SEASON THREE: 1993-2002
1993: Carlito's Way
We kick off Season Three of the podcast with Brian De Palma’s crime drama Carlito’s Way, starring Al Pacino, Penelope Ann Miller, and Sean Penn.
Plus: offensive accents, an update on Sam’s car, and the time we almost paid someone $10,000 to read a script.
1994: Shallow Grave
This week we dig up Danny Boyle’s suitcase-full-of-cash thriller Shallow Grave, starring Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox, and Christopher Eccleston.
Plus: Ripley, the frustrations of tourism, and the European Cup.
1995: Safe
This week we explore Todd Haynes’s prescient 1995 environmental-illness drama Safe, starring Julianne Moore.
Plus: Emmy nominations, James’s upcoming psilocybin journey, and how bad Sam is at running.
1996: Lone Star
This week we explore John Sayles’s 1996 bordertown drama Lone Star, starring Chris Cooper, Matthew McConaughey, and Kris Kristofferson.
Plus: Sam goes to the Emmys!
1997: Boogie Nights
This week we get into Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1997 kaleidoscopic end-of-an-era drama Boogie Nights, starring Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, and Burt Reynolds.
Plus: James’s psilocybin adventure!
1998: Buffalo '66 and
The Celebration
A double-bill! Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ‘66, starring Gallo and Christina Ricci; and Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen, or The Celebration, starring Ulrich Thomsen, Paprika Steen and Thomas Bo Larsen. One of them became an instant classic for James.
Plus: Dogme 95 and the “vow of chastity.”
1999: The Wind Will Carry Us
This week we explore Abbas Kiarostami’s meditative drama The Wind Will Carry Us, starring Behzad Dorani.
Plus: Iranian hospitality, Marjie’s Broadway debut, and the movie that led to Sam and James meeting each other.
2000: American Psycho
This week we slash our way through Mary Harron’s satirical horror-thriller American Psycho, starring Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, and Willem Dafoe.
Plus: The Picard Maneuver! And Sam gets stalked by his auto mechanic.
2001: Mulholland Dr
This week we take a slow, spiraling ride down Mulholland Dr, David Lynch’s puzzle-box fever dream starring Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, and Justin Theroux.
Plus: Transcendental Meditation, Adolescence, and the time James was up against Angelo Badalamenti for a film-scoring job.
2002: Minority Report
We close out season three with Steven Spielberg’s dystopian thriller Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max von Sydow.
Plus: the seeming immortality of Tom Cruise, Sam’s first feature, and yet another award nomination – but this time, it’s not for Sam.