A VERY GOOD YEAR (Season 2)

A full year in cinema every week - the year's best films, award winners, box office champs, and what was happening in the “real world.” 

“Fun City Cinema” hosts Jason Bailey and Mike Hull proudly present “A Very Good Year,” a podcast with a simple premise: each week we invite a guest (filmmakers and actors, critics and historians, comedians and musicians) who loves movies, and ask them to select their favorite year of movies. Some pick a year from their movie-going past; some go deep into film history. Whichever the case, we spent (about) an hour talking about that year: we ask them to share their top five films of the year, and tell us why they love them; we look at the year’s news headlines, award winners, and box office champions; and we finish with a lightning round, where we talk about as many films as possible in as few minutes as possible.

Episode 53:
1973 with Brian Saur

For season two, we’re wiping the slate clean and letting our guests pick any year they want, even if we covered it in season one. So first up, the very knowledgable and extremely affable host of the wonderful Just the Discs podcast, and the co-host of our beloved (and influential) Pure Cinema Podcast joins us to discuss the lovable losers of Scarecrow, the fast friends of The Last Detail, the witty whodunit The Last of Sheila, and more of the movies of 1973.

Episode 54:
1988 with Jen Johans

This week, we're talking about movies during the quiet time with the host of Watch with Jen and (relevant to our interests here) the co-host of Midnight Run-Through, Film Intuition's Jen Johans. She's joining us to discuss the formative year of 1988, when her frequent babysitting gigs were highlighted by stacks of such VHS favorites as Bull Durham and A Fish Called Wanda. Plus, BOGOSIAN! 

Episode 55:
1999 with Brian Raftery

Brian Raftery is the host of the excellent narrative podcasts Gene and Roger and Do We Get to Win This Time? for the Ringer and Spotify; he’s also SUCH an expert on the movies of 1999, he wrote an entire book about them: the wonderful Best. Movie. Year. Ever: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen. He joins us to talk about why Election still hits, why Eyes Wide Shut has had such a wild afterlife, how The Blair Witch Project is somehow underrated, and much more.

Episode 56:
1971 with Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

This week, film critic, author, Fangoria columnist, physical media mainstay, and recovering academic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas joins us for a jaunt through the dark laughs of Little Murders and A New Leaf, the knotty gender politics of Straw Dogs, and more of the disturbances and pleasures of 1971.

Episode 57:
1992 with Sam Adams

Sam Adams, writer and senior editor for Slate, was in the midst of his cinephile awakening in 1992, when he was taking in new indies and other risky delights at the SoNo Cinema. Join us as we walk through the vérité discomforts of Husbands and Wives, the radical queer art of Edward II, the biting-the-hand-that-feeds-you brilliance of The Player, and more.

Episode 58:
1970 with Blake Howard

Our Aussie invasion continues with this week’s guest, film critic and podcaster extraordinaire Blake Howard, the mastermind of One Heat Minute Productions. Blake joins us to talk about unhealthy relationships with movies and his love for the films of 1970, from the gallows humor of M*A*S*H to the working class heroism of Five Easy Pieces to the unequalled cool (and Frenchness) of Le Cercle Rouge.

Episode 59:
1978 with Katie Rife

The whip-smart and hysterically funny Katie Rife joins us to talk about the movies of 1978 — from the terrifying precision to Halloween to the sweaty muscularity of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin to the impeccable formalism of Les Rendez-vous d’Anna — and why ‘70s genre cinema holds up so well.

Episode 60:
1968 with David Fear

David Fear, chief film critic and senior editor at Rolling Stone, had not yet joined the living in the year 1968, but he’s always been fascinated by its contradictions and commentaries. He joins us to discuss the genius of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the majesty of Once Upon a Time in the West, and the stickiness of Rosemary’s Baby.

Episode 61:
1998 with Esther Zuckerman

Esther Zuckerman is an appropriate guest for Oscar Sunday, as she is the author of the fabulous book Beyond the Best Dressed: A Cultural History of the Most Glamorous, Radical, and Scandalous Oscar Fashion. She joins us to talk about famous Oscar spoiler Shakespeare in Love, the wildly underrated Velvet Goldmine, the one and only Big Lebowski, and more of the movies of 1998.

Episode 62: 1989 with Jacob Knight

Back at SXSW, we’re joined by Austin’s own Jacob Knight, co-host of the “Secret Handshake” podcast, and lover of great movies and great trash. 1989 offered plenty of both, from the power of The Abyss to the inanity of Jason Takes Manhattan to the coke-dusted earnestness of Road House.

Episode 63: 1965 with Robert Daniels

For show number two from SXSW, we’re joined by the prolific film critic and RogerEbert.com Associate Editor Robert Daniels. He sings the praises of 1965, from the devastation of The Pawnbroker to the thrills of Flight of the Phoenix to the sweep of Doctor Zhivago.

Episode 64: 1994 with Bob Byington

It’s a special MID-WEEK EPISODE, in honor of Friday’s release of acclaimed director Bob Byington’s latest, Lousy Carter. Join us as we talk with Bob about the current indie landscape and the films of 1994, from the art of Red to the commerce of Speed to the pleasures of The Hudsucker Proxy.

Episode 65: 2017 with Alison Herman

Variety TV critic (and The Ringer’s founding TV critic) Alison Herman had just moved to Los Angeles in the year of our lord 2017, and she joins us to recall, with fondness, cockeyed comedy of Phantom Thread, the deft commentary of Get Out, and the totally not-divisive pleasures of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Episode 66: 1979 with Scott Drebit

Daily Dead columnist Scott Drebit’s new book is A Cut Below: A Celebration of B Horror Movies, 1950s-1980s, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he picked 1979, a banner year for horror. He joins us to discuss the working-class scares of Alien, the insanity of Zombie, the inexplicable PG rating of Tourist Trap, and more.

Episode 67: 2013 with Siddhant Adlakha

Filmmaker, actor, TV writer, and film critic Siddhant Adlakha was in a moment of transition in 2013, and vowed to see as many new movies as possible for the sake of career clarity. He walks us through some of those discoveries, from the spectacle of Ram-Leela to the melancholy of Inside Llewyn Davis to the intimacy of Short Term 12.

Episode 68: 2002 with John Early

In advance of Friday’s theatrical debut of his Sundance hit Stress Positions, comedian, actor, writer, and cinephile John Early joins us to discuss all things 2002, from the earnestness of Crossroads to the sexiness of Unfaithful to the status of his Toni Collette website.

Episode 69: 1997 with Tomris Laffly

Film critic and journalist Tomris Laffly was just starting to figure out who she was as a filmgoer in 1997, so she joins us to share some of her favorite memories of that year: the heartache of Good Will Hunting, the dark humor of The Ice Storm, and the majesty of Titanic.

Episode 70: 1990 with Kate Erbland

Indiewire’s Kate Erbland was a literal child in the year 1990, but she luckily had parents who put very few viewing boundaries on her, which was how she ended up seeing Die Hard 2, Ghost, and one of her all-time favorite movies, Pretty Woman. She joins us to talk about those and MANY more.