Beste Bev Ellis Podcasts (2024)

1
A Star Is Born (1954) 41:50

1d ago41:50

41:50

Our 625th episode is another Ryan solo show, with the topic of the day being George Cukor's 1954 take on A Star Is Born. Judy Garland plays a movie star on the way up while James Mason plays a movie star on the way down. While Garland was the one who was struggling with addiction in reality, Mason's character is the one who's a raging alcoholic bri…

1
The Terminator 53:43

5d ago53:43

53:43

A sci-fi movie about nuclear war sounds like a depressing way to honour veterans on their day, but not when the podcast is about one of the greatest (horror) movies ever made. James Cameron didn't have much of a budget to make The Terminator, but it started a franchise. And it stars the unlikeliest of movie stars, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Michael Bie…

1
The Straight Story 47:08

12d ago47:08

47:08

Nice and uplifting movies like The Straight Story are a welcome sight in a world that's evermore cynical and meanspirited. David Lynch, a man known for sex and violence, was an usual choice to direct a real-life story about an elderly man riding his lawnmower across state lines just so he could visit his ailing brother. Still, despite some wonky ac…

1
Dawn Of The Dead 48:27

16d ago48:27

48:27

Happy Halloween! Scary Movie Month comes to an end with this 622nd edition of Have You Ever Seen. No, this episode isn't about George Romero's 1978 zombie classic where humans hole up in a mall. Ryan's 3rd solo show in 3 days is about Zack Snyder's intense 2004 remake. The original had plenty of blood, guts and thrills, but also a lot of satire. Th…

1
The Blair Witch Project 42:48

17d ago42:48

42:48

Even though The Blair Witch Project didn't invent the genre, it's probably the best-known and the biggest hit of all the found footage movies. The online marketing campaign was especially revolutionary. It's a shame that Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez never hit these heights again as writers or directors, but they got so much mileage out of thei…

1
The Amityville Horror 28:43

18d ago28:43

28:43

Halloween Week = extra episodes! Ryan talks by himself here about the 1979 Amityville Horror...and a little about the other Amityville flicks too...all of which are based on a horrific real-life tragedy that led to a (possibly made-up) haunting in that same house. James Brolin and Margot Kidder play newlyweds who move into a place on Long Island wi…

1
Ed Wood 1:00:48

19d ago1:00:48

1:00:48

We kick off a big week on Have You Ever Seen with our 619th episode, a gab about Tim Burton's (probably) best film. One of the quirkiest directors of all time was actually fairly grounded making this lighthearted biopic. Johnny Depp is troublesome these days, but you can't question his work in Ed Wood as the optimistic, yet stunningly self-unaware …

1
Creature From The Black Lagoon 39:00

26d ago39:00

39:00

Most of our choices so far in this year's Scary Movie Month haven't been all that goosebump-inducing. Creature From The Black Lagoon isn't very frightening either, but Jack Arnold's film WAS influential, especially on Guillermo Del Toro and his Oscar-winning The Shape Of Water. The Gill Man in this 1954 Universal Monster flick might look corny now …

1
Pet Sematary 44:56

29d ago44:56

44:56

Fridays mean Ryan posts monologues on Have You Ever Seen and our 617th episode digs a one-man hole into Pet Sematary. Mary Lambert's 1989 horror show about unholy reanimation keeps on reminding us that "sometimes dead is better". The one who's always saying that, Fred Gwynne, is probably the best actor in this cast, although he's not THAT much bett…

1
Young Frankenstein 41:47

1M ago41:47

41:47

This is our 31 days of films that have chills & thrills, but Have You Ever Seen's 3rd posting in Scary Movie Month (and our 616th episode overall) is far more funny than it is frightening. Just like Shaun Of The Dead last week, much mirth results from nitwits dealing with reanimated corpses. Mel Brooks' beloved blockbuster is a satire of the classi…

1
Shaun Of The Dead 44:00

1M ago44:00

44:00

The first episode in Scary Movie Month 2024 that the Ellises are doing together gets into the second leg of Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy. We covered Hot Fuzz a few years ago, but this one that put the Englishman on the map is—-to one of us—-funnier...and is his best film. As always with Wright and Simon Pegg, the flick is jammed with clever refe…

1
Black Christmas 40:47

1M ago40:47

40:47

Bob Clark made his name directing popular comedies in the '80s like Porky's and A Christmas Story, but his 1974 horror flick about a home-invading murderer has become a classic too. And that's good because Scary Movie Month 2024 is here! The ending of Black Christmas is one of the best in the history of horror...even if it also has MANY flaws. Ryan…

1
Nightcrawler 49:35

2M ago49:35

49:35

We're hours away from Scary Movie Month and---while Nightcrawler doesn't exactly qualify as frightening---it IS intense. Jake Gyllenhaal is certainly at his Taxi Driver weirdest. He's also just about at his best in Dan Gilroy's investigation of capitalism-at-any-cost. Rough stuff, but it's also quite funny. Gyllenhaal plays an amoral "stringer" (a …

1
Under The Skin 45:16

2M ago45:16

45:16

Scarlett Johansson playing a cold, indifferent alien probably wasn't something her fans expected from her. She was an A-lister who was a key figure in all those Marvel movies, but here she was in Under The Skin, the only actor of note in a detached art film. The movie star even gets nude a lot in her role as a succubus who learns how to feel empath…

1
The Thin Man 34:58

2M ago34:58

34:58

In The Thin Man, William Powell and Myrna Loy are 2 married, childless adults living in the big city...and they like to drink. It's the Ellis Story! Well, no, but the 611th episode of Have You Ever Seen features those 2 comedic tipplers Nick & Nora trying to solve a murder (which is really more his job than it is "theirs"). But is this acclaimed yu…

1
The Killing Fields 38:40

2M ago38:40

38:40

Roland Joffe is not a director who's been beloved by critics over the years, but most seem to agree that his magnum opus is the Oscar-winning The Killing Fields. Sam Waterston plays an American journalist in war-torn Cambodia in the aftermath of the Vietnam war, when Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge went on a run of violence---especially against their f…

1
Boyhood 48:00

2M ago48:00

48:00

Some film shoots (like the one for Apocalypse Now) seem to last 12 years, but here's a movie with a production schedule that was DELIBERATELY that long. Although gimmick aside, Boyhood is Richard Linklater's lauded attempt to show the slow growth of a fractured family, with the focus on Ellar Coltrane going from 6 to 18. Linklater's daughter Lorele…

1
Dead Poets Society 47:53

2M ago47:53

47:53

Ryan's first Friday show in 3 months tries to be extraordinary and also to seize a day or two in this monologue about Dead Poets Society. Robin Williams' performance as an inspirational poetry teacher at a posh prep school was up for an Oscar, but some critics thought his impressions of famous people was out of place. He IS funny, but his serious s…

1
Memorable Times At The Movies 29:39

3M ago29:39

29:39

We continue our summertime trend of posting listicles on holidays as we exchange 10 (or perhaps a few more) theatrical experiences that stuck with us. Many of these are about laughing at funny movies with enthusiastic audiences, but sometimes the experience was seat-grippingly scary...or it might have even been an angry time at the flicks. Document…

1
Oppenheimer 1:07:42

3M ago1:07:42

1:07:42

2023 was the year of Barbenheimer, but it was the movie about serious science that went on to win 7 Academy Awards this past spring. Oppenheimer was also an absolute blockbuster, which is par for Christopher Nolan's course. He always just goes around making monster hits that also get critical acclaim. Although while the spectacle in this film wowed…

1
Run Lola Run 41:22

3M ago41:22

41:22

Franka Potente never became a bonafide movie star after Run Lola Run, but her intensely iconic work in this breakout movie remains awesome 25 years later. Tom Tykwer has had a solid career of his own since writing and directing this video-game-esque flick with the butterfly-effect gimmick. He and future collaborators the Wachowskis were making some…

1
Body Heat 41:46

3M ago41:46

41:46

For our 604th drop in the Have You Ever Seen bucket, we're highlighting the steamy noir Body Heat. And, hey, what happened to sex thrillers?! Well, not everyone is as good at making them as Lawrence Kasdan was...in his debut as a director, no less. Many stars of these kinds of stories are not often as hot together as William Hurt and newcomer Kathl…

1
Movie Hot Takes 37:37

3M ago37:37

37:37

In recent months, holidays have meant an excuse to post listicles on this channel, so here we go again for podcast #603. In this, we give our Hot Takes about a wide range of film topics. They include: self-indulgent Method actors, the problem with directors' cuts, the need for more sex thrillers, whether or not a certain cartoon is sexist and which…

1
The Iron Giant 41:24

4M ago41:24

41:24

If you are what you choose to podcast, then we choose to say a lot of nice things about Brad Bird's debut cartoon. As wonderful as the animation and the voicework are and as touching and emotional as the story is, The Iron Giant somehow failed at the box office. Maybe it wasn't funny or fun enough for people who were used to Disney style 'toons? Ma…

1
A Serious Man 46:00

4M ago46:00

46:00

Joel & Ethan Coen's ultra-Jewish film was a project that was very personal to them. Their '60s-set A Serious Man takes a humorous look at the trials of Job in the form of Michael Stuhlbarg, an actor who's done many great things in the past 15 years, but this was his breakout. Stuhlbarg looks for meaning in this often-funny, but often-impenetrable a…

1
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 1:07:02

4M ago1:07:02

1:07:02

For episode #600 of Have You Ever Seen, we're completing the Quentin Quest. With this, we have reviewed everything Tarantino has directed (well, discounting Four Rooms). Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is the man's most-emotional film and it's his most-personal too. The outstanding cast is headlined by the hilarious Leonardo Di Caprio, the gruff (and…

1
Cleo From 5 To 7 40:32

4M ago40:32

40:32

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 …

1
10 Directors' Most-Underrated Movies 40:29

5M ago40:29

40:29

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 …

1
This Is Spinal Tap 47:47

5M ago47:47

47:47

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…

1
American Fiction 1:00:01

5M ago1:00:01

1:00:01

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, inabili…

1
Footloose 47:35

5M ago47:35

47:35

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…

1
Reality Bites 49:00

6M ago49:00

49:00

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 so…

1
To Have And Have Not 36:56

6M ago36:56

36:56

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'…

1
Edge Of Tomorrow 51:21

6M ago51:21

51:21

Memorial Day is a good time to talk about a war movie, even if the intense Edge Of Tomorrow is almost as witty as it is heart-pounding. The one that's better known as "Live Die Repeat" has a Groundhog Day-esque hook as military hype man Tom Cruise restarts a day every time he dies. Emily Blunt is in "keep up with me" badass mode while Cruise unchar…

1
Dial M For Murder 39:26

6M ago39:26

39:26

After 3 weeks off, Bev returns to the podcast to chat about Alfred Hitchcock's chamber piece. His Dial M For Murder stars a few very talented liars. Well, the characters are, not the actors. The best of those is Ray Milland, who's tremendous in this as one of Hitchcock's most-diabolical villains. His wife was unfaithful and he has a coldblooded pla…

1
Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow 33:34

6M ago33:34

33:34

Ryan's quest to review at least one movie starring all the actors on the AFI's Top 50 Stars list has been achieved with this one-man-talk about Vittorio De Sica's comic anthology. Sophia Loren was the last one standing. She and "Mar-chell-o", not "Mar-cell-o" Mastroianni star in all 3 chapters of Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow, each time as Italian …

1
On The Town 36:56

6M ago36:56

36:56

Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra were both tremendous movie stars, but their names haven't come up very often in 11+ years of Have You Ever Seen. So after covering plenty of dark films in recent weeks, Ryan talks alone in this 589th episode about these singers and dancers in their light musical romp. It's glossy and the songs are mostly good, but this …

1
Little Caesar 27:09

6M ago27:09

27:09

The early-'30s were a tumultuous time, so it's fitting that we were introduced to violent gangster flicks during that timeframe. The Public Enemy & Howard Hawks' Scarface are both better than Mervyn LeRoy's Little Caesar, but Edward G Robinson's star-making performance is just as iconic as what Cagney & Muni did in their shoot-'em-up crime movies. …

1
Dark Victory 28:10

7M ago28:10

28:10

We've only covered Bette Davis twice before now (including the classic All About Eve), but she's nearly as good in Dark Victory as she was in that or in anything else she ever made. Geraldine Fitzgerald does solid work here too, but George Brent, Ronnie Reagan and even Humphrey Bogart just aren't as up to snuff. In any case, Edmund Goulding directs…

1
Batman 53:16

7M ago53:16

53:16

Tim Burton's dark 1989 take on the billionaire who dresses as a bat came decades after Bob Kane and Bill Finger invented the character. And while Ryan talks a little about the other films in this long-running series (and the '60s TV show), the star of this one-man show is the '89 Batman. Michael Keaton proved the naysayers very wrong in this stylis…

1
Cape Fear 46:46

7M ago46:46

46:46

Our 6th of 7 episodes during this Revenge Month takes us to America's Deep South as we talk about Robert Mitchum making Gregory Peck's life a living hell in Cape Fear. What's more, the convicted rapist threatens the lawyer's family in some of the worst way's a hateful person can. "Rape" is never spoken in the dialogue, but it's a constant theme. Mi…

1
Revenge Of The Nerds 52:19

7M ago52:19

52:19

Since this is still Revenge Month, the time has come for a one-Ryan episode about Revenge Of The Nerds. Yes, there are a few controversial scenes where our otherwise-lovable heroes strike back against mean-spirited football players...although what they do to the jocks' snobby cheerleader girlfriends is far worse. But this IS a tacky, sex comedy tha…

1
Mandy 48:00

7M ago48:00

48:00

Nicolas Cage can't be accused of making safe choices during his 40+ years of acting. He's appeared in his share of crap this century, but he also has plenty of terrific titles on his resume. Mandy is one of the best ones he's ever starred in and it's certainly one of his most unique. Director Panos Cosmatos leads Cage through a phantasmagoric odyss…

1
Hustlers 54:01

7M ago54:01

54:01

Outside of Out Of Sight, it's hard to find a Jennifer Lopez performance that's any better than her work in Hustlers. Her fair-weather friends in this though? Well, except for Keke Palmer, not so much. But J Lo's stunning sex appeal and swagger overwhelm everything else. Lorene Scafaria's Goodfellas-esque execution of the story are pretty snazzy too…

1
Foxy Brown 31:50

8M ago31:50

31:50

Blaxploitation movies were very popular with audiences 50 years ago. Jack Hill's Foxy Brown is a classic largely because of Pam Grier, who was not only a staggering beauty with 12/10 sex appeal, but she also plays a badass you could root for. And her sublime performance in Jackie Brown happened largely because of how much QT liked this flick. Ryan'…

1
Gone Girl 1:09:45

8M ago1:09:45

1:09:45

Gone Girl begins our 2nd (Probably) Annual Revenge Month as Rosamund Pike plays a narcissistic sadist who wants vengeance on her lazy, cheating husband. Ben Affleck plays that husband, a very-flawed man who has to deal with tabloid "journalists" as he tries to figure out why his wife is missing...and possibly dead. David Fincher's mystery movie has…

1
Jojo Rabbit 53:23

8M ago53:23

53:23

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…

1
You Can't Take It With You 35:37

8M ago35:37

35:37

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 g…

1
Going My Way 49:01

8M ago49:01

49:01

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 co…

1
Oscars Post-View 2024 33:49

8M ago33:49

33:49

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 …

Podcasts, die es wert sind, gehört zu werden

Bev Ellis Podcasts

Podcasts, die es wert sind, gehört zu werden

Kurzanleitung