This Had Oscar Buzz - 171 – The Mighty

Episode Date: November 15, 2021

This week, we are talking about Sharon Stone and The Mighty. Adpated from the young adult novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, the film follows a burgeoning friendship between a silent giant teenager Max (Elden Henson) and a King Arthur obsessed neighbor with a rare metabolic disorder Kevin (Kieran Culkin). But the film’s real … Continue reading "171 – The Mighty"

Uh-oh, wrong house. No, the right house. I didn't get that! We want to talk to Marilyn Hacks. I'm from Canada. I'm from Canada water. My father was a magician. He heard the words, birth defect, and he disappeared.

So I don't even know who my father is. I just know that's not who I am. And that's not who you are either. Now, these two knights are on a crusade to bring chivalry back in style. Their fair means to rescue dragons to slay. Set the wrong things right and prove that courage comes in all sizes. Welcome to the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast, the only podcast that wants you to be kind. Every week on This Had Oscar Buzz, we'll be talking about a different movie that once upon a time had lofty Academy Award aspirations, but for some reason or another, it all went wrong.

The Oscar hopes died, and we are here to perform the autopsy. I'm your host, Joe Reed. I'm here, as always, with my mechanical bird, Chris File. Hello, Chris. Launch me into the skyline of Cincinnati. Get on your whirly bird and fly away. Cincinnati Cinema. I know. What others?

Thought so much about it. This exists within the same cinematic universe as dark waters, as the killing of a sacred deer. Wow. I'm trying to place other Cincinnati movies. I would not have remembered that killing of a sacred deer was a Cincinnati movie. That's very good. Oh, let me tell you. That definitely, like, affected my reading of the movie of, like, Cincinnati is the perfect choice for

the killing of a sacred deer and, like, what it is saying about the nuclear use. unit and you know oh my god that's so funny wasn't anomalisa cincinnati hmm i want to look it would track but i don't think it was since i yeah i tried to scrub the most of anomalies out of my brain traveling to cincinnati yeah i feel like i remember something about like skyline chili or something like that in there so um yeah yes and yet all of everybody in this movie clearly has you know migrating to Cincinnati because no one has the same dialect in this movie. It is kind of like a vision board of what people think Cincinnati might sound like.

We're going to end up talking about Jillian Anderson in this movie at some point. Who I have previously on Mike referred to as the pedal coil of this movie. One but a trillion percent is the... One bazillion percent. She is Kate Blanchett in the shipping news. Yes. I don't know what Gillian Anderson is on. I feel like she is trying to perform.

some type of like meta comment on this character she plays her the performance is like straight out of a branson missouri airport community theater production of steel magnolias it's it's very um like modern day gangsters mall meets um sort of like white trash rosan kind of side character she also she shows up All about Eve on a Springer episode. She shows up at the very end of this movie on a bus stop with a neck brace and her hair, very curly and up in like a side ponytail. And she looks for all the world like a slightly more grown-up, Lara Flynn Boyle in Wayne's world. Remember, Lara Flynn Boyle? Hi, Wayne.

When she like takes the header over the car and then she ends up in the neck brace, and she's okay yeah that's all I could think of that's absolutely all I could think of Julian Anderson in this movie she is worth the price of admission because it is a bonkers performance holy mackerel

it is from another planet and this was like Julian Anderson is like a weirdo but she's the type of actress that her performances don't give off weirdo energy but this one definitely does this was during her like heyday of X-Files

I think she might have won, and now I want to look and see when she won her Emmy Awards, because she might have won the Emmy like this very year. It was, no, she had won it the year before. She had won the Emmy in 1997 for playing Scully on the X-Files, and then this was 1998. So she was a reigning Emmy champion. So she would have just won her Emmy filming this, though. Yes, exactly. Yes, she probably walked in, placed her Emmy on the table.

And also, this was just before. before, like right before James Gandalfini got the Sopranos. So this was like a really interesting kind of like nexus for a couple of these people. We'll talk about Gandalfini because this is, of course, our sixth James Gandalfini movie, so we're going to do a little six-time or celebration for him. But we're talking about the Mighty this week, Chris. We are indeed talking about the Mighty. Before we get into it, I want to remind our listeners all month long,

we are preparing for our next listeners' choice episode and our next mailbag episode. So definitely tweet at us and email us your listener's choice submission and your mailback questions. Just a quick reminder that listeners choice episodes, nothing after 2019. And one movie per person,

reminder that the Kill Bill movies are two movies. Stuff like that. As the person who is keeping the spreadsheet for this, Chris. How insane has it been trying to... Because, like, I don't think I've seen any movie that's gotten two votes yet. We have multiple movies that have multiple votes at this point. The submissions aren't too wild yet.

Also, a reminder, you can only... Did I say you can only submit one movie? You did. Yes. First movie I see you submitting is the one that gets a tally, so vote wisely. All right. There we go. But, you know, usually as these things go, most of the votes come in. pretty late. People like to stew on their questions, their listener's choice. They know the responsibility that they have in their grasp. Well, and credit to the people who vote early because

you've used your vote and now you are at the mercy of other people agreeing with you or not. So you're setting the pace. If you are an early voter, you have a responsibility to get other people to the polls who might not have the means to do so. So, you know, correct. Rally your friends. Get votes in there. Again, this is how Mother Marcos beat Mother Blanc, but that's a different episode. Excuse me. Democracy dies in darkness. Throw in your mailback questions and listeners twice to us.

Yes. You can tweet at us at Had underscore Oscar underscore Buzz, or you can email us at Had Oscar Buzz at Gmail. Do it. All right. So back to the Mighty. This is when we've sort of had hanging out in our, you know, movie bank for a wide. Should we do it? Obviously, it got a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe nomination for Sharon Stone, which is sort of why it hangs around in this midst. It was a Miramax movie, so we knew that they knew how to campaign, even though this was 1998. So this was obviously the Shakespeare and Love Year. They had, you know, bigger fish to fry. But this was never going to be a big fish no matter what. This was always going to be a very targeted Oscar campaign, if there was going to be one.

And there is a sense that, like, this is the kind of indie movie that you would need to, you know, create a little bit of a narrative around, right? It's important that Sharon Stone is playing the mother of a sick kid, and it's inspirational, and it's not the kind of movie that they make anymore. and I don't want to be like secret masterpiece because it's not. It's fairly, it's sentimental and it's cheesy and it's, you know, uneven in places. But it's a...

That being said, I like it. It's a cute movie. It's a cute movie. It's a why... For what it is, it's a less gratiating and annoying version of what you think the movie is going to be. That is true. I also have a soft spot for this movie because I was a kid who read the books.

Oh, you did. I didn't know that at all. I had never heard of these books. There's a sequel after what takes place in this movie, where the lead character, basically, there's another semi-tragic child figure that becomes his friend. And, you know, oh, wow. So, I want to put a pin in the Miramax thing, because now I've opened up the Miramax Wikipedia page. And it's astounding how many movies they released in this year. This was. Post-English patient, so they were really feeling themselves, and, like, you could tell. So, but I was going to say, this is the kind of Y.A. adaptation you don't get anymore, where now all of a sudden Y.A. seems to be exclusively, like, big scope, post-apocalyptic adventure starring kids. Franchise, cinematic universe type of thing. Or, a tragic teen romance where, one of them is dying, if not both of them are dying. Like, there's a dying kid in this, too.

I mean, this is, like, a tragic teen friend manse where one of them dies. But you don't get that anymore. You don't get the, um, like, this is, and this is a movie that is, it's pitched to like, maybe sad kids and their parents, you know what I mean? I'm like, it is very much a movie that would be like watched in a classroom on a TV that was wheeled in on a cart, but like I would say, and we'll get into like some of the tropes that are in this

movie that are like very Oscar friendly that like if the movie was a little bit better and more like serious minded, I think this movie like part of why I think it's enjoyable at least is that it's

unpretentious about this but like if it followed those tropes down maybe a little bit heavier of a path, like, this is the type of movie that would have done, you know, better, or at least seemed more like an Oscar play. Yeah. In watching the movie.

Yeah. It's also a movie about, like, young characters sort of forming their own reality, which is, like, a lot of movies did that around that era. Some of them were very sort of, like, artsy and high-minded about it, like, heavenly creatures or something like that. but even stuff like, you know, your bridge to Terribithias, your, even to an extent like my girl, where it's not like they made their own reality, but like the two little kids and my girl, another movie with a Culkin, who dies, but like they had their own, like, little

you know, world together, right? They were just like, the way that, like, kids do that where, like, the kids' lives kind of exist independently, and the threats are the times that that world is punctured, which is what happens in The Mighty 2, with, you know, Eldon Henson's dad comes back, it's James Gandalfini, he's a criminal, he's been in jail, and that, like, intrusion of, you know, his haunted past with his dad, Kieran Culkin's, you know, thing with his sickness, those things sort of infringe upon this, you know, great little friendship that they had. it's cute it's a cute movie it's a nice movie it definitely plays to teens and preteens more and like what i was more eloquently saying is that like if it was more for adults you know

it would be like treated differently like my girl i think is a great counterpoint to it too whereas like at least at the time like i think we can take my girl a little bit more seriously now but like at the time it's like this is a movie for children because it's like yeah that's who they're aiming for. I think if the Mighty was more geared towards adults, you'd see more of Sharon Stone's character trying to find answers to her son's illness or grappling with it on her own.

You never really, you very rarely see her on her own in this movie besides like a scene with a doctor where she's, you know, being told the kid's diagnosis otherwise. Or a scene with Jennifer Lewis, our first. First, Jennifer Lewis picture. Okay, this is a thing. This is maybe my biggest complaint with the movie, is you cast Jennifer Lewis in your movie to play a purely functionary character.

Like, what a waste. What a waste of such a sparkling personality to have her have to deliver these, like, very dry pronouncements as a school principal, like... In one scene? It's two scenes, because she also has the scene where she tells Elder Henson's character that her father got paroled. Ah, yes. But anyway, it's still two scenes where she's just being the somber bearer of troubling

news, which that's not what you cast Jennifer Lewis in your movie for. I don't know where else. I guess she could have played the Jillian Anderson role, and she would have been amazing at it. But anyway, I was trying to think of all of our movies categories, categories, that I could possibly pull out Jennifer Lewis in The Mighty, and I was not coming up with many of them, unfortunately. We've got to do these categories again soon.

All right. So Miramax in 1998, I want to sort of set the table with this because, like, they were not kidding around. They had so many movies. A lot of them, you've maybe not heard of, but I think the bigger ones, or at least the ones that feel more notable now, they had the M. Night Shyamalan debut movie Wide Awake, Renee Zellweger, in a price above rubies, which I've never seen, but I definitely remember.

it that's the one where she um is that the one where she plays a Hasidic woman or is that I do believe a different one um but anyway yes yes um is that the one also that stars no what's the one where that co-stars Vincent Tenoffrio who she always credits as like helping to teach her how to act

oh um the whole wide world that's right yes maybe yes I think that's the one anyway um a price of a of rubies was Miramax 1998 sliding doors which they did in co-production with paramount smoke signals which was a big indie spirits hit i remember at the time 54 which we've covered on this podcast before rounders which was such a like big MTV demographic hit at the time the mighty life is beautiful which was the other big oscar play that they had Todd Haynes's velvet gold mine Woody Allen's Celebrity, Little Voice, which got an Oscar nomination for Brenda Blethen, another Jillian Anderson, Jenna Rowland's joint, playing by heart, came out in December.

They're both in that, right? I'm not wrong. Yes, I can't wait until we cover that movie. We are going to cover that movie at some point. Oh, what a cast. What a cast in that film. Down in the Delta, which was the movie that was directed by Maya Angelou that I've not seen, but I remember that being a little bit of a deal. And yeah, those are sort of the big ones in 1998. And that's like, that's not all of them. Like there are maybe a dozen more movies that are like smaller and you've maybe never heard of before. But they were churning them out in this era.

And so the fact that their big awards plays were obviously Life is Beautiful and Shakespeare in Love, but they were able to get a nomination for Brenda Blethin and Little Voice. They were able to get a costume nomination for Velvet Goldmine, which is why we can't talk about that movie on this podcast. unfortunately. They were able to make rounders something of a hit. They were able to make smoke signals and indie spirits hit. They were putting all their eggs, most of their eggs in the Shakespeare and Levin' Life is Beautiful Baskets, but like there were eggs to go around. You know what I mean?

Like they had a lot of eggs. This was Miramax in 1998. They had a lot of eggs. So Sharon Stone got a little bit of an Oscar campaign out of this, enough to at least get a Golden Globe nomination. Her first of two consecutive ones. because we've talked about the other one that she got the very next year for the muse. The watch gift controversy.

Yes. So we're back to Sharon Stone. She plays the, you know, concerned, frightened, warm, nice mom to Kieran Culkin in this. Why don't we do the plot description now so that we can get into like the nuts and bolts of her character? All right. Been a minute since I've had to do one. So let's see how this goes. I know. I know. All right. So this week, we are going to be talking about, as we said, 1998's of the Mighty, directed by Peter Chesolm, written by Charles Leavitt, based on the YA novel, Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick, stars Eldon Henson, Kieran Carence, Karen Coulton, Sharon Stone, Jenna Rowlands, Harry Dean Stanton, Gillian Anderson, Meatloaf, and James Gandalfini. It premiered on October 9th, 1998. Chris, going to pull out my little

stopwatch. I'm going to give you 60 seconds on the clock. Are you ready to talk about the Mighty? I am. All right. Your time starts now. All right. The Mighty follows Max,

who is a very large, like, 14-year-old kid. His, like, size makes kids pick on him, but he is also dyslexic, so he, like, is kind of ostracized in class.

This gets him kind of like a detention tutor in a, uh, disabled boy who goes by the name Freak that he is adopted from the people who tease him because he walks with crutches and he has this disorder where problems with his blood, etc.

They basically develop this fantasy relationship where they are Arthurian knights going around doing good things like finding ladies purses for them. They take it to that lady and it is Gillian Anderson as a Springer guest but she knows Max from his past because she recognizes him

as the son of a murderer who is just now getting out of jail who then kidnaps Max and Freak finds out that he is being kidnapped and then goes and saves him and then they have a happy life together until Freak dies shortly after Christmas and then Max decides to go forth and be happy. That's time. Very good.

Almost exactly on time. Well done. Yeah, he dies shortly after Christmas. It's sad. It's not a ton of plot and I think the movie's a little bit more interested in like the kind of emotional texture of it and this friendship than like things that actively happen in it. Max lives

with his grandparents who are played by General Rollins and Harry Dean Stanton. Yeah, they have the sort of Arthurian thing is the big sort of thematic thread through the movie where

Max... They go and they do good deeds like make abusive boyfriend friends leave cafes. Right, yes. Max being the bigger one, sort of carries Kevin around on his shoulders. And so they become this sort of like, you know, two-tiered superhuman almost like. And Kevin's like kind of like, you know, kicking his heels in to make him turn one way or the other.

So there's a little bit of like, you know, a knight atop his steed sort of a thing. And, yeah, it's, it's cute. It's that thing of, like, two broken people, you know, find what they are missing in one another, which, you know, was a cute idea. And, um... And there's, like, this whole, like, you know, societal underdog thing of it. Like, the movie doesn't really deal with, like, the poverty that they live in, but, like, they're in a rundown neighborhood type of situation. and, you know, Max's dad killed his mom and then kidnaps him, and they, like, are hiding out in this, you know,

kind of ramshackle apartment building. Yep, yep, it's true. Do you have, like, any kind of associations with Eldon Henson from the movies that you watched when you were a kid? I mean, he's in, she's all that. He's in, she's all that. He started, so he was... With Kieran Culkin, by the way.

Oh, I didn't realize, I didn't remember that Kieran. Culkin was in She's All That. Is he the little brother? Yes. I think he is her little brother, yes. Interesting. Eldon Henson started out, at least for me. He was in a few other movies, but the first thing I ever saw him in was The Mighty Ducks movies. He was... Oh, duh, the Mighty Ducks.

One of the... This is the gritty reboot of The Mighty Ducks, just the Mighty. Right. Yes, exactly. Yeah, you're right. He was in She's All That. He was in that movie, Idle Hands with Devin Sawa. Sure. He sort of shows up every once in a while.

also remember him from not specifically the Battle of Shaker Heights, but the Battle of Shaker Heights was the movie that was as a result of the second season of Project Greenlight. And so they cast him as kind of the best friend in that. And that was another movie where these teen characters create their own little reality. And that one, I think it was like reenacting great battles through history or whatever. And that was Shia LeBuff was the main star of that. So I remember Eldon Henson a little bit from that. And I always sort of liked him. He showed up more recently in The Hunger Games movies, and he was on Daredevil, the Netflix series Daredevil and all those attendant TV shows. But he's somebody who I always associate very strongly with, like, the movies of my teen years. Teen era of this era, basically. And then Kieran Culkin, you know, growing up sort of in the shadow of his more famous at the time, at least older brother, Macaulay Culkin, his career at this point, he was, like, he's in the Home Alone movies.

He's Fuller who wets the bed in the home alone movies. But like, he was mostly known before this for being the youngest kid in the father of the bride movies. He's the little one in that, the one who goes and parks the cars in the First Father of the Bride. And he's very, like, cute. He's very little in that. He's like little kid in the tucks in Father of the Bride. How tall is Kieran Culkin as an adult? Do we know?

I can't imagine he would allow that on his Wikipedia. You mean Kieran Kalkin height is not in your Google search history? No, Kieran Kalkin, other things, is in my Google search history. Ah, yes. Kieran Kalkin. Kieran, bangs. Wedding is in my, who's in my Google search history. Kieran Kalkin's shower curtain.

Kieran Kalkin, we should say, as we are recording this, is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight. And I'm hopeful that he will be funny and cute in that. I've got a little, I'm in a little Kieran Kulkin era for myself at the moment. I'm really interested in Roman Roy's character arc this season. He has started out really in kind of interesting way. exposing his vulnerability unexpectedly. It's going to end

so poorly, but I can't wait. So, yeah, The Mighty in 1998, and then he's in a bunch of things in 99. He's in all that, as you mentioned. He's in Music of the Heart. He's one of Streep's kids in Music of the Heart. Wait, there's somebody else, too. Her two kids

are like two people who, oh, it's Michael O'Garano, who's the other one. Those are her two kids in Music of the Heart, which I think it's very funny. Don't want to talk about my Michael on Garano Google search. See, see this.

All right. So now we have, all right, we've split up Merrill's kids. As an adult, I want to be clear. Obviously, obviously. Not crazy here. There's a specific jiff from the Nick that, you know. I know. I know of that jiff.

Don't worry. Karen's also in the cider house rules that same year, one of the orphanage kids. Oh, boy. Oh, right, because he's like Toby McGuire's younger friend at the orphanage. that, like, he comes back to. He's sad when Tov McGuire has to leave him. Yeah. And then 2002 is the next sort of, like, big moment for him with Igby goes down.

And then nothing really at all until he's sort of back again in Scott Pilgrim versus the world in 2010. And that's sort of when he's, you know, starts working more regularly from there. It was amazing to me rewatching this movie, how close. you know, his whole vibe is to the Roman Roy performance because, like, he's a wise-ass kid in this movie, but charming. And, like, you know, I hate wise-ass children. And, like, wise-ass characters in general. But, like, he's actually, like, a charming young actor in this movie. Yeah. I think he always has been. He's always been the sort of, like, the most talented Culkin. I feel like that was even from, like, a young

age and he kind of vacillates between smart-ass insular and sort of, you know, smug and smart-ass inviting. Like I think in Scott Pilgrim versus the world, that's sort of, that's a very like smart-ass charming kind of a role where he's Michael Sarah's best friend and he's, you know, he's gay and he's witty and he's whatever. He was one of my favorite parts of that movie that I. mostly did not quite latch on to. I mean, with the exception of, like, in the mighty, he is a vision of goodness and virtue,

and, you know, in succession, he is evil, like everyone on the show. It's like, it, he plays characters that have an awareness of other people's perception of him and undermines it with the sense of humor that I think he's a very good performer of. I saw him on stage, and this is our youth several years ago, him and Michael Sarah, actually, in that. And he was quite good. I really liked him in that.

Tavi Gevinson was also in that production, which, you know, okay. But he's good in this. He's like, you know, he's mostly, you know, he's the little one in this. He's the one, you know, you know, at the outset of this movie where that character's going, you know he's going to die, and you know it's going to be sad. Because you're watching a movie about what this is about. Right. The stuff that really got to me mostly emotionally wasn't necessarily the stuff with him, though.

It was the parts where Sharon Stone was being kind to Max. You know what I mean? It's like that's the kind of stuff that gets me is the sort of there is a, there's not a ton of conflict between Sharon Stone and any of the other characters in this movie. movie, really. There's not a ton of conflict beyond the James Gandalfini aspect of, you know, him coming back and threatening the kid. But the bullies on the beginning of the movie. Right. But it's all, that's all sort of like, it's external threats. That's the thing I was sort of talking about, like, external threats. There's not, even with like, Jenna Rollins and Harriet Dean Stanton as Max's grandparents, they're very concerned about him. And at one point, the grandfather seems to be, you know, sort of pessimistic about whether he can escape the sort of legacy of his father and this kind of thing, and he's just like his father. And yet, you don't have any, like, big fight, fights arguments between, like, Max and his grandparents, or, like, you don't get the scene of, like, Sharon Stone coming over and

being, like, I don't want your son around my son because, or your grandson around my son, because, you know, it's hazardous to his health or whatever. You, like, you would... Yeah, she's introduced in the movie after the whole, you know, festival or whatever fireworks thing, you know, where Max has evaded bullies and protected Kevin, and she's introduced in the movie essentially thanking Max's grandparents for that, you know, so it's like, it sort of, which is interesting because they live on like the same block. So you could have had some type of, you know, character relationship development there, but the movie's not

interesting. And they also have, they have like Christmas dinner together. in this sort of like montagee scene. And yet you don't really have any scenes. I would have killed for a scene of Sharon Stone and Jenna Rollins talking to each other. Cooking a turkey. Something. Like I would have, you know, just give me that. They're the two, you know, best.

Arguing over how to make mac and cheese. Right. Exactly. Like, God, I would have killed for that. But so this movie is an adaptation of a YA book, I guess the first in a series, which I didn't know. So thank you for that. directed by Peter Cheslm, who's sort of, he's a British director, but mostly not somebody I had ever really heard of. He had done some acting work in, like, theater and stuff like that in England.

He had, by this point, directed a movie called Hear My Song with, um, who's in that movie? It's a British, I want to say it's a musical, or, like, has some sort of, like, musical tinge to it. It's a Songs of a New World adaptation, and they just change it to the title to the finale song. But that was another Miramax movie from the early 90s. But this is sort of the first big American movie you did, but then follows this up with a string of movies that had, like, on a long enough lead, you could look at these movies and be like, oh, maybe that'll be something. And then they like definitely weren't where, uh, the next one after the mighty was he directed town and country, which was this like, which we have to do an episode on at some point. We absolutely do. Sort of this like legendary, uh, face plant of a movie that starred

Warren Beatty and like Warren Beatty was not making movies at this point. So like Warren, Warren Beatty making a movie was news, um, at this point in his career. And like, nothing happened with it. Diane Keaton's in it. Goldie Hawn. Andy McKeaton's in it. Goldie Hawn. Andy McDowell, Gary Shandling, Nastassia Kinski. This cast is crazy. And it was written by, or co-written, at least by Buck Henry, who we talked about recently when we did to die for. So that was a total flop.

Critics hated it. Nobody saw it. It cost $100 million to make it. God, is that true? Holy shit. Yes. That same year, he directs Serendipity, the John Cusack, Kate Beckett. sale rom-com that I want to say, was that one of those like got released right after September

11th movies? It was indeed a very, like, immediately post-9-11 movie. I believe it came out that September. And it was set in New York City. So, like, it's supposed to have, like, the whole thing is it's like, it's, you know, the holidays in New York City, and it's supposed to make you, like, really sort of swoony for the city. So, like, the timing could not have been worse with everybody having such anxiety about New York City at the time. So I've never seen that movie, but I've heard every once in a while somebody will stick up for that as like an underrated rom-com.

Molly Shannon is like the friend in that movie, right? Is she? I've not seen it. I should see it. I should see it. I know that the joke is that she gets a fake Prada bag and the bag says Prado. That's funny. And then 2004, he directed Shall We Dance, which

was Richard Geer, takes dancing lessons from Jennifer Lopez so that he can be a better husband to his wife, Susan Sarandon. And I can't remember, is there a romance between Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez and that, or is that not the direction that it goes? I think it's like the idea of it, but that's not the way that it goes. Right.

Also a remake, too. Oh, right. Of a Japanese movie, yes? Mm-hmm. That one doesn't really, like, that was another one where it's just like, maybe it's got Richard Gere. It's got Susan Strad and it's got Jennifer Lopez. Could that be something?

And like, no. By the time, like, people saw it. They were like, yeah, that's not really an awardsy thing. So, and then the most recently, he directed the Ace of Butterfield Got Born in Space movie, the space between us. Remember that one? And it's like a teenage romance, right? Because it's him and Britt Robertson. Something like that.

Something like that. Anyway. You hopscotched over, perhaps, the most important. important credit in his director filmography. The Hannah Montana movie. Right. Which I saw in a theater. I think I theoretically saw it, but I'm not positive. This was when

actually past guest, recent past guest, Tareriano and I had decided we were doing something called Bad Movie Wednesdays, where I worked and she lived in the same sort of neighborhood. And so we would just get together and pick something that looked dumb, but we were intrigued enough to see it, and we would go see it. This is how we watched Ghosts of Girlfriends Passed. This is how we saw 17 again together. We saw Monsters v. Aliens, and we saw the Hannah Montana movie, among a few others.

But that was a fun little time. Hannah Montana, the movie justly remembered mostly for Margo Martindale doing. uh ho-down throw-down which I know one of our other past guests Cameron Sheets asked Margot about when he interviewed her for the AV club and she like totally remembered it

and she like did a little like bit of it it was very charming and very cool so um yeah you're right I should have mentioned the Hannah Montana movie probably his like biggest success of his career I would I would say that's probably a very solid bet because the Mighty did not make any money.

Let's say that. Let's be clear about that. Let's be clear on our terms about that. So, also in this movie, as we have mentioned, is James Gandalfini playing Eldon Henson's father. Killer Kane. Killer Kane. Which, like, he's basically playing a W.W.E. wrestler, but it sounds like a

W.W.E name? I'm pretty sure even the grandparents refer to him as Killer Kane, and it's like, you know his name. You know his real name. If you name your kid Killer Kane, he's not going to grow up to be a florist. Listen, the only Killer Kane I want to talk about is Carol Kane and Office Killer. Killer Kane, there is a WWF wrestler, WWE wrestler called Kane, so good

get there, but it also makes me think of on the challenge. I should killed someone. No, well, his origin story, Kane's origin story, was that he was the survivor of a funeral home fire. He and his family grew up

in a funeral home where his father was the whatever funeral home guy, and his brother, the undertaker, supposedly set the fire at the funeral home that killed him, but of course that was not true. And there were lies and deceptions.

And it's wrestling, so, like, backstories get changed every several years. But that was the big dramatic origin story of Kane. But also, it makes me think of the challenge, which is one of my, you know, guilty pleasure shows, where there was a girl named Cam, and she won a bunch of challenges, and she named herself Kill a Cam, which was, like, awesome. And she was great, and I loved Killer Cam. So, anyway, Gandalfini as Killer Kane is our sixth, James, Gandalfini movie that we have done on the podcast, which comes as kind of a surprise, mostly

because it's the most random assemblage of roles I think we've had in any of these six-timers clubs. Like, I would challenge as if, like, you know, we can just talk to Nicole Kidman or whoever. I think there is no weirder assemblage. Well, tell us the roles that have led James Gandalfini into the six-timers club. Sure. Starting with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which he's uncredited in, and by our Matt Damon Dermott Mulroney accords, you can, one uncredited role counts towards six timers, but if it's two of them, they only count as one. So Matt Damon had two uncredited roles, and we had to make him wait until his seventh movie.

But Dirkman Mulroney, uncredited in Burn After Reading, that counted. So by precedent, we are counting Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil as our first James Gandalfini movie. Then we did Get Shorty, where I believe his character is, gets beat up a lot, where the wild things are, where he voices the main monster. What's his, Carol? Is that his character name? He's so good in that. Sensational performance. Um, and then he and Catherine Keener are in another movie together, in our next one, they're in enough said. And then all the Kingsmen, he plays a corrupt something or other, right?

And all the Kingsmen. Correct. And now the Mighty. So that's six movies. And you know when we hit six, I give Chris a little quiz. So Chris, are you ready? All the answers? Yeah.

answers to these will be one or more of those six movies. So jot them down so you have them to go by. All right. Let's do it. Let's get into it. To start. Which of those films is the longest? Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. At 155 whopping minutes

That is correct. Midnight. Very long movie. Which is the shortest. Is it the Mighty? It's enough said. Ninety three minutes. That would have been my second guess. Which was the lowest rated on Rotten Tomatoes? Uh, is it, uh, all the king's men?

All the King's Men at 11% on Rutt made of this. Which was the highest rated. Enough set. Yeah, that was easy. 95%. Which made the most money at the domestic box office? Get Shorty? No, close.

It's where the wild things are. At 77.2 million, get Shorty was 72 million. So you were close. And I guess if. we adjusted for inflation, Goodshorty would probably wouldn't it, but like, I don't do that. Yeah, because Goodchiority was a big hit. Excuse me. Yeah, I don't do adjusted for inflation. It's fine.

Which film made the least money worldwide? The Mighty. The Mighty, yes. Managed to get pretty much tripled up by All the King's Men. The Mighty made $2.7 million domestic. All the Kingsmen made 7.2, so...

All the King's Men definitely got a somewhat wide release compared to The Mighty. Yeah. Which is the only movie of those six that is not based on a book. Enough said. Enough set. Original screenplay, yes.

Which film has a score by James Horner? Is it Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? It is not Midnight and Garden of Good and Evil. Is it All the King's Men? Yes, it is. All the Kings Men. Which were the only two of those movies that were not nominated for, golden globes all the king's men and midnight in the garden of good and evil correct get

shorty got nominated for at the very least travolta enough said got nominated for julia louis where the wild things are got a song nomination or a score one of those two score i think um and then the mighty got nominated for sharon stone and the song by sting which we will also talk about we got to talk about this we definitely do uh which one of those six movies got a sag ensemble nomination um um uh not enough said was it wouldn't have been midnight in the garden of good and evil now i'm just trying to remember what these movies are um holy shit get shorty yes get shorty did yes which film got a glad media awards nomination for best film midnight in the garden of good and evil correct yes correct yeah shout out to lady shably

Which film was on the National Board of Review's top ten list in its year? Enough said. No. Where the wild things are. Where the wild things are, correct. All right. Which three of those movies star cast members from the movie Marguerette? Kieran Culkin is in Marguerette.

but no one else is in The Mighty No Is Yeah Three movies star cast members Oh not one that stars three Okay so The Mighty

Yes All the Kingsmen Mark Ruffalo Yes And Is there somebody in enough said That's also in Marguerette There has to be a bit

bit player somewhere. It's not a bit player. Okay. It's not a bit player from enough set or whatever. Is it where the wild things are? It's where the wild things are. Who is it? That just makes sense.

Who is it? It's Ruffalo in that as well. Ruffalo is the mom's boyfriend in that. All right. Which, I'm only asking you this because I know you've seen this movie recently. Which two films star cast members from the movie Wiener Dog, the Todd Salon's movie, Weiner Dog. Wiener Dog's a good movie.

The Mighty. Kieran Culkin is in Wiener Dog. Yep. And who else is in Wiener Dog? Ellen Burstyn, who is amazing. Soja Mamet. Um, shit. Okay.

Is it also where the wild things are? It's not where the wild things are. That would have just made sense. All the King's Men? Not All the Kingsmen. Hmm. Is it... It's not Get Shorty.

No, it is Get Shorty, because Danny DeVito. Yes. Well done. Danny DeVito, also great in Weiner Dog. Yes. Which two of these films star cast members from Velvet Buzzsaw? Well, Get Shorty and Enough Set. Who from Get Shorty? Who from Enough Set?

Renee Rousseau and Tony Collette. Yes, very good. Velvet Bud saw a movie I still haven't seen that I will probably never see because a Netflix movie, if you don't watch it in a month's time, no one will remember it unless it's an Oscar movie. It's true. I would still say at some point when you have like a slow day watch it. It's worth watching. It's not great, but it's worth watching. Which film was released on the same day as Mortal Kombat Annihilation?

Oh, Annihilation. What's that quote? It's like, too bad you will die. Mortal Kombat Annihilation. I think both of the Mortal Kombat's were released in August. So, is that, well, it would have been one of the earlier 90s ones. Is it, I guess, Get Shorty? It's not Get Shorty.

Get Shorty was released the same year as the first Mortal Kombat movie in 1995. So is it The Mighty? It's not the Mighty. Is it Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil? It is. So it was a November movie, Mortal Kombat Annihilation. Thanksgiving weekend, your choices were Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Or Mortal Kombat Annihilation and maybe something else.

The best part about Mortal Kombat, the best scene in Mortal Kombat Annihilation is when Natalie Portman tells herself, Get over here. It's when Sub-Zero... Tessa Thompson just shows up and does a toastie. Yeah. Sub-Zero freezes the topiary sculpture of Tessa Thompson. That's the whole thing.

Yeah. All right. Well done on the James Gandalfini quiz. Good job. Okay. So let's talk about... about the Sharon Stone nomination for the Golden Globe here, though, because 1998 Best Supporting Actress is a category we've not really talked about a whole lot. So it's interesting because clearly

there's some like flexibility with that fifth spot because Bafta has that, it's, uh, Sharon Stone and everybody else that she's nominated against at the Globes is Oscar nominated. And those other four are at BAFTA, they are at critics choice, or not critics' choice, they show up at SAG, and the person who takes Sharon Stone's spot at SAG, that ultimately

becomes the Oscar 5. And it's Rachel Griffiths in Hillary and Jackie. This movie that fully just doesn't exist on the face of the earth right now that neither of us have seen and we're like, we should just maybe watch this movie that isn't

conceivably real. Who one the BAFTA that year? Let me see who won BAFTA. I don't know if it was... Because Lynn Redgrave gets the globe. Right. Lynn Redgrave gets the globe for God's Monsters for playing... Kathy Bates gets the SAG.

Yes, for primary colors, which was my favorite of the performances. And I don't think Judy Dench wins the BAFTA. It could conceivably also be could also be Kathy Bates as well. Right. And then so the fifth nominee, you mentioned Rachel Griffiths,

and the fifth nominee rounding it out was Brenda Blethen in Little Voice, which is kind of a follow-up nomination to Secrets and Lies, which she had been nominated two years before, and was kind of seen as the runner-up choice, right? Like Francis McDormand won for Fargo, but I think a lot of people saw that, like, Brenda Blethen gave the, like, if you looked at the vote totals, people really assumed that Brenda Blethen finished second that year. Yes, Brenda Blethyn, I think, is the one who, like, I don't know if she, like, ran the season basically in critics prizes, but she also won Best Actress at Cannes when Secrets and Lies won the Palm, which was like one of the reasons that they started. making rules against, you know, if you give a palm to something or you get the Grand Prix to something, you can't also.

Oh, that's interesting. The piano teacher is another movie that, you know, kind of made that unofficial rule. But, no, Judy Dench also wins BAFTA. The thing about Judy Dench this season, because if I remember, you know, the small, like, details while I was still paying attention, much less than I do now, is Kathy Bates was considered something of a frontrunner, even though she already had. an Oscar, and the ding against Judy Dench, which she even brings up in her Oscar speech, is that she only has like eight minutes of screen time, right?

That was the big thing. A lot of people didn't think, and Judy Dench was also coming off of a year where she was considered probably second place for Mrs. Brown the year before when Helen Hunt had won. And both she and Brenda Blethen had won the Golden Globe for drama. Because remember, Francis McDormand was in comedy for Fargo, and she got beat for the Globe by Madonna for Evita. And then Helen Hunt was in comedy for as good as it gets, and she did win the Golden Globe for that.

So there was sort of, you know, a year after shine for that. But yeah, Shakespeare and Love had all of the Miramax buzz behind it, but a lot of people were like, I don't think she's in that movie enough. And that's why Kathy Bates was seen as, if not the favorite, like one of, like she and Dench were kind of neck and neck. And Lynn Redgrave. A lot of people thought Lynn Redgrave also could pull off the globe for that.

So that's another one. Lynn Redgrave is a little bit surprising as a non, as someone who didn't win. And I think partly it's like, Gods and Monsters was like a heavily discussed movie. Ian McCullen was possibly second place. But like that Lynn Redgrave win is the type of thing for like when Oscar is spreading the wealth and checking boxes for like, well, this movie has to get something. But for Gods and Monsters, it ends up being the screenplay. Yeah, it ended up winning screenplay, which is a clip I'm pretty sure I've played before because that's the one where Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin are presenting together

because they were in the Out of Towner's remake together at the time. And that's the one where they're showing all the clips for the movies that were nominated. And I think it was Gods and Monsters, the one where they showed the clips and then they cut back to the presenters. And Goldie Hawn was like, I used to live in that house. and have I played that clip on this podcast before? I swear to God, I must have. I don't know.

I think it's amazing. I used to live in that house for 12 years. The house that was in the movie, I mean. Yes, the man who, you know, the... Well, you should get your own Oscar then. Well, it's so weird, you know. Anyway, here you go. May I go?

Yeah. Okay. I will try to find it because hopefully it's not cut out of the YouTube clip because the Oscars, once again, and I wanted to talk about this with Rachel Griffith's nomination too. You don't have the film clips in there because of rights and licensing type of things. But like, the Academy should pay for that just so that we can have the Oscar clips and such. Because Rachel Griffiths, I remember her clip and I don't think she spoke in it.

Oh, that's funny. And it's just like her anxious with a flute, basically. And I, for the longest time made me think that she didn't, it was a non-executive. speaking role, like her character didn't speak, but apparently that is not true. That was an interesting era for Rachel Griffiths because that was after she did Muriel's wedding, but this was obviously before Six Feet Under, and that was the one that was how most people found out about Rachel Griffiths. If you were not an Oscar head like I was, and then when they announced casting for that, it was like, oh, Rachel Griffiths, the Hillary and Jackie

woman. But yeah, the Goldie-on, Steve Martin clip is very funny because as is Goldie, these want. As we, and I know I've played the, uh, Streisand. I've known her for 30 years or whatever moment with her. It's Streisand. She's, she doesn't let a bit go. That's sort of her thing. And she's just like, I used to live in that house. And C. Martin's like, oh, and he's, and he clearly wants to just like, get through this. He's kind of annoyed by her. And she's like, I can't believe it. And never, and finally at one point he goes, well, maybe we should give the award to you. And she's just like, But I'll track that down and I'll find that. But also then, so Bill Condon wins for writing the Gods and Monsters screenplay.

And there's this shot in the audience of Ian McKellen, Lynn Redgrave, and Brendan Fraser, all, like, literally in each other's laps, so happy. They're all just, like, leaning over each other and kind of, like, group hugging. And she's got her hands clasped in joy. and they're beaming at the stage that their filmmaker has won this award. And it's so cute and adorable. And it really is incredibly endearing for all of them. And it makes me want to, you know, root for that movie in retrospect, all the more. I need to rewatch that movie.

And I meant to during spooky season because it's, you know, the director of Frankenstein. And, like, that's the text of the movie. Well, and we had done that screen drafts draft of queer. Oscar-winning movies. And I, we had to prep for that one very quickly. So it was a lot of like quick cramming time. And I wanted to fit in gods and monsters and I didn't. And that was just sort of on the cusp of movies I could have drafted because it's a good movie. I remember it's a good movie. Should absolutely be Ian McCollins Oscar and not just because that best actor win is atrocious. Oh, life is beautiful. Yeah. I hate Life is Beautiful so much. I think that may be so

offensive. Yeah, it's, I think it's just more that it's not a great movie, but like I get, I get the, you know, the offensiveness angle of it as well. So, yeah, Judy Dench ends up defying the odds. Who cares that it was such a brief performance. She played Queen Elizabeth. That was also the one where she was nominated for playing Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare in Love and Kate Blanchett was nominated for playing Queen Elizabeth in Elizabeth. And Whoopie Goldberg shows up at the Oscars, dressed as Queen Elizabeth. and she says, I'm the African queen, and it's very funny. I miss Whoopi Goldberg as an Oscar host, as I have mentioned. The best Oscar host, period. You know how the VU co-hosts dress up in costumes every year for Halloween, for their Halloween episode? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this year, she dressed up as Audrey 2 from Little Shop of Forer's,

mostly, I think, so that she could stay seated throughout her entire costume, which, good for her. Also, she's been having sciatica problems. So we love Whoopi. We love Whoopi. And then so she, so they had Jeremy Jordan from the little shop stage production come on. And he's singing and they're singing, you know, feed me Seymour, that whole little bit back and forth together. And she's kind of like speak singing.

It's like, Whoopi Goldberg's whole vibe on the view is like, I'll do it. But like, I'm not going to like, I'm not going to knock myself out about it. And so she's like, she's doing like this like speak song. thinking feed me see more. It's very fun. It's very cute. Anyway. The thing about, well, Judy Dench, I think the, the real edge for Judy Dench, and people don't talk about this because they don't talk about Mrs. Brown that much, but you mentioned she was probably second place for Mrs. Brown. Yes. That, I think, was ultimately the edge, the kind of like afterglow, you know, make-up Oscar thing making up for the previous year.

Yes. And it's like eight minutes of screen time. The thing that prevents Sherry Sharon Stone, I think, from getting further than the Globes, aside from the Globes, you know, loving Sharon Stone, is, does she have that much more screen time than Judy Dench does? It's not very much. It's really not. She may be, if Judy Dench has eight minutes, Sharon Stone has ten minutes. Granted, a good, maybe 80% of Judy Dench's screen time, she does not have dialogue. And, like, Sharon Stone is the center of all of her scenes. Yes.

And she's also playing a very recognizable awards type, which is... It's definitely a trope that Oscar loves. Which is the grieving slash sort of fretting mother of a sick child. And it's one of those tropes that has kind of gone out of fashion a little bit as the Oscars have moved away from, you know, sick child or... sort of grief movies in that particular way. I was sort of looking through recent years. The examples that I remember, we mentioned Helen Hunt in as good as it gets, which like she's got, her storyline has a couple of different aspects to it.

One of them is this like very odd love story with her and Jack Nicholson's character. But also that character is rooted in, she's got a sick kid. That was her Oscar clip is she's like, she's so stressed and worried about her kid. And, you know, I think her Oscar clip was the mom. what do you want? What do you want for me? Right? That's the... Okay. Yeah. It's a great scene. It's a really, really great. People kind of are hot and cold on that...

Probably more cold than hot on her winning the Oscar for that. But I watched it again semi-recently, and she is quite good in that movie, I will say. I don't know how you feel about as good as it gets. I think she's fine. I wouldn't give her an Oscar for it, but I'm not going to, like, talk shit about her in it. The other one from the 90s that I always go back to is Susan Sarandon's performance in Lorenzo's Oil, which is like textbook. Which, what if the Lake in Question was oil? What if the Lake in Question was made of Lorenzo's Oil?

Yes. That is a movie that I think because of its type of movie, which is very much the parents of a sick child are fighting like hell to find a cure. And it's her and Nick Nolte doing the most bananas Italian accent. by the way, in that movie. It's amazing. She's not doing an accent. It's only the husband that is Italian, but it is in the house of Gucci. Yeah, but a lot of people, I think that

the people who didn't like that movie kind of tagged it as like a movie of the week or like what now I think people would call maybe like a lifetime movie or something like that. And I think part of that is rooted in sexism. But there had been a lot of TV movies at the time about like a woman a mother sort of searching for a cure for like whatever was the kind of, you know, to be cynical about a trendy, you know, disease for children or whatever. But watch Lorenzo's oil.

I always tell people, and it's a George Miller movie. So like it's got a better pedigree than you think it does. And she's so great in that movie. She's like really, really fantastically good in that movie. And that was part of her run of Oscar nominations. not winning that ultimately led to her winning for Dead Man Walking, but it's just a really committed, intense, but like she doesn't, she doesn't have a ton of like over the top scenes where she's like breaking down and, you know, sort of, you know, tearing at her, her garments or whatever on the floor of a kitchen in her home kind of a thing. She's just, there's a lot of just really kind of wonderfully,

fiercely committed scenes of her. Have you ever seen that movie? Not since I was a child, and it terrified me because I was going to say, what a movie to see as a child. Listen, we watched a lot of stuff in my house. I probably saw it when I was, like, in my teen years, which, like, yeah, it's a weird

movie for a teen to see. I remember, like, someone falling in a glass breaking or something, and that upset me? I mean, that's probably true. It's been a while since I've seen it, but it's probably true. I think nowadays, you get more characters that are kind of like ricochet off of this kind of a role, where you have something like, like Hallie Berry and Monsters Ball.

It's not that her son is like, is sick with the disease, but she's also like... The mother of a dead child. Right, mother of a dead child. Angelina Jolie is the mother of a missing child in Changeling. Nicole Kidman is grieving her dead child in Rabbit Hole. Michelle Williams is grieving her dead child in Manchester by the sea And then you get things like Felicity Jones is not the mother of a sick child

In the Theory of Everything But I think a lot of the appeal to that character is Sort of strength in the face of a disease in her family A sort of... Well, yeah, the Oscar trope has evolved from a grieved mother To strong supportive wife Right, which is its own trope. I mean, like supportive wives have all right.

always been there, but, like, it's the, the, like, maternal side of it has just, like, been subsumed by this even larger. But I think even last year, with Olivia Coleman's nomination for the father, there's a little bit of that where she's, like, she's

this, in this one, it's, you know, it's her father. It's not a child. It's her father. But it's still the same kind of, like, you watch somebody go through these, like, terribly wrenching emotional moments. And it's, like, For the audience, it is, you know, what if this was your family situation?

Like, there are families that go through this. And what are, you know, you sort of emotionally put yourself in her shoes a little bit. Right. But even, like, you go back, even like to the 80s and whatever and things like, I know she wasn't nominated for this kind of famously, but like share and mask is kind of the ideal almost for a role like this. or even, like, again, another James L. Brooks movie, Shirley McLean in terms of endearment, she's got a lot of other things going on, but everybody remembers get my daughter the shot. Yeah, the Oscar clip is Get My Daughter The Shot. Exactly, exactly.

So there was a long sort of tradition, and I think that's probably why a big part of the reason why Miramax decided to campaign for Sharon Stone. The Golden Globe nomination is the only bit of precursor attention she ends up getting for this movie. But it does sort of lend itself to this idea that, like, Miramax, you know, opened the pocketbook for, you know, probably through a really nice gala for the Hollywood foreign press for The Mighty. And which isn't to say that like Sharon Stone's not good in this movie, but she, she is, but she's, as you said, not in it very much. And probably wouldn't make my shortlist for a dubination. But like, we like her two big scenes. are, or like, maybe you could even say her best scenes in the movie, are her beating up a vending machine when Kevin gets, you know, a bad diagnosis,

and then when she's like comforting Max outside of the ambulance as her dead son is being taken away. Like, who among us has not wanted to beat the shit out of a vending machine that was not cooperating, first of all? She wanted hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, and she did not get it. And I understand her plate. Highly relatable. Yeah, the scene at the ambulance is interesting. It's one of those scenes that really tells you what perspective we're getting from the movie. Because if you look at it at all from her perspective, it's just like, oh, her son has died,

and she's taking this moment to console this, you know, neighborhood kid. And, you know, it was her son's best friend, and she has, you know, an emotional connection to him, too. But ultimately, you look at it and it's just like, oh, wow. this was from her perspective, you'd almost be like, you know, somebody should be comforting her. And, like, that scene is the one production photo that still, like, lingers with this movie. Oh, that's interesting. Again, would have loved for a scene with her and Jenna Rollins to sort of, you know, where she can... Again, and Jenna Rollins is the mother of a dead daughter.

You know what I mean? Like, there are moments where they could have connected on some levels, and... But it's not... This is not a movie from the adult's perspective. This is very much a movie from the kids' characters' perspective. and, you know, that's their movie. But even to the screen time thing, and I mean, Max is the protagonist, so this makes sense,

but, like, Jenna Rollins is in the movie more than Sharon Stone is. Yeah, and she doesn't have a ton to do either, though. But yes, you're right. Yes. So, unsurprisingly, Sharon doesn't win the Globe, and she had already won the Golden Globe. She had had her Golden Globe moments

for Casino a few years before that. But it does contribute to one of the things that the, you know, before the Golden Globes were notorious for other. things. They were notorious for nominating the biggest stars whenever they could so that they could get those stars to the ceremony so that they could have, you know, the glitziest, most glamorous ceremony. And, you know, it worked. It worked. The Golden Globes became the like the biggest party of the year kind of a thing. And yeah. That, I mean, still, I think as the Globes, you know,

try to they are the dog in a room on fire meme of this is fine they're still trying to survive even though they're not like all of that has more to do I think with Dick Clark Productions than the actual HFPA probably and people I think

overlook that like the in terms of like why they became such an event well and also in terms of the star fuckery can we talk about the Globe's original song category this year. Uh, yes, because the Mighty was a nominee in that category as well. Sting! It's a song written by Sting in the era when Sting was making songs for movies.

So Sting kind of quietly became a four-time Oscar loser, and nobody ever talks about Sting when you talk about like, when are they going to ultimately win an Oscar. But, like, he was nominated in most recent. for that song, The Empty Chair from Jim, the James Foley story, the documentary, part of that run that is still kind of happening of you will probably, you have a stand a good chance to have a song from a documentary in the best original song category. Especially if you're a famous person writing it or singing it. Right. So that was his fourth nomination. He had previously been nominated for

my funny friend in me from Emperor's New Groove until Elypsis from Kate and Leopold and of course You Will Be Myn True Love from Cold Mountain, one of the two Cold Mountain nominees, him and Alison Krause did You Will Be My Ain True Love. So it's kind of, again, the Oscars also kind of got that reputation around the time that like Bob Dylan was winning for the Wonder Boy's song, that people sort of kind of calcified this notion that, like, oh, the Oscars will award the biggest star in the category. And like, not to be like, not to pull out my Dakota

Johnson meme, but like, that's not true, Ellen. Like, that's not really how it goes because, like, Paul McCartney doesn't win for Vanilla Sky. Sting is 0 for 4. Like, it's not necessarily, sometimes it does happen. Sometimes Adele wins for Skyfall. this is true, but not always. Sam Smith is the first openly gay man to win an Oscar. But like, you know, like all of those years where we were like, well,

Taylor Swift is obviously going to get nominated and win because it's Taylor Swift. And like, here she is still, like, never nominated by the Oscars, still waiting for her first. An interesting reminder ahead of this year because the original song race has like Beyonce

and Jay-Z what are the other like famous rock stars this year. Hold on. I'm going to go look up the contenders now because we do do this. Every year we have some excuse to delve into the original song race early and I always love it because like it's so funny to look back on and see you know how wrong we were. The other thing that I, while you are pulling this up, while you're pulling

up the current original song race, one of the reasons I wanted to talk about the Sting nomination, is it is also our second Sharon Stone episode, previously The Muse, where we talked about the original song, The Muse, from the Muse, by Elton John, and what an abomination

on this earth. This song is, this one, The Mighty, from the Mighty, by Sting, I think is equally as terrible. At some point, Sting is just yelling, Freak the Mighty! Like, that's sort of his, like, deal. It's like the last half of the song.

It's crazy. And because it's like, it has the, like, Arthurian legend element of it, like, half of the movie's score is pan flutes and the song is no different. It is like, what was that thing that, like, every mom had in their car, Celtic woman? Oh, well, this is, like, Celtic child. Yeah, this is, yeah, it's very Lorena McKenna, like, kind of a thing, yes. Yeah. All right. So song contenders this year.

right. Beyonce has a song from King Richard. King Richard. Jay-Z has a few from the Harder They Fall, the Western The Harder They Fall. Obviously, Billy Ilish from No Time to Die is going to be a contender. Lynn Manuel Miranda has like

eight songs from four movies or whatever. From Encanto, from Vivo, from in the Heights. He's like probably going to get nominated for something. Of course, the, you know, Lin-Manuel Miranda is one Oscar away from EGatting. There's a Carol King written song from Respect that is going to be hanging out there that I think is probably going to be a contender.

And also a movie I just saw yesterday, there's a new Van Morrison song in Belfast to go with the 12 other classic Van Morrison songs that get needle dropped in Belfast, a movie that I liked. But I predict that Chris is going to hate given how much you hated Moonlight Miles' onslaught of Van Morrison needle dropped. I think I'll like that movie. I mean, I'll see it next week when it opens. We'll see how it goes. I don't know. I'm bracing myself. There's also the Dead in the Water.

I guess if there's seriously that much Van Morrison, I'm bracing myself for like the 2027 Broadway jukebox musical of Van Morrison that is just Belfast. This movie is tailor-made to be adapted into a state show. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't already plans to do so. There is also, by the way, there is, of course, a Diane Warren song in contention from a movie called Four Good Days. Oh, yes. What is that one?

That's the Glenn Close movie. Right, with Milacunis. It was a few sundances ago. Yes. People really hated it at Sundance, and then it very quietly came out like the week after. the Oscars this year. Right. There's a song from the rescue, so that could be our requisite song from a documentary. You never know. There's also, of course, the song from Annette. That's... Oh, yeah. Annette, you need to catch up to Annette. I do. I do. Again, I need to

find, I need to make the right time for it. I need to just do it. Yes. I would say Annette is not a horrible plane movie. You're about to... Oh, my God. What if that? I mean, like, it's two hours and like 15 minutes. You really want me to do that? It's going to take up a chunk of your plane. I don't know, man. That's a real small screen. We'll see.

All right. Anyway, so yeah, best original song this year has the potential to go some places. There's also, I was going to say, the dead in the water, dear Evan Hansen song that looks dead in the water now. But this category has gooped and gagged us before, so you never know. Truly never know. All right. Have we, like, should we revisit Gillian Anderson in this movie? Because we really didn't unpack it to the full extent. Oh, boy. She is a, like, what character did I call an ashtray? She's not an ashtray. She's like your grandmother's weird chotchky on a shelf that, like, has some type of deranged, I don't even know, man. She's... She's one of those characters who, like, in the same scene, she sort of vacillates back and forth between, like, is she dangerous? Is she mean? Is she secretly nice? Is she, like, put upon? Is she tragic? Is she, you know, this movie makes a reference. Or is she just, which I think proves to be true, the, like, you know, trailer park lady who calls you honey? Well, at the end of this movie, there's a sort of triumphant moment where Max's answers. a question from the teacher in school

and this is like the big you know, oh, he's made progress and he's become a better person from knowing Kieran Culkin's character and the question is asking something about the plot of great expectations and specifically about Ms. Havisham and great expectations. And I was like,

I wonder if that's intentional and whether Gillian Anderson's character is supposed to be a kind of like younger, you know, version of this like Ms. Havisham type, which is just this, you know, eccentric woman, you know, living out in this, like, run-down apartment with meatloaf, and, you know, every once in a while, these, like, younger characters will happen by, and she's like, what is going on with you? And, you know, I don't know.

She's a whole experience of this, though, truly. She is kind of the reason to watch the movie, I would almost say. Yeah. Like, as this movie, that's kind of more of an artifact, it might be in, like, middle school, like, classrooms still, maybe. But she's wild in this. I don't, it's like, she was just going for a thing, man.

Yeah. Oh, back to the Sting thing for a second. I sort of got past this too quickly. The best original song nominees that did make it over Sting, because he obviously got bumped out of the Golden Globe, he had been nominated along with, um hold on now the globe lineup is better than the oscar lineup even with the sting the horrible sting song in there purely because alonis is nominated for uninvited alonis is nominated for uninvited the best

song of the six i it was deemed ineligible right for the oscar probably i think that's right i think it was deemed ineligible as was google doll's iris which was like the big hit song from a movie that year that was definitely not i don't now i don't now i'm trying to remember their behind the music and whether it was specific, like, it couldn't have been specifically, it was deemed ineligible because it was on their album. Like, it wasn't just on the soundtrack. It was also on their album. But I do think it might have been written, I think that was the assignment, was to write this song to go with this movie, which is like, that's the spirit of the category, right? Anyway, Uninvited Rules should have won, also nominated

that wasn't nominated for Oscar, was Reflection in Moulon. which is kind of surprising that that wasn't nominated. Maybe that was also a weird eligibility thing. I don't know. But, like, Disney cleans up in that category, usually. So that's kind of surprising. The nominee that is nominated and not at the Globes, that is, like, kind of shocking, is Armageddon?

I don't want to miss a thing. Yeah, that must have been a big headline when the Globe nominations came out, because that one was also a massive hit song from a movie that year. that and Iris were sort of neck and neck, probably, that summer, in terms of, like, songs that were everywhere. Winning the Globe is the Quest for Camelot song, The Prayer, that was, I'm pretty sure, sung by Andrea Bocchelli. There's multiple, there was originally multiple versions.

There was a Celendian version separately and an Andrea Bocchelli one, since they, like, have turned it into a duet, basically. Right. This was, did I tell you the one Thanksgiving, maybe within the last four years, that I came, that I went home for the holiday and all of a sudden my mom was really into Andrea Bichelli and like, and hadn't been before? Who among us haven't experienced this? All of a sudden, she like, three or four times was like, do you listen to Andrea Buccelli? And I was like, no. But like, she was like really, really into it. And like, and maybe like isn't anymore. I don't know, like, she hasn't mentioned it since.

So, like, I wonder if it was just, like, this, like, momentary fad that, like, somebody had put a bunch of, like, Andrei Shelley songs up on Facebook or whatever, and she was really into it. But, uh, Quest for Camelot, the song written by the prayers, the song written by among others, David Foster and Carol Baers, who are, like, adult contemporary Hall of Famers from the 1980s. And so that was, you know, kind of a bulletproof Oscar formula for that. But, of course, the song that ends up winning the best original song, Oscar. Unimpeachable. Stephen Schwartz from the Prince of Egypt wrote When You Believe to be sung by Mariah and Whitney, which is, as I've mentioned here before, I'm pretty sure, a really fun song to do at karaoke. Because you really just go so long.

We probably talked about it in our Exodus Gods and Kings episode, which is basically a When You Believe episode. Yes, I think that's probably true. Really, really schmaltzy. A lot of people really hate that. song actually. People who like really like they're wrong. They're like it's like it's Mariah and Whitney stands who want bops on bops basically. And like my thing with Whitney is like I like Whitney's bops too, but I'm much more of a Whitney ballad person because I am cheesy as I'll get out. And when you believe, again, she just like she stands there and she belts it. And and it's the one

upsmanship that goes on between her and Mariah in this, in that song is fantastic. Because they really do sort of like trade off like lines back and forth at some point. And it's amazing. And at some point in there, again, it's hard to find Oscar performances of songs on YouTube because of music rights. But if you can find a way to track it down, there is, there's a competition in them. This is very Daniel Plainview, but like there's a competition in them and neither one wants the other one to succeed almost. And it's really amazing. That was the whole thing where, like... A two-sided staircase that they're both coming down.

They're both dressed in white. It's... There was a lot of rumors at the time that they did not get along. And then there was a very concerted effort to counteract that. That, like, then there was a lot of, like, no, this is silly. Of course they got along, whatever. And normally, I am not one to relish in two famous women hate each other because it's more fun that way, you know, kind of gossip. But...

I, like, it's much easier to believe that they didn't like each other than we liked each other if you know anything about. That's what that song is about. It's about when you believe that two superstars actually do hate each other. Like, listen to Mariah Carey talk about any other pop star and tell me that she and Whitney Houston got along. Like, you're lying to me. You're absolutely lying to me. I mean, she doesn't talk about her. Like, she talks about, like, Nikki Minaj.

She doesn't talk about her at all, though. That's the thing. But, like, again, but what I'm saying is, I think that she has since, like, in recent years. said kind of things about Whitney. Of course. Like, the woman's no longer with us. Of course. But I'm saying, at the time, at the time, come on.

Just use your logical brain. Anyway, yeah, Oscar nominees that year that were not globe nominees. I don't want to miss a thing you mentioned. Something called a soft place to fall from the horse whisperer, which is why we can't do the horse whisperer for this podcast, which is a shame because that's like classic. this had Oscar buzz material. And that'll do from Dave Pig in the City, which, sure, why not?

Randy Newman. Randy Newman, man. Anyway, what else that we can talk about about the Mighty before we move on to the IMDB game? I think that about covers it. It's sweet. It's a sweet movie. It's a sweet movie. Like, I don't really have much complaints about it and, like, any,

that you would, I think, say against this movie is going to be, like, very obvious that, like, you would say that. I think James Gandalfini, who's basically, like, crime counterpoint is meatloaf in this movie. Yes. It basically makes James Gandalfini seem like hot meatloaf. Which I guess... James Gandalfini has a wig in flashbacks. He does. Which I guess makes meatloaf cold meatloaf, which honestly, sometimes is not bad.

Meat Love is a decent leftover food. I will say. That is true. Anyway. All right. Why don't you tell the listeners how the IMDB game is played?

You guys, every episode we end with the IMDB game where we challenge each other with an actor or actress to try to guess the top four titles that IMDB says they are most known for. If any of those are television, voice only performances, or non-acting credits will mention that up front. After two wrong guesses, we get the remaining titles release years as a clue. And if that's not enough, it just becomes a free-for-all of hints. Indeed.

And pan flutes. Chris, would you like to guess first or give first? I'm going to give to you first. All right. Let's get it. For a performer that we talked about as an Oscar nominee in a film that we have not seen from Hillary and Jackie, I believe she plays the Hillary of Hillary and Jackie, Miss Rachel Griffiths, there is one television. It'd be a gag if the television was, in fact, brothers and sisters, but I'm going to guess

it's six feet under. It is six feet under. Yeah, that's the one she won the Gold Globe for, so that makes more sense. I don't think Brothers and Sisters even shows up in Sally Fields known for. Brothers and Sisters was a fun show. Kind of a hot mess at times, but I really liked Brothers and Sisters. I think the most, like, noteworthy thing about Brothers and Sisters was Sally Fields saying fuck on TV when she won her Emmy.

That was great. That was a great Emmy win. I really liked that. She also, I think she won that Emmy the last Sopranos year, so I think there were some people who were mad that Edie Falco didn't win. But, like, Edie Falco won her Emmys. Like, come on. Anyway, all right.

So three other, Hillary and Jackie, I would imagine then. Incorrect. Really? Okay. Really? To a movie that we have said nothing other than it is not real and doesn't exist on the face of this earth. Well, but it's not like Rachel Griffiths has a bunch of bigger movies, and it was an Oscar nomination for her, so. Rachel Griffiths, shit.

Now, she's like, she plays the mom to a character in some action-y franchise, I'm pretty sure. Is she like Shaila Buff's mom in Transformers or something like that? She is not. That is Julie White. Of course, it's Julie White. God forbid. I love Julie. So that does not count against you because she is.

is not in Transformers. All right. But she is like, I think she's the mom to someone at some point. Rachel Griffiths in a movie. Muriel's Wedding. Muriel's Wedding, correct.

All right. So I got two. What else? I'm trying to think of like maybe other Australian movies that she might have been in. I don't think she's in Priscilla. She is not in Priscilla.

Right, I didn't think so. This is going to be tough. Am I missing something that's like really obvious? I wouldn't say obvious, but it's going to be fun to get you to guess these movies. Oh, God, I hate you. All right. Are they... I'm just going to ask for hints now

because I'm not going to get him. Are they, like, action movies? Are they dramas? Are they comedies? They are both dramas. It will at least give you that. It looks like she is... Oh, you know what?

She's the dance director, the first step-up movie. Is that it? Is that one of them? Incorrect. It is not step-up. She is third-build and one and fourth build and the other your years are 2002 and 2001 okay 2002 she is probably definitely

playing the wife in this movie um oh one is the movie she's fourth build in i will say oh two is uh the lead of this movie it is a sports movie the lead of this movie it was probably the biggest Oscar snub of the year, people considered. Wait, really? Yes. This is the Dennis Quaid movie? Not this movie, but that actor for a different movie in this year. Oh, right. It is the Dennis Quaid movie because he was the snub for Far From Everton.

I was like, people thought Dennis Quaid was going to get nominated for the baseball movie. It's called the rookie. She's his wife, right? The rookie. The 2001 movie also featured actually featured an actor who, was it this year? No. Eventually would become, in a few years, a big Oscar name.

We could do this movie, but because of this actor, we don't want to touch this. Oh, Kevin Spacey. No. No, because by then he'd already won one Oscar. And we've done Spacey movies. And we've done Spacey movies. Actors we don't want to do. God, there's too many to choose from.

Oh, Johnny, dep is it blow. It is blow. Yeah. Yeah, it would be an interesting one to do, and Penelope Cruz as well, but yeah. All right. Mitchell Griffiths, that was tough. All right, Chris, for you, I went into director Peter Cheseln's filmography. We talked a little bit about the utter bomb Rooney that was town and country.

Star of which was... Many stars in that movie. Yes. The male lead was Warren Beatty, though. So I'm going to give you Warren Beatty. Oh, wow. Warren Beatty, that's a lot of things. It is.

Are they all acting roles, though? They are all acting roles. Okay. So he could have maybe produced or directed some of them. But they are all acting roles. Okay. Bonnie and Clyde. Yes, correct.

Which he is the titular Bonnie. Reds. Reds, correct. Okay. Which he also directed. Heaven can wait. Heaven can wait, correct. Holy shit.

Which I think he also directed. I almost want to ask it the last one. is a movie he directed to it's probably likely that he it is um if you think i'm going to tell you before you have any wrong guesses you are barking up the wrong tree you're not you're not and i don't want you to want to get this i want to get it um actually i'm wondering if he didn't direct it but i'm wondering if it's shampoo um because that's pretty iconic i'm going to guess shampoo it is not shampoo uh i'm i'm going to go ahead and say dick tracy no not dick tracy all right so you're going to get a year i haven't got the perfect score in a long time i know i'm sorry uh you're going to get a

year and that year will probably get it before you right away so the year is 1998 Oh, it's Bullworth. Why is Bullworth there? It's Bullworth. Probably his last well-received movie, right? Well-ish. I mean, he got a Globe nomination for it.

Like, I think the reviews were mixed, but to make good. Well, I think even at the time. I don't know if it necessarily has aged poorly because I think it was always that. It was always kind of like, what are they getting at here? And I think it's still kind of like that. I've seen it more recently than, like, it was in the last like five years, I watched it again. And I was surprised by, I was expecting it to be just like, oh, this is utter trash. But like, it's still kind of provocative in a way that like isn't all bad. It's not great. Like, there's like,

like there's there's there's you know you can definitely be like they this is you know misguided but like it knows the the things that it's poking at and it's not entirely wrong so interesting yeah i think that's our episode i think that is our episode you guys thank you for uh joining us do we want to one more time thank you for the money one more time remind our listeners about the mailbag and the list's choice we are doing a mailbag and a listener's choice to wrap up 2021 uh for For the rest of November, you can submit both your listener's choice option and your mailbag questions to us. For the listener's choice, remember, nothing after 2019 or episodes we've done. Only one movie per listener.

Yeah. And the mailbag, you can send us any of your questions, whether it be about the podcast, the Oscars, the current season, past season, actresses, what if scenarios, those type of things. you can submit both of those to our Twitter account at Had underscore Oscar underscore Buzz or you can email us at Had Oscar Buzz at Gmail. Indeed.

That is also again that Twitter account at Hadd underscore Oscar underscore Buzz is where you can follow us for everything including upcoming movies. Chris loves to give his little teases for what's coming up so we have good fun there. You should also check out the Tumblr

at this hat oscarbuzz.tumpler.com. Chris, where can the listeners find you specifically? You can find me on Twitter and letterboxed at Chris V-File. That is F-E-I-L. Yeah, I'm on Twitter at Joe Reed, read-spelled R-E-I-D. I'm on letterboxed as Joe Reed, read-spelled the same way.

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Oh Yeah.