A Very Good Year

By Jason Bailey & Michael Hull

“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, come... more

4.6

6464 ratings

Download on the App Store

Download on the App Store

Get it on Google Play

FAQs about A Very Good Year:

How many episodes does A Very Good Year have?

The podcast currently has 117 episodes available.

A Very Good Year episodes:

April 30, 2023 1946 with Stephanie Zacharek
Stephanie Zacharek - film critic for TIME magazine and Pulitzer Prize finalist - has always loved the movies of the 1940s. But 1946 is particularly special to her, because of the potent complexity of theme and emotion in these post-war pictures - and because of one film in particular, which pulls off the very rare A VERY GOOD YEAR hat-trick.
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.
...more
1h 10min
April 23, 2023 1989 with John Pierson
John Pierson wrote the definitive book about '90s independent cinema, "Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes," and he wrote it from the inside - he was the producer's rep who made the deals that put such legendary pictures as "She's Gotta Have It," "Roger & Me," "Slacker," and "Clerks" on your screens. He brings that insider's perspective to our conversation about the year 1989, a crucial tipping point in the indie scene's move to the mainstream.
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.
...more
1h 16min
April 16, 2023 1993 with Karina Longworth
Karina Longworth basically invented the film history podcast with her meticulously researched and ridiculously entertaining “You Must Remember This” (if you heard our “Fun City Cinema” show, you can tell we’re fans). She just kicked off her new season, “Erotic ‘90s,” so she was kind enough to pay us a visit and talk about her favorite year of that decade, 1993, and her favorite films of it, erotic and non. All that, plus Jason discovering he and Karina had very similar tween years!
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.
...more
1h
April 09, 2023 1978 with Soraya Nadia McDonald
Our first (but not last!) Pulitzer Prize finalist guest, Soraya Nadia McDonald brings her experience in multiple fields - sportswriting, theatre criticism, television, AND film - to her rundown of her favorite movies of 1978, a mixture of films she grew up adoring and discovered as a budding cinephile. Plus: A headlines segment full of tragedies, from Jonestown to ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special.’
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.
...more
1h 8min
April 02, 2023 1991 with Brian Tallerico
We're back with another episode (recorded) live from SXSW in Austin, Texas, where Brian Tallerico - managing editor of RogerEbert.com, president of the Chicago Film Critics Association, and film-and-TV-critic-at-large - talks to us about the magical year of 1991. He was a wide-eyed 16-year-old moviegoer that year, and his favorites of the year (some of which you'll guess, some of which may surprise you) greatly informed his thinking on genre, authorial voice, and film theory. Plus, find out why he wore an armband to school for part of the year!
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.
...more
1h 6min
March 26, 2023 1949 with Raquel Stecher
Raquel Stecher has spent most of her career writing about classic movies, so it doesn't come as a shock that she's dipped back into the 1940s for her very good year - 1949, to be precise, the year that marked the beginning of the end for the studio system. It was also the golden age of film noir, so her top five is bursting with examples and variations on the genre (as well as a VERY non-noir turn by one of its icons).
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.
...more
1h 3min
March 19, 2023 1980 with April Wright
April Wright is our favorite kind of documentary filmmaker, because she makes movies about movies. Her latest, “Back to the Drive-In” (out now!) looks at drive-in exhibition in the COVID era - and she picked 1980, a year of great drive-in movies (and movies in general).
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.
...more
1h 18min
March 12, 2023 1971 with Charles Bramesco
Film critic and author Charles Bramesco had to look at movies in a new and different way while researching and writing his new book, "Colors of Film: The Story of Cinema in 50 Palettes" (out this week) which examines filmmaking through the prism of color. And one of his favorite eras, for that book and as a film lover in general, is the 1970s - so he selected 1971, a year in which the movies were smart, daring, experimental, and (at least in his top five) extremely horny. Plus, hear about the best single release week of the year (maybe the decade), when two all-timers hit theaters one day apart!
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.
...more
1h 17min
March 05, 2023 1985 with W Axel Foley
There are allllllll sorts of ‘80s classics that hit theaters in the year 1985, but our guest (and friend) W. Axel Foley of the DVR Podcast Network went in some WILD directions for his top five of the year, plucking out some less-discussed documentaries, sci-fi, and more. Plus, Axel is roughly the same age as Jason and Mike, so hear all about how this year’s headlines deeply traumatized us all!
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.
...more
1h 7min
February 26, 2023 1974 with Isabel Sandoval
Filmmaker and actress Isabel Sandoval (“Señorita,” “Aparisyon,” "Lingua Franca”) went to a rather non-traditional film school: the pirated DVD stores of Philippines flea markets. It was there that she discovered the auteurs of the 1970s, the giants of American and world cinema who made that era what it was, and she chose the year 1974 - perhaps the MOST 1970s year of the 1970s. Listen in for our thoughts on Akerman, Passolini, Coppola, Polanski, and Richard Nixon, who was shown the door during this very eventful year.
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.
...more
1h 15min

FAQs about A Very Good Year:

How many episodes does A Very Good Year have?

The podcast currently has 117 episodes available.

More shows like A Very Good Year

Filmspotting by Adam Kempenaar & Josh Larsen

Filmspotting

3,929 Listeners

Slate Culture by Slate Podcasts

Slate Culture

1,866 Listeners

The Projection Booth Podcast by Weirding Way Media

The Projection Booth Podcast

595 Listeners

Fighting In The War Room: A Movies And Pop Culture Podcast by Katey, Matt, Da7e and David

Fighting In The War Room: A Movies And Pop Culture Podcast

934 Listeners

You Must Remember This by Karina Longworth

You Must Remember This

13,968 Listeners

Blank Check with Griffin & David by Blank Check Productions

Blank Check with Griffin & David

5,855 Listeners

The Next Picture Show by Filmspotting Network

The Next Picture Show

786 Listeners

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast by Directors Guild of America

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

712 Listeners

Pure Cinema Podcast by Elric Kane & Brian Saur

Pure Cinema Podcast

671 Listeners

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia by Slate Podcasts

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

2,028 Listeners

This Had Oscar Buzz by Joe and Chris

This Had Oscar Buzz

1,137 Listeners

The Movies That Made Me by SpectreVision Radio

The Movies That Made Me

550 Listeners

Screen Drafts by Clay Keller and Ryan Marker

Screen Drafts

493 Listeners

Culture Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

Culture Gabfest

412 Listeners

Talking Pictures by TCM and Max

Talking Pictures

736 Listeners