Classic movie talk with loose comic edges.
Have You Ever Seen treats movie history as a personal watchlist with jokes in the margins. Ryan Ellis moves from noir and comedy to war stories, Oscar talk, and Academy Awards previews, mixing plot discussion, performer trivia, and blunt asides.
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Have You Ever Seen is a long-running film review podcast centered on classic movies, Oscar history, and one-person cinephile commentary. Ryan Ellis brings the voice of a committed movie watcher rather than a polished panel show. The episodes are spoiler-friendly and usually broad enough to cover story, craft, reputation, release context, performer history, and personal response. A noir episode can pair Out of the Past with The Spiral Staircase. A comedy episode can turn three W.C. Fields films into a tour through vaudeville timing, pratfalls, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and the practical problem of tracking down old titles through the library or Internet Archive. The show has a strong old-Hollywood spine. It returns often to actors, directors, studios, AFI lists, and the odd trivia path that links a small Robert Mitchum role in Scrooged to later coverage of better-known work. It also keeps one foot in awards season, with Academy Awards previews, Oscar aftermath, and references to Best Picture winners and nominated performances. The tone is loose. Short jokes sit beside careful observations. Personal digressions about work, baseball, travel, streaming apps, or local movie connections often show up before the review settles back into the film. Ellis can be irreverent about revered titles, but the interest in the movies is real. He likes names, dates, lists, and side roads. He also likes saying when something made him laugh, when a scene surprised him, or when a theory is only speculation. That mix gives the show its texture: part classic-film notebook, part awards-season catch-up, part friendly monologue from someone who has watched a lot and still enjoys being amused by the details.
Made for: For listeners who enjoy classic film reviews, Oscar history, actor trivia, and spoiler-filled plot discussion. It also suits movie fans who like a conversational solo voice more than a tightly produced critic roundtable.
What sets it apart: Its strength is the blend of old-Hollywood research and offhand personal rhythm: trivia questions, release details, actor connections, and sudden digressions all share the same lane. The show feels accumulated, not manufactured.
Ryan and Bev Ellis are partners in film nerdery who share their often humorous musings on the AFI's 1998 & 2007 lists of the greatest 100 American films ever made. But we finished with that in December 2015, so now we just review anything we feel like!
Ryan Ellis turns movie spoilers into close readings, complete with pigeon clues and vaudeville mirror business.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A spoiler-heavy A Beautiful Mind discussion that stays focused on its illusions, emotions, and small observed details.
Ryan Ellis turns the 725th Have You Ever Seen episode into a close look at A Beautiful Mind, following the film's fake people and the pressure they place on John's marriage and state of mind.
A W.C. Fields triple header finds its best energy in the household chaos of It's a Gift.
Ryan Ellis gives W.C. Fields a three-film spotlight, moving through International House, It's a Gift, and The Bank Dick with the most animated focus on the domestic mess of It's a Gift.
Oscar-night chatter that keeps one eye on the clock and the other on The Substance.
Have You Ever Seen makes its Oscars preview feel like a practical Oscar-night companion, starting from the plain problem that the ceremony runs long and a little caffeine may help.
Oscar talk from a very strange basement.
Thai screen talk with friendly chaos.
Awards season, argued in real time.
The host introduces an episode reviewing the classic film 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' while discussing ongoing audio recording challenges.
The host celebrates their 700th episode by discussing three classic 1930s comedies from the American Film Institute's top 100 laughs list.
This episode of the podcast 'Have You Ever Seen?' features a husband and wife team reviewing and spoiling the classic film Erin Brockovich.
This episode discusses the podcast's February movie coverage plans, including romance themes, musicals, and films honoring Black History Month.
Ryan Ellis reviews three W.C.
Ryan and Bev Ellis preview the 97th Academy Awards in their 10th annual Oscars special.
Have You Ever Seen reviews The Burning, a May 8, 1981 slasher set around Camp Blackfoot and the burned caretaker Cropsey.
Ryan Ellis reviews Marc Forster’s 2006 film Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell as IRS agent Harold Crick, who hears Emma Thompson’s narrator describe his routines and predicted death.
Ryan Ellis reviews William Wellman's 1939 Paramount film Beau Geste, starring Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston as adopted brothers tied to the theft of the blue water sapphire.
Ryan Ellis reviews The Founder and Martin Scorsese’s Silence, both released around the 2016 Oscar season.
This episode reviews two classic film noir movies, 'Out of the Past' and 'The Spiral Staircase', focusing on their stars like Robert Mitchum and Rhonda Fleming.
The host discusses three classic W.C.
This episode explores the 1932 film 'Trouble in Paradise' and director Ernst Lubitsch's signature style known as 'the Lubitsch touch,' which blends serious subjects with elegance, sophistication, and wit.
This episode discusses the AFI's top 100 heroes and villains list, focusing on Gary Cooper's unique achievement of having three characters ranked as heroes, including Alvin York from 'Sergeant York'.
The host introduces a classic film podcast episode about the movie Dodsworth, discusses baseball season, and asks listeners about dream European travel destinations.
Rosen says John Nash has schizophrenia, and Alicia realizes Charles never existed at Princeton.
The host previews the 98th Academy Awards, discussing the nominees, the show's timing compared to past years and other awards like the Golden Globes, and his personal viewing plans.