1999: The Podcast
by John Brooks and Julia Sirmons
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!
Episodes
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See Also: THIRTEEN GHOSTS (2001) - with Kristin Battestella
Happy Halloween! We're joined by critic and horror maven Kristin Battestella to discuss the 2001 remake of the William Castle horror schlock B-movie Thirteen Ghosts (or, in this case, uh...Thir13en Ghosts) Is it scary? No! But is it fun? Also no! We talk about the difficulty of remaking B-movies,...
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See Also: TOMORROWLAND (2015)
Brad Bird's second live action film Tomorrowland was released in 2015 to a great deal of hype and high expectations. Bird was flying high on s string of critically acclaimed animated features, including The Iron Giant (which we covered recently), The Incredibles, and Ratatouille, in addition to…
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THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR - with Nitish Pahwa
Appropriately the 113th-highest grossing movie of 1999, The Thirteenth Floor opened on May 28th in 4th place behind The Phantom Menace, Notting Hill, and The Mummy It was the third Cartesian nature of reality philosophy movie set against computer simulation realities in three months, following…
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(Rerelease) OCTOBER SKY - with Amanda Jane Stern
No new episode this week, but please enjoy this rerelease from a year ago, about a movie with a lot of connections to our last episode, The Iron Giant: October Sky was the 63rd-highest grossing movie of the year, just behind The 13th Warrior. Opening on February 19th with just shy of $6 million…
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THE IRON GIANT - with Sam Summers
Our episodes on robots and animation have finally led us here: The Iron Giant, one of 1999's most notorious duds, and also one of its most beloved films. The Iron Giant was the feature directorial debut of Brad Bird, who would go on to direct landmark Pixar films The Incredibles and Ratatouille…
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See Also: A.I. - ARTICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2001) and DISCLOSURE DAY (2026)
Following up on our discussion of Bicentennial Man, we discuss two movies, starting with the 28th highest-grossing movie of 2001, Steven Spielberg's A.I. - Artificial Intelligence. A.I. has a lot of connections to 1999, since it was originally meant to be directed by Stanley Kubrick, who died in...
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BICENTENNIAL MAN
Bicentennial Man was the 40th highest grossing movie of 1999, opening December 17th in 4th place and taking in $87 million dollars worldwide on an almost literally unbelievable $100 million dollar budget. It's also the one movie of the year to star the late Sam Neill. Directed by Chris Columbus...
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TOY STORY 2 (Revisited)
This summer's Toy Story 5 is unique among Toy Story movies in that it's a direct continuation of the story of Toy Story 2, so we decided it was a great time to take a second look at Toy Story 2! Originally conceived as a direct-to-video sequel, Toy Story 2 opened November 19, 1999, bringing in…
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(Rerelease from 6/25) - AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME - with Siri Dahl
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was the 4th-highest grossing movie of 1999, behind Toy Story 2, The Sixth Sense, and The Phantom Menace, opening on June 11 and taking in $55 million that weekend, going on to make $206 million at the domestic box office on a $33 million budget. Directed by…
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See Also: HARDBALL (2001) - with Jacki Krestel
VARSITY BLUES director Brian Robbins follow-up was another inspirational, somewhat edgy sports movie HARDBALL - this time about baseball and set in Chicago. 1999 icon Keanu Reeves plays down-on-his-luck sports gambler Conor O'Neill who finds himself the head coach of an inner-city Chicago youth...
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VARSITY BLUES - with Jacki Krestel
We sadly lost 1990s icon James Van Der Beek in February, so we decided it was time to look at his most prominent non-Dawson's Creek role - the teen comedy-drama sports movie Varsity Blues. Released very early in the year on January 15th, Varsity Blues was the 45th highest grossing movie of the...
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See Also: PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)
Last time we looked at Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 film Magnolia, so we decided to take a look at his follow-up, 2002's Adam Sandler-led absurdist romantic dramedy Punch-Drunk Love. Anderson's shortest and most overlooked film, Punch-Drunk Love is now considered by many to be among his best. At…
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MAGNOLIA (Revisited) - with Holly Brown
We last talked about Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia nearly four years ago, so given Anderson recently (finally) won an Oscar for One Battle After Another, what better time than now for a revisit? Magnolia was a modest commercial success at the time but was lauded by critics, became something of…
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See Also: WAG THE DOG (1998)
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...
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EDtv - with Will Weldon
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…
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[RERELEASE]: FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: - with Jacki Krestel
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...
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OSCARS SPECIAL 2026
It's Oscars Weekend! 1999 was a weird year in Oscar history, as the awards held that year saw one of the most controversial Best Picture wins ever (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) and the awards held the following year honoring the awards of 1999 gave the Best Picture Oscar to a film that, well, has not…
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ANALYZE THIS - with Chase Mitchell
Analyze This was the 18th-highest grossing movie of 1999, opening on at #1 March 5th – the same day as Cruel Intentions, which opened number 2 - and taking in $177 million worldwide on an $80 million budget. Analyze This gave us the unlikely comedy duo of Billy Crystal and (a then new to comedy)...
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See Also: WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989) - with Dan Colón
It's Valentine's Day, so we're taking one last look at the non-1999 landscape before we return to 1999 next week with the movie that reset the standard for romantic comedies, Rob Reiner's When Harry Met Sally. Joining us is returning friend of the pod Dan Colón, co-host of our podcast network's...
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See Also: FATHER MOTHER SISTER BROTHER (2025)
This week, Julia reports back from the screening she attended of "Father Mother Sister Brother", the latest from "Ghost Dog" writer/director Jim Jarmusch. "Father Mother Sister Brother" is an anthology dramedy starring Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett…
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THE STORY OF US/In Memory of Rob Reiner (1947-2025) - with Nitish Pahwa
In honor of the late Rob Reiner we are looking at The Story of Us, the 74th highest-grossing movie of the year, finishing just ahead of earlier entry Blast from the Past. Opening #2 behind Fight Club on October 15th and going on to gross $59 million worldwide on a $50 million dollar budget....
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See Also: A VERY ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS
Merry Christmas and happy every other holiday! In this episode, John and Julia each recommend five of their favorite "alternative" Christmas movies. The like of It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, Love Actually, Miracle on 34th Street, and, yes, even Die Hard are off-limits. Instead, we present 10...
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GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI - with Sean Malin
It's Christmas time, so we're looking at a movie that tells the story of a mysterious man who spends a lot of time on the roof with his animal friends and has the ability to sneak into your house undetected as if by magic: Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai! Ghost Dog appears nowhere on the 1999…
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See Also: SHATTERED GLASS (2003)
The first of what will be a series of smaller episodes where we take a look at a movie that is somehow related to our most recent subject. This time, our See Also recommendation for The Insider is Billy Ray's superb 2003 docudrama/thriller Shattered Glass. Featuring incredible performances from a...
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THE INSIDER - with Lindsay Beyerstein
Michael Mann's The Insider is easily the most glaring omission from the our initial 18, universally regarded as one of the best – if not THE best – movie of 1999. Finishing in 69th place, sandwiched between two previous entries, Girl Interrupted at 70th and Mystery Men at 68th, The Insider stars...
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TRUE CRIME (1999) and JUROR #2 (2024) - with Aaron from HIT FACTORY
True Crime was the 94th-highest grossing movie of 1999, grossing just $17 million on a $50 million budget with a fairly limited release. Starring and directed by Clint Eastwood, True Crime was largely forgotten and remains overlooked most likely due to its release at what can be described as...
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THE SIXTH SENSE (Julia's Version) - with Sooz Kempner
The Sixth Sense was one of the biggest movies of the year, second only to The Phantom Menace. And since it's Halloween and Julia had never seen it before, we thought it was time to take a second look. A movie best remembered for its plot twist (and the meticulous build up to it), The Sixth Sense…
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OCTOBER SKY - with Amanda Jane Stern
October Sky was the 63rd-highest grossing movie of the year, just behind The 13th Warrior. Opening on February 19th with just shy of $6 million, it went on to gross $34.7 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. October Sky was adapted from the memoir Rocket Boys (an anagram of "October Sky")…
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ENTRAPMENT - with Jason Christian
Despite its reputation as giant bomb, Entrapment was the 24th-highest grossing movie of 1999, coming in just behind another movie starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Haunting. Entrapment opened on April 30th at number 1 with an impressive $20 million debut, dethroning The Matrix at the top box...
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THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR - with Sarah D. Bunting
The Thomas Crown Affair was the 31st-highest grossing movie of 1999, coming in one slot below another entry, Galaxy Quest, opening August 6th at number 3 at the box office behind the debut of the juggernaut The Sixth Sense at number one and Runaway Bride at number 2. The first of two 1999 film...
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1999 REWIND - Woodstock 99
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 7/24/24: Today marks the 26th anniversary of one of the true low points of 1999 and pop culture in general - the human rights disaster that was Woodstock 99. Dan Colón, of CageClub's very own The Monsters That Made Us podcast, joined John to talk about the greed, mayhem, and...
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MUPPETS FROM SPACE - with Ethan Warren
Muppets From Space was the 95th-highest grossing movie of 1999, opening in 4th place behind juggernauts American Pie, Wild Wild West, and The Phantom Menace. Directed by Tim Hill, the co-developer and longtime director of Spongebob Squarepants (which debuted 3 days later!) and written by longtime...
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GALAXY QUEST - with Annie Berke
Galaxy Quest was one of the great summer movies of 1999. Except it was released, for some reason, at Christmas. Lovingly sending up television sci-fi of a certain era - and heavily grounded in Star Trek - Galaxy Quest was a modest success as 30th highest grossing movie of 1999 The second feature...
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THE 13th WARRIOR - with Peter Raleigh
August 1999's The 13th Warrior was (mostly) directed by legendary Predator and Die Hard director – and occasional felon – John McTiernan, and released just three weeks after his other (far more successful) 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair. Based on the 1976 novel "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael...
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AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME - with Siri Dahl
We are kicking off the summer by returning to the box office top 10 for the first time since Runaway Bride with one of the 1999’s big summer blockbusters, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me! Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was the 4th-highest grossing movie of 1999, behind Toy Story 2…
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JOE THE KING - with Zaki Hasan
Joe the King was the directorial debut of long-time career supporting actor and occasional indie leading man Frank Whaley, who also wrote the script based partly on his own life. It stars Noah Fleiss in the title role, Karen Young, John Leguizamo, Whaley’s friend and frequent collaborator Ethan...
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THE LIMEY: "Bang" - with Devan Scott
The Limey was 170th highest grossing movie of 1999, finishing just one spot ahead of cult favorite Jawbreaker Released October 8th in just 17 theaters and going on to make $3.2 million on a $10 million budget, The Limey was directed by Steven Soderbergh, just on the verge of his first major...
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VAL KILMER: 1959-2025
Actor Val Kilmer died on April 1st of this year, after a long battle with throat cancer. He was 65. Kilmer's film career began in the 1980s with iconic turns in the likes of Top Gun and Real Genius, but it was in the 1990s where be became an icon in a decade known primarily one dominated by...
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SWEET AND LOWDOWN: "All That Jazz" - with Liz Whitmere
Sweet and Lowdown opened on December 3rd in just 3 theaters and taking in an impressive 31,562 dollar per screen average Written and directed by Woody Allen, it stars Sean Penn as fictional jazz guitar legend Emmet Ray alongside Samantha Morton and Uma Thurman, Brad Garrett, John Waters, Anthony...
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FOR LOVE OF THE GAME: "Baseball" - with Jacki Krestel
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...
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TWILIGHT (1998) - Gene Hackman Special
There were no movies starring the late Gene Hackman that were released in the US in 1999, but two of his films released in the US in 1998 – Tony Scott’s Enemy of the State and Robert Benton’s Twilight – were released in Europe in 1999. So because plenty has been said about the former, we are…
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THE END OF THE AFFAIR: "Lots of Rain" - with Kristin Battestella
The End of the Affair was released on Dec 3, 1999 in just 7 theaters so that it could bait some Oscars and then going wide on January 21. It would ultimately bring in just shy of 11 million dollars on 23 million dollar budget, though it did open with an astonishing $28,000 per screen average, so...
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BEYOND THE MAT: "The Wrestlers" - with Ross Benes
Beyond the Mat is a movie that appears NOWHERE in the 1999 box office charts, mainly because it only screened once in 1999 in Los Angeles on October 22, thanks in no small part to Vince McMahon fuckery (though it did get a limited release in March of 2000). Beyond the Mat was directed by Barry...
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DICK: "Tricky" - with Alex Steed
The 145th highest-grossing movie of the year, Dick was released on August 3rd and going on take 12th place at the box office. Through no fault of its own, it was thrown into a death slot, as the films that outgrossed it included juggernauts like The Phantom Menace, American Pie, Runaway Bride…
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Bonus Features - WATERGATE MEDIA
We present to you our very first Bonus Features episode, where we do a little contextual research for an upcoming episode. To start - for absolutely no reason at all, what are you even talking about? - we take a look at some of the more interesting media concerning the former Worst President of…
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New Year's Eve Special - 200 CIGARETTES
Opening CONFUSINGLY on February 26th on less than a thousand screens, 200 Cigarettes was the 143rd-highest grossing movie of the year, going on to make just shy of 7 million dollars on a 6 million dollar budget. Directed by first-time director and accomplished casting director Risa Bramon Garcia,...
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Christmas Special - ONE SPECIAL NIGHT: "Happy Hallmarky" with Audrey Fox
It's our third Christmas special, and once again we turn to the small screen for Christmas with Hallmark Hallo of Fame's One Special Night. Airing Sunday, November 28th, 1999 on CBS, One Special Night stars James Garner and Julie Andrews, alongside Patricia Charbonneau, Stewart Bick ,Stacy…
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TITUS: "There Shalt Be Blood" - with Carmen Paddock
Released December 25th, Christmas Day, Julie Taymor's debut feature Titus was 187th-highest grossing movie of the year, going on to gross just about three million dollars worldwide on an 18 million dollar budget. Titus, adapted from the Shakespeare (or possibly not Shakespeare) play came on the...
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GIRL, INTERRUPTED: "Interrupted" with Jane Altoids
Girl, Interrupted was the 70th-highest grossing movie of 1999, released in a very limited run just before Christmas to make it eligible for awards season. It would ultimately go on to earn $48 million worldwide on a $40 million budget. Directed and co-written by Copland director James Mangold…
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MAN ON THE MOON : "Andy" with Sean Malin
If there was a surprise critical and commercial failure for the year, it was Forman’s highly anticipated, Oscar-baiting Andy Kauffman biopic, Man on the Moon. Among other things, Man on the Moon was touted as a second chance for Carrey to nab a best actor Oscar, following what had roundly been…
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About this show
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!
Hosted by
John Brooks and Julia Sirmons