Headlines for 1977
On January 20 Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the 39th President of the United States - difffffferent world. In February was the first test flight of the first...
Bonus Episode: 1977 After Show
In the culture I mean, but not on the A Very Good Year after show. We briefly touch on a long list of other movies that didn’t make the lightning round and...
Episode 34: 1977 with Jordan Hoffman
Beloved film critic and niche culture aficionado Jordan Hoffman was wise enough to call dibs quite some time ago on not only one of the great years of the...
First Thoughts on "Author! Author!"
The funny thing about rip-off movies is that it takes so long to make a movie that by the time it comes out, you might have forgotten the thing it was...
Bonus Episode: 1982 After Show
On this week’s after-show, Jason and Mike talk more about going to the movies as little kids in Kansas, Spielberg, the Poltergeist controversy, Smithereens...
Headlines for 1982
In January Rich Skrenta created Elk Cloner, the first computer virus. It infected Apple II computers via floppy disk. On March 10 was a syzygy, when all nine...
Episode 33: 1982 with Jen Chaney
Vulture TV critic and author (buy her book As If: The Oral History of “Clueless” As Told by Amy Heckerling and the Cast and Crew here!) Jen Chaney was, like...
Read This! Book Excerpt: "Cinema '62: The Greatest Year at the Movies"
This week on the show, we were pleased to welcome film critic Stephen Farber and film programmer Michael McClellan, who made the case for 1962 as the best...
Bonus Episode: 1962 After Show
In this week’s after show, we share clips from previous episodes that were trimmed solely for time - including John Pearson’s priceless memory of the Radio...
Headlines for 1962
January 9 1962: Cuba and the Soviet Union sign a trade pact, and then on February 3 we put an embargo on Cuba that went into effect on Feb 7, and you haven’t...
Episode 32: 1962 with Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan
The way we typically go about booking the show is simple: either we get an email about someone with a new film, book, screening series, or podcast to...
First Thoughts on "Birth"
Jonathan Glazer’s Birth opens with a voice-over on a black screen, pooh-poohing the notion of reincarnation, before moving into a long, high-angle tracking...
Bonus Episode: 2004 After Show
On this week’s after show, Jason and Mike finish up a hearty title list from the lightning round, discuss Jason’s first full year as a film critic (and the...
Headlines for 2004
The UN declared 2004 the International Year of Rice, so I think we can all get behind that. In January NASA landed the Spirit and the Opportunity on Mars,...
Episode 31: 2004 with Hunter Harris
Pop culture expert, Substacker extraordinaire, and fellow flyover country escapee Hunter Harris joins Jason and Mike to talk about the Year of our Lord 2004,...
First Thoughts on "Ciao! Manhattan"
We have some history, Ciao, Manhattan! and I. This 1972 experimental film first came onto my radar when it appeared as part of a massive program of New York...
Bonus Episode: 1972 After-Show
On this, our very first after-show bonus episode, you’ll hear a rowdy, deleted conversation from our talk about 1972 with Oscar-nominated production designer...
Headlines for 1972
January 30 - the British Army killed 14 unarmed marchers in Derry, Northern Ireland. Most of our audience probably first heard about this event in the...
Episode 30: 1972 with Judy Becker
We’ve welcomed critics, authors, actors, directors, and on and on—but this week, we welcome our very first production designer, and Judy Becker is one of the...
First Thoughts on "The Fugitive Kind"
“It’s Xavier,” he mumbles. “With an X or an S?” comes the reply, and an early hint at the kind of pointed metaphors The Fugitive Kind will traffic in. No,...
