Watch With Jen™

A talented film writer and podcaster with an infectious love of cinema & physical media, Stephanie Crawford's passion for film shines through on her popular Twitter account and also in real life, as Jen Johans quickly discovered when she chatted with her last week.

In a freewheeling, wide-ranging discussion, the two discuss DVD commentary tracks, what not to use for an online password, director Ken Russell's work, the perils and ple...

We've reached the 10th episode of Watch With Jen, which means that this installment brings the number of films that host Jen Johans has recommended to 50! From journalism movies to a 19-year-old summer comedy, as well as Hitchcockian train fare, a foodie film, & a contemporary classic from Argentina, here's hoping you'll find something you can't wait to check out in these wide-ranging picks.

Originally Posted on Patreon (5/18/20) he...

When you ask Film Freak Central senior critic and former University of Denver film professor Walter Chaw a question, you're going to get an answer that's as articulate as it is profound. Friendly and contemplative, for Jen Johans, it was both an honor and a delight to speak with the former VP of Operations at Denver's Alamo Drafthouse about life during quarantine for introverts, advice he has for aspiring critics, his philosophy of...

Taking you around the world for 4 of the 5 features, we go from the underworld of contemporary Northern Ireland to Guernsey island in WWII, then travel to the American south in the 1990s, the beaches of southern France in the early '00s, before we meet a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders in modern day Denmark.

A lively episode, E9 is filled with observations about hammers as weapons, letter writing as the perfect way...

Warm, witty, and a wonderfully fun conversationalist, Peckerwood author and Hardboiled Wonderland blogger Jedidiah Ayres and Jen Johans dove right into a free-flowing discussion about blogging, the perils and pleasures of adapting books to film, great double feature ideas, and mutual pals on Twitter and the result is this fast-paced episode.

Originally Posted on Patreon (5/6/20) with links to people, films, and sites mentioned here.

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Intelligent, thoughtful, and kind, when you speak to author William Boyle (whose new critically acclaimed novel City of Margins has just been released), he takes you on a trip through his influences and current filmic obsessions. Digging for new treasure, whether it's in the stacks of physical media that both he and Jen have in common or through the many streaming services he scours when he's pursuing a certain thread of titles, th...

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 C...

Following up on our great Brian De Palma episode with Megan Abbott & Alison Gaylin that was released last week, we have our second of three installments this month featuring two tremendous guests. Centered on one of our greatest film stars in the form of Robert Mitchum, you'll hear two different conversations with two brilliant women, recorded over the course of the summer to clock in at a combined total of two hours. If anyone...

This week, I am honored to welcome a dynamic duo of acclaimed bestselling crime writers to the podcast & two women who've both won the Edgar and numerous other awards. Additionally, good friends who've also collaborated on the graphic novel NORMANDY GOLD, it's the wonderful partnership of Megan Abbott & Alison Gaylin. Author of such must-reads as DARE ME, THE TURNOUT, & GIVE ME YOUR HAND, Megan Abbott's latest novel BEW...

I have a pretty busy week lined up so you're getting this new episode early! Returning to the podcast today, we have a fan favorite in the form of Mr. Jordan Harper. One of my dearest friends, this podcast's very first guest, and my Pandemic Movie Club, and Game Night crew buddy, Jordan is the Edgar award-winning author of She Rides Shotgun, Love & Other Wounds, The Last King of California, & Everybody Knows.

Additionally,...

This week, 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...

A film critic for publications such as LA Weekly, New York Magazine, Vulture, The New York Times, and formerly, The Village Voice, the brilliant Bilge Ebiri is one of my favorite journalists working today. Although we've discussed some of his favorite directors like Terrence Malick & Neil Jordan tangentially in the past, I was thrilled to bring him back to the podcast this time to focus on the filmmaker who helmed his favorite ...

The director behind the hilarious LEGO BATMAN MOVIE, the popular series ROBOT CHICKEN, as well as the films THE TOMORROW WAR starring Chris Pratt for Prime, & the brand new RENFIELD with Nicholas Hoult & Nicolas Cage, this week, I was so pleased to welcome filmmaker Chris McKay to the podcast.

A huge film buff who fell in love with the films of Alfred Hitchcock early, thanks to his cinephile mom, Chris McKay is such an enorm...

In Season 3 of the podcast, my good friend Kate Hagen - a talented writer & Senior Vice President at The Black List - joined me to kick off a fascinating new series of conversations with the people behind the movies we love. We launched it with what is still one of my all-time favorite episodes: a long, career-spanning discussion with the great filmmaker Allison Anders & then a few months later, we reunited to chat with All...

Returning to Watch With Jen this week, we have my very talented friend and an official (and very popular) friend of the show. William Boyle is the acclaimed novelist behind such titles as Gravesend, The Lonely Witness, A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself, City of Margins, and Shoot the Moonlight Out. In addition to crafting these wonderfully humanistic Lumet-like character-driven ensemble crime epics, Bill is quite the pop culture...

Whether you're embarking on an exotic vacation or staying close to home, we're back from our month-long hiatus a few days early to give you something you can escape into your headphones & enjoy over the long holiday weekend. Delivering a month of hotly anticipated episodes featuring a killer lineup of guests & themes, we begin with the return of the brilliantly insightful Roxana Hadadi on HBO's remarkable "Succession," whic...