Episodes

  • See Also: SHATTERED GLASS (2003)

    See Also: SHATTERED GLASS (2003)
    Nov 26 2025
    The first of what will be a series of smaller episodes where we take a look at a movie that is somehow related to our most recent subject. This time, our See Also recommendation for The Insider is Billy Ray's superb 2003 docudrama/thriller Shattered Glass. Featuring incredible performances from a uniformly excellent cast, especially Hayden Christensen as the title character and Peter Sarsgaard as New Republic editor Chuck Lane, Shattered Glass deserves it place among the best movies about journalism and the best movies of 2003. It's also newly relevant in the midst of the Olivia Nuzzi of it all, and we talk about how the cult of personality around "The Writer" has impacted journalism for the worse. You can watch Shattered Glass right now for free on Tubi.
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    58 mins
  • THE INSIDER - with Lindsay Beyerstein

    THE INSIDER - with Lindsay Beyerstein
    Nov 18 2025
    Michael Mann's The Insider is easily the most glaring omission from the our initial 18, universally regarded as one of the best – if not THE best – movie of 1999. Finishing in 69th place, sandwiched between two previous entries, Girl Interrupted at 70th and Mystery Men at 68th, The Insider stars Russell Crowe, in an Oscar-nominated performance, and Al Pacino alongside an incredibly deep supporting class (including the greatest character actor alive, Stephen Tobolowsky) Directed by Michael Mann and adapted from the 1996 Vanity Fair article "The Man Who Knew Too Much" by Marie Brenner, The Insider received rave reviews, wound up on countless year-end top 10 lists, and was nominated for a slew of Oscars, including Mann for directing and screenwriting, but was shut out by the juggernaut that was American Beauty. Since it's widely regarded as one of Mann's best films and one the best films ever made about journalism, we invited investigative journalist Lindsay Beyerstein to tell us how well the movie mirrors real life and to dig into what it's like to watch a movie about CBS News struggling to maintain its integrity as a journalistic entity in the bleak future of 26 years later. Lindsay is on Bluesky @beyerstein
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • TRUE CRIME (1999) and JUROR #2 (2024) - with Aaron from HIT FACTORY

    TRUE CRIME (1999) and JUROR #2 (2024) - with Aaron from HIT FACTORY
    Nov 4 2025
    True Crime was the 94th-highest grossing movie of 1999, grossing just $17 million on a $50 million budget with a fairly limited release. Starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, True Crime was largely forgotten and remains overlooked most likely due to its release at what can be described as Eastwood’s most prolonged artistic lull in the mid 1990s, starting with 1997’s Absolute Power and Midnight in the Garden of Eden, 2000’s Space Cowboys, and 2002’s Blood Work. That lull would end with 2003’s acclaimed Mystic River, which earned Oscars for both Sean Penn and Tim Robbins as well as Best Director and Best Picture nominations for Eastwood. But True Crime is still an interesting entry on Eastwood's resume, exploring many of the themes of injustice and moral ambiguity that he frequently explores in his work. So does the similarly-themed 2024 film Juror #2, which Eastwood directed in his mid-90s. So this week we're talking about them both, and joining is us is Aaron from the podcast Hit Factory.
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    1 hr and 50 mins
  • THE SIXTH SENSE (Julia's Version) - with Sooz Kempner

    THE SIXTH SENSE (Julia's Version) - with Sooz Kempner
    Oct 21 2025
    The Sixth Sense was one of the biggest movies of the year, second only to The Phantom Menace. And since it's Halloween and Julia had never seen it before, we thought it was time to take a second look. A movie best remembered for its plot twist (and the meticulous build up to it), The Sixth Sense is nonetheless at its core a drama about grief. Once you know the ending, the experience of the movie changes. But is it still good? Does M. Night Shyamalan's breakthrough film deserve its status on the 1999 Mount Rushmore? For our second go-round on The Sixth Sense, John and Julia invited comedian, actor, and singer Sooz Kempner - who didn't understand the ending to The Sixth Sense when she saw it at the age of 14 - to talk plot twists, child actors, Bruce Willis, and jump scares. You can find Sooz on Bluesky @soozuk Her website is https://www.soozkempner.co.uk/
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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • OCTOBER SKY - with Amanda Jane Stern

    OCTOBER SKY - with Amanda Jane Stern
    Oct 7 2025
    October Sky was the 63rd-highest grossing movie of the year, just behind The 13th Warrior. Opening on February 19th with just shy of $6 million, it went on to gross $34.7 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. October Sky was adapted from the memoir Rocket Boys (an anagram of "October Sky") by NASA engineer Homer Hickman and directed by Joe Johnston, beautifully shot by journeyman cinematographer Fred Murphy with a score by Mark Isham it starred newcomer Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Lauren Dern, William Lee Scott, Chad Lindberg, Natalie Canderday, Chris Ellis, and in a really wonderful performance, American Pie’s Sherminator himself, Chris Owen. A critical hit and modest commercial success, October Sky was largely forgotten by the time award season rolled around, and it is now a fondly if faintly remembered gem (as well as the breakout film for its young star!) This week, Julia and John welcome actor/writer Amanda Jane Stern from the podcast Don't Be Crazy to talk about her new film, Joe Johnston's aggressively earnest style, and boys and their rockets. Amanda is on Bluesky @amandajanestern.com
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    1 hr and 28 mins
  • ENTRAPMENT - with Jason Christian

    ENTRAPMENT - with Jason Christian
    Sep 23 2025
    Despite its reputation as giant bomb, Entrapment was the 24th-highest grossing movie of 1999, coming in just behind another movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Haunting. Entrapment opened on April 30th at number 1 with an impressive $20 million debut, dethroning The Matrix at the top box office spot, going on to gross $212 million worldwide. It has since gone on to be synonymous with "high profile dud from 1999", but does it really deserve that reputation? Its relative success at the box office aside, Entrapment is unpretentious, silly, and a lot of fun, even if it never lands every shot it makes. And it's hard not to stack it up against the other big budget art heist movie starring a famous James Bond actor from the same year (a thing we do plenty of this episode). Joining John and Julia to talk about it is Jason Christian, a writer and co-host of the podcast Cold War Cinema. Jason is on all the social medias and can be found on Bluesky @jasonachristian.
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    1 hr and 31 mins
  • THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR - with Sarah D. Bunting

    THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR - with Sarah D. Bunting
    Sep 9 2025
    The Thomas Crown Affair was the 31st-highest grossing movie of 1999, coming in one slot below another entry, Galaxy Quest, opening August 6th at number 3 at the box office behind the debut of the juggernaut The Sixth Sense at number one and Runaway Bride at number 2. The first of two 1999 film besides (besides The 13th Warrior, which we also recently discussed) from Die Hard director John McTiernan, The Thomas Crown Affair is a remake of the 1968 Steve McQueen-Faye Dunaway caper of the same name. Starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role - at the height of his Bond tenure - alongside Rene Russo, the film was praised for featuring two (very attractive) actors who were north of 40 and portraying them in an overtly sexy light, with particular ink spilled on how refreshing it was to see the then 45-year-old Russo presented as a femme fatale. The Thomas Crown Affair was pretty well received at the time, which is interesting because it has not, on a number of fronts, aged very well. What did people see in it at the time? And does it hold up at all today? John and Julia invited critic/writer/internet pioneer Sarah Bunting, the co-creator of Television Without Pity (among many other things) to take a trip down memory lane with us as we talk sex scenes in the 1990s, the importance of getting the right director, and what separates a "heist" from a "caper". Sarah is on Bluesky @sarahdbunting
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • 1999 REWIND - Woodstock 99

    1999 REWIND - Woodstock 99
    Jul 23 2025
    ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 7/24/24: Today marks the 26th anniversary of one of the true low points of 1999 and pop culture in general - the human rights disaster that was Woodstock 99. Dan Colón, of CageClub's very own The Monsters That Made Us podcast, joined John to talk about the greed, mayhem, and madness that defined Woodstock 99. The Woodstock that was just so great that it convinced everybody to never Woodstock again, 1999's 30th anniversary festival (inspired by the relative success of the 25th anniversary Woodstock 94) was...a lot of things. But mostly it was an epic disaster that somehow managed to take bad situations and terrible ideas and make them much worse. What went wrong?? Well, aside from everything, John and Dan explore some of the specific problems that sent Woodstock 99 into a fiery tailspin, and discuss why this is such and important milestone in how our culture got to where it is today.
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    1 hr and 6 mins