Green Screen

Sean and Cody need a bit of a break! To give them a breather and time to prepare for the "L.A. Trilogy," we humbly ask you to indulge them with this clip show and retrospective that looks back on the 38 previous episodes of Green Screen, the first such pause in the show's entire history. In this episode we'll list our most interesting and surprising environmental history issues, the places and environments we've discussed, favorite moments from the show, the most revealing cinema and movie-related discoveries, our favorite "That Guys," and more. This will also mark the transition (we guess?) between Seasons 1 and 2 of Green Screen.

Remember that spider that interrupted the recording of the Tremors episode? Did you know, contrary to the premise of Star Trek IV, that humpback whales are in fact not endangered? Of the seven guests who have appeared on Green Screen, which one won an award from a prestigious society of international historians? What were the most fun movies to watch for the show? Who were Sean and Cody's favorite "That Guys"? What finally pushed them over the edge to trash the show's former nonsensical movie ratings system? Exactly how long did it take to explain the plot of Holes? Which director of a movie covered on the show corresponded with our hosts via email? Who is the secret mystery guest coming up for Episode 41? All these questions and more are re-revisited in this nostalgic episode of Green Screen.

Next Movie Up: Chinatown (1974)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Back from their shark-chomping holiday on Amity Island last episode, Sean and Cody head into the wilds of the New Zealand forest to track down Taika Waititi's 2016 charming comedy-drama. In Hunt for the Wilderpeople, after the foster mom of juvenile delinquent Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) unexpectedly drops dead, Ricky flees into the bush with the irascible, illiterate mountain man Hec (Sam Neill) to escape the authorities. As they dodge deranged hunters, wild boars and a child services division as heavily armed as Iraq's Republican Guard, Ricky and Hec find their wilderness odyssey an unexpected bonding experience. Environmental issues discussed include the cultural mythology of the "Southern Man" in New Zealand folklore, indigenous rights and identity in New Zealand, species extinction and more.

What is the "Southern Man" trope and why will most viewers of this film who are not New Zealanders completely miss it? Is the Marlboro Man a symbol of genocide? Was New Zealand really uninhabited by humans until the 14th century? What's the Treaty of Waitangi and why are the Maori unique in the colonialist history of the British Empire? Is it true you can't get drunk off Speight beer? When was the huia bird last seen alive? Who's Crump's brother? How do you use sex to sell Cadbury flake chocolate? Do child services divisions really have airborne troops and attack helicopters? How many ways can you pronounce the words "Mary McGregor"? All these questions and more are waiting where the earth wets the cloak of the sky in this episode of Green Screen.

Note: Green Screen will be on a brief hiatus for a few weeks in July-August 2021.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4698684/ Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople/

Next Up: Green Screen Clip Show & Retrospective Episode

Additional Materials About This Episode

An episode that's been a year in the making, Sean and Cody are joined by self-professed shark addict Alex Arreola for this bloody good analysis of Jaws, the 1975 blockbuster that's now recognized as one of the greatest—and most popular—motion pictures of all time. On the ambiguously located Amity Island, transplanted New York cop Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) loses his lunch, and his cachet with the elders of the town, when a woman is killed by a shark and he decides quite rationally to close the public beaches. But the shark's appetite has barely been whetted before the tantalizing main course of an island full of Fourth of July revelers. Environmental issues discussed include the horrific and bizarre Jersey Shore shark bite incidents of July 1916, the historical basis of the film; sharks' feeding habits and their relationship to humans; marine species' vulnerability to climate change; and the true story behind a real-life incident said to have been a mass shark feeding frenzy, the infamous Indianapolis disaster referenced in the film.

How dangerous are sharks to humans, and what factors bring the two species into conflict with one another? Why is "shark bite" a better term to use than "shark attack?" What happened in Matawan, New Jersey in July 1916 and how faithfully did that true story translate to book and eventually to screen? Why did the author of the book this film was based on, Peter Benchley, eventually regret writing it? Which U.S. President held an emergency cabinet meeting to talk about sharks? Can German U-boats cause shark bite incidents? How accurate is Quint's famous speech in Jaws describing the USS Indianapolis disaster of 1945? How are sharks threatened by climate change? Is Steven Spielberg really the genius at figuring out crowd psychology, and if you think he is, how do you explain his dreadful film Always? There's so many questions like this in the episode that we're going to need a bigger boat for this episode of Green Screen.

Special thanks to Pop-Up Puppet Cinema for permission to use the "Jaws Sea Shanty" in this episode, and also thanks to The Daily Jaws website.

Jaws (1975) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073195/ Jaws (1975) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/jaws/

Next Movie Up: Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

Additional Materials About This Episode

After skating the parched streets of SoCal in the last episode, Sean and Cody get shot into space for the first time since Episode 21 as they commando-drop onto desolate planet LV-426 to meet its disagreeable inhabitants. In the classic 1986 sci-fi action epic Aliens, space jockey Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) wakes up after 60 years in cold storage to find the monsters she tangled with in a previous movie have run amok on a distant planet. She joins up with a gang of misfit Marines who can't seem to shoot straight in a "bug hunt" that becomes an apocalyptic duel with power loaders and mommy issues. Environmental issues discussed center around invasive species: what they are, how they propagate, how (and how not) to eradicate them, and whether, as some characters in this film surmise, humans are the worst invasive species of all.

Are invasive species really "invasive," or do humans just think they are? What happens when millions of rabbits took over one of the Hawaiian islands in the 1890s? What are lampreys, why do Great Lakes fishermen hate them, and how come nothing has been done about them since the 1940s? Whatever happened to the "murder hornets" that were supposed to be invading the Northwest in the early days of the pandemic, are they still around? Why is Ripley the ultimate action hero? How did James Cameron basically build the genre of the mid-80s action movie? Why don't the titles of the various Rambo sequels match up with one another? Which member of the cast of this film was illiterate until well into adulthood? Is this going to be a stand-up fight, or another bug hunt? All these questions and more are waiting to be nuked from orbit, because it's the only way to be sure in this action-packed episode of Green Screen.

Aliens (1986) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/ Aliens (1986) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/aliens/

Next Movie Up: Jaws (1975)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Sean and Cody exchange the gently-waving bamboo forests of China for the sizzling streets of Southern California as they skate their way into this 2005 sports drama, based on a true story. In Lords of Dogtown, urban surfers Stacy (John Robinson), Jay (Emile Hirsch) and Tony (Victor Rasuk) are having a sad in 1975 coastal California as the waves are flat and blown-out. But then spaced-out surf shop owner Skip (Heath Ledger) gets some groovy new plastic skateboard wheels and sends the boys out to carve up concrete and hopefully drum up some business. All it takes is the Dogtown lads and a drought of Biblical proportions to launch a whole new professional sport and cultural craze. Environmental issues discussed include the history of droughts in Southern California, the psychology behind water conservation, the rise and fall of amusement park piers, the linkage of pop culture fads to climate change, and the design of swimming pools and backyard gardens. This episode of Green Screen is uniquely dense with environmental history topics.

Would professional skateboarding exist as a sport if it hadn't stopped raining in Southern California in 1976? Why is it a good idea to drop a brick into your toilet? How come people can be easily persuaded to conserve water in a drought, but they think having to wear masks in a deadly global pandemic is an unacceptable infringement on "muh freedom?" Would this podcast exist if not for the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine? Why is the world plastic industry dying? Is the Sid character from this film based on a real person and did he really die of a brain tumor? How closely can you copy Disneyland's rides without getting sued for infringement? Why is "urban renewal" a racist concept? What famous film director's father did one of the Green Screen co-hosts once work for? Is this movie worth seeing or should you just watch the documentary? All these questions and many more are skating the half-pipe in this information-heavy episode.

Lords of Dogtown (2005) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355702/ Lords of Dogtown (2005) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/lords-of-dogtown/

Next Movie Up: Aliens (1986)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Having had enough of Libertarian dystopias for a while, Sean and Cody are ready to zen out in late imperial China and break themselves emotionally with another Ang Lee-directed drama, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a multinational Chinese-language production from 2000. When Green Destiny, the magic sword once owned by martial arts master Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) gets filched by a masked bandit who's apparently secured an exemption from the laws of gravity, Li and security consultant Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) go off to get it back. In the meantime, spoiled brat Jen (Zhang Ziyi) is still hopelessly stuck on her ex, the dashing Mongol bandit Dark Cloud (Chang Chen). These plots do come together, leaving not a dry eye in the house. Environmental issues discussed include hunting, frontier settlement and ethnic environmentalism in Qing Dynasty China and the lavish landscapes seen in this and other Chinese martial arts pictures.

Why are the Qing (Manchus) so crucial in the environmental history of Asia? What happened to all the tigers in China? What's the deal with those funky hairstyles on all the men? What's the difference between "Inner" and "Outer" Mongolia? Did the Chinese have a western frontier analogous to what existed in the United States? What does the title of this film mean? Why does the story of the author who wrote the book this film is based on sound like it would make a really great movie in its own right? Is this the saddest film we've ever done on the show? Is the world ready for Sexy Dr. Yueh? All these questions and more are dancing in the crowns of the bamboo forest in this deeply philosophical episode of Green Screen.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190332/ Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon/

Next Movie Up: Lords of Dogtown (2005)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Sean and Cody exchange bonny Scotland for the steamy rainforests of Honduras as they set course for this Peter Weir-directed 1986 drama, The Mosquito Coast. When insufferable motormouth and probable Libertarian kook Ally Fox (Harrison Ford) decides to move his long-suffering family (Helen Mirren, River Phoenix, Jadrien Steele et al.) to Central America to build a jumbo ice machine, Mother and the kids have little choice in the matter. But the harshness of life in the rainforest proves to be only the beginning of the family's troubles, especially when Ally's swelled head leads to some not-so-funny hijinx that nearly gets them all killed. Environmental issues discussed include the real-life history of the Miskitia region and its people, geothermal energy and climate change in Central America, intentional or "breakaway" communities, and our old friend the white savior complex, back for another bruising round.

In what countries are the real Mosquito Coast and why did it prove to be such a burr up the bum of the British, Spanish and Americans throughout history? Are Central Americans really sitting on a fortune in geothermal energy, as claimed in the film? What, and where, is Gaviotas and what does it have to do with this movie? Remember that time Ron Paul's fans thought they were going to start their own town in the Texas desert where they wouldn't have to pay taxes? Can Harrison Ford convincingly portray an abusive father? How did this picture end up being part of a big deck of role-swapping Pokemon cards involving Harrison Ford, Jack Nicholson and Burt Reynolds? Why do Peter Bogdonavich and Paul Schrader always pop up whenever anyone starts doing cinema nerd white-guy takes on the importance of movies? Have you ever heard of Ninja brand chainsaws? All these questions and more are headed upriver in this mosquito-ey episode of Green Screen.

CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains discussion of psychological and physical abuse in a family setting.

The Mosquito Coast (1986) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091557/ The Mosquito Coast (1986) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-mosquito-coast/

Next Movie Up: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Additional Materials About This Episode

Emotionally wrecked by the last episode, Sean and Cody seek solace in one of the ultimate comfort movies of the '80s and are joined by Maco, a true Scotsman who loves this 1983 comedy, as special guest. In Local Hero, boring oil industry executive wanna-be Mac (Peter Riegert) is dispatched by his sleepy, distracted and egocentric boss Mr. Happer (Burt Lancaster) to buy a small Scottish town and prepare it to be bulldozed into a new refinery. But once Mac gets to Scotland and experiences the charm of corporate chaperone Danny (Peter Capaldi), lawyer and bartender Gordon (Denis Lawson) and possible part-time mermaid Marina (Jenny Seagrove), he becomes much more attached to the town than he thought possible. Environmental issues discussed center around the petroleum industry in Scotland, the UK and 1980s Texas, development and climate change.

Are there real towns like this in Scotland? How has the oil industry affected Scotland's past, present and future? What's a selkie and how would you know if you had a crush on one? How did Margaret Thatcher, who started her career snatching milk bottles away from kids, get climate change right and almost everything else wrong? Why was getting an engineering degree in oil and gas in 1980s Texas a really bad career move? How is it possible that ordinary people walking down the street in Scotland find themselves chased by Vulcan bombers? Is it a coincidence that Local Hero is Al Gore's all-time favorite movie? Who's Fitzroy Maclean and what does he have to do with James Bond? How did a character in this movie get an asteroid named after him? Who owned C3P0 and R2D2 before Luke Skywalker did? All these questions and more come up from the ground like a bubblin' crude in this extraordinarily Scottish episode of Green Screen.

Local Hero (1983) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085859/ Local Hero (1983) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/local-hero/

Next Movie Up: The Mosquito Coast (1986)

Additional Materials About This Episode

After several frantic fast-paced movies, Sean and Cody settle down into a more measured drama, as well as catch a new release, set in the fields of Suffolk on the eve of World War II. In the 2021 Netflix original The Dig, widowed single mom Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) knows enough about medieval archaeology to be dangerous and she thinks she might have some loot from the Middle Ages buried in her backyard. When she hires Grumpy McGrumpface Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to do a little digging on the property she gets more than she bargained for when the treasure cache of an Anglo-Saxon king pops to the surface. Environmental issues include the discipline of archaeology and its relationship to environmental science, decay and preservation over centuries, the lands and rivers of 7th century England, the portrayal of academia in movies, and much more.

What happens when you bury a wooden ship in the soil of southeastern England for 1300 years? Whose helmet was buried at Sutton Hoo? Is archaeology an environmental science? Why are the "Dark Ages" not a thing anymore, and actually never were? Why were so many English widows holding séances to try to speak to their dead relatives in the 1920s and '30s? What do Edith Pretty and Mrs. Miniver have in common? Why would you turn down a knighthood from Winston Churchill? What day of the week did World War II start on, and why does it keep coming up in movies? All these questions are hidden under the branches in this very British episode of Green Screen.

The Dig (2021) on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3661210/ The Dig (2021) on Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-dig-2021/

Next Movie Up: Local Hero (1983)

Additional Materials About This Episode

This brief trailer is to introduce you to Green Screen co-host Sean Munger's newest podcast, a fiction/alternate history show called Age of Confusion. The show examines an alternate timeline of American and world history from 1963 to 1985.

Website for Age of Confusion