Awesome Movie Year

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers . Written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Selena Gomez, Rachel Korine and James Franco, Spring Breakers premiered at the 2012 Venice International Film Festival and was the third theatrical release from A24. The...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, Ben Affleck’s Argo . Directed by Ben Affleck from a script by Chris Terrio and starring Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Scoot McNairy and Tate Donovan, Argo was nominated for seven Oscars and won three, including Best Picture. The contemporary reviews quoted in this...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild . Directed and co-written by Benh Zeitlin and starring Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild was nominated for four Academy Awards. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features Jason’s personal pick, Michael Dowse’s Goon. Directed by Michael Dowse from a screenplay by Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg and starring Seann William Scott, Alison Pill, Jay Baruchel, Marc-André Grondin, Kim Coates and Liev Schreiber, Goon was inspired by the career of real-life professional hockey player Doug Smith. The c...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features our foreign film pick, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt . Co-written and directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm, and Alexandra Rapaport, The Hunt premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The co...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features Josh’s personal pick, Zal Batmanglij’s Sound of My Voice . Directed and co-written by Zal Batmanglij and starring Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and co-writer Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice was the first feature from longtime collaborators Batmanglij and Marling. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features our documentary pick, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell . Written and directed by Sarah Polley, Stories We Tell premiered at the 2012 Venice Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Manohla Dargis in The New York Times ( https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/movies/stories-we-tell-written-and-direc...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Michael Haneke’s Amour . Written and directed by Michael Haneke and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert, Amour went on to receive five Oscar nominations and one win. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features the year’s biggest flop, Andrew Stanton’s John Carter . Directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton and starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Dominic West and Mark Strong, John Carter was meant to launch a franchise based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic novels. The contemporary reviews quoted i...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Brandon Cronenberg’s Antiviral . Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg and starring Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Joe Pingue and Malcolm McDowell, Antiviral premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Megan Lehmann in...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2012 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, Marvel Cinematic Universe entry The Avengers . Written and directed by Joss Whedon and starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson and Jeremy Renner, The Avengers was the sixth movie in the Marvel C...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1953, 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 1953 features our audience choice pick, H.G. Wells adaptation The War of the Worlds . Directed by Byron Haskin from a script by Barré Lyndon (based on Wells’ novel) and starring Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne, The War of the Worlds prevailed over two other alien/monster attack movies in our 1953 audience choice poll. The contemporary...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features our future cult classic pick, Ed Wood’s Glen or Glenda . Written and directed by Ed Wood and starring Wood, Timothy Farrell, Dolores Fuller and Bela Lugosi, Glen or Glenda was long considered one of the worst movies ever made but has built a cult following as a pioneering depiction of transgender identity. The contemporar...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, 3D horror movie House of Wax . Directed by Andre de Toth from a screenplay by Crane Wilbur and starring Vincent Price, Phyllis Kirk, Paul Picerni, Frank Lovejoy and Carolyn Jones, House of Wax is a remake of 1933 horror movie Mystery of the Wax Museum . The contemporary reviews quoted in...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, military drama From Here to Eternity . Directed by Fred Zinnemann from a script by Daniel Taradash (based on James Jones’ novel) and starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra, From Here to Eternity was nominated for 13 Oscars and won eight,...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features the Venice International Film Festival co-winner, Federico Fellini’s I Vitelloni . Directed and co-written by Federico Fellini and starring Franco Fabrizi, Franco Interlenghi, Alberto Sordi, Leopoldo Trieste, and Riccardo Fellini, I Vitelloni shared the top prize at Venice in 1953 with five other movies. The contemporary re...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features Jason’s personal pick, outlaw biker drama The Wild One. Directed by László Benedek and starring Marlon Brando, Mary Murphy, Robert Keith and Lee Marvin, The Wild One was inspired by media coverage of a so-called riot at a 1947 motorcycle rally in Hollister, California. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come f...

In this special holiday episode, we’re looking back to our seasons on the films of 1977 and 1992, to talk about two Christmas movies featuring Jim Henson’s Muppets, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas and The Muppet Christmas Carol . Both written by Jerry Juhl and featuring the Muppets, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas was directed by Jim Henson and The Muppet Christmas Carol was directed by Henson’s...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features our foreign film pick, Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story . Co-written and directed by Yasujiro Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara, Haruko Sugimura and So Yamamura, Tokyo Story was released in Japan in 1953 but didn’t open in the U.S. until 1972. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features Josh’s personal pick, Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes . Directed by Howard Hawks, adapted from Anita Loos’ novel and stage musical, and starring Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Charles Coburn, Elliott Reid and Tommy Noonan, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1953. The contemporary reviews...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features our documentary pick, Disney’s The Living Desert . Directed by James Algar, The Living Desert won the Oscar for best documentary feature and was the first feature-length installment in Disney’s True-Life Adventures series. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bosley Crowther in The New York Times ( http...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Henri-Georges Clouzot’s The Wages of Fear . Directed and co-written by Henri-Georges Clouzot, based on the novel by Georges Arnaud, and starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli and Peter van Eyck, The Wages of Fear won the top prizes at both Cannes and the Berlin Film Fe...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features the year’s biggest flop, Dr. Seuss’ The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T . Directed by Roy Rowland from a concept and a screenplay co-written by Dr. Seuss and starring Tommy Rettig, Hans Conried, Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T was such a disappointment to Dr. Seuss that he vowed never to work in Hollywood...

    The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Stanley Kubrick’s Fear and Desire . Directed by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay by Howard O. Sackler and starring Kenneth Harp, Frank Silvera, Steve Coit and Paul Mazursky, Fear and Desire was disowned by Kubrick and remained unavailable for decades following its pre...