Zach: Hello and welcome everyone to another episode of The Academy Countdown here at The

Runner where we go over all the films nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscar’s

ceremony. My name is Zach Trevino and I am the opinions editor here at the runner. This week

we are looking at Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners and I am joined by a very special guest.

Trev: Hey guys! My name is Trev Zachariah and I am the Blog Writing Coordinator here at the

runner and I am very excited to be able to unpack this film as it truly is one of the standouts that

came with the list this year!

Zach: Yeah well let’s just get into it then. This is Coogler’s fifth time helming the ship when it

comes to film and his first off the stint that he had making Marvel’s black panther a global

success.

Trev: It was and I was really interested when I had first heard about this movie coming out that

this would be his first time after amassing all of his success with the black panther and creed

movies that Coogler would be working with a wholly original story and having no established

brand backing him. It’s not like I thought he couldn’t do it without the big names behind him, but I

was curious to see what his full creative direction would accomplish.

Zach: Well, I think I can speak for most when I say that this movie made a splash. Sinners

landed 16 Oscar Nominations overall which took the record for most nominations for a single

film which previously stood at 14 with La La Land, Titanic and All About Eve. And I feel that the

secret sauce for that sheer amount of success lies in the film’s boundless style, invigorating

soundtrack, and terrific acting from everyone who had a hand in it.

Trev: It truly was a perfect storm.

Zach: To let those who are uninitiated in, Sinners is at its core a vampire movie that takes place

in Mississippi in the early 1930’s and follows a young preacher boy musician named Sammie

and his two cousins Smoke and Stack, who are both played by Michael B. Jordan.

Trev: The two brothers, who previously ran some shady dealings in Chicago with ties to

Capone, arrive back in town with big aspirations to open up a “Juke Joint” to be able to host all

of the people who practically raised them.

Zach: One thing that immediately comes apparent in the strength of this movie’s writing is that

there is such a rich history between smoke and stack and all of the people they reunite with

from their past in this film, but the film never goes out of its way to overtly tell you what exactly

happened, but more so allude to it in a natural way that leaves you the viewer to piece together

the world that you and the brothers are walking into.Trev: Even stepping away from our main three characters, the supporting cast in this movie is

phenomenal. Every single character from Mary, the scorned lover of Stack to Remick, the

bloodthirsty Irish vampire leader all have their moment in the sun, which is quite the balancing

act, but one that is proved very successful. One fact that goes underappreciated is how funny

this movie is through both its line delivery and its own ability to accept the absurd nature of

these events at times to bring levity to the dark situations that ruminate throughout this film

Zach: But enough time has passed it truly feels like we have to talk about the best aspect of this

film, and that would be the sound design and the music. See, this film is paying heavy tribute to

the early foundational blues music of the era and it is celebrated with almost every single scene

being accompanied by harmonic twangs of guitar or soulful sounds of the harmonica being

played

Trev: But while there is a focus on that kind of music, a major point of the movie is to be a

celebration of the power of music and its ability to transcend time itself and become a grand

unifying force to keep one culture and self together.

Zach: And what’s interesting is how that idea is taken literally in the film. The whole reason that

the vampires choose this club to hunt is due to the fact that Sammie is so talented with his

music it is almost magical in its nature to be able to connect all kinds of time periods together,

which is why the vampires would want someone like that since their time and the people they

once lived are so far in the past.

Trev: I mean yeah the way that they convey that on the screen is just incredible. If you haven’t

seen the movie you might not get it, but I feel like the dance sequence might be what gets them

the oscar alone. It starts traditionally with Sammie playing on the guitar singing his blues song,

but then the camera shifts and then there is a DJ’s turntable and the room fills with all kinds of

eras of music from the modern hip hop and rap style to traditional African folk dances sharing

space on the dance floor, with the blues music getting a more electric feel at the same time.

Zach: It’s incredible stuff. I mean it’s Ludwig Goronsson that did the music for this film and it

made a ton more sense. This is the guy that is doing the scores for Christopher Nolan’s films

and the Mandalorian and most of the modern star wars stuff coming out today.

Trev: Yeah. And you know what another thing I liked about this movie was? How much it played

with the rules that come with vampires and how they expressed it in such interesting ways.

Zach: I know right! Like the main thing in this film is the whole thing about needing to be invited

in, and normally that’s like a c tier rule when it comes to vampires, but in this it leads to most of

the conflict with the vampires that leads to this kind of cold war standoff between the humans

and them.Trev: Yeah. The moment that had my jaw on the floor the most was something as simple as

when they were finally invited in. The act itself was so simple, but it was the buildup of it all, like

seeing characters we knew become vampires and how much the humans fought already, it was

heartbreaking.

Zach: And thinking of the vampires storming the building, this movie was brutal right!

Trev:Oh my god! Yeah this movie is not for the faint of heart. The action of this film is something

that is pretty impressive too. These vampires are brutal; they really revel in it all, especially in

the last act where the big fight happens. They even do a crazy fire stunt where this lady is lit on

fire while on top of a vampire making sure he either burns or bleeds to death. And when the sun

comes up at the end and the horde of vampires burns. It’s so gross but so cool at the same

time.

Zach: No yeah it’s crazy. This whole movie really was lightning in a bottle. So many different

aspects came together and this movie delivered in all fronts from writing and acting to music

and the effects

Trev: And that ending?

Zach: Oh yeah it really was the cherry on top. Spoilers by the way, but when it was revealed that

the vampires of Mary and Stack were alive the whole time and visited Sammie, the only living

member sixty years later in the 1990s. The abrupt change in style to see how these characters

would change with the times was awesome to see and completely unexpected from the view of

the audience.

Trev: Honestly. This movie was really a once in a lifetime experience and if anyone is on the

fence about whether or not they should carve out some time to see this movie, I think it’s worth it

and more. It got 16 nominations for a reason people.

Zach: It certainly seems like it has a shot, but we will have to wait till March 15th to see how this

all shakes out and if Sinners can claim that coveted title. That is where we’re gonna call it.

Thank you all for tuning in my name is Zach Trevino and this is The Academy Countdown here

at The Runner

Trev: Bye guys!