Director Blitz Bazawule is arriving fashionably late to the fall awards race with the 2023 musical revamp of “The Color Purple,” adapted from the Alice Walker novel and the popular Broadway stage production that the film more closely resembles over Steven Spielberg’s 1985 movie. With star turns from Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, and especially Danielle Brooks, what are its chances for the movie awards season amid so. many. contenders?
Now that Bazawule’s film has screened for critics, “Screen Talk” podcast hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio discuss its place in the race in the most recent episode. We also discuss the fate of Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders”; production company New Regency revealed it was shopping for a new distribution home for the motorcycle gang drama, starring Jodie Comer and Austin Butler, outside of 20th Century Studios/Disney. (Mere hours after we recorded, the movie ended up selling to Focus Features for a 2024 release.)
In this episode, we also debate the enduring appeal of the perennial holiday classic “Love, Actually,” the Richard Curtis-directed ensemble rom-com that turned 20 this season. Let’s just say one of us is more of a fan than the other.
Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.
Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. Browse previous episodes here, subscribe here, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk.
