Have You Ever Seen

A Beautiful Mind

One day after the 2026 Academy Awards and right smack in the middle of Oscar Month is the one that won its own 4 trophies 25 years ago. A Beautiful Mind is a touching love story about a real-life paranoid schizophrenic: Nobel-Prize winner John Nash (and his put-upon wife Alicia). Ron Howard & his team play fast and very loose with the facts, including how Nash's condition manifested AND casting Jennifer Connelly as Nash's Hispanic wife. Still, though, Russell Crowe is dynamite as our main man and the supporting performances by Ed Harris, Paul Bettany & Christopher Plummer are terrific. And Howard does well to make a movie about math, but doesn't overload us with it. So laugh at yourself and also about the need for fluid exchange while trying to tune out the voices in your head as this 725th edition of Have You Ever Seen jabbers about A Beautiful Mind. Note: the second movie in the episode on March 23rd will actually be Cimarron, not Dodsworth (which I'll cover on March 27th instead). Don't worry about the Red Scare or those sneaky Communists. Just calmly share your opinion about this movie (and others) with an email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com) or a tweet (@moviefiend51) or a Sky (ryan-ellis). Subscribe to this channel and you won't miss one of those patented extra Friday shows (or the Oscars Post-View probably coming later today), then dash off a review and a rating in your app.

Oscars Preview 2026

The 98th Academy Awards are finally less than a week away, so I've got an in-depth analysis of the major nominees. It's more wide open than it's been in a very long time, with seemingly only PTA (Best Director), Jessie Buckley (Best Actress) and a few of the technical awards feeling like they're locks. And maybe THEY aren't either! It wasn't an incredible year at the movies, yet these are mostly good candidates. Although much like last year, the Academy seemed to nominate just 6 or 8 movies in nearly every category! In any case, the race between One Battle After Another and Sinners (with its record-breaking number of nominations) will be settled on the 15th, so find out where I stand before we get there this 724th edition of Have you Ever Seen. Well, Actually: oops, it's pronounced "Yo-kim" Trier and "Vog-nuhr" Moura...and Moura plays THREE roles in The Secret Agent, not just two. Also, this was recorded before the WGA awards (Sinners and One Battle After Another both won) and, yes, the SAG wins for Michael B. Jordan and Amy Madigan DO feel like potential up-enders in the Oscar races.  Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app. Rate and review the podcast as well. And if you like what I do here, look for my written reviews and ratings and such on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Deal out some feedback on social media ("@moviefiend51" on Twi-X or "ryan-ellis" on Bluesky) and emails are always nice (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com).

Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is Movie #2 in this 11th Annual Oscar Month. It's the rare film that won awards for the screenplay AND the story. Alexander Hall does a pretty good job directing his cast through a creative, body-jumping fantasy about the afterlife, angels and soul reincarnation. This is the first time Robert Montgomery has been featured on Have You Ever Seen...and him playing a goofy palooka was not his usual assignment. He's effective though. Claude Rains gets to play ethereal...which is appropriate for a "seen it all" angel. Evelyn Keyes is Montgomery's love interest and James Gleason is his put-upon boxing manager, whose protege keeps turning up in new bodies. The concept is clever...and it's even a little touching. It's just not very funny. Anyway, launch into this 723rd podcast as I run my mouth about Here Comes. Mr. Jordan. Take a second to subscribe to the channel and never miss one of these Friday episodes. Rate and review the show in your app as well. Seek me out on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Say your piece with an email: haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com. Hit me with some tweets (@moviefiend51) or some Skys (ryan-ellis).

Around The World In Eighty Days

Betting on everything is common these days, yet somehow Around The World In Eighty Days isn't on everyone's lips in 2026. And...it shouldn't be. You really feel that 3 hours. Michael Anderson's adventure comedy has posh David Niven circumnavigating the globe with his man-of-action valet, Cantinflas, and they have to do it in the title deadline...while being pursued by an man from Scotland Yard, who thinks he robbed a bank to fund this trip. Producer Mike Todd seemed to will this film into being finished...and then turned it into an award-winning blockbuster, helped immensely by a staggering amount of star cameos. Well, "famous" at the time. And there's young Shirley MacLaine too! So plop this 722nd edition of Have You Ever Seen right onto your device as I analyze Around The World In Eighty Days. Well, Actually: I said it all sorts of ways in this episode, but the editor, Gene Ruggiero's name should be pronounced "rouge-ee-air-oh". Subscribe to Have You Ever Seen in your app. Rate and review the show too. And look for my scribblings on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Get in touch! Try email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).

Porgy And Bess

The final podcast on Have You Ever Seen in Black History Month talks for the 4th time about a movie with a primarily black cast. Otto Preminger often directed Issues Movies and here he's dealing with the Gershwin opera that's all about murder, rape, drug addiction, fishing and poverty…with some racism thrown in there too. Porgy And Bess is set-bound and melodramatic though. Bad print aside, the story and the execution often feel phony. The actors DO sell the passion better than the script or maybe even the original opera does. Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Brock Peters, Diahann Carroll and Sammy Davis Jr. actually do a terrific job with this not-always-effective material. So tune in for this 721st episode as I tackle yet another musical here in 2026: Porgy And Bess. Well, Actually: George Gershwin DID write the song "Summertime" for the 1935 opera, but DuBose Heyward came up with the lyrics. Also, for those interested in my quest to see absolutely, positively everything AFI-related, there are developments on that front (other nominated films on various lists) that will be discussed in future shows. Subscribe to the channel in your podcasting app. Rate the show with a delightful 5 stars, but also write a little complimentary review. And on the note of reviews, I talk about various flicks on Letterboxd: RyanHYES. Contacting suggestions: email (haveyoueverseenpodcast@gmail.com), Twi-X (@moviefiend51) and Bluesky (ryan-ellis).