“Fun City Cinema” hosts Jason Bailey and Mike Hull proudly present “A Very Good Year,” a podcast with a simple premise: each... more
After two years and 100 episodes we're taking a look back at A Very Good Year with highlights from some... more
Hello, and welcome to the wrap party.After two years and 100 episodes we're taking a look back at A Very... more
Mac Welch is an actor, cartoonist, filmmaker, and podcaster, but more importantly, he’s been friends with Jason and Mike nearly... more
Author, historian, and professor Kevin M. Kruse joins us to walk through the very eventful year — historically and cinematically... more
Film and television critic, author, and essayist Kristen Lopez joins us to discuss her book “But Have You Read the... more
Screenwriter (“Heathers,” “Demolition Man,” “Batman Returns”) and encyclopedic cinephile Daniel Waters joins us to discuss 2008—a key year for him... more
Catherine Stebbins is intimately acquainted with the year of 1930 - because it was the subject of the most recent... more
Abby Olcese’s new book “Films for All Seasons” walks the reader through “the church year at the movies,” finding unexpected... more
Film critic, editor, and intrepid festival traveler Beatrice Loayza joins us for another probing look into the oft-dismissed 1950s—this time... more
Charles Taylor is the author of one of our fave film books, “Opening Wednesday at a Theater or Drive-In Near... more
Screenwriter (and former film critic and podcaster) April Wolfe joins us to talk up the postwar pleasures of 1947, so... more
TV critic, author, podcaster, and television writer Emily St. James is the co-author (along with previous guest Noel Murray) of... more
“Empire” magazine editor Nick de Semlyen’s most recent book, “The Last Action Heroes,” is a delightful history of ‘80s and... more
Author, filmmaker, and “Gaslit Nation” host Andrea Chalupa joins us to discuss 1984—an appropriate year for an Orwell scholar—in advance... more
Film historian, podcaster, and Cine Journeys co-founder Jill Blake joins us to walk through the post-war euphoria and darkness of... more
Independent filmmaker Zach Clark joins us in advance of the release of his new film “The Becomers” for a look... more
Film critic and podcaster Josh Lewis explores the “sleaze canon” on his “Sleazoids” podcast, and he joins us to discuss... more
Film critic and podcaster Stephanie Crawford usually dabbles in horror and exploitation cinema, but she is also obsessed with screwball... more
Film critic and author Chris Nashawaty’s latest book is “The Future Was Now: Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer... more
Film critic and O.G. AV Club member Noel Murray does not usually suffer from recency bias, but he thought it... more
This week, we’re joined by the other co-author of the must-read new book “Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and... more
“Corpses, Fools and Monsters: The History and Future of Transness in Cinema” (out Tuesday) is one of our favorite film... more
The essayist, poet, and film critic Phillip Lopate joins us to discuss his new collection “My Affair with Art House Cinema”... more
Nobody we know knows more about silent cinema than film critic, historian, and social media mastermind Marya E. Gates. She... more
Larry Karaszewski isn’t just an award-winning screenwriter and producer — he’s also a serious cinephile, as evidenced by the fact... more
Mark Harris has written three of the essential film books of our time, and one of them — “Pictures at... more
Writer, editor, and director Carrie Courogen is the author of the breathtakingly good new book “Miss May Does Not Exist,”... more
Film critic, historian, and TCM stalwart Ben Mankiewicz joins us, on the eve of a new season of his essential... more
Film critic, podcaster, and historian Alexandra West joins us to talk about her new book “Gore-Geous: Personal Essays on Beauty... more
Screenwriter and director Richard Shepard’s new film is catnip to us (and probably you too, if you’re listening to his... more
Critic, podcaster, and author Alonso Duralde was just beginning his professional life in 1991, and witnessed the early pangs of... more
Glenn Kenny is the author of the new book “The World Is Yours: The Story of ‘Scarface,’ and is one... more
Indiewire’s Kate Erbland was a literal child in the year 1990, but she luckily had parent who put very few... more
Film critic and journalist Tomris Laffly was just starting to figure out who she was as a filmgoer in 1997,... more
In advance of Friday’s theatrical debut of his Sundance hit “Stress Positions,” comedian, actor, writer, and cinephile John Early joins... more
Filmmaker, actor, TV writer, and film critic Siddhant Adlakha was in a moment of transition in 2013, and vowed to... more
Daily Dead columnist Scott Drebit’s new book is “A Cut Below: A Celebration of B Horror Movies, 1950s-1980s,” so it... more
“Variety” TV critic Alison Herman had just moved to Los Angeles in the year of our lord 2017, and she... more
It’s a special MID-WEEK EPISODE, in honor of Friday’s release of acclaimed director Bob Byington’s latest, “Lousy Carter.” Join us... more
For show number two from SXSW, we’re joined by the prolific film critic and RogerEbert.com Associate Editor Robert Daniels. He... more
Back at SXSW, we’re joined by Austin’s own Jacob Knight, co-host of the “Secret Handshake” podcast, and lover of great... more
Esther Zuckerman is an appropriate guest for Oscar Sunday, as she is the author of the fabulous book “Beyond the... more
David Fear, chief film critic and senior editor at “Rolling Stone,” had not yet joined the living in the year... more
The whip-smart and hysterically funny Katie Rife joins us to talk about the movies of 1978 — from the terrifying... more
Our Aussie invasion continues with this week’s guest, film critic and podcaster extraordinaire, Blake Howard, the mastermind of One Heat... more
Sam Adams, writer and senior editor for Slate, was in the midst of his cinephile awakening in 1992, when he was... more
Film critic, author, “Fangoria” columnist, physical media mainstay, and recovering academic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas joins us for a jaunt through the... more
Brian Raftery is the host of the excellent narrative podcasts “Gene and Roger and Do We Get to Win This Time?... more
We're talking about movies during the quiet time with the host of "Watch with Jen" and (relevant to our interests... more
For season two, we’re wiping the slate clean and letting our guests pick any year they want, even if we... more
For the first of our hiatus bonus episodes, we’re proud to welcome back one of the season’s most popular guests:... more
Since she last joined us to talk about 2005 back in September, Alissa Wilkinson nabbed a new gig: she’s now... more
We wrap up our first season — a full year of shows — in true season finale fashion: with a... more
Our final guest of the season is a legend of film history and criticism who spent 30 years as film... more
Matt Singer is a film critic, entertainment journalist, and author — and his latest book is a real treat for... more
We had to lose so much great stuff from this week's episode with guest Joe Lynch that we decided to... more
Joe Lynch is a genre director extraordinaire - his credits include ‘Wrong Turn 2,’ ‘Everly,’ ‘Mayhem,’ ‘Point Blank,’ and his... more
Jason Diamond is one of our favorite writers, and not just because of his quality prose — it’s because he’s... more
Writer, film critic, programmer, and curator Monica Castillo gave herself a challenge for this week’s show: she picked, by a... more
Kristy Puchko — film critic, entertainment reporter, and the film editor at Mashable — was nine years old in 1992, and... more
Alissa Wilkinson - senior correspondent and critic at Vox - was just out of college in 2005 and, when the... more
Scott Wampler had his 13-year-old brain entirely re-arranged by a movie he saw in 1994, so he joins us to... more
Ty Burr was the film critic for the Boston Globe for two decades, before departing that post to start up... more
This week, we’re joined by Sarah Bea Milner, our first writer/editor/folk musician! She is currently the editor at Kidscreen, and... more
This week, we’re pleased to welcome director, writer, and comedian Sammi Cohen to talk about the movies of 1995 -... more
Sheila O’Malley is a classic film buff who joins the esteemed ranks of our “the 1950s were AWESOME, actually” guests,... more
Justin Chang is one of the genuine greats of contemporary film criticism - chief critic for the "Los Angeles Times" and NPR’s “Fresh Air,” a... more
Craig D. Lindsey was a working critic in 1997, so he has a LOT of pleasant moviegoing (and reviewing) memories... more
Character actor, cartoon doctor, and general bon vivant James Urbaniak joins us to walk through the cinema de 1957 -... more
Jessica Pickens is a film blogger and historian specializing in World War II-era cinema, movie musicals, and, luckily for us,... more
Daniela Taplin Lundberg was born into film production - her father Jonathan produced the first major movie for a promising... more
Beloved film critic and niche culture aficionado Jordan Hoffman was wise enough to call dibs quite some time ago on... more
"Vulture" TV critic and author Jen Chaney was, like us, a young and deeply impressionable moviegoer in the year of... more
We've never attempted a two-guest show before, but we think you'll agree that it was kind of essential here, since... more
Pop culture expert, Substacker extraordinaire, and fellow flyover country escapee Hunter Harris joins Jason and Mike to talk about the... more
We’ve welcomed critics, authors, actors, directors, and on and on—but this week, we welcome our very first production designer, and... more
Alexandre O. Philippe has funneled his life-long cinematic obsessions into movies of his own, directing such documentary treats as “78/52:... more
We're now on Substack, and you can get more of the show for just a few bucks a month. Let's... more
We welcome Film Twitter's favorite crime novelist, the Edgar Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling Megan Abbott, author of the new and... more
Kristen Meinzer was already a movie podcaster during her very good year, 2011 - when she noticed a trend of... more
When Jason was at SXSW, you didn't think we’d still be running episodes from that trip two months later, did... more
Stephanie Zacharek - film critic for TIME magazine and Pulitzer Prize finalist - has always loved the movies of the... more
John Pierson wrote the definitive book about '90s independent cinema, "Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes," and he wrote it from... more
Karina Longworth basically invented the film history podcast with her meticulously researched and ridiculously entertaining “You Must Remember This” (if... more
Our first (but not last!) Pulitzer Prize finalist guest, Soraya Nadia McDonald brings her experience in multiple fields - sportswriting,... more
We're back with another episode (recorded) live from SXSW in Austin, Texas, where Brian Tallerico - managing editor of RogerEbert.com, president... more
Raquel Stecher has spent most of her career writing about classic movies, so it doesn't come as a shock that... more
April Wright is our favorite kind of documentary filmmaker, because she makes movies about movies. Her latest, “Back to the Drive-In”... more
Film critic and author Charles Bramesco had to look at movies in a new and different way while researching and... more
There are allllllll sorts of ‘80s classics that hit theaters in the year 1985, but our guest (and friend) W. Axel Foley of the... more
Filmmaker and actress Isabel Sandoval (“Señorita,” “Aparisyon,” "Lingua Franca”) went to a rather non-traditional film school: the pirated DVD stores of Philippines flea... more
Frank Conniff is best known for commenting on bad movies - via his five seasons as "TV's Frank" on "Mystery... more
Oscar-nominated cinematographer Bradford Young ("Arrival, "Selma," "Solo: A Star Wars Story") was only two years old in 1979, so he... more
“Blank Check with Griffin & David” co-host and “Atlantic” film critic David Sims was but a wee lad (in London!)... more
As co-host of NPR’s “Pop Culture Happy Hour” (and host of the late, lamented “Represent”), Aisha Harris is very tuned... more
Jason and film critic Sean Burns have something in common (besides their warm, winning dispositions and unimpeachable affection for the... more
Jason, Mike, and film critic, historian, and Substacker extraordinaire Drew McWeeny take on the formidable task of breaking down 1999,... more
Scott Tobias - the legend of “The AV Club” and “The Dissolve,” currently of “The Reveal” and “The Next Picture... more
Vulture film critic Bilge Ebiri has a photographic memory for 1987, the year when he first became a movie obsessive, thanks to... more
Mike and Jason used to do this whole other podcast called “Fun City Cinema,” and also had a Patreon for... more
Scott Tobias - the legend of “The AV Club” and “The Dissolve,” currently of “The Reveal” and “The Next Picture Show” podcast... more