Episodes

  • THE LIMEY: "Bang" - with Devan Scott

    THE LIMEY: "Bang" - with Devan Scott
    May 6 2025
    The Limey was 170th highest grossing movie of 1999, finishing just one spot ahead of cult favorite Jawbreaker Released October 8th in just 17 theaters and going on to make $3.2 million on a $10 million budget, The Limey was directed by Steven Soderbergh, just on the verge of his first major commercial successes (Erin Brokovich and Traffic, both released on opposite ends of 2000) and following another acclaimed crime caper, 1998’s Elmore Leonard adaptation Out of Sight. Featuring a tour-de-force performance from Terrence Stamp, The Limey crosses genre boundaries, it also straddles the line between Soderbergh's smaller, more risk-taking films (like sex, lies, and videotape and Schizopolis) and his bigger, more ambitious ones (like Traffic and Ocean's 11). In this episode, John and Julia are joined by filmmaker, podcaster, and Steven Soderbergh fan Devan Scott joins John and Julia to discuss 1999's best crime thriller/comedy/tone poem. Devan is on Bluesky @dagscott.
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • VAL KILMER: 1959-2025

    VAL KILMER: 1959-2025
    Apr 22 2025
    Actor Val Kilmer died on April 1st of this year, after a long battle with throat cancer. He was 65. Kilmer's film career began in the 1980s with iconic turns in the likes of Top Gun and Real Genius, but it was in the 1990s where be became an icon in a decade known primarily one dominated by iconoclasts, starting with his portrayal of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors, and including memorable bit roles in movies like True Romance, replacing Michael Keaton as Batman in Batman Forever, and what man consider his greatest role as Doc Holiday opposite Kurt Russell's Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. Kilmer was an avid documentarian of his own life and was rarely without his camcorder. His own video tapes were repurposed to tell the story of his life and career in the moving and insightful documentary Val, directed by Ting Poo and Leo Scott, which captures a man who seems to know his time is almost up reflecting on the lessons of a life extraordinarily lived. That film formed the basis of this conversation between John and Julia discussing the strange life and career of this remarkable actor.
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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • SWEET AND LOWDOWN: "All That Jazz" - with Liz Whitmere

    SWEET AND LOWDOWN: "All That Jazz" - with Liz Whitmere
    Apr 8 2025
    Sweet and Lowdown opened on December 3rd in just 3 theaters and taking in an impressive 31,562 dollar per screen average Written and directed by Woody Allen, it stars Sean Penn as fictional jazz guitar legend Emmet Ray alongside Samantha Morton and Uma Thurman, Brad Garrett, John Waters, Anthony LaPaglia, and Brian Markinson, among others. Sweet and Lowdown was a welcome end to what many saw as a mid-90s slump for Allen, who had released a string of movies who that had been received with mixed or sometimes scathing reviews, like 1995’s Mighty Aphrodite, 1996’s Everyone Says I Love You, 1997’s Deconstructing Harry, and 1998’s Celebrity. It's also difficult to not see in light of revelations of Allen's darker behaviors throughout his career, to say nothing of Penn. But it can also sweet and charming, and its jazz-age nostalgia is as hard to resist as Morton's acclaimed, Oscar-nominated silent performance. Joining John and Julia to talk through Sweet and Lowdown's ups and downs is actor, writer, and director Liz Whitmere, who has some thoughts on toxic behavior in the entertainment industry. Liz is on Bluesky @lizwhitmere
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: "Baseball" - with Jack Krestel

    FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: "Baseball" - with Jack Krestel
    Mar 25 2025
    57th on the 1999 box office chart, For Love of the Game marked director Raimi’s first foray into big-budget, mass-market filmmaking (which would ultimately pave the way for being handed the enormous task of finally bringing Spiderman to the screen in 2002) But love and baseball was very different territory for Raimi, and his inexperience in the realm of pop movie making (as well as in directing romance) proved to be a hindrance. For Love of the Game is, unofficially, the third and final entry in Kevin Costner's baseball trilogy, following 1989's Field of Dreams and 1988's Bull Durham. The film tries to balance its dual nature as a romance and a straight sports movie, and while it occasionally hits the mark, most critics agreed: For Love of the Game is pretty great when it's about the game, and not so great when it's about the love. But it's baseball season, and this was by far 1999's biggest baseball-themed movie, so we asked friend of the show - and White Sox diehard - Jacki Krestel to help us call some balls and strikes on this one!
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    1 hr and 15 mins
  • TWILIGHT (1998) - Gene Hackman Special

    TWILIGHT (1998) - Gene Hackman Special
    Mar 11 2025
    There were no movies starring the late Gene Hackman that were released in the US in 1999, but two of his films released in the US in 1998 – Tony Scott’s Enemy of the State and Robert Benton’s Twilight – were released in Europe in 1999. So because plenty has been said about the former, we are taking a look today at the latter. Directed by Kramer and Kramer writer and director Robert Benton and written by Benton and novelist Richard Russo, who also teamed up with star Paul Newman on 1994’s adaptation of Russo's Nobody's Fool, Twilight stars Newman with a supporting cast of Gene Hackman, Susan Sarandon, James Garner, Stockard Channing, Reese Witherspoon, Margo Martindale, John Spencer, Live Shrieber, the dying body of M. Emmet Walsh, and Giancarlo Esposito. Twilight was a box office failure and was met with a lukewarm reception by critics, but it is a very good case study in the question as to whether or not some actors - like Hackman - could be good in absolutely anything.
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • THE END OF THE AFFAIR: "Lots of Rain" - with Kristin Battestella

    THE END OF THE AFFAIR: "Lots of Rain" - with Kristin Battestella
    Feb 25 2025
    The End of the Affair was released on Dec 3, 1999 in just 7 theaters so that it could bait some Oscars and then going wide on January 21. It would ultimately bring in just shy of 11 million dollars on 23 million dollar budget, though it did open with an astonishing $28,000 per screen average, so maybe a wider initial release would have been wise. The End of the Affair was the second 1999 film in 11 months (after January’s psychological thriller In Dream) from auteur Neil Jordan, best known for 1992’s Oscar winning film The Crying Game as well as 1994’s Interview with the Vampire. It was also the second sweeping period romance in just a couple years for star Ralph Fiennes after The English Patient, leading to many critics and audiences drawing comparisons between the two films. It was also the one film for which 1999's busiest woman, Julianne Moore, was nominated for an Oscar, despite her equal performances in A Map of the World, An Ideal Husband, and Magnolia. Joining John and Julia to talk about this second (incredibly horny) adaptation of Graham Greene's The End of the Affair is film critic, writer, and podcaster Kristin Battestella (I Think Therefore I Review) Kristin is on Bluesky @thereforereview
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    1 hr and 30 mins
  • BEYOND THE MAT: "The Wrestlers" - with Ross Benes

    BEYOND THE MAT: "The Wrestlers" - with Ross Benes
    Feb 10 2025
    Beyond the Mat is a movie that appears NOWHERE in the 1999 box office charts, mainly because it only screened once in 1999 in Los Angeles on October 22, thanks in no small part to Vince McMahon fuckery (though it did get a limited release in March of 2000). Beyond the Mat was directed by Barry Blaustein, an accomplished comedy screenwriter, and it features the real-life stories of wrestling legends Terry Funk, Mick Foley, and Jake the Snake Roberts, Though it wasn't a commercial hit, it received a mostly favorable critical response, and has gone on to become a beloved documentary, especially among wrestling fans. Joining John and Julia to discuss it is Ross Benes, author of the upcoming book 1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted our Bizarre Times. His book will be available everywhere in April. You can learn more about Ross and his work on his website: www.rossbenes.com
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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • DICK: "Tricky" - with Alex Steed

    DICK: "Tricky" - with Alex Steed
    Jan 29 2025
    The 145th highest-grossing movie of the year, Dick was released on August 3rd and going on take 12th place at the box office. Through no fault of its own, it was thrown into a death slot, as the films that outgrossed it included juggernauts like The Phantom Menace, American Pie, Runaway Bride, The Blair Witch Project, and a little movie that opened at the same time and took #1, The Sixth Sense, Despite a generally warm and positive critical reception Dick would go on to make just 6.3 million dollars on a 13 million dollar budget. Which is a shame, because as part commentary on the Lewinski scandal and part parody of All The President's Men, Dick has more to say than your typical teen comedy. With two very talented stars at its core - Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams - It's more Election than American Pie, and portraying the Watergate conspirators as an insane, bumbling mess actually feels relevant. You know who loves Dick? Our guest, Alex Steed, who appeared on our episode for the 1999 movie that starred that other girl from Dawson's Creek, Go. Alex is on Bluesky @alexsteed
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    1 hr and 28 mins