This Had Oscar Buzz - 404 – Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Episode Date: September 7, 2026

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"

What's up, Gary's. Just a quick announcement up top of the episode here that Vultures Movies Fantasy League is back again for its sixth season, and we are once again having a mini league for listeners and fans of this head Oscar buzz. If you haven't played before, you can head over to vulture.com slash movies dash league to get the full details, including a look at the rad prizes you could win, including a 65-inch Roku TV, PlayStation 5, merch from A24, neon, and criterion, and much more. The gist of the game, if you haven't played before, it's like fantasy football, but for movies. You draft an eight-film roster from the movies of 2006, and then once we get to October 2nd, your selections can start accruing points from their box office earnings, from their awards performance, critical performance, etc. We even have a new category this season for letterboxed star rankings. Your team score will compete against everybody else who signs up for the game, but you can also choose to either create or join a mini-league.

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We look forward to watching the Project Hail Gary's League flourish every year. The This Had Oscar Buzz Dedicated League is the, most robust and I'm just going to say it best of all the mini leagues so you make us so proud and we look forward to competing for another year. House. No, the right house. I didn't get that. I'm from Canada water.

Dick Poop. I don't like it all not. How? Hadford. Did some slip of a girly boy become the internationally ignored song stylists fairly standing before you. Damn, Hansel. I can't believe you're not a girl. Looks like we got some sugar daddy's in the house.

You could give me a cavity, honey. Now you're interested, how? Hello and welcome to this head Oscar Buzz podcast, the only podcast that been Cuddy. 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're here. to perform the autopsy. I am your host, Chris Fyle, and I'm here, as always, with my

Philistine, PR manager, Phyllis Stein, Joe Reed. So good. I love Andrew Martin. Have you ever watched the deleted scenes? I'm sure I have at some point in my life, but I probably, I didn't this time around. They were trying to put in a whole bit, which I'm sure was like Andrea Martin's idea or something, that Philistine had like an implant in her teeth, that like she could answer her phone with her teeth. Andrea Martin, always, not always a presence in this movie that I remember.

I think this movie like registers and lives on with people who love it for many, many, many, many reasons. Yes. To the point that it eclipses that Andrea Martin is in this movie in a significant role. And every time I'm like, oh, yeah, Andrea Martin is really good and funny in this movie. I sent you and Katie the still of Andrea Martin sort of doing the like bowing prayer hands during midnight radio, which always brings it here to my eye that she's because she's sort of,

that's, that scene comes right after everybody has kind of abandoned Hedwig. And so to sort of see everybody. And it almost takes place in this like dream space, this sort of all gleaming white anti-room somewhere, but that scene always gets me. Yes, Andrea Martin, I imagine one of many characters in this movie who got sort of spun out from a tossed-off sort of line in the stage show. Yes, Phyllis is a reference in the show, but you don't see Phyllis. Right. You don't see anybody. I'm trying to think of like how much was changed from the original incarnation, because it wasn't strictly a one-person show because it was John Cameron Mitchell and then the band.

It's the band, and Yitzhak is there, and the performer who plays Hedvig also plays Tomminosis. Tomminosis, right, yes. And obviously, like, Luther is only just a character who's referenced. Hedvig's mother is only a character who's referenced, like, everybody else who... Hedvig usually does a voice for the mother and for Luther. Yes. And all of this, because I only, I saw it twice when it was brought to Broadway, finally, in 2014. 14, thank you.

I saw, I did see it once with Neil Patrick Harris from like the very, very, very, very, very back. And then I remember I saw the last performance for Andrew Reynolds. And that was really, really, really good. I really, really liked that. I have to imagine I would like Andrew Reynolds more than I would. would like Neil Patrick Harris. Neil Patrick Harris brings his own sort of vibe to it, which I guess is good that everybody sort of brings their own vibe to it.

But I definitely, Andrew Rannells was more attuned to the comedy of it. I think Neil Patrick Harris's style of comedy is very much different than somebody like Reynolds. Perhaps you mean like indicating towards the joke at all times? Indicating towards the... Not trusting the audience to get the joke. Yeah. Yes.

I think that's probably true. I just think in general also liked Andrew Reynolds as a more sort of adept comedic performer in general. So I'm trying to think of who else did Stintz as Hedwig in that run. I want to say Michael C. Hall. Or was Michael C. Hall during the... Yes. Michael C. Hall. Yes.

They did bring John Cameron Mitchell back. Yes. If I'm remembering correctly, and that's when John C. Cameron Mitchell got injured. Injured himself. Yes. Yes. I thought I heard that John Cameron Mitchell got injured doing Hail Mary to, or Oh, Mary, not, Jesus. Oh, wow. Listener, I am Ty-Tie this morning. I'm very... That's a heck of a legacy to have, just the person who constantly is getting injured on Broadway. Um, but... Tanya Harding. Not the Tanya Harding, the Nancy Kerrigan of Broadway. Yes. The, and the off-Broadway run, um...

you had folks like Michael Cerveris did a stint as Hedwig. Ali Sheedy, somewhat famously. And yes. And then... Well, that's one of the things that helped, you know, because this was intended as like a grungy downtown show. But John Cameron Mitchell was already established Broadway talent. And then you also had Michael Serveris taking over the role.

Michael Serveris had done Tommy at that. point. Oh, okay. So, yeah, you had these, like, really established names bringing attention to this very, very hyper-specific meatpacking district show. You say John Cameron Mitchell was established talent before? Yeah, he'd been on Broadway. Oh, I didn't realize that. In what capacity?

Secret Garden at the very least. Okay. And I think a few other shows that I don't remember off the top of my head. But yes, I, of course, was not living in New York during the heyday of the off-Broadway run, which was 1998 to 2000. So just actually, the movie comes right on the heels of that, sort of striking while the iron is hot. But I was not plugged into, you know, enough of. of the theater scene. Although it's funny, in the movie, they show a clip of Rosie O'Donnell of Hedwig on the Rosie

O'Donnell show. And I imagine that was from the off-Broadway run because she was so attuned to, and she's holding up like a CD. So I feel like that makes more sense from that. And so I like that they were able to utilize that era of, but for whatever reason, I wasn't watching Rosie that day. so I didn't get a look. So this was hearing about the movie

and seeing that sort of still photograph in the Entertainment Weekly preview issue or some Entertainment Weekly story on the movie was my first sort of encounter with what this movie was going to be. I was a premiere reader at this time too, and I remember the post-SunDance premiere coverage. That was the first time I'd heard about Donnie Dark

And the first time I'd heard about Donnie Darko was this was supposed to be a big thing at Sundance and it disappointed everybody. So the concept of something immediately being a disappointment, even though I'd never heard of it before, sunk into my brain very early. Head-Bring in the Angry Inch is one of those movies, too, that contributes to my oft-repeated refrain that 2001 is a secretly, like, low-key groundbreaker of a year in movies. There's just a lot of really interesting stuff, even if you go beyond, I mean, beyond the fact that, like, at the multiplexes, like, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were sort of, like, kicking off these, like, huge new, you know, era for blockbusters, but you also had stuff like Moulon Rouge, you know, succeeding in the spring. but then you get down to Hedving and the Angry Inch and Donnie Darko and Amorris Peros, you know what I mean? And like that kind of stuff. Mahal and Drive.

Mahal and Drive, of course, the Royal Tenembones. And it's just waking life, I think I would, you know, chalk up to, you know, experimental, you know, interesting experimental stuff going on. So it's a very interesting year, which is why I had tried to do this project of watching. the movies from 2001. And folks, it is August as we are recording this, and I am still back in April of 2001, probably a lost cause, but we'll see how things go for the rest of the year. Perhaps I'll just sort of pick up the, I want to sort of, you know, move through it, but the whole charm of it to me is that I wouldn't just be watching the, you know, the top layer of stuff,

that I would be re-experiencing the more sort of quotidian week-by-week stuff, which was very interesting when I first started. But now I'm just like, oh, there's so many movies released in a year, you guys. Especially a year of some distance from now, which is like, there's actually not that many. Well, August has been very weird this year, we're recording this in August.

There'll be like a weekend where six movies get a goddamn wide release. I know. I know. So apologies to the wrong girls. I will not be seeing you in theaters because there's so many of you. That's Kristen Stewart and whom? Alia Shawcat smoking weed, basically. Which, you know, what else do you want from a movie? What else do you want from a movie? We do have busy lives. So, yes, also talking about 2001, it should be mentioned. Hedvick is celebrating a 25th anniversary this year, which John Cameron Mitchell has been going on like a cinema.

tour hosting screenings for the anniversary. Come to Columbus, John Cameron Mitchell, because I don't think you are still planned here. I've never seen Hedwig and the Angry Inch on the big screen, and that would be a fun experience, I think. You didn't see it in its first release? No. So here's where I admit to being closeted for longer than I should have been, and also, like, a fairly meek a fairly meek creature in my own right. And I, God, it really is embarrassing to talk about it this way.

But I remember seeing that still and reading the sort of plot description of heading in the Angry Inch and being like a little intimidated, a little sort of like, you know, like, that seems extreme to me. You know what I mean? Like, that seems like a lot. And I, obviously this was was internalized, you know, internalized homophobia and stuff like that, that, like, I am frightened of that, which is, you know, also appealing to me on some level. But I remember thinking just like, oh, I don't know about that. So it wasn't until maybe like 2002, whenever it like came, became available on DVD that I sought it out. And I think it was probably, through, maybe it was like an early Netflix movie from me or something, so that wouldn't have

been until like 2003, maybe. But anyway, when I finally did watch it and was sort of like ready for it, it had that full sort of like washed over me, you know, eyes opened like a reveling. I remember specifically when they get to the origin of love number, which happens maybe 20 minutes into the movie, that is the moment where I was just like, you know, the eyes opened and the damn burst and I was like, oh, I get this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think this musical functions that way for a lot of people, including non-queer audiences

that that, no, I mean, the song, that's a perfect song. It's, and also like in musical theater, parlance or whatever, it is, you know, the second song in a musical is always the I want song, right? It's the I want song, yes. But also. But it's also, like, not to be. too precious with it because there is this alternate mythology, you know, element to that song, but it also paints the mythology of this character and her mindset and, like, where she's coming

from that just, like, illustrates everything the audience needs to know about what they're going to see in this, like, very emotional context that I think anyone can connect to and not in a way that's, like, you know, crunchy granola, like Target T-shirt, Universal, you know? Right, but it also has an element of the mystical to it and the element of the eternal to it, like this kind of, you know, opening up of the universe. It also comes at a point where the first, the opening number, tear me down, is this very, like, punk-infused number. And, you know, particularly in the movie, you know, these scenes are happening in these, like,

little buffet restaurants and such like that. And there's a conference, there's a purposeful, like, confrontational thing. This show is barging down the door as this kind of glam punk drag, confrontational, like, take me as I am, you know, as I am presenting myself to you, kind of a thing. And then Origin of Love is the first moment where the musical, the movie, the act that is Hedwig is sort of like inviting you in, right? It's sort of like bringing you in. The other thing about it is, in the movie, it also is this point where you get like animation and, you know, sort of this little bit of touch of, you know, whimsy.

And again, poetry and that kind of a thing. And the movie becomes more than, certainly for me, more than what I thought I was getting. And, well, yeah, there's definitely an intentionality to the, like, variety of song styles in this musical, particularly, like, you, you sit down for a musical and it starts with a number like, tear me down, and you set an expectation for yourself as an audience member of, oh, I'm about to hear 90 minutes of this kind of song. Yeah. And then Origin of Love is a pivot. and then the next song is a straight up country song, which is another pivot. So it's like you're constantly...

Wig in a box is its own thing. And like, yeah, Wicked Little Town is its own thing. It doesn't stop kind of undermining your expectations of what it's supposed to be. Down to the point where you're like, Hedwig behaves awfully. Hedwig has become this like mean, bitter person. And ultimately you do still have this connection to this character, there's emotional, like, catharsis with this character

who you care about very much, even though they have the capacity to be very cruel at sometimes. Which is the hallmark of a really good character, too. But it does all go back to, like, this variety of song stylings and specifically American styles of music goes back to the character's origin of listening to, like, American radio in Europe, too, which is, like, partly based on John Kemp. Cameron Mitchell's experience. John Cameron Mitchell was a military brat.

Yes. And did experience on like military bases, these like women from all over and trans women from all over. And yeah. Well, and you also see there's a lot of meta-commentary. I don't know if meta-commentary is the right word, but anyway, commentary in this movie about music and styles of music, and, you know, you get the scene where they're overhearing the woman belting out, I will always love you from across the trailer park or whatever. And there's this, you know, condescension a little bit from Hedwig went speaking about Tommy, young Tommy, and his sort of, that, you know, she had to essentially, like, give him an education on good

music and sort of, you know, teach him and that kind of thing. And yet also, Hedwig is very much like, I was listening to, you know, the greats, Tony Tenil, Debbie Boone, you know what I mean, like that kind of thing, while also, you know, talking about Bowie and Lou Reed, but like also Ann Murray, you know, who was not American, but was Canadian working in the American Indian. Who was actually an idiot, working in the United States and Canada. I love that monologue. But there's a lot of really good, you know, inconsistency. I think this movie and this show is very clever about the ways in which Hedvig kind of undermines herself a little bit.

And, you know, reveals of a vulnerability that, you know, it doesn't exist among the garish, you know, costumes and wigs and make. up and all that. Also, can we talk about Aryan Phillips and these costumes? I mean, tremendous. And this movie had like, made for no money. The set design as well

in this movie, because like, this is, I think, one of the great examples of opening up a show into a movie. The amount of locations that they're shooting on, they actually are building some of these sets, for example in the wig and a box trailer that opens up into

a rock stage. Oh my God. So cool. So cool. Yeah. That this movie just looks so much better than almost any musical that would come after it. Yeah. Just because it's like it has that spirit of ingenuity of like

making creative, interesting things happen on screen with no money, you know, which is what I think relates it back to drag culture in a way of like creating something fabulous out of nothing or like whatever elements you can find. And also like you mentioned the animation sequence.

That's something that kind of opens it up and thinks in a film language way. That's which is why like John Cameron Mitchell as a film director is so interesting because I think it runs counter to a lot of people who have worked in the theater. He didn't direct the off-Broadway show. But people who come from the theater and then make films, and sometimes that is not the truth of the movie that they make in terms of this type of visual ingenuity. But also, like, going back to what we were saying earlier,

of what happens with the songs, that it constantly upends your expectations. Yeah. You know, he found a way to visually do that throughout the movie, but specifically in that animation sequence. Like, you don't think, you're going to sit down and have this animation sequence that basically brings to life. And a lot of a lot of productions do do some type of animation sequence because it comes

from Hedwig mentioning her first diary, age two through six, fully illustrated. Great joke. And it's, what it is, is it's a role of what toilet paper, right, that is unfurled with little drawings on it, which is a thing I had not noticed until watching it this time. But yeah, and it's also having it be at these very sort of unusual locations. First of all, I love the concept of a restaurant chain called bilge water. Going under. On the commentary, I remember they mention whatever space that they found that they could use for all the bilge waters.

And I forget what it was, but it was some, like, shitty restaurant. And I love the ultimate one where they end up doing Exquisite Corpse and it all goes bad, bilgewater time square. Yeah. Which is a great gag. Very funny. Well, because the stage show is always, you are watching an actual performance by Hedwig down the street from one of Tommy's concerts.

And they, of course, incorporate that into the movie, but it's like a truly, you see the full tour. But having these, you know, bilge water locations and seeing how specifically appointed they are, where they're literally, like, performing a. the salad bar and allows you to include things like the Sugar Daddy, you know, walking on tables and the car wash and all that sort of thing, without you actively being like, oh, so it's just like this was, you know, we're performing for the stage audience here. And which I like, because it allows you to maintain some of that, you know, because some of the

appeal of the show is very much like Hedwig making the audience uncomfortable and, you know, sort of invading their space. Well, if you watch on the DVD, it was on the original release DVD, and I'm pretty sure it is on the criterion release. There is a feature-length documentary about like the whole inspirations of it, the off-broadway run, and then the production of the movie, where they talk about the car wash in the off-broadway production and how they would put whatever famous people were coming in the car wash seat, including Madonna. So imagine you're going to the fucking meatpacking district in like a heroin motel, which is where like the Jane Street Theater was.

And like you're watching John Cameron Mitchell sit on Madonna's face. The Magic of Life Theater. I was going to say, New York City, nothing like it. Yeah. But yes, I think I also wanted to sort of. clarify is maybe the wrong word, but anyway, just address when we're speaking of issues of gender in this movie, that it's sort of exists in a milieu unto itself, right? That there is, I mean, that John Cameron Mitchell has specifically, you know, said that, you know, Hedwig is not a

trans character in that this was not somebody who, you know, sought out their, you know, any kind of gender affirmation or anything like that. This was somebody who was sort of acted upon by other people in their circumstances and that kind of thing. So for as much as there is a lot going on with gender in this movie, that any kind of, you know, terminology or you know any kind of essential statement about Hedwig and gender is

specific to I think this character fair to right well and it also inter and especially Hedvick's cruelty in a way like interacts really interestingly with Yitzok Yes because Yitzok I think could very I mean like

Yitzok also is not really painted in absolutes but you can absolutely like register that character, not like put on a registry, I mean like register in your mind, Jesus Christ. You can absolutely interpret that character as a trans woman who Hedvig, through the cruelty within their romantic relationship is refusing to allow Yitzhak to transition. Yes. Or express her gender in any way because Havvig's got to be a show.

Because it's showing up Hedvig. You know, that's it's only in pieces in the movie, but it is a like a stronger element of the show of like Yitzhak is actually maybe more talented and a better vocalist and all of this. And like it that creates humor in some moments. It creates like, you know, crowd interaction, like people cheering for Yitzhak and such throughout the show. But like it is an interesting like piece of art not to. to make it, you know, the lamest way to describe this musical that connects with a lot of people. It is interesting how it allows for a lot of different interpretations in a really positive way, I think. And I think that's why this show connects with so, so, so many people, even non-queer people.

Yes. I also think the fact that Yitzhak is played by, always played by a cisgender woman who, or at least like... Not so much anymore. I mean, like, that's another beautiful thing about the show is, I think, basically the rule of thumb for productions from, like, John Cameron Mitchell now and Stephen Trask, who, Stephen Trask, has come out as non-binary. That, like, all gender expression is, like, welcome in the performers doing the show so long as, like, you're being respectful and respecting the, like, authenticity of these characters specifically. All was not the right word choice, but certainly Miriam Shore playing Yitzhak in the off-Broadway and then also in the movie and then Lena Hall in the Broadway version in 2014. I do think does bring an element of its own dynamic into that, that Yitzhak is, best I can tell, but again, all these lines are intentionally blurry, but like best I can tell is, male in this movie and but male presenting in this movie and not specifically, you know, in any kind of

drag during the band performances. And then you see during Midnight Radio this sort of grand flourishing of, you know, female presentation that is really lovely and really well. And I would say for me as a young person who like head over heels doesn't even kind of describe it from my first reactions to seeing this movie in theaters and then seeing it on the stage and yada yada the notion of this is the truth of

these characters being separate from this is the truth of who is performing them and that it might create especially for a young person before you know, these discussions of gender, gender expression had really reached the mainstream or even permeated for me because I'm just like a young idiot.

The idea, it really helps be, like, blurring these lines really helps you realize, oh, all that shit is fake. Like, all of these, like, rules of how, like, gender works, even if you are, like, a cisgender person, it's still, like, it's all made up and fake. It's, yeah, I mean, fake or like, or at the very least performance, right? It's all constructed. And I think that's one of the sort of main, you know, thrusts of Hedwig, so speak, is, you know, that Hedwig is a creation of pure constructive will.

You know what I mean? Right. And that's why the very opening number compares Hedwig to the Berlin Wall, a structure that, that was, you know, created and had to be, you know, torn down and for the, you know, nation to be rebuilt again and that kind of... Well, and you also think visually of the Berlin Wall and, like, literally, Hedvik wears a Berlin Wall costume. Yeah, graffiti.

The idea that, you know, you think of the graffiti and people imprinting upon the wall, etc. And I think the kind of journey of where Hedvick goes, and I wouldn't want to be too presumptive as a cisgender person, but there is an element of what it is intending is that she ultimately transcends gender in a way, that it's just like that it is ultimately not the most relevant thing to her success, her happiness, her self-fulfillment moving forward after, you know, the end of this narrative. Yes.

Yes, I think that's right. What drew you to this movie initially in terms of You said you were a premier reader I mean somewhat being just a theater fag and it was a musical like this movie came out and like the summer reemergence of the musical with Moulin Rouge and it's like Had you heard about the off-Broadway production or were you too young to have No no no no I you know I

I was not that cool at, you know, 12 years old. The idea that, like, I, who was, like, musical theater fag and was, like, wanting movie musicals to come back and was, like, you know, staunch preteen being like, you know, movie music, everybody hates movie musical, you get it. The full picture is painted for you. The idea that we had this summer where you have two movie musicals, being very unapologetic about what they are and also kind of breaking the rules of that genre and also dispelling all of the things that people said made their genre uncool

was so exciting for me. I think probably one of the most exciting moments for me as a movie lover in my lifetime, having these two movies kind of back to back. Just and move on earth. And, and like this is just a great musical. Like I think when we talk about, you know,

the great musicals of the past 30 years or whatever, if you're not including Headbig and the Angry Inch in that conversation, you, you should be like going back to the drawing board if you can't think of this in that conversation. Did you? Because like these songs are all incredible. The story is kind of unlike anything else we have on the stage.

Yeah. Very special musical. Did you see it alone? Did you see it with friends? No, I saw it with my dad. You saw it with your dad. I think you've told me this. Yes.

Yeah. And what was your dad's review? Walking out of it. Oh, my dad loved it. Good. I love that. Yeah, my dad loved it. And then saw it locally on the stage.

Yeah. Multiple times while I was here. Yeah, this is like very formative for me. Yeah. That's great. Did you also see Mulan Rouge with your dad? I saw Mulan Rouge with anybody who would be willing to sit through the motion picture. I saw Mulan Rouge like five or six times in the theater.

Wow. That's great. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, excited to talk about this movie. I believe my pitch to you was like, can we just like cover something that's awesome and fun? It's never not a good time. And like, I think we'll be, yeah, because this, it had its limited release after Sundance in July.

So we're not hitting the actual theatrical 20th anniversary. but like John Cameron Mitchell is celebrating the 25th anniversary all year long, baby, but we're here. What's time? Time is also a construct, folks. Speaking of constructs, would you like to tell the listeners about our Patreon page? Yes, I would. This Had Oscar Buzz has a Patreon. It's called This Had Oscar Buzz Turbulent Brilliant.

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slash this had Oscar buzz. HeadVig and the Angry Inch, directed and written by one John Cameron Mitchell based on John Cameron Mitchell's musical with Stephen Trask. The film stars John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shore, Michael Pitt, Alberta Watson, Maurice Dean Witt, and the one and only Andrea Martin. Hell yeah. World premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Did the queer film festival circuit before opening an limited release July 20th, 2001. Here's how we can kind of contextualize this movie culturally. The number one movie at the box office was Jurassic Park 3. Indeed it was.

The idea that, like, we. can be, we can have this movie playing in the art houses throwing a grenade at gender constructs and rules at the same time that we have a talking velociraptor and Julia Roberts

in a fat suit can we talk about number two movie America Sweethearts what a piece of shit what a hateful movie what a hateful movie piece of shit waste of resources to gather all those charismatic movie stars together and make that piece of trash. Oh my God, I hated it so much. I mean, if you want to know the specific ways that the culture hated women at this, you know, time around, you know, Y2K-ish era,

all of the, like, various beautiful actresses and that there was like a running thread of the culture of like, Yeah, but what if she was fat? Let's look at her. Because wasn't Shallow Hal also 2001? It was round about 2001. Yeah, yeah. Third place, legally blonde. Sometimes we did like women.

Yes. And we had legally blonde being a hit. Yes. The score. No women. Sometimes movies were summer movies because Marlon Brando decided to show up at like an Applebee's. Isn't that shot in like?

Like, they're at like a restaurant, right, where you could get like chicken tendees. Is that true? God, I saw the score, but it was forever ago. Maybe I'm just remembering the production photos. I don't think I've ever seen the score. It's not very interesting. But it looks like an apple, like, it's like, you know, buffet table, applebees. And then cats and dogs.

Anyway, yes, cats and dogs. Cats and dogs. Marlon Brando, they tricked him into like, hey, let's just go get like happy hour. margaritas. Or it was just like, this is his coffee shop of choice where he just like hangs out. And if you sneak in a camera, you might be able to make a movie with him. Cats and Dogs, the gritty reboot of The Truth About Cats and Dogs. Sure.

Everything is like dark, you know, and rainy. None of these movies, including Headwick, would I classify as pre-9,000? 11 cinema. No. There they are. Immediately pre-9-11. Yeah, you never think about legally blonde as being an immediately pre-9-11 cinema. Yeah, that's interesting.

I mean, I think a lot of people discovered Hedwig, like, post-9-11 on, like, DVD and such, such as yourself, too, where it's like, it was right there ready to be subversive in a way that we've really needed in that very humble. homogenized time that was post-9-11. But it is a pre-9-11 movie. I look back to that time discovering Hedwig, and I really wish I could have been that, like, cool, weird queer kid who buried, who, like, burrowed into old cinema, or who, like, who emerged from their cocoon in their early 20s, having watched all the John Waters.

as this movie somehow had lived in a rare record and video cassette store and befriended the clerk there and watched all the old, I don't even know, like Rainer-Ver-Fosbinder movies or whatever. I mean, I wasn't watching Fosbinder as a kid, but also don't confuse me for like weird Oh, I'm not specifically even talking about you. because, like, I was just, like, listening to Broadway cast recordings. That's pretty conventional in terms of gay guy. But I didn't even have that, of course. Like, I was such a late bloomer in all of this.

But I do have a great envy for those kids. And, of course, those kids turn to that probably via need and, you know, neglect and rejection and all this sort of things. Like, I understand. Well, and access that it was. was available to you. Like, in a certain way, I had access to it because I had a cool dad. But I think some people make their own access, too. And some people, like, do the work of seeking things out and the seeking out is its own sort of, you know, education and its own sort of, you know,

finding, you know, finding things. And I think that was, you know, became, things became more accessible. It's interesting how we are in an age where everything is so accessible. And now I feel like people seem more siloed off into their own eras where like, you can watch any movie from like the fucking 40s right now. The death of monoculture, et cetera. And you have this generation who's like, oh, that movie's from 1999, I wasn't alive then. So I can't. My eyes cannot see it.

You know what I mean? Sure. Sure. I mean, for me, we've had this conversation. and being able to walk to the library and check out casino or whatever that was there. I also like, I wish I was a little bit older to have experienced this because we've talked about the like late 90s, early 2000s,

gay independent cinema that we often talk out of both sides of our mouth that we're like grateful that it was there, but also like a lot of it is crap. Of course, but in that crappiness, I found windows were opened, doors were open. Like, that was my, and maybe this explains a lot about me. That's what I started sort of like seeking out, because that's what I was watching on, like, HBO. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't seek out artie shit.

I didn't go to, you know. But in a way that was most accessible to you because it was available on HBO. Because it was available on HBO. And so I watched the Broken Hearts Club and I watched all over the guy and latter days and oh, oh, what the hell else? Edge of 17, which I think is actually a really

good movie. Did you see the re-releasing Gypsy 83 with like a director's cut or something like that? That's fun. Yeah. That's fun. Well, but like it also as things were kind of reaching the mainstream, like I don't I don't know if you can qualify a Hedwig as an underground queer movie.

You know, it was released by Fine Line, which would have been part of the like Warner Brothers Time Warner Home of Products. It was in a thousand theaters. But like it's, I think it's kind of the idea why I was like bringing this up is that it still ran counter to what like queer and gay mainstream cinema was doing at the time and like what was embraced that makes it very very interesting. Yeah, I think that's right. I think that's fair. To the point where it's like it's enough to get it awards attention, but it is still

too far outside of the mainstream for like your academy voter. Yeah. That might be unaccustomed to something like this. Yeah, we're talking about this on this head Oscar buzz because it definitely made real headway in the precursor season. It got a Golden Globe nomination. It got Indy Spirit nominations and that kind of a thing. But yes, I imagine that the case for this movie as an Oscar nominee,

even though I will say there is no earthly reason why this couldn't have followed the same trajectory as Velvet Gold Mine towards a costume Oscar. You know what I mean? Like that kind of a thing. So we'll get into it We'll maybe look at those races Once we get a little further into the episode and see We'll make our cases for where it should be

Because also one of the things Aside from like John Cameron Mitchell's performance John Cameron Mitchell got a lot of debut director prizes for this movie And I would say quite justifiably Yeah Even in the year where you have Todd Field You know making his first movie

I remember when Rabbit Hulk came out in, what was it, 2010. And that is, you know, obviously also directed by John Cameron Mitchell, but, you know, not from anything that he had any kind of experience with. He was essentially a director for hire on that movie. He talked a lot about how he had lost a sibling when he was younger, so he did have actually some, like, personal attachment to the material. But was not involved in, like, the development, I don't believe. No. No.

And so, and I remember people being sort of surprised or not really knowing how to process or how to, what to expect from this movie that, you know, because John Cameron Mitchell was directing it. And I think it was because. And short bus had come out at that, between the two as well. And didn't really do much. Like, I really enjoyed short bus. but I think Shortbus was a movie that was kind of, if not rejected, then certainly sort of just like set aside after it's, you know, maybe people paying attention to it for five minutes.

Or just like exclusively queer people saw that movie. Shortbus is definitely, you know, not to say that Hedwig is unradical in some way, but Shortbuss is definitely a more radical movie than any other. And a movie that more readily turns people away. You know what I mean? That there's, you know, unsimulated sex in that movie. Or, yes, unsimulated sex in that movie. The Pearl Clutchers, et cetera.

Well, or just some people who are just like, that's not what I'm looking for in a movie right now. Which, fair enough, I suppose. I really like that movie. But, yeah, but I think, you know, rabbit hole, I think people still sort of assumed that John Cameron Mitchell is somebody who just sort of like directs his own, you know, weird theater art movies. And I think that movie kind of, you know, at the very least, you know, impressed a good

number of people that he can, that he's a good director, you know, that he's just a good And the outlier is how to talk to girls at parties, a movie that I think at this point, I'm the only person who likes it. That movie really did not connect with people. I don't think, I think it's the outlier for his filmography in some interesting ways. Though it's like his filmography, the movies that he's made are like an interesting Venn diagram of where they overlap and don't. But that one overlaps the least with any of his other movies. Yeah.

Let's get into the plot description before we just never do it. And then we'll dive back into this conversation. Joe, are you ready to give a 60 second plot description for Headwick and the Angry Inch? Yes, although now I'm realizing I started writing out. my plot description and then I didn't make it through the whole way because I had to abandon it to do the script for the fantasy league. So at some point, my scripted presentation will run out and I will be winging it for the rest of the time. So we'll see how that goes. Well, let's see how that goes. Your 60-second plot description for Hedvick and the Angry

Inch starts now. We open on glam punk drag rock band Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the midst of their tour across America's finest buffet restaurants and crab shacks, shadowing the arena tour of chart-topping MTV star Tommy Nosis. and stage banter. Hedvig tells her story of growing up as Hansel, a young boy in communist East Berlin, idolizing American musicians and longing for escape. The escape came in the form of American G.I. Luther, who offers to marry Hansel and take him to America with him.

Hansel will need to pass for a woman, however, which involves more than just a wig and a new first name. As Hedvig puts it, her sex change operation got botched and she was left with the one-inch round of flesh where her penis used to be in her vagina never was. Hedvig emig emig emig emigig emigates to Junction City, Kansas, with Luther, who soon after leaves her for someone even twinkier leaving Hedwig, abandoned in a trailer park with nothing but her ways to keep her company. She takes a babysitting

job and a handful of performance gigs with her new band. She also encounters closeted Christian teen Tommy Speck, with whom Hedvig falls in love and teaches in the ways of love and rock music. Tommy ultimately can't handle Hedvig's gender situation and Bail is eventually becoming gothpop star Tommy Nosis. Back on tour, Hedvig tries

fruitlessly to confront Tommy and take her due credit for creating the star he became. All the while, she's mistreating her band, including her guitarist slash husband Yitzhak, who not so sequently yearns to be a star himself. Yitzhak manages to get cast in a Polynesian cruisehip performance of rent, but a jealous Hedwig tears up his passport in a move that turns everyone against her. Next thing we know, Hedwig is hanging down by the docks and gets into Tommunosis's limousine, and they have a slight reconciliation until Hedvig realizes just what a dumb-dum he is,

and they get into a car crash, and it's a huge tabloid scandal, but also makes Hedvig somewhat famous as a tabloid star, and so they perform, performs with the Angry Inch one last time at the village water in Times Square, and it goes very poorly, and Hedwig ends up having a moment of connection with Tommy where forgiveness is offered and reconciliation is possible, and then we're in this dreamscape ante room where they sing midnight radio, and Hedwig offers Yitzhak a wig at last, and Yitzhak comes into her moment as a female presenting rock star goddess, and Hedvig finishes minute radio and wanders out into the alley, butt naked and free at last to the end. Into the night, a minute and 23 seconds over. The only thing that I don't like that doesn't come from, that is in the stage and doesn't come in the movie is that you don't get to hear.

Yitzhak perform in midnight radio? Yes. Because in the show, you know, there's the pass off of the wig. Yitzhak leaves the stage and then comes on stage in full glam and just like gets to wail and like keeps going while Hedvig leaves and then Yitzok gets to be the star. So you don't get to have that moment. But it's fine. It still sends the message. The crowd surfing sort of moment, I think, is the equivalent of that in this.

and that is fine. Seeing it in 2014, again, I saw it twice. Once with Neil Hedric Harrison, I had like back, back balcony. Those were the only seats that you could get at that point. Did you see Rebecca Naomi Jones? Or did you see Lena Hall? I saw Lena Hall twice. Oh, okay.

I love Rebecca Naomi Jones. I do too, but I didn't see her in this. But so saw it the first time, loved it, but was, you know, from the very back. And then the second time I saw it, I saw it with my sister. and we got orchestra seats, but they were partially, of the two seats, the one was sort of behind a column. So I had already seen it. So I took the column seat. Sounds like the balasco.

And I gave my sister the seat next to me with the better view of the stage. And so, again, I had not only seen the movie a billion times by this point, but I had seen the stage show already before. And so, right, you get to Midnight Radio, Hedvig gives Yitzhak the wig, and then Yitzhak exits, exits the stage with the wig, and Hedvig keeps performing. And then when you get to the lift up your hand part is when Yitzhak enters back in through the one side door and comes up the aisle. And it's this big sort of revelation.

And so when I saw it the first time, it's great. It's fantastic. Everybody applauds. It's, you know, it's this, you know, great moment. But then, seeing it the second time, I had somehow forgotten, or not forgotten, but just like, it still, it took me by such, like, it gripped me so much more this time. And I'm literally just like weeping tears as she's walking up the aisle. It's just like it did. Got lost in the moment. It affected me so much more that second time for whatever reason. And it was, it's such a power. And Lena Hall just wails. Like, it's really, really something else. But yes, that is definitely different than in the movie version. But I also like, for as much as like Michael Pitt can be hit and miss, I think, as a performer. I think he's utilized very well as Tommy.

And in that last scene where they're doing the Wicked Little Town. reprise and Mitchell is killing it with just like the reactions and sort of the breakdown that Hedwig is having. But like that scene

because in the stage show, it's just one performer playing both of those roles. You don't really get that catharsis. And that's a thing I think that the movie offers that the stage show doesn't offer is this really sort of like powerful, you know,

moment where Hedwig realizes what that relationship with Tommy did benefited and also the act of letting it go and the act of forgiving and that kind of

thing is just like oh, it's really good. It's really good. Well, and that Tommy is just another person in a chain of people in Hedvig's life that has like discarded them or exploited them or, you know, not given them what, you know... And you don't know whether this is a thing that's actually happening or whether this is a sort of like, again, this is a thing that's happening in Hedvig's head.

But for whatever it is, it almost doesn't matter. Right. And in the stage show, you know, there's like a... There's like not a voiceover, but you hear basically Tommy through dialogue saying, that it is a performance as an apology for Hedvig at a full arena. Whereas the language of the movie is

Tommy has basically been discarded from pop culture and it's in some venue that maybe it is ultimately more like a temporal space, but he's performing to an empty house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then Hedvick is there. I like that

again, the part with the Rosie O'Donnell clip comes in this sort of like, Hedwig becoming a tabloid, you know, sensation after the limousine crash. And I like the, you know, sort of flash of different, like, magazine covers and that blending of actual history where it's just like, oh, right, much like in, you know, in real life, where Hedwig became this, like, downtown sensation or whatever. so too was the movie version of this. I kind of want to talk about something that never really gets discussed

in terms of the stage show being produced now because you have like 25-year-old and 30-year-olds performing as Hedwig and it's like, it is giving a very clear marker in time with the fall of the Berlin Wall. So effectively, if you're producing Hedvig, now, if you're presenting a believable reality, you're creating a period piece. Yeah.

This is a period piece. It can't have that necessarily immediacy that it has. So it's all kind of illusion. Though I think this show is such a name drawed now that like the audience showing up for this just like doesn't think about that. No. The Berlin Wall or anything like that. Where it exists in time.

And it's like, this is a 30-year-old saying that they, they, you know, escape the Berlin Wall. For everything about Hedwig that exists in the margins and stuff like that, that to me almost like enhances it, right? That it's just this, you know, this thing that is of its time and is reverberating now through, you know, through the eras. And it would make more sense as a period piece anyway because the whole like tabloid sphere, though like I, not that like everything needs to be adapted for social media, but like if this was a contemporary piece. piece, Hedwig would be an A triple plus shit poster. Yeah. She basically doctor Roberta Bobby, like, with a mean streak. Well, and I would rather that than like, have you followed? I mean, I almost, I shouldn't bring it up even as something to be followed because it's clearly just like weirdos on

threads and malcontents or whatever, but this thing where... There is no non-weirdo on threads. Threads is a waste of everyone's fucking time. What are you doing there? Well, every once in a while, Instagram will fool me into clicking on something and I end up on threads. But you'll, and you see people talking about the new X-Men and how, you know, it doesn't make sense for Magneto to be a Holocaust survivor anymore. So, you know, shouldn't Magneto be a Palestinian or shouldn't Magneto be X, Y, and Z? And of course, you just get people arguing back and forth about the dumbest shit like this. And it's just like, wouldn't it be so much more freeing for everybody if we just can... To read a book.

Or just like to accept the imperfections of time and space. You know what I mean? And just like, good Lord, folks, like, to be this literal about things. Well, but like, also, probably the only thing that could get me on board with another X-Men is if you did a period piece. Like, set it in the fucking 80s. That's what the, that's what all of those James McAvoy Michael Fastbender was. Like each one of those were like period pieces set in these 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. But it wasn't like set in the corny 80s.

Like they went to a mall. Like you need to do live action animated series for me to care about it. They literally had one sequence in, I think it was days of future past or maybe it was whatever where they like, all the kids went to the mall. And like that was, I mean, it wasn't much, but like they gave it to you. They definitely did. So, um, everyone get off threads. Nothing good is happening to you there.

Everybody's so dumb. Everybody's so fucking dumb. All right. I feel embarrassing enough when I post on, uh, blue sky. I don't post. But where else am I going to post my work? To be fair. I don't post on threats. I want everybody to know that. I just gawk at the stupids. Um, talk to me about Sundance that year.

This is a good Sundance. Yeah. I mean, in the bedroom, it becomes the biggest Oscar success of that lineup. That wins the acting prize. Memento is also... What was it that failed for Miramax that they had to resort in the bedroom? Because wasn't that, like, clearly Harvey's second choice that he didn't... Yeah, like, that's one of the notorious things where he, like, kind of... He bought that movie because it was a big deal, but he didn't really like the movie.

Todd Field wouldn't play ball with all of the edits that Harvey wanted to make to the movie. probably, you know, sanding down its sharper edges, one would imagine. And effectively, all of the other Miramax movies that year didn't do well, so begrudgingly, it became the push after, like, it was getting really strong critical response and, you know, momentum throughout the season with, like, critics prizes and such. Oh, shipping news? Was it the shipping news? Shipping news would have been one of them. Yeah. Yeah. I think that would have definitely, that was part of it. Because I remember there being like, this was not the plan. This was not. Oh, you know what else it was. Was that distributed through Miramax? No, internationally.

Iris was 2001. Kate and Leopold was 2001. I was going to say Captain Corelli's mandolin, but I think that was only Miramax internationally. Amelie was that year? Yeah, I mean, Amelie did well, but Amelie was also, I think that was also another one where it was just like, because of all of the international distribution, it was less of a, you know, home team Miramax kind of a thing. And also wasn't the plan. Yeah, yeah. I think more, like Bridget Jones's diary felt more like a Miramax movie that year. That actually did kind of overachieve at a Sundance.

at the Oscars. Anyway, that Sundance. Oh, 100%. Also at the Sundance, the aforementioned Donnie Darko, LIE, and previous episode, The Deep End. And Memento. Yes. Memento. We mentioned Memento.

Memento's not until the next Oscar season, but wins the screenplay prize at Sundance. Yeah. Yeah, that's a pretty, I mean, that's a very exciting, again, this is an exciting year, and that's an exciting Sundance, for sure. The Grand Jury Prize winner was the believer. The Ryan Gosling is a Jewish skinhead movie that... Didn't that ultimately just go to Showtime? Like, it took forever to... I feel like, yes.

I think that was all... I mean, there was a few of those movies. I remember L.A. was a movie that, like, never really felt like it ever made it into theaters. Mm-hmm. But yes. And a lot of that was, like, content-related for LIE in terms of... The Belie...

What it was depicting. have you seen LIE? Yeah, a while ago. Yeah, that's just like one of those things where it felt like, it feels like in hindsight, people were pushing it because they thought it was doing something, you know, provocative. And I also think, like, Paul Dano is really interesting. More of the takeaway for me than Brian Cox is. But, like, I don't think that's a good movie. I mean, it's a definitely.

it's one of those movies that I think you can confuse how much it makes you feel something for a good, because it really does, like, ruin your day. It'll ruin your fucking day. It makes you feel really gross. But Hedwig at Sundance wins John Cameron Mitchell's first directing prize of the season, and he would be winning debut directing prizes throughout the season. But it also won the audience award, which at a time when that still kind of meant something with Sundance, That's pretty significant feather in Hedvig's cap moving into its release.

I mean, it doesn't surprise me, although I can imagine movies like Memento and Donnie Darko also being big crowd-pleasers, but I also think those movies are probably movies that you need to sit with a little bit after the fact and sort of like collect your thoughts, whereas, like, Hedvig really sends you out of that movie on an emotional high or at an emotional, you know, a moment of peak emotionality. And that matters for things like that. I also feel like in the case of Donnie Darko and how that was treated, like, it was expected to be a big thing at Sundance and then just disappointed people.

That has to be a factor of its intended audience was not attending the Sundance Film Festival. Yeah. You know, it's not the type of people that that movie was for, you know, high schoolers, college-age kids. That's not a lot of people who are attending Sundance. And then as soon as it hits home video, it starts basically immediately amassing the cult that it did. I'm a little surprised that people haven't, I haven't at least seen people talking about Donnie Darko in the context of this year's successes for, like, backrooms and. obsession and stuff like that because... Oh, that is actually a very interesting comparison.

They feel similar in that, like, obviously, Donny Darko was not a thing that grew up out of online anything. Like, this was, you know, fermented in the brain and imagination of Richard Kelly. But I think it's... It's cult appeal did sort of, like, build through, you know, whatever version of the internet existed then, be it message boards, be it, you know, chat rooms, you know, that version, that early, early aughts version of the internet. And I think also there is a sense of, if you get it, you get it, particularly with, compared to like something like backrooms or whatever, where it's just like, it's so vibesy. It's so very much just like, you know, putting you into, I'm thinking it's. I'm thinking it's. especially of all the scenes with like the rabbit and, you know, and the portal, the portal emerging from his stomach and all that sort of stuff, feels very similar to the kinds of things that would end up, you know, being replicated in things like creepypastas and, you know, that kind of a thing, that kind of a phenomenon.

Yeah, that's interesting. That is interesting. And it's not like it's so, completely out there doing its own thing, but it's so adjacent to that. Like, with backrooms, you're talking about a certain vein of, like, temporal horror. And then this just, like, pushes it to an extreme, but you can see its relation to, like, other contemporary things. Whereas, like, Donnie Darko, like, not to be this millennial, but, like, Donnie Darko is a superhero movie. It is. And, like, it's adjacent to a lot of that, and I think it's adjacent to kind of an era of horror as well, like the Kevin Williamson thing.

Yeah. I also kind of think of it in tandem somewhat with the craft, just like the vibe of Donnie Darko. Yeah. Well, it's also, it's a movie that really, like, sits with the uncanny aspects of its story and also is very literate in terms of the pop culture that came before it. There are visual references to things like E.T. There's, you know, the scene where they go and watch Evil Dead in the movie theater. Like, that is, you know, what's going on when that scene with Frank the rabbit, Frank the Bunny, whatever they call him. Still so terrifying. Still so, like, on an elemental level. Just the shot of that rabbit is so terrifying. Why are you wearing that

man suit? Why are you wearing that man suit? And also the fact that, like... Because it's market days, sweetie. I hate you. I hate you. But yeah, so that I just sort of, you know, I had that thought right now, but yes, folks, if you like backrooms and, you know, you haven't seen Donnie Darko, check it out. I bet you'd love it. If you like backrooms, then you want to see a movie that has, you know, non-embarrassing dialogue.

Watch Donnie Darko. This also apparently did well in Berlin, Hedwig. Yes, because it competed in. in the sidebars and it won the teddy. The teddy is basically like the queer palm in Berlin. Because it's the silver bear and then it's the teddy. Sure. I'm guessing that's where that comes from.

But then throughout the season, John Cameron Mitchell, this was like the single thing that would have made me happiest in this award season in my early years of, you know, following and obsessing about these things as an annoying, loud teenager. John Cameron Mitchell getting a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Couldn't tell you how happy that made me. And then, of course, when he loses, I'm like, this is bullshit. But he lost it. Even though, no, no, I would have been rooting for John Cameron Mitchell, but like I love the Royal Tenenbaum.

So Gene Hackman would have made me happy. It's amazing to me that Hackman, that was the only awards traction, really, that Hackman seemed to get that year, which was surprising. Wait, I want to see because also Hedwig was nominated at the BIFAs, our beloved British Independent Film Awards. As like an international? Yes, as an international, best foreign independent film in the English language.

It is Hedwig, a movie called Dark Days that was directed by Mark Singer, which looks like it was a documentary. Chopper, which is the one, the movie that introduces Eric Banna. The Andrew Dominic movie. And then the winner was Memento. So a solid slate of movies there. And then for an independent film in the foreign language was another kind of barrier, because

in the mood for love wins that one over Amorris Peros and The Taste of Others and songs from the second floor. So there's that. Interesting. Good for the BFAs. Costume Designers Guild nominated Arian Phillips for excellence in period slash fantasy film, which I think is very funny. But, like, I guess you could, yes, period film, sure.

Partially at least. So there's that. They're only nominating the sequence set in East Berlin. But it puts Hedwig in the same category as Planet of the Apes, Colleen Atwood, for the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone, which wins. And then Mark Bridges is nominated for Blow, the Ted Demi movie Blow.

An odd collection. That's an actual period movie. An actual period movie. Maybe they're considering Hedwig a fantasy movie purely because it's a musical, but then where is Moulin Rouge? Well, Moulin Rouge exists in... Hold on. Sorry. Was not nominated?

What? That's crazy. Mulan Rouge, not nominated, in the Costume Designers Guild Awards for 2001. That's nutty. Please, my daughter is Catherine. Nominate her.

Yeah, so Blow was nominated instead of Moulon Rouge, and Planet of the Apes was nominated instead of Moulon Rouge. The winner in contemporary film was the Royal Tenembaums, which I do love, should have been nominated for the Oscar, over Legally Blonde, Mulholland Drive, and Oceans, I remember when the Oscar nominations came out, it was treated like Ewan McGregor was the acting snub of the year. But I'm like, but when Gene Hackman and to like, in my mind, John Cameron Mitchell aren't nominated. I know.

I know. I mean, I guess Ewan McGregor was in a Best Picture nominee, but like if if Gene Hackman is winning the globe and not getting nominated, Ewan McGregor was nominated for that globe too. but like someone someone's ahead in line. I agree. Costume design nominees at the Oscar. So Muan Rouge does get nominated and wins there. That is one of Catherine Martin's several Oscar wins. Over Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone again,

Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring, another not nominated at the Costume Designers Guild. I wonder if some of these people were maybe just not in the guild, but that doesn't make sense. Maybe. Harry Potter, Lord of the Ring. Gossford Park, Jenny Bevan for Gosford Park, and then Melaina Cannonero for, say it with me, The Affair of the Necklese, starring Hillary Swank, which won, oh, it didn't win,

anything. Right, I think I was thinking of the Duchess. The Duchess is the one that won. Trust the Duchess. Trust the Duchess. We're winning the Oscar. So you can't tell me that Hedwig and the Angry Inch can't elbow out of the way the affair of the necklace in that category. I understand

that, like, it of course also has better costumes than Harry Potter and the Sorcer Stone, but, like, they weren't not going to nominate Harry. A billion cloaks. Yeah, they love all those cloaks. They're not going to nominate that. Lord of the Rings was nominated in every single craft's category. This was one of the few that it didn't win.

But, like, yes, you can nominate Hedwig over a fair to be fair of the necklace. It'll be okay. It'll be fine. But some of that has to be, even though, yes, there are period, sequences in the movie. That has to go down to, well, you know, maybe it just also wasn't on their radar but should have been.

But it's a contemporary movie. And we know that contemporary costumes have a hard time. And all the best costumes are from the contemporary scenes. Like there are period scenes, but like those aren't the most costume forward. Those are the scenes that are happening in East Berlin or whatever. Like the stuff you would nominate it for is everything Edvick wears it like all the bilgewater scenes. Oh, not even the bilge water scenes, but the, like,

the Lilith Fair scene joke where it's on, like, the, like, 78th stage. How dare you? It's called the Menzies Fair. One of the best jokes in that movie. Followed by maybe my favorite joke. One day in the late, mid-80s, I was in my early, late 20s. Amazing. All those little tossed off... The English language

is so beautiful. All those little tossed off lines about how, you know, we're speaking to Phil Collins people, but then again, aren't we all? Like, All of that stuff is tremendous. When it comes to huge openings, a lot of people think of me. Every single new Hedwig look is so incredible, though. That one is my favorite, though.

The Menzies Fair one is my favorite. She's in, like, a reverse pink, like, shitty satin coat and these glasses. And that wig, that wig is incredible. That's a really good wig. But, like, I think of the, like, the pink ensemble with the barrens. that she wears to the mall. Her share horror was. Her share horror was, look.

The scene where she gets picked up in the on the docks by the limousine where she's wearing... Those hoary boots. Yes. The hoary boots with the big curly wig. The boots that go all the way up to her asshole. She is like, those boots are crazy.

It's incredible. I don't know, there's so many good ones. So many of like the big red, sparkly lip, you know, stuff happening and the variety of wigs, the wig that she wears for the one performance in Junction City at the one little restaurant in Junction City, I think is tremendous. That's sort of like two-tone, black and white, short, flippy wig. I hate to reduce things down to like these type of eye roles that, you know, Oscar campaigns are built on.

but like John Cameron Mitchell put on all those costumes and gave that performance while directing this thing. It's crazy. It's crazy. It is crazy. I mean, I think it is safe to say one of the greatest self-directed performances of all time on screen, period. Like it's the doing everything and achieving at such a high level, all that is happening on screen in this. movie, all of the visual ideas, the, you know, intense costuming. Yep.

And having to direct it on no budget, by the way, is just a crazy achievement that I feel like would probably have gone over better with awards bodies today than it did at the time. But unless it got a Best Picture nomination, it still would have had a hard time getting craft nominations today. Right. This was also back when there were only three nominees for Best Makeup. And while absolutely Headwig deserved one of these three spots, it would have had a bish of a time getting there. Because your winner is Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring.

And with all those fucking orcs, you were never getting, you know, all those Hobbit feet or whatever. Like, you were never getting past that. But then you get a beautiful mind for its old age makeup that gets made fun of in, I'm thinking of ending things. Absolutely. And rightly so. but from their cold dead hands, would you have pride, that Beautiful Mind nomination? Like, that was always going to happen. Sure, but that shot of Jennifer Connolly at the end of a beautiful mind is how I look and feel while watching a beautiful mind.

And then Mulan Rouge, again, you know, like, you know, obviously that's going to get nominated for its makeup. But yes, of course. Yeah, but if Mulan Rouge can get nominated for eyeliner, so can Hetwick. I agree with you on the merits. But I'm just saying that, like, in the realistic world in which we were looking at that, it would have been hard to crack that by that. And being reductive about the makeup of Moulon Rouge, but you understand what I'm coming from. I absolutely do. Who has the most interesting makeup in that movie?

Which character? Broadbent. Yeah. He didn't grow that facial hair. He sure didn't. I suppose you could also say Leguzoamo, too, because LeguZamo didn't grow all that facial hair. When he's in costume as the sitar? It's all mutton chops.

The mutton chops are working. The mutton chops are working for him. And of course, Satine looks incredible in her consumptive pallor and whatnot. All right. Maybe I'm watching Mulan Rouge tonight. It's been a minute since I've watched it. It's maybe not a bad idea. It's almost like a hot stove because I was so obsessed with it that, like, I had to let the well fill for decades on that movie.

Also, a five-time independent Spirit Award nominee. No wins. I also thought of... It's a very competitive independent spirit awards that year, I will say. It is, but they could have made space for it, especially considering all where it was nominated. I think there has to be some type of independent spirit rule that if you break through on the jury committee

to get through in feature and director, for a first-time feature, you can't be nominated in first-time feature. Oh, that would make sense. Because it doesn't get nominated there and ends up losing to Todd Field for in the bedroom. I think that's probably true. But it gets nominated in first screenplay. It's interesting. I thought about I saw the TV glow, which also got five indie spirit noms to only win nothing.

Yeah. And it just made me think, how great are the indie spirits in terms of recognizing queer film with wins? Well It's a good question What did Moonlight win in its year? Let's see Moonlight 2016

Well it won best feature So there's that It won best feature Best director Best screenplay Best cinematography So they showed up for that movie Best editing also

Yes So they showed up for that movie And I believe Brookback Mountain was all Also, best feature, best director, best, um, that's it. But still, feature director. So. But, I mean, Hedvig nominated for five categories, loses to four different movies.

I think that kind of says a lot, too. No, Memento won director and feature. Oh, to four different. Yeah, it lost to four movies in five categories. Yeah. Tom Wilkinson. Because it lost cinematography to Mulholland Drive, first screenplay to Ghost World and actor to Tom Wilkinson and in the bedroom.

Yeah. You can see where first screenplay would go to something else that people really loved Ghost World that year. And of all of the like triumphs of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, you don't really think of it as a screenplay movie, even though obviously, you know, the screenplay is the prime mover for everything that happens in the movie. It's unfortunate because it's a really, really great piece of adaptation because the stage show is basically extended monologue and like I said earlier I think this is one of the great

examples of opening up a stage show because it feels really seamless, you know, that they can still have this arc but they're just really kind of borrowing chunks from the monologue. It's a really strong indie spirits year. Memento wins feature and director.

The feature nominees are Memento Hedvig, L-I-E, Things Behind the Sun, the Allison Anders movie. and then Richard Linkletter's Waking Life. And then your first feature nominees are in the bedroom, which wins the anniversary party, which is Jennifer Jason Lee and Alan Cumming, the Believer, aforementioned Ryan Gosling movie where he plays a Jewish skinhead, Donnie Darko and Ghost World. Like, strong, strong year.

Your director outlier was Cheryl Dunyee for Stranger Inside, getting acting nominees that year included movies like the Center of the World, the Wayne Wang movie. The Deep End was nominated for Tilda Swinton. Another Richard Link Letter movie,

Tape got a nomination for Uma Thurman. Tamara Tooney was nominated for The Caveman's Valentine, a movie I started to watch Casey Lemons is the Caveman Valentine, and I couldn't make it through it. It was not my cup of tea, but good for Tamara Tooney.

What are some other movies that are nominated this year? Monsters Ball gets a screenplay nomination. Do, do, do, do, do, do. That's it, but, like, that's, you know, that's pretty red. Amelie wins Best International Film. It's cool. No comment from me. Which wins the Cassavetti's Award?

That's for the movie called Jackpot. Jackpot. Never seen. What won the, um, Was the Altman Ensemble Award? No, that hadn't happened yet. That is a more recent...

Yeah. Let me look what year they started doing that. I was already... Oh, they started doing it in 2007, which can you remember what movie? I think it's one of the few times... Oh, I just clicked on it. I just saw it. Sorry.

It's I'm not there. I'm not there. One of the few times I think they don't nominate Todd Haynes for director because they get that prize. I was like, I would put right there with a bullet a movie that's going to win that Altman Prize this year, and now I forget what it was. And it might have even been brackets derogatory about whatever movie I was thinking was going to win this prize. It's so funny that I was like, I thought for sure that they had the Altman earlier because I was like, I remember Mean Creek winning an ensemble award. And it did in 2004.

It was just a special award. It was like a special achievement for ensemble or whatever. Back to the film for a second. Back to the movie that is the subject of our podcast. Top five song ranking in the film for you. That's hard because that's like, listen, I've lived with this music for 25 years of my life. It goes through cycles. It does go through cycles.

timestamp of where I am today. I think... I think Origin of Love is always going to be my number one. I think I am that girl. The impact of that and like the... You know, its place in the show is hard to argue against it being number one. I think also, I think my ranking probably just says a lot about, maybe more about me than about the show, because Midnight Radio is also, like, those are top two.

And then I sort of, I fluctuate between Sugar Daddy, Wig in a Box, Wicked Little Town, Tear Me Down. Head Vicks Version. Well, I think Wicked Little Town, I kind of like wrap them all together. But yes, Hadvig's version, although I love that reprise. I think that reprise is so pretty. The full version of the Longgrift, which isn't really in the movie, but that's Yitzhak's song is really good. I love the Slater Kinney version of Angry Inch

that's on that album of Hedwig covers, maybe more so than the Hedwig version of Angry Inch, but that's really cool. Is there a song we haven't mentioned? Well, Exquisite corpse and Hed Vigs Lament. They're not really there for you to like enjoy

on their own terms, right? Like they're just sort of... Sure. I suppose you could. It's also like not my particular you know, favorite genre. Flavor, exactly. Tear Me Down gets better every time I listen to it.

I know. Especially when you see it live. It's like, hell yeah, I'm so happy I'm seeing the show. Yeah. It's a really good song. It's a really good song. They're all really good songs. That cover album, wait, let me find the link to that because...

Doesn't Rufus Wainwright do, Origin of Love? I believe that that is true. I was such a Rufus Wainwright fag. Like, still I am. Let's see. Yeah, Swig in a Box. Origin of Love, Rufus Wainwright, Angry Inch, Slater, Kinney, and Fred Schneider of the B-52s. That's what it was.

The long rift was... If you want to try to, tear me down. Is that Fred? That is Fred, yes. Wait, where did I... Who did I listen to? I was born on the other side. Oh, I rewatch...

Of a town, Ripped It Too. Bang, bang, bang on the door, headwig. I was watching the Drag Race Season 8 challenge where they did the different musical genres for Debbie Harry. and Bob Thorgy and Acid Betty doing whatever it was, art rock, right? Because art, art, art, art. And they were doing a really good Fred Schneider, like, impersonation with some of that stuff. And I was just like, this is great. They were essentially just doing a B-52 song.

It was so wonderful. Bring that challenge back. They don't challenge the queens to be that kind of creative anymore. And I worry it's just because... It's almost as if they're... don't challenge the... Well, but I also wonder if it's because they just don't have faith that a lot of these, like, bedroom queens can do that kind of stuff.

The machine is also too well-oiled. It's like, I watch it now, and I'm like, I'm struggling to have any opinion to say whatsoever. This is a problem with Drag Race. This is a problem with Survivor. This is a problem with Big Brother. This is a problem with all of these long-running shows is they are so tied into their own mythology that they, you can't have a drag race season without a rusical, without a snatch game,

without a ball, without an X, without a Y, without a Z, because everybody tracks these things through the years and everybody expects them, but it also means that the queens can fully prepare for them, and nothing is surprising, and they do it in Big Brother. All of the challenges are these like annual are going to we do Otev?

Are we going to do, you know, the wall, or whatever, Survivor has all this stuff? Are we going to make the merge? Are we going to do the auction? Are we going to do the family? visit. It's all so formulaic now, and it makes it is a distinctively

less challenging version of, you know, the show. Any way. I mean, I'm a firm believer in the Survivor auction, but I do think it should be used as a force for evil in the show. I think it should be there should be punishment that is unexpected, and like one person should make it out well.

Something. Something to make Everything unexpected. Something so that the players cannot, you know, days ahead of things anticipate the way that the season works out. It's just too, and it's boring for the viewers. Like, I'm sorry, I don't need to see Simotion done ever again on Survivor. And I know that everybody is like the challenge with the balls going through the, you know, the steel course. you put the ball on I was like

what is this Trager's Challenge? No no on Survivor the one that Aubrey won this past year I think again I think the way to maybe break some of these expectations is to have these standard things

and it should be a force for evil like Simotion yes keep it but the balls need to be like really hot. Like, they need to be burning their hands. What did I see recently that was...

Yes, you need to have a ruseicle, but it has to be live singing, and it has to be like, shaker hymns. Not shaker hymns. Hold on. I want to look this up, because I want to make sure that I get this right. there was a some sort of public art installation

somewhere I don't think this was in a movie I think this was real life, although like now I'm trying to news, let's see, no but this was essentially this like bronze chair and I think it was like these two bronze, maybe these two bronze chairs

sort of like inside by side so that you know, invite people to sit on them. But in the, wherever they were, whatever city they were in was like a hot weather city. And baking in the sun, these bronze chairs would become like scorchingly hot. And so people would go to- Yeah, that should be a survivor challenge. And people would go to sit on them and like literally just like burn their asses and then they would have to like jump off. I don't think I made this up. Gary's back me up here that this was a thing that actually existed. and I didn't just dream it up.

But, like, yes, that, but the Somotion balls is what you're saying. Like, have those be, like, made of, like, the hottest metal and just, like, bake them in the sun. That's what you're saying. You want the survivors to go home with third-degree burns on their palms. I'm into it. Or just, like, I don't know, maybe remove a little bit of the nice core from it. Like, I love people's stories. I love getting invested in someone like Katura.

I will ride for her till, like, the day I die. Um, but also, like, maybe part of the audition process, you need to put them in front of, like, a Hallmark commercial and anyone who cries is out of the running. Like, just, nope, not you. I don't disagree. I think there are, I think they need to stop casting people whose life stream it's been to be on Survivor. But I also, I think the, there is a drumbeat for like, bring back villains, bring back mean people. And it's like, that also isn't something that I'm going to want to watch.

Like, there were seasons of Survivor where, like, everybody was like an absolute C word. And I was like, I don't want to watch this either. Like, fucking Gabon will never watch that again. It's because they were all just, like, nasty, awful people. Well, and sometimes people on these shows aren't necessarily real-life nasty, but they know how to produce for the cameras in a way that makes it look like they are, so they get more airtime, and that's not interesting either. That's not interesting to me. It's not.

Sugar Daddy on that album. Because you can tell when it's engineered and not organic. Yeah. Sugar Daddy on that album was covered by Frank Black. Midnight Radio was covered by Cindy Lopper. I remember that. That was great. Spoon did a cover of... Spoon should have been nominated for the soundtrack Grammy. It's really upsetting that it wasn't.

Yes. Agreed. Agreed. Let me try to figure out what would have... been nominated. Mitchell ended up winning a Tony himself for something for the revival, right? Probably producing the revival. Yeah, because the revival won... Did the revival win revival? Hold on. 2015 Tony Awards? It would have been...

That was a spring show, right? 2014. Antoinette Perry Awards. Best. Revival of a musical was won by Headwig and the Angry Inch. Neil Patrick Harris also won leading actor. Lena Hall won featured actress. Lighting design of a musical, it was a winner.

That was it. Four Tony Awards off of eight nominations. Guess who the overall nomination and also award champion that year was? this wasn't the year of Coast of Utopia. Coast of Utopia did it not win a bunch? Coast of Utopia was earlier than this. Okay. Was it a play?

It was a musical. The winner for Best Play that year was all the way. Totally remember all the way. The LBJ. Definitely know what that is. The LBJ play where Brian Cranston played LBJ. And then the revival of a play was the Raisin and the Sun revival with sure um uh latania richard richard jackson

so the nominate what musical would have been that year and sophia okanato sophia canado won for featured actors in a play uh huh um who would have neil patrick harris's main competition been i i don't know you're just gonna have to tell me it was a gentleman's guide to love and murder right a show i actually really quite enjoyed um bryce pinkum and jefferson mays were both nominated for leading actor in a musical. Also Andy Carl for Rocky the musical. And Ramin Karimlu for Les Miserables.

So yeah. The soundtrack Grammy this year, the nominees were The Sopranos Peppers and Eggs. Stop it. Shrek, Moulon Rouge, Bridget Jones Diary, The Taste. And the winner, Oh, brother, where art, though?

That one album of the year, you have enough. Yeah. You have enough. Put Hedvig in there. Well, it should definitely have gone in there over... What were some of those other ones? The Sopranos, Peppers, and Eggs. Come on. I get it.

Yeah, we all love the Sopranos. The Sopranos. I'm looking up the Sopranos Peppers and Eggs. What does that even fucking mean? If fucking Michael Imperiali has a song on that one, and eggs. Looking up the musical theater album, Grammy, because I think Hedvig for the revival might have one

not. Oh, maybe. Okay. The Sopranos, Peppers and Eggs, music from the HBO series. Every Breath You Take, theme from Peter Gunn remix. And then it's just like, it's like an Otis Reading song, a Frank Sinatra song, a Rolling Stone song, an Elvis Costello song, a Kinks song. It's just like songs that were on the Sopranos. The revival did not win the musical theater album Grammy. It lost to Beautiful, but more importantly, the off-Broadway cast recording was nominated. How cool is that? That is cool.

What they lose to? Also nominated, you're a good man, Charlie Brown, Fossie, footloose, and the winner, Annie Get Your Gun. Oh, sure. Bernardette Peters. Wait, by beautiful, do you mean the Carol King music? musical? Yes. Okay.

Just so people know what it is. The Carol King Musical. The Carol King Musical. You could not pay me to listen to two discs worth of the Sopranos, Peppers, and Eggs Music in the HBO series. I'm just saying. Get the fuck out of here. Get the fuck out of here.

All right. Particularly when they already had the Sopranos music from the HBO original series that existed. Can I throw out something that I'm surprised at least indie spirits didn't go for? Yeah. Best Supporting Actress Miriam Shore. Yeah. Yes.

Agreed. She's so great. She's so great in that. It was the first thing I had ever really seen her in. And then she would sort of just like pop up in various indie things and TV shows. She was very good on Pluribus this year. believe she got a guest actress nomination. So, good for her.

Hope she wins. Yeah, no, she's phenomenal in this. She's so good. Love that performance. Love, Yitzhak. The rent sweater is so... I think especially in the timing of... We're just, like, talking about rent on all over our episodes later.

That's fine. That, like... You can't necessarily tell if they were, like, trying to stick it to rent and rent success. They were poking at it a little bit. The flyer saying like... The Broadway... The Broadway crews of Polynesia in Guam.

Yes. But the character descriptions were like, Mark, edgy, young, white, you know, whatever. Collins. Edgy, young, black angel. Edgy, young, Puerto Rican drag queen. Like, okay. Everything was edgy and young. It was, yeah, they were po-

Yitzaku is decidedly not Puerto Rican. Right. But, listen, Musta had given a hell of an audition, and we honor that. The chokehold that the rent logo had on Broadway merchandise, though, those sweaters. I've said my story on this podcast before about how in the... Because my campus at the college that I went to had like, underground tunnel hallways, tunnel corridors that, like, connected all the buildings.

Someone, like, make a rent logo with Sharpie? No, but so you would have these, like, long cork board walls that people would, like, post, like, you know, flyers for clubs and for events and, you know, whatnot. And the one was someone was putting together a trip to Toronto to go see. No, I think this was a trip to New York to go see rent. But there were also like people would go trip to Toronto to see theater. And you just sort of had to like take the little, it was like the little tear away, you know, whatever, call this number. That is a flyer for cruising. Well, but also it was one of those things where I look back on that and I'm like, you fucking asshole, you should have done that.

Like, that would have been such a good experience. That would have been such a fun experience to like go on a bus loadful of your college, you know, brethren. And go see rent. it would have self-selected for all the, you know, girls' gaze and days. Nothing but very, very loud girls' gaze and days. Yes, and it would have probably been mostly girls, and you know what, fine. But, like, you would have maybe found some, you know, community there, or at least had a regrettable night in the city. It would have been my first-

65 to 70% of the time the bus is just a group sing-along to Seasons of Love. Honestly, probably true. And you know what? I would have found, I would have had. I think a magical time. Or I would have been dead in a ditch, one of the two. And, you know, that's exciting. So, regrets. Tommy nosis. Michael Pitt is Tommy nosis. I think Michael Pitt is kind of fine. I mean, like, he fulfills the assignment. He's well cast. I think he's well cast. Tommy nosis in this watch, like, I kind of was thinking about, because I think even Tommy nosis is not

strictly defined in terms of his sexuality or maybe even gender expression. To the point where it's like, is Tommy Nosis just like a dumb idiot who just like thrives on the attention and then like obviously exploits Hedvig and her work and you know becomes famous and successful. But I was also thinking of like queer coded. non-out, at least male artists, and the kind of like resentment that queer people sometimes feel towards a, like, Harry Styles. Not just Harry Styles, there's other people. Yeah. That really, I think, would be interesting to be developed in a more contemporary production. Yeah.

Of, like, that just being a vein that intentionally runs through it, you know? Yes, yes. in terms of this, like, betrayal that Tommy Nosis is doing. And, like, Hedwig gives Tommy the persona and the idea, but the idea that there's also kind of a theft to it, too, that you are doing a certain thing and making money off of it while not being authentic yourself. Yeah.

It's interesting. I think it is. I think I agree with that. Anything else we want to say before we move into the games. Let me pull out my notes. I think we mentioned everything, Ariane Phillips. Too bad this couldn't have gotten a Velvet Goldmine Award. Killer Films is the Killer Films?

Christine Fashon. Hello, we love you. Honorary Oscar this year for Christine Lichon. Please keep posting about airport lounge. Yes, please. Forever, never stop. You can do that on threads. That's when threads would be good if that's where Christine Fashon chose to post.

The Mencee's Fair. So good. The shot with, when Hedwig is, I believe, painting the Iron Cross or whatever the hell. It's not Iron Cross, obviously, but whatever, on Tommy's forehead. But there's the shot where she's got the hand mirror, and it approximates the, like, one eye and one eye thing. Like, whatever. It's, you know. Come through persona.

But, like, it's a really cool shot, and I really like it. And then it mimics the tattoo. Also, this was, I don't know why I never really thought about it. But, like, the tattoo at the end, being a full non-divided face, that struck me this time. Very satisfying. The jokes always hit. These jokes don't get old. The bit about, he played me songs from New and Exotic Places, Alabama, Kansas, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But then I got tired of travel.

Travel exhausts me. Yeah, travel exhausts me. So good. Yeah. Good little cute little butt on John Cameron Mitchell at the end there. Good for him. You know, a legend among the community. John Cameron Mitchell, we love you forever.

Yes. I mean, I think this movie means so much personally to people. And people have such a place in their heart for this. head fig and it's not just because like they love the music or like they you know see some of their own like uh identity somewhere reflected in this like kind of broad spectrum that this story provides but also like it is such an emotionally gratifying and satisfying uh story and you know obviously the music helps that uh but i think that some of the like real personal relationship that a of people have keeps this movie from being discussed in terms of like this is one of the best

movie directorial debuts of our lifetime it's often this is like one of the great successes of american independent cinema while we still had that in the way that we talk about it's it's not just the extension of a stage show it's not just like supplemental material or anything like it's one of the best pieces of theatrical adaptation uh you know from the stage. It's why I'm glad I saw it as a movie first before I saw it in any other form, because it does give me, well, there's a lot of FOMO that comes with like, oh, to have been there at the inception of this would have been so cool. But also, experiencing it first as a film really gives me an appreciation of it as a work of filmmaking. And I like that.

Yeah, absolutely. Should we move on to the IMD game? Let's do that. Why don't you explain the IMD game to our listeners, well? I pull up... All right. I'm realizing I didn't have anyone. Every week, every week, we end our episodes with the IMDB game, where we challenge each other with the name of an actor or actress, and we try and guess the top four titles that IMDB says they are most known for.

If any of those titles are television shows, voice-only performances, or non-acting credits, we will mention that up front. After two wrong guesses, the guesser gets the remaining titles release years as a clue. and if that is not enough, it just becomes a free for all of hints. All right. Yeah. How did I arrive? So are you going first or giving first?

I'll give first. So Michael Pitt is in this movie. I considered doing a Dawson's Creek co-star of Michael Pitt because that was the first thing I'd ever really seen Michael Pitt in. But he's also in a movie called The Dreamers that features. a decent bit of his body yeah his body some menstrual blood and

Eva Green we have not done an IMDB game for Eva Green since 2019 so have at it one television show which is Penny Dreadful which is Penny Dreadful the great Penny Dreadful

I Penny Dreadful is one of those things that eventually every time I think about it or comes up in conversation I'm like I should watch that. I never watched it. How many Burtons do I think are going to be here, and do I think the Dreamers is here?

I'll say The Dreamers. Incorrect. Yeah. Should have trusted my instinct. Ms. Peregrine's Home for Children, whatever it's called. Something, children. Incorrect. It's called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

It's incorrect. So your years are 2005, 2006, and 2014. 05 and 06 are going to be pre well She could have been in burdens by then And what was the last one? 14 That's got to be a burden Is that like dark shadows?

It is not dark shadows even though I believe that is the year No dark shadows was 2012 It is not dark shadows regardless Is it big eyes? It is not big eyes She's not in big eyes, I don't think Hmm What else does she have

going on in 05-06. Oh, is Kingdom of Heaven. Kingdom of Heaven is your 0-5. Yeah. So 0-6 is like got to be something in line with Kingdom of Heaven. 0-6 is the one I figured you'd have gotten first. 0-6 would have been the first thing that I said.

Oh, really? Okay, what am I forgetting? Is it a franchise? It is part of a franchise. Okay. It is a role that I believe she's only in this one, but it reverberates through several. Oh, it's Casino Royale. It is Casino Royale.

See, I think I've only seen that movie once. We should do it at some point. It would be a good Oscar Buzz movie first. We'll do it after the next James Bond gets picked. Okay. Sounds good. Which I hope it's Jack Loudon. I've wanted it to be Jack Loudon.

Jack Loudon is one of the people. I feel like it would do good things for his career and not sort of keep him from other things that he might be getting offered right now. Well, see, the thing is, like, I do not want Jack Loudoun handcuffed to a franchise right now, but I think it would do what it did for Daniel Craig for him. Yeah, I agree.

Okay, the final one, 2014, for Ava Green. Yeah. It's a sequel, it's a sequel that was not nearly as heralded as its original. but in fact I don't think I've seen this one A lot of the people from the first one are in it But not everybody Some of the people who were in the first one

Had died in the interim At least one person that I'm thinking of So is there a long gap between movies Yes nine years Okay so the original was 05 I believe Huh It's a very visually distinctive film.

It has the same two directors from the first one. Okay. I believe the first one had a third director who directed a specific portion of it. Only thing with three directors I can remember is Cloud Atlas. Not Cloud Atlas. No sequels. Yeah. A Cloud Atlas sequel would fucking go, though.

A big, big pop star has a small role. Oh, it's Sin City, too. Sin City, a dame to kill for. Yes. I believe Eva Green's role in this is decently big, although, again, I've never seen it. Perhaps I should sometime. Yes, Sin City, a dame to kill four.

All right, so you got them, all four. All right. All right. For you, I went into the stable of various performers who have played Hedwig, and I chose for you. We have not done this person in almost eight years. Last time was episode 44. No way.

I chose Tay Diggs. Tay Diggs. Okay. Rent. Rent is correct. The best man. The best man is incorrect. The best man holiday?

Best man holiday is incorrect. Okay. Your years are 1999 and two from 2002. Is 99 how Stella got her groove back? It is not how Stella got her groove back. It is very much not how Stella back. Oh, no. 99 is Go?

99 is not go. It is somehow less how Stella got her groove back than Go is. Okay. Is it like 13 ghosts or something like that? You are getting very warm. The 13th floor? You're getting colder. Something ghosts.

No, but... The House on Haunted Hill. House on Haunted Hill. That's the one. Okay. He is the biggest floating head on House of Honored Hill, the poster. So you said two 2002 movies, huh? Correct.

I don't know if you've seen one of these, but I rented it a lot. Very visually striking, but I don't know if I could say good. Is he like part of the ensemble? He is one of two actors on the poster. He is second build above the title. The first build above the title is the actual protagonist of the movie. Okay. Oh, two.

You rented it a lot. It's like a movie I could watch with my brother a lot when we were this age. The Way of the Gun was 2000 So not that It's a science fiction movie Okay It's not like the Way of the Gun That might be a big hint, but it's

Sci-fi Tade Diggs Speaking of people who got elevated by a franchise The protagonist's first built in this movie Is somebody who was definitely Famous And this is coming off of

one of like these star making roles for this actor. Orlando Bloom. No. Before they got their franchise role that really catapulted them to the stratosphere. So Hugh Jackman was already an X-Men by this point. Christian Bale. Christian Bale. Christian Bale, sci-fi, Tay Diggs.

Terminate, no, not Terminator Salvation. Oh, not rain of fire. Not rain of fire. That's McConaughey. Yeah. And Bale. Yeah. But yeah.

McConaughey is the lead. O2. Sci-Fi. Like space sci-fi or like science? Like advances in like genetics sci-fi. Advances in genetic sci-fi. Okay. Meets like Blade Runner sci-fi.

Very post-the-matrix type of sci-fi. Okay. in that everybody is wearing black and has guns. Okay. Why don't I know this movie? Would I have seen this movie? I don't know if you have or not. I'm pretty sure this is a dimension release.

Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Um, not the machinist. It's very funny that you haven't guessed the other 2002 movie yet. Oh, okay. All right, let me put a pin in Christian Bale sci-fi. The other 2002 movie is Chicago, of course. Chicago.

He's Mr. 5, 6, 7.8. He is, 5, 6, 7, 8. Do, do, do, do. Okay. So, he's Mr. and now Ms. Vell McCleckle in an act of desperation. That's right. That's right. Okay.

Christian Bale. Genetic. Advances in genetics. Taye Diggs is above the title, but not as important as Christian. There's also an Oscar-nominated actress in this movie as the love interest to Christian Bale. I will just tell you it is Emily Watson. It's Emily Watson. Emily Watson?

This is bad. Is it like one of those single titles? Yes. Trans-Siberian or something like that, but not that. It's single-word title. Um... This as bad is also something that most people would say about this movie, but it's also kind of cool. Okay.

It's the kind of cool that, like, gay movie nerd would watch with his heterosexual brother, and we would both be like, this is cool. Oh, shit. Well, now you're just specifically speaking of yourself. It's a very sciencey, one type of... One Word title. Um, like, um... What happens to you when you, like, lose your balance? You...

Something might be thrown off. Oh, equilibrium. Equilibrium. I have never seen that movie. What a stupid movie. Hold on, I'm looking up the poster. Equilibrium is... Oh, boy.

Yeah, there is. Tay Diggs right there. They are dressed like the Matrix. Kurt Vimmer, An oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state. This is living in the One Night Only universe. This is the guy who's making sure you're not having sex.

He's going and like hunting down Callum Turner. Yeah, except for on the one night of the... Oh, there's Christian Bail shirtless. Right there in the promotional still. This is definitely one of those things that helped get him Batman. Because it's like he can fight a dude. on screen. Right. Yes, because he's no longer like a newsie.

This looks dumb as hell. Did you enjoy it? As a child? Yeah. As an adult, I don't know if I would. Yeah, I would have never gotten this. Get better IMDB movies for Tay Diggs, folks. That's crazy. How Stella got her groove back? Are you kidding? It's that easy.

Come on. Come on, guys. All right. Good episode. That's our episode. If you want more This Head Oscar Buzz, you can check out the Tumblr at thisheadoscarbuzz.com. You should also follow us on Instagram at ThisHad Oscar Buzz and on Patreon at Patreon.com slash This Had Oscar Buzz. Joe, where can the listeners find more of you? I am on Blue Sky and Letterboxed at Joe Reed, read spelled R-E-I-D. I am also at Vulture all the time. We are into season six of the movies Fantasy League. You have heard us talk about it in the insert up top. But just to reiterate, folks, if you you want to be in the This Had Oscar Buzz

Mini League, which we are calling Project Hail Garries. You can go to the dedicated link in which my wonderful colleagues have provided for us, which is vulture.com slash garries, G-A-R-Y-S, or just when you're filling

out your form, in the mini-leagues field, just type Project Hail Garys, no capital letters, and you'll be all set. We're very happy to have you all and we're very excited about the new season. Chris, what did you think of the poster for I loved it so much?

So well done. It was so cool. I loved it. It made me enjoy. But I had some input in it. Oh, fabulous. And then you can find me on Letterbox in Blue Sky at Chris Fie FI-I-I-L. We would like to thank Kyle Cummings for his fantastic artwork.

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Awesome.