Watch With Jen™

by Jen Johans

3-time national award-winning writer & full time walking movie encyclopedia Jen Johans of FilmIntuition.com delivers a steady stream of great movie recommendations, thoughtful career deep dives, & first rate conversations with critics, authors, actors, journalists, filmmakers, and more on Watch With Jen.™️ Originally launched on Patreon (https://patreon.com/FilmIntuition), where new installments premiere first, once each episo ...   ...  Read more

Podcast episodes

  • Season 5

  • Watch With Jen - S5: E5 - '80s Spy Movies with Ace Atkins

    Watch With Jen - S5: E5 - '80s Spy Movies with Ace Atkins

    Twisty, engaging, & filled with colorful performances, the Soviet paranoia of the Cold War '80s fueled the plotlines of so many first-rate films that New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins & I vividly remember from the Reagan/Bush era. And with the next two books that Atkins is set to release revolving around spies &/or the '80s, it's the perfect time to revisit a quartet of spy-centric releases, including THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, TARGET, JUMPIN' JACK FLASH, & NO WAY OUT in this inquisitive & nostalgic episode. Touching on several other films along the way & offering great insights into the evolution of both the spy genre & the way that attitudes shifted in audiences & Hollywood from the '60s through the '80s, Atkins fans, Gen Xers, & film lovers will find much to dig into in this sparkling conversation. Ace's Bio: Ace Atkins is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author who started his writing career as a crime-beat reporter in Florida. Don’t Let the Devil Ride is his thirtieth novel. His previous novels include eleven books in the Quinn Colson series and multiple true-crime novels based on infamous crooks and killers. In 2010, he was chosen by Robert B. Parker’s family to continue the iconic Spenser series, adding ten novels to the franchise. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi with his family. (From AceAtkins.com) Originally Posted on Patreon (3/8/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/99999786 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

  • Watch With Jen - S5: E4 - SoCal Amateur Detectives with Duane Swierczynski

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    Watch With Jen - S5: E4 - SoCal Amateur Detectives with Duane Swierczynski

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    Earlier in the year, I was thrilled to meet longtime Twitter acquaintance Duane Swierczynski when he arrived in Scottsdale on his book tour for his terrific new crime novel CALIFORNIA BEAR. Co-hosting an event with Patrick Milliken at the beloved local bookstore Poisoned Pen, we spent an hour chatting with the Philadelphia native about his life, work, new novel, & love for his adopted state of California, especially in the world of books & film. A knowledgeable cinephile, we made plans for Duane to become a guest on the show & he came up with an ingenious topic that fits right in with California Bear & the films he loves to watch by exploring a trio of SoCal Amateur Detectives movies from the late '70s through the early '80s, including THE LATE SHOW, CUTTER'S WAY, & MIKE'S MURDER. And it's the 4th episode of 2024, which is incidentally releasing on the weekend this show turns 4, so grab your headphones, notepads, & sunglasses for a little trip to the sunny, deadly beaches of Southern California, where people escape to reinvent themselves, try again, & maybe solve a crime... or 4. Duane's Bio: Duane Swierczynski is the New York Times bestselling & two-time Edgar-nominated author of ten novels, including Revolver & Canary - many of which are in development for film and TV - as well as the graphic novel Breakneck. Most recently, Duane released the novel California Bear, co-authored Lion & Lamb with James Patterson, and co-scripted James Patterson's The Guilty, an Audible Original starring John Lithgow and Bryce Dallas Howard. He lives in Southern California with his family. Originally Posted on Patreon (3/2/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/watch-with-jen-99599827 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

  • Watch With Jen - S5: E3 - Quintessential John Cusack with Duncan Birmingham

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    Watch With Jen - S5: E3 - Quintessential John Cusack with Duncan Birmingham

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    Surprise! Since next week marks the anniversary of when I started this podcast, I'm dropping this episode a few days early as a thank you for your support & listenership over the years. (Note: I haven't decided how to celebrate the date yet, but I think a good start would be not forgetting it like I usually do, haha.) Season 5 has kicked things off in a wonderfully nostalgic mode so far with several installments I've recorded about films of the '80s & '90s, which I'm hoping casts the same sort of warm, glowy, Gen X memory-filled spell on you that it did on me as I researched & prepped for these episodes. And who better to focus on for a look back at this era than John Cusack whose onscreen alter-ego so many of us grew up alongside?  Returning to the podcast to investigate is filmmaker & author Duncan Birmingham, who started revisiting Cusack's films towards the end of '23 & pitched this terrific idea to zero in on the Quintessential Cusack era from SAY ANYTHING...(1989) to HIGH FIDELITY (2000).  Citing multiple other films along the way, in this appreciative, analytical look back, we focus on his work in three other tremendous films including THE GRIFTERS, GROSSE POINTE BLANK, & BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. Giving plenty of love to his outstanding collaborators & including stories from our own lives & the way our relationships with these characters & films change with age, this is just the thing to queue up & maybe blast from your boombox in some sort of grand romantic declaration as you head into your weekend. Duncan's Bio: A writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, today's guest Duncan Birmingham was an executive producer and screenwriter for IFC's MARON and also served as a co-executive producer and writer on the Starz series BLUNT TALK. Additionally, Duncan's short films have premiered at festivals like Sundance and AFI, and his screenplay SWINGLES, which Paramount purchased, was also on The Black List. Recently, his lively, irreverent short-story collection THE CULT IN MY GARAGE was published by Maudlin House in 2021, & in '22, he wrapped & released his excellent first feature-length film as a writer-director called WHO INVITED THEM. Originally Posted on Patreon (2/23/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/99081183

  • Watch With Jen - S5: E2 - Francis Ford Coppola in the '80s with Mitchell Beaupre

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    Watch With Jen - S5: E2 - Francis Ford Coppola in the '80s with Mitchell Beaupre

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    Although we had an early kickoff to our 2024 season with our episode dedicated to the work of Tom Wilkinson early in January, Watch With Jen listeners can consider this the official start of Season 5. Reuniting with my good friend & the senior editor of Letterboxd, the intelligent & highly articulate Mitchell Beaupre, in this delightful, research-filled feature-length conversation, we take a look at director Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious, messy, underrated, & often misunderstood '80s period, with emphasis on the films RUMBLE FISH, THE COTTON CLUB, ONE FROM THE HEART, & PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED. Mitchell Beaupre's Bio: I'm so pleased to welcome back to the podcast a talented, supportive, and funny friend. Currently based in Newark, Delaware, Mitchell Beaupre is not only the Senior Editor at one of my favorite services (via Letterboxd), but they're also the co-host of the Weekend Watchlist and Four Favorites podcasts, which you can find in the stream for The Letterboxd Show. Additionally, a prolific freelance film journalist and stellar interviewer for prestigious outlets such as "The Film Stage," "Paste Magazine," "The Playlist," and "Little White Lies," you can keep up with all of their impressive work on Twitter @ItIsMitchell. Originally Posted on Patreon (2/18/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/98710804 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

  • Watch With Jen - S5: E1 - Remembering Tom Wilkinson with Roxana Hadadi

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    Watch With Jen - S5: E1 - Remembering Tom Wilkinson with Roxana Hadadi

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    Although Watch With Jen: Season 5 won't get into full swing until roughly February, we're returning early with a special episode devoted to honoring the life & career of the great British character actor Tom Wilkinson, whom we sadly lost over the weekend. Getting together for a Zoom on New Year's Eve with the always soulful & analytical Roxana Hadadi, we spent an hour celebrating the films & performances of Wilkinson, with particular emphasis on his Oscar-nominated turn in MICHAEL CLAYTON & the '90s ensemble favorite THE FULL MONTY. It's an ideal conversation to listen to with a pad & pen because Roxana & I reference multiple other movie & television roles throughout its running time. As we all start settling back into our post-holiday daily routines, we hope you enjoy this tribute to a legend, & find some new performances of his to seek out to kick off an inspiring year of viewings. Roxana's Bio: A TV critic with Vulture, who also writes about film & pop culture, previously Roxana was the film editor & a critic with Pajiba, & her reviews, essays, recaps, and other writing have also been published by The AV Club, Polygon, RogerEbert.com, The L.A. Times, Crooked Marquee, The Playlist, Fox Digital, GQ, & Inverse. Originally Posted on Patreon (1/2/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/95734421 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