Episode 26: 1996 with Sergio Muñoz
A podcast about the great movie years.
“My god, they’re posting another SXSW episode?!?” Yes, shut up, this is the last one.
Sergio has been one of my favorite people on Twitter for a while now, so when I sent out the call for who would be at SXSW as we were lining up remote episodes, he raised his hand - which makes sense, as he lives in Austin and is a graduate student in film at the University of Texas. And that fine university is why this week’s episode sounds so very very good, as he was able to book us a fancy studio with beautiful microphones.
Sergio chose 1996, mostly (as he explains) out of the work-backwards model that so many guests have used; his work-backwards movie was Trainspotting, but his entire top five is just tip-top.
If you’d like to watch Trainspotting, it’s streaming on Pluto and Hoopla, and available for digital rental or purchase via the usual suspects.
Fargo is streaming on Showtime and available for digital rental or purchase.
Scream is streaming on Paramount+, Pluto, and Hoopla, and available for digital rental or purchase.
Irma Vep is streaming on HBO Max and the Criterion Channel, and Criterion’s Blu-ray is well worth owning (and appears to currently be on sale?).
Criterion also put out an excellent Blu-ray of Secrets & Lies, which you can also stream on the Criterion Channel and HBO Max.
And, as always, if you’d like to log and review these yourself, head on over to our list page on Letterboxd.
How about some headlines?!
We talked about the weapons inspections in Iraq that would eventually come to a head during the American invasion of Iraq. This CNN article has a pretty good breakdown of the timeline: Iraq chemical inspections timeline.
The Port Arthur massacre in Australia took place in 1996, and became the catalyst for a massive (and effective!) gun control campaign in the country. Check out some of the original news coverage to hear how it impacted people at the time: Port Arthur massacre.
Osama bin Laden’s declaration of jihad is a thing you can read, or you can let the brilliant folks at Frontline put it in context for you.
The Nintendo 64 came out in 1996. Here’s a video of a young person cringing at the graphics.
AND, very exciting, this week we welcome a new sponsor: MUBI! If you’re not already a MUBI subscriber (and you really, truly should be), I have good news for you. Click on over to mubi.com/averygoodyear and you can get a 30-day free membership to try out their curated streaming service. You get good movies for free, we impress our sponsor, EVERYBODY WINS.
Thanks for listening!
-jb