The Top 100 Project

Clint Eastwood's ballyhooed western is the subject of our 113th podcast. Gene Hackman is his leather-tough nemesis (we haven't seen ol' Gene in a while) and we finally get some Morgan Freeman in our AFI lives. This one is full of old-west authenticity. Who's the good guy, who's the bad guy, who's fighting his fear? All that and a ton more, y' hear me. Plus, Sparkplug Coffee and all!

Our 112th edition is a cannibalistic thriller treat with Jodie Foster & Anthony Hopkins equally matched as hero & villain. Let's not forget the scary brilliance of Ted Levine's performance though. We've got a juicy ep for you to *ahem* sink your fangs into. Get some Sparkplug Coffee, then start dancing in your creepy basement.

Kevin Costner makes his sole AFI appearance where he acts, produces and directs this sympathetic Civil War western. We get political again in this podcast, but don't let our liberal guilt ruin your good time because this WILL be a good time. Just don't let yourself get caught crying at the end of the movie (or the podcast). Or do! Sparkplug.Coffee it up, then saddle your horse.

We begin the '90s with one of the most fun gangster movies ever put on film: Martin Scorsese's Wise Guy! De Niro, Pesci and Liotta are criminal scumbags, but they seduce you into loving them anyway. This one has just gotten better in 25 years. Podcast heaven awaits you! Check out Sparkplug.Coffee for your energy boost, then snort up our lines...so to speak.

It's been a while, but here's our first Not 100 Project podcast in 4 months. Brokeback Mountain's quiet heartbreak still resonates, especially as embodied by Heath Ledger. Jake Gyllenhaal is awfully good too. We tackle many angles in this one, including the ongoing debate about Crash v Brokeback at the Oscars. Buy some Sparkplug.Coffee and saddle up Not100P #11!

T100P podcast #109 is ageless and urgent. Spike Lee's finest film stars himself with a tremendous cast of exuberant character actors. The passion, the energy, the (unfortunately) timely subject matter. This is a special way to end the '80s. Get some Sparkplug.Coffee and come hear our low-down on an outstanding motion picture.

Come have 2 grunts fight for possession of your soul by listening to our 108th T100P 'cast. This was back when Charlie Sheen wasn't a twit-bag and Tom Berenger was at his peak. Oliver Stone has only this title on the AFI list, so we spent some time talking about his entire career. Fire up some Sparkplug.Coffee and then dig into a foxhole for some words about a harrowing war flick.

How do you appreciate the topic of our 107th AFI podcast? Think of the genius Mozart as a modern rock star who DOESN'T get whatever he wants. Also, think of the jealous Salieri as a modern sports-writer who launches smear campaigns against men more talented than him. There! Accessible. Check us out while simultaneously ordering a heaping dose of Sparkplug.Coffee. Multi-task, baby, you can do it!

The AFI shows us snippets of the Holocaust and the cruelty of Nazis in T100P #106. Especially Meryl Streep, but also Kevin Kline and...some other guy are pretty much the whole movie. AFI-worthy? Learn more! And for the first time in many months, we open the e-mailbag. Order up some beans from Sparkplug.Coffee, then dive into the "joy" of the Choice.

A recurring AFI theme---a character having to put on an act---is the main theme in T100P #105. Dustin Hoffman wears a wig & a dress, but does the comedy stick the way it did when Lemmon did it in Some Like It Hot? Does the whole movie even hold up over 30 years later? What about the sexual politics and feminist intentions? That + more, but only after you get your Sparkplug.Coffee!

The warmth and fun of recent Spielberg AFIers gives way to cold, futuristic sci-fi (and film noir) in this 104th edition of the T100P. Ridley Scott’s only AFI movie is Harrison Ford’s final one. They weren’t buddies after this experience, but not many collaborators were in love with Scott when the initially unsuccessful flick came out. Talk about staying power though. This is the epitome of influential. Get your Sparkplug.Coffee and then get your ears on!

The foreign botanist with healing powers is the star of our 103rd T100P ‘cast. This movie manipulates its audience in very eye-watering ways, complete with John Williams’ soaring music. Raiders was last week, so this is back-to-back Spielbergs…and it’s a kids movie. That can’t be good for Bev, right? Hit that play button to find out, but get some Sparkplug.Coffee too!

Our 102nd T100P podcast is one of the most enjoyable movies anybody has ever made. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and their star Harrison Ford redefined what action-adventure pictures could be. But wait! This director is not Bev’s buddy. She liked Jaws, CE3K not so much. Did she jibe with Steve’s 4th AFI movie? Buy some Sparkplug.Coffee, then find out!

We enter the ’80s on the T101P with the ferocious Scorsese/De Niro abusive boxer movie that’s considered one of the modern greats. We branch off into all sorts of different areas with this episode, including the oft-rough & bloody tribulations of the film’s makers. To get through this lengthy podcast, get you some Sparkplug.Coffee and then dive right in!

Our *ahem* wordiest podcast yet is #100 (!) on the T100P. This epic, messy freak-out war flick is the Jackson Pollock of movies. Coppola, Brando, Duvall and Sheen are all making their last AFI picture. Is it a great one...or the greatest one? (you can only say "great" or "greatest") For all its flaws, this remains a monster of a movie. Just don't watch Redux. Also, since this is the last film from the '70s, we gab about the decade. Hit Sparkplug.Coffee first, then get us going!

We sic T100P podcast #99 on you one week before America's Memorial Day. That's appropriate, even if there's much debate whether or not this movie is patriotic. It certainly covers all kinds of PTSD and the unending pain of war. In ego-driven director Michael Cimino's hands, Robert De Niro and the entire cast is sensational. Powerful stuff. Order up some Sparkplug Coffee and get into a memorable episode.

Or: alien invasion of the nice kind. Then again, are these aliens as benevolent as people think? We have theories. Spielberg's 2nd AFI movie makes for our 98th T100P podcast. Was this a worthy choice for the Institute to include on their list? Theories on that too! Check out ye ol' Sparkplug.Coffee, then tune us in for words about CE3K.

T100P podcast #97 is the little-seen, esoteric, under-appreciated Star Wars. Ha! Okay okay, who needs to be sold on this one? Love it or loathe it, you know all about it. So click the buttons to get some Sparkplug.Coffee and allow us to dissect the Wars.

Woody Allen's only AFI picture, great as it is, isn't even appreciated by its maker. We certainly dig it though. Rom-coms don't get much better. Podcast #96 covers all the Woody ground, including his controversial personal life. Score yourself some Sparkplug.Coffee and hear all about it.

Kevin Smith's breakout flick is the foul-mouthed subject of our 10th Not 100 Project podcast. Trevor Little chose Clerks after he won our "Pick Your Podcast" contest. Not surprisingly, Smith's name is mentioned far more often than his actors. Dude's an unlikely multi-media superstar. We also chat a little about one of Trevor's other faves, Super Troopers. Our longtime sponsor remains Sparkplug.Coffee.