Podcast Like It's 1999

HEAT VISION AND JACK, an experimental comedy pilot which was exposed to inappropriate levels of irony which made it the world’s most ahead of its time 30 minute TV episode. PODCAST LIKE ITS 1999, the podcast with the brains of two TV writers. Together (this week) try to analyze, joke about and appreciate Heat Vision and Jack’s place in the comedy landscape of the time and its influence on 20 years of comedy since.  THE PILOT is viewable on Youtube here https://youtu.be/6lWgXDOAJ5s, watch it quick before the deadly ABC and NBC corporations attempt to stop you. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The 1999 movie SIMON SEZ features a brief scene where Dane Cook sports Dennis Rodman cosplay, and it is not even among the top 10 most painfully dated, over the top and out of place moments in this glorious vanity project for sadly, the person keeping US and North Korean relations afloat.  Listen as Kenny, Phil and returning Guest Teddy Bressman dissect the arc of Dennis Rodman’s career as an actor, the rise and fall of Dane Cook’s star and get behind the scenes info from one of the screenwriters on the experience of taking 5 months in France having to write a movie where an Interpol agent is friends with two hacker monks one of which refers to himself as Free Willy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

So, Podcast Like It's 1999 wasn't 'spose to be this way We did Analyze This, The Matrix, and a Bride who Ran Away!  The movies of 9-9 are great, that's clear But so many other things went down each week and month of that year, so...   We'll do TV, too! Like Friends Season 5 We'll do TV, too! Soon West Wing, Sopranos and more We'll do TV, too! 'Cause we're running out of mooooo... vies... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you’re a fan of set design, boy do we have a movie for you!  Jarett Weiselman (Netflix social media) comes back to the podcast to discuss Jan de Bont’s “The Haunting.” Now, if you’re a fan of logic, dramatic tension, character development, believable motivation, legitimate scares, special effects, utilizing the strengths of your actors or proper villains, look elsewhere.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In 1999, there were three distinct takes on the modern American mafia.    One, The Sopranos, was wildly successful both commercially and creatively and remade both American's understanding of the Italian Mafia, as well as the entire television industry.   A second, Analyze This, performed respectfully at the box office and among critics, providing audiences with both unexpected laughs and pathos.   A third, Mickey Blue Eyes, had Hugh Grant trying to talk like an American gangster, which sounded like a man choking as he attempted to gurgle marbles.    Join Phil and Kenny as they discuss the least successful, but silliest (!), entry in the late 20th Century mafia canon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Podcast Like it's 1999 takes a pass at it's stated goal of expanding its field of coverage beyond their home turf of movies and TV to include the beautiful game and one of its most legendary teams, the 1999 Women's Soccer Team.   Barbara Friend (Station 19) teams up with Phil and Kenny to kick around topics such as feminism, equal pay, progress in sports in America, representation, the similarities and differences between the 1999 and 2019 World Cup Champs, and the use of soccer puns when blurbing. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tea with Mussolini is Franco Zeffirilli's 1999, semi-autobiographical film about his upbringing in WW2 Italy by a group of British ex-pats of a certain age (played by the Dames Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright) and a couple of American women (played by the Goddesses Lily Tomlin and Cher).    It is also no better than the 10th date Phil, Kenny and guest Barrett Doss (Station 19, Broadway's Groundhog Day) would like to share with historic, brutal tyrants, following:   - Irish Coffee with Muammar Gaddafi - Hot Cocoa with Nicolas Maduro - Egg Creme with Idi Amin - Chardonnay with Pinochet - Pabst Blue Ribbon with Kim Jong-Un - Cosmopolitans with Genghis Khan - Red Dot with Pol Pot - Bee Pollen with Joseph Stalin  And - Champagne with Saddam Hussein See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Check out the thrilling conclusion of Podcast Like it’s 1999s two-podcast series on a The Matrix! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How do you blurb a movie like “The Matrix?”  How do you write a blurb that doesn’t suck?  How do you blurb a movie like “The Matrix?” By mentioning that it’s now beloved by cucks? Many a-things you’d want to blurb about it.  Many a-things you still don’t understand! But how can start to say The film deserves all the A’s Without sounding like a goober or a Stan?! How do you blurb a movie like “The Matrix?” How do you stop a bullet with your hand? Emily VanDerWerff (Vox Media) joins Phil and Kenny to analyze and break down the revolutionary, uber-successful and impossibly influential film “The Matrix.”  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Did you know that in 1999 there was a machine invented called the “Random Sundance Movie Generator?” That’s right! For a fraction of what a screenwriter cost, this machine spit out a complete Sundance movie script in seconds.  Take, for instance, “Happy, Texas.” No human could have come up with this seemingly unrelated combination of elements: Unlikely Lead Actors: Jeremy Northam, Steve Zahn Genre: Low-Stakes Heist  Flyover Country Setting: Rural, Texas Town, Present Day (But make it feel like 1983) Quirky Complication: Children’s beauty pageant   Far-fetched Cover Story: Characters pose as a gay couple Expected Price Tag at Sundance: $500k (or $10 million if you can get Harvey Weinstein to a screening).  So join Phil and Kenny as they discuss the Random Sundance Movie Generator’s magnum opus, “Happy, Texas” and the film festival it was created for.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're breaking the mold this week on Podcast Like It's 1999 -- which be prepared we'll be doing more as we explore TV shows, award shows and much much more in the coming months -- but this week Phil sat down with Jaan Kittask (the man behind our wonderful theme song and logo) to do a deep dive into the soundtracks of 1999. We talk about the soundtracks to Magnolia, Cruel Intentions, Rushmore (which was released in 1999) and Go not to mention Dawson's Creek and Ally McBeal as well as some of our favorite albums of the year. Jaan and I also discuss the creative process behind making our awesome theme song! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ron Shelton made some of the best and most beloved sports movies of all-time in Bull Durham, White Men Can’t and Tin Cup.    Boxing has long been considered the sport that lost naturally lends itself to dramatic storytelling, as evidenced by such classics as Raging Bull, Rocky and Million Dollar Baby.    So, when Ron Shelton came out with his boxing movie in 1999, audiences were expecting a knockout!    And what they got was... an extended gay panic joke?   Christian Lander (black-ish, The Mick) joins Phil and Kenny to dissect just how this seemingly perfect marriage of artist and subject was apparently derailed by the marriage of a director and his star.    And then they talk about WWE for 30 minutes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

PHILLIP ISCOVE (co-host, “Podcast Like it’s 1999): It was really just supposed to be another episode, not unlike the 75 or so we had previously done.  KENNY NEIBART (co-host, “Podcast Like it’s 1999”): But something was different that day. Something in the air.  ERNIE HURTADO (producer, “Podcast Like It’s 1999”): That was the just the airplanes.  NEIBART: Aside from the airplanes. Something else. A certain je ne se quois.  WHITNEY FRIEDLANDER (entertainment journalist, guest “Podcast Like it’s 1999”): I think what Kenny is referring to is squeezing a non-problematic podcast from this very problematic movie. ISCOVE: Yes! We somehow avoided being problematic while talking about Woody Allen.  NEIBART: I don’t know if I’d say we were completely without controversy. What about the part where you defended Woody’s behavior? ISCOVE: I never defended Woody’s behavior!  FRIEDLANDER: I don’t think any of us defended him.  NEIBART (smirking): Phil did.  ISCOVE (steam rising): I did no such thing!  NEIBART: Ern

Special Double Episode! Fantasia 2000 with Karen Han and Julien Donkey-Boy with Ben Hosley Podcast like it’s 1999 is proud to bring to you a double bill that goes together like yogurt and sand.  First, Karen Han (Polygon) joins the guys for a deep dive into 1999s second most experimental film, Disney’s Fantasia 2000.  And then Karen stays on as Ben “Monster Man” Hosley (Blank Check) chimes in to talk a little Harmony Korine and the first most experimental film of 1999, Julien Donkey-Boy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Before The Avengers. Before the Guardians of the Galaxy. Before the Justice League. Before the X-Men. Before the Agents of Shield. Before the Fantastic Four. Before the Suicide Squad. Before the Eternals. Before Birds of Prey. Before The Legends of Tomorrow. Before a The Defenders. Before the Teen Titans. Before the Umbrella Academy. Before Supermansion. But after Josie and the Pussycats. There were the Mystery Men with classic heroes like Mr. Furious! Blue Raja! The Bowler! The Shoveler! The Invisible Boy! And everyone’s favorite, The Spleen who’s secret power is super farts. Join Phil and Kenny as they welcome David Sims (The Atlantic, Blank Check), a superhero of film criticism and podcasting, to discuss this groundbreaking(-ish) superhero comedy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The year was 1999. Woodstock. Free Love. The Moon Landing. Any one of them could make for a good movie. But Walk on the Moon defies that half-assed bullshit and just throws it all into a blender and somehow churns out a single, spectacular film. Writer/Producer Toby Herman joins the Pod to discuss this hidden little gem. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On a cool and spooky night Phil, Kenny and Ira Madison III (Daybreak, Keep It podcast) we’re mysteriously invited to discuss “House on Haunted Hill” and should any of them survivor the podcast, he would receive $1,000,000. Unfortunately, they all died. But the podcast lives on! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this biblical epic, Billy Crudup plays the son of the the son of God, a man set adrift from his family, his society and himself. Gideon Yago (The Newsroom, Quantico) joins Phil and Kenny as they discusses the religious implications of this retelling of the Book of Fuckhead. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Phil and Kenny are joined on the podcast this week by director and animator Miguel Jiron (Into the Spiderverse) to discuss - yawn - Hiyao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke."   We have some real slogs in 1999, but few are as rote as this one, folks. It's a story you've heard a million times. Boy kills giant hog imbued with a demon spirit. The spirit gets inside him and gives him, you guessed it, superhuman strength but, yup, is also going to kill him.     In an effort to find a cure, he encounters a wolf goddess and her human daughter, San. I know, grow an imagination, Miyazaki.    Of course, they don't fall in love, but grow to have a mutual respect for each other, like pretty much every story about a young man and woman in traumatic circumstances.    That says nothing of the other mundane things he runs into, like your cliched group of bandaged of lepers manufacturing firearms or the tree spirits who probably hold the secret to all life on earth.    On top of that, visually it looks like a Monet come to life and

Alexandra Amin (WME) joins Phil and Kenny to talk about The Wood, a 1999 movie about the unexpected boners of growing up and the way those boners affect us all the way into adulthood and the friends you make along the way to help you get past your biggest boners as you stop being such a boner. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.