1999: The Podcast cover art

1999: The Podcast

1999: The Podcast

By: John Brooks and Julia Sirmons
Listen for free

About this listen

 Was 1999 the best year in movie history? We think it might be! John Brooks, Julia Sirmons, and special guests work their way through all the year has to offer, one movie at a time, and we’ll ask special guests to share their memories of this amazing year and the movies that made it unforgettable. Unfortunately, nobody can be told what 1999: The Podcast is… you have to hear it for yourself!℗ & © 2022 The CageClub Podcast Network Art
Episodes
  • See Also: WAG THE DOG (1998)

    See Also: WAG THE DOG (1998)
    Apr 21 2026
    A president faking a war to distract from a political scandal?? WHAT??? We’re doing a new See Also this week, related to some of the recent movies we’ve discussed. The 57th highest-grossing movie of 1997 and the 46th highest-grossing of 1998. Released limited on Christmas Day 1997 and wide on January 4th 1998 where it finished 4th behind Titanic, Good Will Hunting, and As Good As It Gets, it went on to gross 64 million dollars on a 15 million dollar budget Directed by Baltimore Barry Levinson and written by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet, and starring Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson, Kirsten Dunst, Andrea Martin, John Michael Higgins, Suzanne Cryer, Hollywood’s most famous Albanian Jim Belushi, and William H. Macy, Wag the Dog found itself on several year-end Best Of lists. It is certified fresh on RT with a score of 86 and a strong Metacritic score of 74. It was nominated for 2 Golden Globes – Best Picture Comedy, Best Actor Hoffman, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Henkin and Mamet, along with 2 Oscars -one, for Hoffman and the other for screenplay. Does it hold up? Spoiler alert: Yes.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 9 mins
  • EDtv - with Will Weldon

    EDtv - with Will Weldon
    Apr 7 2026
    EDtv opened in third place on March 26th right behind our last movie, Analyze This in 2nd and Forces of Nature in 1st, going on to gross $35 million worldwide on a budget of $80 million. Directed by Ron Howard, it is a remake of the 1994 Quebecois film Louis 19, King of the Airwaves, with a script adapted by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Sally Kirkland, a frankly Oscar-worthy Martin Landau, Rob Reiner, Dennis Hopper, Elizabeth Hurley, Harry Shearer, Ian Gomez, Rupaul, Michael Moore, Jay Leno, George Plimpton, and Bill Maher. EDtv tells the story of a regular guy whose life becomes a 24-hour reality show. It did modestly well with critics, but it was drowned out by 1998's similarly-premised (but in no way similar) The Truman Show. Anyway, since it's the only 1999 movie to feature Bill Maher, we invited the host of the I Hate Bill Maher Podcast, comedian Will Weldon, to talk about this incredibly confused, frustrating movie, which remains notable for being the start of the McConaughey-Harrelson (possibly literal) Bromance! Will's on Bluesky and other social media @oldmanweldon
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 49 mins
  • [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!
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 15 mins
No reviews yet