A Very Good Year

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“Fun City Cinema” hosts Jason Bailey and Mike Hull proudly present “A Very Good Year,” a podcast with a simple premise: each week we invite a guest (filmmakers and actors, critics and historians, comedians and musicians) who loves movies, and ask them to select their favorite year of movies. Some pick a year from their movie-going past; some go deep into film history. Whichever the case, we spend (about) an hour talking about that year: we ask them to share their top five films of the year, and tell us why they love them; we look at the year’s news headlines, award winners, and box office champions; and we finish with a lightning round, where we talk about as many films as possible in as few minutes as possible.

For show notes - including where to stream this week's movies, links to referenced media, and more - subscribe on Buttondown at https://buttondown.email/AVeryGoodYear. https://plus.acast.com/s/a-very-good-year.


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Recent Episodes
  • New Show - Guide for the Film Fanatic
    Jan 26, 2025 – 1:07:04
  • 2000s highlight show!
    Jan 24, 2025 – 1:53:18
  • 1990s highlight show!
    Jan 19, 2025 – 2:26:53
  • 1980s highlight show!
    Jan 13, 2025 – 1:53:15
  • 1970s highlight show!
    Jan 5, 2025 – 2:08:25
  • 1960s highlight show!
    Dec 29, 2024 – 1:18:57
  • Bonus Episode - 2024 with Alissa Wilkinson
    Dec 22, 2024 – 1:06:33
  • 1950s highlight show!
    Dec 15, 2024 – 52:29
  • 1940s highlight show!
    Dec 8, 2024 – 42:30
  • 1920s & 30s highlight show!
    Dec 1, 2024 – 57:24
  • 2000 with Mac Welch
    Nov 17, 2024 – 1:21:59
  • 1974 with Kevin M. Kruse
    Nov 10, 2024 – 1:15:44
  • 1996 with Kristen Lopez
    Nov 3, 2024 – 1:27:49
  • 2008 with Daniel Waters
    Oct 27, 2024 – 1:16:53
  • 1930 with Catherine Stebbins
    Oct 20, 2024 – 1:05:58
  • 2018 with Abby Olcese
    Oct 13, 2024 – 1:14:47
  • 1958 with Beatrice Loayza
    Oct 6, 2024 – 1:12:34
  • 1966 with Charles Taylor
    Sep 29, 2024 – 1:08:53
  • 1947 with April Wolfe
    Sep 22, 2024 – 1:07:40
  • 2020 with Emily St. James
    Sep 15, 2024 – 1:15:46
  • 1993 with Nick de Semlyen
    Sep 7, 2024 – 1:07:50
  • 1984 with Andrea Chalupa
    Sep 1, 2024 – 1:17:23
  • 1945 with Jill Blake
    Aug 25, 2024 – 1:08:23
  • 1972 with Zach Clark
    Aug 18, 2024 – 1:09:03
  • 1981 with Josh Lewis
    Aug 11, 2024 – 1:11:45
  • 1940 with Stephanie Crawford
    Aug 4, 2024 – 58:31
  • 1982 with Chris Nashawaty
    Jul 28, 2024 – 1:10:07
  • 2019 with Noel Murray
    Jul 21, 2024 – 1:19:18
  • 1995 with Caden Mark Gardner
    Jul 14, 2024 – 1:07:46
  • 1969 with Willow Catelyn Maclay
    Jul 7, 2024 – 1:05:15
  • 1959 with Phillip Lopate
    Jun 30, 2024 – 1:09:45
  • 1924 with Marya E. Gates
    Jun 23, 2024 – 1:16:03
  • 1961 with Larry Karaszewski
    Jun 16, 2024 – 1:31:31
  • 1967 with Mark Harris
    Jun 9, 2024 – 1:18:50
  • 1987 with Carrie Courogen
    Jun 2, 2024 – 1:11:53
  • 1964 with Ben Mankiewicz
    May 26, 2024 – 1:14:48
  • 1976 with Alexandra West
    May 19, 2024 – 1:15:29
  • 1983 with Richard Shepard
    May 16, 2024 – 1:16:01
  • 1991 with Alonso Duralde
    May 12, 2024 – 1:15:08
  • 1954 with Glenn Kenny
    May 5, 2024 – 1:09:01
  • 1990 with Kate Erbland
    Apr 28, 2024 – 1:04:50
  • 1997 with Tomris Laffly
    Apr 21, 2024 – 1:06:54
  • 2002 with John Early
    Apr 18, 2024 – 1:12:44
  • 2013 with Siddhant Adlakha
    Apr 14, 2024 – 1:13:49
  • 1979 with Scott Drebit
    Apr 7, 2024 – 1:09:56
  • 2017 with Alison Herman
    Mar 31, 2024 – 1:11:25
  • 1994 with Bob Byington
    Mar 28, 2024 – 57:18
  • 1965 with Robert Daniels
    Mar 24, 2024 – 1:04:54
  • 1989 with Jacob Knight
    Mar 17, 2024 – 1:03:43
  • 1998 with Esther Zuckerman
    Mar 10, 2024 – 1:03:58
Recent Reviews
  • gooofpronanaspendradilly
    Shaft, etc.
    Shaft - 1971, Shaft’s Big Score - 1972 and Shaft in Africa - 1973 all predate The Godfather Part 2 - 1974 and couldn’t have been a result of studios “rethinking sequels” as one or two of you suggested. ….. just saying.
  • PandoraNY
    A podcast that has changed the way I think about films
    While I’ve been a film fan for my entire life, including studying film with Jeanine Basinger in the 1970s, I’d never thought of them in the context of the year in which they were released, the other films released in the same year, what was going on in the world in that year, and the films that were blockbusters/award winners. Jason Bailey and Michael Hull are remarkable hosts; they invite us in to share their love of movies. A wide variety of different guests (one per episode) give additional texture and breadth. Over and over, I’ll choose a film to see with my husband, or with my little local film club, and someone will ask “how did you find this film?” Invariably, the answer is “from the podcast A Very Good Year.”
  • Abbe@CaraMar
    Great concept, always compelling
    After Jason Bailey’s fantastic Fun City Cinema podcast wrapped, I wondered how he and Mike would pivot. What I love about this pod is the exposure to a variety of cinephiles who lead me to the missed gems in my film education.
  • TedPillow
    Good Hosts, Disappointing Guests
    Most of the guests I’ve heard seem to barely know their cinematic year outside of the 5 movies they picked. I get frustrated listening to people be like “haven’t seen it” ten times an episode. When I know the year better than the guest it makes for a bad listen. The hosts are great though.
  • Bike Ride Listener
    Good for movie history, not so much world
    I like the concept and structure for discussing a range of movies! Some of the political context for those movies...let’s just say Soviet Cinema might be a blind spot here. Skip fifteen minutes in and you’re gold.
  • YouKnowHowWeDo
    Intro to and reminder of great movies
    As a huge cinephile but someone without the time or bandwidth to see every movie I love to learn about some movies I haven’t seen and hear discussion about great movies I have seen. Also…..”In the year 2000…..in the year 2000!!”
  • amy_becker
    A very good podcast
    What a great concept for a podcast and as an added bonus the hosts and guests are a freaking delight! Always look forward to listening to a new episode!
  • scottstev
    Very Entertaining and Informative
    While the guests discuss movies from the chosen year that have stood the test of time, the other segments help place the context with the award winners and top box office hits. Good way to understand trends.
  • Brockadam
    Great format movie review
    I’m always on the lookout for new movies to watch. This podcast doesn’t do the boring ‘top 10’ by the numbers ranking. Instead they bring a guest on and chat about the movies that that has an impact on the guest. So you get a slice of cinema that’s a rare treat. Love it!
  • dcc847262
    Wonderful conversations
    Such a great idea and just as well executed! I love all the guests and hearing thoughtful discussions on movies I know or never heard of. Lightning round rules!
  • Raincoat_Clad
    A Very Good Podcast
    This is a great concept for a podcast. I greatly enjoy hearing each guest break down their favorite films from their favorite year. The only complaint I have is that I wish it were longer and they could spend more time talking about each of their picks.
  • YupOkay
    Great pod!
    Fun, informative and interesting. A great pod with great guests.
  • theweightofdust
    Very Good Year is a cool way to think about movies
    This show focuses on all the movies that came out in one year, including a guest top 5, award and box office, other faves. It’s a cool way to think about movies and what was popular at the time, also what else was happening in the world that impacted film. Good show, very cool idea.
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