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.

AV Club alum and “Happy Place” proprietor Nathan Rabin joins us to discuss his wonderful new book The Fractured Mirror: Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place’s Definitive Guide to American Movies About Filmmaking, cataloging all of the movies about movies. And we talk about one of his strangest cultural obsessions: Tom Laughlin’s immensely profitable, culturally ubiquitous, and completely forgotten small-town martial arts social drama Billy Jack.

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 migrated 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:

Billy Jack is streaming on Hoopla and available for digital rental or purchase. You can read the New York Times review here and Roger Ebert’s review here. For further reading, here’s a Vincent Canby piece in the Times from 1973 about the movie’s success; a 2002 item in Variety about the reboot/remake that Nathan mentioned; a 2005 piece about Laughlin and Delores Taylor’s last attempt to resurrect the character; and Laughlin’s 2013 obituary. 

You can buy Nathan’s book The Fractured Mirror: Nathan Rabin’s Happy Place’s Definitive Guide to American Movies About Filmmaking here and here. Nathan’s website is here, and his Substack is here; you can also follow him on Bluesky and Instagram. 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. 

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!