Awesome Movie Year

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Lindsay Anderson’s If…. . Directed by Lindsay Anderson from a screenplay by David Sherwin and starring Malcolm McDowell, Robert Swann, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan and David Wood, If…. is the first of three films Anderson directed featuring McDowell’s character Mick Travis....

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features the year’s biggest flop, Carl Reiner’s The Comic . Directed and co-written by Carl Reiner and starring Dick Van Dyke, Michele Lee and Mickey Rooney, The Comic was inspired by Van Dyke’s love of silent film comedians. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Greenspun in The New York Times ( https://ww...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Michael Ritchie’s Downhill Racer . Directed by Michael Ritchie from a screenplay by James Salter and starring Robert Redford, Gene Hackman and Camilla Sparv, Downhill Racer was filmed partially at actual Alpine Ski World Cup races. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode com...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . Directed by George Roy Hill from a screenplay by William Goldman and starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katharine Ross, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is based loosely on the true story of the notorious Wild West ou...

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1939 features William Dieterle’s adaptation of  The Hunchback of Notre Dame . Directed by William Dieterle from a screenplay by Sonya Levien and starring Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Hara, Cedric Hardwicke, Thomas Mitchell and Edmond O’Brien,  The Hunchback of Notre Dame  was the first sound film adapted from Victo...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 2000, 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 2000 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 2000 features our audience choice poll winner, Stephen Frears’ High Fidelity. Directed by Stephen Frears (based on the novel by Nick Hornby) and starring John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Jack Black and Todd Louiso, High Fidelity defeated two other music-themed dramas in our audience choice poll. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come fro...

The fourteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features our cult classic pick, Ben Younger’s Boiler Room. Written and directed by Ben Younger and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Nicky Katt, Nia Long, Vin Diesel and Ben Affleck, Boiler Room was inspired by Younger’s experience interviewing for a job at a Long Island brokerage firm. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode c...

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, Mary Harron’s American Psycho. Directed and co-written by Mary Harron and starring Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Mathis, Justin Theroux and Chloë Sevigny, American Psycho is adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’ controversial 1991 novel. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episod...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou and Oliver Reed, Gladiator won five Oscars, including Best Picture. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.roge...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features one of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winners, Karyn Kusama’s Girlfight. Written and directed by Karyn Kusama and starring Michelle Rodriguez, Santiago Douglas, Jaime Tirelli, Paul Calderón and Ray Santiago, Girlfight was the first feature film for both Kusama and Rodriguez. The contemporary reviews quoted i...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features one of the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winners, Kenneth Lonergan’s You Can Count on Me. Written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan and starring Laura Linney, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick, Rory Culkin and Jon Tenney, You Can Count on Me was Lonergan’s first feature film after a successful career as a playwright....

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features Jason’s personal pick, Stephen Daldry’s Billy Elliot. Directed by Stephen Daldry from a screenplay by Lee Hall and starring Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Gary Lewis, Jamie Draven and Stuart Wells, Billy Elliot was Daldry’s first feature film after a successful career in theater. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features our animation pick, Aardman Animations’ Chicken Run . Directed and co-written by Nick Park and Peter Lord and starring the voices of Julia Sawalha, Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, Tony Haygarth and Benjamin Whitrow, Chicken Run was the first feature-length film produced by stop-motion studio Aardman. The contemporary revie...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features our foreign film pick, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon . Directed by Ang Lee and starring Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-fat, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen and Cheng Pei-pei, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the first foreign-language movie to gross $100 million at the U.S. box office. The contemporary reviews quoted in this...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features Josh’s personal pick, Curtis Hanson’s Wonder Boys . Directed by Curtis Hanson from a screenplay by Steve Kloves (based on the Michael Chabon novel) and starring Michael Douglas, Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand, Robert Downey Jr. and Katie Holmes, Wonder Boys was nominated for three Oscars and won one. The contemporary revi...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features our documentary pick, Agnes Varda’s The Gleaners and I . Directed by and featuring Agnes Varda, The Gleaners and I is considered one of the greatest documentaries of all time. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-gleaners-and-i-2001 ), Kevin Thomas in...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark . Written and directed by Lars von Trier and starring Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse and Peter Stormare, Dancer in the Dark also won the Best Actress award at Cannes for Björk’s lead performance. The contemporary reviews quoted in this e...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features the year’s biggest flop, L. Ron Hubbard adaptation Battlefield Earth . Directed by Roger Christian from a screenplay by Corey Mandell and J.D. Shapiro and starring John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker and Kim Coates, Battlefield Earth was a passion project for Scientology follower Travolta. The contemporary reviews...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Jonathan Glazer’s Sexy Beast . Directed by Jonathan Glazer from a screenplay by Louis Mellis and David Scinto and starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman and Cavan Kendall, Sexy Beast was nominated for an Oscar for Kingsley’s supporting performance. The conte...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, John Woo’s Mission: Impossible II . Directed by John Woo from a screenplay by Robert Towne and starring Tom Cruise, Thandiwe Newton, Dougray Scott, Ving Rhames, John Polson and Anthony Hopkins, Mission: Impossible II topped the worldwide box office and firmly established the seri...

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features James L. Brooks’ Best Picture nominee  Broadcast News . Written and directed by James L. Brooks and starring Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks, William Hurt and Robert Prosky,  Broadcast News  was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1939, 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 1939 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 1939 features our audience choice pick, the Marx Brothers comedy At the Circus . Directed by Edward Buzzell from a screenplay by Irving Brecher and starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo), Kenny Baker, Florence Rice, Eve Arden and Margaret Dumont, At the Circus prevailed over two other movies from classic Hollywood comedy stars in ou...

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1939 features our future cult classic pick, Universal horror sequel Son of Frankenstein . Directed by Rowland V. Lee from a screenplay by Willis Cooper and starring Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lionel Atwill and Josephine Hutchinson, Son of Frankenstein was the third movie in Universal’s franchise based on Mary Shelle...