The Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation Moviefilm Podcast

Corbin Smith and Matt Ellis
  • 5.0 (21)
  • FILM REVIEWS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
The Pacific Northwest Insurance Corporation Moviefilm Podcast

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. 3 DAYS AGO

    DIGITAL FRONTIERS, EPISODE 3: '28 Days Later" (2002, Dir: Danny Boyle)

    28 Days Later is a "Zombie" movie made with a TV Camera that you watch on a big screen. It's really great! We talk about the practical and impractical applications of digital technology, materiality and zombie movies, the movie's depiction of fascism and soildering, then and now, and also what a spectacular bummer this thing is.  Read a great essay about filmic materiality and the zombie movie here. Research also pulled up this extemely weird but kind of nifty essay about how 28 Days Later is kind of about the new apocolyptic bent that food writing took in the early aughts.  A very good interview with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle can be read here.  Matt reccomends 'Cinema's First Nasty Women,' an anthology fron Kino Lorber, available now. Corbin reccomends Dinner in America. He also likes that new Pixar show on Disney+ but your milage might vary. Next Week's episode is about either Spy Kids 2 or 3, we havent quite decided yet. If anyone had a strong opinion about which is the superior one, tell us I guess.

    1h 37m

  2. FEB 20

    DIGITAL FRONTIERS, EPISODE TWO: 'Star Wars, Episode Two: Attack of the Clones' (2002, Dir: George Lucas

    Bro we're so back. We've never been more back. Because two white guys got in a room and talked about STAR WARS EPISODE TWO: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, which is, in addition to being one of the most reviled movies (By total weight, not percentage of hatred per person) of all time, the first major motion picture ever shot on digital cameras. We sorta think it's neat? Topics include anything but the plot, which, you know, it not important. The cameras they made, the difficult dransition to HDR Sensors, Lucas's monumental individual role in pushing movie technology forward, the way that his decision to use digital on this movie took him a step behind his contemparies and how, in its way, it proposes an alternate path of digital cinema that was not taken.  Read 'Digital Cinema, a False Revolution," a half precient, half non precient about where digial production would take us right here at JSTOR. Check out a fascinating contempary interview Lucas did with American Cinematographer right here at a 2002 lookin' webpage. Nifty sort-of doc about the making of the movie here.  Matt reccomends Hundred of Beavers, which you can watch here. Corbin reccomends Paddington in Peru, currently in theaters in glorious 4k, and an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. We forgot to tell you what next week's episode is about: it's 28 Days Later, a movie shot on an honest to god Sony DCR-VX1000. Not really streaming on a service, but you can rent movies, right?

    2h 3m

  3. FEB 12

    DIGITAL FRONTIERS, EPISODE ONE: "The Celebration" (1998, Dir: Thomas Vinterberg)

    HEY EVERYONE! Corbin and Matt are starting a new series! It's called Digital Frontiers: Digital Cinema From 1998-2011, and it's about the movies' transition to digital as a primary medium, as seen in the movies that took the first steps forward. We are excited for you to join us on this journey, seeking answers to the eternal present question: "hey, why do movies look like that now?"  Our first episode is about "Festen," ('The Celebration,' in English), The first certified Dogme 95 movie and an absolute banger. Topics include: the weird little camera they made it with and the heights of emotional intensity it archives, the family as a model for society, the usefulness of digital artifacts in creating an aesthetic, and skateboarding videos.  Matt recommends some reading on digital cinema here. Corbin recommends Monster Hunter. Also of note for this episode, C. Claire Thompson's monograph on "Festen," available on University of Washington Prss (or a library of some sort, it's pretty expensive)! Next week's episode is about "Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones." There is a chance you've seen it but if not it's on Disney+.

    1h 41m

  4. FEB 1

    THE BRUTALIST (2024, Dir: Brady Corbett) (w/ Ryder Canepa)

    Matt and Ryder love The Brutalist! Corbin thinks it's fine. We talk about it! Topics: codings in the text, the question of a broad anti-oppression reading vs. a zionist one, and the life of an artist, which sucks ass.  Corbin reccomends TWO MOVIES currently in theaters. Ryder reccomends "Different Trains" by Steve Reich. Matt reccomends "Blueprinting" by the Aizuri Quartet. Next week's episode will be the beginning of a new series, DIGITAL FRONTIERS, a history of the early days of Digital Cinema. Our subject will be "The Celebration" by Thomas Vintenberg. Watch it here.

    1h 27m

  5. JAN 24

    'Don't Look Back' (1967, Dir: D.A. Pennebaker, With Ryder Canepa)

    Last year, Timothee Chalamet played the role of Bob Dylan in a major motion picture. It was all a little pointless, though, seeing as Robert Zimmerman has been playing the role of Bob Dylan in the movies for 60 years now. This week, we watched America's Onery Boy in 'Don't Look Back," D.A. Pennebaker's Cinéma vérité classic about Dylan's 1965 tour of England, where our hero spins Donnovan around, gets in fights with journalists, and meets the high sherrif's wife, and talked about it with Corbin's fellow Dylan sicko Ryder Canepa.  Corbin reccomends Skyrim, which you probably already own. Matt reccomends an appliance. Ryder reccomends 'The Creature' and 'Zeiram,' two weird little movies. Corbin also reccomends this essay by Patricia Lockwood.  For reasons too tedious to get into here, next week's episode is NOT about Unrest. It will, instead, be about The Brutalist, which is currently in theaters. Ryder will be joining us again for the episode, which is pretty funny.

    1h 56m

  6. JAN 22

    MULHOLLAND DR. (2001, Dir: David Lynch)

    This week, David Lynch, a titan of the form and one of the great American artists of the post-war era, passed away at the age of 78. In tribute, Corbin and Matt talked about 'Mulholland Dr.,' his 2001 masterpiece. Watch it here.  Check out a really neat essay about the movie's multifuntional narrative here. Matt reccomends The Brutalist, currently in theaters. Corbin reccomends UFO 50, snag it here. Our next episode will PROBABLY be about "Don't Look Back," finally, but it could end up being about The Brutalist. We'll find out together.

    1h 32m

  7. JAN 17

    UNREST (2022, Dir: Cyril Schäublin)

    A few months back, Corbin and Ellis watched a movie about anarchist swiss watchmakers. Then they talked about it. Whatever else happened, Corbin cannot presently recall.  Next week's episode will PROBABLY be about 'Don't Look Back,' but David Lynch's death (RIP) might complicate that plan. Whatever the case it will exist.

    1h 38m

  8. JAN 11

    SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR (2000, Dir: Roy Andersson)

    Hey I know we promised you Bob Dylan Sicko Stuff  but the episode has some tech problems we gotta work out so first Ellis and Corbin are talking about 'Songs from the Second Floor," a Swedish Kids in the Hall Movie. It's been. while since we watched it so I can't remember what happens in it. Watch it here. Next week's episode will be about either 'Unrest' or 'Don't Look Back,' depending on like six things. Sorry for the break, It was New Year's.

    1h 20m
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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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