#296: Green Zone / Top 5 Colorful Movie Titles
Director Paul Greengrass is great at two different styles of film: gritty historical "re-enactments" (think "United 93" and "Bloody Sunday") and gritty action thrillers (see: Bourne. Jason Bourne). In his latest, "Green Zone," he audaciously attempts to blend the two genres by inserting a Jason Bourne-esque hero into the 2003 invasion of Iraq, an historically-realized backdrop complete with missing WMDs, neocons, and even teen heartthrob Paul Bremer gets a second dance. Will Greengrass’ fusion of Bourne vs. Wolfowitz pay off? Find out as UN Inspectors Adam and Matty sift through hand-held cinematography and another earnest performance from Matt Damon in attempt to find anything fruitful to say about the film. In keeping with the historic proportions of the episode, the lads trot out their most important, deepest top 5 of all time... the Top 5 Colorful Movie Titles. Yep. We said it. Drink it in like the purple Gatorade of truth that it is.
Also on the show: Music by Field Music and Massacre Theatre -- presented by Pixar Talk. This week's winner will get the Pixar DVD of their choice.
Filmspotting #296
:13-13:09 - Review: "Green Zone"
Music: Field Music, "Each Time is a New Time"
14:33-18:20 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: M. Reichert)
18:21-22:11 - Notes, Polls
22:12-35:24 - Listener Feedback, Caller
Music: Field Music, "Effortlessly"
36:13-44:13 - New DVDs / Donations
44:14-59:08 - Top 5: Colorful Movie Titles
59:09-1:02:11 - Close / Next Show / Outtakes
NOTES / CORRECTIONS
- Win an admit-2 pass to an advanced screening of "The Eclipse" - details here.
- From FS fact-checker extraordinaire Kevin Vasquez: "The cinematographer who started with "Days of Heaven" was Nestor Almendros. Haskell Wexler took over when Almendros left the production to work on a Truffaut film. Wexler was upset that he only got an additional photography credit. In Ebert's great movies essay on the film, he talks about a letter Wexler sent him where "he described sitting in a theater with a stopwatch to prove that more than half of the footage was shot by him." Almendros won the Oscar for the cinematography.
- Also from Kevin: "Reds" won Warren Beatty the Oscar for Best Director, but it lost Best Picture to "Chariots of Fire." I should just avoid talking about the Oscars. Donald Sutherland wasn't nominated for "Ordinary People" either (re: After Hours #14).
- Register for our Billy Wilder class at the University of Chicago's Graham School
- Jeff Goldsmith's Creative Screenwriting podcast can be accessed through iTunes here.