On the first episode of our film-by-film rundown of Danny Peary’s beloved 1986 movie guide, we are joined by Vulture... more

Hello cult leaders and self-loathing playwrights and all the ships at sea and welcome to A Very Good Year. As... more

Hello hunny bunnies and Presidential assassins and all the ships at sea and welcome to A Very Good Year. As... more

Hello alien dogs and Sta-Puft Marshmallow Men and all the ships at sea. By now everyone knows we're retiring A... more

Hello New Hollywood hippies and malaise monkeys and all the ships at sea and welcome to A Very Good Year.... more

As you MUST know by now we are retiring A Very Good Year after 2 very good years of the... more

In what has become an annual tradition, we welcome back our good friend, New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson,... more

After 2 years and 100 episodes we're retiring A Very Good Year and coming back in 2025 with a whole... 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

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