Episode 202 begins our pairing of "Movies About Movies," whether that be making them, appreciating them, or loving them the way we do! First up, it's director Christopher Guest's first feature film, 1989's "The Big Picture." Written by Guest, Michael Varhol, and Michael McKean, the story follows award-winning (in school) director Nick Chapman, newly graduated, entering the hard-to-navigate waters of the Hollywood film system. This is made all the more difficult by a couple of sharks in those waters, producer Allen Habel (J.T. Walsh) and selfishly avaricious actress Gretchen (Teri Hatcher in her first big-screen role). Their influence has Nick losing his girlfriend Susan (Emily Longstreth) and his best friend Emmet (Michael McKean), until a chance re-meeting with film school buddy Lydia (Jennifer Jason Leigh) sets him on a path that, strangely enough, guides him back to his roots. A film that roasts Hollywood even as it's saluting it and playing with its traditions and behaviors, plus a plethora of cameos!

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Episode 201 is the 2nd in our pairing of Best Picture Academy Award-winning films that seriously underperformed at the box office when they first came out. This time, we move ahead to 1954 and a film that's considered one of the classic films to be made in the 50s, a film that was mired in controversy (and still is for some), but cemented Marlon Brando's place as Hollywood royalty: "On The Waterfront." Directed by Elia Kazan (a hero to some, villain to others, for "naming names" during the House Un-American Activities Committee pursuit of Communists in Hollywood), the film stars Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, and introduced the world to Eva Marie Saint. Perhaps an attempt to get back at Arthur Miller, perhaps an attempt to make up for his HUAC testimony, one thing is for certain: This is an American classic for all times, and netted eight Oscars in 1955! Plus, the trio reveal which two "Movies about making movies" they'll be reviewing for the next pairing!

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It's our 200th episode and the first in our pairing of Best Picture Academy Award-winning films that seriously underperformed at the box office when they first came out! Our first film is also director Alfred Hitchcock's first American film, 1940's "Rebecca." Starring Laurence Olivier (pre "Sir"), Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Judith Anderson, Reginald Denny, C. Aubrey Smith, Gladys Cooper, and Edward Fielding. The story follows Maxim de Winter, a lonely widower who falls in love with a young woman, marries her, and takes her home to his mansion known as Manderley. There, the new Mrs. de Winter meets friend and foe amongst the people who work for Maxim, although she doesn't know why she is despised by some and befriended by others. In true Hitchcockian fashion, the story twists and turns until you're not sure who to believe, but you know you're enjoying a cinematic ride like no other!

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Episode 199 finishes up our "second century of reviews," so-to-speak, with another classic 1960's musical. From the last episode, we move ahead two years to 1964 for another film based on a hit Broadway musical, "My Fair Lady!" Expertly directed by veteran director George Cukor, this story follows a poor street girl who sells flowers to get by, being taken in by two linguistics professors as the object of a bet: That one of them can, in six months, turn her into a young woman presentable enough to attend court with royalty and not give away her lower-class origin! Audrey Hepburn plays Eliza Doolittle, with Rex Harrison playing Professor Henry Higgins and Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Hugh Pickering, the former accepting the wager from the latter. Add to that Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle (Eliza's father), Gladys Cooper as Henry's mother, and Mona Washbourne as Mrs. Pierce (Henry's housekeeper) and you have a group of excellent performers who, in turn, present a film that took home eight Academy awards, including Best Picture! Plus, the trio reveal which two listener-suggested films will make up the pairing for the 200th episode!

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