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Inside Man is a clever heist film with the twist staring you in the face from the beginning. It's also the first Spike Lee or Jodie Foster film to be reviewed on Have You Ever Seen in quite some time. Foster and Denzel Washington's scenes together are fantastic. The 2 of them, plus Clive Owen, Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor deliver. Ironically, though, for a film with such intensity for 2 straight hours, the actors are generally calm. Well, Denzel is showboating, but he's Denzel. You can't reign in that charisma machine. So for my 734th episode, settle in to hear about a snappy caper film as I monologue about Spike Lee's biggest hit, Inside Man. Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app. Rate and review it too. Look for me on Letterboxd (RyanHYES). I'm "@moviefiend51" on Twitter, "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky and "[email protected]" via email.

It's a short one for episode #733 of Have You Ever Seen, as I discuss Anthony Mann's biopic about the best-selling bandleader from the '30s & '40s. Smash hits Moonlight Serenade & In The Mood are Glenn Miller's 2 most-recognizable songs, tunes you'll know the minute you hear them. This is a straight-ahead "based on real people" movie (including his loving wife, Helen), but Mann, who often worked with James Stewart in this era, was an underrated director. And while Jimmy has OFTEN come up on this podcast, this is a first for June Allyson...and we also have a memorable cameo by the great trumpeter Louis Armstrong. So, honestly, take a listen to my sentimental review of the sentimental Glenn Miller Story. Subscribe to my channel in your podcast app. Rate the show too and jot down some words in a review, suggesting others give it a chance. Look for me on Letterboxd too (RyanHYES). My email is "[email protected]". And my social-media contacts are "@moviefiend51" on Twi-X and "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky.

I've got another multi-movie episode here in the 732nd edition of Have You Ever Seen. Jacques Tourneur directs Out Of The Past and Robert Siodmak is at the helm of The Spiral Staircase, even if it feels at times like one directed the other. Yet they both do a very good job with these films noir, including killing off many of their characters. Rhonda Fleming is in both, but in Past you've got Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas & Jane Greer, who gives one of the better performances in the history of femmes fatale. In Staircase, Dorothy McGuire, George Brent and Ethel Barrymore have centre stage...and they all deliver too. The first flick has a VERY complex plot, while the second is a straight-forward "a killer is on the loose" whodunit. So lend me 50 minutes of your time as I scoop out the innards of Out Of The Past and The Spiral Staircase. Be a subscriber of Have You Ever Seen, but also review the show and rate it in your app. Contact me with an email ([email protected]), a tweet (@moviefiend51) a Sky (ryan-ellis) or on Letterboxd (RyanHYES).

W.C. Fields makes his debut on Have You Even Seen in this 731st episode where I talked about 3 of his classic laugh-fests: International House, It's A Gift and The Bank Dick. George Burns & Gracie Allen turn up in International House and Una Merkel plays Fields' daughter in It's A Gift, so we've got 4 AFI Old-Timey Actors in one super-show. First up, you get the "Grand Hotel of comedy", where the gags are quite risqué (even considering it was made before the production code), followed by the funniest one in this three-pack: It's A Gift. Fields is REALLY in textbook mumbling, drunken form in The Bank Dick, with its all-over-the-place plot and random gags. So to bring this Easter Weekend home, cue up my one-man-show about the House, the Gift and the Dick, as W.C. does his thing as only he could. Subscribe in your app, but also write a review of the show and rate it. Follow me on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. My email is "[email protected]", my Twitter is "@moviefiend51" and my Bluesky is "ryan-ellis."

Easter probably called for a chat about the silent version of either The Ten Commandments or Ben-Hur, but no. I'm talking about a 1932 Ernst Lubitsch rom-com that's excellent with the rom, yet only smile-inducing with the com. Covering Trouble In Paradise also gets Miriam Hopkins, Kay Francis and Herbert Marshall on Have you Ever Seen for the first time. They're all well-served by the infamous Lubitsch Touch. Here a rich, pampered, unworthy fail-daughter (Francis) is set up to be ripped off by clever thieves (Hopkins and Marshall). But they're all likable, the romance(s) work great and you even end up rooting for all the characters, even though each of them could easily seem despicable. Lubitsch: one of the greats in this genre. So cue up Trouble In Paradise in this 730th edition of HYES, where I give you the info about some pre-Code lovin' and stealin' European shennanigans. Jot down some thoughts about classic movies and tell me about them. My email is "[email protected]", my Twitter is "@moviefiend51" and my Bluesky is "ryan-ellis." Also, tickle that subscribe button and then take some time to write a review and rate the podcast as well. Last thing? Follow me on Letterboxd: RyanHYES.

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: [email protected] 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 ([email protected]).

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 ([email protected]). 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 "[email protected]".

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 ([email protected]) 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 ([email protected]).

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: [email protected]. 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 ([email protected]), 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 ([email protected]), 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 ([email protected]), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).