Have You Ever Seen

MIB International comes out June 14th, so our Next 152 Project basks in some of that hype by jamming about the sci-fi/comedy blockbuster that started this oft-crappy (and oft-gooey) franchise. The original flick is still really funny with Will Smith's charisma, Tommy Lee Jones' deadpan stoicism and Vincent D'Onofrio's  buglike commitment bouncing beautifully off each other. The makeup, the F/X, Eg...

So Ferris Bueller plays  White Saviour  to a bunch of courageous, black, Civil War soldiers in the Next 151 Project. And, against the odds, it really works. This remains a powerful film 30 years on, especially when the focus shifts (at least somewhat) from  Matthew Broderick  to  Denzel Washington ,  Morgan Freeman  and friends. Broderick (and the man he portrays, Colonel Shaw) might be in over hi...

It's the return of the Now Playing Project! Horror flick Brightburn (aka A-Hole Superman) opens this weekend and Ryan decided to *gasp* pay money to see it on Friday afternoon. It's the new age of horror, man. You gotta support these creative ventures. This is a solo review. No Bev or Chris in this one. Oh, and there are huge spoilers in this episode, pretty much from the start. Also, Ryan gives y...

This marks 150 Next 100 Project podcasts (go figure on that numbering) and we get to rat-a-tat about the most sexually liberated musical of all time.  Tim Curry  is delicious in his best role (it's also his first role) while  Susan Sarandon  &  Barry Bostwick  are…fine. Director  Jim Sharman  and writer  Richard O'Brien  created a cultural touchstone with this cult blockbuster, which is still show...

Here come Hanks and Hannah in our Next 149 Project as we lip-wag about a fruit merchant falling in love with a mythical fish-babe. How can anyone not love this rom-com to the ends of the Earth? Well....we didn't. Splash was one of Bev's favourites as a kid, but now she has issues with Allen's attitude and we both wish the movie had been funnier. Hannah is perfectly cast though and there's definite...

We're gandering at our first Jimmy Cagney picture in almost 6 years…and what a hard left turn from his patriotic musical Yankee Doodle Dandy .  The Next 148 Project digs into the vicious 70-year-old crime flick where Cagney is unhinged and might even be over-acting, but in the right way. A great way. The supporting cast is solid too (including  Virginia Mayo  and  Edmond O'Brien ), but this flick...

Easter is coming, so it's time to cover a religious movie for the Next 147 Project. Catholic foul-mouth  Kevin Smith  bites off a lot more in this one than he ever had before, but he still manages to jam in a lot of jokes…often extraordinarily crass ones. As for the acting,  Alan Rickman  and  Chris Rock  shine.  Jason Mewes  does too, even though he is the king of those sex-obsessed, crass jokes....

Bev was not as gunned about the topic of our 146th Next 100 Project podcast as most critics (and a lot of  film people ) seem to be. That's a slight surprise because she's loved westerns way more often than not.  Howard Hawks'  lackadaisical pace fits the tone of "The Dude Redemption" because some of the best scenes aren't really about anything. It's mostly a "hang out" movie. The romance is a flo...

The Next 145 Project takes us into the world of pretty & popular teenagers in sun-filled Beverly Hills.  Amy Heckerling's  flick isn't all that deep, but  Alicia Silverstone's  big-hearted Cupid—wait, make that  Cher —has a lot more going on in that beautiful head than first meets the peepers. However, the romance between step-siblings Silverstone &  Paul Rudd  is HIGHLY questionable and the satir...

Today is our 6th anniversary, so yay for that, but also yay for one of the most influential, cool, wire-fu, sci-fi thrillers of all time. It's the ultimate Jeopardy question: "what is The Matrix?" The Next 144 Project spends nearly an hour digging into that (a movie that Bev thinks could have been called "The Exposition"), with its main plot point being a dude (not a damsel) in distress. Also, we...

Pop your Queen tape into the deck and dial up the Next 143 Project to hear us having a ball with this very worthy comedy.  Mike Myers  and  Dana Carvey made Wayne & Garth famous on  Saturday Night Live  first, but this big-screen blockbuster made them legends. Myers made director  Penelope Spheeris  want to hurl on many occasions and some of the gags in their movie are rather quaint now. Still, al...

Let's chase an awesome sword all over the Far East's countryside as the Next 142 Project peeks at a picture about tigers and/or dragons who are crouching and/or hidden. Ang Lee's wire-fu love story still packs a clanging wallop, emotionally and certainly viscerally.  Chow Yun-Fat , Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi are all immensely talented stunt-people, as well as being pretty solid at the emoting th...

The ultimate in gimmicky puzzle films (in a year that was filled with them) provides our juicy topic for the Next 141 Project.  Guy Pearce  plays one of the most unreliable narrators in film history and we speculate if he actually has "selective memory syndrome", rather than bonafide Anterograde Amnesia. Bev has strong feelings about who the real villain of  Christopher Nolan's Memory Movie is and...

Bonus episode! For the first time ever, we've got a timely review of the Oscars and our thoughts about the winners and losers, not just a preview show the week before. Find out what we liked and what we loathed about the big broadcast yesterday. Coming in August: a review of Green Book. Twit us: @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis

Ah, that virtue of ignorance. It's just so unexpected. So cue the drummer and turn  Michael Keaton  loose as the Next 140 Project jumps deep into the Best Picture of 2014. We're not sure this was the right choice for the Academy's highest honour in what was a dynamite year at the movies, but we still enjoyed this funny & weird Broadway offering from  Alejandro G. Inarritu . There are some problema...

Awards Season is almost at an end, so it's high time for the Next 139 Project to talk about the terrific movie year that it was in 2018. Strangely, though, many of the Oscar nominees aren't so terrific, especially about half of the 8 Best Picture nominees. They had "won me over" qualities, but that doesn't make them all that good. We started this episode with an analysis of the history of women ho...

There's no point in pussy-footing around it. We think Driving Miss Daisy is cutesy crap. The Next 138 Project delves deep into this poor choice for the Academy's Best Picture of 1989 as we analyze the  Jessica Tandy /  Morgan Freeman  relationship. She's a cast-iron jerk and he's a paper-thin Uncle Tom. The actors do the best they can with these clumsy characters, but this film that thinks it's be...

Addict yourself to war and to the Next 137 Project by defusing bombs in Baghdad and by listening to us talk about that dicey topic. The huge Oscar success of 10 years ago might be the best picture ever made about the Iraq War and it even upset the mega-hit  Avatar  at the Academy Awards, so there's that. The movie has also lost some zing in the past decade. One Ellis has antipathy to it and especi...

Hail, the Next 136 Project! Hail! We've got a super-duper-sized episode this week, one that takes us into the shattered heart of a family in demonic crisis. This is another insta-classic frightfest in this New Age Of Horror. So many modern scary movies—Hereditary might be the pinnacle of this—have more subtext than text, more atmosphere than the planet and more great performances than this genre i...

Activate Joey mode! The Next 135 Project takes us to Tinytown Indiana as we delve into what makes a staggeringly good man return to his vicious mobster roots.  Viggo Mortensen  was just hitting his stride at this point in his career (as he was nearing 50 years old) and he leads a terrific cast.  Maria Bello ,  Ed Harris and  William Hurt  are all right on point.  David Cronenberg's  pictures can b...

The 30-year-old satire about high-school bullying is our 134th Next 100 Project episode as we begin the 4th Annual Month O' Bev. A very young  Winona Ryder  is impressively self-possessed in one of her many stand-out performances. Her co-stars (including  Christian Slater , in a break-out piece of Nicholson-esque work of his own) all do fine too, but this picture never really comes together…for on...

Joyous Christmas Eve and such from the Elliseseseses as we explore  Will Ferrell  with his comedy phasers set on hilarious in this Next 133 Project podcast. This is a textbook example of an actor doing great work in a role that few others could even play at all. Despite some third-act problems and a miscast (and possibly disinterested)  James Caan , Elf is a true Christmas classic. It's sweet, con...

It's the one about Sharry Bobbins! The Next 132 Project gets into all of our complaints about this over-long and plot-flimsy Disney favourite. We just don't have the same enthusiasm critics and crowds do. You can't argue though that it's a beloved musical with top-shelf songs and a lovely debut performance by  Julie Andrews . Bev has thoughts about how this movie commits the sin of crossing class...

With this 131st Next 100 Project episode, we dig into what at least one of us thinks is  Sam Raimi's  best work.  Bill Paxton  was never better and  Billy Bob Thornton  &  Bridget Fonda  are terrific too in this "what would you do?" movie. These immensely relatable characters are doomed from the start by a twist of fate and  Scott Smith's  tight screenplay makes all the ensuing darkness seem so lo...

The Next 130 Project takes us back to post-WWII Italy as we gaze at director Vittorio De Sica's piece de resistance. The amateur actors ( Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiola ) are just as good as any longtime pros. Good God, their well-earned pathos! We're treated to many shades of emotion (desperation, shame, loyalty and love) as our heroes battle to maintain their dignity...always dignity. The...