179 – On Chesil Beach

Saoirse Ronan came on strong at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival with two films that had the opposite experience: the immediately beloved Lady Bird and the misfire On Chesil Beach, which cratered after world premiering on the first day of the festival. The film reunited Ronan with Ian McEwan, the author of her Oscar-nominated breakthrough performan in Atonement, and cast her as a young woman in the mid-century who experiences a disastrous honeymoon with decades worth of emotional consequences. Also starring Billy Howle (who she would quickly reunite with for The Seagull) as her hot-tempered husband, the film received a very tepid response at the festival despite its pedigree and received a very quiet release the next spring. This episode, we’re talking about Ronan’s increasingly prolific career and the performances that brought her Oscar nominations, including Atonement, which we will defend to the death. We also discuss the history of Bleecker Street films, their difficulty in securing Oscar nominations, and our favorites of their lineup. Topics also include that one cello piece used in all of cinema, frustrations over the term “Oscar bait”, and Bebe Zahara Benet’s Jungle Kitty. Follow Us on Twitter! @Had_Oscar_Buzz Joe: @joereid Chris: @chrisvfeil