Watch With Jen™

In this episode, host Jen Johans joins one of her oldest Twitter friends, the incredibly talented and delightful podcaster, Indiewire TV editor, and freelance entertainment writer Kristen Lopez for a lively chat about Turner Classic Movies, disability representation onscreen, film books, her podcast Ticklish Business, as well as her work fostering kittens until they're ready for adoption.Originally Posted on Patreon (4/14/20): https://www.patreon.com/posts/36015522Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

Enjoy a thoughtful conversation with the always entertaining, warm, passionate, and talented freelance film and TV journalist Candice Frederick. A writer who's contributed to numerous publications including Harper's Bazaar & The New York Times, Candice discusses everything from therapeutic cooking to the joy of comfort movies like Pretty in Pink as well as how she's adapting to quarantine life.Originally Published on Patreon (4/8/20): https://www.patreon.com/posts/35760814Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

If her main podcast Watch With Jen is the studio track with lots of research and a dozen takes to get the right sound, then Jen's sister podcast Watch With Jen & Friends is the fun, live acoustic version where each week, she calls up a friend and they just talk movies and riff.Today's guest is Jordan Harper. A brilliant author with a quick, fresh wit, really cool taste, and a laid back conversationalist, it's inspiring to hear him wax about everything from MTV's The Challenge to Japanese women in prison films with the reverence most would save for Fellini and Bergman. Definitely a great way to open up this series - Jordan's first visit won't be his last.Originally published on Patreon (4/5/20): https://www.patreon.com/posts/35683689Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

A talented actor turned writer-director, from shooting a TV movie in his teens alongside Oscar winners to voicing Disney's Peter Pan to writing a film for actors Don Cheadle and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to helming his own well-respected indies, Blayne Weaver has had an extraordinary career.Jen first befriended Blayne roughly ten years ago, after she saw, loved, and reviewed his romantic comedy Weather Girl and then watched him have the most polite (and justified) freakout known to man in Paul Osborne's film festival documentary Official Rejection. She's been looking forward to having him on the show since she launched it back in March.In this lively discussion, Blayne regales us with great behind-the-scenes stories from three decades of making movies, discusses the difficulties of directing a Christmas film in the middle of the summer (and in the middle of a pandemic!), and breaks down his influences from James Bond to Batman. A terrifically fun chat, there's something for everyone in this episode.Originally Posted on Patreon on 7/31/20 here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/39931225

Thoughtful, kind, and ambitious, Blake Howard is a podcaster, critic, and the man behind the acclaimed podcast One Heat Minute, who spun off his success with that show into a whole collection of great new film obsessive podcasts under the One Heat Minute Productions umbrella.Relishing the chance to have another fun discussion with Jen's favorite Australian, in this fast-paced episode, Blake shares his advice for podcasters, generously gives a number of shout-outs to their mutual friends and faves, and reveals what he's been watching lately.Knowing that his fans would be as curious as Jen was as to whether or not the insanely prolific man sleeps, what first hooked him on film, and his new and upcoming shows, Jen Johans will admit that she picked his brain far more than they just kicked back and talked about movies. Luckily, however, the best thing about Blake is that you’re always going to get a nice mix of philosophy, film, and life regardless of the topic and this episode is no exception.Originally Posted on Patreon (3/25/20) with links here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37521588Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

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 pleasures of organizing one's movie collection, and agreed that it's about time to give Kirsten Dunst's filmography and Donald O'Connor's contribution to Singin' in the Rain the reverence their work deserves.Originally Posted on Patreon on 5/22/20 here complete with links to titles & topics discussed: https://bit.ly/36v0WEATheme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

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) here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37270109.Theme Music: The Guitarist by Jahzzar, Free Music Archive

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 film writing as personal excavation, the many rich and varied experiences he's had hosting movies and watching them with filmmakers, as well as his recent movie and music discoveries.The type of conversation that begs to be listened to at least twice to fully absorb all of the striking anecdotes and pearls of wisdom he tosses off as easily and selflessly as if he were sharing the ingredients to his favorite recipe, Jen hopes you'll enjoy this chat with the great Walter Chaw as much as she did.Originally Posted with Links to Titles & Articles Mentioned on Patreon (5/15/20) here.Theme Music: Solo Acoustic Guitar by Jason Shaw, Free Music Archive

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 to get to know someone, why Francis Ford Coppola is too hard on himself, sexless sex comedies, how stressful it is for a habitual check splitter like Jen Johans to watch a woman take a man to the cleaners, and the power of a compelling one man show. Needless to say, this one covers a wide range of topics and titles. Enjoy!Originally posted on Patreon (5/11/20) with links to titles & topics discussed here.Theme Music: The Guitarist by Jahzzar, Free Music Archive

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