EPISODE 060: DOUBLE FEATURES

Featuring: Annie Hall (1977); [500] Days of Summer (2009)

What does the Academy Award-winning Woody Allen and Hollywood hearthrob Joseph Gordon-Levitt have in common? We’re actually not too sure either. But their movies felt like an appropriate pair to cut against. Both “Annie Hall” and “[500] Days of Summer” take the romcom genre to meta extremes and WR&P cohosts Ryan and Kevin examine the formal and narrative aspects that loosely define a meta romcom, namely the use of atemporal editing and the narrative focus on memory.

EPISODE 059: BAY AREA FLICKS

Featuring: Angels in the Outfield (1994); The Fan (1996); Moneyball (2011)

In possibly the biggest reach in WR&P history, Kevin bundles three Bay Area-based baseball movies in an attempt to define the local region through America’s Favorite Pasttime. From Brad Pitt’s Billy Beane to Robert De Niro’s fanatic antics, baseball is universally cherished as a game of passion. It stands as one of the iconic symbols of American and masculine identity, with both Ryan and Kevin sharing connections with baseball and their respective fathers. While the Bay Area ties aren’t incredibly strong across all three films, Ryan proposes how “Moneyball” echoes the sentiment of how Oakland has been poached of sports vivacity.