This Had Oscar Buzz

In the years after his Oscar win for The Untouchables, Sean Connery remained a major movie star and box office draw. The latter proved untrue in 1990 when The Russia House fizzled at the holiday box office. Based on the John le Carré novel, the film follows Connery as a publisher pulled into espionage in Russia during perestroika, only to fall in love with an informant’s wife, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. One year after The Fabulous Baker Boys, Pfeiffer earned a Globe nomination for her performance, but Oscar honored neither of these headliners. This episode, we discuss director Fred Schepisi and the Academy’s arms-length relationship with the chillier adaptations of le Carré’s work. We also discuss Connery’s next decade as a major star, Pfeiffer’ on her 10th THOB-day (that’s a To Gillian reference for anyone paying attention)’s extensive THOB history, and director Ken Russell hiding out among the film’s ensemble. Topics also include the 1990 EW Holiday Movie Preview, a Berlin competition lineup with two Best Picture winners, and composer Jerry Goldsmith.

We have writer Emily St. James back with us this week, so naturally we’re breaking our own record for oldest film discussed on the show (after her episode on Moby Dick)! Based on the Broadway smash comedy, Arsenic and Old Lacewas Frank Capra’s intentional return to comedy after a string of serious movies. Starring Cary Grant as the critic nephew of two aging sisters, the farce unfolds as the aunts reveal they have been offing unmarried travelers and a brother who now looks like Boris Karloff returns to the family. Since the adaptation rights stipulated the film could not open until the Broadway run ended, the film sat on a shelf and was not released until Capra was overseas documenting the war. This episode, we talk about Emily’s new book (with Lauren Theisen) about It’s a Wonderful Life titled Every Time a Bell Rings and the effect of WWII on Capra. We also talk about the Broadway run that actually starred Karloff, Grant’s nomination in the same year for None But The Lonely Heart, and face guy Peter Lorre. Topics also include The Best Years of Our Lives, high school theatre, and queer coding.

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 the case. With a strong and sprawling ensemble led by Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan, the film was ultimately met with polite but less than effusive reviews. This episode, we talk about the film’s struggle with depicting expository process and the perhaps unavoidable comparisons to Spotlight. We also discuss Mulligan’s category fraud campaign in Supporting Actress, Samantha Morton giving one-scene barnburner, and the film’s use of actors in the roles of familiar names in the case. Topics also include the AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, Ashley Judd playing herself, and MVP Jennifer Ehle.