Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 5:18PM ...did you click over hoping to read about right this second*? (In related news, it's reader appreciation month so I might be open to requests)
*I'm sorry that it wasn't here but do tell!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 5:00AM Tonight Joe, Katey, Nick and I , Nathaniel, will be calling a wrap on Oscar 2012 coverage (yes, yes, it's 2013 but I go by film year) with one final podcast. Any questions you'd like answered as we say our goodbyes? Sound off.
Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 8:00PM 
A couple of days after the Oscar Nominations, I rang up Joe Reid, Katey Rich and Nick Davis to discuss the Academy's big reveal. In pt 1 of this hour long conversation we discuss:
1) The snubs that hurt us most.
2) The moments that made us squeal with delight.
3) Reader Questions. Thank you to the handful of people who were brave enough to ask them.
Pt 1 is mostly focused on the "big eight": Picture (Amour & Beasts of the Southern Wild !), Director (Benh Zeitlin - yes!, Ben Affleck -???), Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress (Amy Adams & Jacki Weaver mostly), Supporting Actor, and the Screenplays.
But high profile categories aside the masterful but snubbed Animated Short The Eagleman Stag gets a shout-out. And I promised I'd link up to it in this post, so here ya go. Watch it!
The Eagleman Stag. Absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately snubbed.
You can download the podcast on iTunes or listen right here at the bottom of the post.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 10:00AM Last time y'all voted to make me watch Jeff Who Lives at Home which I have even though my post is running late. Soon it'll be time to seize my queue again. Which of these newish DVD releases must I watch and write about after Jeff?
Vote now or forever hold your piece... peace? Stop holding things and start clicking is what I mean. Make a stand for your choice in the comments to sway the voting.
DVD, reader requests Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 6:00PM It's time to answer reader questions again! Roughly once a week I'll throw up an "Ask Nathaniel" post and then select the questions that trigger something in me. There are often great questions I don't answer because they'd require a whole book. Or a top ten list and we save the listing mostly for other features. Let's go.
CARLOS: I recently came across Working Girl (1988) on TV by chance. I think Griffith and, especially, Weaver are great and the costumes (unintentionally) hilarious when seen today, but what's YOUR opinion on the movie and Griffith? Do you think she could have a comeback? What would it take?
Working Girl is a total time machine for the late 80s. But truth: the costumes were intentionally funny. Or at least those worn by Griffith and the adorable Joan Cusack who were meant to be absurdly dressed. Most readers won't be aware of this because there's no reason to talk about her now, but Melanie Griffith was, for me in the 90s, the equivalent of Swank and the Zeéeeee in the 00s (i.e. actresses who I just can't with). My friends in college used to hide pictures of her in my dorm room to torture me with when I discovered them. Once, a huge poster of Melanie was staring at me from the ceiling when I jumped in bed!
I like the movie well enough but at the time it was wildly overawarded -- one of those AMPAS Christmas crushes that plays so well in the moment but is hardly better than earlier releases that it temporarily shoves out of favor during the crucial nomination period. When I look back at 1988 I'm always pissed that Bull Durham (a summer hit 1 nomination), Running on Empty (a September critical darling, 2 nominations) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (a June smash with 6 nominations and better than nearly every one of the Best Picture nominees) didn't get various big Oscar props that they deserved. I blame Working Girl because it's the easiest film to blame that year. And I especially blame Griffith because Susan Sarandon's "Annie Savoy", one of the greatest performances of the whole decade, was snubbed to include her!
JAMES: Many lament the onslaught of remakes/reboots/re-imaginings, but what film(s) would actually benefit from a remake? As an example, I ask you to consider Rosemary's Baby. While the acting stands up, much of the rest of the film is pretty creaky. What are your thoughts?
&
STEVE: What cinematic, television or literary character do you think should be revisited?
[Remakes, Chris Nolan, and Oscarables AFTER THE JUMP]
