Wind, Reel, & Print

Mumblecore

EPISODE 034: LESSONS IN FILM HISTORY (FILM MOVEMENTS)
 
Featuring: Funny Ha Ha (2002), The Puffy Chair (2005), Mutual Appreciation (2005), Nights and Weekends (2007)
 
Ryan and Kevin explore the Mount Rushmore of Mumblecore by focusing on films by Greta Gerwig, Andrew Bujalski, the Duplass Brothers, and Joe Swanberg. Though the label is often loathed by the filmmakers who made these movies, mumblecore remains one of the formative film movements within digital filmmaking. Born in the forethought of the 2008 housing crisis alongside the advent of consumer-grade digital cameras, this minimalist New Wave-esque approach to low-to-no budget filmmaking represents an important stepping stone between reality television and online exhibitors such as YouTube and Netflix.

Just Like Heaven (2005)

EPISODE 033: BAY AREA FLICKS
 
As a personal recommendation, Kevin introduces 2005’s “Just Like Heaven” as a San Francisco-based Bay Area movie. Featuring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo and directed by supernatural rom-com expert Mark Waters, this mid-2000s relic leaves whispers of screwball and mumblecore character types within what Ryan describes as “elevated Hallmark”. The discussion soon deviates into a formulation of rewatching movies and finding appreciation in films you used to watch during childhood.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

EPISODE 032: WEIRD @ WR&P
 
Ryan and Kevin refresh their childhood memory by revisiting a Dick Van Dyke B-side in 1968’s “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. WR&P cohosts discuss why this rewatch settled into disappointment while stressing the negative impacts of industry and market pressures on the creative process.

Robert Altman

EPISODE 031: GUEST STARRING SAM ISOLA
 
Featuring: McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Nashville (1975), Secret Honor (1984), Short Cuts (1993)
 
How do you pinhole a director who dabbled in a little bit of everything? Wind Reel & Print recruits cinema-lover Sam Isola to help dissect the ever-evolving filmmaking style of Robert Altman. Specifically choosing four films outside of his mainstream hits, Sam paints a panoramic portrait of Altman’s personal obsessions, from highlighting America’s fraught history and mythology to fragmenting narratives with ensemble storylines and imperfect technique.

“Somethings Gotta Break!”

EPISODE 030: LETTERBOXD TOP 250 SHUFFLE
 
Featuring: Do The Right Thing (1989), Z (1969), Rocco and His Brothers (1960), A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
 
In one of the more devastating episodes of the Letterboxd Top 250 Shuffle, Ryan and Kevin explore a deeply traumatizing cinematic quartet ranging from blazing political thrillers to tense family dramas.

“All About Showgirls”

EPISODE 029: DOUBLE FEATURES & TRILOGIES
 
Featuring: All About Eve (1950), Showgirls (1995)
On recommendation from MOViES4MANiACS’ Jesse Hawthorne Ficks, WR&P hosts Ryan and Kevin examine the narrative similarities of Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s classic Hollywood picture “All About Eve” and Paul Verhoeven’s raucous dark comedy “Showgirls.” They note how both these films leverage performance and cyclical narrative structure to comment on gender roles and the controlling nature of patriarchal systems.

“The Pursuit of The Last Black Man”

EPISODE 028: BAY AREA FLICKS
 
Featuring: The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
 
In this special Bay Area double feature, Ryan and Kevin explore the differences between a locally-made San Francisco film and a Hollywood movie set in the same city. While Joe Talbot’s “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” boasts a heightened indie appeal with the support of Sundance and A24, the Will Smith-led “The Pursuit of Happyness” finds its roots in the studio system. How do these two perspectives affect and reflect in the story and visual design? Does production mode influence the authenticity of a film’s story or the credibility of its characters?

Jean-Luc Godard & Anna Karina

EPISODE 027: LESSONS IN FILM HISTORY (DIRECTORS & ACTORS)
 
Featuring: Le Petit Soldat (1963), Une Femme est une Femme (1961), Bande à part (1964), Alphaville (1965)
After introducing the Godard-Karina timeline with Vivre sa vie, Kevin takes Ryan deeper into the pairings’ cinematic universe. Ryan highlights how each film stands as unique cinematic experiences, both upholding promises of New Wave Cinema and trailblazing under Godard’s poetic visions and Karina’s powerhouse performances. The relationship between Godard and Karina becomes invariably forefronted in the construction of, the viewing of, and the discussion of these movies, emphasizing the ways reality and cinema blend into each other.

“Priscilla & the Pink Flamingos“

EPISODE 026: DOUBLE FEATURES & TRILOGIES
 
Featuring: Pink Flamingos (1972), The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
 
While centering the word “disgust”, Ryan and Kevin explore drag queen characters and the traditions of rage bait in a special double feature highlighting John Waters’ “Pink Flamingos” and Stephan Elliott’s “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. Ryan detests Waters’ deplorable Trash Cinema (probably as Waters intended), while Kevin vocalizes distaste for the inherent racism and transphobia laden in “Priscilla”. In search for cinematic context, Ryan and Kevin ultimately settle into a conversation about the similarities of Blaxploitation and Queer Exploitation cinema, and how “Pink Flamingos” relates to contemporary provocateurs such as Harmony Korine.

The Cat in the Hat (2003)

EPISODE 025: WEIRD @ WR&P
 
Standing firmly in its “mild cult following”, Ryan and Kevin aka Thing 1 and Thing 2 delve deep into the magical madness of 2003’s The Cat in the Hat. This Dr. Seuss adaptation certainly presents as a wacky wonderland full of jokes and hijinks, however, over the film’s 82-minute runtime, it slowly uncovers sweet-and-sour secrets. From director Bo Welch’s experience as a production designer for Tim Burton to the instilled playfulness of Seuss’ original work, The Cat in the Hat remains a walking contradiction continually pacing through our minds.