Have You Ever Seen

While America is yet again fighting a war in the Middle East, I end Oscar Month by getting into the doin's of a legit WWI hero in Howard Hawks' Sergeant York. Gary Cooper plays the real-life hero, a dirt-poor man from the Tennessee mountains who's forced the join the army (mother), even though he's ag'in killin'. But when the chips are down, he's courageous and talented enough to kill a lot of Germans! America's entry into WWII helped make this the #1 hit of 1941. It also led to an Oscar for Super Duper Cooper, even though he often comes across as fake when talking like the real Alvin no doubt talked. But Mr. Stiff's conversion from no-goodnik to Bible lover to German killer (and his romance with a very young Joan Leslie) IS heartfelt. Plus, the great Hawks was almost incapable of making an unwatchable movie. So whet your sights when they force you to be a doughboy while you also cue up the 729th episode of Have You Ever Seen. Subscribe to this channel in your podcast app. Review it, rate it...and hunt me down on Letterboxd too (RyanHYES). Contact options are: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com via email, ryan-ellis on Bluesky and @moviefiend51 on the tweet machine.

Dodsworth is the feature attraction in this 728th talk on Have You Ever Seen, but then there was an unexpected 2nd review in this episode. I spent 10 or 12 minutes on the George Arliss 1929 Oscar-winner, Disraeli…the one about the late-1800s British Prime Minister's quest to buy the Suez Canel. As for Dodsworth, we've got another winner from William Wyler, who directs Walter Huston & Ruth Chatterton as a middle-aged couple who just aren't clicking anymore. He retires and they vacation in Europe, but that love just might be gone. So ditch Zenith for exotic European locales (or maybe even for Egypt) as I present monologues about Dodsworth and Disraeli. Well, Actually: just to be clear, an actor CAN get nominated for Oscars in the leading AND supporting categories in the modern era (as Al Pacino, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx have), but can't get 2 noms in the same category the way Arliss did back when Disraeli was made. Subscribe to the channel in your app. Rate the show and write a review as well. And search me out on Letterboxd for the occasional written review (RyanHYES). Feedback is appreciated. Hit me with a tweet (@moviefiend51), a comment on Bluesky (ryan-ellis) or an email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com).

In what will become a trend for at least the next little while, I've got 2 reviews in one episode here in podcast #727. First, I detail my favourite moments, lines and scenes in Wolfgang Petersen's In The Line Of Fire. John Malkovich has rarely been in better form as the villain and Clint Eastwood has never been funnier or more charming as the hero. Malkovich wants to assassinate the president and Secret Service man Clint is determined to stop him. Then Best Picture winner of 1931, Wesley Ruggles' Cimarron, gets more of my usual beat-by-beat analysis. It's a western about a successful newspaperman and lawyer (Richard Dix) who has wanderlust...and his racist wife (Irene Dunne) who evolves on that issue and becomes a leader in the town. So rendezvous with my, uh, show about both In The Line Of Fire and Cimarron. Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen, but how about also jotting down a review? You can rate the show too (5 stars!). And click over to Letterboxd to look at my written reviews: RyanHYES. Email me your OWN thoughts about various great movies (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). That or follow me on Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and/or Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

Sinners and One Battle After Another finally got to lock up on the biggest awards stage there is...and they both got plenty of gold. PTA won 3 trophies and his One Battle got the top Oscars (Picture and Director, plus 4 others), but the record-breaking Sinners (nominees-wise, at least) saw Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan honoured for writing and acting. This 726th edition of Have You Ever Seen breaks down every single winner of every single award, has a few thoughts about the night's politics (it was a LITTLE more finger-pointing than it has been in other recent years) and we had that long, but necessary tribute to the many people who died. Conan hosted the show again (pretty fun times again) and Ryan is your host of the 2026 Oscars Post-View. Subscribe, rate and review this podcast. Hunt me down on Letterboxd too: RyanHYES. Social media: "@moviefiend51" and Twi-X and "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky. The email is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com".

One day after the 2026 Academy Awards and right smack in the middle of Oscar Month is the one that won its own 4 trophies 25 years ago. A Beautiful Mind is a touching love story about a real-life paranoid schizophrenic: Nobel-Prize winner John Nash (and his put-upon wife Alicia). Ron Howard & his team play fast and very loose with the facts, including how Nash's condition manifested AND casting Jennifer Connelly as Nash's Hispanic wife. Still, though, Russell Crowe is dynamite as our main man and the supporting performances by Ed Harris, Paul Bettany & Christopher Plummer are terrific. And Howard does well to make a movie about math, but doesn't overload us with it. So laugh at yourself and also about the need for fluid exchange while trying to tune out the voices in your head as this 725th edition of Have You Ever Seen jabbers about A Beautiful Mind. Note: the second movie in the episode on March 23rd will actually be Cimarron, not Dodsworth (which I'll cover on March 27th instead). Don't worry about the Red Scare or those sneaky Communists. Just calmly share your opinion about this movie (and others) with an email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com) or a tweet (@moviefiend51) or a Sky (ryan-ellis). Subscribe to this channel and you won't miss one of those patented extra Friday shows (or the Oscars Post-View probably coming later today), then dash off a review and a rating in your app.

The 98th Academy Awards are finally less than a week away, so I've got an in-depth analysis of the major nominees. It's more wide open than it's been in a very long time, with seemingly only PTA (Best Director), Jessie Buckley (Best Actress) and a few of the technical awards feeling like they're locks. And maybe THEY aren't either! It wasn't an incredible year at the movies, yet these are mostly good candidates. Although much like last year, the Academy seemed to nominate just 6 or 8 movies in nearly every category! In any case, the race between One Battle After Another and Sinners (with its record-breaking number of nominations) will be settled on the 15th, so find out where I stand before we get there this 724th edition of Have you Ever Seen. Well, Actually: oops, it's pronounced "Yo-kim" Trier and "Vog-nuhr" Moura...and Moura plays THREE roles in The Secret Agent, not just two. Also, this was recorded before the WGA awards (Sinners and One Battle After Another both won) and, yes, the SAG wins for Michael B. Jordan and Amy Madigan DO feel like potential up-enders in the Oscar races.  Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app. Rate and review the podcast as well. And if you like what I do here, look for my written reviews and ratings and such on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Deal out some feedback on social media ("@moviefiend51" on Twi-X or "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky) and emails are always nice (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com).

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is Movie #2 in this 11th Annual Oscar Month. It's the rare film that won awards for the screenplay AND the story. Alexander Hall does a pretty good job directing his cast through a creative, body-jumping fantasy about the afterlife, angels and soul reincarnation. This is the first time Robert Montgomery has been featured on Have You Ever Seen...and him playing a goofy palooka was not his usual assignment. He's effective though. Claude Rains gets to play ethereal...which is appropriate for a "seen it all" angel. Evelyn Keyes is Montgomery's love interest and James Gleason is his put-upon boxing manager, whose protege keeps turning up in new bodies. The concept is clever...and it's even a little touching. It's just not very funny. Anyway, launch into this 723rd podcast as I run my mouth about Here Comes. Mr. Jordan. Take a second to subscribe to the channel and never miss one of these Friday episodes. Rate and review the show in your app as well. Seek me out on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Say your piece with an email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. Hit me with some tweets (@moviefiend51) or some Skys (ryan-ellis).

Betting on everything is common these days, yet somehow Around The World In Eighty Days isn't on everyone's lips in 2026. And...it shouldn't be. You really feel that 3 hours. Michael Anderson's adventure comedy has posh David Niven circumnavigating the globe with his man-of-action valet, Cantinflas, and they have to do it in the title deadline...while being pursued by a man from Scotland Yard, who thinks he robbed a bank to fund this trip. Producer Mike Todd seemed to will this film into being finished...and then turned it into an award-winning blockbuster, helped immensely by a staggering amount of star cameos. Well, "famous" at the time. And there's young Shirley MacLaine too! So plop this 722nd edition of Have You Ever Seen right onto your device as I analyze Around The World In Eighty Days. Well, Actually: I said it all sorts of ways in this episode, but the editor, Gene Ruggiero's name should be pronounced "rouge-ee-air-oh". Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app. Rate and review the show too. And look for my scribblings on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Get in touch! Try email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

The final podcast on Have You Ever Seen in Black History Month talks for the 4th time about a movie with a primarily black cast. Otto Preminger often directed Issues Movies and here he's dealing with the Gershwin opera that's all about murder, rape, drug addiction, fishing and poverty…with some racism thrown in there too. Porgy And Bess is set-bound and melodramatic though. Bad print aside, the story and the execution often feel phony. The actors DO sell the passion better than the script or maybe even the original opera does. Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll and Sammy Davis Jr. actually do a terrific job with this not-always-effective material. So tune in for this 721st episode as I tackle yet another musical here in 2026: Porgy And Bess. Well, Actually: George Gershwin DID write the song "Summertime" for the 1935 opera, but DuBose Heyward came up with the lyrics. Also, for those interested in my quest to see absolutely, positively everything AFI-related, there are developments on that front (other nominated films on various lists) that will be discussed in future shows. Subscribe to the channel in your podcasting app. Rate the show with a delightful 5 stars, but also write a little complimentary review. And on the note of reviews, I talk about various flicks on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Contacting suggestions: email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

As February winds down, I spend a lot of time in this 'un talking about 2 versions of Camille where a courtesan's life is ending because of tuberculosis. The main thrust of this 720th episode is George Cukor's take with Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor, then I zipped through a review of the 1921 Camille with Alla Nazimova and Rudolph Valentino. They're both weeper love stories where the men won't take "no" for an answer from the "lady of the Camellias". One of these is better than the other, but..which one?! So grip the love of your life hard by the shoulders and continue to be handsomely poor as my latest dose of Have You Ever Seen has plenty to say about Garbo et al in Camille(s). Well, Actually: Luise Rainer won Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld the year before, while the Oscar win in 1937 was for The Good Earth. Also, Garbo was 5th (not 4th) on the ladies' side of the Top 100 Stars list. Also also, Garbo's co-star in Ninotchka was Melvyn Douglas, not William Powell. Subscribe to this channel in your app, but also look for my written reviews and ratings on Letterboxd (RyanHYES). Speaking of ratings and review-writing, I'd love it if you would do that for me. Contacting me can be done in 3 easy ways...email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

Black History Month has inspired me to cover 3 (of what will be 4) race-related movies in February, but Pinky is the most overt about that charged topic. Ethel Waters has a key role as Jeanne Crain's granny in Elia Kazan's complicated movie...while Crain plays a mixed-race woman who passes for white, dealing with mean-spirited racism in the south while her boyfriend just wants her to go back up north and be white. Pinky turns into a courtroom movie after the dying Ethel Barrymore's racist rich neighbour decides to leave her house to her nurse (Crain)...and the will ends up being contested. I also spent some time talking earnestly about the evolution of race and racism...and about my own history with it. So don't let me guilt you into doing something you don't want to do. Except I'll collapse and probably DIE if you don't put your ears to the 719th ep on Have You Ever Seen. (now THAT's guilt!) Well, Actually: the line about "sometimes when you win, you actually lose" is of course not from When Harry Met Sally...it's from White Men Can't Jump. Also, Kazan was nominated 5 times for Best Director, not 6. Become a subscriber to the channel and help the podcast grow. Rate and review the show as well. And hunt me down on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. The email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". The Twitter handle is "@moviefiend51". And the Bluesky nickname is "ryan-ellis".

Presidents' Day? Bah! Let's talk about a movie a certain POTUS would NEVER watch. Stormy Weather is a somewhat biographical musical about the life of dancing legend Bill Robinson...with Lena Horne, Dooley Wilson, Fats Waller & Cab Calloway sharing the screen with Bojangles. Black people dominate director Andrew Stone's canvas, even though race isn't really the point here. Stormy Weather is just about talented people (including The Nicholas Brothers) singing, dancing and being talented. Fun times, good movie. So download the 718th episode of Have You Ever Seen to get the lowdown from this white Canadian. Subscribe to the show in your app. Rate it. Review it too. And look up my written reviews on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Contact options are "@moviefiend51" and "ryan-ellis" on Twi-X and Bluesky, while my email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com".

There's no better way to celebrate both Valentine's Day AND also my birthday than by talking about Hell Or High Water! David Mackenzie's layered Robin Hood-esque modern western was my #1 movie of 2016, partly because entire cast is fantastic. Jeff Bridges was nominated for his supporting work, but Ben Foster is even better. And Taylor Sheridan's Texas-set story they're all in is complex because we're rooting for guys who rob banks…and yet everyone other than the retiring Texas Ranger throw their chips in with the thieves Foster and Chris Pine. I also spent a lot of time in this rehashing the infamous 2016 Oscars, but for GOOD reasons. So what DON'T you want, little brother, as I foot my hat to present the 717th edition of Have You Ever Seen. Make this podcast a weekly goal by subscribing…and you'll even get 2 shows more often than not in a given week. Rate and review the show in your app as well. And look for me on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Contact options: "@moviefiend51" on Twi-X, "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky and haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com as an email.

I'd like to know what's buzzin', cousins, as I bring you the 716th podcast on Have You Ever Seen. Preston Sturges was making a lot of hay in the early '40s, releasing The Lady Eve AND Sullivan's Travels the year before The Palm Beach Story came out. Palm Beach isn't as classic or as funny as THOSE two are, but it's an effectively zany, fast-talkin' rom-com. Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea make for a compelling married NYC couple. She tries to divorce him (you'll never guess where), so she can marry a rich man like Rudy Vallee...and then help her ex out by getting him some money out of the deal. If you think THAT'S whacky, wait until the out-of-deep-left-field ending! But The Palm Beach Story IS a fun time and I've got all kinds of stories to tell about it. Subscribe to this channel and you'll never miss an episode. I'm doing more shows lately...and posting on various days of the week. Rate and review the podcast in your app too. Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. Twi-X: @moviefiend51. And Bluesky: ryan-ellis.

After yesterday's episode about the unchosen 450 actors & actresses who were in fact nominated for the AFI's Top 100 Stars list, now it's time to begin a quest. I will review the films of MANY of the 180-ish folks who this podcast has never discussed. And since Eddie Cantor, Ann Sothern, George Murphy & the Nicholas Brothers are in Kid Millions and the Three Stooges are in Soup To Nuts, I'm knocking 5 names off the "must-cover" list in 1 double episode! This 715th show on Have You Ever Seen digs into the musical-comedy adventure about Cantor inheriting a lot of money (Kid), then it's time for a zany goof about romance & chowderhead firefighters (Nuts). So strap in to hear about these two B&W romps from the '30s as my quest to talk about the previously-unreviewed AFI acting nominees takes flight. Well, Actually: at around the 16-minute mark, the line should have been "these are white actors playing Muslim Africans", not "Muslim Americans". Subscribe! Then you can't miss out when I post shows like this on days other than Monday. Rate and review Have You Ever Seen as well. And I finally posted some new reviews on Letterboxd not long ago! Look for "RyanHYES". Contact me with your OWN thoughts about the films I discuss: "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky, "@moviefiend51" on Twi-x and you can email me at "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com".

Surprise! I didn't say during Monday's episode that I'd be posting 2 podcasts later in the same week, but here's the first one. Here I'm talking about the American Film Institute's Top 100 Stars list, which was really 50 stars (25 men, 25 women). Although their odd numbering method isn't really the point…and neither is their dumb criteria. No, this 714th Have You Ever Seen podcast is REALLY about the 450 people who were nominated, but didn't make the cut. My plan is to review as many of the 180-ish up-until-now-omitted actors & actresses as I possibly can in the months and years ahead. So if you ever wanted to hear a guy rattling off about 500 names, then this monologue about the AFI's Old-Timey Actors is your dream episode! Oh, and tune in again tomorrow when I begin this quest by talking about 2 B&W '30s comedies: Kid Millions and Soup To Nuts. Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app, but also rate and review the show. To hear more of my rambunctiousness, you can search for me on Letterboxd as well: RyanHYES. Feedback: email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

It may be Groundhog Day, but I'm talking about Show Boat, the Hammerstein & Kern Broadway musical that was turned into a big-budget movie. Any film with singing that also has subplots about deadbeat husbands, alcoholism and racism (and a scene with blackface) risks failing to pull off such a tricky balance, but Frankenstein director James Whale DOES make it work. He's got Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson in key roles in the one where performers on a touring boat in the Deep South…eventually end up in Chicago for about half of the often erroneously-titled movie. So let this ol' man podcaster talk to you about "Ol' Man River" (and so much more) in this 713th dash of Have You Ever Seen podcasting. Well, Actually: around the 39:00 mark, the line SHOULD have been that Hammerstein and RODGERS (not Kern) were especially big in the '50s. Subscribe to the podcast in your app. Rate the show and write a review too. Also, hunt down my link on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. To offer your feedback, email me (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), tweet me (@moviefiend51) or try Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

Character actor extraordinaire Edmond O'Brien's insurance investigator is actually the focus in Robert Siodmak's The Killers, but Burt Lancaster is quite powerful in his big-screen debut. And then there's the stunning Ava Gardner as the devious femme fatale. The entire cast is solid, the story is layered in its flashback structure (which is similar to Citizen Kane), plus, the main insurance-claim storyline is similar to what happens in Double Indemnity. And it all works really well. So steal money from your fellow thieves as the 712th podcast on Have You Ever Seen looks at the sinister intrigue and sudden violence in The Killers. Well, Actually: at the 41:00 minute mark, the line should have been "co-starring a WOMAN who doesn't love the main character." Be a bright boy and smart off to me with an email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. Or try social media with Twi-X (@moviefiend51) or Bluesky (ryan-ellis). Review this show and rate it on your app. Subscribe as well. And look me up on Letterboxd: RyanHYES.

The fabulous Fargo was reviewed on this channel over 10 years ago, but you betcha believe that seeing it again a few weeks ago prompted some note-taking. So while the bright light in Joel & Ethan Coen's very violent comedy, the Oscar-winning France McDormand, is wonderful as the pregnant hero cop--and Macy, Buscemi, Stormare and Presnell are horrible, stupid or both--the point of this fresh Fargo look is to ask Reasonably Good Questions and make some "oh yeah" type points about the plot. So, geez, you're not sellin' me a car here, Jerry! Just lock and load episode #711 of Have You Ever Seen as I dig into Fargo for the second time in about 10 years. Rate the podcast, review it and subscribe. Also, look for my page on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Contact options: "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com" via email, "@moviefiend51" on Twi-X and "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky.

Reviews about black movies on Martin Luther King Day haven't been a tradition on this channel, but episode #710 is all about Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil and a cast that (mostly) looks just like them. In A Raisin In The Sun, they're a tumultuous family who come into a windfall of insurance money…and how to spend it is the thrust of the drama. Put it all into…a house? An education? A bar? Through all that, director Daniel Petrie's finest film gets into issues of alcoholism, financial difficulty, family squabbles, family love and racism. So come hear about the Youngers go through it all in this monologue about A Raisin In The Sun. Subscribe to the 'cast in your app while also giving some thought to rating the show (*****) and also jotting down a review. Find me on Letterboxd (RyanHYES) and also find me on social media. It's "@moviefiend51" on Twi-X and "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky. Another option is email: haveyoueverseendpodcast@gmail.com