Green Screen

Back from last episode's jaunt to rainy climate-changed Korea, Sean and Cody delve into the understandably touchy subject of global pandemics. In Terry Gilliam's bizarre 1995 time travel thriller 12 Monkeys, chrome-domed con James Cole (Bruce Willis) is sent by his bosses back in time to 1996 to figure out whether a kooky animal rights coalition called the Army of the 12 Monkeys actually juiced the world with the deadly virus that devastated the planet. Cole's former shrink Dr. Railly (Madeline Stowe) and his ex-roommate in the mental institution (Brad Pitt) seem to have something to do with it, but who knows in this film? The major environmental issue discussed is global pandemics and their effect on history from the early Middle Ages up to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, and how they compare to the coronavirus.

What's the definition of a pandemic and how does one spread? What is the link between major pandemics and climate change? Why is Ebola unlikely to become a human extinction event despite being one of the most lethal viruses in the world? What do the Emperor Justinian, Woodrow Wilson and Donald Trump have in common? How do you name-drop a 6th century Greek historian into an episode about a 1990s science fiction film? What does "hungersnot" mean? Why is it usually a bad idea to adapt a New Yorker article into a full-length book? How come Christopher Plummer never got to play a Bond villain? Why is the time travel plot the least interesting thing about this film? All these questions are in line for vaccination appointments in this achy, feverish, socially-distanced episode of Green Screen.

12 Monkeys (1995) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114746/ 12 Monkeys (1995) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/twelve-monkeys/

Next Movie Up: The Dig (2021)

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After their 19th century vacation in the last episode, Sean and Cody swim back to roughly the present day and immediately find themselves drowning in Korea's environmental problems as depicted in Bong Joon-ho's sardonic tragicomedy Parasite. When Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) bluffs his way into a job as a tutor to the fetching daughter of the rich Park family, he thinks he can get his own poor family out of their squalid subterranean Seoul rat-trap. But as the Kim family completes their infiltration of the Park household, a series of bizarre surprises turns the Kims' cushy gig into a bloody nightmare of class warfare. Environmental issues discussed include climate change, rainfall and flooding in modern Korea, and the linkage between economic dislocation and environmental problems.

How and why is Parasite the ultimate climate change movie? Why is Korea, and especially South Korea, being punished by climate change sooner and more severely than most parts of the developed world? What happened to South Korea's once-robust middle class, and is the same thing now happening to the U.S.? How much more rain now falls in Korea than did 250 years ago? Why did Donald Trump absolutely hate this movie without ever having seen it? What's the ghoulish secret ingredient of Kettle Korn that makes it taste so good? Why are there so many fried chicken restaurants in Korea? Would anyone actually build a house like the Parks' shown in the film? What does this film have in common with Great Expectations and Sherman's March, featured on previous episodes? All these questions are burping to the surface through your toilet in this wet, sloppy and disaster-capitalized episode of Green Screen.

Parasite (2019) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6751668/ Parasite (2019) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/parasite-2019/

Next Movie Up: 12 Monkeys (1995)

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After partying in the future (or what was the future) in the last episode, Sean and Cody journey to the past, exchanging their grunge duds for waistcoats and cravats as they invade Russia in 1812. In War & Peace, the BBC television miniseries from 2016, Russian trust fund baby Pierre Bezhukov (Paul Dano) is so distracted with the long walks he takes to find himself that he stumbles onto the largest battlefield of the entire Napoleonic Wars. After someone leaves the iron on and reduces Moscow to ashes, Pierre straggles through the snow to find his way back into the Regency-era melodrama where his bae Natasha (Lily James) finds herself unexpectedly single. Environmental issues discussed include the Russians' campaign of ecological warfare against Napoleon, the true responsibility for the Great Fire of Moscow, and Leo Tolstoy's own brand of Christian anarchist environmentalism.

How was Napoleon's invasion of Russia destined to be won or lost on environmental factors? Who really burnt Moscow and did they do it deliberately? Was Bonaparte a military genius or was he doomed to get his hots stomped in Russia? What kind of person would copy the entirety of War and Peace in longhand six times? How long is War and Peace, exactly, and why is it wrong to answer this question in terms of page numbers? Was Tolstoy an environmentalist? Has anyone ever done his masterpiece novel justice on the screen? Who was Andrei Rublev and why did the Soviets want to make a movie about him? All these questions and more are retreating from the field in a long shivering column for our inspection in this well-costumed episode of Green Screen.

War and Peace (2016) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3910804/ War and Peace (2016) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/war-and-peace-2016/

Next Movie Up: Parasite (2019)

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Sean and Cody prepare to party like it's 1999 and relive the whole Y2K thing as they head back to Los Angeles to dip into this somewhat obscure but very complicated 1995 science fiction thriller. In Strange Days, pusher of high tech virtual reality porn Lenny (Ralph Fiennes) gets caught up in a noir-ish L.A. caper involving the girl he used to date (Juliette Lewis), the girl who wants to date him (Angela Bassett) and a snuff clip that could turn the City of Angels into a raging inferno of racial violence. It all happens on the last night of the century, supposedly. But will it be the racist cops or our intrepid heroes who will be guzzling champagne at midnight? The environmental issues posed by this film all arise out of its setting in time and place: the Rodney King incident of 1991 and the riots that followed, O.J. Simpson and the specter of apocalyptic disaster, the "six L.A.s" we see in film and how their environments differ, and why geography is the key to understanding Los Angeles's tangled environmental history.

What was Hurricane Opal and what does it have to do with the O.J. Simpson trial? What's the story behind the Los Angeles riots of 1992 and why they overshadowed the entire modern history of the city? Why are the Asian-owned businesses shown in movies like this almost always restaurants? Why was December 31, 1999 not really the last day of the 20th century? Was there anything of substance behind the "Y2K" computer thing or was it just media hype? Is this film actually an uncredited sequel to an even more obscure 1983 film that no one remembers except for tabloid reporters who are unnaturally obsessed with Natalie Wood's death? How come people don't push each other into swimming pools as party gags anymore? What happened to those 1990s cyberpunk movies and why don't they make them like they used to? How does this film get Los Angeles geography wrong? Can a knotted necktie support the weight of a 250-pound man hanging off the tower of a luxury hotel? All of these questions and more are wired up and ready to record in this surprisingly complex episode of Green Screen.

WARNING: This episode contains discussions of sexual assault and racial violence.

Strange Days (1995) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/ Strange Days (1995) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/strange-days/

Next Movie Up: War & Peace (2016)

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Sean and Cody set out on an epic quest through Middle Earth in this, the most nerd-tastic episode of Green Screen yet. In the 2002 fantasy epic The Two Towers, part of the Lord of the Rings saga, mild-mannered hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and his gardener and possible boyfriend Samwise (Sean Astin) are on a long walk to pitch a magic ring off a short pier into the fiery lava chasm of Mt. Doom in an attempt to bring an end the disagreeable and environmentally unfriendly Sauron administration. Meanwhile, a CGI special effect with a split personality (Andy Serkis) plots to take the ring for himself. And there's a huge battle scene. And orcs. Environmental issues discussed include the ecological vision of J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the source material; the "Black Country" of late 19th century England and its despoliation by coal mining; the linkage between power and environmental destruction, embodied by the history of oil and climate change; and the early theories of ecology that were developing at the time the Lord of the Rings books came out in the 1950s.

How did Tolkien's upbringing and his experiences on the Western Front in World War I shape his expansive environmental vision? Was Peter Jackson faithful to that vision when he made these films? Of all the Lord of the Rings books, why was this one the most difficult to turn into a movie? How did New Line Cinema manage to flush the billions of dollars it made on these pictures right down the toilet? Is Sauruman an employee of the Koch brothers? What's the fastest way to reverse climate change? Could this movie have been made in 1939? What does this film have to do with The Thief of Baghdad? Why is Ralph Bakshi ticked off at Peter Jackson? How many different ways can Maggie Smith pronounce the words "Mary McGregor"? All these questions and more are ready to be cast into the fiery chasms of Mt. Doom in this fantastical episode of Green Screen.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167261/ The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-two-towers/

Next Movie Up: Strange Days (1995)

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Glad to be out of Gotham's Christmas nightmare, Sean and Cody are transported in chains to the marshlands of early 19th century England, where a Dickensian smorgasbord of social and environmental commentary is ready to envelop them like dust from Miss Haversham's wedding gown. In the 1946 David Lean-directed Great Expectations, an adaptation of the Dickens novel, pauper tween Pip (John Mills) lets an escaped convict stuff his face with one of his sister's meat pies, then finds himself the plaything of an eccentric matriarch who seems to want to fix him up with her bratty niece Estella (Jean Simmons). Ultimately Pip inherits a fortune under mysterious circumstances, but he's not allowed to know who his sugar daddy is. Environmental issues discussed include the tidelands and marshlands of Kent, England and their role in British history, pollution and social problems in early Victorian-era London, the environmental dimensions of prisons and incarceration as social engineering, the colonization of Australia, and more.

Why did the hosts decide, within minutes of starting to watch this film, that it was an "environmental movie" that had to be on the show? What's a "gammon"? Why did William the Conqueror give up trying to take over the Kent marshes? Who was the Aldington Gang and why were they forced to turn to a life of crime? Was Dickens an environmentalist? Why did the British start dumping their convicts in Australia? What diseases could you catch on a prison ship? What happened to the HMS Beagle after Darwin made his famous voyage aboard her? Is it possible to get a Ph.D. in history without ever reading Foucault? Was Alec Guinness hot in his youth? How did Batman (John Batman of Melbourne, Australia that is) make his second appearance in a row on a Green Screen episode? Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party, or a Romulan? All these questions and more are ready to hijack your paddlewheel steamer in this Dickensian episode of Green Screen.

Great Expectations (1946) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038574/ Great Expectations (1946) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/great-expectations/

Next Movie Up: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

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Flush with the Yuletide spirit, Sean and Cody leave the mountain forests of Rwanda for the gritty streets of Gotham City in search of the Caped Crusader—sorry, the Dark Knight—who is to be found only sparingly in this 1992 superhero blockbuster. In Batman Returns, fed up secretary Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfieffer) suffers the ultimate #MeToo moment when her megalomaniacal boss (Christopher Walken) pushes her out a window and unwittingly transforms her into the vinyl-clad Catwoman. Meanwhile, sewer-dwelling crime lord Penguin (Danny DeVito) is terrorizing the streets with an army of Juggalos. Looks like a job for Batman (Michael Keaton), if he ever manages to show up. Environmental issues discussed include the history of sewer and sanitation infrastructure in modern New York, the rise of cats as America's most popular pets and the ecological consequences of that popularity. Oh, and Christmas, as this is ostensibly a "Christmas special" episode.

What happened to your poop in 19th century New York after you flushed it? How many miles off the coast of New Jersey was it legal to dump sewage sludge in the 1980s? What did Ronald Reagan and austerity economics have to do with the rise of cats as apartment-dwelling pets? Under what circumstances will your adorable feline fluffball transform into a cold-blooded killer? Can zoo penguins go feral? What was Batman's involvement with Japanese-American internment during World War II? How did Michelle Pfeiffer put on that skin-tight suit? What did Michael Keaton need the money that he made from his movie to pay for? Why are these films so dark, meaning, why can't you ever see anything? How did the McDonald's Happy Meals made to sell this movie turn into a big sad for parents and their kids? What's the definition of a "Christmas Movie" and does Die Hard qualify? Why does this picture make so little sense? Is Adam West still the best Batman? All these questions and more are riding the Batmobile in this holiday-themed episode of Green Screen.

Batman Returns (1992) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103776/ Batman Returns (1992) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/batman-returns/

Next Movie Up: Great Expectations (1946)

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Sean and Cody exchange Thanksgiving leftovers for Rwandan mountain gorillas and join forces with History by Hollywood podcast host Martin Darlington for an in-depth look at Gorillas in the Mist, the popular biopic of legendary primatologist Dian Fossey. In this 1988 film based on her memoirs, amateur naturalist Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) begs bigwig anthropologist Louis Leakey for a slot on a junket to Africa to count endangered gorillas. When she gets in-country she begins an obsessive one-woman war against poachers, zoo headhunters, amorous graduate students, wayward National Geographic photographers and anyone who stands in the way of "her" gorillas. Environmental issues discussed include species conservation, poaching in Africa, bushmeat and its relationship to economies and disease, the world wildlife conservation business and a repeat grudge match with our old friend the White Savior Complex.

Was the real Dian Fossey a saint and a savior, or an out-of-control monster who did more harm than good? Who might have been responsible for her still-unsolved 1985 murder? Should Westerners from developed countries go to Africa to save wildlife, or is that another form of colonialism? Are poachers always bad? What was the Congo Crisis and what does it have to do with this movie? Why would you want to put a chimpanzee into a gorilla suit? Are there actually any real gorillas in this picture, or are they all people (or chimps) in suits? How did Teddy Roosevelt set out to save the environment by shooting up the landscape with a shotgun? Is Sigourney Weaver's agent secretly subsidizing the production of Green Screen? After the racist Götterdämmerung of King Kong, why are we talking about gorillas again? All these questions are beating their chests and screeching to be debated on this Very Special Episode of Green Screen.

Big thanks to Martin Darlington of History by Hollywood, with whom this episode is a joint production.

Gorillas in the Mist (1988) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095243/ Gorillas in the Mist (1988) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/gorillas-in-the-mist/

Next Movie Up: Batman Returns (1992)

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Glad to be back on Earth after their confusing adventures on Arrakis last episode, Sean and Cody sit down to Thanksgiving dinner and an extra helping of 1970s moral and environmental confusion as they analyze this Ang Lee-directed period drama from 1997. In The Ice Storm, set in Conn-ECT-i-CUT over Thanksgiving 1973, the loveless marriage of boring white guy Ben Hood (Kevin Kline) and his moody wife Elena (Joan Allen) is spiraling the drain while their neighbor Janey (Sigourney Weaver), her son Mikey (Elijah Wood) and the Hoods' daughter Wendy (Christina Ricci) are all trying to hook up with various people. The gravy really gets spilled when a freak ice storm catches everybody at their worst and sets up poor Frodo for some shocking shenanigans. Environmental issues discussed include the history of weather, the real life Ice Storm Felix that inspired the novel the film is based on, design oddities in mid-century New England and the environmental aspects of the traditional American Thanksgiving feast.

How and when did the real Storm Felix turn Connecticut into a skating rink in 1973? What's the "Glass House" and what does it have to do with this movie? Is Thanksgiving turkey really bad for the environment, or is there another side to that story? Who was the little girl who got napalmed in Vietnam in that famous photo? Why was Thomas Jefferson's handwriting so small? How did Puritans in the 17th century react when they got naughty thoughts at night? How did Katie Holmes get into, and out of, Scientology? What's wrong with creative writing workshops taught at Ivy League graduate schools? Is the Talking G.I. Joe doll quoted accurately in this film? Why is Ang Lee's The Life of Pi definitely not on the list of future episodes? All of these questions and more are served up at the carving station on this special Thanksgiving episode of Green Screen.

The Ice Storm (1997) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119349/ The Ice Storm (1997) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/the-ice-storm/

Next Movie Up: Gorillas in the Mist (1988)

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Sean and Cody, joined by film professor and David Lynch expert Mike Miley, fold space into the most bizarre Green Screen episode yet, involving an infamous 1984 science fiction epic that has polarized audiences for three decades. In this virtually incomprehensible film, spice-addicted trust fund baby Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan) puts on a skin-tight rubber spacesuit and tries to avenge his father's death by riding latex worms designed by Carlo Rambaldi and gaining control of the universe's most valuable resource, which is apparently hallucinogenic. That's as coherent as we can make Dune sound. Environmental issues discussed include air quality and air pollution, wildfires and their relationship to climate change, the ecological problems endemic to Mexico City (where the movie was filmed), industrial disasters and corporate malfeasance, and the environmental impact of filmmaking, especially where, as here, directors have vast financial resources at their disposal.

What's it like to experience an AQI (Air Quality Index) of 376, literally the worst on the planet? What does this film have to do with the horrific Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India? How did Mexico City get its air pollution problem, the worst in the world at one time, largely under control? Why was this movie filmed on the site of a historic garbage dump? How did the production get so totally out of control? Who was the mysterious TV writer known as "Judas Booth"? Why did David Lynch spend $30 million on sets and costumes and $1.98 on special effects? What's Sir Patrick Stewart doing with that pug puppy? Is this the worst science fiction film ever made, or an underrated masterpiece that's the key to understanding Lynch's entire career? All of these questions, and more, are ready to tell you about their homeworld in this psychedelic episode of Green Screen.

Dune (1984) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087182/ Dune (1984) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/dune/

Next Movie Up: The Ice Storm (1997)

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