The Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation Moviefilm Podcast

Corbin Smith and Matt Ellis
  • 4.9 (29)
  • FILM REVIEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A Podcast about movies from the fine folks at the Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation, with Corbin Smith (The Famous Writer) and Dr. Movies, Matt Ellis (A Professor of Movies)

  1. JAN 23

    "RAN" (1985, Dir: Akira Kurosawa)

    The master is here folks and this time he wields the themes and some of the particulars of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S great work KING LEAR in service of a hypnotic nightmare about the horrors of war. It whips! We talk about that, about Kurosawa as a supremely 'Cinematic' figure trying on a 'Theatatrical' think in this movie, Lear as an eternal political fable, some of the hot shit sequences in here, and other stuff.  this is a weird way to deal with this bit theres a lot of interesting academic writing about RAN out there, in shakespeare journals and filmic ones. peek around if you wanna learn something.  Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going. Matt's rec is in theaters. Corbin's rec is mega off the done. We dont know what the next episode is, for reasons that would take too long to explin here. Thanks!

    1h 37m

  2. JAN 16

    'The Secret Agent' (2025, Dir: Kleber Mendonça Filho) w/ Ryder C.

    Ryder C. joins Matt and Corbs to discuss "The Secret Agent," a drama film that uses the rythyms of historical research to tell a story about a man getting suqeezed by the military dictatorship in 1970's Brazil. It's a cool movie, scope it out.  Matt rec. Ryder's rec sounds cool but is hard to find on streaming. Perhaps you can take a journey and find it. Corbin reccomends a movie currently in theaters.  Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going. Our next episode is about RAN. Watch it here.

    1h 52m

  3. JAN 9

    "The Turin Horse" (Dir: Béla Tarr, 2011)

    This week, Béla Tarr, a Hungarian art film director of note, passed away at the age of 70. Tarr's stark, highly idiosyncratic dramas about the dread in the heart of every man are favorites of Matt Ellis and many other philosphically inclined, hard thinking movie fans the world over.  'The Turin Horse,' Tarr's last film, released in 2011, tells a story so small you can drown it in a bathtub: A farmer and his daughter and their horse live a brutally meger lifetyle in a small farmhouse while the world around them devolves into... something? That's it, that's all he needs, folks. Art! Corbin rec. Ellis rec. Our next episode is about THE SECERET AGENT which may or may not be in a theater near you right now.  Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going. Music: "Dark Space Low" - Angelo Badalamenti, from Twin Peaks: The Return, "The Closing of the Gates" - Luke Howard and the Budapest Art Orchestra

    1h 33m

  4. 12/31/2025

    "The Mastermind" (2025, Dir: Kelly Reichardt)/Top Fives of 2025

    A Great American Film Artist made a movie about a liar trying to power through his banal midcentruy existence by grifting. It's not Marty Supreme, though, it's "The Mastermind" by Kelly Reichardt! We talk about it! Listen to KR on the LARB Radio Hour here! Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going. Our next episode will be about, uhh... how about Escape from New York? We've never done Carpenter before. Watch it here.

    1h 48m

  5. 12/25/2025

    "Hail Mary" (1985, Dir: Jean-Luc Godard)

    Merry Christmas. In the mid-80's, Godard made a fascinating high art movie about the Virgin Mary and the Christmas story. It made some people extremely angry. Should they have been angry? We discuss. Watch the movie here. Also check out these essays about the film, if you're inclined.  Corbin rec. Matt's rec is life management based. Next episode is about THE MASTERMIND. It's available on Mubi, a service Corbin does not have access to. Hope he figures that out!

    1h 40m

  6. 12/19/2025

    "Racetrack" (1985, Dir: Frederick Wiseman)

    Frederick Wiseman made a movie about a horse racing track in New York State. That's all it is. But then what? We discuss.  Watch the movie here, it rocks. Interview with  Wiseman here. You can also find hundreds of other interviews with him. He's very smart.  Corbin rec. Matt rec.  Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going. Our next episode is our Christmas Special, where we will be discussing "Hail Mary." Watch it here.

    1h 39m

  7. 12/12/2025

    "Earth" (1930, Dir: Alexander Dovzhenko)

    Corbin plays a flu game for "Earth," early Soviet filmmaker Alexander Dovzhenko's weird mashup of Soviet Propoganda and Art Film. Topics include: Soviet Cinema: what's up with that, Lenin's role in constructing the industry, Ukraine, and the question of the spiritual in Soviet soceity.  An article about Earth that could be worth check out.  Corbin rec. Corbin accidently skipped Matt's rec rushing out of the episode. He apoligizes.   Check out the show on Letterboxd if you're into that thing. Matt is also on there. We also got a Bluesky going! Our next episode about about Racetrack, watch it here.

    1h 41m

  8. 12/05/2025

    "Nouvelle Vague" (2025, Dir: Richard Linklater)

    Why did a great American director who doesn't speak French make a movie about one of the most famous French movies of all time? What was the French new wave all about? Why does Zoey Deutch resemble Jean Seberg as deeply as she does? Why didn't Corbin remeber Hit Man when talking about Linklater and Netflix? How is Michael Bay involved in all this? Why doesn't anyone do this kind of thing anymore? IT'S NOUVELLE VAGUE FOLKS! Watch it here! Corbin rec. (Corbin also recommends Plurbis). Matt recommends The Museum. Next episode is about EARTH. You can watch it here.

    1h 49m
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A Podcast about movies from the fine folks at the Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation, with Corbin Smith (The Famous Writer) and Dr. Movies, Matt Ellis (A Professor of Movies)

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