The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features the Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape . Written and directed by Soderbergh and starring James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Laura San Giacomo and Peter Gallagher, Sex, Lies and Videotape debuted at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival and went on to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( ...
Jan 22, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 3
The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything . Written and directed by Cameron Crowe and starring John Cusack, Ione Skye and John Mahoney, Say Anything was Crowe’s first feature film as a director, after having previously written the screenplays for Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Wild Life . The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/r...
Jan 15, 2020•1 hr•Season 3Ep. 2
The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features the top-grossing film in North America, Tim Burton’s Batman . Directed by Burton from a script by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren and starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Michael Gough, Batman was 1989’s number one movie at the North American box office and number two worldwide. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/batman-1...
Jan 08, 2020•58 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In the second of two special holiday episodes, we’re looking ahead to 1989, the year we’re covering in our next season, to talk about Christmas classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation . Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik from a screenplay by John Hughes and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Randy Quaid, Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was the third movie in the popular Vacation series. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Rog...
Jan 01, 2020•55 min
In the first of two special holiday episodes, we’re looking back to 1994, the year we covered in our debut season, to talk about Christmas cult classic The Ref . Directed by Ted Demme from a screenplay by Richard LaGravenese and Marie Weiss and starring Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis and Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., The Ref was a box-office failure but has since become a holiday favorite. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/revi...
Dec 25, 2019•46 min
In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 2007, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about which movies they hoped we would cover. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/awesomemovieyear and follow us on Twitter @Awesomemoviepod You can find Jason online at http://gofo...
Dec 20, 2019•29 min•Season 2Ep. 14
In the finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007, we’re talking about this season’s audience choice pick, teen comedy Superbad . Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, directed by Greg Mottola and starring Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Seth Rogen, Bill Hader, Emma Stone and Martha MacIsaac, Superbad beat out Knocked Up and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story in our audience choice poll of 2007 movies produced by Judd Apatow. The contemporary reviews quoted in this...
Dec 18, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 13
The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features Edgar Wright’s future cult classic Hot Fuzz . Written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent and Timothy Dalton, Hot Fuzz was the second feature film from the cult-favorite team of Wright, Pegg and Frost, who previously made Shaun of the Dead . The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Dana Stevens in Slate ( https://slate.com/culture/2...
Dec 11, 2019•54 min•Season 2Ep. 12
The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features a new category for this season with our producer David Rosen’s personal pick, David Wain’s The Ten . Written by David Wain and Ken Marino, directed by Wain and starring a large ensemble cast including Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Famke Janssen, Justin Theroux, Ken Marino, Liev Schreiber and many more, The Ten premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Owen Gleibe...
Dec 04, 2019•53 min•Season 2Ep. 11
The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features the Best Picture Oscar winner, the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men . Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy) and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Kelly Macdonald and Woody Harrelson, No Country for Old Men premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and went on to win four Oscars, including Best Picture. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode c...
Nov 27, 2019•53 min•Season 2Ep. 10
The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features the World Cinema Audience Award winner from the Sundance Film Festival, John Carney’s Once . Written and directed by John Carney and starring Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, Once premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Our guest for this episode is actor and singer Megan Riordan, who starred as Girl in the stage adaptation of Once in Dublin and Seoul from 2015-2017. The con...
Nov 20, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Season 2Ep. 9
The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features Jason’s personal pick, indie comedy Juno . Written by Diablo Cody, directed by Jason Reitman and starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Thirlby, J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney, Juno premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for four Oscars. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/juno-2...
Nov 13, 2019•56 min•Season 2Ep. 8
The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features one of the year’s most notable foreign films, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis . Written and directed by Satrapi and Paronnaud (based on Satrapi’s graphic novels) and starring the voices of Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian and Gabriele Lopes, Persepolis premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. The conte...
Nov 06, 2019•42 min•Season 2Ep. 7
The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features Josh’s personal pick, Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding . Written and directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black and Zane Pais, Margot at the Wedding premiered at the 2007 Telluride Film Festival and went into limited release later that year. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Michael Phillips in the Chicago Tribune ( https://www.chicagotribune.com/new...
Oct 30, 2019•47 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features our pick for one of the year’s most notable documentaries, Seth Gordon’s The King of Kong . Directed by Seth Gordon and featuring video game champions Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell, The King of Kong premiered at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival and went into limited release later that year. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Robert Wilonsky in the Village Voice ( https://www.villagevoice.com/2007/0...
Oct 23, 2019•48 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features the Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days . Written and directed by Mungiu and starring Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov and Alexandru Potocean, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was a key building block in the Romanian New Wave. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/4-months-3-weeks-and-2-d...
Oct 16, 2019•45 min•Season 2Ep. 4
The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features the year’s biggest flop, the Lindsay Lohan thriller I Know Who Killed Me . Directed by Chris Sivertson and starring Lohan, Julia Ormond, Neal McDonough, Brian Geraghty and Garcelle Beauvais, I Know Who Killed Me was a critical and commercial failure that basically ended Lohan’s career as a movie star. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Jeannette Catsoulis in the New York Times ( https://www.nytimes....
Oct 09, 2019•38 min•Season 2Ep. 3
The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone . Directed and co-written by Ben Affleck and starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris, Amy Ryan and Morgan Freeman, Gone Baby Gone was Affleck’s first feature film as a writer and director, launching a whole new phase of his career. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/go...
Oct 02, 2019•50 min•Season 2Ep. 2
The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2007 features the top-grossing film in North America, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 . Directed and co-written by Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace and Bryce Dallas Howard, Spider-Man 3 was 2007’s number one movie at the North American box office and number three worldwide. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/...
Sep 25, 2019•56 min•Season 2Ep. 1
In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1994, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about which movies they hoped we would cover. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/awesomemovieyear and follow us on Twitter @Awesomemoviepod You can find Jason online at http://gofo...
Sep 20, 2019•22 min•Season 1Ep. 13
The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features our audience choice winner, the Jim Carrey comedy The Mask , which prevailed over fellow 1994 Carrey comedies Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber . Directed by Chuck Russell (based on the Dark Horse comic-book series) and starring Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Greene, Richard Jeni, Peter Riegert and Amy Yasbeck, The Mask was the fourth highest-grossing film of 1994 worldwide, and the most commercially and critically...
Sep 18, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 12
The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features our pick for a future cult classic, Italian horror-comedy Cemetery Man . Directed and co-written by Michele Soavi (based on the novel by Tiziano Sclavi) and starring Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro and Anna Falchi, Cemetery Man was released in Italy (under the title Dellamorte Dellamore ) in March 1994 and in the U.S. in April 1996. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Deborah Young in Variet...
Sep 11, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 11
The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features the Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards, Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump . Written by Eric Roth (based on the novel by Winston Groom), directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson and Sally Field, Forrest Gump picked up six awards at the Oscars and was the highest grossing movie in North America in 1994. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roge...
Sep 04, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 10
The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features the Grand Jury Prize winner from the Sundance Film Festival, Tom Noonan’s What Happened Was . Written and directed by Tom Noonan (based on his stage play) and starring Noonan and Karen Sillas, What Happened Was picked up two awards at Sundance before going on to a limited theatrical release in September 1994. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/what-ha...
Aug 28, 2019•36 min•Season 1Ep. 9
The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features Jason’s personal pick, the Chris Elliott comedy Cabin Boy. Written and directed by Adam Resnick and starring Elliott, Ritch Brinkley, Melora Walters, Brian Doyle-Murray, Brion James and an uncredited David Letterman, Cabin Boy was a commercial and critical failure upon release but has since built a cult following. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Brian Lowry in Variety ( https://variety.com/1994/...
Aug 21, 2019•38 min•Season 1Ep. 8
The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features our foreign film pick, Wong Kar-wai’s romantic drama Chungking Express. Written and directed by Wong Kar-wai and starring Tony Leung, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin, Chungking Express was released in Hong Kong in July 1994 and eventually came to theaters in the U.S. in March 1996 thanks to Quentin Tarantino. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Janet Maslin in the New York Times ( htt...
Aug 14, 2019•41 min•Season 1Ep. 7
The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features Josh’s personal pick, Wes Craven’s meta-horror movie New Nightmare. Written and directed by Craven and starring Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes, Robert Englund, Tracy Middendorf, David Newsom and Craven himself, New Nightmare was the seventh film in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, and the first to be directed by Craven since the 1984 original. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( ...
Aug 07, 2019•40 min•Season 1Ep. 6
The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features one of the year’s most notable documentaries (and one of the most acclaimed documentaries of all time), Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb. Directed by Zwigoff and featuring legendary cartoonist Robert Crumb and his eccentric family, Crumb premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win the Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance the next year. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Rog...
Jul 31, 2019•43 min•Season 1Ep. 5
The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994 features the winner of the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, director Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction . Written by Tarantino and Roger Avary and starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis and Uma Thurman, Pulp Fiction premiered at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and went on to gross $213 million worldwide and be nominated for seven Oscars. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episod...
Jul 24, 2019•45 min•Season 1Ep. 4
In the third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1994, we’re talking about the year’s biggest box-office flop, director Rob Reiner’s much-maligned North . Written by Alan Zweibel (based on his novel) and starring Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Jon Lovitz, Matthew McCurley and an all-star lineup of unfortunate supporting players, North grossed $7 million on a budget of $40 million and was nominated for six Razzies. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (...
Jul 17, 2019•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3
