Watch With Jen™

Welcome to our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment here & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds. This week, I was delighted to introduce Blake to the hilarious & insightful author Adrian McKinty, who's penned the award-winning, internationally bestselling Sean Duffy detective novels plus THE CHAIN, & THE ISLAND.

Welcome to our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment here & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds. Episode 5 brings two dear friends, brilliant authors, & frequent Watch With Jen guests in the form of BEWARE THE WOMAN novelist Megan Abbott & SHOOT THE MOONLIGHT OUT author William Boyle onto the podcast. In this lightning-fast conversation where two duos from two Pandemic Movie Clubs come together, you'll hear Abbott & Boyle celebrate the heyday of HBO & also dissect the film as a screwball romcom.

Originally Posted on Patreon (1/31/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/97569122

A podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment here & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds. In the fifth episode, we finally bring MIDNIGHT RUN superfan & BOOGIE NIGHTS director Paul Thomas Anderson fully into the mix with our terrifically knowledgeable guests, author & Cinephile Game creator Cory Everett & the man who wrote the book on PTA via author Ethan Warren.

Originally Posted on Patreon (1/24/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/97117158

Welcome to our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment here & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds. Episode four gave Blake & me the wonderful opportunity to chat with two of our dearest friends, crime writers & frequent Watch With Jen guests Jedidiah Ayres (Peckerwood) & Nikki Dolson (Love & Other Criminal Behavior).

Originally Posted on Patreon (1/17/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/96635808

Welcome to our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment here & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds. In the third episode of MIDNIGHT RUN-THROUGH, we were honored to be joined by two of the biggest fans of the movie that we've met, beloved TCM host Ben Mankiewicz and brilliant "Rolling Stone" critic Alan Sepinwall. This was a truly wonderful chat that I know you'll love!

Originally Posted on Patreon (1/9/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/96186078

Welcome to our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. In the second episode of MIDNIGHT RUN-THROUGH, Blake & I are joined by veteran film critic & lawyer Nell Minow & the knowledgeable cinephile & essayist Peter Avellino. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment here & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds.

Originally Posted on Patreon (1/3/24) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/95736859

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

Welcome to our podcast miniseries devoted to celebrating the 1988 contemporary classic, action buddy comedy MIDNIGHT RUN, written by George Gallo & directed by Martin Brest. Produced & hosted by Blake Howard & Jen Johans of One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen, respectively, each week, we’ll explore the film we first bonded over when we became friends in 2019 by surfing through an incredible roster of guests from journalists to novelists & beyond who love it as much as we do. In our inaugural episode, you'll hear from filmmaker BenDavid Grabinski & film critic Drew McWeeny. Now available wherever you get your pods, each week, you'll find a new installment on Patreon & in both the One Heat Minute Productions & Watch With Jen podcast feeds.

Originally Posted on Patreon (12/27/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/95329626

It's always the greatest joy to spend the last few episodes of a phenomenally busy season just chatting about movies hangout-style with some of my closest friends & this year was no exception. I'm so lucky that in the middle of award-season deadlines, one of my funniest cinephile pals, the great Sean Burns joined me for two evenings after Thanksgiving, first to discuss CARLITO'S WAY alongside S.A. Cosby & William Boyle, & then logging back onto Zoom the next night for his latest solo episode on four of director Robert Altman's many terrific under-discussed films: BREWSTER MCCLOUD, THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL, COOKIE'S FORTUNE, & THE COMPANY.

This is the final installment of Watch With Jen for 2023. It's been an incredibly ambitious & exciting year for the podcast. The show reached a few great milestones I never thought I'd achieve when I launched it in the winter of 2020 & I want to thank you for your listenership & support as I continue to learn & grow with each passing year. I'll be taking a handful of weeks off to rest, recharge, & start recording episodes I'm truly excited to bring you in Season 4, but don't worry because you'll still be finding brand new shows in your Watch With Jen feed. Launching next week in both my feed & our co-producer Blake Howard's One Heat Minute Productions, you'll begin exploring our years-in-the-making passion project MIDNIGHT RUN-THROUGH, which is devoted to the 1988 movie MIDNIGHT RUN. It was a joy to create & I know you'll love it!

Note: Originally, I was going to wait to upload this episode until the end of next week but this year has been super stressful for so many people in my life (including myself) & I want to make sure you have enough to distract & delight you during your winter break &/or holiday travels. Wishing you & yours a peaceful & relaxing week & the happiest 2024.

Sean's 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.

Originally Posted on Patreon (12/22/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/95121862

Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

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My holiday gift to you is the early upload of what is easily one of the five funniest episodes of Watch With Jen that I've released so far. Joining me for another chat-a-thon is one of my wisest & wittiest besties, Priscilla Page, who tackles the legendary, iconoclastic 20th-century filmmaker John Frankenheimer with me in her rollicking, rowdy, & incredibly articulate return. Needing to check that explicit language box almost immediately, as one does with Frankenheimer, we celebrate the man, the mythos, & the master of automotive action in the films GRAND PRIX & RONIN. Going on a few memorable tangents about Steve McQueen, James Garner, zen & the art of racecar driving, David Mamet, Robert De Niro, & how obsession with continuity is stupid, this episode serves up plenty of laughter & stories, though none are greater than the ones shared in the last section of the podcast by two of my other awesome friends.

My wonderful honorary kid brother from Oz - Mr. Blake Howard - hooked me up with some amazing audio he recorded in 2021 with incredible actor & dear friend Donal Logue where Donal shared some heartfelt & hilarious memories of working with Frankenheimer on the holiday actioner REINDEER GAMES. (I'd heard a couple of these from Donal in the past & they're the best!) Originally released by Blake Howard in his One Heat Minute Productions pod spinoff "Rum & Rant" which has since been dubbed "Roast & Rant," I'm thrilled to include these stories with you at the tail end of the episode as a way to honor the late great John Frankenheimer's legacy.

The best way to de-stress as you prep for the holidays, cinephiles will adore this one. It's a true pleasure to highlight gifted pals on the podcast, particularly as we begin to wrap up 2023, & Watch With Jen will return once more in December with a final S4 episode featuring the awesome Sean Burns on Robert Altman. Additionally, our spinoff pod MIDNIGHT RUN-THROUGH, co-hosted by Blake Howard, is premiering shortly & you'll also find it here, so get psyched!

Priscilla's Bio: One of the brightest & most popular lights of Film Twitter, Priscilla Page writes about cars, movies, and cars in movies, focusing mostly on your dad's favorites: actioners, thrillers, westerns, etc. Her bylines include Hagerty, Autoweek, Empire Magazine, The Guardian, Polygon, Birth.Movies.Death., and Bright Wall/Dark Room. You can keep up with Priscilla's outstanding work through her Patreon.

Originally Posted on Patreon (12/18/23) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/94880027

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