Sinners

Sinners

Author: TruStory FM April 22, 2025 Duration: 1:03:59
Some stories we inherit. Some are whispered through family trees. Others are passed down through song—riffs on pain, echoes of joy, blue notes of survival. In Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, we get all three. And this month, The Film Board—Pete, Tommy, and Andy—gathers to talk about a film that bends genres, then drips them in blood and gospel and IMAX-saturated twilight.This is a vampire movie. But not really. It’s a family tragedy. And a juke joint musical. And a war story. And a funeral procession through America’s haunted South. Coogler takes us to 1930s Mississippi, hands us twin bootleggers with hearts full of grief and bravado, and a blues prodigy whose voice can wake the dead—literally. From there, Sinners unfolds like folklore remembered through firelight and whispered across generations.In this conversation, the gang goes deep:
  • The political subtext of assimilation, vampirism, and cultural erasure
  • How Coogler’s personal history shaped the film’s emotional center
  • Michael B. Jordan’s twinned performance, and the miracle of not once being pulled out by the tech
  • Miles Caton’s debut as Sammie, and the spiritual power of music as both plot device and cultural artifact
  • Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s historic use of IMAX 70mm, and how it reshapes Southern Gothic atmosphere
  • The final act’s controversial tonal shift—does the Klan shootout and 1990s epilogue work, or muddy the final notes?
Join us for a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred love letter to one of the year’s boldest films.Film Sundries
Support The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:The Next Reel Family of Film Podcasts:Connect With Us:Shop & Stream:

There’s a particular kind of energy that comes from walking out of a movie theater with a head full of thoughts, needing to unpack everything you just saw with someone who gets it. That’s the feeling The Film Board captures every month. Host Pete Wright gathers a dedicated panel of film enthusiasts-regulars like Tommy Metz III, Steve Sarmento, and Justin Jaeger, plus a rotating lineup of fellow movie lovers-for a roundtable conversation that feels like the best kind of post-movie debrief. They dive into the latest theatrical releases without holding back, so spoilers are a given. You’ll hear them dissect everything from a film’s most bizarre moments and puzzling narrative choices to those random, memorable details that stick with you. This isn’t a formal review show; it’s a lively, opinionated, and deeply informed discussion among friends who are genuinely obsessed with cinema. The conversations are fueled by that shared obsession, resulting in a mix of insightful analysis and unapologetically strong takes. Tune in to this podcast for the kind of candid, detailed, and engaging talk that makes you feel like you’re right there at the table with them, long after the credits have rolled.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 175

The Film Board
Podcast Episodes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:18
Waitwaitwait... what?? A summer tentpole that causes us to ask big questions and congratulate smart filmmaking decisions? WHAT? Such is our review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, people, and we’re as shocked as you ar…
Edge of Tomorrow [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:24:03
Tom Cruise is back in Doug Liman’s Edge of Tomorrow, tripping through time and trauma on the road to defeat an alien horde. Here’s the weird thing about this summer tentpole: we all loved it. No kidding. Andy Nelson, Ste…
Godzilla [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:14:30
Japan + Nuclear Power Plant + Misunderstood Fear of Technology = GODZILLA! The Film Board gathers to take on this summer romp and the jury is split. Did this summer’s dose of midtown mayhem lift you out of your seats? Jo…
Captain America: The Winter Soldier [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:42
Film Board assemble! It’s Captain America and his bestie The Winter Soldier this week as Andy Nelson, Pete Wright, Steve Sarmento, and Chadd Stoops huddle up to give this film a good drilling. We hash out the Christopher…
Divergent [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:41
What better way to kick off the spring tentpole season than with the launch of another adaptation of a young adult novel. This time, it’s Veronica Roth’s take on dystopian Abercrombie in Divergent. This is perhaps the mo…
The Monuments Men [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:14
Might be best to start off a conversation about George Clooney's latest, The Monuments Men, by telling you what this film is not. It's not a comedy. And in spite of its pedigree and subject matter, it's not all that much…
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:05
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is worth exactly what you pay for it. And possibly slightly less. Such is the verdict of The Film Board this month as we take on the Kenneth Branagh-helmed thriller. It's the fifth in the Ryan s…
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:32:13
Winding his way back and forth across the expanse of Middle Earth, Peter Jackson brings us his second stab at The Hobbit with The Desolation of Smaug, the fifth film in the Peter Jackson Middle Earth Cinematic Universe.…
Thor: The Dark World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:10
We're headed back to Asgard this week as we gather The Film Board to take on Thor: The Dark World! Join Andy Nelson, Pete Wright, Steve Sarmento, and Tommy Metz III as we meticulously dissect the strange attraction we ha…
Gravity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:59
We’re on a trip to space with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in this month’s Film Board review of Cuarón & Son’s astro-tacular, Gravity. Join Steve Sarmento, Tommy Metz III, Andy Nelson, and Pete Wright as we pull apa…