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 madness that defined Woodstock 99.
The Woodstock that was just so great that it convinced everybody to never Woodstock again, 1999's 30th anniversary festival (inspired by the relative success of the 25th anniversary Woodstock 94) was...a lot of things. But mostly it was an epic disaster that somehow managed to take bad situations and terrible ideas and make them much worse.
What went wrong?? Well, aside from everything, John and Dan explore some of the specific problems that sent Woodstock 99 into a fiery tailspin, and discuss why this is such and important milestone in how our culture got to where it is today.
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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 Muppet writer Jerry Juhl alongside Joey Mazzarino and Ken Kaufman, Muppets From Space was the third of the 1990s cinematic Muppet revival (following Christmas Carol and Treasure Island)
Unlike the two other films released that year, Muppets From Space was an attempt to get back to basics - less music and more mayhem, and not an adaptation of a classic literary work.
The results, however, fell flat, and the Muppets would not get another theatrical release for more than a decade.
This week, John and Julia talk to author and Muppet fan Ethan Warren about what went wrong and what the future of the Muppets might be.
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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 film, both overall and in as many years following the Vince Gilligan-penned Home Fries with Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson in 1998, from accomplished television director Dean Parisot, and witten by David Howard and Rob Gordon, Galaxy Quest stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Enrico Colantoni, Tony Shaloub, Sam Rockwell, Darryl Chill Mitchell, Robin Sachs, Patrick Breen, Missy Pyle, Jeb Rees, and Rain Wilson and Justin Long in their film debuts.
Galaxy Quest has gone on to become one of the great cult films (and most enduring comedies) ever. So we invited culture writer Annie Berke to see how it holds up a quarter century later.
Oh, and we basically write the sequel!
Annie is on Bluesky @sayanniething
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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 Crichton (who also took over to direct several scenes), The 13th Warrior stars Antonio Banderas, Vladimir Kulich, Dennis Storhoi, Diane Venora, Richard Bremmer, Tony Curran, and Omar Sharif
It took two decades to finally get Crichton’s reimagining of "Beowulf" to the screen, and the film is best remembered as a fascinating failure – a $160 million epic that earned about $100 million shy of that globally, making it the biggest flop of the year.
But over the years The 13th Warrior has achieved cult status, with many defenders arguing that, while imperfect, what actually winds up on the screen is still very worthwhile.
We took that theory to task with writer/critic Peter Raleigh, who you can find on Bluesky at @petreraleigh
You can also listen to Graeme Revell's vastly superior original score to The 13th Warrior here, thanks to YouTube user deavonw: The 13th Warrior (Rejected Score)
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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, 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 Jay Roach and written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers, The Spy Who Shagged Me saw Heather Graham stepping in to the Powers Girl role, replacing Elizabeth Hurley. The hugely anticipated and hyped sequel to the 1997 original, the movie came in with sky high expectations.
The results were, well...mixed.
But there's no question that Austin Powers was a huge cultural milestone, so we wanted to see how it held up.
Helping us get the summer off to the most shagadelic start possible is actor, writer, podcaster, and activist Siri Dahl!
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!
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