The Top 100 Project

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 and even stressful movie. While this isn't a classic the way many other Coen Brothers films are, it's as well-made and fascinating as just about anything else they've ever made. We just...might not get it? So let our 601st dose of Have You Ever Seen settle into your ears as we try to figure out what the boys are doing in A Serious Man. Well, Actually: Upon further review, Larry's office is NOT a basement office, so he doesn't have much shelter from the oncoming storm. Sparkplug Coffee sponsors this podcast. Use our "HYES" promo code and you will receive a one-time 20% discount. The website to hit is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes". Say hi to us and tell us what you think

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 Oscar-winning) Brad Pitt and the sweet-as-honey Margot Robbie. She doesn't get as much to do as the guys do, but her lovely performance always brings one of us to tears. This film is funny, it's heartfelt, it's tense and QT gets back into "revisionist history" territory when Leo & Pitt's fictional characters cross paths with the very-real Manson maniacs. Bring on the ultra-violence...and bring on the laughs! This movie about movie-making (and television-making) isn't Tarantino's #1 film, but it deepens with meaning every time we see it. So enjoy this fairy tale that often feels as real as a donut because we're talking about Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Well,

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. Sparkplug Coffee sponsors this podcast. Our "HYES" promo code will snag you a onetime 20% discount. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes". Tell us what you think of our thoughts. Our email address is "haveyoueversee

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. Sparkplug Coffee sponsors our show every week, even when we post special episodes. Use our "HYES" promo code and save 20% off your next order. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes". Contact us the way some of our listeners did during this episode. Our email is "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". Our Twi-X handles are @m

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. While you give some real thought to becoming a haberdasher, look up Sparkplug Coffee. Their website is "sparkplug.coffee". Add "/HYES" and look for the appropriate box to use that "HYES" promo code. Tha

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. You can get Sparkplug Coffee sent to your Boston-area beach house...or to any part of the U.S. and Canada. Use our "HYES" promo code and get a onetime 20% discount. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes". Let us know wh

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'

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. If you're going to smoke, you might as well drink coffee too. And we have a sponsor that sells such things: Sparkplug Coffee. Our "HYE

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. Sparkplug Coffee can't be bought by people who live in Martinique, but Canadians and Americans can nab a 20% discount (onetime only) by usi

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 uncharacteristically plays a coward who doesn't have all the answers, but eventually learns (most of) them. Director Doug Liman has built an excellent resume these past 3 decades and he's just about at his best guiding the Edge Of Tomorrow cast and crew through their "let's do it again" paces. Our 592nd episode is ready to airdrop onto the beach to take on the vicious aliens who are determined to take over the planet, so pop your buds into your ears and celebrate the holiday hearing us yap about how the Mimics and the humans of Earth fight in France...over and over again. Well, Actually: the UDF is the "United Defense Force". Also, for the record, A Quiet Place Day One co

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 plan to get revenge...and to get her money too. Grace Kelly is that wife and she's not at her best here, although the writing doesn't help her character be much more than a plot device. Otherwise, Frederick Knott's script (based on his own play) is dynamite. Dial M For Murder was also part of the early-'50s fad of being shot in 3D, although it was rarely shown that way. And it didn't need it. When Hitch and his team are cooking, they don't need gimmicks. So get cozy in your small English flat as a stranger gears up to strangle you in this 591st edition of Have You Ever Seen, which makes the call to talk about Dial M For Murder. Look for great java by checking out "spar

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 lovers. The 1st part of the film where they play a horny married couple is definitely the best and funniest segment. The actors have chemistry and the result of this pairing is a blend of the light and the somewhat dark, although this IS intended to be a comedy. It isn't LOL funny, but it's an enjoyable 2 hours...and looking at the gorgeous and brassy Loren for that long is certainly a pleasure. In any case, if you need to know a 60-years-later opinion about Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow in this 590th edition of Have You Ever Seen, then ascoltare to this one. Sparkplug Coffee offers our listeners a 20% discount if they use our "HYES" promo code. The website is "spar

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 Kelly/Donen affair is also silly and easy to mock. The 2 handsome stars---along with Jules Munshin---share the screen with Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen. Garrett and Miller play a couple of fast women, who make it crystal clear just how into the guys they are while Kelly spends an entire day trying to romance the harder-to-get Vera-Ellen. And the things they all accomplish in 24 hours! So obsess about a woman you only know from a poster while you're on shore leave in New York as Ryan monologues about On The Town. Get your Sparkplug Coffee and also nab a onetime 20% discount from them by using our "HYES" promo code. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

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. And this is certainly a memorable film, with the pint-sized killer mowing down anyone who gets in his way. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays the Chicago mobster's best friend and while his character isn't as fleshed out as he could be (none of them are in this 80-minute movie, really), it takes dynamic filmmaking and committed performances to make this flick effective at all. So don't you dare squeal or it could get bloody as the 588th podcast that can be found on this channel takes a Ryan-sized look at Little Caesar. We are sponsored by Sparkplug Coffee. Use our "HYES" promo code to get a onetime 20% discount on various coffee products. The website is "sparkplug.

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 them all through a tragi-drama about a socialite (Davis) who gets a brain tumor, then falls in love with her brain doctor (Brent). And they're both liars. Have any of us been as dishonest as the lovebirds are in this film, especially when the stakes are so high? Well, despite those frustrations, this is a emotional film with a touching ending. Maybe prepare some crying towels...and don't let your prognosis of this 587th episode of Have You Ever Seen be negative as Ryan spends some time monologuing about Dark Victory. Sparkplug Coffee sponsors this show. They offer our listeners a onetime 20% discount. Just use our "HYES" promo code. The website is "sparkplug.coffee

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 stylish comic-book adaptation (is he still the best Batman ever?) and Jack Nicholson has a gigantic ball playing the Joker. The rest of the cast nails it too, Prince's songs remain infectious and Danny Elfman's great themes have become legendary. Love it, but Ryan still wisecracked a lot in this 586th edition of Have You Ever Seen (not the 585th as is said in the intro), but that's what happens when you see a movie 10 or 20 times. You love it and love to make fun of it. So stay out of a big-city alley, but DO fly your small plane in front of the moon as we conclude Revenge Month with the one about the tortured vigilante loving a shrieking Kim Basinger and hating a mobster

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. Mitchum plays such a clever, sadistic villain. He's one of the most-sinister of anyone on AFI's Heroes & Villains list and he could have ranked even higher on that list than he did. We also talked a lot about the dubious morality in Martin Scorsese's flashy 1991 remake, but the focus of this show is on J. Lee Thompson's tense original. So, counsellors, take dangerous matters into your own hands as this 585th edition of Have You Ever Seen pokes a toe in the river before going off the deep end into Cape Fear. For The Record: the actual Cape Fear is in North Carolina. Also, while Robert De Niro is certainly covered in tattoos in the 1991 version, he doesn't have the

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 that was made 40 years ago. Robert Carradine and especially Anthony Edwards are fun and sweet, but it's Carradine's character who---more than once---crosses the line with Julia Montgomery. Still, it's easy to enjoy the spirit and the sincerity of MOST of Jeff Kanew's silly comedy. It's also hard to beat the joyous musical number during the talent show or that inspirational ending. So laugh your obnoxious laugh while you get loaded with your geeky frat brothers as Ryan takes a nostalgia trip to talk about the Tri-Lambs, the Omega-Mus and their tormenters in the 584th podcast you'll find on Have You Ever Seen. Sparkplug Coffee would be great to have in the kitchen of any

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 odyssey of pain and brutality. The story takes a while to unfold, but it's fairly simple. After Nic and Andrea Riseborough's tranquility is shattered by some lunatics in a sick cult, he sets out to avenge her vicious and senseless death. Cosmatos (pronounced "Coz-MAW-tos") has only directed 2 films, but this and Beyond The Black Rainbow both have a hypnotic effect. And the violence in this mood piece really stings. So shout your best primal scream before you set out with a crossbow and The Beast during Revenge Month as the 583rd chat on Have You Ever Seen finds us trying to figure out the weird world of Mandy. Before you set out on that kill-crazy rampage, gander at the

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. She wrote and directed about some not-very-innocent exotic dancers stealing from Wall Street jerks who (legally) stole from others during the financial crisis. Hustlers is fun and kinetic, but we debated if viewers are A-OK with these women being greedy and reckless, even though they claim they're exacting some justice. This is Revenge Month on our channel, so that mentality DOES track. But is any of the stuff in this flick feminist? You'll have to find out in this 582nd edition of Have You Ever Seen. We are sponsored by our longtime buddies at Sparkplug Coffee. Use our "HYES" promo code at checkout and nab a onetime 20% discount. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes". Th