287: Retrospectating 1999 - EYES WIDE SHUT

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We’re a week late for our 20th anniversary celebration of Stanley Kubrick’s provocative final masterpiece, Eyes Wide Shut. But the added buffer gave us more time to stew and reflect upon the truly bizarre cultural real estate that the film occupies in the the filmmaker’s career, in Cruise and Kidman’s respective filmographies, and within the weird and wonderful contextual sphere of the summer of 1999.

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283: Retrospectating 1999 - RUN LOLA RUN (U.S. Release)

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On this week’s edition of our ongoing series “Retrospectating 1999” we revisit the forgotten German crime caper Run Lola Run.
Now, this film is technically attributed to 1998, which is when it premiered in Germany, Venice, and Toronto. But it first screened in the U.S. during the Sundance and Seattle Film Festivals (where it racked up multiple awards) respectively before finally getting a stateside release on June 18th, 1999.

It’s a miraculous movie that rarely gets talked up and we’re here to remedy that with a spirited discussion about fate, determinism, the metaphysical properties of electronic music, and the unexpected benefits of risking your last five euros on a make or break spin of the roulette wheel.

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279: Retrospectating 1999 - STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE

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On the third Wednesday of May in the year 1999, an unprecedented cinematic event took place in movie theaters around the world. Twenty years later, we’re still trying to answer two questions about the most anticipated / most disappointing film of the 20th Century:
“What the hell happened?”
and
“What does it all mean?”
Join us for another edition of our ongoing series “Retrospectating 1999” in which we masochistically revisit THE PHANTOM MENACE in an effort to uncover the truth behind the infamous fiasco at the center of a legitimate cultural phenomenon.

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278: Present Tense - Podcasters Assemble for an Epic AVENGERS: ENDGAME Roundtable

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Marvel superfans and friends of the podcast, Anders Dahl and Ryan Julio join us this week as we lightning-round the 21 previous installments in the MCU’s Infinity Saga before digging deep into the franchise’s victory lap- the three hour emotional rollercoaster known as AVENGERS: ENGAME. A lot of personal growth, unexpected revelations, and soul-searching goes on in this episode so be forewarned- there will be SPOILERS not just about the film in question but also about your hosts. We could do this all day…

Skål Beer Hall (Anders’ Norwegian gastropub)
The Greyhound Bar and Grill (Ryan’s sports bar)
ETA (Ryan’s cocktail bar)

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277: Oeuvre - Wrapping and Ranking the Films of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 1971 - 2018

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What a long, strange trip it’s been. We began our journey through Steven Spielberg’s 32-film oeuvre in August of 2017.
20 months later we’ve finally arrived at our 8th and final podcast in the series- a thorough and passionate reflection and ranking episode.
Join us as we curate our personal hierarchies of the man’s filmography, break down his budgets and box office receipts, rank performances, scores, scenes, shots, and finally reveal which director will be covered in our next Oeuvre series (premiering May 14th)!
Thanks for following us on this epic campaign through Steven Spielberg’s 47-year feature filmmaking odyssey. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster and now it’s time for a new mission.
Viva la Oeuvre!

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276: Oeuvre - The 7th Age of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 2015 - 2018

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This installment is affectionately titled "Playing with House Money” and covers one film per year over four years, spanning 2015-2018:

-Bridge of Spies (2015)
-The BFG (2016)
-The Post (2017)
-Ready Player One (2018)

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275: Retrospectating 1999 - GO / ELECTION

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Twenty years ago today a film was released that caught director Doug Liman, writer John August, and a cast of hot young upstarts at a moment of perfect aesthetic and artistic unanimity. Go wasn’t a big hit at the time and was even dismissed by Leonard Maltin as a “junior Pulp Fiction.” But the film has aged in a lot of fascinating ways over the last two decades and on this week’s episode we engage in a rare disagreement about many of them.
We also dig deep into an analysis of Alexander Payne’s second (and best?) film Election and its significance in the context of Reese Witherspoon’s unique oeuvre.
Viva la ‘99!

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273: Retrospectating 1999 - THE MATRIX

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Twenty years ago this week a film came along that not only changed the way that we looked at science fiction, visual effects, and Keanu Reeve’s capacity for star power. It also legitimatized the fetishization of mirrored sunglasses, duster jackets, and leather pants. So pop your red pill, crank up the Rammstein, and dog-ear your copy of “Simulacra and Simulation.” We’re heading down the rabbit hole and back to March of 1999 for our definitive reevaluation of The Matrix. Never forget, there is no spoon!

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269: Retrospectating 1999 - OFFICE SPACE

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20 years ago today, a 10 million dollar workplace comedy directed by the 37 year old creator of Beavis and Butthead was released by a major Hollywood studio and audiences ignored it EN MASSE. Today it occupies rarefied air as one of the most beloved cult texts of the 1990s. On the occasion of Office Space‘s 20th anniversary we travel back to 1999 to talk Liquid Television, Cornholio, Generation X, and the enduring legacy of Gary Cole’s matching tie and suspender set. If you don’t listen to this episode expect a strongly-worded memo about TPS reports to land on your desk first thing tomorrow morning.

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268: Retrospectating 1999 - VARSITY BLUES / SHE'S ALL THAT

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In honor of the 20th anniversary of one of the all time great movie years, we’re debuting a new feature in which we deep-dive into the most important films of the last year of the 20th century: “Retrospectating 1999!”
Join us for our inaugural episode in which we excavate the “year of the teenager” phenomenon when films like Varsity Blues and She’s All That inadvertently emerged as flagship texts for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it paradigmatic shift.
For a moment in 1999, everyone wanted to be 16. Luckily, your devoted podcast hosts actually were that age at the time. Finally it pays off!

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265: Oeuvre - The 6th Age of STEVEN SPIELBERG - 2008 - 2012

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This installment is affectionately titled "The Struggle for Artistic Identity” (AKA “Who Am I?”) and spans 2008-2012:

-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
-The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
-War Horse (2011)
-Lincoln (2012)

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Grain of Salt: Our OFFICIAL Oscar Predictions!

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With 12 hours to go before the nominations are announced, we figured we better put our official predictions in print! After all, there’s legitimate folding money on the line here. We decided to focus on the 10 categories that we deemed “most important.” No offense meant to the craft and shorts categories. We’ll get deeper into them over the next month as the ceremony approaches. See you bright and early tomorrow morning!

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264: Oscar Predictions by Oscar (and Matt)

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On a rare episode in which we actually recorded under the same roof (on the same microphone, no less!), we get down to business with Academy Awards talk. We pontificate and prognosticate as we reveal our individual predictions in all of the “major” categories and take the time to curate our “fantasy” scenarios of who we’d personally love to see nominated.

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