Let's Finally Watch This
A podcast for casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies. Hosts Nick Hayden and Timothy Deal guide you through film history as they highlight one movie from each decade for the last century, exploring how each film sits in its time period, why it's well-known, and whether it's actually worth your time. We're finally getting around to movies we've always heard about. Why don't you join us?
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 41 minutes
- Episodes
- 40
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Episode 18 – The Sting (1973)
It's 1973. We're in the middle of the New Hollywood era, when movies tended to be more uncoventional and often darker. However, some movies are still all-around fun. The Sting, an Academy Award-winni…
Episode 17 – 8½ (1963)
It's 1963. We're crossing the Atlantic to visit Italy, a preeminent filmmaking country. In the 1950s-60s, Italian film was largely known for Commedia all’Italiana (“Comedy in the Italian way”), spagh…
Episode 16 – Shane (1953)
It's 1953. We're in the middle of the Golden Age of Hollywood; we're also in the pinnacle decades of the western, a truly American plot. Westerns have been around almost as long as movies (see The Gr…
Episode 15 – Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
It's 1943. World War 2 is raging, and nearly all the movies are war-related in some way. Into this comes a story of evil visiting idyllic small-town America. The director is the master of suspense, A…
Episode 14 – 42nd Street (1933)
It's 1933. It's the Depression, and audiences want movies that don't sugarcoat the truth, but they want escapism too. That means it's time for a new type of musical. Hollywood released more than 100 …
Episode 13 – The Ten Commandments (1923)
It's 1923. The building blocks of classic Hollywood are coming together and the people are enjoying silent movies in their movie palaces in the years following the Great War. Director Cecil B. DeMill…
Episode 12 – Mabel’s New Hero (1913)
It’s 1913. The movie industry is starting to move from the East Coast out west, and nickelodeons are a growing staple of American society. Out of those burgeoning years of the movie industry and newl…
Episode 11 – The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Welcome to season 2 of Let's Finally Watch This, a podcast for casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies. Once again we're traveling through the century, highlighting one movie …
Let’s Finally Watch This: Season 1 Wrap-Up
It's the end of Season 1. It's been a trip. Now it's time to look back at the constants and changes that accompanied a century of film. We'll also give our own Ranking of Essentialness for this seaso…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 10 – Life of Pi (2012)
It's 2012. Movies are experimenting with 3-D and Blu-ray is making inroads. This movie, considered a prime example of good 3-D storytelling, follows Pi, an Indian man whose story will, according to s…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 9 – Gangs of New York (2002)
It's 2002. Sequels and franchises are everywhere, and digital filmmaking is just beginning. This movie, however, is the exception that proves the rule. Gangs of New York, directed by Marin Scorsese, …
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 8 – Unforgiven (1992)
It's 1992. The Age of Blockbusters continues, but a wide assortment of genres are making their way to the box office. New independent filmmakers are up and coming. This movie, Unforgiven, is a revisi…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 7 – Blade Runner (1982)
It's 1982. The era of blockbusters is upon us, movie technology is changing, and science fiction is popular. Into this mix comes Blade Runner, a visually groundbreaking sci-fi/noir set in far-off fut…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 6 – The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
It's 1972. "New Hollywood" is in full swing with its loosening moral standards, greater artistic freedom, and more ambiguous endings. But it's also an era of disaster movies, with this episode's movi…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 5 – Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
It's 1962. We're in early "New Hollywood Era," when movies begin to lean into more complex themes and ambiguity. This episode's movie is Lawrence of Arabia, an epic historical drama about British off…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 4 – Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
It's 1952. TV is competing with movies, so movies are going color and going for spectacle. This episode's movie is Singin' in the Rain, a musical full of romance, comedy, and charm starring Gene Kell…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 3 – The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
It's 1942. World War II looms large on the American mind--but not in this movie. This episode's movie is The Magnificent Ambersons, a family drama about changing times directed by Orson Welles.
Wh…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 2 – Horse Feathers (1932)
It's 1932. Silent films are out. Talkies are in. This episode's movie is Horse Feathers, a Marx Brothers comedy (ostensibly) about a college president trying to recruit football players for the big g…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 1 – Nosferatu (1922)
It's 1922. It's the era of silent films, and our first classic movie of the century is Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, a early (and unofficial) Dracula film directed by F. W. Murnau.
What Nosfe…
Let’s Finally Watch This: Episode 0 – A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Welcome to the test episode for Let's Finally Watch This, a podcast for casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies.
In this limited, 10-episode season, we'll take you through …