Awesome Movie Year

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features Josh’s personal pick, J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year . Written and directed by J.C. Chandor and starring Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, Albert Brooks, Elyes Gabel and David Oyelowo, A Most Violent Year was Chandor’s third film as a writer-director. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from A.O. Scott in...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features our documentary pick, Steve James’ Life Itself . Directed by Steve James and featuring Roger Ebert, Life Itself is based on Ebert’s 2011 memoir. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Ann Hornaday in The Washington Post ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/life-itself-movie-review-an-abso...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Winter Sleep . Directed and co-written by Nuri Bilge Ceylan and starring Haluk Bilginer, Melisa Sözen, Demet Akbağ and Ayberk Pekcan, Winter Sleep was Ceylan’s fourth film to win a major award at Cannes. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come fro...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features the year’s biggest flop, Wally Pfister’s Transcendence . Directed by Wally Pfister from a screenplay by Jack Paglen and starring Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman, Transcendence is longtime cinematographer Pfister’s first and only film as a director. The contemporary reviews quoted i...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features our pick for a notable debut feature, Riley Stearns’ Faults . Written and directed by Riley Stearns and starring Leland Orser, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Beth Grant, Chris Ellis and Lance Reddick, Faults premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest film festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from John DeF...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features the box-office champion, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy . Directed and co-written by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, Guardians of the Galaxy is the tenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come...

This bonus episode for our retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1967 with Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai . Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, Caty Rosier and Jacques Leroy, Le Samourai was the one movie that Josh, Jason and producer David Rosen all had as a possible pick in our movie draft for the...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1941, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about their favorite 1941 movies. Check out more info and the entire archive of past episodes at https://www.awesomemovieyear.com and visit us on Facebook at  http://www.facebook.com/aw...

The fourteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our audience choice poll winner, William Wyler’s The Little Foxes . Directed by William Wyler from a screenplay by Lillian Hellman (based on her play) and starring Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Charles Dingle, Dan Duryea and Carl Benton Reid, The Little Foxes defeated two other Davis films in our 1941 a...

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our future cult classic pick, H.C. Potter’s Hellzapoppin’ . Directed by H.C. Potter and starring Ole Olsen, Chic Johnson, Martha Raye, Hugh Herbert, Jane Frazee, Robert Paige and Mischa Auer, Hellzapoppin’ was based on Olsen and Johnson’s hit Broadway revue. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from T.S...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, Abbott and Costello in Hold That Ghost . Directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Joan Davis, Richard Carlson and Evelyn Ankers, Hold That Ghost was Abbott and Costello’s third feature film of 1941. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Thomas M....

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley . Directed by John Ford from a screenplay by Philip Dunne and starring Roddy McDowall, Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O’Hara, Anna Lee, Sara Allgood and Donald Crisp, How Green Was My Valley was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won five, including Be...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features the Best Film pick from both the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Circle, Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane . Directed and co-written by Orson Welles and starring Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane, Ruth Warrick and William Alland, Citizen Kane is widely considered the greatest film ever mad...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features Jason’s personal pick, George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story . Directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart and Ruth Hussey, The Philadelphia Story was adapted from the hit Broadway play by Philip Barry. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bosley Crowther in The Ne...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our animation pick, Disney’s Dumbo . Directed by Ben Sharpsteen and starring the voices of Edward Brophy, Verna Felton, Cliff Edwards and Herman Bing, Dumbo was Disney’s fourth animated feature film. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bosley Crowther in The New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/19...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our foreign film pick, Hiroshi Shimizu’s Ornamental Hairpin . Written and directed by Hiroshi Shimizu and starring Kinuyo Tanaka, Chishū Ryū and Tatsuo Saitō, Ornamental Hairpin was adapted from a short story by Masuji Ibuse. Check out more info and the entire archive of past episodes at https://www.awesomemovieyear.com a...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features Josh’s personal pick, Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels . Written and directed by Preston Sturges and starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake, Sullivan’s Travels was one of two Sturges films released in 1941. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bosley Crowther in The New York Times ( https://www.nytim...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our documentary pick, Harry Watt’s Target for Tonight . Written and directed by Harry Watt and starring members of the Royal Air Force, Target for Tonight was the first documentary feature to be awarded an Oscar. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Variety , the Monthly Film Bulletin ( http://www.scree...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features the year’s biggest flop, William Dieterle’s All That Money Can Buy . Directed by William Dieterle and starring James Craig, Walter Huston, Edward Arnold, Anne Shirley and Simone Simon, All That Money Can Buy was co-written by Stephen Vincent Benét, based on his short story “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” and later rereleas...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features one of the Venice Film Festival’s top award winners, Alessandro Blasetti’s The Iron Crown . Directed and co-written by Alessandro Blasetti and starring Massimo Girotti, Gino Cervi, Elisa Cegani and Luisa Ferida, The Iron Crown was awarded the Mussolini Cup for best Italian film at the 1941 Venice Film Festival. The contempo...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features our pick for a notable debut feature, John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon . Written and directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon is the third adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bo...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features the box-office champion, Howard Hawks’ Sergeant York . Directed by Howard Hawks and starring Gary Cooper, Joan Leslie, Walter Brennan, Margaret Wycherly and George Tobias, Sergeant York is based on the diaries of real-life World War I veteran Alvin York. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bosley Crowt...

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features Dennis Hopper’s  Easy Rider . Directed and co-written by Dennis Hopper and starring Hopper, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson and Luke Askew,  Easy Rider  is a key touchstone of 1960s counterculture. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/...

The twelfth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1980 with our audience choice winner, the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker production Airplane! . Written and directed by Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker and starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack and Lloyd Bridges, Airplane! was producer David Rosen’s pick for our audi...

The eleventh episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1953 with the third of Josh’s three picks, Max Ophüls’ The Earrings of Madame de… . Directed by Max Ophüls and starring Danielle Darrieux, Charles Boyer and Vittorio De Sica, The Earrings of Madame de… is based on the novel by Louise de Vilmorin. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode com...