Podcast Like It's ...

Phil and Kenny are joined by "Sleepy Hollow" star Tom Mison to discuss and dissect "Cruel Intentions."    "Cruel Intentions," if you're not familiar, is your classic story of Boy meets Girl. Girl happens to be his Step-Sister. Boy falls in love. Girl offers a quid-pro-quo. Boy destroys the reputation of Another Girl. In exchange, Boy get to have sex with Girl. During speculative sex, Boy is told he can put it wherever he wants. Girl, may I remind you, his Boy's Step-Sister. Girl kisses Another Other Girl, who's reputation Boy also has to destroy. Boy kinda maybe rapes Another Other Girl. Boy concurrently falls in love with Another Girl, while falling out of love with Girl, who, may I remind you, happens to be Boy's Step-Sister. In the process, Boy turns down the opportunity to put it anywhere in the Girl, who, may I remind you, just so happens to be Boy's Step-Sister. Boy breaks up with Another Girl precisely because he fell in love with her. Boy dies. Girl subsequently is exposed and humiliated by Another Girl, all set to "Bittersweet Symphony."    You know, that old chestnut.

Cultural critics and married couple Libby Hill (Los Angeles Times) and Todd VanDerWerff (Vox) join us to discuss Rob Reiner’s 1999 comedy about a couple going through a crisis that might lead to divorce. Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer play the couple. It takes place in LA. It utilizes flashback. Im sorry, are we being too vague? Vaguer than the damn title The Story of Us???? Just listen. It’s a good one.

We hate the movies of 2001 And those of 2002 Because none of those films are quite as good as 10 Things I Hate about You We hate guests that aren’t Ashley Lyle From The Originals on The CW Because none of those guests picked a movie better than 10 Things I Hate About You We hate Erika Christensen and Paul Reiser And all three Hemsworths, too Because they’re not Julia Stiles, Larry Miller and Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You We hate oh so many things The aforementioned are just a few But maybe we’re lying and we really hated 10 Things I Hate About You

Just in time for the Fourth of July, Podcast Like It's 1999 brings you 1999's Most American film!   Phil Iscove, Kenny Neibart and TV Writer Jim Campolongo (Station 19, White Collar) take a big, old Red, White and Blue dive into the world of... snuff films? Wait, what? We're releasing the snuff movie on Independence Day?    (Well, let's see if we can make this work using my questionable understanding of the American Revolution almost entirely gleaned from Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton..)   Nicolas Cage plays a private detective. He's kind of like the... George Washington (?) of this movie.    He's tasked with helping an old lady (Martha Washington -- or maybe she represents the Colonies themselves?) with figuring out whether her husband (easy, King George III) had a young woman raped and murdered on film (okay, the young woman represents the collective victims of the Boston Massacre?!).   On Cage's journey (Washington's March from Newport to Yorktown), he encounters many colorful characters (Rochambeau, Lafayette, other Hamilton references) and finds one odd fellow played by Joaquin Phoenix, willing to be his unlikely Right-Hand Man (HAMILTON HIMSELF! THIS IS WORKING!!!).    Together they enter the dark, sordid world of underground fringe porn and snuff film (New Jersey) where they find the man responsible for the snuff film, Peter Stormare (General Howe). Joaquin meets his untimely end (not gonna gloat or anything, but...) and Cage, like Washington, wins the day, but loses a bit of himself in the process.    Then he becomes President.

To paraphrase the great 20th century philosopher Lisa Turtle,  "What is art? Are we art? Is art art? And, most importantly, is The Thomas Crown Affair art?"   Television writer/producers, and the subject of a recent Hollywood Reporter piece on their courtship, Stacy Traub (Glee, Blackish, SMILF) and Hunter Covington (It's Always Sunny, Alone Together, The Carmichael Show) join Phil and Kenny to discuss that very question.    Does "The Thomas Crown Affair" rise to the level of the pieces its protagonist steals? Does it have the delicate touch of Manet's "The Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil?" Does it's scope and emotional heft more closely resemble Edward Burkne-Jones' "The Mirror of Venus?"  Is Pierce Brosnan's mysterious nature mirrored in Magritte's "The Son of Man?" Is Rene Russo's effortless elegance akin to that of Monet's "San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk?" Or is its simple structure and sophomoric execution more like Cassius Macellus Coolidge's "Dogs Playing Poker?"   Tune in to the podcast to find out!

Join the crew for part 2 of their rousing discussion and lively dissection of The Phantom Menace and stick around to hear their overall Star Wars rankings!

Podcast Like It's 1999: Episode 29 - The Star Wars One    Turmoil has engulfed the Podcast. The ultimate evaluation of The Phantom Menace is in dispute, and the fate of the entire Star Wars saga hangs in the balance.   Hoping to resolve the matter with a two-part podcast, the cynical Phil Iscove and the skeptical Kenny Neibart have called for a summit on the matter.    While the hosts endlessly debate this alarming entry in the Star Wars canon, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched Supergirl writer Eric Carrasco, the guardian of the Star Wars prequels, to settle the conflict....

Phil, Kenny and Rachelle Lefevre (Under the Dome, Fox’s upcoming drama series Proven Innocent) walked into a podcast about the 1999 dramedy Anywhere But Here expecting a pleasant conversation about a quaint movie. And then things got real. It turns out, Anywhere But Here is not just the simple story of Natalie Portman’s serious Ann and her batty mother Adele, played by Susan Sarandon, but rather a skeleton key that unlocks the deepest secrets of our brave podcasters’ souls, and most likely yours as well... Tune in, if you can handle it.

In the first installment of our “Class of 1999” bonus series, Phil and Kenny talk with actor and writer Orlando Jones. They discuss Orlando’s breakout starring role in Barry Levinson’s “Liberty Heights”, his hilarious supporting turn in Mike Judge’s “Office Space” and his truncated performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Magnolia,” in which Orlando tells the story of his deleted storyline and what would have been (had PTA had yet another hour to work with).