: Bradley, Ethan, Viggo, Willem, and Rami? Plus floundering campaigns for First Man and The Front Runner and the default possibilities of Vice? 
35:00 Lucas Hedges in both Ben is Back and Boy Erased
37:30 Boy Erased in general, Nicole & Russell's fine parental performances, and a bit of The Miseducation of Cameron Post on the side 
50:30 Recent DVDs: Mamma Mia 2, Leave No Trace, Skate Kitchen, and Sorry to Bother You
55:55 Return trips to both A Star is Born and BlacKkKlansman
01:02:00 Can You Ever Forgive Me? afterglow and Wildlife fade?

References / Further Reading
• Nathaniel's review of Bohemian Rhapsody
• Best Actor Chart 
• Murtada on Carey Mulligan
• Jorge's Mamma Mia obsession

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? 

Bohemian Erased

Podcast: The Hate U Give, Burning, Border, Suspiria

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk four new films now in theatrical release in select cities

Index (67 minutes)
00:01 The Hate U Give is heavy handed but moving. Amandla Stenberg and Russell Hornsby are very good in it
27:19 Spoiler warning about our discussions of Burning and Border (though in truth we don't get that spoilery. We still speak vaguely but if you wanna go in completely cold, skip!)
28:12 Burning starring Steven Yeun and directed by genius Lee Chang-dong
39:30 Discussion of Oscar's foreign film hopefuls and how they routinely ignores Asian movies
47:00 Sweden's bizarre submission Border and its multiple genres
53:15 Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria
64:00 Running times and wrap-up.

References / Further Reading
• Nathaniel's review of Burning & Border
• Dan's Review of The Hate U Give
• Chris's review of Wildlife 
• Carey Mulligan drag Instagram cuteness 
• Best Foreign Language Film Predictions

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? 

The Hate U Give and more...

Podcast: Beautiful Boy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk new films in theaters.

Index (52½ minutes)
00:01 NYC plays itself in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
02:30 Melissa McCarthy's best performance ever
16:10 Jonah Hill's Mid 90s
19:02 Denmark's Submission The Guilty
22:00 Hilary Swank and Robert Forster in What They Had?
29:00 Split opinions on Timothée Chalamet & Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy
40:30 Green Book Sneak Peak
47:15 Best Actress discussion and Glenn Close on stage in NYC currently
52:00 Wrap up

Referenced
• Murtada's Beautiful Boy Tweet
• Chris's Can You Ever Forgive Me? Review
• Denmark & Oscar
• Best Supporting Actor

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? 

Can You Ever Forgive Beautiful Boys?

Podcast: First Man, Colette, and A Star is Born

Nathaniel R and Murtada Elfadl talk three new films in theaters.

Index (54 minutes)
00:01 Intro & Festival fatigue
02:00 First Man Nathaniel is pro and Murtada mixed
14:30 We both love A Star is Born (but aren't rooting 4 Gaga to win)
35:00 Backlashes at the Oscars and what happens.. or doesn't
38:00 Best Picture randomness and Roma
42:35 Keira Knightley as Colette
48:20 Please look out for Border and Shoplifters which are opening soon

Referenced in this discussion
• Roma review
• NYFF Reviews
• Best Actress Chart 
• Best Actor Chart

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? 

Colette, First Man, A Star is Born

Link Buzz

← TODAY'S MUST LISTEN. Nick and I joined Joe Reid and Chris Feil on their new podcast "This Had Oscar Buzz" this week for a special episode. If you haven't yet heard their podcast they generally cover one major failed Oscar bet each time and discuss that year as well. But this episode ignores the usual formula since we recorded in Canada and talked TIFF movies. We covered many of the films which currently have Oscar buzz like Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, Wildlife, and  A Star is Born. 

Okay on to links! We probably missed a whole lotta news while we were away in Canada but here are a few random links for ya!

• IndieWire Critics rank of the best performances and films from TIFF. This list is completely nuts. Lady Gaga makes the list but Bradley Cooper doesn't? Whaaaa. FTR Gaga is solid with the acting but Bradley Cooper, a great actor already, tops his own previous career best. It's no contest. Maybe the odd results are that they only let us vote for one thing per category, so no rankings or anything else. But still.
• Feedspot "30 Best European Movie Blogs" Somehow The Film Experience made the list even though we aren't really European... (well a couple of contributors are!). And we do cover Eurofilms. But we're in good company so thank you Feedspot.
• Broadway.com had readers vote for which current TV series should be stage musicals. Weird poll but I can definitely see a few of them working
• THR Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding was added to the A Simple Favor poster after the fact to capitalize on his new stardom
• THR Bryan Singer in talks to direct Red Sonja. Somehow he's still going to be paid top dollar despite being fired from his last picture for frequently not showing up on set!