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.

Television critic, podcaster, and author Alan Sepinwall joins us to discuss his wonderful new book Serling: A Journey Into the Twilight Zone with TV's First Visionary and the bests movie that Rod Serling (directly) wrote: John Frankenheimer’s taut 1964 political thriller Seven Days in May, featuring killer turns by frequent co-stars Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster.

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:

Seven Days in May is available for digital rental or purchase. If you’d like to try one of our “Double It Up” pairings, Thirteen Days is streaming (with ads) on YouTube and is available for digital rental or purchase; 52 Pick-Up is on Tubi and MGM+; Fail-Safe is on Tubi and YouTube; and Miracle Mile is on Tubi, Prime Video, and MGM+. You can read Bowley Crother’s New York Times review here.

Serling: A Journey Into the Twilight Zone with TV's First Visionary is out now, and you can buy it here. You can buy Alan’s previous books here, subscribe to his “What’s Alan Watching” newsletter here, subscribe to his “TV is Good” podcast here, check out his website here, and follow him on Bluesky, Twitter, and Instagram. 

You can listen to Mike’s new podcast “Whitewashed History” here, and you can also watch his documentary Betrayal at Attica on Tubi and Apple TV+. And Jason’s new book Yippee Ki‐Yay:“Die Hard,” Bruce Willis, and the Reinvention of the Action Movie (out 5/11/27) is now available for preorder from Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Inidigo, or wherever you get your books.

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!