Ford Focus

About Ford Focus

It’s always nice when the title of a podcast pretty much sums up what it’s all about. Keith Phipps and Mike Ryan will be going through the filmography of Harrison Ford, film by film, from the blockbuster action films to the romantic comedies and everything in between—sometimes with the help of special guests. Why Harrison Ford? The most obvious reason is that he’s been the star of some of the biggest, and most beloved movies of the past 50 years. But if someone can be at once one of the biggest movie stars in the world while also being a little bit underrated, it’s Ford, who’s only been nominated for a single Academy Award over the course of his career, which he did not win. We feel this is an injustice. If you feel the same way you’ve come to the right place. Mike Ryan is a veteran entertainment writer whose work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Uproxx, Indiewire, Empire, and numerous other publications. Mike's current work includes The Hard Pass, (https://www.thehardpass.net/) a frequently published newsletter about the world of entertainment. Keith Phipps has served as a writer and editor at The A.V. Club, The Dissolve, and Uproxx. His writing can be found at Vulture, TV Guide, Slate, The Ringer at elsewhere. Keith also serves as a co-host of The Next Picture Show (https://www.filmspotting.net/nextpictureshow) podcast and, with Scott Tobias, as co-writer of the film newsletter The Reveal. (https://thereveal.film/) If you're enjoying this podcast and would like to unlock our bonus episodes dedicated on related topics in the world of Harrison Ford, hear ad-free versions of our main-feed episodes, help us choose what films we cover next, and more, please consider supporting us on Patron (https://www.patreon.com/FordFocusPodcast). And don't forger to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast to help others find it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Keith Phipps and Mike Ryan

Category

tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

9 Jul 2026

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

15 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Oct 2026

   'Captain America: Brave New World' with Germain Lussier

   Harrison Ford joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe and hulks out in a big way as the President of the United States, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross. Ross is a man with a troubled history, as chronicled in previous MCU films like The Incredible Hulk and Avengers: Endgame, where he was played by William Hurt. (Like Jack Ryan, this is a role that Harrison Ford did not originate.) Does Ford fit into the MCU? Is Ross a Peloton enthusiast? We discuss all that and more with our special guest Germain Lussier (https://gizmodo.com/author/germainlussier), a reporter who covers entertainment news for Gizmodo and io9. This episode was requested by one of our Patreon supporters. If you want to tell us what to watch and enjoy other benefits of being a Patreon supporter, click here. (https://www.patreon.com/c/FordFocusPodcast) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   5 Oct 2026

   'Six Days, Seven Nights' with Matt Singer

   A high-concept rom-com mostly set on a desert island, this 1998 film teams Harrison Ford with Anne Heche (and, to a lesser extent, David Schwimmer) for an unlikely love story. Heche plays a big-city magazine editor. Ford plays an easygoing tropical pilot. The two have nothing in common, but when Ford's plane crashes in the middle of nowhere, is it possible they might fall in love. (Answer: yes.) ScreenCrush (https://screencrush.com/) editor Matt Singer, author of Opposable Thumbs (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710246/opposable-thumbs-by-matt-singer/), a terrific dual biography of Siskel and Ebert, and the brand new (as of October 6), Funny Business: The Old-School Wedding Crashers and Knocked-Up Virgins Who Changed Comedy Forever (https://www.patreon.com/FordFocusPodcast/posts/171229554/edit) (https://www.patreon.com/FordFocusPodcast/posts/171229554/edit) joins us for a discussion of an Ivan Reitman comedy that did pretty well when it played theaters but undoubtedly reached an even bigger audience because it came free when you bought a DVD player in the late 1990s. Also discussed: the film career of David Schwimmer, which Ivan Reitman movies are actually good, and the film's poster, which doesn't exactly scream "here's a fun comedy." Also, if you want to help this podcast be sure to: a) Tell your friends b) Rate, review and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts c) Subscribe to us on YouTube, which will help a lot. Here's the link. (https://www.youtube.com/@FordFocusPodcast) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   29 Sept 2026

   'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' with Alan Sepinwall

   Film critic Alan Sepinwall—writer of the What's Alan Watching? (https://www.whatsalanwatching.com/) newsletter and the upcoming Serling: A Journey into the Twilight Zone with TV's First Visionary (https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/alan-sepinwall/serling/9781538773888/)—joins us to discuss his favorite Indiana Jones movie: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Released in 1989, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade found Harrison Ford dawning his famous fedora for what seemed like it might be the last time for a globetrotting adventure in search of the Holy Grail. Along for the ride: Sean Connery as Indy's distant, eccentric dad. Join us as we talk about Ford's attempt at a Scottish accent, whether or not Indy and his dad are immortal and, inevitably, which cast members also appeared in James Bond movies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

4. 

   22 Sept 2026

   'Hollywood Homicide' with Clay Keller

   Harrison Ford has made a lot of great movies. Hollywood Homicide is … maybe not one of them? It must have sounded great on paper, though. Drawing from the experiences of a real-life Hollywood cop, writer/director Ron Shelton made a buddy comedy set on the fringes of the entertainment industry. Screen Drafts' (https://screendrafts.libsyn.com/) Clay Keller joins us to talk over this 2003 entry, with its bizarre cast to its numerous plots. Also discussed: Whether or not this would be better with Owen Wilson and why Josh Hartnett became a star. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

5. 

   15 Sept 2026

   'Force 10 from Navarone' with Wynter Mitchell

   Writer, podcaster, and content strategist Wynter Mitchell joins us to discuss Harrison Ford's first big post-Star Wars movie: Force 10 from Navarone. A sequel to The Guns of Navarone, Force 10 features none of the original cast, but it does have a star of Jaws (Robert Shaw), a star of Rocky (Carl Weathers), a Bond villain (Richard Kiel), a Bond girl (Barbara Bach) and a Django (Franco Nero). Critics thought it played like a film out of time in 1978. How does it play now? Join us to find out, and to hear our official opinion on Nazis. (Spoiler: They're bad, bad, bad.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

6. 

   8 Sept 2026

   'Apocalypse Now' with Michael H. Weber

   Michael H. Weber, co-writer of 500 Days of Summer, The Spectacular Now, and The Disaster Artist (for which he earned an Oscar nomination with his partner Scott Neustadter, joins us to discuss Apocalypse Now, in which Harrison Ford plays a nervous colonel who sends Martin Sheen's Captain Willard on his way. We discuss Ford's small but important role but also what happens when you see a great movie under the wrong conditions, the curious case of Apocalypse Now's (seemingly) multiple endings, whether it's possible to make an anti-war film (with a tap of the cap to Francois Truffaut), G.I, Joe, Megalopolis, The Rainmaker, The Doors, and much more. (It's, as usual, a pretty digressive conversation). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

7. 

   1 Sept 2026

   'Patriot Games' with Eric Haywood

   Writer and producer Eric Haywood (https://www.erichaywood.com/) (Empire, Law and Order: Organized Crime) joins us to discuss Patriot Games, the first of Harrison Ford's two Jack Ryan films. Does this contain the best finger-pointing work of Ford's career? Maybe, but there's more than one such moment in the competition here. Also discussed: Night Ride Down, the film Ford was supposed to make instead of Patriot Games, satellite warfare, and the film's weird cliffhanger. Like the film, it's kind of a wild ride. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

8. 

   25 Aug 2026

   'Witness' with Anthony Breznican

   Veteran entertainment journalist Anthony Breznican joins us to talk about the film that earned Harrison Ford his only Oscar nomination to date, Witness. Directed by Peter Weir, the 1985 film begins as an intense, stylish police thriller before transitioning to an unexpected romance between a man and a woman from extremely different cultures. Kelly McGillis co-stars as the Amish woman who falls for Ford's straight-arrow cop. We talk about why this might be Ford's only nomination, Patti LuPone's memorable haircut, and the Die Hard bad guy who plays a good guy farmer here. We also talk about Breznican's encounter's with Ford and his upcoming book Star Wars Icons: Vader and Harrison Ford's high energy voiceover heard on the Empire Strike Back trailer, which you can enjoy here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNwNXF9Y6kY). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

9. 

   17 Aug 2026

   'The Frisco Kid' with Jordan Hoffman

   In this comedy western, Harrison Ford plays Tommy Lillard, a fairly gentle and polite Old West outlaw whose life takes an unexpected turn when he meets Avram Belinski (Gene Wilder), a rabbi making his way from Poland to San Francisco where a new congregation and a new bride await him. But getting there won't be easy. Robert Aldrich (The Dirty Dozen) directs a film that didn't do all that well at the box office in 1979 but found appreciative fans in later years. Among them, writer and podcaster Jordan Hoffman, who grew up in a house where a VHS copy of the film was a treasured possession. Jordan joins us to talk about the film's representation of Judaism, '70s depictions of Native Americans, and more. Looking for more Jordan Hoffman? You can hear him on Starlog's podcast Lodestar (https://starlog.com/#podcast) and on Filmspotting SVU, which he co-hosts with friend of the show Matt Singer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

10. 

    10 Aug 2026

    'Working Girl' with Esther Zuckerman

    The Wall Street Journal's Esther Zuckerman joins us to talk about Working Girl, the 1988 rom-com classic in which an ambitious woman named Tess (Melanie Griffith) tries to make it in the go-go '80s business world. Sigourney Weaver and Harrison Ford co-star as, respectively, Tess's seemingly helpful boss and a handsome (but kind of dorky) exec who might be Tess's ideal partner in and out of the office. Topics include the awesomeness of Ford's character's name—Jack Trainer—traveling to Staten Island, Carly Simon's divisive (at least on this podcast) theme song, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

11. 

    3 Aug 2026

    'The Age of Adaline' with Katey Rich

    Keith and Mike are joined by Katey Rich, Ankler Media's Awards Editor to discuss Age of Adaline, a Lee Tolland Krieger-directed romantic fantasy released in the summer of 2015 in which Blake Lievely plays a woman with more years under her belt than her 29-year-old face would suggest. May more years. Like more than a century. How does Harrison Ford's character, a man named Dr. Jones but not that Dr. Jones fit into this? You should watch the movie to find out (though we sort of spoilt it after a certain point). It's an odd one, and one we all like to varying degrees. Also discussed: The Big, immortality influencers, how Sylvester Stallone lost a sure-thing Oscar, and what it takes to earn a PG-13 rating. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

12. 

    27 Jul 2026

    'The Mosquito Coast'

    When Harrison Ford and director Peter Weir teamed up for the 1985 film Witness their efforts met with great acclaim and earned Ford his sole Academy Award nomination to date. When they teamed up a second time for this adaptation of a Paul Theroux novel the following year the results were not the same. And yet, as Mike Ryan and Keith Phipps discover, that's not really fair to a strange, provocative film filled that features another complicated performance from Ford and great supporting work from River Phoenix, Helen Mirren, Martha Plimpton, Conrad Roberts, and Andre Gregory. Is Ford's character, "Allie Fox," a "nut," as Ford once described him? Or was he a man ahead of his time? Join us as we explore this question and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

13. 

    20 Jul 2026

    'The Devil's Own' with Lane Brown

    For this episode, Mike Ryan and Keith Phipps are joined by New York magazine writer Lane Brown to discuss the Harrison Ford movie of his Blade Runner... The Devil's Own. There was a little bit of confusion putting this one together, so instead of watching one of Ford's most-famous movies we weeded up watching and discussing a film probably still best known for all the bad press it received before it even came out. Released in March 1997, the Alan J. Pakula-directed was subject to stories of a ballooning budget and a pair of stars who did not see eye-to-eye on what sort of movie they were making. It's the quintessential troubled production and yet it's somehow pretty good? At the very least it gave us plenty to talk about, including a string of '90s movies about The Troubles and whether or not Brad Pitt's character's scheme to taken a broken-down boat all the way across the Atlantic Ocean would have worked out. You'll find all that and more on this second episode of Ford Focus: A Harrison Ford podcast. And if you enjoy this episode, please rate, review and subscribe. And if you want even more Ford Focus, we have a Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/FordFocusPodcast) where we're posting bonus episodes, including one inspired about this episode where Keith and Mike discuss the 1994 thriller Blown Away, in which Tommy Lee Jones plays an IRA bomber who matches wits with a bomb squad superstar played by Jeff Bridges. Look for that on the Patreon page tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

14. 

    13 Jul 2026

    The Fugitive

    On the premiere episode of Ford Focus: A Ford Focus Podcast, Mike Ryan and Keith Phipps discuss The Fugitive, a massive hit in 1993 that, by all reports, was more or less created as it was filmed. Discussion topics include: Does Harrison Ford look good in a beard or kind of weird? What director Andrew Davis gets right about his hometown of Chicago. What the film gets wrong about Illinois geography. Tommy Lee Jones, and where this fell in his career. (And why had Keith not seen Under Siege until quite recently?) Also on the topic of Under Siege: Boy did Gene Siskel love that movie. Here's the clip that proves it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMOTmXplRZM) We hope you enjoy this first step on our journey through the Harrison Ford filmography. And if you enjoy Ford Focus: A Harrison Ford Podcast, consider supporting out Patreon, which will allow you to unlock bonus episodes (including one on The Fugitive sequel U.S. Marshals we're releasing next week), ad-free versions of our main feed episodes, and give you a chance to tell us what to watch next. You can find it at https://www.patreon.com/FordFocusPodcast (https://www.patreon.com/cw/FordFocusPodcast) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

15. 

    9 Jul 2026

    Coming Soon: Ford Focus

    If you've been waiting for a podcast dedicated to all things Harrison Ford, relax: The wait has ended. Ford Focus: A Harisson Ford Podcast is here for you. It’s always nice when the title of a podcast pretty much sums up what it’s all about. Keith Phipps and Mike Ryan will be going through the filmography of Harrison Ford, film by film, from the blockbuster action films to the romantic comedies and everything in between—sometimes with the help of special guests. Why Harrison Ford? The most obvious reason is that he’s been the star of some of the biggest, and most beloved movies of the past 50 years. But if someone can be at once one of the biggest movie stars in the world while also being a little bit underrated, it’s Ford, who’s only been nominated for a single Academy Award over the course of his career, which he did not win. We feel this is an injustice. If you feel the same way you’ve come to the right place. Mike Ryan is a veteran entertainment writer who has been a staff writer at HuffPost, Uproxx, and Movieline. His work has appeared at Indiewire, Empire, and numerous other publications. Mike's current work includes The Hard Pass, (https://www.thehardpass.net/) a frequently published newsletter about the world of entertainment. Keith Phipps has served as a writer and editor at The A.V. Club, The Dissolve, and Uproxx. His writing can be found at Vulture, TV Guide, Slate, The Ringer at elsewhere. Keith also serves as a co-host of The Next Picture Show (https://www.filmspotting.net/nextpictureshow) podcast and, with Scott Tobias, as co-writer of the film newsletter The Reveal. (https://thereveal.film/) If you're enjoying this podcast and would like to unlock our bonus episodes dedicated on related topics in the world of Harrison Ford, hear ad-free versions of our main-feed episodes, help us choose what films we cover next, and more, please consider supporting us on Patron (https://www.patreon.com/FordFocusPodcast). And don't forger to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast to help others find it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.8 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

4.0 / 5

3 ratings

Contact Ford Focus

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.