We’re back with an all-new season of Guide for the Film Fanatic! In each episode, Jason Bailey and Mike Hull invite a guest from the world of film (including filmmakers, authors, critics, actors, and more) to select one of the 1600+ “must-see movies” collected in Danny Peary’s seminal 1986 book, Guide for the Film Fanatic. Bailey, Hull, and their guests deep dive on each film, discussing its history, themes, style, performances, initial reception, and legacy, taking a fresh look at some of the most beloved titles in cinema history.

Pop Culture Happy Hour co-host Aisha Harris was herself a confused teen when she first watched Elia Kazan and William Inge’s confused-teen tale Splendor in the Grass; she joins us to discuss the timelessness of its conflicts, the mastery of Kazan’s direction, and the absolutely scorching chemistry of leads Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We’ve partnered up with One Heat Minute Productions on this show, so we’ve migrating it over to their feed; subscribe now if you haven’t already. 

We’re also putting our new episodes up on YouTube! Watch the show on our YouTube channel, @guideforthefilmfanatic, for visual accompaniment and bonus stuff and who knows what else:

Splendor in the Graass is available for digital rental or purchase. You can read the New York Times review here and Variety’s review here. You can hear our discussion of Splendor in the Grass on the “1961 with Larry Karaszewski” episode of A Very Good Year here, and Aisha’s appearance on that show (discussing the movies of 1959) here. Oh, and here’s the Rolling Stone cover story on Britney Spears that Aisha mentioned.

You can buy Aisha’s book Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me here. Read her work at her website; you can also find her on Letterboxd, Instagram, and Bluesky. If you’d like to check out the YouTube page for Mike’s other podcast, “Black Diplomats,” it’s here. And Jason’s book Gandolfini: Jim, Tony, and the Life of a Legend is OUT NOW, and you can order it from MZS Press, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you get your hardbacks, ebooks, and/or audiobooks. OR you can pre-order the paperback (out April 14, 2026) here. 

More links! Here’s how you can buy the books by friends of the show that Jason mentions early in this episode:

• Hitchcockian Thrillers: Must-See Films in the Style of the Suspense Master by Stephen Rebello

• Armies of the Night: The Warriors and Its Legacy by Michael Gingold and Chris Poggiali

• Darkness Visible: The Cinema of Jonathan Glazer by John Bleasdale

• Connery by John Bleasdale

Last but not least, if you’d like to make a little donation to support us and the show, you can do that at Ko-fi!