Episodes

The third episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1999 with the first of two Christmas episodes, on Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick (adapted from the novel by Arthur Schnitzler) and starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack and Todd Field, Eyes Wide Shut was the final movie that Kubrick directed before his death.

The second episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1989 with the first of Josh’s three picks, J.F. Lawton’s Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death. Written and directed by J.F. Lawton (under the name J.D. Athens) and starring Shannon Tweed, Karen Mistal, Bill Maher and Adrienne Barbeau, Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death was a staple of basic cable programming in the 1990s.

The first episode of our special retrospective 20th season looks back to the awesome movie year of 1996 with the first of Jason’s three picks, Steve Buscemi’s Trees Lounge. Written and directed by Steve Buscemi and starring Buscemi, Mark Boone Junior, Chloë Sevigny, Anthony LaPaglia and Elizabeth Bracco, Trees Lounge was Buscemi’s debut feature as a writer and director.

In this special intro episode for our retrospective 20th season, we’re drafting picks of movies from the years we’ve covered in previous seasons, to set the upcoming episode lineup. Josh, Jason and our producer Dave each pick three movies for us to talk about this season.

In this special Thanksgiving holiday episode, we’re looking back to our recent season on the films of 1969, to talk about Arthur Penn’s Alice’s Restaurant. Directed and co-written by Arthur Penn and starring Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick and Michael McClanathan, Alice’s Restaurant is an adaptation of folk singer Guthrie’s signature song.

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 2000 features Christopher Nolan’s Memento. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Memento was Nolan’s breakthrough film.

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1969, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about their favorite 1969 movies.

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our audience choice poll winner, Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity. Directed by Bob Fosse (based on the Broadway production) and starring Shirley MacLaine, John McMartin, Chita Rivera, Ricardo Montalban and Paula Kelly, Sweet Charity defeated two other major Hollywood musicals in our audience choice poll.

The thirteenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, David Lowell Rich’s Eye of the Cat. Directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Michael Sarrazin, Gayle Hunnicutt, Eleanor Parker and Tim Henry, Eye of the Cat is the return to filmmaking for Psycho screenwriter Joseph Stefano.

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our cult classic pick, Richard Lester’s The Bed Sitting Room. Directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by John Antrobus and starring Ralph Richardson, Rita Tushingham, Michael Hordern and Arthur Lowe, The Bed Sitting Room is adapted from the play by Spike Milligan and John Antrobus.

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, John Schlesinger’s Midnight Cowboy. Directed by John Schlesinger from a screenplay by Waldo Salt (based on the James Leo Herlihy novel) and starring Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Miles and Brenda Vaccaro, Midnight Cowboy was the first and only X-rated movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features one of the Venice International Film Festival’s major award winners, Federico Fellini’s Fellini Satyricon. Directed and co-written by Federico Fellini and starring Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born and Salvo Randone, Fellini Satyricon won the Pasinetti Award for Best Italian Film at the 1969 festival and was nominated for an Oscar.

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features Jason’s personal pick, Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. Directed and co-written by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O’Brien and Jaime Sánchez, The Wild Bunch was nominated for two Oscars.

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our animation pick, Peanuts adaptation A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Directed by Bill Melendez from a screenplay by Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz and starring the voices of Peter Robbins, Pamelyn Ferdin, Glenn Gilger and Andy Pforsich, A Boy Named Charlie Brown was the first theatrical feature film based on the Peanuts characters.

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1969 features our foreign film pick, Costa-Gavras’ Z. Directed and co-written by Costa-Gavras (from the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos) and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Yves Montand, Jacques Perrin, Pierre Dux and Irene Papas, Z was nominated for five Oscars and won two.