Podcast Like It's ...

Check out the thrilling conclusion of Podcast Like it’s 1999s two-podcast series on a The Matrix!

How do you blurb a movie like “The Matrix?”  How do you write a blurb that doesn’t suck?  How do you blurb a movie like “The Matrix?” By mentioning that it’s now beloved by cucks? Many a-things you’d want to blurb about it.  Many a-things you still don’t understand! But how can start to say The film deserves all the A’s Without sounding like a goober or a Stan?! How do you blurb a movie like “The Matrix?” How do you stop a bullet with your hand? Emily VanDerWerff (Vox Media) joins Phil and Kenny to analyze and break down the revolutionary, uber-successful and impossibly influential film “The Matrix.”

Did you know that in 1999 there was a machine invented called the “Random Sundance Movie Generator?” That’s right! For a fraction of what a screenwriter cost, this machine spit out a complete Sundance movie script in seconds.  Take, for instance, “Happy, Texas.” No human could have come up with this seemingly unrelated combination of elements: Unlikely Lead Actors: Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn Genre: Low-Stakes Heist  Flyover Country Setting: Rural, Texas Town, Present Day (But make it feel like 1983) Quirky Complication: Children’s beauty pageant   Far-fetched Cover Story: Characters pose as a gay couple Expected Price Tag at Sundance: $500k (or $10 million if you can get Harvey Weinstein to a screening).  So join Phil and Kenny as they discuss the Random Sundance Movie Generator’s magnum opus, “Happy, Texas” and the film festival it was created for.

We're breaking the mold this week on Podcast Like It's 1999 -- which be prepared we'll be doing more as we explore TV shows, award shows and much much more in the coming months -- but this week Phil sat down with Jaan Kittask (the man behind our wonderful theme song and logo) to do a deep dive into the soundtracks of 1999. We talk about the soundtracks to Magnolia, Cruel Intentions, Rushmore (which was released in 1999) and Go not to mention Dawson's Creek and Ally McBeal as well as some of our favorite albums of the year. Jaan and I also discuss the creative process behind making our awesome theme song!

Ron Shelton made some of the best and most beloved sports movies of all-time in Bull Durham, White Men Can’t and Tin Cup.    Boxing has long been considered the sport that lost naturally lends itself to dramatic storytelling, as evidenced by such classics as Raging Bull, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby.    So, when Ron Shelton came out with his boxing movie in 1999, audiences were expecting a knockout!    And what they got was... an extended gay panic joke?   Christian Lander (black-ish, The Mick) joins Phil and Kenny to dissect just how this seemingly perfect marriage of artist and subject was apparently derailed by the marriage of a director and his star.    And then they talk about WWE for 30 minutes.

PHILLIP ISCOVE (co-host, “Podcast Like it’s 1999): It was really just supposed to be another episode, not unlike the 75 or so we had previously done.  KENNY NEIBART (co-host, “Podcast Like it’s 1999”): But something was different that day. Something in the air.  ERNIE HURTADO (producer, “Podcast Like It’s 1999”): That was the just the airplanes.  NEIBART: Aside from the airplanes. Something else. A certain je ne se quois.  WHITNEY FRIEDLANDER (entertainment journalist, guest “Podcast Like it’s 1999”): I think what Kenny is referring to is squeezing a non-problematic podcast from this very problematic movie. ISCOVE: Yes! We somehow avoided being problematic while talking about Woody Allen.  NEIBART: I don’t know if I’d say we were completely without controversy. What about the part where you defended Woody’s behavior? ISCOVE: I never defended Woody’s behavior!  FRIEDLANDER: I don’t think any of us defended him.  NEIBART (smirking): Phil did.  ISCOVE (steam rising): I did no such thing!  NEIBART: Ernie? HURTADO: I don’t know. He may have when one of those 15 planes flew over.  NEIBART: Yup.  ISCOVE: I never defended him! Stop putting that out there!  NEIBART: I guess our listeners will have to listen to the entire episode to find out. FRIEDLANDER: This got real weird, real fast. (Pause) ISCOVE: I didn’t defend him.

Special Double Episode! Fantasia 2000 with Karen Han and Julien Donkey-Boy with Ben Hosley Podcast like it’s 1999 is proud to bring to you a double bill that goes together like yogurt and sand.  First, Karen Han (Polygon) joins the guys for a deep dive into 1999s second most experimental film, Disney’s Fantasia 2000.  And then Karen stays on as Ben “Monster Man” Hosley (Blank Check) chimes in to talk a little Harmony Korine and the first most experimental film of 1999, Julien Donkey-Boy

Before The Avengers. Before the Guardians of the Galaxy. Before the Justice League. Before the X-Men. Before the Agents of Shield. Before the Fantastic Four. Before the Suicide Squad. Before the Eternals. Before Birds of Prey. Before The Legends of Tomorrow. Before a The Defenders. Before the Teen Titans. Before the Umbrella Academy. Before Supermansion. But after Josie and the Pussycats. There were the Mystery Men with classic heroes like Mr. Furious! Blue Raja! The Bowler! The Shoveler! The Invisible Boy! And everyone’s favorite, The Spleen who’s secret power is super farts. Join Phil and Kenny as they welcome David Sims (The Atlantic, Blank Check), a superhero of film criticism and podcasting, to discuss this groundbreaking(-ish) superhero comedy.

The year was 1999. Woodstock. Free Love. The Moon Landing. Any one of them could make for a good movie. But Walk on the Moon defies that half-assed bullshit and just throws it all into a blender and somehow churns out a single, spectacular film. Writer/Producer Toby Herman joins the Pod to discuss this hidden little gem.

On a cool and spooky night Phil, Kenny and Ira Madison III (Daybreak, Keep It podcast) we’re mysteriously invited to discuss “House on Haunted Hill” and should any of them survivor the podcast, he would receive $1,000,000. Unfortunately, they all died. But the podcast lives on!