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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

01:14:39

The French Connection (1971 Best Picture Winner)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2026/01/07

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, William Friedkin’s The French Connection. Directed by William Friedkin, based on the book by Robin Moore, and starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey and Tony Lo Bianco, The French Connection was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won five, including Best Picture.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Greenspun in The New York Times

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57:12

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1971 Berlin Film...

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/12/31

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner, Vittorio De Sica’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. Directed by Vittorio De Sica, based on the novel by Giorgio Bassani, and starring Lino Capolicchio, Dominique Sanda, Helmut Berger and Fabio Testi, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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01:02:37

Santa Claus: The Movie (1985 Christmas Bonus)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/12/24

This special Christmas preview of our upcoming 1985 season features holiday favorite Santa Claus: The Movie. Directed by Jeannot Szwarc from a screenplay by David Newman and starring David Huddleston, Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, Judy Cornwell, Christian L. Fitzpatrick and Carrie Kei Heim, Santa Claus: The Movie was the final major release from Superman franchise producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert

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01:06:18

Harold and Maude (1971 Jason's Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/12/17

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features Jason’s personal pick, Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude. Directed by Hal Ashby from a screenplay by Colin Higgins and starring Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon, Vivian Pickles and Charles Tyner, Harold and Maude was a critical and commercial failure that has since become an enduring classic.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/harold-and-maude-1972), Vincent Canby in

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01:01:11

The Point (1971 Animated Film)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/12/10

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features our animation pick, Fred Wolf’s The Point. Directed, animated and co-written by Fred Wolf and starring the voices of Mike Lookinland, Paul Frees, Lennie Weinrib, Bill Martin and Joan Gerber, The Point features songs from Harry Nilsson’s album of the same name.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Kevin Thomas in The Los Angeles Times, Rick Du Brow of United Press International, and Lou Cedrone in The

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55:01

The Big Boss (1971 Foreign Film)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/12/03

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features our foreign film pick, Bruce Lee in The Big Boss. Written and directed by Lo Wei and starring Bruce Lee, James Tien, Maria Yi and Han Ying-chieh, The Big Boss marked Lee’s return to Hong Kong cinema after launching his career in the United States.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from J. Oliver Prescott in the Tampa Bay Times, Andrew Reschke in the Syracuse Herald-Journal, and Geoff Wong in the Sacramento

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55:37

Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971 Josh's Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/11/26

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features Josh’s personal pick, John D. Hancock’s Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. Directed by John D. Hancock and starring Zohra Lampert, Barton Heyman, Kevin O’Connor, Gretchen Corbett and Mariclare Costello, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death was Hancock’s debut feature following a career in theater.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Greenspun in The New York Times

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50:18

On Any Sunday (1971 Documentary)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/11/19

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features our documentary pick, Bruce Brown’s On Any Sunday. Directed and narrated by Bruce Brown and featuring Mert Lawwill, David Aldana, Malcolm Smith and Steve McQueen, On Any Sunday is credited with helping popularize motorcycle sports in the U.S.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/on-any-sunday-1971), Vincent Canby in The New York Times

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58:28

The Go-Between (1971 Cannes Award Winner)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/11/12

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, Joseph Losey’s The Go-Between. Directed by Joseph Losey from a screenplay by Harold Pinter and starring Dominic Guard, Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Margaret Leigthon and Edward Fox, The Go-Between is based on the 1953 novel by L.P. Hartley.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-go-between-1971), Vincent Canby in

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59:28

The Last Movie (1971 Box Office Flop)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/11/05

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the year’s biggest flop, Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie. Directed and co-written by Dennis Hopper and starring Hopper, Stella Garcia, Don Gordon, Julie Adams and Tomas Milian, The Last Movie put Hopper’s directorial career on hold for nearly a decade.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-last-movie--chinchero-1971), Vincent Canby in The New York Times

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50:11

A Bay Of Blood (1971 Halloween Bonus)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/10/29

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 is a Halloween special featuring Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood. Directed and co-written by Mario Bava and starring Claudine Auger, Luigi Pistilli, Claudio Camaso and Laura Betti, A Bay of Blood is a key early influence on the slasher genre.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times, Edward L. Blank in The Pittsburgh Press and Jeffrey Frentzen in Cinefantastique.Check out more info

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52:14

Duel (1971 First Feature)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/10/22

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the second of two picks for a notable debut feature, Steven Spielberg’s Duel. Directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Richard Matheson (based on his short story) and starring Dennis Weaver, Duel aired as an ABC TV movie in the U.S. and was released theatrically in Europe and Australia.The contemporary review quoted in this episode comes from Janet Maslin in The New York Times

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58:13

THX 1138 (1971 First Feature)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/10/15

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the first of two picks for a notable debut feature, George Lucas’ THX 1138. Directed and co-written by George Lucas and starring Robert Duvall, Donald Pleasence, Maggie McOmie and Don Pedro Colley, THX 1138 is based on Lucas’ student film Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/thx-1138-2004), Vincent Canby in The New York

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01:03:09

Fiddler On The Roof (1971 Box Office Champ)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/10/08

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1971 features the box-office champion, Norman Jewison’s Fiddler on the Roof. Directed by Norman Jewison and starring Topol, Norma Crane, Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, Leonard Frey and Neva Small, Fiddler on the Roof is an adaptation of the hit Broadway musical by Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert (https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fiddler-on-the-roof-1971),

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01:08:04

Suspicion (1941 Bonus Episode)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/10/01

This bonus episode for our season on the awesome movie year of 1941 features Alfred Hitchcock’sSuspicion. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Nigel Bruce, Cedric Hardwicke and Mae Whitty,Suspicionwas loosely adapted from the novelBefore the Factby Francis Iles.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Bosley Crowther inThe New York

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32:09

2014 Epilogue

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/09/26

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 2014, 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 2014 movies.Check out more info and the entire archive of past episodes at https://www.awesomemovieyear.com and visit us on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/awesomemovieyearYou can find Jason on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JHarrisComedy/, on Instagram at

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01:06:37

A Walk Among The Tombstones (2014 Audience Choice)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/09/24

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features our audience choice poll winner, Liam Neeson thriller A Walk Among the Tombstones. Written and directed by Scott Frank (from the novel by Lawrence Block) and starring Liam Neeson, Dan Stevens, Brian “Astro” Bradley, Boyd Holbrook and David Harbour, A Walk Among the Tombstones defeated two other Liam Neeson thrillers in our audience choice poll for 2014.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Manohla Dargis in The

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01:08:55

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014 Future Cult Classic)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/09/17

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features our cult classic pick, Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson and Noah Taylor, Edge of Tomorrow is based on the Japanese novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Manohla Dargis in The New York Times

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01:14:10

John Wick (2014 Dave's Pick)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/09/10

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch’s John Wick. Directed by Chad Stahelski and an uncredited David Leitch from a screenplay by Derek Kolstad and starring Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki and Ian McShane, John Wick launched one of the most successful action franchises of the past decade.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Jeannette

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01:15:12

Birdman (2014 Best Picture Winner)

Awesome Movie Year ·

2025/09/03

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2014 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman. Directed and co-written by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough, Birdman was nominated for nine Oscars and won four, including Best Picture.The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Manohla Dargis in The New York Times

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