Bonus Episode: 1957 After Show
On this week’s bonus after show, we fire up the mics to praise James Urbaniak, say a few more words on Sweet Smell of Success and A Face in the Crowd, touch...
Headlines for 1957
In January Kansas-kid made good Dwight Eisenhower was sworn in for his second term as US President. In February the shitty Brits executed Mau Mau leader...
Episode 37: 1957 with James Urbaniak
Character actor, cartoon doctor, and general bon vivant James Urbaniak joins us to walk through the cinema de 1957 - a year of foreign triumphs and domestic...
Documentary Corner: 1939's "The City"
Let’s talk docs! Mike here, producer and co-host. I make documentaries, and I watch a lot of them, some out of professional diligence but mostly because I...
First Thoughts on "In Name Only"
The first thing that makes you sit upright and take notice in John Cromwell’s In Name Only—the reason we’re there, really—is Carole Lombard and Cary Grant’s...
Bonus Episode: 1939 After Show
In this week’s bonus episode, Jason and Mike go a little bit deeper on a topic touched upon in the main show: what it’s like to be a kid from Kansas when all...
Headlines for 1939
In January the Spanish Nationalists took Barcelona, three years into the Spanish Civil War, and Franco’s government was recognized by France and Great...
Episode 36: 1939 with Jessica Pickens
Jessica Pickens is a film blogger and historian specializing in World War II-era cinema, movie musicals, and, luckily for us, the films of 1939. She started...
First Thoughts (Sorta) on 'Mystic Pizza'
Full disclosure: these posts are intended to articulate my first impressions of films chosen by our guests, and so far, that’s been the case. But this was...
Bonus Episode: 1988 After Show
In this week’s after-show bonus episode, Jason and Mike go through many, many more movies from 1988—including the one that Jason saw for his very first...
Headlines for 1988
On January 1st the Soviet Union began a series of economic reforms known as perestroika that was a major step on the road to the dissolution of the Union. In...
Episode 35: 1988 with Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Daniela Taplin Lundberg was born into film production - her father Jonathan produced the first major movie for a promising young filmmaker named Martin...
First Thoughts on 'The Grateful Dead Movie'
When I emailed this week’s guest, Jordan Hoffman, to get his top five list for 1977, his response was candid and to the point. After listing the paired...
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...