Awesome Movie Year

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features our foreign film pick, Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House? . Written and directed by Abbas Kiarostami and starring Babak Ahmadpour, Ahmed Ahmadpour and Khodabaksh Defai, Where Is the Friend’s House? is the first movie in Kiarostami’s acclaimed Koker trilogy. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features Josh’s personal pick, Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck . Directed by Norman Jewison from a screenplay by John Patrick Shanley and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia and Danny Aiello, Moonstruck was nominated for six Oscars and won three. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features our documentary pick, Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March . Directed by and featuring Ross McElwee, Sherman’s March won the documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 1987 Sundance Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Vincent Canby in The New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/05/movies/fil...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Maurice Pialat’s Under the Sun of Satan . Directed and co-written by Maurice Pialat, adapted from the novel by Georges Bernanos, and starring Gerard Depardieu, Sandrine Bonnaire, Maurice Pialat, Alain Artur and Yann Dedet, Under the Sun of Satan was nominated for seven César Awar...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features the year’s biggest flop, Elaine May’s Ishtar . Written and directed by Elaine May and starring Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Adjani and Charles Grodin, Ishtar was May’s final narrative film as a director. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/ish...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Chris Columbus’ Adventures in Babysitting . Directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by David Simkins and starring Elisabeth Shue, Keith Coogan, Maia Brewton and Anthony Rapp, Adventures in Babysitting marked Columbus’ directorial debut after establishing himself as a successful...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1987 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, family comedy Three Men and a Baby . Directed by Leonard Nimoy from a screenplay by Jim Cruickshank and James Orr and starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Ted Danson, Three Men and a Baby is a remake of the French film Three Men and a Cradle . The contemporary reviews quote...

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features David Gelb’s documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi . Directed by David Gelb and starring Japanese chef Jiro Ono, Jiro Dreams of Sushi has had a major influence on the development of food documentaries in TV and movies. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/rev...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1975, 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. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at  http://www.facebo...

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features our audience choice pick, Jack Hill’s Switchblade Sisters . Directed and co-written by Jack Hill and starring Joanne Nail, Robbie Lee, Monica Gayle and Asher Brauner, Switchblade Sisters prevailed over six other sexploitation movies in our 1975 audience choice poll. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bill Th...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features our future cult classic pick, midnight movie staple The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Directed and co-written by Jim Sharman, based on the stage show by Richard O’Brien and starring Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, Richard O’Brien and Patricia Quinn, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become the longest-running the...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, Blaxploitation classic Dolemite . Directed by D’Urville Martin from a screenplay by Jerry Jones and starring Rudy Ray Moore, Lady Reed, D’Urville Martin, Jerry Jones and West Gale, Dolemite was based on a character created by Moore in his wildly popular underground comedy routines. The co...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest . Directed by Milos Forman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey and starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Will Sampson, William Redfield, Brad Dourif and Sydney Lassick, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was nominated for nine Oscars and wo...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features the Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear winner, Márta Mészáros’ Adoption . Written and directed by Márta Mészáros and starring Katalin Berek, Gyöngyvér Vigh and László Szabó, Adoption was the first movie by a female filmmaker to ever win the Golden Bear. The contemporary review quoted in this episode comes from V...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features Jason’s personal pick, Sidney Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon. Directed by Sidney Lumet from a screenplay by Frank Pierson and starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penelope Allen and Sully Boyar, Dog Day Afternoon was inspired by the true story of a Brooklyn bank robbery in 1972. The contemporary rev...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features our foreign film pick, Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles . Written and directed by Chantal Akerman and starring Delphine Seyrig and Jan Decorte, Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles was named the greatest film of all time in the most recent Sight and Sound poll. The conte...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features Josh’s personal pick, Ira Levin adaptation The Stepford Wives . Directed by Bryan Forbes from a screenplay by William Goldman (based on Levin’s novel) and starring Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson and Patrick O’Neal, The Stepford Wives garnered mixed response but has become a cult classic and entered the pop-...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features our documentary pick, the Maysles brothers’ Grey Gardens . Directed by David and Albert Maysles along with Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer and featuring “Big Edie” and “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, Grey Gardens premiered at the 1975 New York Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features a Cannes Film Festival award winner, Werner Herzog’s The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser . Written and directed by Werner Herzog and starring Bruno S., Walter Ladengast, and Brigitte Mira, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser won three awards at Cannes in 1975. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Richard Eder in The N...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features the year’s biggest flop, Ken Russell’s Lisztomania . Written and directed by Ken Russell and starring Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicholas, Fiona Lewis and Veronica Quilligan, Lisztomania was intended as part of a never-completed series of biopics about composers directed by Russell. The contemporary reviews quoted...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail . Directed by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam and starring and written by Jones, Gilliam, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin and Eric Idle, Monty Python and the Holy Grail was the first original feature film from...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1975 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws . Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay co-written by Peter Benchley (based on his novel) and starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary and Murray Hamilton, Jaws stood for two years as the highest-grossing movie of all ti...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 2012, 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. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at  http://www.facebo...

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features our audience choice pick, Colin Trevorrow’s Safety Not Guaranteed . Directed by Colin Trevorrow from a screenplay by Derek Connolly and starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson and Karan Soni, Safety Not Guaranteed prevailed over two other Mark Duplass movies in our 2012 audience choice poll. The contemporary reviews quot...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features our future cult classic pick, comic book adaptation Dredd . Directed by Pete Travis from a screenplay by Alex Garland and starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris and Domhnall Gleeson, Dredd was based on the long-running Judge Dredd character created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra in the anthology...