Awesome Movie Year
404 episodes listed below
Movie-year archaeology with jokes and arguments.
Awesome Movie Year treats a single movie year as a playground for criticism, trivia, and friendly combat. Each episode anchors itself in one film, then works through context, reputation, performances, odd production details, and whatever argument the room cannot resist.
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Awesome Movie Year is built on a clean idea: take one movie year seriously, then refuse to treat it like a museum piece. The show moves film by film, with each episode claiming a lane such as a personal pick, a box-office flop, a documentary, a first feature, an animated film, a foreign film, or a major festival winner. That structure gives the conversation shape. The conversation itself stays loose. Josh Bell usually supplies the factual runway, introducing the film through directors, stars, budgets, awards, reputation, and the surrounding career context. Jason Harris pushes back, jokes through the premise, or turns a neat setup into a sideways argument. The result is not polished-panel criticism. It sounds more like two movie-literate friends who came prepared, watched the same film, and still may not agree on what they saw. The 1985 season gives them a wide board to play on. Ran brings Akira Kurosawa, Shakespearean scale, samurai tragedy, and the problem of how viewers connect with revered cinema. The Goonies opens the door to childhood nostalgia, aging casts, the odd afterlife of tie-in video games, and whether beloved adventure movies should be left alone. The Adventures of Mark Twain leads to Will Vinton, Claymation, advertising icons, weak child characters, and the problem of forced story framing. Desperately Seeking Susan brings Madonna, Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, Susan Seidelman, pop stardom, and 1980s box-office logic. The Statue of Liberty lets the show talk about Ken Burns, American memory, and the weird distance between civic optimism and the present. Clue becomes a case study in a failed release that later became beloved. Pee-wee's Big Adventure gives Tim Burton's debut and Paul Reubens's screen persona a place in the year. The show is funny, blunt, and sometimes crude, but the film talk is real. It is for listeners who want context before opinion and do not mind when the opinion arrives wearing muddy shoes.
Made for: For film fans who enjoy context, disagreement, cult reputations, awards history, and long-tail career connections. It fits listeners who know classic and 1980s cinema well enough to enjoy both the research and the ribbing.
What sets it apart: The show turns a single movie year into a flexible critical map, mixing canonical films with flops, documentaries, animation, festival winners, and personal favorites. Its edge comes from the contrast between prepared film history and conversational friction.
Awesome Movie Year is a podcast co-hosted by film critic Josh Bell and filmmaker and comedian Jason Harris. Each season looks at why a certain year was an awesome movie year. Each episode focuses on a different film from the year being investigated. Produced by David Rosen of the Piecing It Together Podcast for the All Points West Podcast Network
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Josh Bell and Jason Harris use movie years to connect sharp craft criticism, comic disagreement, and candid reassessment.
Awesome Movie Year turns a single year of cinema into an organizing principle, with Josh Bell and Jason Harris moving film by film before closing the season by reconsidering their choices.
Cary Grant impressions get you through the door; blunt arguments about movie endings keep you there.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A strange Claymation film gets a sharp, unsparing discussion.
The Adventures of Mark Twain is treated as the strange 1985 stop motion film it is, and that gives the discussion a welcome edge. Josh Bell and Jason Harris start with Will Vinton's Claymation background, then move through the movie's odd shape, its mythic ambition, and the sort…
A candid Kurosawa conversation that stays respectful, funny, and easy to follow.
Awesome Movie Year uses its 1985 foreign-film pick to cover Ran, Akira Kurosawa's samurai historical epic and Shakespearean adaptation. The episode treats it as a late-career masterpiece while keeping the hosts' usual ribbing intact.
A sharp Hitchcock-Grant debate that makes Suspicion's ending the main event.
Awesome Movie Year uses its 1941 bonus slot to finally get to Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion, and the conversation has a nice push-pull to it: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, and the film's steady fog of doubt give Josh Bell and Jason Harris plenty to work with.
A reflective season epilogue that turns missed picks and listener suggestions into lively movie talk.
Awesome Movie Year closes out its 2014 run with an epilogue that looks back at the choices the hosts made, the ones they left behind, and a few listener suggestions from social media.
A listener-voted Liam Neeson pick that clicks most when Josh Bell and Jason Harris start needling each other over it.
Awesome Movie Year ends its 2014 run on A Walk Among the Tombstones, the listener-voted Liam Neeson pick that edged out Non-Stop and Taken 3. Josh Bell and Jason Harris use it to open up a wider discussion of this part of Neeson action cinema, with Josh giving the setup and…
Mike Muncer and a different guest dissect two horror films per episode, by subgenre.
The hosts discuss Jason's pick of the 1985 film The Goonies, touching on its cultural impact, behind-the-scenes anecdotes like the truffle shuffle, and its place in movie history.
Film critics Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss Will Vinton's 1985 claymation film The Adventures of Mark Twain, the only feature made by Vinton, whose studio later became Laika.
Film critics Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss Akira Kurosawa's 1985 epic Ran, a King Lear adaptation set in feudal Japan that became the most expensive Japanese film ever made on a budget of $11-12 million.
This episode discusses the 1985 film 'Desperately Seeking Susan', focusing on its cast including Madonna, director Susan Seidelman, and its commercial success.
The hosts discuss Ken Burns' 1985 documentary 'The Statue of Liberty' and its depiction of America's historical attitude.
The hosts discuss the 1985 Cannes Palme d'Or winner 'When Father Was Away on Business', focusing on a controversial circumcision scene and differences in film versions.
This episode discusses the 1985 film 'Clue', which was a box office failure at release but has since become a beloved cult classic as an early example of adapting a board game into a comedy movie.
The hosts introduce their season on 1985 films and begin discussing Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
Josh Bell and Jason Harris introduce a new season focusing on 1985 movies, starting with Back to the Future, and discuss why producer Dave Rosen chose that year.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris introduce a bonus episode on the film Boyhood as part of their season on movies from 2014.
The hosts discuss their season on 1971 films and reflect on the movies covered.
The hosts discuss the season finale of their 1971 film series, where the audience chose a horny lady vampire movie to analyze.
The hosts introduce their season on 1971 movies, starting with the year's box office champion, Fiddler on the Roof.
Film critics Josh Bell and Jason Harris, hosts of Awesome Movie Year, discuss Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion (1941) starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine — the first of four Hitchcock-Grant collaborations and the only Hitchcock film to produce an acting Oscar (Best Actress for Fontaine).
Josh Bell and Jason Harris wrap up Awesome Movie Year's 2014 season by revisiting each episode's film choice and listing major films they did not cover.
Film critics Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014), the Liam Neeson neo-noir based on Lawrence Block's 10th Matthew Scudder novel, directed by Scott Frank.
Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the 2014 sci-fi action film Edge of Tomorrow as part of their season on awesome movies from 2014.
The hosts introduce their season on 2014 films and discuss the producer's pick, John Wick, analyzing its unexpected franchise success.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the 2014 film Birdman, focusing on its jazz drumming soundtrack and its Best Picture win.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the 2014 film Whiplash, analyzing its portrayal of a demanding jazz instructor.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss Jason's pick for the 2014 season, the film 'Ping Pong Summer', and its nostalgic setting.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris introduce their podcast about awesome movie years, joking about a pants-related game show idea.
Josh Bell and Jason Harris introduce their season on 2014 films, focusing on the Swedish film Force Majeure by Ruben Ostlund.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the 2014 film 'A Most Violent Year' as part of a season examining the movies of 2014.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the documentary 'Life Itself' about film critic Roger Ebert as part of their series on the awesome movie year 2014.
The hosts introduce their season on 2014 films, starting with the Turkish film Winter Sleep, blending humor and film analysis.
Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the 2014 film Transcendence as part of their season on movies from that year.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris discuss the 2014 film 'False' as part of a season exploring awesome movie years.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris begin a new season discussing the awesome movie year of 2014, starting with Guardians of the Galaxy.
Co-hosts Josh Bell and Jason Harris introduce their retrospective season, discussing the format and thanking Patreon supporters.
The hosts reflect on their season covering 1941 films, discussing categories, notable movies, and listener suggestions in this wrap-up episode.
The hosts discuss the 1941 film 'The Little Foxes', which won an audience choice poll among Betty Davis films from that year, highlighting performances and comparing it to other options.
This episode discusses the 1941 cult classic film 'Hellzapoppin'', its origins as a Broadway show by Oli Olsen and Chick Johnson, and its self-referential adaptation to film.
The hosts discuss the 1941 Abbott and Costello comedy film 'Hold That Ghost' as part of their podcast series on movies from that year.
This episode discusses the 1941 Best Picture winner 'How Green Was My Valley,' its controversial Oscar win over 'Citizen Kane,' and the historical context of the Academy Awards.