579 episodes

Ryan and Bev Ellis are partners in film nerdery who share their often humorous musings on the AFI's 1998 & 2007 lists of the greatest 100 American films ever made. But we finished with that in December 2015, so now we just review anything we feel like!

Have You Ever Seen Ryan Ellis & Bev Ellis

    • TV & Film
    • 4.4 • 130 Ratings

Ryan and Bev Ellis are partners in film nerdery who share their often humorous musings on the AFI's 1998 & 2007 lists of the greatest 100 American films ever made. But we finished with that in December 2015, so now we just review anything we feel like!

    Jojo Rabbit

    Jojo Rabbit

    This 579th edition of Have You Ever Seen wraps up our 9th Annual Oscar Month on the very day that also happens to be this podcast's 11th anniversary. Jojo Rabbit is one of the funniest movies of recent years and it's also one of the best. The tone is remarkable and it's consistent, especially considering something as deadly serious as Hitler, Nazis and the Holocaust are made so funny here. Credit to writer/director Taika Waititi and his cast for pulling that off. Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell are terrific, but child actors Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie and Archie Yates are the keys. They give some of the best child performances we've ever seen...and they're hilarious when they're not being touching. So goof around with your imaginary friend while learning to care about your real best friend as we tie our own shoes and have a great time discussing Jojo Rabbit.
    Johannes and his best friends aren't old enough to be coffee drinkers, but if you sip the stuff, then take a look at "sparkplug.coffee". You can nab a 20% discount by using our "HYES" promo code (so add "/hyes" to the address in your browser).
    Contact us. We're Twi-X people (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis), Bev is on Threads (@bevellisellis) and we have an email address of course (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). Our shows also go up on YouTube (@hyesellis). Comment, review, rate, like, subscribe, all that.

    • 53 min
    You Can't Take It With You

    You Can't Take It With You

    Jimmy Stewart wasn't a big star yet when he worked with Frank Capra for the first time in this picture. No matter. You Can't Take It With You belongs to the top-billed Jean Arthur and especially Lionel Barrymore anyway. A word that didn't come up in Ryan's solo show here is "screwball", although this Best Picture winner is clearly working in that genre. The flick just didn't make this fellow laugh. Of course, director Capra won his 3rd Oscar in just 5 years for this effort...and all 3 were screwball comedies. The man was in his element. At least his movie is genial and it's a solid-enough story. So agree with the movie's admirable message while trying to find something in it that might actually make you giggle as this 578th episode of Have You Ever Seen picks through You Can't Take It With You.
    Well, Actually: Anthony Kirby Senior DOES smile before the scene with the harmonicas at the end. He grins when Penny tells Mrs. Kirby that her hobby is silly.
    Get yourself some groovy beans from Sparkplug Coffee. They will give our listeners a onetime 20% discount. Just use our "HYES" promo code. The place to be is "sparkplug.coffee.hyes".
    We like to hear from our audience. Email is one way to talk to us (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). Twi-X is another (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis, which is also the handle Bev uses on Threads). We also post our full episodes on YouTube (@hyesellis). Help us out by rating our show, liking it, reviewing it and subscribing to it.

    • 35 min
    Going My Way

    Going My Way

    Oscar Month takes us back to the long-ago past as we talk about the genial one that took home 7 Oscars 8 decades ago. But Going My Way didn't make it easy on us. This fluffery somehow one-upped the Double Indemnity at those Academy Awards. Bing Crosby even won a trophy for his role as a helpful priest, despite having a real-life personality that contrasted with his nice-guy image. Maybe he was a better actor than we thought. In any case, we can understand how a musical comedy would be welcomed during the height of WWII, but is this the epitome of filmmaking in ANY year? Well, we had some fun with Leo McCarey's flick, including speculating about who set the church on fire. We also poked the ribs of the Irish and the Catholic Church. So swing on a star with episode #577 of Have You Ever Seen as a songwriter bonds with wayward youths, lost loves and aging priests.
    To Be Clear: the James Brown "football guy" who's referred to is not even the legendary Cleveland running back (that's Jim Brown, of course), but the host who used to be a football broadcaster with Fox and seems to be working for CBS now.
    Sparkplug Coffee sponsors this show. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes" for more details. Our "HYES" promo code will set you up with a onetime 20% discount.
    Want to feed us back? Email is good (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). Twi-X is too (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis). Bev is on Threads with that same handle. Also, keep up with every show we post on YouTube (@hyesellis). Rate and review us there and on your podcast app. Subscribe, like, comment, share, etc.

    • 49 min
    Oscars Post-View 2024

    Oscars Post-View 2024

    It was an Oppenheimer kind of night. Some called the 2024 Academy Awards broadcast a snooze, but the Ellises had a good time watching the show, especially the comedy bits. The Mulaneys, the Cenas, the Spielbergs (yeah!) and especially the Goslings were funny and very entertaining. We also mostly agreed with---or at least respected---the people and the films that were given trophies. So settle in for the 576th episode of Have You Ever Seen as we break down what we thought about the best in 2023's motion pictures in our 2024 Oscars Post-View Show.
    Sparkplug Coffee sponsors this podcast. You can save 20% off your next order by using our "HYES" promo code. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".
    Comment on our possibly controversial thoughts you'll hear in this or any other podcast we've done. Our email is haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. On Twi-X, Ryan is @moviefiend51 and Bev is @bevellisellis. She uses that handle on Threads too. Also, hunt for our show on YouTube. Rate, review, comment, subscribe, etc.

    • 33 min
    The Last Emperor

    The Last Emperor

    Our first Best Picture winner in this year's Oscar Month, The Last Emperor, went 9 for 9 at the awards that year. John Lone, Joan Chen and Peter O'Toole are all solid in the starring roles, but there's something fairly soulless and even a little opaque about this spectacular production...especially for a Bernardo Bertolucci film. Bertolucci and his team were the rare Western filmmakers to be allowed to shoot in The Forbidden City in China, as they told a story about a sheltered child surrounded by devious sycophants. Puyi might be a royal, but his comfortable life is spent in effectively a prison. The biggest problem we couldn't get past with this film, though, is that this was what the Oscars told us was the pinnacle of 1987 filmmaking, even though Broadcast News, Moonstruck, Robocop, Predator and Lethal Weapon were all out that year. So don't you dare try to leave the 575th edition of Have You Ever Seen---not until you get kicked out---as we marvel and moan in equal measure about The Last Emperor.
    Well, Actually: Maggie Han was born in Rhode Island, but her parents were South Korean. Also, Licence To Kill was released in 1989, not 1987.
    They can't get Sparkplug Coffee in China, but people in America and Canada can. And if you use our "HYES" promo code, you'll save 20%. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".
    Drop us a line via email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com) and/or follow us on Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis) and also look for Bev on Threads (@bevellisellis).
    Rate, review, subscribe, do all those things on your app, but also hunt us down on the web via YouTube. We post all our shows there. The destination in your browser is @hyesellis.

    • 49 min
    Coquette

    Coquette

    Surprise! Back in January, Ryan posted a solo show talking about Horse Feathers. Well, here's another unexpected, unpromoted show about a movie star from the early days of cinema. Mary Pickford is a legend for business reasons though as much as she is for her films. She was a producer when not many women were AND she created the United Artists studio with Chaplin, Griffith and Fairbanks. Coquette is not her best-known title, but it DID win her an Oscar. And this early talkie is better than expected, especially considering the dreadful numbers on Rotten Tomatoes. Sound was still wonky in 1929, but this flick didn't suffer badly in that area. It's fairly well-made. Pickford might never come up on Have You Ever Seen again, so the focus in this 574th episode is split between the film itself and Mary P as one of the premiere power players in the first few decades of Hollywood filmmaking.
    Make your day yummy by buying some Sparkplug Coffee. They give our listeners a onetime 20% discount, if those listeners use our "HYES" promo code. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".
    If you feel inclined to let us know what you think of our talkie efforts, try email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). There's also Twi-x. Ryan is @moviefiend51 on there, while Bev is @bevellisellis (and has the same handle on Threads). We also post our shows on YouTube with a simple graphic accompaniment. That's @hyesellis in your browser. Like us there and/or on your podcast app. Rate, review, subscribe, you know the score.

    • 25 min

Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5
130 Ratings

130 Ratings

Mpls Jack ,

Happy 500th episode Ryan and Bev!!!

It feels like I have wandered in the desert of movie review sites for years since the death of Roger Ebert.

Every time I think I have found a comfy place to hear and share thoughts on movies some genre or trend emerges that leads me to ask myself “what did I ever see in you “

After finding and thoroughly enjoying THE TOP 100 PROJECT during COVOD, I now feel like I have a place to call home where I can take a load off and listen to thoughtful movie commentary that gels with my sensibilities.

Bev and Ryan magically balance the scales between artistic insights and practical entertainment - that’s no easy job and they are masterful at it.

As important, is their entertaining curation of each episode.

Each of them prepare for an episode that maximizes the discussion without being stilted.

The basic design of the show cleverly moves the conversation along in a spirited and never cumbersome way. IN A NUTSHELL, awards & recognitions and Ryan’s aspect ratio comments really offer helpful insight for a devout movie fan like me that doesn’t possess the the critical technical knowledge of film.

The mere fact that they include comments in each episode about the score alone elevates their show above 98% of all other movie criticism podcasts.

Finally and most importantly for me::

I have finally found in Bev my movie soul mate.

She forthrightly understands the need for movies to be art.

We agree on nearly every artistic aspect of films from the development of characters and dialogue to the use of visuals and sound.

It isn’t that I frequently differ from Ryan’s takes on movies but to say I never disagree with Bev’s reviews.

Bev has confirmed so many of my thoughts on films that I previously thought I held alone.

Better yet, she has pointed out scores of elements that I missed and end up adding depth to my sentiments and to the film.

A Big Thanks to Bev!

All of this is to say: Happy 500th Episode!!!!

To everyone out there searching for a podcast that will increase your appreciation of films through out history , this is the podcast for you.

Not a single clunker in the 500 episodes.

Great thanks from a big fan.

John

Sometime Listener ,

Excellence movie talk

Entertaining, perceptive, and well-informed discourse on widely known films, their casts/producers/directors, and the times in which they were made.

oldnonames ,

Great stuff for movie history

Absolutely love the podcast. My companion for the entire AFI thank you!! I know you two don't seem to be a fan of Terrance Malick but i think it would be interesting to hear you guys talk about a movie that maybe neither of you two really like so please do any one of his films as he is one of my favorite directors!!

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