Episodes

  • [RERELEASE]: FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: - with Jacki Krestel

    [RERELEASE]: FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: - with Jacki Krestel
    Mar 24 2026
    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
  • OSCARS SPECIAL 2026

    OSCARS SPECIAL 2026
    Mar 14 2026
    It's Oscars Weekend! 1999 was a weird year in Oscar history, as the awards held that year saw one of the most controversial Best Picture wins ever (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) and the awards held the following year honoring the awards of 1999 gave the Best Picture Oscar to a film that, well, has not aged well at all (AMERICAN BEAUTY) So to mark the weekend, we took some time to discuss those two films and their legacies and discussed our picks for some of the worst Best Picture wins in recent history. We talk FORREST GUMP, BRAVEHEART, ANORA, CRASH, and more!
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    56 mins
  • ANALYZE THIS - with Chase Mitchell

    ANALYZE THIS - with Chase Mitchell
    Feb 24 2026
    Analyze This was the 18th-highest grossing movie of 1999, opening on at #1 March 5th – the same day as Cruel Intentions, which opened number 2 - and taking in $177 million worldwide on an $80 million budget. Analyze This gave us the unlikely comedy duo of Billy Crystal and (a then new to comedy) Robert DeNiro, alongside Lisa Kudrow, Chazz Palminteri, and Joe Viterelli Directed by the late great Harold Ramis and written by Ramis, Peter Tolan, and, somewhat shockingly, Kenneth Lonergan, Analyze This made a lot of its then very novel premise of a gangster getting therapy...but also happened to be released a few months after the premiere of the The Sopranos. This week, we're rejoined by our friend, comedy writer Chase Mitchell. Chase is on the socials at @ChaseMit
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • See Also: WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989) - with Dan Colón

    See Also: WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989) - with Dan Colón
    Feb 13 2026
    It's Valentine's Day, so we're taking one last look at the non-1999 landscape before we return to 1999 next week with the movie that reset the standard for romantic comedies, Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally. Joining us is returning friend of the pod Dan Colón, co-host of our podcast network's very own The Monsters that Made Us. We talk Crystal, Ryan, Carrie Fisher, Barry Sonnenfeld, and if we've really seen a romantic comedy since (not called Notting Hill) that has come close to reaching its considerable romcom heights.
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    1 hr and 24 mins
  • See Also: FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (2025)

    See Also: FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (2025)
    Jan 13 2026
    This week, Julia reports back from the screening she attended of "Father Mother Sister Brother", the latest from "Ghost Dog" writer/director Jim Jarmusch. "Father Mother Sister Brother" is an anthology dramedy starring Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat. Julia and John discuss the film and take another stab at what makes a Jarmusch film a Jarmusch film, the career of Tom Waits, great casting, and some of their favorite anthology films.
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    58 mins
  • THE STORY OF US/In Memory of Rob Reiner (1947-2025) - with Nitish Pahwa

    THE STORY OF US/In Memory of Rob Reiner (1947-2025) - with Nitish Pahwa
    Dec 30 2025
    In honor of the late Rob Reiner we are looking at The Story of Us, the 74th highest-grossing movie of the year, finishing just ahead of earlier entry Blast from the Past. Opening #2 behind Fight Club on October 15th and going on to gross $59 million worldwide on a $50 million dollar budget. Starring Bruce Willis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Reiner himself, Rita Wilson, Julie Hagerty, Paul Reiser, and Tim Matheson, The Story of Us is one of Reiner’s worst-reviewed movies, who, after an unbelievable run of movies in the late 80s and early 90s started running into trouble in the late 90s and early 2000s with the likes of this, Rumor Has It, and the aggressively sentimental and fluffy The Bucket List. Is The Story of Us as bad as critics said? Or does it belong alongside When Harry Met Sally, Reiner's romcom masterpiece that it goes so far out its way to evoke? We welcome Slate's Nitish Pahwa to discuss marriage, casting, bad writing, unnecessary monologues, and the greatness of Rob Reiner. Nitish is on Bluesky @nitishpahwa.com
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    1 hr and 29 mins
  • See Also: A VERY ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS

    See Also: A VERY ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS
    Dec 24 2025
    Merry Christmas and happy every other holiday! In this episode, John and Julia each recommend five of their favorite "alternative" Christmas movies. The like of It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, Love Actually, Miracle on 34th Street, and, yes, even Die Hard are off-limits. Instead, we present 10 movies that are maybe not in your annual Christmas rotation but ought to be! Enjoy! Julia's picks: The Ref (1994) Carol (2015) The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) A Christmas Tale (2008) The Shop Around the Corner (1940) John's picks: Rare Exports (2010) A Midwinter's Tale (1995) 8-Bit Christmas (2021) About A Boy (2002) Little Women (1994)
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    1 hr and 26 mins
  • GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI - with Sean Malin

    GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI - with Sean Malin
    Dec 16 2025
    It's Christmas time, so we're looking at a movie that tells the story of a mysterious man who spends a lot of time on the roof with his animal friends and has the ability to sneak into your house undetected as if by magic: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai! Ghost Dog appears nowhere on the 1999 box office charts because it technically didn’t have a major theatrical release in the US until March of 2000 (it did begin its festival run in 1999, starting in May at the Cannes Film Festival where it was nominated for the Palme D’or) Starring Forest Whitaker and written and directed by Jim Jarmusch with a score by Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, Ghost Dog is a movie unlike any other, aggressively defying genre and staying laser-focused on its bizarre but endearing vision. This week, John and Julia are joined by returning guest Sean Malin, author of the just-released book The Podcast Pantheon to talk Whitaker, Jarmusch, podcasts, Jon Hamm, and Christmas movies!
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    1 hr and 38 mins