This Had Oscar Buzz

After their 2017 exposé of the horrors Harvey Weinstein inflicted upon women for decades, Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey detailed their process in their 2019 book She Said. Post-pandemic, Maria Schrader directed an adaptation that reflected the lives of both reporters in tandem with their work and their struggle to get women on the record about … Continue reading "405 – She Said"

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a musical like no other. A Off-Broadway smash in 1998 from creators John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, Mitchell also starred as the titular volatile rocker who escaped East Berlin after a forced surgery to live as a woman, only to have her songs stolen … Continue reading "404 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch"

We welcome back Richard Lawson this week to discuss Tommy Lee Jones’s final (to date!) directorial effort, 2014’s The Homesman. Led by Hilary Swank, the film follows a 19th century woman charged to transport three women with “prairie madness” across the Nebraska Territory. With Jones as a wayward man who assists her journey, the film debuted … Continue reading "403 – The Homesman (with Richard Lawson!)"

As The Odyssey continues to prove to be a career peak for Christopher Nolan and possible return to the Oscar stage, we’re looking back at a very different take on Homer’s epic poem. In 2024, The Return reunited Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche as the Ithacan king and queen – but limited the story just to the fallout from … Continue reading "402 – The Return"

In the bygone moviegoing trend of “interconnected stories of Angelenos,” this week’s episode is a forgotten entry with a loaded cast. Playing By Heart from writer/director Willard Carroll follows multiple stories of romantic struggles, with Gena Rowlands and Sean Connery as a TV chef and her producer husband as the film’s epicenter. With themes of … Continue reading "401 – Playing By Heart"