The Top 100 Project

Ryan Ellis & Bev Ellis

Revisiting classic movies, including the AFI's greats, foreign films and documentaries.

  • 38 minutes 51 seconds
    Oldboy

    Have 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 locked him up and why...only to finally learn the reason in an "I never saw THAT coming" twist. So get your fried dumplings and live octopus ready to eat while you also try to avoid various forms of mouth trauma as Ryan solos on a podcast about Oldboy.

    Sparkplug Coffee is our sponsor. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes". Using that "HYES" discount code will result in a onetime savings of 20%.

    Rate and review our podcast in your app, but also find us on YouTube (@hyesellis is the link on YouTube). Comment about the episode, like it...and subscribe as much as you possibly can.

    Contact us by email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. Or find us on Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis) or on Bluesky (ryan-ellis and bevellisellis).

    4 April 2025, 5:12 am
  • 56 minutes 26 seconds
    Mad 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 taking over the role that made Mad Mel Gibson a star, but this movie belongs to Charlize Theron as Furiosa. She, Zoe Kravitz, Riley Keough and the other fantastic female characters are the standouts in a surprisingly feminist film. So drive out, then drive back home as we head over to Australia (well, Namibia, really) and wrap up another Oscar Month with a detailed chat about Mad Max: Fury Road.

    Well, Actually: we said that it's unlikely Miller will get to make more films in this series because Furiosa bombed last year, but Mad Max: The Wasteland IS in pre-production.

    If you enjoy the product that has its own version of guzzoline, check out Sparkplug Coffee's website (sparkplug.coffee/hyes). Our "HYES" discount code will save you 20% off your next order.

    Rate our podcast in your app and write a review of it, but also subscribe. Hit the trusty like button and comment on YouTube as well...and subscribe (@hyesellis in the search bar on YouTube).

    Contact us: email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Bluesky (ryan-ellis and bevellisellis) and Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis).

    31 March 2025, 5:18 am
  • 47 minutes 25 seconds
    Out Of Africa

    Note: 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 to be bothered that Kenyans & their land are just a backdrop for a love triangle between 3 white people. Coffee farmer Meryl Streep and great white hunter Robert Redford DO sell the love in this "based on real events" flick...even if he doesn't feel as authentic as she does. So enjoy the early days of spring listening to the 654th edition of Have You Ever Seen, the one about Out Of Africa.

    Well, Actually: to be very anal about this, the Ellis' honeymoon was on the island of Mallorca, not Ibiza. Also, the Serengeti is in Tanzania, not Kenya...although those 2 countries ARE neighbours.

    This movie is about a coffee farm down in Kenya, but we offer you the greatness of our Canadian sponsor, Sparkplug Coffee. use our "HYES" promo code and get a onetime 20% discount. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

    Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen. Rate and review our shows in your app too. Look for all our postings on YouTube too (@hyesellis in the search bar). Subscribe there, but also comment and like the show.

    Contact us. By email we're "haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com". By social media, try Twi-X (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis) or Bluesky (ryan-ellis and bevellisellis).

    24 March 2025, 4:50 am
  • 44 minutes 31 seconds
    Somebody Up There Likes Me

    Many 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 in this solo show, which is the 653rd edition of Have You Ever Seen. So step into the ring and take advantage of your hate as we ring in the spring this Oscar Month with a monologue about Somebody Up There Likes Me.

    Well, Actually: the content in the 3rd trivia question is inaccurate: Newman had 10 Oscar nominations in total, 9 for acting and 1 for producing (plus, Denzel Washington has 10 in total too because he was nominated for producing Fences). Also, to be crystal clear, the next solo show won't be on April 4th. It will be on Monday, March 24th. Bev will miss that day as she continues to recover from her surgery.

    Invest some bucks in Sparkplug Coffee. They give our listeners a onetime 20% discount. Just use our "HYES" promo code. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

    Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your podcast app. Write a review of our work and give us a 5 star rating. And subscribe to us on YouTube as well (@hyesellis in the search bar). Comment and like as well.

    To say things to us, compose an email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). Or use the social media apparatus. Ryan is @moviefiend51 and ryan-ellis on Twi-X and Bluesky while Bev is @bevellisellis and bevellisellis on those 2 apps.

    21 March 2025, 6:02 am
  • 38 minutes 46 seconds
    The 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 monologue here in Oscar Month as the 90-year-old The Informer is on deck.

    Pour some Irish whiskey into your Sparkplug Coffee. Or don't. Have You Ever Seen listeners can use our "HYES" promo code and get a 20% discount. The website if "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

    Don't forget to rate this podcast and write a review. And subscribe!

    Feeding back to us can be achieved in a number of ways. Try email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. Try Bluesky: "ryan-ellis" and "bevellisellis". Or go with Twi-X: "@moviefiend51" and "@bevellisellis".

    17 March 2025, 4:41 am
  • 53 minutes 15 seconds
    The King's Speech

    Oscar 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? 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 wanted while his supportive wife (Helena Bonham Carter) and unorthodox speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) are just about his only support system. The King's Speech is often quite touching and it's even inspirational, showing a privileged man have to deal with confidence issues, loneliness, his uncaring fellow royals and duty to his country. So don't storm off in anger. Just tune into the 651st episode of Have You Ever Seen and listen to one man's speech...about a speech.

    Well, Actually: while Slumdog Millionaire started the trend of the entire cast & crew in attendance at the Oscars going up on stage when the film wins Best Picture, the entire LOTR: ROTK cast & crew DID go up on stage the year THEY won Best Picture. Also, Helena Bonham Carter plays "Bellatrix Lestrange" in the Harry Potter series, not "Beatrix".

    We are sponsored by the coffee that's fit for a king or a queen: Sparkplug Coffee. Using our "HYES" promo code will get our fans a onetime 20% discount. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

    Subscribe to our podcast in your app, but also write a review and rate our show. We're on YouTube as well (@hyesellis in the search bar), so comment all you wish and stroke the like button.

    Send us an email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. On the social media sites, Ryan is "@moviefiend51" on Twi-X and "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky. Bev is "@bevellisellis" on Twi-X and "bevellisellis" on Bluesky.

    10 March 2025, 5:07 am
  • 49 minutes 26 seconds
    All The King's Men

    All 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, who's a performer first and foremost, then proves to be a gigantic phony. Rossen's film is complicated though because the man who takes dirty money uses it to build things the state needs. So strap in tight for an episode all about All The King's Men, but also often about the certain loathsome individual who must have seen this and taken notes.

    Well, Actually: the Danny DeVito line in Heist is "everybody needs money", not "everybody loves money". Also, it's true that seatbelts weren't made mandatory in cars for another few decades after when this film is set.

    Sparkplug Coffee can ordered by Bostonians, New Yorkers, anyone from the U.S. and Canada. Sparkplug will give our fans a onetime 20% discount. Use the "HYES" promo code to get that. The website is "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

    Subscribe to our show in your podcast app, but also rate us and write a review. Do some of those same things on YouTube (@hyesellis in the search bar), but comment all you wish and like the show there.

    Social media: Ryan is "@moviefiend51" on Twi-X and "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky. Bev is "@bevellisellis" on Twi-X and "bevellisellis on Bluesky. Email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com.

    7 March 2025, 7:08 am
  • 32 minutes 50 seconds
    Oscars 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 move us too much. It was just an okay---and very long---broadcast. Conan O’Brien was funny, as we expected he would be, while the speeches got serious & political at times…as we expected they would. Some people, though, thought they had all night to ramble on up there. In any case, fire up our 33-ish minutes of post-Oscars analysis here on Have You Ever Seen.

    Try Sparkplug Coffee. Our listeners can get a onetime 20% discount by using our “HYES” promo code. The website is “sparkplug.coffee/hyes”.

    Subscribe to us, but also rate & write a review our show in your podcast app.

    Contact us: @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis on Twi-X. On Bluesky, we’re ryan-ellis and bevellisellis. Our email is haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. On YouTube, we’re @hyesellis in the search bar. Comment, like, subscribe, etc.

    3 March 2025, 6:44 pm
  • 50 minutes 11 seconds
    Rebecca

    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 throw the 648th edition of Have You Ever Seen into those holes in the sides of your head as we head to Manderley and whisper about what's going on in Rebecca.

    Feel free to write as many memos as you want like the control freak David Selznick used to do, but jotting all those notes down would be aided by sipping Sparkplug Coffee. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes" and get yourself a 20% discount.

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    Respond to us by emailing (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), tweeting (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis) or Blueskying (ryan-ellis and bevellisellis). 

    3 March 2025, 8:18 am
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    Oscars 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 hear if we think this will be the year of a sex-worker winning all the big prizes. Or will it be the year of a transgender drug lord? Or maybe it’ll be the year of a surly, green witch. Or a brutal artist.

    Gulp down some Sparkplug Coffee on Sunday night. Our listeners get a onetime 20% discount by using our "HYES" promo code. The website? It's "sparkplug.coffee/hyes".

    Subscribe to our channel, but also rate and review our chats in your podcast app.

    And follow us on social media: @moviefiend51 and ryan-ellis for Ryan on Bluesky and @bevellisellis and bevellisellis on Bluesky. Email us: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. And seek out the show on YouTube. The destination in the search bar is @hyesellis. Comment, like and don't leave before you subscribe.

    24 February 2025, 5:55 am
  • 47 minutes 31 seconds
    The 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 one-Ryan show about The Postman Always Rings Twice to find out!

    Well, Actually: at the 4:35 mark, it should have been "Cora eventually falls hard for drifter Frank", not "drifter Nick".

    Go the “sparkplug.coffee/hyes” website and you’ll be on your way to a onetime 20% discount from our friends at Sparkplug.

    Subscribe to this podcast. Rate and review it too,

    We post our shows on YouTube as well (@hyesellis in the search bar). Comment, like, subscribe, tell your friends. To let us know what you think of our thoughts about the movies we cover, email us (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com). On social media, we’re @moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis on Twi-X and we’re ryan-ellis and bevellisellis on Bluesky.

    21 February 2025, 6:38 am
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