Indiewire’s Kate Erbland was a literal child in the year 1990, but she luckily had parent who put very few viewing boundaries on her, which was how she ended up seeing “Die Hard 2,” “Ghost,” and one of her all-time favorite movies, “Pretty Woman.” She joins us to talk about those and MANY more. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Film critic and journalist Tomris Laffly was just starting to figure out who she was as a filmgoer in 1997, so she joins us to share some of her favorite memories of that year: the heartache of “Good Will Hunting,” the dark humor of “The Ice Storm,” and the majesty of “Titanic.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In advance of Friday’s theatrical debut of his Sundance hit “Stress Positions,” comedian, actor, writer, and cinephile John Early joins us to discuss all things 2002, from the earnestness of “Crossroads” to the sexiness of “Unfaithful” to the status of his Toni Collette website. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Filmmaker, actor, TV writer, and film critic Siddhant Adlakha was in a moment of transition in 2013, and vowed to see as many new movies as possible for the sake of career clarity. He walks us through some of those discoveries, from the spectacle of “Ram-Leela” to the melancholy of “Inside Llewyn Davis” to the intimacy of “Short Term 12.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Daily Dead columnist Scott Drebit’s new book is “A Cut Below: A Celebration of B Horror Movies, 1950s-1980s,” so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he picked 1979, a banner year for horror. He joins us to discuss the working-class scares of “Alien,” the insanity of “Zombie,” the inexplicable PG rating of “Tourist Trap,” and more. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
“Variety” TV critic Alison Herman had just moved to Los Angeles in the year of our lord 2017, and she joins us to recall, with fondness, the cockeyed comedy of “Phantom Thread,” the deft commentary of “Get Out,” and the totally not-divisive pleasures of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
It’s a special MID-WEEK EPISODE, in honor of Friday’s release of acclaimed director Bob Byington’s latest, “Lousy Carter.” Join us as we talk with Bob about the current indie landscape and the films of 1994, from the art of “Red” to the commerce of “Speed” to the pleasures of “The Hudsucker Proxy.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For show number two from SXSW, we’re joined by the prolific film critic and RogerEbert.com Associate Editor Robert Daniels. He sings the praises of 1965, from the devastation of “The Pawnbroker” to the thrills of “Flight of the Phoenix” to the sweep of “Doctor Zhivago.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Back at SXSW, we’re joined by Austin’s own Jacob Knight, co-host of the “Secret Handshake” podcast, and lover of great movies and great trash. 1989 offered plenty of both, from the power of “The Abyss” to the inanity of “Jason Takes Manhattan” to the coke-dusted earnestness of “Road House.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Esther Zuckerman is an appropriate guest for Oscar Sunday, as she is the author of the fabulous book “Beyond the Best Dressed; A Cultural History of the Most Glamorous, Radical, and Scandalous Oscar Fashion.” She joins us to talk about famous Oscar spoiler “Shakespeare in Love,” the wildly underrated “Velvet Goldmine,” the one and only “Big Lebowski,” and more of the movies of 1998. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
David Fear, chief film critic and senior editor at “Rolling Stone,” had not yet joined the living in the year 1968, but he’s always been fascinated by its contradictions and commentaries. He joins us to discuss the genius of “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the majesty of “Once Upon a Time in the West,” and the stickiness of “Rosemary’s Baby.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The whip-smart and hysterically funny Katie Rife joins us to talk about the movies of 1978 — from the terrifying precision to “Halloween” to the sweaty muscularity of “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” to the impeccable formalism of “Les Rendez-vous d’Anna” — and why ‘70s genre cinema holds up so well. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Our Aussie invasion continues with this week’s guest, film critic and podcaster extraordinaire, Blake Howard, the mastermind of One Heat Minute Productions. Blake joins us to talk about unhealthy relationships with movies and his love for the films of 1970, from the gallows humor of “M*A*S*H” to the working class heroism of “Five Easy Pieces” to the unequalled cool (and Frenchness) of “Le Cercle Rouge.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sam Adams, writer and senior editor for Slate, was in the midst of his cinephile awakening in 1992, when he was taking in new indies and other risky delights at the SoNo Cinema. Join us as we walk through the vérité discomforts of “Husbands and Wives,” the radical queer art of “Edward II,” the biting-the-hand-that-feeds-you brilliance of “The Player,” and more. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Film critic, author, “Fangoria” columnist, physical media mainstay, and recovering academic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas joins us for a jaunt through the dark laughs of “Little Murders” and “A New Leaf,” the knotty gender politics of “Straw Dogs,” and more of the disturbances and pleasures of 1971. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Brian Raftery is the host of the excellent narrative podcasts “Gene and Roger and Do We Get to Win This Time? for the Ringer and Spotify; he’s also SUCH an expert on the movies of 1999, he wrote an entire book about them: the wonderful “Best. Movie. Year. Ever: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen.” He joins us to talk about why “Election” still hits, why “Eyes Wide Shut” has had such a wild afterlife, how “Blair Witch” is somehow underrated, and much more. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We're talking about movies during the quiet time with the host of "Watch with Jen" and (relevant to our interests here) the co-host of "Midnight Run-Through," Film Intuition's Jen Johans. She's joining us to discuss the formative year of 1988, when her frequent babysitting gigs were highlighted by stacks of such VHS favorites as "Bull Durham" and "A Fish Called Wanda." Plus, BOGOSIAN! For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For season two, we’re wiping the slate clean and letting our guests pick any year they want, even if we covered it in season one. So first up, the very knowledgable and extremely affable host of the wonderful “Just the Discs” podcast, and the co-host of our beloved (and influential) “Pure Cinema Podcast” joins us to discuss the lovable losers of “Scarecrow,” the fast friends of “The Last Detail,” the witty whodunit “The Last of Sheila,” and more of the movies of 1973. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For the first of our hiatus bonus episodes, we’re proud to welcome back one of the season’s most popular guests: indie guru John Pierson, who joined us back in April to talk about 1989. When we were discussing his appearance, he proposed talking about the year that he and his family spent a year operating the 180 Meridian Cinema, the most remote movie theater in the world. At this 288-seat venue on Tavueni Island in Fiji, the Piersons programmed a full year of programming, mostly new releases, as free nightly movies; the last month of that year was documented in the film Reel Paradise, directed by Steve James of “Hoop Dreams” fame. We are also joined by John’s wife Janet Pierson, an equally legendary figure on the indie film scene, thanks to her 15 years overseeing the vision, programming, and execution of the SXSW Film Festival. If you’d like to know more about their time in Tavueni, here’s a summary, in the Los Angeles Times, from right before the release of Reel Paradise..John also wrote two pieces for that publication about their time there, one in July of 2002, another that December.Thanks for listening! For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Since she last joined us to talk about 2005 back in September, Alissa Wilkinson nabbed a new gig: she’s now a movie critic for the New York Times. So she joins us to talk about that transition and the films of the year that just ended – our favorites of ‘23, for starters, as well as some of the (mostly heartening) trends we’ve seen in moviemaking and moviegoing this year. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.