100 episodes
A Very Good Year A Very Good Bonus Episode
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- TV & Film
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4.6 • 56 Ratings
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“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 spend (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.
For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1959 with Phillip Lopate
The essayist, poet, and film critic Phillip Lopate joins us to discuss his new collection “My Affair with Art House Cinema” and the cinema of 1959, in which one series began with “The 400 Blows,” one series ended with “The World of Apu,” and Otto Preminger hit the courtroom in “Anatomy of a Murder.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
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1924 with Marya E. Gates
Nobody we know knows more about silent cinema than film critic, historian, and social media mastermind Marya E. Gates. She joins us to talk about movies from literally a century ago, from the brilliance of “Sherlock Jr.” to the sexiness of “Forbidden Paradise” to the surrealism of “Ballet Mécanique.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
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1961 with Larry Karaszewski
Larry Karaszewski isn’t just an award-winning screenwriter and producer — he’s also a serious cinephile, as evidenced by the fact that we asked him for a top five for the year of his birth, 1961, and he came back with six double-features. We talk about them all on this super-sized episode, with inspired pairings of American independents, Natalie Wood vehicles, Marcello Mastroianni classics, and more. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
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1967 with Mark Harris
Mark Harris has written three of the essential film books of our time, and one of them — “Pictures at a Revolution” — tells the story of Hollywood in flux by detailing the making of the five nominees for best picture of 1967. So he joins us to talk about that year, from the groundbreaking “The Graduate” to the nose-thumbing of “Bonnie & Clyde” to the sheer craft of “In the Heat of the Night.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
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1987 with Carrie Courogen
Writer, editor, and director Carrie Courogen is the author of the breathtakingly good new book “Miss May Does Not Exist,” and since it’s a biography of Elaine May, she joins us to talk about 1987 — not only May’s unjustly maligned “Ishtar,” but the sheer perfection of “Broadcast News” and “Moonstruck.” For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. -
1964 with Ben Mankiewicz
Film critic, historian, and TCM stalwart Ben Mankiewicz joins us, on the eve of a new season of his essential podcast “The Plot Thickens” to discuss the nuclear meltdowns of “Fail-Safe,” the political paranoia of “Seven Days in May,” the complex delights of “Marriage, Italian Style,” and more of the movies of 1964. For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Customer Reviews
A podcast that has changed the way I think about films
While I’ve been a film fan for my entire life, including studying film with Jeanine Basinger in the 1970s, I’d never thought of them in the context of the year in which they were released, the other films released in the same year, what was going on in the world in that year, and the films that were blockbusters/award winners. Jason Bailey and Michael Hull are remarkable hosts; they invite us in to share their love of movies. A wide variety of different guests (one per episode) give additional texture and breadth. Over and over, I’ll choose a film to see with my husband, or with my little local film club, and someone will ask “how did you find this film?” Invariably, the answer is “from the podcast A Very Good Year.”
Great concept, always compelling
After Jason Bailey’s fantastic Fun City Cinema podcast wrapped, I wondered how he and Mike would pivot. What I love about this pod is the exposure to a variety of cinephiles who lead me to the missed gems in my film education.
Good Hosts, Disappointing Guests
Most of the guests I’ve heard seem to barely know their cinematic year outside of the 5 movies they picked. I get frustrated listening to people be like “haven’t seen it” ten times an episode. When I know the year better than the guest it makes for a bad listen. The hosts are great though.