Sgt. Angle Reporting for Duty!

Some of you out there might have a similar mantra to mine when it comes to burial: Please don’t do it while I’m alive. The rest of you who get off on suffocating…join a chat room.

This past weekend, a new movie entered limited release as an ultra-low budget Sundance 2010 darling with only one actor on screen for 99% of the movie. That movie is Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds. He plays Paul Conroy, a civilian truck driver contracted to work in Iraq who wakes up, from frame one, in a coffin buried under many feet of dirt.

(**WARNING: THERE ARE SOME POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD. MINOR, BUT SPOILERS NONETHELESS. THIS IS YOUR WARNING.**)

One of the true thrills in this movie, aside from the obvious real-time ticking clock of as breathable air disappears and a cell phone battery fades away, is watching Reynolds perform. The dude could spend an hour painting his living room walls, and I’m sure the resulting movie would be a hit.

Screenwriter Chris Sparling originally wrote the script as a feature he would make himself. He’d planned on pulling together $5,000, would film digitally in a friend’s place over 7 days, and hoped it would play in a few festivals. Then, he sent the script to a friend in Hollywood who also happened to be a literary manager. Producer Peter Safran soon picked it up, intending to tell it “as is,” without asking Sparling to add flashbacks or other hokey plot devices that would otherwise make an original story told in an original way into something cliched and ordinary.

Writer Chris Sparling.

Sparling’s script, on the surface, is a suspenseful thriller with somewhat contrived plot points and great manipulation factors to push us to the limits of our own moviegoing experience (specifically a well-timed phone call during an invasion from a slithery friend). But underneath the top layer of basic story, there’s another set of ideas floating just underneath that can open our eyes to the type of story Sparling is trying to tell. However you interpret this tale is up to you.

For me, Sparling’s script is the story of himself, as a writer, trying to get his own scripts made the way he wants them to be made. For a writer in Hollywood, you are often forced to work within strict confines (walls) of the producers and the business executives who run the show. You can’t deviate or climb out from these walls, and your whole time within them is constricting, limiting, forcing you to find your own lights within these constraints. The phone constantly rings with annoying producers wasting your valuable time, (your air) with bad ideas, friends and loved ones are always distracting you from the central problem of your story. The agent you think is helping you and working on your side is only lying to you to keep you happy, so he gets paid. It’s only when the movie is done and in the can when he finally admits that he’s been lying to you the entire time.

In Buried, Ryan Reynolds is clearly playing the role of writer, a heavy weight on his shoulders, an enormous amount of pressure on top of him that will come crumbling down unless he delivers what he’s been paid to do. When the dirt starts to slowly trickle in, it’s because he’s made some decisions he shouldn’t have — he films himself and sends a video that’s picked up and watched on Youtube. He’s tried to make his own movie, and it’s failed, bringing him only another pile (literally) of bad luck.

When our writer then tries to call the FBI, he is left only with an answering machine and has to hope someone hears his message. And honestly, how many times have you tried to call one of the people in charge only to be left waiting for their call? How often does something become urgent for you, and not so for anyone else?

He is left with a lighter, which eats his oxygen but serves as a source of light. His inspiration. He flicks it on when an idea strikes him, and leaves it on all the time because the matter is that pressing. When he finds the note to read for the ransom video, Conroy has trouble deciphering it and doesn’t want to read it — fights against it — and then winds up giving in, recording himself reading it. This is much akin to lousy notes given by the studio to an inexperienced writer who doesn’t have the heart or the guile, under immense pressure, to follow through until he thinks he has no other option.

Then, there is the hostage specialist, Brenner, who is basically the director of your movie. He reassures you, tells you to be calm, that he’s doing everything in his power to rescue you (to make your film the way you intended). In the end, he fails to come through in a big way, but he’s lead you on the entire time, so why not trust him while the world is crashing down on you? Dirt pours into your mouth and you’ve promised your wife, your personal life, your dignity, that you’re coming home (making your movie the way you intended) but you don’t know it’s a lie because you can’t see beyond the confines you’ve been set in until it’s too late. Your dignity has buried you, just like the lies and the pressures have buried you, all because you were taken by surprise when your convoy was attacked (when you sold your first spec script).

This interpretation is a little muddy in parts (what does the snake represent? The green light sticks?), but the point of this piece you’re reading is that I’ve interpreted Buried to mean something to me based on my personality and what I’ve been through. What does Buried mean to you?

This all stems from an original interpretation of Inception I read a while back by Devin Faraci, formerly of chud.com, and it’s a good one so check it out if you can here. Devin’s thesis is much more layered and goes into more depth than your faithful Sergeant, and he also points to specific interviews that DiCaprio and Nolan made prior to Inception’s release. But, I will still contend that it’s possible and healthy to interpret films however you can, to think deeper about a film and take something away from it that is on a layer separate from the plot by itself. In the case of Buried, I placed it in the context of a screenwriter trying to get a movie made in his own vision.

Have you ever felt pressure that you would associate with burial under mounds of dirt with seemingly no escape? How would you then interpret Buried?

Report in below!

You are dismissed!

Sgt. Angle

Sgt. Angle reporting for duty!

In color salute to St. Patrick’s day, this week’s Cinegasm Experience is in Green Theme. I present four ‘Movies Green’ to stir your stew. Ingest without caution or hesitation.

At ease.

1. GREEN ZONE — The latest political film by director Paul Greengrass (green!!), starring Matt Damon as a US soldier who questions his orders as the WMD tolls remains at zero despite a so-called reliable source code-named ‘Magellan’.

The Stew: Inspired by the book “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone” by Rajiv Chandrasekaren, Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) keenly adapts the analytical observations and facts of the U.S. involvement and transition of power in Iraq into a gripping thriller. Paul Greengrass is a director known for revising the Hollywood thriller with sequels The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, as well as pointing a shaking camera at controversial stories in order to present an objective, factual case and allow the watcher to come away with his/her own conclusions (United 93, Bloody Sunday).

Greengrass entered my sights as a director a few years ago. I want to watch everything he makes, but I also find fault in his overuse of hand-held cameras. I don’t like his extreme closeup style of shooting fight scenes, and think the shaky cam he’s become known for only adds to confusion while detracting from visual storytelling. It certainly didn’t help, however, that his two Bourne movies were as intricate and complex as The Theory of Relativity our federal banking laws, but there really is no excuse for vomit-inducing camera run-around techniques.

I went into a screening of Green Zone expecting much of the same, but instead was surprised and pleased, thrilled and satisfied. The plot is of the complex variety, but thanks to a limited number of characters and a very linear unfolding of events, it’s relatively easy to follow. The camera (in the hands of Barry Ackroyd, who lensed United 93 and was recently nominated for The Hurt Locker) swings in all directions, but focus always returns to Matt Damon or Greg Kinnear, depending on whose POV we’re currently focused on.

The Rifle Salute: Four out of four rifles. There are moments where the film feels like one extended sequence after another rather than chopped up scenes, a great feeling where you can look at your watch and think a scene is over, and then you’re immediately carried into the next sequence, or the next problem for Miller. Also, there is temptation to highly criticize America’s harsh decisions and forced hand (embodied by an especially good Greg Kinnear), but don’t let the film fool you: You’re meant to walk out of the theater understanding all sides, though not necessarily agreeing, and hopefully open the door to further research, discussion, and conclusions, which will all lead to better understanding in the future.

*Declassified Fact: Paul Greengrass was once circling an adaptation of WATCHMEN.

Shaggy crimefighters.

2. THE GREEN HORNET — An adaptation of the classic 60s TV series that featured Bruce Lee. This time around, Seth Rogan dons the mask while Jay Chou (Curse of the Golden Flower) picks up Lee’s Kato character.

The Stew: Cast includes: Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, who will play Chudnofsky, an LA crime boss and rival/villain to the Green Hornet, as well as Cameron Diaz, Edward Furlong, Tom Wilkinson, and Edward James *freakin’* Olmos. Script is by Superbad co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and after Stephen Chow dropped the chance to direct and co-star, great imaginitarian Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) took up the reins. Will this be all-out comedy? light action comedy? or just plain fun in the lightest piece of the prism? Find out in December.

*Declassified fact: Movie will also feature an appearance by the band ANVIL!

Conceptual.

3. GREEN LANTERN — Director Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale) takes a stab at the comic book world, expanding the on-screen DC Universe with Ryan Reynolds starring as Hal Jordan a dude who falls in love with jewelry a dude who becomes the bearer of a powerful green ring that allows him access to an intergalactic peacekeeping organization, among other fun powers. Mark Strong and Peter Sarsgard take up the villain roles as Sinestro and Hector Hammond, respectively. Tim Robbins rounds out the powerhouse casting, and somehow Blake Lively was not kicked off when she wandered on set.

The Stew: Your Sgt. is unhappily not familiarized with the Green Lantern’s history, suffice it to say that Ryan Reynolds is a dude that is easy to watch and support, while Mark Strong’s recent villainous workshop in Sherlock Holmes means he’s an actor you must keep a watch for in the coming months. Martin Campbell can direct action and fight scenes fairly well, so here’s hoping his first comic-book venture ends up smart and on the level. Will the Green Lantern’s universe feature a reference to Metropolis and the infamous Dark Knight? If DC Entertainment can orchestrate a multi-movie universe a la Marvel, full enjoyment will truly spill out from the page to the screen. At least Warner Bros. can handle big-budget action. Be thankful FOX does not have its’ hands on this one.

*Declassified fact: This movie will play in 3D theaters, though it’s not likely to actually be filmed seteroscopically.

4. GREENBERG — Another quirky character piece from writer-director Noah Baumbach, which he cooked up with Jennifer Jason Leigh after they worked together on Margot at the Wedding. Though the script captures that same neurotic and prickly, direct dialogue as Baumbach’s previous films, there is little delightful-ness to look forward to when the film debuts in April (yes, your Sgt. has read the script).

The Stew: Film stars Ben Stiller as a miserable New Yorker who comes to Los Angeles to housesit for his brother, and ends up sparking a fling with his brother’s oddball assistant (Greta Gerwig). Greenberg complains about nearly everything, feels aimless at 40, and doesn’t even try to find a successful path for himself. The story reads like a twenty-something hipster tale, but for a 40-year-old group of characters — as if Baumbach wants us to believe that uncertainty and unwillingness to face disaster are traits that haunt all generations, young and old. Connect this film, then, with his wonderful 90s era Kicking and Screaming, his adolescent daze The Squid and the Whale, and Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt, and you can thus relate to all American age groups.

What’s likable about Baumbach’s work is his focus on character interactions. People are a bit oddball and say what’s on their mind, letting their mouths run-off without thinking of consequences. People act and do out of the moment, rather than pre-meditated consideration. But at times, that’s frustrating (notably in Margot at the Wedding, which contained numerous scenes where characters avoided confrontation or sparked a chance for confrontation and conflict, chances which were inexplicably ignored by other characters…).

Baumbach is a constant collaborator with Wes Anderson, and the difference in their directing is that Anderson is able to give a serious conflict an admirably comedic twist, while Baumbach relishes in showing us the nitty gritty of it all.

*Declassified fact: Greenberg almost starred Amy Adams and Mark Ruffalo.

You are dismissed!

Sgt. Angle