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Have You Ever SeenAnd Then There Were None I can pick 'em because what better way to celebrate Christmas Eve than to talk about an island-bound whodunnit based on an Agatha Christie book?! Director Rene Clair gathered an ensemble cast of acclaimed character actors (including Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston and Judith Anderson) as a stealthy killer exacts sick justice on people accused of murder, using a nursery rhyme as the theme o' death. The book is outstanding and this adaptation is about as good as any of them have been, but there's some misplaced humour and the ending bails on a great premise. Plus, Christie's great story...
2025-12-2431 min
The Employee Handbook - An HR Podcast by 2 LawyersWe Are All Just Prisoners Here of Our Own Device: California’s 2026 Upcoming Employment Laws and HR Shakeup ExplainedSend us a textCalifornia employment law is changing again in 2026—and employers need to prepare now. In this episode of The Employee Handbook, attorneys Arta Wildeboer and Ryan Ellis break down the most significant new California labor laws taking effect January 1, 2026.Topics covered in this episode:Wage & Hour UpdatesCalifornia minimum wage increasing to $16.90/hour (with higher rates in San Francisco and San Jose)New minimum exempt salary threshold: $70,304 annuallyComputer professional exemption: $122,573.13/yearLicensed physician minimum: $107.17/hourSB 261 penalties for unpaid wage judgments—up to 3x the judgment amount
2025-12-2245 minHave You Ever SeenThe Family Man With just a few days to go until Christmas, it's time for another movie set on the big day. Not-so-jolly ol' (not a saint) Nic Cage plays an ordinary and restrained regular guy in The Family Man while Tea Leoni is at her most likable and charming as his wife. After splitting up in college, Mister Successful gets a glimpse of what their life COULD have been. The controversial frat-boy Brett Ratner directed a dramedy that's going for a vibe similar to It's A Wonderful Life, including the main character's distaste for his lot in life (in the "Glimpse-verse"...
2025-12-2246 minHave You Ever SeenLady And The Tramp Animated dogs share a plate of spaghetti, furry love is in the air and a classic romance was born 70 years ago in Disney's Lady And The Tramp. The Cocker Spaniel with the great floppy ears charmed her rascally Tramp so much that he even settled down with his "pidge". And while this isn't at the level of Snow White or Pinocchio, it's a lighthearted, enjoyable dog romp that became a blockbuster. On a personal note, all the pooch talk in this 702nd episode had me often reminiscing about my own 3 dear departed four-leggers. So kiss over your pasta as...
2025-12-1929 minHave You Ever SeenHow The Grinch Stole ChristmasWe're halfway through the month and only 10 days away from Christmas, so it was time to start featuring red, white and green movies on Have You Ever Seen. And for the 701st episode, I'm prattling on about Jim Carrey playing The Grinch. And does he! The rubber-faced Canadian was about as perfect as anybody could have been playing Dr. Seuss' iconic mean one...and he also brought dozens of over-the-top ad libs and wisecracks to the dance. His schtick doesn't always land though and more than a few things in this film just don't make sense in a kids' p...
2025-12-1542 minHave You Ever SeenEpisode #700: Sons Of The Desert, Monkey Business & Topper Episode #700! Such an occasion calls for a special episode as I give you reviews of not 1, not 2 but 3 old comedies all in 1 show. We're talking about Sons Of The Desert, Monkey Business and, the headliner, Topper. This is the first time on Have You Ever Seen for Laurel & Hardy, although the Marx Brothers and Cary Grant have been gabbed about a lot in the past. Grins can be had...even though many of these talented people went back to the same comedy well over and over again. I also addressed some emails from you listeners. Thanks for helping this...
2025-12-0850 minHave You Ever SeenFive Easy Pieces 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...
2025-12-0154 min
Cycling OklahomaRyan Drummond Update = UCI PodiumsRyan Drummond takes us from Tulsa Tuff breakthroughs to a Pan Ams podium, shares how team support sharpened his race craft, and lays out the plan for Fayetteville and a two‑month European block. We ask for help funding the campaign so he can test himself against the world’s best.• Tulsa Tuff tactics, solo bridge, omnium jersey• Marathon Nationals result and shifting failure• Comp Edge team camp, routines and pro habits• Green Mountain Stage Race leadouts for GC• Early USCX top tens and U23 podiums• Trek Cup U23 win and confidence shift• Firs...
2025-11-271h 07Have You Ever SeenShampoo 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?) li...
2025-11-2449 minHave You Ever SeenTop Hat Wait, my 697th podcast about a 90-year-old, B&W musical is just destined to set download records, isn't it?! Well, maybe there's no chance of that, but an Astaire/Rogers love story with an idiot plot IS fodder for a sarcastic monologue. You're bound to have at least 1/4 of as much fun with this episode as I had preparing it. Top Hat is similar to Fred & Ginger's reviled Swing Time (reviled around HERE anyway), yet it's certainly better…and it's probably F&G's most-famous film though. Mark Sandrich directs his stars through several terrific dance numbers, including the classic "Ch...
2025-11-1734 minHave You Ever SeenThe Man Who Would Be King Connery & Caine were powerful names to put on the poster for The Man Who Would Be King. And while their adventure movie wasn't a huge hit, it has a huge legacy. John Huston directs Kipling's story with Sean and Michael playing scheming British ex-soldiers Danny & Peachy. And, God's Holy Trousers, are Caine & Connery ever a tremendous team! The fellas make an almost impossible journey to North Afghanistan in their hunt for fortune & glory. Then when Danny gets all he could want (and Peachy becomes his not-so-willing sidekick), they find out what the hubris of a false God-King gets them. S...
2025-11-1039 minHave You Ever SeenAnoraNovember is finally the time to get to this year's Best Picture Oscar winner and here in episode #695, the talk/rant is indeed about "Ani". Somehow, auteur Sean Baker tied Walt Disney's record by winning 4 Oscars in one night while foul-mouthed fireplug Mikey Madison won Best Actress as well. She and Yura Borisov are two of a half-dozen people giving strong performances in Anora, the Russian-centric dramedy that gets funnier in what is also a repetitive, way-too-long second half. You'll probably find this monologue to be controversial, but answer this: what is this movie about? Is it just a...
2025-11-031h 01Have You Ever SeenNight Of The Living Dead 1990Just like last year with the Dawn Of The Dead remake being posted on Halloween itself, the 694th episode on Have You Ever Seen is a redo of a horror classic that hits the airwaves on Scary Day. Tom Savini came up with a solid take on Romero's signature film, which basically invented the zombie movie back in 1968. There's a lot of bickering and boarding in the 1990 Night Of The Living Dead, but there's also better acting than in the original. The newer one is arguably more intense as well. The recently-departed Tony Todd and stuntwoman Patricia Tallman make...
2025-10-3146 minHave You Ever SeenBlack Swan The penultimate horror film in Have You Ever Seen's 10th Annual Scary Movie Month was a blockbuster and an Oscar-winner. And that's unusual for the relentless and unsubtle director Darren Aronofsky. He isn't often rewarded so much for the chances he takes. This 693rd episode talks about how the intense Black Swan is women-centric, even as the women in it go through hell. Natalie Portman won Best Actress for playing a lonely ballet dancer who was deluded even before the movie started. Then after she gets the lead role in Swan Lake, she shows us levels of masochism, obsession...
2025-10-2748 minHave You Ever SeenThe Phantom Of The OperaIt's taken 692 podcasts before The Man Of 1000 Faces has come up on Have You Ever Seen, but here Lon Chaney finally is as the title character in Rupert Julian's Phantom Of The Opera. Despite the high kill count, this isn't particularly scary...although it IS eerily effective. The colour tinting in this otherwise black & white movie helps set a baleful mood. And the red-letter moment is when Mary Philbin takes off the Phantom's mask and shows us the makeup Chaney designed to give himself such a horrible face. He wants her affections, while she just wants to perform. So...
2025-10-2038 minHave You Ever SeenSaint Maud Jewel once asked "who will save your soul" and when Morfydd Clark made Saint Maud with Rose Glass, she answered enthusiastically "I will!" We've got one of those "reality vs. fantasy" storylines again as a feverishly devout Catholic deals with her delusions (if they ARE that) while battling with her dying patient (Jennifer Ehle). Glass was making her directorial debut and, while her movie isn't bone-chilling, it's a quality slow burn. She saves the horrible violence for the end. Glass knows how to do body horror and she finishes with a phenomenal last shot. Scary Movie Month still has 2...
2025-10-1724 minHave You Ever SeenGreatest Horror Movie Debuts ListicleAs Canadians eat bird on Thanksgiving and Americans eat Italians on Columbus Day (correct?), Have You Ever Seen just goes all listicle on ya again. I've got a Top 20 countdown for you to, well, chew on. Here are the 5 greatest debuts by an actor in a horror movie and the 15 greatest directorial debuts in horror. Okay, it's lot more than just those 20. These things are fluid. In any event, this list is filled with outstanding scary movies, several of which are lesser-known cult films...and many of them deal in "what's real and what's not". So commit to this 690...
2025-10-1349 minHave You Ever SeenThe FogInclement 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...
2025-10-0639 minHave You Ever SeenJezebel In Jezebel, Bette Davis plays a sassy Southern belle who pushes prudish fiancé Henry Fonda away. And it's all over a red dress. Jezebel is a movie about manners, propriety and stubbornness in the Antebellum South (courteous though they are, they DO have plenty of slaves) with the looming threat of Yellow Fever. William Wyler's romance in and around New Orleans isn't an all-time classic, but Bette and Fay Bainter both won Oscars for their good, if not quite fantastic work. So coyly pull the back of your extra-long dress up with a riding crop and then spend a y...
2025-09-2942 minHave You Ever SeenThe UntouchablesRepeat after me and say it with the coolest lisp in cinema: here beginneth the 687th Have You Ever Seen podcast. The Untouchables is one Brian De Palma's most-successful films is also the first one of his to be discussed around here in 9 years...and, after Carrie, only the 2nd in total. And he was great at violent gangster flicks. It's still the days of Prohibition in America and Al Capone runs the underground liquor trade. Sean Connery won his only Oscar playing an "Irish" beat cop who has all the answers about how to take down the filthy...
2025-09-2253 minHave You Ever SeenThe Elephant Man A new era begins in this 686th edition of Have You Ever Seen as Ryan talks about David Lynch's mainstream breakout after Eraserhead got him noticed by this film's executive producer, Mel Brooks. The Elephant Man stars Oscar nominee John Hurt in the title role and Anthony Hopkins as his sympathetic doctor. Unusual for Lynch, his B&W biographical character piece doesn't have sex, gory violence or bad language. It's just a sensitive, affecting, sometimes sad tale about compassion, acceptance and goodness. And also John/Joseph Merrick's life-changing deformities. Hurt's makeup really was incredible. So lay down for a...
2025-09-1542 minHave You Ever SeenThe Future Of This PodcastThis was supposed to be the slot for Bev & Ryan to talk about David Lynch's The Elephant Man, but that episode has been pre-empted. Instead, this 685th edition of Have You Ever Seen has Ryan talking alone about a major life change that greatly affects this podcast. Check this one out for those details, but also note that all my talk about "maybe" covering The Elephant Man next Monday was unfounded. That episode is already finished, so it will definitely go up on September 15th. Subscribe to the channel in your podcast app. Rate it, write a 5...
2025-09-0809 minHave You Ever SeenMr. Blandings Builds His Dream House Ryan's got a Friday solo show today with this 684th edition of Have You Ever Seen. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a zany rom-com with Cary Grant and Myrna Loy playing a likable husband & wife who move themselves & their daughters from NYC out to the country. And their house turns out to be a disaster. This film has been acclaimed over the decades, even though it's more congenial than it is funny…and an ineffective love triangle subplot involving the snarky Melvyn Douglas is completely unnecessary. But it's undeniable that H.C. Potter directed a successful (supposed) la...
2025-09-0539 minHave You Ever SeenBest Of The Splats ListicleIt's Labour Day, sure, but we're working the podcast anyway as we talk about critically-disliked films made by 14 outstanding actors. We put the names of 50 living thespians in a hat, then pulled out 7 names apiece and talked up 1 movie of each of theirs that Rotten Tomatoes gave a bad review. A splat, if you will. Some of the names in this 683rd edition of Have You Ever Seen include Ford, Foxx, Streep, Cruise, Freeman and Weaver. While we intentionally left out a few guys for reasons that will be explained, fear not. They might come up anyway. So like...
2025-09-0138 minHave You Ever SeenThe MartianOur summer of podcasting comes to an end with this 682nd episode about The Martian, where we talk about Matt Damon having a years-long space adventure alone on the red planet. He's left behind by his crew and has to use his wits & botany talent to survive until they can come back for him...with plenty of help from the geniuses at NASA back on Earth. The optimism in Andy Weir's novel translates to the rare cheery entry in Ridley Scott's filmography. Damon's charm and sense of humour are a huge part of what made that possible in a...
2025-08-251h 03Have You Ever SeenRevolutionary Road Reuniting the Titanic team of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (not to mention Kathy Bates) was something audiences had wanted for more than a decade. Maybe they didn't expect another doomed romance that was also bleak and sad. Revolutionary Road is about middle-class ennui, quiet desperation and the cruelty of hope. And the stars are terrific playing unextraordinary people yearning for something else, even if everybody keeps poo-pooing their plan to move to Paris. Director Sam Mendes' movie was a disappointment at the box office and it didn't get a wealth of Oscar nominations either. The film ages well...
2025-08-1854 minHave You Ever SeenMr. And Mrs. SmithMr. And Mrs. Smith was a hit action comedy that started out as a vehicle for Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie. What director Doug Liman and his team couldn't have known going in was that the "Brangelina" phenomenon would overwhelm their movie and be the start of a passionate, but ultimately controversial real-life relationship and marriage. We of course discussed all that gossip in episode #680, but we also spent time (well, some) hashing out the nutso plot of this fun motion picture. Stupid, but fun. The stars certainly have chemistry & megawatt sex appeal, which mixes pretty well with all the...
2025-08-1146 minHave You Ever SeenAFI's Not Quite 100 Listicle Holidays often mean we post a listicle...and so the Civic Holiday brings about our breakdown of the American Film Institute's greatest movies that DIDN'T make their 1998 or 2007 Top 100 lists. So there's no Citizen Kane, Godfather, Jaws action here. These are nominees that were shunned both times, such as Dog Day Afternoon, Ghostbusters, L.A. Confidential...and so many more. Bev listed her #100 down to #11 alphabetically while Ryan came up with categories in groups of 10. Then we each did a more thorough analysis of our Top 10 lists. So get cozy on this first Monday of August as the 679th...
2025-08-0457 minHave You Ever SeenThe Seven Year ItchMarilyn Monroe was a gorgeous blonde, the kind who made men's tongues hit the floor. She also played innocent, cute and dumb as well as anyone. Case in point, The Seven Year Itch is where that famous image of her skirt being blown up while she's standing over a subway grate comes from. And the cinematic icon aced all of those angles in Billy Wilder's comedy. Yes, the director had to compromise and cut out much of the risque material that was in the play, yet he's still got the gift of Monroe...and Tom Ewell too, who won...
2025-07-2846 minHave You Ever SeenLiving In Oblivion The least-well-known title we'll be covering in this month of mirth-filled movies is Tom Di Cillo's sharp satire about the stresses of independent filmmaking. But those who aren't aware of it should know that Living In Oblivion will bust some guts. Steve Buscemi and Catherine Keener are terrific in the lead roles as the director and his temperamental star, but James Le Gros hilariously steals the show, essentially playing Brad Pitt. As we analyzed this story filled with compromises and dream sequences, we were able to talk about our own backgrounds in the media. So slip your screenplay to...
2025-07-2146 minHave You Ever SeenMister RobertsThis second week in Have You Ever Seen's month of funny films has Ryan covering the more sweet than hilarious WWII war comedy Mister Roberts. The legendary director John Ford and his co-director Mervyn LeRoy had a strong cast to work with, although Ford's mean-spirited temper comes up often in this episode. Henry Fonda is not at his very best in the title role, but he's still awfully good. James Cagney plays the ship captain, William Powell is likably charming as the doctor and Jack Lemmon won his 1st Oscar for playing Ensign Pulver with plenty of panache. So...
2025-07-1450 minHave You Ever SeenAirplane! Put out a bowl of memberberries because episode #675 of Have You Ever Seen is a fond reminiscence of the greatest parody of disaster thrillers ever made. Airplane is still the crowning achievement of the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker team who made many other funny farce flicks like Top Secret and The Naked Gun. What Team ZAZ perfected their first time out as directors was to make an uproarious comedy out of a deadly serious situation by casting likable newcomers like Robert Hays and Julie Haggerty, then team them up with old pros who weren't known for comedy...Robert Stack, Lloyd...
2025-07-0744 minHave You Ever SeenThe Virgin SuicidesWhile Sofia Coppola's second film, Lost In Translation, remains her finest, the '70s-set The Virgin Suicides was a good start to her writing and directing career. Her debut is far from perfect, although it's lyrical, haunting and it looks fantastic. Now, we had issues with Coppola's loyalty to Jeffrey Eugenides' book, especially the narration and the inconsistent use of 5 boys across the street. Still, the movie is a good one. James Woods and Kathleen Turner as the parents and Kirsten Dunst as the most-rebellious of 5 daughters are the key members of a family of cloistered Catholics who live...
2025-06-3050 minHave You Ever SeenErin Brockovich Caring crusaders are almost their own movie genre and one of the most successful films about such is Erin Brockovich. Steven Soderbergh had a huge year in 2000 with Traffic and also this biopic, turning both into blockbuster Oscar-winners. He won the award for directing Traffic while Julia Roberts won her own gold trophy for playing the brash, real-life, legal assistant who works day and night to expose an environmental cover-up that killed children in a small California town. Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart and Marg Helgenberger shine too, but this movie belong to Julia…and it might be her signature pe...
2025-06-2352 minHave You Ever SeenBorn YesterdayJudy Holliday unexpectedly won the 1950 Best Actress Oscar instead of Bette Davis in All About Eve and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd, but the Judes IS outstandingly funny in Born Yesterday. George Cukor's classic comedy actually gets funnier as it goes along, as the likable ditz Holliday grows curious about history, politics, word origins...and bettering herself. Broderick Crawford plays her uncouth, corrupt, long-time boyfriend who's in Washington to buy himself his very own politician while William Holden is the journalist paid to teach Holliday things she didn't know. And fun ensues. This 672nd episode on Have You Ever...
2025-06-1647 minHave You Ever SeenCoal Miner's DaughterWe're entering a stretch of Have You Ever Seen reviews where the performances in the movies in question won the star a Best Actress Oscar. Sissy Spacek took it home 45 years ago for her transformation into the Coal Miner's Daughter...aka the First Lady Of Country Music, Miss Loretta Lynn. Spacek wasn't alone though. Tommy Lee Jones as her husband Doo and Beverly D'Angelo as Patsy Cline shine too. Michael Apted's biography has all that famous music, of course, but we're also talking about a difficult 50-year marriage, occasional violence and Lynn's ascent to stardom. This did the poverty-to-riches...
2025-06-1352 minHave You Ever SeenAmy The documentary that won the Academy Award in 2015 is the topic of #670 of Have You Ever Seen. Asif Kapadia and his team look at the tremendous singer Amy Winehouse through archival footage and many new interviews with those in her circle, but the film sorely misses having these obscure people being shown on camera. Who's who?! We were also critical of how Kapadia's approach isn't as in-depth as he might think it is...and did this contribute to the pile-on done by the paparazzi and the media that loved to show her at her worst? There's so much blame...
2025-06-0944 minHave You Ever SeenSense And SensibilitySense And Sensibility is Ang Lee's take on an English tale of manners, money and matrimony. The Taiwanese director was an outsider to this world, obviously, but he also brought a formality and desperate longing to this project. Lead actress Emma Thompson won an Oscar for her adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel. And it's a good role, doing the buttoned-down thing she did so well back in the '90s. She's a funny woman who made her name being serious. Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant are all very good too, but the men take a back...
2025-06-0250 minHave You Ever SeenLe SamouraiAfter more than 12 years of doing this podcast, it was high time for us to review something by French director Jean-Pierre Melville. Le Samourai was his (and his star, Alain Delon's) homage to '40s Hollywood noir. This crime classic is about Delon's passive hitman, who's either too cool for school...or just doesn't care. In this one-Ryan show, the talk gets into relating to Delon's loner mindset and solo lifestyle, although not so much his sparse apartment, his constant smoking or his work as a contract killer. Or having a chirpie bird for a roommate. The ending is p...
2025-05-3039 minHave You Ever SeenThe Guns Of Navarone On Mission: Impossible weekend, it seemed right for Have You Ever Seen to feature a flick all about an impossible mission to climb a cliff, get inside a Greek island fortress and blow up some enormous German blasters. Our 667th episode talks about that trek, but also about revenge and wartime honour. Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn and David Niven lead a fine cast in The Guns Of Navarone, as they and their team try to save the lives of 2000 men. The actors are skillfully guided with tension and even humour by J. Lee Thompson, who was on the roll...
2025-05-2652 minHave You Ever SeenWhat's Up, DocWait, Ryan O'Neal again?! Yup! What's Up, Doc is our 3rd O'Neal movie this year. And they all came out in the '70s, which was not just the man's peak. That was director Peter Bogdanovich's most-productive time in Hollywood too. They and the Bugs Bunny-ish Barbra Streisand (who's, of course, still a massive star over 50 years later) came up with a screwball comedy that pays homage to the old masters like Capra, Hawks and Keaton. There are funny misunderstandings, hijinks, 4 people somehow have the exact same bag. And for such a cartoonish movie, the stunts are some of...
2025-05-1948 minHave You Ever SeenThe Hitch-HikerIda Lupino was an actor in some classic movies for close to 50 years, but she directed a few classic thrillers in the '50s too. The Hitch-Hiker is her crowning achievement, with William Tallman doing a wonderfully sinister job in the titular role. He's one of the underrated great villains in cinema history. Edmond O'Brien & Frank Lovejoy are the men he kidnaps and forces them to drive him to Mexico. Only, they don't get to be nearly as interesting. In this one-man show, Ryan reads perhaps more into the hitch-hiker's psychology and his hostage's PTSD than Lupino intended...but...
2025-05-1638 minHave You Ever SeenBattleship Potemkin Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin tells a very complete story in only about 70 minutes. The black-and-white, silent flick is based on a real-life mutiny aboard a ship in the waters of the Black Sea near Ukraine. Of course, the incredibly influential Odessa Steps sequence is what people remember best...and it's the extremely violent result of this "war" against your own oppressive rulers. Eisenstein made one of the greatest Russian motion pictures ever here, but the storytelling and modern-feeling technical achievements (especially the editing) make this far more than just a old Communist propaganda film. So don't just hang out in...
2025-05-1239 minHave You Ever SeenBarry LyndonNearly every Stanley Kubrick film has been featured on Have You Ever Seen now that we're spending about an hour reviewing Barry Lyndon. In this 663rd episode, we analyze the gold-digging, underwhelming dueler played by Ryan O'Neal, an Irish soldier (turned gambler) who also turns out to be a terrible stepfather. Even though he's good as the opportunistic Redmond Barry, he's outshone by Patrick Magee, Steven Berkoff and particularly Leon Vitali as his lordly stepson. Barry Lyndon is one of the best-looking movies of 'em all, so it appropriately won Oscars for the look and the design. The pace...
2025-05-0557 minHave You Ever SeenNational VelvetClarence Brown's family classic National Velvet is what's on tap in the 662nd edition of Have You Ever Seen. A pre-teen, horse-obsessed Elizabeth Taylor sheds tears from time to time, but she's remarkably optimistic all the same, especially about her beloved equine chum, "The Pie". Anne Revere won an Oscar for playing Taylor's preternaturally calm mom, while top-billed Mickey Rooney was starting to grow out of his annoying "I'm always overdoing it" phase. He's actually pretty good in this, playing a young loner with horse PTSD. They're the main players in this classic sports film, even if the horse-training a...
2025-05-0249 minHave You Ever SeenNine To Five To put a finishing touch on this year's Revenge Month, our 661st episode has some fun with Colin Higgins' feminist comedy where a mediocre man gets major comeuppance for treating the women in his office so badly. If only Nine To Five was as funny as its reputation says it is. The tonal problems are partly because this started out as a serious look at how hard women have it in the workplace. Flawed or not, we DID enjoy the flick. It helps that Higgins knows how to tell a good story and his 3 stars make a great team...
2025-04-2840 minHave You Ever SeenThe RevenantAs Easter weekend comes to an end, Ryan posts a solo show about another intense blood-feud here in Revenge Month. Leonardo DiCaprio went through hell and finally won his Oscar while auteur Alejandro G. Iñárritu won his 4th in 2 years for their work on The Revenant, a violent, gory, grueling and beautifully-photographed survival story. There's a running theme of racism against Native Americans in here too, who are on their own vengeance quest. Tom Hardy is fantastic as Leo's antagonist, who earns the enmity of a man nearly killed by a bear after he kills that man's son. An...
2025-04-211h 06Have You Ever SeenMunichPosting a podcast about Munich on Easter Weekend wasn't a deliberately provocative choice. Posting this mostly-effective "you'll pay for that" procedural during Revenge Month WAS intentional. Episode #659 of Have You Ever Seen is a Ryan monologue about Palestinian terrorists kidnapping and then assassinating Jewish athletes at the 1972 Olympics...and then the Israelis siccing a hit squad on those who planned it. Upbeat blockbuster filmmaker Steven Spielberg isn't squeamish about showing viciousness and bloodshed when he makes an Important Movie. Trouble is, he gets so heavy-handed in the last half-hour, as Eric Bana struggles with the moral ramifications (and blowback...
2025-04-1848 minHave You Ever SeenRififi We reach the mid-point of Revenge Month with a French crime classic that features one of the greatest heist scenes in cinema history. Which has arguably never been topped, with its use of clever thieving techniques, intricate teamwork between the 4 main characters…and silence. Rififi is violent, many people die, it even has a drug addict and it has that brilliant break-in sequence where our "heroes" steal a lot of diamonds. Jules Dassin had been blacklisted by Hollywood during the Red Scare nonsense in the '50s, so he went over to Europe and directed Jean Servais and many (no...
2025-04-1442 minHave You Ever SeenBlood SimpleThe blood-soaked Blood Simple represents the debuts of not only auteurs Joel & Ethan Coen, but also their star (and Joel's future wife) Frances McDormand. They don't seem to agree though with the widely-shared view that their first film was an expertly-plotted noir. It's one of their best movies, in fact. When the Coen Brothers go down to Texas to shoot a nihilistic movie about death and contract killings, classics like this and No Country For Old Men result. And considering it was an independent production without any stars, it was quite a hit. The brilliant highlight sequence is John...
2025-04-0748 minHave You Ever SeenOldboyHave You Ever Seen's 656th podcast begins our 3rd (Annual, probably?) Revenge Month and Oldboy's plot o' vengeance is particularly sinister. Park Chan-wook's sadistic South Korean thriller has several unforgettable moments, including the one-take hallway hammer fight and the shocking, blood-soaked climax. Choi Min-sik is quite terrific in the lead role, an ordinary man who's forced to live in the solitude of a private prison for 15 years, not even knowing why. He loses his freedom, his family and nearly his mind. Once he's unexpectedly let out, he goes on a vicious rampage as he tries to figure out who...
2025-04-0438 minHave You Ever SeenMad Max: Fury Road Play your flame guitar as you cue up the 655th edition of Have You Ever Seen to hear us jaw about the loner known as Max Rockatansky, but stay for the Imperator known as Furiosa. George Miller's 6-time Oscar-winner was the 4th in a series that already featured one of the greatest stunt movies ever made (The Road Warrior), but then he and his team managed to easily top it with Fury Road. And just as it was with the earlier pre-CGI films, most of the remarkable and dangerous stuff was done practically! Tom Hardy is solid casting in...
2025-03-3156 minHave You Ever SeenOut Of AfricaNote: this episode might be listed as "E" on your app, but there's no bad language in this one. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of our 13th year of podcasting, so we end #12 with another one-Ryan show...this time about a 7-time Oscar-winner. Along with a slew of technical awards, Out Of Africa won Best Picture and Sydney Pollack was rewarded for his direction. His romantic epic, with all those scenic vistas, was also a mega-hit. Yet not everyone loved the story about Karen Blixen, partly because it's really long and arguably too slow. It's also easy...
2025-03-2447 minHave You Ever SeenSomebody Up There Likes MeMany boxing movies have surpassed what Robert Wise and Paul Newman brought to the screen in Somebody Up There Likes Me, but their biopic DID win 2 technical Oscars. Newman is not at his best playing Rocky Graziano, an angry young delinquent who turned a life spent in various forms of trouble into a championship boxing career. He was still new to movies though and wasn't to be laconic and cool as he get to be in other roles. This was clearly a huge influence on the most-famous fictional boxer, Sly Stallone's Rocky Balboa. Ryan had fun with that comparison...
2025-03-2144 minHave You Ever SeenThe Informer It's St. Patrick's Day, so Have You Ever Seen #652 gets into an IRA frame of mind, puts on some green and talks about John Ford's The Informer. The legendary director and leading man Victor McLaglen won Oscars, but the set-bound film itself lost out to the epic grandeur of Mutiny On The Bounty for Best Picture. McLaglen plays a pathetic liar who betrays and rats out a fellow Irishman to British authorities...and deals with his guilt (badly) by blowing all his blood money as soon as possible. So pour a Guinness, boyos & girlos and prepare for another Ryan...
2025-03-1738 minHave You Ever SeenThe King's SpeechOscar Month continues! Bev's couple of weeks off begins! She's not here to talk about The King's Speech, which is a classy movie that ended up being a huge hit, even though it's about a group of people that Ryan has never liked: the royals. A monarchy? In a democracy? Come on! Yet, credit where it's due, Tom Hooper does an admirable job of making a non-fan care about the king of England and his enunciation---and also Nazi-related---troubles. Colin Firth won gold for his work as the stuttering Prince Albert/King George VI who gets a job he never...
2025-03-1053 minHave You Ever SeenAll The King's MenAll The King's Men is a political movie, so Ryan decided to get very political in this one-man show. In fact, warning: don't listen to the 650th edition of Have You Ever Seen if you're a Trump supporter...because he gets lambasted. As for the movie in question, it's a good one. A man who saw into the future, Robert Rossen, writes and directs a film that's effective at showing a cruel and corrupt governor does business...and how that's connected to the wanton acts of the cruel and corrupt current president. Broderick Crawford plays Huey Long-esque Willie Stark...
2025-03-0749 minHave You Ever SeenOscars Post-View 2025 The Ellises have a next-day chat about the 97th Academy Awards in our 2025 Oscars Post-View. The year 2024 was not a banner 12 months for film, but, in the end, the voters pointed at independent film Anora the most often, giving it 5 trophies…including Best Picture. Sean Baker set a record by winning 4 Oscars (at least, in the types of categories in which he won), with 2 of those being for his screenplay and for his direction. The awards were spread around fairly well beyond that (8 out of 10 Best Picture nominees won at least 1 piece of gold), although the show didn't wow or...
2025-03-0332 minHave You Ever SeenRebecca One of the most-legendary filmmakers of all time only directed one movie to a Best Picture Oscar…and Rebecca was it. Alfred Hitchcock slickly portrays the brutal treatment of the victimized newlywed Joan Fontaine. She's a target for everyone in the film, especially a vicious housekeeper played by Judith Anderson and a neglectful and possibly homicidal husband played by Laurence Olivier. But did Hitch enjoy what Fontaine's character goes through...or does he sympathize with her? And just how much of a compromise is the censored version of the unseen title character's fate in this stylish, gothic thriller? So thr...
2025-03-0350 minHave You Ever SeenOscars Preview 2025 Our 10th Annual Oscars Preview podcast is the 647th chat on Have You Ever Seen...and it's an in-depth look at the controversial 97th Academy Awards. First-time host Conan O'Brien will probably riff on the dirt, but also how this is one of those "who are you people" Oscars. Yeah, it just wasn't a terrific year for film and the nominations reflect that...particularly in major categories like Best Picture and Best Director. It also seems like people watched 15 or 20 movies all year, then just picked them as nominees in nearly every category. So fire up our show to h...
2025-02-241h 10Have You Ever SeenThe Postman Always Rings Twice As you'll hear in this 646th dose of Have You Ever Seen, The Postman Always Rings Twice is thought of by many to be the epitome of film noir. Tay Garnett's sexy thriller based on James M Cain's book gives us passion, lust, deceit, betrayal and death, so it hits those vital marks to be a key part of this genre. Lana Turner is the lady in white who gets her employee John Garfield to kill for her. She's the standout between the two of them, but is she really the baddest of all femme fatales? Tune into this...
2025-02-2147 minHave You Ever SeenCinderellaCinderella is on the shortlist for the most famous fairy tales of 'em all. And, after a rough stretch in the '40s, Walt Disney's genius animators beautifully adapted this legendary story to help bring the struggling studio back into the black. Trouble is, the cutesy mice sidekicks aren't nearly as funny as other Disney sidekicks were (or have been since) and some plot elements border on the stupid. We got into the issues of princess culture, abusive family members and the whirlwind romance Cinderella has with the personality-free prince. So enjoy your impractical footwear and avoid waiting until...
2025-02-1745 minHave You Ever SeenLove StoryNo one has to think Love Story is a good movie to acknowledge that it's a beloved romance that made an absolute killing at the box office 55 years ago. The AFI remembers Arthur Hiller's film fondly too. It's just that we Ellises aren't at all sorry to say that we aren't as enamored as millions of other people have been. It feels rushed and story beats aren't allowed to breathe, plus---Oscar nominations or not---the performances certainly weren't award-worthy. The title of the movie is appropriate too because the overly-earnest story is focused on the love between Ryan O'Neal and...
2025-02-1048 minHave You Ever SeenWitnessWitness is a tense thriller as much as it is a sweet love story, but Peter Weir's typically sensitive direction balances those elements very well. He also led Harrison Ford to his only Oscar nomination, which seems hard to believe for a guy who's been such a big movie star for such a long time. Lukas Haas plays a young Amish Pennsylvanian who witnesses a vicious murder in the washroom of a train station, then Philly detective Ford has to protect him and his mother (Kelly McGillis) from retribution by the dirty cops who did the deed. And, throughout...
2025-02-0750 minHave You Ever SeenFather Of The Bride1950 was a year in which legendary classics like All About Eve and Sunset Blvd were released, but one of their competitors for the Best Picture Oscar was Vincente Minnelli's light comedy...which is itself a low-key classic. Father Of The Bride is well-written and it has more laughs than most movies that came out in that era, largely because Spencer Tracy knew how to be funny in a dignified way. He's nearly at his best in this as a successful lawyer...and he's also Elizabeth Taylor's dad. He's self-absorbed and unable to accept that his daughter has grown up...
2025-02-0345 minHave You Ever SeenKick-AssWhile Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass might be dated now, it was certainly controversial 15 years ago. It's jammed with violence and bad language...and many of those naughty words come out of the mouth of an 11-year-old girl. But it's also a story about a young nobody who becomes a star on social media and goes on to save his city from very bad guy. Take away that he DOES become a superhero and this movie IS our current culture. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays the title character and he's about as average as he always is, but Chloe Grace Moretz is fantastic...
2025-01-2756 minHave You Ever SeenThe KidCharlie Chaplin's The Kid represents the 3rd-oldest movie we've ever reviewed, but it continues to be an accessible story 104 years later. Chaplin adopts Jackie Coogan and they live a life of squalor---and also chicanery---but they ARE happy together. There's genuine affection between these two actors. Coogan's performance was a landmark for child actors while Chaplin was, as always, a comic virtuoso. He's responsible for 6 jobs in one movie, which was typical for him. The biggest bugaboo is that Chaplin's film is more touching than it is funny. Just look at that kid plead for his "dad"! In any case...
2025-01-1732 minHave You Ever SeenGrizzly ManGrizzly Man represents Bev's 2nd movie of choice this month, a documentary about another documentarian as Werner Herzog looks into the troubled life of nature-crusader Timothy Treadwell. He would go into the Alaskan wilderness every summer (often with a girlfriend) and befriend bears, but his hubris and narcissism eventually led where it almost had to: him getting eaten by a hungry bear. His girlfriend died too though, which is the real tragedy because she wasn't asking for it. Did he have a death wish or did he just think the experts had no idea what they were talking about...
2025-01-1344 minHave You Ever SeenSteamboat Bill, Jr.This is the 3rd straight January in which Have You Ever Seen has talked about a Buster Keaton comedy classic. Reviews of most of the man's great silent films are now on this channel, including our podcast about The General that went up nearly 12 years ago. And if this incredible stuntman and stonefaced actor isn't a must-see for serious film buffs, then just who is? Although, while Steamboat Bill Jr. has an effective story and it's exciting and fun, it's just not very funny. And that's a common tale with old movies. In this, Buster's disapproving father wants him---but...
2025-01-1033 minHave You Ever SeenTrue GritThe 637th edition of Have You Ever Seen kicks off the 10th Annual Month O' Bev. Joel & Ethan Coen's True Grit was unusual for them, in that it was a blockbuster. It was also nominated for all kinds of awards, including 10 Oscars...something the brothers WERE used to. The cinematography, the production design and the florid language are standouts in this remake of the 1969 western. Jeff Bridges plays it very broad, but he's still pretty good in the role that won John Wayne an Oscar, while Matt Damon...well, we were split on his work. But their teenaged costar...
2025-01-0649 minHave You Ever SeenBeing ThereTo wrap up the year, Have You Ever Seen episode #636 reviews our first Peter Sellers movie in over 10 years. He was flawlessly funny in Dr. Strangelove (which is the other film we reviewed) and he's note-perfect in Being There too. Hal Ashby had a very-underrated run of greatness in the '70s, directing powerful dramas like Coming Home, but also making truly funny-yet-cynical yuck-fests like Shampoo and this. In Being There, Sellers plays an illiterate gardener who supposedly-intelligent people believe is the wisest man they know. Melvyn Douglas won an Oscar playing a dupe who projects so much onto...
2024-12-3057 minHave You Ever SeenPrisoners"Dread" and "frantic" are key words when describing Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve's bleak (but excellent) thriller about how evil people can push others to the darkest of dark sides. Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal headline a strong cast. In fact, there are marvelous performances throughout this intense and disturbing drama. Aaron Guzikowski's intricate screenplay is a real highlight here, but Prisoners' complex story comes together because of Villeneuve's excellent direction. So counter-program the lightness of the holiday season by joining Ryan in a solo show as we all become demons during this 635th edition of Have You Ever Seen.
2024-12-2754 minHave You Ever SeenMeet John DoeSurprise...it's a bonus episode! Have You Ever Seen #634 is another Ryan solo show. And in it, the monologue is about baseball players, journalists and a lot of liars. Meet John Doe's climax also takes place on Christmas Eve, so Frank Capra's rabble-rouser is timely in that way. It's unfortunate his speech-filled dramedy isn't funnier though, even if it's certainly inspirational. Gary Cooper plays a homeless man who isn't actually suicidal or an idealist, but Barbara Stanwyck had written a newspaper column saying he is...so they run with that lie. Meet John Doe ends up being populist v...
2024-12-2433 minHave You Ever SeenThe Santa ClauseWith Christmas just a few days away, the 633rd episode on this Have You Ever Seen channel is the right time to talk about one of the funniest holiday movies. The Santa Clause is not just a consistent laugh-getter. It's also touching...and those are 2 good reasons the flick has been so rewatchable. Tim Allen made his film debut in John Pasquin's blockbuster and it's like we said about Galaxy Quest: cast him in the right role and it's hard to think of anyone better. He's the bad dad who's forced into being the jolly man in red...but...
2024-12-2338 minHave You Ever SeenEyes Wide ShutTom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were at the height of their careers when they jumped at the chance to work with the great Stanley Kubrick. He hadn't directed a movie in 12 years, then he died before Eyes Wide Shut was even released...so it turned out to be his final film. And it's a long, complex film, which Kubrick took over a year to shoot. It's a sex movie that isn't very sexy...but was that intentional? And even though the centrepiece scene is a ritualistic orgy that leads to threats and possibly murder, was Kubrick actually making a...
2024-12-161h 13Have You Ever SeenCity SlickersBilly Crystal was on a big hot streak in the late '80s and early '90s, topped by this comedy-western blockbuster. Ron Underwood directed City Slickers and did a terrific job balancing the laughs with all the mid-life crises of the 3 main characters. It's a comedy with some sting. What this film does best is connect with middle-aged men who are going through the things that Crystal, Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stern are. Jack Palance though plays a man who knows about that "one thing"...and he was the one who won an Oscar. So ride horses, rope...
2024-12-1351 minHave You Ever SeenThe Polar ExpressBev is off for this 630th edition of Have You Ever Seen, so Ryan is in monologue mode talking about The Polar Express. The turn of the century saw Robert Zemeckis direct 3 consecutive motion-capture animated films (2 of which are Christmas movies), which were expensive and, to many viewers, very off-putting with that "uncanny valley" quality of the character's faces. Tom Hanks wore the tight suit to portray a half-dozen characters and he does just as many voices, although he mostly just sounds like Tom Hanks playing the conductor and Santa Claus. This (horror?) film is pretty exciting though, with...
2024-12-0952 minHave You Ever SeenThe War Of The RosesDanny DeVito has done all manner of laughter, seriousness and biopics for going on 50 years. When he directs movies though, they tend to be dark comedies. Pitch black. Case in point, the often-meanspirited War Of The Roses, which is his best and funniest film. Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner are just about at their career best as the (title) hateful married couple. They're rich yuppies, who have everything, until they commit to destroying it all because neither will let the other get to keep their big house. He's oblivious and patronizing while she's resentful and, eventually, murderous. But since...
2024-12-0252 minHave You Ever SeenThe Hunchback Of Notre DameThe 628th edition of Have You Ever Seen has Ryan doing a monologue about The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. William Dieterle directs this adaptation of Victor Hugo's tragic novel as a strange love triangle, with both Cedric Hardwicke's Frollo and Charles Laughton's Quasimodo falling hard for Maureen O'Hara's Esmeralda. Perc Westmore's makeup and many other technical aspects of this production are quite impressive, but the huge Notre Dame set and Laughton's performance as the title character are A+. A theme of persecution by both the fickle masses and by the bloodthirsty powers-that-be was timely when Hunchback was made in...
2024-11-2940 minHave You Ever SeenAll That JazzBob Fosse's autobiographical musical about how he makes art until he dies is all about a guy who's doing too much and can't cope, yet he's compelled to never stop working. Name an addiction and he's got it. Yet his 8 1/2-esque story---with Roy Scheider playing a heightened version of his director---is a potent one, with all its flashy editing, production design and terrific choreography. We weren't huge fans of the songs in All That Jazz, but these actors sure can dance, especially Ann Reinking (whose name is pronounced "Rine-king"). So...5, 6, 7, 8...put on some black clothes and do your heart-killing...
2024-11-2550 min
Cycling OklahomaThe Journey of Cycling and Parenthood with Ryan HulsebergWhat happens when a passionate cyclist becomes a new dad and still manages to conquer the trails? Join us as we sit down with Ryan Hulseberg, a beloved figure in the local cycling scene, who shares his inspiring journey of balancing newborn parenting with intense training. Ryan opens up about the unwavering support from his incredible wife and the community that fuels his cycling passion. You'll also get the latest on Cycling Oklahoma, a platform providing downloadable gravel routes, and how our community's support can take it to the next level. Ever wondered what it’s like to...
2024-08-151h 38The Employee Handbook - An HR Podcast by 2 LawyersMy Neck, My Back, My Rights Under Attack: Fighting Disability DiscriminationSend us a textNavigating the labyrinth of disability accommodations and avoiding the snares of discrimination in the workplace can be as complex as a game of legal chess. With us, Arta Wildeboer or and Ryan Ellis, your guides through California's intricate employment law landscape, you're in for an enlightening strategy session. We dissect the spectrum of conditions covered by employment law and the strategic dance between employers and employees when it comes to reasonable accommodations. Along the way, we share real-world scenarios that bring to life the practical implications of these legal challenges, all with a...
2024-05-141h 04Cycling OklahomaRyan Drummond Chasing the Professional DreamImagine pedaling through the thrills and spills of competitive cycling with a rising star as your guide. That's exactly what we're bringing to your ears as Ryan "Ry Ry" Drummond, a prodigious cyclist from Oklahoma City/Bentonville, joins us to share his journey from mastering bunny hops to conquering international races. Ryan's narrative isn't just about the bike; it's a family affair, with a National Champion dad, Pro Racer sister and mom who is working to help develop the next generation with USAC. Together, we unpack the contrasts between American and European cyclocross, with Ryan's firsthand experiences highlighting the...
2024-02-161h 01The Employee Handbook - An HR Podcast by 2 LawyersOk, Hear Me Out. It's Like Tinder...but for finding a LawyerSend us a textHere is the description of the episode that Chat GPT came up with when I asked it to read the transcript:Dive into the dynamic world of human resources and employment law with a compelling podcast for HR professionals, legal advisors, and business leaders. In this insightful episode, hosts Ryan Ellis and Arta Wildeboer, seasoned experts in the field, navigate through the complexities of corporate legalities and HR nuances.Decoding Company-Counsel Relationships: Unravel the intricate relationship between companies and their legal counsel. The discussion provides a deep dive...
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