The Movies of Happenstance

The Movies of Happenstance

In season 1 we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the movies of 1999, reckoned by many to be the greatest year of movies of all time. In season 2 we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the movies of 1985, watching movies that we missed in our youth. Now, in season 3 onwards, we're celebrating undiscovered gems, by mining the Letterboxd archives for forgotten classics!

Episodes

May 31, 2026 52 mins

This month Jason Hutchens watches films from 1990 that he's never seen before, using Letterboxd ratings to uncover hidden gems.

This month's selection is:

  • State of Grace (Phil Joanou, USA)
  • Miller's Crossing (Joel and Ethan Coen, USA)
  • Bullet in the Head (John Woo, Hong Kong)
  • The Match Factory Girl (Aki Kaurismäki, Finland)
  • Ju Dou (Zhang Yimou, China)
  • Jacob's Ladder (Adrian Lyne, USA)
  • King of New York (Abel Ferrara, USA)
  • Twiligh...
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This month Jason Hutchens watches films from 1985 that he's never seen before, using Letterboxd ratings to uncover hidden gems. This month's selection is:

  • Come and See (Elem Klimov, USSR)
  • The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan)
  • The Official Story (Luis Puenzo, Argentina)
  • A Zed & Two Noughts (Peter Greenaway, UK)
  • O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (Piotr Szulkin, Poland)
  • The Black Cannon Incident (Hu...
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March 31, 2026 85 mins

This month Jason Hutchens watches films from 1980 that he's never seen before, using Letterboxd ratings to uncover hidden gems. This month's selection is:

  • The Stunt Man (Richard Rush, USA) 
  • Out of the Blue (Dennis Hopper, USA)
  • Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, USA)
  • City of Women (Federico Fellini, Italy)
  • Night of the Juggler (Robert Butler, USA)
  • Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (Tsui Hark, Hong Kong)
  • The Long Good Friday (Jo...
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February 28, 2026 63 mins

Jason Hutchens explores films from 1975 using Letterboxd ratings, jumping five years each month to trace movie trends and cultural shifts. He sets the scene with the era's music, politics and Hollywood changes before hunting for lesser-known favourites. The movies this week are:

  • Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, USA)
  • Mirror (Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR)
  • Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, Belgium)
  • ...
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January 31, 2026 117 mins

In this episode Jason launches Season 3 by exploring the movies of 1970. After setting the scene with seven era-defining songs and a brief cultural roundup (Apollo 13, Kent State, music and technology), he explains a new monthly approach: by browsing a list of all 1970 movies on Letterboxd he discovers eight movies from 1970 that he has never seen, or even heard of, to watch and review. The movies are:

  • Investigation of a Citiz...
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December 30, 2025 33 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #50, which was The Goonies. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind! Seriously!

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December 23, 2025 28 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #42, which was Hail Mary. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind! Seriously!

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December 16, 2025 28 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #29, which was Lifeforce. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind! Seriously!

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December 9, 2025 25 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #49, which was Runaway Train. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind! Seriously!

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December 3, 2025 34 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #6, which was Bliss. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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November 29, 2025 33 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #39, which was Back to the Future. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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November 22, 2025 27 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #7, which was Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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November 18, 2025 27 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #23, which was Echo Park. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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November 4, 2025 23 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #2, which was Real Genius. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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October 30, 2025 22 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #25, which was Sweet Dreams. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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October 22, 2025 32 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #31, which was Better Off Dead. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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October 15, 2025 33 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #14, which was Vagabond. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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October 7, 2025 35 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #8, which was Jagged Edge. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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October 1, 2025 29 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #35, which was Fletch. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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September 23, 2025 37 mins

This week the bingo machine selected #4, which was Subway. Listen to hear what we thought about it, along with news from this week in 1985. You can see the list of movies we've watched so far, and join our Discord server to chat about them. You can also access all of our previous episodes (include those of season 1, where we watched the movies of 1999). And don't forget to rewind!

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