Have You Ever Seen

All The King's Men is a political movie, so Ryan decided to get very political in this one-man show. In fact, warning: don't listen to the 650th edition of Have You Ever Seen if you're a Trump supporter...because he gets lambasted. As for the movie in question, it's a good one. A man who saw into the future, Robert Rossen, writes and directs a film that's effective at showing a cruel and corrupt g...

The Ellises have a next-day chat about the 97th Academy Awards in our 2025 Oscars Post-View. The year 2024 was not a banner 12 months for film, but, in the end, the voters pointed at independent film Anora the most often, giving it 5 trophies…including Best Picture. Sean Baker set a record by winning 4 Oscars (at least, in the types of categories in which he won), with 2 of those being for his scr...

One of the most-legendary filmmakers of all time only directed one movie to a Best Picture Oscar…and Rebecca was it. Alfred Hitchcock slickly portrays the brutal treatment of the victimized newlywed Joan Fontaine. She's a target for everyone in the film, especially a vicious housekeeper played by Judith Anderson and a neglectful and possibly homicidal husband played by Laurence Olivier. But did Hi...

Our 10th Annual Oscars Preview podcast is the 647th chat on Have You Ever Seen...and it's an in-depth look at the controversial 97th Academy Awards. First-time host Conan O'Brien will probably riff on the dirt, but also how this is one of those "who are you people" Oscars. Yeah, it just wasn't a terrific year for film and the nominations reflect that...particularly in major categories like Best Pi...

As you'll hear in this 646th dose of Have You Ever Seen, The Postman Always Rings Twice is thought of by many to be the epitome of film noir. Tay Garnett's sexy thriller based on James M Cain's book gives us passion, lust, deceit, betrayal and death, so it hits those vital marks to be a key part of this genre. Lana Turner is the lady in white who gets her employee John Garfield to kill for her. Sh...

Cinderella is on the shortlist for the most famous fairy tales of 'em all. And, after a rough stretch in the '40s, Walt Disney's genius animators beautifully adapted this legendary story to help bring the struggling studio back into the black. Trouble is, the cutesy mice sidekicks aren't nearly as funny as other Disney sidekicks were (or have been since) and some plot elements border on the stupid...

No one has to think Love Story is a good movie to acknowledge that it's a beloved romance that made an absolute killing at the box office 55 years ago. The AFI remembers Arthur Hiller's film fondly too. It's just that we Ellises aren't at all sorry to say that we aren't as enamored as millions of other people have been. It feels rushed and story beats aren't allowed to breathe, plus---Oscar nomina...

Witness is a tense thriller as much as it is a sweet love story, but Peter Weir's typically sensitive direction balances those elements very well. He also led Harrison Ford to his only Oscar nomination, which seems hard to believe for a guy who's been such a big movie star for such a long time. Lukas Haas plays a young Amish Pennsylvanian who witnesses a vicious murder in the washroom of a train s...

1950 was a year in which legendary classics like All About Eve and Sunset Blvd were released, but one of their competitors for the Best Picture Oscar was Vincente Minnelli's light comedy...which is itself a low-key classic. Father Of The Bride is well-written and it has more laughs than most movies that came out in that era, largely because Spencer Tracy knew how to be funny in a dignified way. He...

While Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass might be dated now, it was certainly controversial 15 years ago. It's jammed with violence and bad language...and many of those naughty words come out of the mouth of an 11-year-old girl. But it's also a story about a young nobody who becomes a star on social media and goes on to save his city from very bad guy. Take away that he DOES become a superhero and this mov...

Charlie Chaplin's The Kid represents the 3rd-oldest movie we've ever reviewed, but it continues to be an accessible story 104 years later. Chaplin adopts Jackie Coogan and they live a life of squalor---and also chicanery---but they ARE happy together. There's genuine affection between these two actors. Coogan's performance was a landmark for child actors while Chaplin was, as always, a comic virtu...

Grizzly Man represents Bev's 2nd movie of choice this month, a documentary about another documentarian as Werner Herzog looks into the troubled life of nature-crusader Timothy Treadwell. He would go into the Alaskan wilderness every summer (often with a girlfriend) and befriend bears, but his hubris and narcissism eventually led where it almost had to: him getting eaten by a hungry bear. His girlf...

This is the 3rd straight January in which Have You Ever Seen has talked about a Buster Keaton comedy classic. Reviews of most of the man's great silent films are now on this channel, including our podcast about The General that went up nearly 12 years ago. And if this incredible stuntman and stonefaced actor isn't a must-see for serious film buffs, then just who is? Although, while Steamboat Bill...

The 637th edition of Have You Ever Seen kicks off the 10th Annual Month O' Bev. Joel & Ethan Coen's True Grit was unusual for them, in that it was a blockbuster. It was also nominated for all kinds of awards, including 10 Oscars...something the brothers WERE used to. The cinematography, the production design and the florid language are standouts in this remake of the 1969 western. Jeff Bridges pla...

To wrap up the year, Have You Ever Seen episode #636 reviews our first Peter Sellers movie in over 10 years. He was flawlessly funny in Dr. Strangelove (which is the other film we reviewed) and he's note-perfect in Being There too. Hal Ashby had a very-underrated run of greatness in the '70s, directing powerful dramas like Coming Home, but also making truly funny-yet-cynical yuck-fests like Shampo...

"Dread" and "frantic" are key words when describing Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve's bleak (but excellent) thriller about how evil people can push others to the darkest of dark sides. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal headline a strong cast. In fact, there are marvelous performances throughout this intense and disturbing drama. Aaron Guzikowski's intricate screenplay is a real highlight here, but Pris...

Surprise...it's a bonus episode! Have You Ever Seen #634 is another Ryan solo show. And in it, the monologue is about baseball players, journalists and a lot of liars. Meet John Doe's climax also takes place on Christmas Eve, so Frank Capra's rabble-rouser is timely in that way. It's unfortunate his speech-filled dramedy isn't funnier though, even if it's certainly inspirational. Gary Cooper plays...

With Christmas just a few days away, the 633rd episode on this Have You Ever Seen channel is the right time to talk about one of the funniest holiday movies. The Santa Clause is not just a consistent laugh-getter. It's also touching...and those are 2 good reasons the flick has been so rewatchable. Tim Allen made his film debut in John Pasquin's blockbuster and it's like we said about Galaxy Quest:...

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were at the height of their careers when they jumped at the chance to work with the great Stanley Kubrick. He hadn't directed a movie in 12 years, then he died before Eyes Wide Shut was even released...so it turned out to be his final film. And it's a long, complex film, which Kubrick took over a year to shoot. It's a sex movie that isn't very sexy...but was that inten...

Billy Crystal was on a big hot streak in the late '80s and early '90s, topped by this comedy-western blockbuster. Ron Underwood directed City Slickers and did a terrific job balancing the laughs with all the mid-life crises of the 3 main characters. It's a comedy with some sting. What this film does best is connect with middle-aged men who are going through the things that Crystal, Bruno Kirby and...

Bev is off for this 630th edition of Have You Ever Seen, so Ryan is in monologue mode talking about The Polar Express. The turn of the century saw Robert Zemeckis direct 3 consecutive motion-capture animated films (2 of which are Christmas movies), which were expensive and, to many viewers, very off-putting with that "uncanny valley" quality of the character's faces. Tom Hanks wore the tight suit...

Danny DeVito has done all manner of laughter, seriousness and biopics for going on 50 years. When he directs movies though, they tend to be dark comedies. Pitch black. Case in point, the often-meanspirited War Of The Roses, which is his best and funniest film. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner are just about at their career best as the (title) hateful married couple. They're rich yuppies, who ha...

The 628th edition of Have You Ever Seen has Ryan doing a monologue about The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. William Dieterle directs this adaptation of Victor Hugo's tragic novel as a strange love triangle, with both Cedric Hardwicke's Frollo and Charles Laughton's Quasimodo falling hard for Maureen O'Hara's Esmeralda. Perc Westmore's makeup and many other technical aspects of this production are quite...

Bob Fosse's autobiographical musical about how he makes art until he dies is all about a guy who's doing too much and can't cope, yet he's compelled to never stop working. Name an addiction and he's got it. Yet his 8 1/2-esque story---with Roy Scheider playing a heightened version of his director---is a potent one, with all its flashy editing, production design and terrific choreography. We weren'...

Sometimes we turn into a fanboy and a fangirl for an entire episode...and this is one of those times. Have You Ever Seen #626 has us absolutely loving Galaxy Quest, which is director Dean Parisot's best film and it's also probably the best-ever Star Trek movie. All the characters get terrific arcs, but particularly Tim Allen as the arrogant commander. As great as he is in the leading role, Sigourn...