This podcast episode delves into the intricate and multifaceted themes presented in the film "Sinners," a remarkable cinematic work that intertwines elements of horror with significant cultural commentary. The discourse begins with an exploration of the film's profound exploration of cultural appropriation, historical trauma, and racism, while simultaneously offering moments of joy through its exceptional music and cinematography. We examine the narrative of twins Smoke and Stack, whose harrowing journey through the Jim Crow South serves as a poignant backdrop for the film's examination of identity and survival amidst oppression. The episode further discusses the film's artistic achievements, including its record-breaking Academy Award nominations, and the performances of its cast, highlighting the depth and nuance brought to life by Michael B. Jordan and others. Ultimately, we reflect on the film's capacity to resonate deeply with audiences, leaving an indelible impression long after the credits roll. In the premiere episode of the podcast, the hosts embark on a profound exploration of the film "Sinners," which stands as a remarkable cinematic achievement within the horror genre. The discussion is rich with insights into the film's intricate narrative, which is set in the historically charged atmosphere of the Jim Crow era in the Mississippi Delta. The hosts highlight how the film deftly navigates themes of cultural appropriation and racial trauma, providing a haunting reflection on the legacy of racism in America. They commend the film’s ability to evoke a multitude of emotions, combining moments of despair with a sense of hope, largely through its powerful storytelling and striking visual aesthetics. The episode delves into the characters’ development, particularly focusing on the twins Smoke and Stack, portrayed by Michael B. Jordan. The hosts analyze the complexities of their relationship and the film's portrayal of their struggle against the vampiric forces that symbolize cultural exploitation. The podcast emphasizes the significance of the juke joint setting as a cultural hub, where music and community serve as forms of resistance against systemic oppression. Throughout the discussion, the hosts reflect on the film's artistic elements, including its cinematography and sound design, which are integral to conveying its central themes. As the conversation unfolds, the hosts make compelling connections between the film's narrative and historical realities, underscoring the metaphorical dimension of the vampires as representations of colonization and cultural assimilation. The episode culminates in a powerful assertion of the film's importance not only as a work of horror but as a critical commentary on the African American experience. The hosts encourage listeners to engage with the film on a deeper level, inviting them to reflect on its implications and the broader discourse surrounding race and identity in contemporary cinema. Through this engaging dialogue, the podcast establishes a foundation for future discussions on films that challenge and provoke thought, setting the stage for an insightful series ahead.

Takeaways:

1. This podcast episode discusses the film 'Sinners', highlighting its complex themes of cultural appropriation and historical trauma.
2. The film has garnered an impressive 16 Academy Award nominations, indicating its critical acclaim and cultural significance.
3. Amanda Blossom serves as the podcast's guide, providing an insightful analysis of the film's narrative and character dynamics.
4. The episode emphasizes the significance of music in 'Sinners', showcasing how it intertwines with the characters' journeys and the overall story.
5. The portrayal of vampires in 'Sinners' serves as a metaphor for cultural assimilation and exploitation of black artistry.
6. Ultimately, the podcast reflects on how the film encapsulates the struggles and resilience of black communities in the face of systemic oppression.

What the fuck did I just watch your home for? Psychological thrillers, Oscar Darlings, retro and cult classics movies, that stay with you long after the credits roll.

Hey there and welcome to the very first episode of wtfd. I just watch. I'm your guide, Amanda Blossom. This is a podcast about movies that stay with you long after the credits roll.

Everything from mind bending thrillers and Oscar darlings to cult classics and films you grew up loving. Today we're talking about Sinners. Intense spoilers ahead, so consider yourself warned. I loved Sinners when I first saw it at home streaming on hbo.

I loved it so much that within a week I had watched it again. The film made me feel incredibly sad with its themes of cultural appropriation, historical trauma and racism.

It also made me feel intense joy with its incredible music, sets, cast, cinematography with an overarching message of hope and redemption.

The script was written on a tight two month schedule.

It is about a pair of twins named Smoke and Stack who have a complicated past and will encounter stuff, succumb to and even overcome evil, aka the vampires.

Jordan has worked with Coogler on all five of Coogler's films including Creed and the Black Panther movies. Wonmi Masaku, who plays Annie, is quoted as saying about Jordan's performance, his energy was so different, it was so nuanced and fine tuned.

I could tell with my back turned who was walking onto the set. If it was Stack or Smoke, I didn't even have to look. Coogler noted that only Michael B. Jordan could have played this role.

Starring Haley Stanfield as mary, the biracial 1/4 black love interest of Stack who struggles with her racial identity while she is passing as white, she feels most at home with her black community. Wanmi Masako plays Annie, nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Stax counterpart.

Annie is connected to the earth and her ancestors through hoodoo practice and a strong connection to her racial Identity.

Rounding out the cast we have Miles Canton as Sammy Moore, a blues musical prodigy who refuses to make a deal with the devil but dominates his melodies all the same. And Delroy Lindo, nominated for best supporting Actor as the wise and incredible musician Delta Slim.

Cinematographer Autumn Derald Arkapa of the Last Showgirl fame is also nominated for her amazing use of a variety of aspect ratios including 65 millimeter IMAX formats. There was a special film made just by made by Kodak just for this movie, so they had some special film aspect ratios anyway.

This created beautiful scenes, especially those shot in the golden hour just as the sun is about to slip behind the horizon. This is a crucial time of day for a vampire movie.

The costume designer, Ruth E. Carter is known for being the first African American designer to win an Academy Award for her category for her work on Black Panther. She used red colors for Stack's costuming and his character tends to run hot like the fires of hell and his eventually damned soul.

And then blue for the more chill smoke character who will find his peace by the end of the movie. Michael P. Shawver, nominated for film editing who has also worked on Creed and Black Panther and oddly enough, Dirty Dancing.

Multiple technologies were used to get the twins effect including digital facial placements using a special halo camera to capture all the facial features which was then placed on a body double. They also used split screens, traditional body doubling techniques. Nominated for best makeup and hair styling.

Cyan Richards and Ken Diaz used subtle differences in creating the twins unique look for Smoke and Stack.

Like using cooler tones on Smoke and warmer tones on Stack as well as slightly differences, slight differences in the styling of the eyebrows, facial hair and hairstyle. For example, Smoke's facial hair is a little bit more fluffy.

Impressed by his work on the Green Room, Kugler reaches out to Michael Fontaine who did the prosthetics which were inspired by real life animal bite wounds and burn victims as opposed to traditional horror movie standards. Some of those cheesy effects, like in Halloween.

Michael B. Jordan noted that he now has a pet peeve of fake blood due to his experiences being covered in it. In the movie. Coogler used a mile long list of music consultants with a score partly done by Ludwig Goranson.

Nominated for his work in Sinners and also known for his Oscar winning work on Oppenheimer. His father was a blues guitarist who taught him how to play. Famous for the incredible magic scene.

You know, the scene with the 200 extras and a single take that captures the history of music that has been appropriated by the white people. Said Kugler of the film. I wanted the movie to feel like a song, so I used Metallica's one.

It starts off intense, then gets melodic and going somewhere just fucking crazy. Many of the musical performances were filmed live on set. The best original song was I Lied to youo.

Best Sound, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects and the new category of casting were all Oscar nominations for this film.

Sinners was inspired by Coogler's relationship with his uncle, a Mississippi Delta blues musician who Coogler also referred to as a G. His uncle taught him the blues and Coogler cast Buddy Guy, a favorite musician of his uncle's, at the end of the film, as a cameo and homage to the man who influenced his love of the Delta blues.

The film starts with the sentiment that there is a music so true it can pierce the veil between life and death, conjuring spirits from the past and future. We see references to the Choctaw tribe, the Irish and West African tribes.

In this intro we are introduced to the judgment of Christianity and Sammy's preacher father One day earlier, there's already buzz about Sammy's performance tonight at a new juke church joint. We see the twins bond as Stack lights a cigarette for the shaky handed Smoke.

Wolf said he learned all he needed when working on the fields of Mississippi where he grew up. For him, that train represented gold, freedom and the world passing by as he was stuck in Mississippi.

Smoke and Stack are making a business deal to acquire a foreshadowing blood on the floor property for their juke joint.

Smoke and Stack show they are packing during a tense moment with the seller of the property regarding their fears about the KKK crossing their new property lines. They're told the clan don't exist no more, but we know that's a lie. Smoke and Stack know it too.

Sammy with his father can quote the Bible, showing his roots of how he was raised by a preacher facing the wrath of his father's judgment who says, you keep dancing with the devil, one day he's going to follow you home. Sammy goes off for one night of freedom.

Smoke and Stack have come back to the Mississippi Delta, disillusioned from their time in Chicago, stating they prefer the devil at home. This refers to the racist culture that is the Jim Crow South.

Unloading their truck of juke joint supplies, Smoke quickly Uses his knife to kill a snake, which foreshadows his role in taking on the vampires. Like later in the film, we know who means business right away. We see that Stack is the charismatic brother, confident and cutthroat.

Smoke is the gentler, more grounded brother. A visit to town has Smoke teaching a young girl to negotiate her rate to watch his truck, empowering his community to better themselves.

Smoke visits the Chinese owned store modeled after the Minsk grocery store, a store which is less easily categorized by the black and white community as they serve black and Chinese patrons on one side of the street and white patrons on the other.

A powerful, impressive tracking shot shows the Chinese store worker crossing the street from one store to another, symbolizing the complex racial divide that exists while in the store. Smoke is alerted to his truck being robbed, which results in him not hesitating to shoot the ass and kneecap of the thief in broad daylight.

It's here we learn of Smoke and Stack's gangster related history in Chicago. Cut to Stack driving Sammy and having the first of many references to cunnilingus in this film. I'm serious, this movie loves going down.

Once you notice it, you can't unhear it or unsee it. Stack admits to Sammy that Smoke killed their abusive father. Sammy blows Stack's mind with his musical rendition of Traveling.

It's a really cute scene. Stack goes woo wee. It's adorable.

Back in town, Sammy and Stack meet up with Delta Slim, a Delta, Mississippi musician and local legend in his own right.

Delta Slim is propositioned to play at the juke joint, which he refuses until the rare prohibition era Irish beer is thrown into the dill as alcohol of the time was typically harder. Liquors that age well, beer was rare. Smoke whips up some buzz for the opening night of the juke.

It is here we are introduced to Perleen, the woman who has caught Sammy's eye, who gets under his skin despite her being married. At the station. In town, we see Mary and Stack establishing their complicated romantic history.

Mary tells Stack to rot in hell, which he says, yeah, I will save your trifling ass a room right next to me. This line comes into play later in the film as Stack and Mary become trapped into an existence of the damned. Kind of like hell on earth.

On a drive back to the juke joint with Stack and Sammy, Delta Slim muses that white people like the blues just fine. They just don't like the people who make it. He highlights the racial injustices and trauma brought to his people at the hands of white people.

We journey past the reality of unjustly captured prisoners and the inequality of sharecropping, which was really just slavery turned into serfdom. Smoke takes a detour to visit Annie, who practices hoodoo, which is an African American tradition seen as magic and religion.

Hoodoo remembers the old ways with folkloric elements that honors the ancestors and traditions of the past. People on slave ships brought multiple religions, Islam, Christianity and indigenous African religions.

Hoodoo became the melting pot that brought all these practices together, including local indigenous spirituality.

The contrast of the scenes in church, which is cold and unforgiving, to these scenes with Smoke's wife Annie, who is just so warm and nurturing and offers these tangible hoodoo solutions to problems like a mojo bag, she insists Smokewear for safety. Annie is connected to her ancestors and the earth. She is a force of stability and security for Smoke. She's like his healing compass.

Smoke and Annie have endured the loss of a child together and a history between them that just drips from their on screen chemistry. Annie implies that Smoke and Stack are running from Chicago because they robbed enough money to buy the mill for the juke joint.

Smoke challenges Annie's spirituality, but he still wears her mojo bag necklace that she makes for him. Smoke invites Annie to cook tonight at the juke joint.

42 minutes in, we get our first vampire, Remic, who falls into the frame from the sky, which is hinting at his ability to fly. According to the cinematographer, he's slightly smoking in the golden hour sun as he seeks shelter from daylight.

He's masking his Irish accent for a Southern one and inaccurately blames the Chuck Choctaw tribe for his plight. As he begs for shelter from two clan members.

The couple protects Remik from the Choctaw who are hot on his trail, hiding that they are harboring what they don't yet know is a vampire. Let the feeding frenzy begin as they are the first people to be turned into vampires.

Down at the juke joint, Stack is accepting plantation coins for corn rye to the frustration of Smoke. Sammy is sweet talking Perlene, inviting her to sing, and Mary is settling in, buying drinks for Sammy.

Sammy asks, what are you referring to Mary's racial identity? To which she responds, I am a human being.

At the club, we find out Mary married a rich white man, which was Stack's idea because he knew he couldn't provide for her or keep her safe. Mary's bitter, saying she never wanted to be white, she wanted to be with Stack.

Sammy begins to play, bringing about the iconic multi generational scene, bringing the spirits of culturally Appropriated musicians of the past, present and future. This scene is an artistic celebration and that moment where I realized that this film was horror history in the making.

Blending genres and styles of iconic music. Delta Slim muses that the blues wasn't forced on us like that. Religion? Nah, sir. We brought this with us from home. It's magic what we do.

It's sacred and big. With this here, our ritual, we heal our people and we be free.

He's talking about healing generational trauma inflicted on people of color and freedom from white oppression. As Remik and his newly turned clan friends approach the juke joint, we start to see the hive mind that dominates the vampire.

In this film, the vampires become a metaphor for cultural assimilation. They act as symbols for colonization, exploitation and the appropriation of black culture. Culture. While this is going on.

Following his explosive performance, Sammy hooks up with Perlene in the back room the second time. This movie loves to go downtown. The vampires follow traditional vampire rules, needing to be invited into the establishment.

They want Sammy to join their hive mind so they can access his talents for the collective. Annie knows right away there isn't. There is something not right about these white strangers.

Smoke defends the decision not to let them in, saying, what if somebody spills something on their shoe? Looks at their woman a bit too long, don't let them in.

Sammy reveals to Smoke that he intends to leave Mississippi and start a new life, perhaps in Chicago. Smoke tells Sammy about this town that's a black paradise called Mound Bayou, where everything is black owned.

But the mayor wouldn't let them live there on account of their abusive father being evil. He urges Sammy to go to this paradise and make church music. Sammy says, you ain't in no position to tell me how to live my life.

Mary talks Stack into her going to talk to Remic, not yet knowing their vampire nature and being least in touch with her heritage. Mary is the first at the juke joint to succumb to the vampires as they offer her home and community.

As they seduce her with gold and singing kind of like a siren song. Will you go, Lassie, will you go? And we'll all go together to pull the mountain time.

The song is an invitation to the fellowship and love Mary craves and is longing for. The next time we see Mary, she's a vampire needing to be invited back into the juke joint.

Inside the juke, we get a taste of the incredible vocal stylings of Pearline as she sings.

I don't care if the sun don't shine no more I'm gonna Spend my money on something sweet and strong I'm gonna move my body the whole night long Gonna sweat the way I've been longing to Nobody gonna tell me nothing that's what I'm gonna do. We can just feel the tension rising. Something is about to happen.

Mary gives Stack her newly acquired gold and immediately seduces him with a spit in his mouth. And you just have to see it. I can't describe it. He is brutally brought into the collective of vampires as the tensions inside the juker rising.

There's a couple conflict patrons having a conflict, attacking each other. And Smoke discovers Mary feasting on Stack's flesh. He promptly shoots Mary, but only for her to giggle as she rises, impervious to bullets.

She says, we're gonna kill every last one of you as she runs off. The scene of Stack dying in Smoke's arms right before he turns is emotional as you see Smoke's pain at the thought of losing his twin.

It's interesting to note that Coogler had brought in twin consultants to help Michael B. Jordan get into the headspace of what it is to be a twin. And it shows in his performance here the absolute devastation. He isn't losing just a brother, he's losing half of himself.

Annie realizes the dangers presenting themselves and pleads with Smoke to move Stack's body outside for their safety. He begs with Annie to just use her mojo bag to bring him back. It's heartbreaking. The Chinese couple sees what's going down.

They talk about high tailing it on out of there. This choice will ultimately impact their eternal souls.

The juke joint guard, Cornbread returns from the ouse suspiciously needing to be invited back inside. Smoke reaches out his arm to pay Cornbread for the night, at which point Cornbread attacks him.

Smoke makes it safely back inside and I notice his traditional blue shirt is now red stained with blood. Stack has come to and he's asking to be let out of the room. This leads to an epic standoff between Smoke and Stack.

It's filmed so beautifully through a doorway, it's framed like Jack Torrance in the Shining, which Coogler has admitted to being influenced by. Stack breaks the door down and runs out into the night. After his flight, Flesh is being singed by the pickled garlic water that Annie throws on him.

It's clear now we're dealing with actual bonafide vampires. Annie explains. A vampire's soul gets stuck in their body. With all this hate, it can never again see the sunrise.

Now the remaining survivors inside the juke joint must face A standoff between the vampires until morning.

Annie makes Smoke promise to to kill her if she gets bitten before she turns into a vampire as she does not want to face eternity alone without her child that's waiting for her on the other side of the veil. The growing collective of assimilated vampires are gathering outside the joint.

And Remik's Irish roots are now on full display as his original accent comes out and he river dances and sings. This is like a celebration of the damned. These vampires are messy. They.

They don't even bother wiping their faces after a meal, there's so much blood inside. The survivors agree to eat garlic to flesh out who may be a vampire in disguise.

The film toys with our suspicions because Perlene needs to have a gun to her head before she eats the garlic because she just doesn't like it. And Delta Slim has a bad reaction to it, but that's because he's drinking too much. Ultimately we find out the vampires are all outside.

Remick pulls out all the stops at this point to tempt and bully the survivors into submission, including threatening the Chinese couple's daughter. He speaks Chinese because Bo, the Chinese shop owner is now assimilated.

Remick admits he just wants Sammy for his gifts to connect him with his people.

It is revealed the white man who sold Smoke and Stack the joint is actually a grand wizard or something for the kkk who always had the intention of killing them that next morning. The pain that even without a vampire intrusion, the juke joint dream was fucked from the beginning due to black suppression is so painful.

The vampires say they want to start a new clan based on love. Stack argues they were never going to be free. He's offering Smoke this assimilation as the path to freedom. He says, I ain't doing this without you.

There is no me without you. Inside, Beau's wife, who is still human at this point, is distraught at the threat against her daughter.

She's preparing a Molotov cocktail and brandishing a steak. She invites the vampires in while she's in this emotionally heightened, misguided attempt to take them down and save her daughter.

This genre defying movie now turns into an action. Because the vampires swarm the juke joint. People are bit, stakes go through hearts.

When Annie is bit by Remic, Stack must make the difficult choice to honor her wishes and kill the woman he loves, the mother of his deceased child. It is interesting to note that Mary, who was the least in touch with her culture, was the first to assimilate to the collective vampires.

While Annie, who was the Most in touch with her heritage was the only one to choose death over assimilation. As the crowd thins out from the vampires and humans killing each other, even Perlene has been bitten.

Now Sammy and Smoke are really the only survivors. Sammy makes a run for it into the night where he encounters Remic. Sammy's given the opportunity to make a deal with the devil.

But he begins reciting the Lord's Prayer, which Remick joins in with his Irish accent, citing that even as he hates religion, those words still give him comfort. Inside, Stack struggles to bite Smoke and Smoke struggles. They just can't kill each other. They can't bring themselves to do it.

Back outside, Sammy uses his guitar to destroy Remic. He's lodged the steel plate in his head. The guitar is a rich symbol of black history and the blues.

While Sammy was told earlier that the guitar had belonged to the great Charley Patton, we later find out it actually belonged to Smoke and Stack's abusive father. Which adds a complex legacy of family pain and ultimately triumph.

It represents Sammy's personal freedom and refusal to conform to society's expectations of him. His true artistry is lethal to the parasitic destructive forces of evil.

The Lord's Prayer failed Sammy, but his historical legacy, the symbol of his guitar, that is what saved him. At the zero hour, Smoke stakes Remic in the heart. Heart from behind, just as the sun rises and burns up the encircled vampires.

The effect of these scenes are extremely well done, I just gotta say. And practical to what a real vampire, if there were real vampires, might actually look like being square, scorched by the sun.

In the safety of daylight, Smoke urges Sammy to go home and bury the guitar. Sammy returns to the opening scene, the church where his daddy is preaching.

Gripping the broken handle of the murder weapon slash guitar, he enters the church. His dad insists he drop the guitar. Drop the guitar. Drop the guitar.

Sammy has giant gouges on his face from fighting Remick and he refuses to drop the guitar. Meanwhile, a shaky handed Smoke is rolling a cigarette. He's no longer able to have his brother roll it for him.

We flash to scenes of his community earlier that day, preparing for the opening of the juke joint. It is beautiful. It is a last supper of sorts. It's the last time they'll all be together.

Smoke then goes on the offensive, using his assault rifle and Tommy gun to take out the clan that meant to kill him. It is a one man massacre as Smoke avenges the oppression, inequality, murder and trauma of his people by the white Klan members.

Smoke drops to the ground, defeated from his loss, his pain, emotional exhaustion. He sees a vision of Annie breastfeeding their child. She says if he puts out his cigarette, he can hold him.

She says, I don't want any smoke to get on him. This is a double meaning.

He's playing the blues at his own juke joint of sorts which he has named Perlene's. A mid credits cut reveals Stack and Mary, still young vampires, offering Sammy a chance to turn one last time. Sammy refuses.

He sees the hell Stack and Mary are in, damned to walk the earth forever in darkness. Quick shout out to the amazing costuming of Mary and Stack perfectly represents the time period. I love Stack's sweater.

I love his knuckle rings, which were inspired by do the Right Thing, Radio Raheem. Stack admits he was the one person Smoke just couldn't kill. He made him promise to stay away from Sammy and let him live out his life.

At the end of the day, the film uses vampires to talk about the blood soaked reality of the Jim Crow South. How white violence, loud and quiet has always fed on black lives. But what really stands out is the juke joint.

This black owned space full of music, joy and community where survival itself becomes an act of resistance. Sammy's blues isn't just music. It's spiritual connection to the ancestors, stretching across the African diaspora and carrying real power.

Smoke and Stack show us two different ways of trying to survive and claim power in a world built to crush you at the end. Those vampires, they're a metaphor for a culture that consumes black labor, art and creativity and keeps coming back for more.

Sinners is a movie that gets better every time I watch it. I give it a solid five out of five. What the fucks?

All right, before we head out, I just want to say thank you so much for being here and rocking with me on my very first episode. Episode that really means a lot. All right, before we get out of here, I want to hear from you. What did you think of Sinners?

Did it mess with you, move you or leave you sitting there like, okay, wow. Drop your thoughts in the comments and if you enjoy this episode, share it with a friend who's always down to overthink a movie.

Make sure you check out some of my other episodes too, that I'll be dropping today and come back next time when I'm talking about Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. That's a wrap for today's film. If you like this episode, please share it and consider listening to my other episodes.

I'm Amanda Blossom and remember, some movies stick with you, so let's stick together. See you next time on what the Fuck Did I Just Watch?

That's a wrap for today's film. If you like the episode, follow rate and subscribe. Thank you for listening to what the Did I Just Watch?