Have You Ever Seen – Details, episodes & analysis

Five Easy Pieces turned out to be an incredibly relatable movie for me to discuss these days. In fact, this 699th episode might get a little TOO personal as I shared plenty of things about my own life. Jack Nicholson gives one of his deepest performances as he continued to build his legend following Easy Rider the year before. Here we have universal themes of alienation, rebellion, family strife, running away from life's problems. Director Bob Rafelson's cast is good across the board, especially Jack, of course, and his all-wrong-for-him girlfriend Karen Black. His film though is mostly famous for the "piano on the truck" scene and especially the diner scene. Oh, and the ending. So hold the chicken (somewhere) and just get the man some toast as I fill you in on the happenings in Five Easy Pieces.

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Hal Ashby was right in the middle of an incredible run when Shampoo came out in the mid-'70s. He made a few bonafide classics amongst his 7 films that were released that decade. This isn't his funniest work though. In fact, typical for this director, the laughs are sometimes explosive, but they're spaced out. This is in fact generally a sad film...especially considering how much casual carnality is going on. It's a film about sex and politics during the 3 days leading into and then following Nixon's win in the 1968 presidential election. Co-writer and star Warren Beatty (somewhat…mostly?) lives his real life on screen as a hairdresser who sleeps with many of his clients...as he juggles Julie Christie, Oscar-winner Lee Grant and girlfriend Goldie Hawn. So tune into the 698th edition of Have You Ever Seen as I talk about a film that improves with age while also giving you a cute bob and maybe a lusty back rub …Shampoo.

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 Contact me. The email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". The Twi-X handle is @moviefiend51 and the Blueskyification is "ryan-ellis".

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Inclement weather is heading your way! We discover in this 689th edition of Have You Ever Seen that there are angry, dead mariners on a boat surrounded by fog...and they're out for revenge on the residents of a small coastal town 100 years later. Well-made though this film is, it's definitely lesser John Carpenter, coming out right in the middle of his brilliant Halloween/Escape/Thing run. His horror flick has its moments though and his cast is just fine, headlined by 3 Scream Queens: Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh and Adrienne Barbeau. So let's get the 10th Annual Scary Movie Month going with this sometimes tongue-in-cheek wagging of the tongue about The Fog.

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If you want to contact me, try email. It's "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". The socials are @moviefiend51 on Twi-X and ryan-ellis on Bluesky.

Also, if you're on Letterboxd, hunt me down. My handle is "RyanHYES". I do brief reviews with the aim of finding a fun angle on the story or the characters.

The French New Wave was headlined by names like Truffaut & Godard, but Agnes Varda was a vital writer/director in the movement too. Her Cleo From 5 To 7 is set in in Paris and plays out in real time (90 minutes, though, not 2 hours). The beautiful and compelling Corinne Marchand wanders around the city, killing time until she will find out whether or not she has cancer. Cleo is a little aloof, which is partly the point, especially since she's a vain singer. Being that closed off though is partly why we didn't fall in love with Varda's opus the way Sight & Sound voters did in 2022, but we definitely have great appreciation for this B&W classic. So live in the moment as episode #599 of Have You Ever Seen has us hashing out one of the foremost of the (we think overrated) French New Wave.

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Tell us what you think of our thoughts. Our email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com" and our Twi-X accounts are @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis. She uses that on Threads too. And we post our shows on YouTube (@hyesellis in your browser), where you can comment, like, subscribe and so on. Do those things and rate & review on your podcast app too.

Have You Ever Seen doesn't post listicles or Top 10 lists very often, but for episode #598 on a holiday in our home and native land, that's exactly what you're getting on Canada Day. We each talked about 5 different directors and the most-underrated movie each of them has made, with an unintentional theme of twins and doppelgangers coming up again and again. Big names like Fincher, Soderbergh, Cronenberg, Reitman and Ridley Scott were amongst our 10 directors, so can you guess what we think is the film each of them made that not enough people have raved about? Play along as we count 'em down. We also opened the emailbag at the end of the podcast and responded to some recent listener feedback.

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Contact us the way some of our listeners did during this episode. Our email is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". Our Twi-X handles are @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis. It's the same handle for Bev on Threads. Rate and review our talks, but also follow us on YouTube, where you can comment, like, subscribe, etc.

We post our last episode in June (#597 overall) and wrap up this month of joyful movies by yapping about the hilariously quotable This Is Spinal Tap. Director and co-writer Rob Reiner and the Guest/McKean/Shearer trio lead a team of funny people through 82 minutes of improv, providing us with so many classic lines. This is the greatest mockumentary of all time, a genre that Guest made his bread and butter as a director in the decades that followed. Still, while Tap's high points are gut-busters, there are more not-so-funny sequences than you might remember. This does bog down in the middle. Nevertheless, we laughed hard at the best parts. So smell a glove or two, dance around a tiny monument and be lukewarm water as you crank it to 11 while the Ellises offer you some grins in our chat about This Is Spinal Tap.

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Talk to us. We spend some time on Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis), Bev uses that same @ on Threads and our email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". Rate and review us in your podcast app (subscribe too) and do all that, but also comment and like us on YouTube (@hyesellis).

American Fiction is more of a dramedy or a clever satire than a true comedy, but few movies in recent years have been funnier than this is. Writer/director Cord Jefferson crafted a remarkable film, even though he balances maybe a few too many plots in his big-screen debut (racial strife, white guilt, difficult family issues, money troubles, inability to connect with people). The actors are always terrific in American Fiction though. Jeffrey Wright is especially wonderful in the leading role and he has chemistry with the entire cast, particularly with Tracee Ellis Ross. We really like this laugh-generator filled with secrets and lies, so take just a few days to write an entire book called "My Pafology" (then later call it...something else) and then settle in with the 596th edition of Have You Ever Seen.

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Let us know what you think by emailing us (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com) or with a hello on Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis). We also post all our shows on YouTube (@hyesellis in your browser), where you can comment, like and subscribe. Rate and review our podcast on your app as well.

Everybody cut (everybody cut) in the 1984 version of Footloose. The story takes us to a repressed middle-American town where dancing is outlawed until Kevin Bacon rages against that particular machine. He's the city slicker with fast feet who pushes back on John Lithgow's religious father figureness. They both do very good work here and so does the rebellious Lori Singer, but Chris(topher) Penn steals the entire film, especially when the brawny farmer learns the joy of dancing. Herbert Ross' movie also has an excellent soundtrack to help him balance the light side with the serious side. And since it's Ross, Footloose is even a musical of sorts. So don't angry dance at your workplace. Instead put our 595th episode into your '80s-era headphones and release the iron grip you have on your small town so the kids can just enjoy the prom.

Well, Actually: the mill is out of Bomont's jurisdiction because it's across COUNTY lines, not state lines. Also, the kids being terrorized by the brick through the window are Ren's cousins, not his nieces.

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Let's hear from you. We're @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis on Twi-X and Bev uses that same @ on Threads. Our email address is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". And we put all our shows up on YouTube. The destination in your browser is @hyesellis...or look up "Have You Ever Seen" YouTube's search bar. Comment, like, subscribe. Do that and also rate & review our eps on your podcast app too.

There were a few keystone movies about Generation X that came out around 30 years ago, but Reality Bites is one of the red-letter titles. Ben Stiller was making his directorial debut and he also plays the third part of a love triangle with Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke. Ryder was at her peak in this time frame while Hawke---who was at least doing something different than he had been doing up until then---is insufferable. Not that Winona's character isn't often a putz in Reality Bites too. What these college grads would call selling out is what mature people learn to call being able to compromise. Anyway, the soundtrack is phenomenal and both Ryder & Janene Garofalo are really good in Stiller's dated rom-com. So do what people don't do so much anymore and light up a lot of cigarettes as these unremarkable people get up In Your Face in the 594th episode of Have You Ever Seen.

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Feedback is our friend. Fire off some posts to us on Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis). Contact Bev on Threads (@bevellisellis). Email us (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). And since we post all of our shows on YouTube (@hyesellis in your browser), you can comment, like and subscribe on that site. Also, rate and review us in your podcast app.

Bogie and Bacall's first movie together was directed by Howard Hawks and was based on a book by Ernest Hemingway, so that's some serious cache. Of course, Hawks barely used anything from his friend's To Have And Have Not novel other than the title, even though the screenplay is filled with snappy lines. This is "Casablanca In The Caribbean" and it's set during the early days of World War II, but all of that is a backdrop for Bacall's star-making performance...which was also her debut. She and Bogart were married for real not too long after filming was finished, building on the sexual and romantic chemistry they have in the film. While To Have And Have Not is far from perfect, it has more than just "Steve" and "Slim", even though it doesn't need much more than them. So put your lips together and light up a cigarette (and also blow) as Ryan rides solo in this 593rd episode.

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Say hi to us on Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis) or to Bev on Threads (also @bevellisellis). Email is an option too (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). Rate and review our podcast in your app, but also find us on YouTube (@hyesellis). Comment, like and also subscribe.