EPISODE 045: LESSONS IN FILM HISTORY (GENRE)

Featuring: Notorious (1946); Maltese Falcon (1941); Double Indemnity (1944); Sunset Boulevard (1950); The Third Man (1949)

Taking direct influence from German Expressionism, American filmmakers rebranded the dark and paranoid into their own film noir. Popularized in the 1940s and subsequently revived into contemporary movements of neonoir and neon noir, this postwar film genre took Expressionism’s heavy contrast and overlaid it onto stories sourced from hardboiled crime fiction novels of the 1930s. WR&P cohosts Ryan and Kevin dissect four iconic titles from this classic American film genre while utilizing Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious (1946) as a comparative film to cut against.

EPISODE 044: LETTERBOXD TOP 250 SHUFFLE

Featuring: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), An Autumn Afternoon (1962), The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

As Ryan and Kevin do the Letterboxd Top 250 Shuffle, the podcast lands on a quartet of films that uncover the holes we climb out of. Whether that be systems of oppression, wartime prison labor camps, or lofty existential questions, life always presents us with dark caves in which we can gestate while crawling to the light.

EPISODE 043: THEATER ADVENTURES

Featuring: The Fall (2006), Anora (2024)

Wind Reel & Print review their recent visit to San Francisco’s historic Roxie Theater to catch a chance double feature consisting of Tarsem’s “The Fall” and Sean Baker’s recent Oscar-darling “Anora”. (Special Shoutout to Willie!)

EPISODE 042: META MOVIES

After a short trip to the scenic American town of “Dogville”, WR&P cohosts Ryan and Kevin report back with glowing reviews. Delivering on the Lars von Trier promise, this 2003 Nicole Kidman-led experimental drama explores Brechtian approaches to narrative and nihilistic ruminations on the Land of the Free. Kevin points a finger at Ryan.

EPISODE 041: BAY AREA FLICKS

WR&P embarks on another stay-cation as Ryan quizzes Kevin on the local impact of Ryan Coogler’s directorial feature debut “Fruitvale Station”. Released in 2013 with the support of Sundance, this quaint little picture quietly attains the booming voice of the Bay Area. Through its social realist aesthetic and dedication to Oakland faces and places, Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station” pinpoints a grander American narrative of black existence disrupted by the perils of police brutality.

EPISODE 040: WEIRD @ WR&P

Despite landing one of the lowest marks in Wind Reel & Print history, Kevin Costner’s 1995 star vehicle “Waterworld” buoys as an intriguing Hollywood blockbuster with …so much… potential. This unabashed “Mad Max” ripoff is clearly missing the George Miller spark, perfectly executing fantastical dystopian possibilities while operating with a completely deflated screenplay. Ryan and Kevin thus open dialogue on ways to improve story and character while fortifying thematic elements.

EPISODE 039: FOUNDATIONAL FILMS

Ryan sends the derrick back into the well as he recalls memories formed around Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 Oscar-darling “There Will Be Blood”. Armed with the Daniel Plainview ‘stache, the WR&P co-host still finds reverence in the film’s portrayal of toxic masculinity, its discussion of proto-American capitalism, and how this all ties into the work of Upton Sinclair.

EPISODE 038: LETTERBOXD TOP 250 SHUFFLE

Featuring: Sansho the Bailiff (1954), Andrei Rublev (1966), Central Station (1998), Eureka (2000)

On this week’s episode of Wind Reel & Print’s Letterboxd Top 250 Shuffle, cohosts Ryan and Kevin pull out the Bingo sheets as they prepare to define what it means to be a Top 250 film. Examines the human condition through personal trauma? Check! Includes overly mature children protagonists alongside emotionally stunted adults? Check! Elevates the cinematic medium through intentional artistic choices? Check! Cinema as a religious experience? BINGO!! This particular collection of films shatters all expectations of what cinema has to offer and sends our cohosts deeper into the ocean.