Awesome Movie Year

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1967 features our documentary pick, D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back . Directed by D.A. Pennebaker and featuring Bob Dylan on his 1965 U.K. tour, Don’t Look Back is considered one of the greatest music documentaries ever made. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dont...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1967 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up . Directed and co-written by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, John Castle and Peter Bowles, Blowup won the top prize at Cannes and was nominated for two Oscars. The contemporary reviews quoted in t...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1967 features the year’s biggest flop, Charlie Chaplin’s A Countess From Hong Kong . Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin and starring Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Sydney Chaplin, Tippi Hedren and Patrick Cargill, A Countess From Hong Kong was Chaplin’s final film before his death. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1967 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Martin Scorsese’s Who’s That Knocking at My Door . Written and directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune, Lennard Kuras and Michael Scala, Who’s That Knocking at My Door began as a student film when Scorsese was at NYU and premiered at the Chicago Internat...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1967 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, Mike Nichols’ The Graduate . Directed by Nichols from a screenplay by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham (based on the novel by Charles Webb) and starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels and Murray Hamilton, The Graduate grossed $104.7 million worldwi...

NOTE: This episode was a timed exclusive over on our producer David Rosen's Patreon. Sign up to one of the tiers for access to this bonus episode and more great content from us, Piecing It Together, All Rice No Beans and David Rosen. https://www.patreon.com/bydavidrosen In this special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1984, we’re talking about one final music-focused film,...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 2003, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about which movies they hoped we would cover. Please like, share, rate and comment on the show and this episode, and tune in soon for the premiere of our eighth season, covering the awesome...

In the finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003, we’re talking about this season’s audience choice pick, Terry Zwigoff’s Bad Santa . Directed by Terry Zwigoff from a screenplay by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Bernie Mac and Lauren Graham, Bad Santa defeated Elf and Love, Actually in our audience choice poll of Christmas classics...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features our future cult classic pick, Tommy Wiseau’s The Room . Written and directed by Tommy Wiseau and starring Wiseau, Greg Sestero, Juliette Danielle, Philip Haldiman, and Carolyn Minnott, The Room grew from a single self-booked screening into a worldwide cult phenomenon. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come f...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features our producer David Rosen’s personal pick, Todd Phillips’ Old School . Directed and co-written by Todd Phillips and starring Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Piven and Ellen Pompeo, Old School was a box-office hit and a defining movie for the “Frat Pack” comedy style. The contemporary reviews quoted in this...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features the Best Picture Oscar winner, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . Directed and co-written by Peter Jackson (based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien) and starring Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, and Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was n...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman’s American Splendor . Written and directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman (based on the comics by Harvey Pekar) and starring Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis and Judah Friedlander, American Splendor premiered at the 2003 Sunda...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features Jason’s personal pick, Ridley Scott’s Matchstick Men . Directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Ted and Nicholas Griffin and starring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Alison Lohman, Bruce Altman and Bruce McGill, Matchstick Men premiered at the Venice International Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this epi...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features one of the year’s most notable foreign films, Fernando Meirelles’ City of God . Directed by Fernando Meirelles (with co-direction by Katia Lund) and starring Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen and Douglas Silva, City of God premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for four Osca...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features Josh’s personal pick, Peyton Reed’s Down With Love . Directed by Peyton Reed from a script by Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake and starring Renee Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce, Down With Love was a minor box-office success and has since become a cult classic. The contemporary reviews quoted in thi...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features our pick for the year’s most notable documentary, Errol Morris’ The Fog of War . Directed by Errol Morris and featuring Robert S. McNamara, The Fog of War won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-fog-of-war-2004...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Elephant . Written and directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson and Elias McConnell, Elephant won three awards, including the Palme d’Or, at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( h...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features the year’s biggest flop, Martin Brest’s Gigli . Written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Lenny Venito, Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, Gigli was a massive critical and commercial failure that ended Brest’s career and is often considered one of the worst movies ever made...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Tom McCarthy’s The Station Agent . Written and directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Williams and Raven Goodwin, The Station Agent premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and helped McCarthy shift the focus of his career f...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2003 features the second highest-grossing film at the box office, Pixar’s Finding Nemo . Directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton and starring the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett and Allison Janney, Finding Nemo grossed $940.3 million worldwide, making it the all-time highest-grossin...

NOTE: This episode was originally a timed exclusive over on our producer David Rosen's Patreon. Sign up to one of the tiers for access to this bonus episode and more great content from us, Piecing It Together, All Rice No Beans and David Rosen. https://www.patreon.com/posts/43082909 In this special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1977, we’re talking about the runner-up in...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1984, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about which movies they hoped we would cover. Please like, share, rate and comment on the show and this episode, and tune in soon for the premiere of our seventh season, covering the awesome...

In the finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1984, we’re talking about this season’s audience choice pick, Herbert Ross’ Footloose . Directed by Herbert Ross from a screenplay by songwriter Dean Pitchford and starring Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Chris Penn, Dianne Wiest and Sarah Jessica Parker, Footloose defeated Beat Street and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo in our audienc...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1984 features our future cult classic pick, Alex Cox’s Repo Man . Written and directed by Alex Cox and starring Emilio Estevez, Harry Dean Stanton, Olivia Barash and Tracey Walter, Repo Man received minimal studio support but went on to critical acclaim and a cult following. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Rog...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1984 features our producer David Rosen’s personal pick, Ivan Reitman’s Ghostbusters . Directed by Ivan Reitman from a script by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson and Annie Potts, Ghostbusters was one of the biggest box-office hits of 1984 and...