A Very Good Year

“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 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.