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PODCAST

Awesome Movie Year

Awesome Movie Year

Awesome Movie Year is a podcast co-hosted by film critic Josh Bell and filmmaker and comedian Jason Harris. Each season looks at why a certain year was an awesome movie year. Each episode focuses on a different film from the year being investigated. Produced by David Rosen of the Piecing It Together Podcast for the All Points West Podcast Network

tv & film film history

All Episodes

55:13

The English Patient (1996 Best Picture)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/06/24

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features the Best Picture Oscar winner, The English Patient. Written and directed by Anthony Minghella (based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje) and starring Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche and Willem Dafoe, The English Patient was nominated for 12 Oscars and won nine, including Best Picture.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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53:50

Welcome To The Dollhouse (1996 Sundance Award Winner)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/06/17

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features the Grand Jury Prize winner from the Sundance Film Festival, Todd Solondz’s Welcome to the Dollhouse. Written and directed by Todd Solondz and starring Heather Matarazzo, Brendan Sexton III, Eric Mabius, Matthew Faber, Angela Pietropinto and Bill Buell, Welcome to the Dollhouse went on to be nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, with one win.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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01:07:34

Swingers (1996 Jason’s Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/06/10

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features Jason’s personal pick, influential indie comedy Swingers. Written by Jon Favreau, directed by Doug Liman and starring Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Ron Livingston, Patrick Van Horn, Alex Desert and Heather Graham, Swingers was a minor box-office success, but went on to be one of the essential movies of the ’90s indie boom.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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43:02

Kolya (1996 Foreign Film)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/06/03

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features one of the year’s most notable foreign films, Czech drama Kolya. Directed by Jan Sverak, written by his father Zdenek Sverak and starring Zdenek Sverak, Andrei Chalimon, Libuse Safrankova and Ondrej Vetchy, Kolya won the awards for best foreign language film at the Oscars and the Golden Globes.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kolya-1997), Janet Maslin

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51:05

Lone Star (1996 Josh’s Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/05/27

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features Josh’s personal pick, John Sayles’ Lone Star. Written and directed by John Sayles and starring Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Joe Morton, Kris Kristofferson, Miriam Colon, Clifton James and Matthew McConaughey, Lone Star premiered at the 1996 South by Southwest film festival and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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53:08

Paradise Lost (1996 Documentary)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/05/20

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features our pick for the year’s most notable documentary, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills. The second feature collaboration between directors Berlinger and Sinofsky, Paradise Lost premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival before airing on HBO in June 1996.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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52:02

Secrets & Lies (1996 Cannes Palme d’Or Winner)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/05/13

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features the Palme d’Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival, Mike Leigh’s Secrets & Lies. Written and directed by Leigh and starring Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Phyllis Logan and Claire Rushbrook, Secrets & Lies debuted at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival and went on to be nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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52:11

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 Box Office Flop)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/05/06

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features the year’s biggest flop, literary adaptation The Island of Dr. Moreau. Directed by John Frankenheimer from a script co-written by original director Richard Stanley and starring David Thewlis, Val Kilmer, Marlon Brando and Fairuza Balk, The Island of Dr. Moreau was beset by production and budget problems and considered one of the worst movies of the year.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Peter Stack in

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53:36

Bottle Rocket (1996 First Feature)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/04/29

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Wes Anderson’s Bottle Rocket. Directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Owen Wilson and starring Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Robert Musgrave, Lumi Cavazos and James Caan, Bottle Rocket was an expansion of Anderson’s 1994 short film and also marked the film debut of both Wilson brothers.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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54:49

Independence Day (1996 Box Office Champ)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/04/22

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1996 features the top-grossing film both worldwide and in North America, Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day. Directed by Emmerich from a script he co-wrote with Dean Devlin and starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin and Vivica A. Fox, Independence Day grossed more than $800 million worldwide and won an Oscar for its visual effects.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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56:50

Do The Right Thing (1989 Bonus Episode)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/04/15

In this special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989, we’re talking about one of the year’s most acclaimed and influential movies, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Lee, Danny Aiello, Giancarlo Esposito, John Turturro, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Bill Nunn and Rosie Perez, Do the Right Thing premiered at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for two Oscars.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come

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27:37

1989 Epilogue

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/04/08

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1989, 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.Please like, share, rate and comment on the show and this episode, and tune in next time for the premiere of our fourth season, covering the awesome movie year of 1996, starting with box-office champion Independence Day.

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54:33

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989 Audience Choice)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/04/01

In the finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989, we’re talking about this season’s audience choice pick, action sequel Lethal Weapon 2. Written by Jeffrey Boam, directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Patsy Kensit, Joss Ackland and Derrick O’Connor, Lethal Weapon 2 beat out Back to the Future Part II and Ghostbusters II in our audience choice poll of 1989 blockbuster sequels.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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48:11

Gleaming The Cube (1989 Future Cult Classic)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/03/25

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features our future cult classic pick, teen skateboarding drama Gleaming the Cube. Written by Michael Tolkin, directed by Graeme Clifford and starring Christian Slater, Steven Bauer, Min Luong and Richard Herd, Gleaming the Cube was a box-office failure but became an influential piece of skater culture.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Richard Harrington in the Washington Post

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53:47

UHF (1989 Dave’s Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/03/18

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features our producer David Rosen’s personal pick, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s UHF. Written by Yankovic and his longtime manager and music video director Jay Levey, directed by Levey and starring Yankovic, Michael Richards, Kevin McCarthy, Victoria Jackson and David Bowe, UHF was a financial and critical failure at the time of its release but went on to become a cult classic.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger

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50:07

Driving Miss Daisy (1989 Best Picture)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/03/11

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features the Best Picture Oscar winner, Driving Miss Daisy. Written by Alfred Uhry (based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play), directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy and Dan Aykroyd, Driving Miss Daisy opened in limited release in December 1989 and went on to win four Oscars, including Best Picture.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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50:14

True Love (1989 Sundance Award Winner)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/03/04

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features the Grand Jury Prize winner from the Sundance Film Festival, Nancy Savoca’s True Love. Directed and co-written (with her husband Richard Guay) by Savoca and starring Ron Eldard, Annabella Sciorra, Aida Turturro and Roger Rignack, True Love premiered at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival and went on to be nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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51:24

When Harry Met Sally (1989 Jason’s Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/02/26

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features Jason’s personal pick, romantic comedy classic When Harry Met Sally. Written by Nora Ephron, directed by Rob Reiner and starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby, When Harry Met Sally was a box-office hit and an Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay, and has become one of the most influential romantic comedies of all time.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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41:37

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989 Foreign Film)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/02/19

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features one of the year’s most notable foreign films, Pedro Almodovar’s Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!. Directed and co-written by Almodovar and starring Antonio Banderas, Victoria Abril, Loles Leon and Francisco Rabal, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was the highest-grossing domestic film of the year in Spain and was nominated for 15 Goyas, Spain’s top film award.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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53:27

Heathers (1989 Josh’s Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2020/02/12

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1989 features Josh’s personal pick, dark teen comedy Heathers. Written by Daniel Waters, directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty, Kim Walker and Lisanne Falk, Heathers was a box-office failure but has since gained a reputation as one of the best teen movies of the ’80s.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/heathers-1989),

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