Watch With Jen™

This week, I'm honored to be joined by not one but two brilliant screenwriters, Larry Karaszewski & Daniel Waters. Larry Karaszewski & his writing/directing/producing partner Scott Alexander are best known for writing unusual true stories such as the films ED WOOD, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, MAN ON THE MOON, AUTO FOCUS, BIG EYES, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, & the hit television miniseries THE PEOPLE VS. OJ SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY. The team has won Emmys, Golden Globes, Producers, & Writers Guild Awards. Additionally, Larry is also a former Governor & Vice President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. Born in Ohio & raised in Indiana, Daniel Waters is the Edgar award-winning screenwriter of the 1988 cult classic HEATHERS starring Winona Ryder & Christian Slater. Additionally, the man who wrote or co-wrote the films BATMAN RETURNS, HUDSON HAWK, THE ADVENTURES OF FORD FAIRLANE, DEMOLITION MAN, & more, he's also the writer-director of HAPPY CAMPERS & SEX & DEATH 101. Best friends & movie buddies since their teenage years in Indiana, in the fourth season of Watch With Jen, the two joined me to dissect the films of director Michael Ritchie, & this year, they're back to take us on another trip through the films of the 1970s, courtesy of actor Jan-Michael Vincent whose luscious blonde hair & laid back approach made him one of the most popular up-and-coming stars of the era. Although initially, we agreed on five films, including BUSTER & BILLIE, THE MECHANIC, WHITE LINE FEVER, THE WORLD'S GREATEST ATHLETE, & VIGILANTE FORCE, Larry & Dan made it their mission to do as much extra credit as possible, watching everything from obscure TV movies like TRIBES & SANDCASTLES to bigger hits like HOOPER & more. Along the way, we discuss Dan's issues with JMV in the '70s & this dream (or nightmare) he had where I ruined the vibe of his party, Larry's decision to watch two JMV movies on the ceiling under laughing gas at the dentist, & much, much more. What can I say? This conversation is a journey - a rollicking, thoughtful, & very engaging journey - & you're sure to love it.Originally Posted on Patreon (8/20/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/110417546Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi

This week, my good friend William Boyle returned to the podcast to discuss a terrific character actress we both love. Celebrating Edie Falco beyond her tour de force performance as Carmela Soprano on THE SOPRANOS, in this fast-paced conversation, we offer an overview of her work in early indies like LAWS OF GRAVITY, THE UNBELIEVABLE TRUTH, & TRUST, her darling turn in JUDY BERLIN, & the films SUNSHINE STATE, OUTSIDE IN, & THE LAND OF STEADY HABITS. Bio: William "Bill" Boyle is the award-winning author of 8 works of fiction set in the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend, where he was born & raised. His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the UK, & the prestigious Grand Prix de Litterature Policier in France, & have been included on best-of lists in Washington Post, CrimeReads, & more. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi. Originally Posted on Patreon (8/14/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/110053462Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi

This week, I was thrilled to welcome a longtime Twitter mutual who's a huge cinephile with outstanding taste, a veritable encyclopedia of Film Noir, & an author as well. Christa Faust writes crime novels, comics, & tie-ins. She worked in the Times Square peep booths, as a professional dominatrix, & in the adult film industry, both behind & in front of the cameras. Her forthcoming Hard Case Crime novel THE GET OFF, the final book in the Angel Dare trilogy, is set in the world of rodeo & will be out in February of 2025.From the 2 years she spent following rodeos around the United States for her upcoming novel to her love of John Huston's THE MISFITS & movies about the sport in general, in this richly fascinating conversation, Christa gives us an insider's view of what it's like to train, live, & work in rodeo. Filled with interesting asides about topics deeply entrenched within it, including traumatic brain injuries, the vital role of women within the rodeo community, & metaphors involving the death of rugged individualism & working in Hollywood, I learned so much from this conversation & I know you will too. Spending a bulk of our time on THE MISFITS, we also touch on THE LUSTY MEN (which listeners will remember was covered in our S4 Robert Mitchum episode too), plus the contemporary films NEON BULL, BULL, & THE RIDER.Originally Posted on Patreon (8/7/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/109652602Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music ArchiveShop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi

It's a pleasure to welcome one of my longtime Twitter faves to the podcast. Katie Stebbins is a knowledgeable cinephile, academic librarian, & the author of truly creative film zines. For the uninitiated, that's "zines" as in magazines or literary journal-styled books filled with collages & writing on films within a given calendar year. Described as a personal, passionate, & unique way to engage with cinema & create a scrapbook that reflects the full experience of doing a deep dive into a year of film, these ingenious zines gave Katie a chance to explore not only her favorite movies but make new discoveries as well, which is so cool.In this breezy, spirited, nostalgia-fueled ode to the heyday of TV adaptations from the late '80s through the early aughts, we investigate the highs & lows of this new cinematic subgenre. Along the way, Katie & I take a closer look at THE ADDAMS FAMILY, THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, DUDLEY DO-RIGHT, & CHARLIE'S ANGELS.Originally Posted on Patreon (7/31/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/109183487Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi

After our brief midsummer break, we're back with an episode featuring two outstanding new guests, Natalie Jenner & Sarah Kozloff.Natalie Jenner is the internationally bestselling author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY & BLOOMSBURY GIRLS which have been translated into more than 20 languages worldwide. A former lawyer, career coach, & independent bookstore owner who lives in Oakville, Ontario with her family & two rescue dogs, Natalie’s latest work of historical fiction is the wonderfully well-researched novel EVERY TIME WE SAY GOODBYE.Sarah Kozloff is a professor emerita at Vassar College, where she taught film history for 33 years. Her publications include the BFI Classic volume on THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES & the chapter on romantic comedy in the NORTON: INTRODUCTION TO FILM GENRES. And since Sarah Kozloff is an expert on THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, she was the ideal person for Natalie Jenner to invite to join us for this episode dedicated to a legendary filmmaker we all love, William Wyler, who received more Oscar nominations than any other director (so far) yet is still vastly under-discussed by film fans today. While we give an overview of his life, career, filmography, & staggering contributions to motion picture history (as Bette Davis, Laurence Olivier, Barbra Streisand & more credit him for teaching them how to act for the camera), the two films we dive into most in this episode are his beloved works THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES & ROMAN HOLIDAY.Originally Posted on Patreon (7/24/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/108744042Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi

It's always a pleasure to bring on another podcaster & even more so when they're from my home state of Minnesota! That's right, gang, this week, you'll hear Minnesotan accents at full power as I'm joined by Clay Keller, who's the engaging & knowledgeable co-creator & co-host of the sensational Screen Drafts podcast. In this joyous, in-depth, classic film-centric episode devoted to one of our favorite unsung character actors, we discuss the westerns, noir, B-movies, & gritty overlooked films & performances of the legendary Robert Ryan. Finding it impossible to limit our conversation to just 5 films, we reference several movies but mainly focus on CROSSFIRE, THE SET-UP, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, ON DANGEROUS GROUND, THE NAKED SPUR, & THE DIRTY DOZEN. Clay & I adored getting lost in our Robert Ryan research & rewatches & our enthusiasm is sure to inspire you to queue up some of these amazing titles as well. Enjoy!Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi Originally Posted on Patreon (6/26/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/106943967

The only thing better than talking to one Sean is when you add a second Shawn to the mix. Returning to the podcast this week, I'm thrilled to share this recent wonderfully rollicking, quick-witted, story, & insight-filled conversation I had with two of my dearest friends: the veteran Boston-based WBUR film critic Sean Burns & the award-winning internationally bestselling novelist S.A. Cosby. Zooming in to cover some of their (sometimes divisive) crime movie favorites not called THE GODFATHER, for this episode, we agreed to take a closer look at MENACE II SOCIETY, THE FUNERAL, BLOW, & WE OWN THE NIGHT, but then wound up celebrating, critiquing, & shouting out several other under-discussed crime movie faves as well. The perfect accompaniment to your summer travels or long commute to work, listen with a notebook handy to write down some of these great movies. Sean Burns' Bio: A film critic for WBUR's Arts & Culture and a contributing writer at North Shore Movies and Crooked Marquee, he was Philadelphia Weekly's lead film critic from 1999-2013 and worked as contributing editor at the Improper Bostonian from 2006-2014. His reviews, interviews, and essays have also appeared in Metro, The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, The Boston Herald, Nashville Scene, Time Out New York, Philadelphia City Paper, and RogerEbert.com. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Burns was a recurring guest on the late David Brudnoy's WBZ 1030 AM radio show, and in 2002, received an award for Excellence in Criticism from the Greater Philadephia Society of Professional Journalists. His writing has been called "jocular but serious, more like a 1940s daily reporter pounding out columns on a manual typewriter than a typical twenty-first-century navel-gazing film critic." Meanwhile, his sisters still tell him that he "swears too much and drives like an old lady." S.A. Cosby's Bio: S. A. Cosby is an Anthony Award-winning writer from Southeastern Virginia. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a New York Times Notable Book, and was named a best book of the year by NPR, The Guardian, and Library Journal, among others. His latest award-winning bestselling novel is All the Sinner's Bleed. When not writing, S.A. Cosby is an avid hiker, cinephile, and chess player. Originally Posted on Patreon (6/19/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/106516775 Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless Shop Donate to the Pod via Ko-fi

It's always a blast to chat about movies with a friend & the best thing about having a podcast is that I get to share these fun conversations with all of you. Returning to the podcast this week, we have the gifted crime writer Nikki Dolson who's covered everything from heist movies to westerns with me on Watch With Jen in the past. In this funny, feisty, & fast-paced hour, we celebrate the filmography & career of actress Thandiwe Newton & discuss men, women, sex, love, jealousy, actors, writing, gangsters, & more in the films M:I 2, THE LEADING MAN, ROCKNROLLA, & beyond. Bio: Nikki Dolson is a prolific crime writer whose work has been published in such well-respected places as Shotgun Honey, Tough, ThugLit, and Bartleby Snopes. The author of what she affectionately calls "a novelish thing" - the book All Things Violent - Nikki has also released a short story collection entitled Love and Other Criminal Behavior. One of her outstanding pieces appeared in the prestigious Best American Mystery and Suspense Stories anthology of 2021, edited by Alafair Burke and Steph Cha. Originally Posted on Patreon (6/11/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/106029042Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fi

As a Phoenix-based cinephile & bibliophile, it was a joy & honor to bring on another local film & literature lover in the form of my brilliant friend Patrick Millikin of Scottsdale's world-famous Poisoned Pen Bookstore. Deciding to give listeners an in-depth exploration of a classic noir novel & its adaptations, in this rich, fascinating, & admittedly spoiler-filled conversation, we dive into author William Lindsay Gresham's dark masterpiece NIGHTMARE ALLEY & the 1947 & 2021 film adaptations from directors Edmund Goulding & Guillermo del Toro that followed. I'm incredibly proud of this episode, which gives listeners the experience of a great night of thoughtful discussion at Poisoned Pen from wherever they push play around the world. Enjoy! Bio: Patrick Millikin is a bookseller at The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale and a freelance writer and editor. He is the editor of the anthology Phoenix Noir and The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers and Dark Roads, and his work has appeared in Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Review of Books, and other publications. A longtime devotee of noir fiction, Millikin leads a popular book group called The Hardboiled Discussion Group (now in its twenty-fourth year). Originally Posted on Patreon (6/4/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/105577230Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless Shop Donate to the Pod via Ko-fi

This week, I'm very excited to bring back the great Nell Minow to the podcast. An accomplished lawyer & a highly readable film critic at her site MovieMom.com & RogerEbert.com, where she's also an editor, Nell Minow has written over 3,000 movie reviews since the 1990s. She's also authored several terrific film books, including 101 Must See Movie Moments & The Movie Mom's Guide to Family Movies. Passionate about classic movies & character actors, this episode - devoted to the brilliant, 6-time Oscar-nominated actress Thelma Ritter - gave Nell the perfect opportunity to combine 2 of her favorite interests. Offering listeners an appreciative overview of Ritter's career, in this sunny conversation, we focus on her acclaimed, singular performances in the films THE MATING SEASON, PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET, REAR WINDOW, & PILLOW TALK.Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive Shop Watch With Jen logo Merchandise in Logo Designer Kate Gabrielle's Threadless ShopDonate to the Pod via Ko-fiOriginally Posted on Patreon (5/29/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/105182602