Awesome Movie Year

The tenth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1987 with the third of Jason’s three picks, family comedy Ernest Goes to Camp . Directed and co-written by John Cherry and starring Jim Varney, Victoria Racimo, Lyle Alzado, Iron Eyes Cody and John Vernon, Ernest Goes to Camp is the first of nine feature films based on Varney’s popular Ernest P. Worr...

The ninth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1992 with the third of our producer Dave’s three picks, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant . Directed and co-written by Abel Ferrara and starring Harvey Keitel, Frankie Thorn, Zoë Lund and Victor Argo, Bad Lieutenant premiered at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episo...

This bonus supplement to the eighth episode of our special retrospective 20th season features guests ML Compton and Skip King talking with Jason about their experiences in the punk scene and their thoughts on Wolfgang Büld’s 1977 documentary Punk in London .  Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at  http://w...

The eighth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1977 with the second of Jason’s three picks, documentary Punk in London . Directed by Wolfgang Büld, Punk in London features influential early punk bands including The Jam and The Clash. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Time Out ( https://www.timeout.com/movies/punk-in-londo...

The seventh episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 2003 with the second of our producer Dave’s three picks, Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II . Directed by Michael Bay and starring Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Gabrielle Union and Jordi Molla, Bad Boys II was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2003. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come fr...

The sixth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1975 with the second of Josh’s three picks, Dario Argento’s Deep Red . Directed and co-written by Dario Argento and starring David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia and Macha Méril, Deep Red is considered a landmark of the giallo subgenre. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come f...

The fifth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 2007 with the first of our producer Dave’s three picks, the Lonely Island’s Hot Rod . Directed by Akiva Schaffer and starring Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher, Ian McShane, Jorma Taccone, Danny McBride and Bill Hader, Hot Rod was the first feature film from comedy troupe The Lonely Island. The contemporary...

The fourth episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 2012 with the second of two Christmas episodes, on Edward Burns’ The Fitzgerald Family Christmas . Written and directed by Edward Burns and starring Edward Burns, Michael McGlone, Kerry Bishé, Heather Burns, Marsha Dietlein Bennett and Caitlin FitzGerald, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas premiered at...

The third episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1999 with the first of two Christmas episodes, on Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut . Directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick (adapted from the novel by Arthur Schnitzler) and starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack and Todd Field, Eyes Wide Shut was the final movie that Kubrick directed...

The second episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1989 with the first of Josh’s three picks, J.F. Lawton’s Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death . Written and directed by J.F. Lawton (under the name J.D. Athens) and starring Shannon Tweed, Karen Mistal, Bill Maher and Adrienne Barbeau, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death was a sta...

The first episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1996 with the first of Jason’s three picks, Steve Buscemi’s Trees Lounge . Written and directed by Steve Buscemi and starring Buscemi, Mark Boone Junior, Chloë Sevigny, Anthony LaPaglia and Elizabeth Bracco, Trees Lounge was Buscemi’s debut feature as a writer and director. The contemporary reviews q...

In this special intro episode for our retrospective 20th season, we’re drafting picks of movies from the years we’ve covered in previous seasons, to set the upcoming episode lineup. Josh, Jason and our producer Dave each pick three movies for us to talk about this season. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at ...

In this special Thanksgiving holiday episode, we’re looking back to our recent season on the films of 1969, to talk about Arthur Penn’s Alice’s Restaurant . Directed and co-written by Arthur Penn and starring Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick and Michael McClanathan, Alice’s Restaurant is an adaptation of folk singer Guthrie’s signature song. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode...

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features Christopher Nolan’s  Memento . Written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano,  Memento  was Nolan’s breakthrough film. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/memento-2001 ), Kenne...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1969, 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 1969 movies. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at  http://www.facebook.com/aweso...

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our audience choice poll winner, Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity. Directed by Bob Fosse (based on the Broadway production) and starring Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Chita Rivera, Ricardo Montalban and Paula Kelly, Sweet Charity defeated two other major Hollywood musicals in our audience choice poll. The contemporary reviews quoted i...

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, David Lowell Rich’s Eye of the Cat . Directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Michael Sarrazin, Gayle Hunnicutt, Eleanor Parker and Tim Henry, Eye of the Cat is the return to filmmaking for Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from H...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our cult classic pick, Richard Lester’s The Bed Sitting Room . Directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by John Antrobus and starring Ralph Richardson, Rita Tushingham, Michael Hordern and Arthur Lowe, The Bed Sitting Room is adapted from the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus. The contemporary reviews quoted in...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy. Directed by John Schlesinger from a screenplay by Waldo Salt (based on the James Leo Herlihy novel) and starring Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Miles and Brenda Vaccaro, Midnight Cowboy was the first and only X-rated movie to win the Oscar fo...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features one of the Venice International Film Festival’s major award winners, Federico Fellini’s Fellini Satyricon. Directed and co-written by Federico Fellini and starring Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born and Salvo Randone, Fellini Satyricon won the Pasinetti Award for Best Italian Film at the 1969 festival and was nominated f...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features Jason’s personal pick, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. Directed and co-written by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien and Jaime Sánchez, The Wild Bunch was nominated for two Oscars. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Vincent Canby in The New York Tim...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our animation pick, Peanuts adaptation A Boy Named Charlie Brown . Directed by Bill Melendez from a screenplay by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz and starring the voices of Peter Robbins, Pamelyn Ferdin, Glenn Gilger and Andy Pforsich, A Boy Named Charlie Brown was the first theatrical feature film based on the Peanuts c...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our foreign film pick, Costa-Gavras’ Z . Directed and co-written by Costa-Gavras (from the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos) and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Yves Montand, Jacques Perrin, Pierre Dux and Irene Papas, Z was nominated for five Oscars and won two. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roge...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features Josh’s personal pick, Ronald Neame’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie . Directed by Ronald Neame from a screenplay by Jay Presson Allen (based on the Muriel Spark novel) and starring Maggie Smith, Pamela Franklin, Robert Stephens, Gordon Jackson and Jane Carr, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was nominated for two Oscars and won...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our documentary pick, the Maysles brothers’ Salesman . Directed by Albert and David Maysles with Charlotte Zwerin, Salesman is a key film in the direct cinema movement. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Vincent Canby in The New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/1969/04/18/archives/screen-salesman-...