TheBourneIdentity Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It warms my heart when popular art is recognized as art, rather than being written off as "product" by the intelligentsia. If I had to pick one recent set of commercial films to formally celebrate as an artistic achievement, I would have gone with The Lord of the Rings, but the Bourne trilogy is a strong contender. New York's Museum of Modern Art has acquired the Bourne films and is screening all three of them this week, accompanied by panel discussions with Bourne Identity director/franchise supervisor Doug Liman and an expert on neuroscience and memory.

MoMA didn't break with precedent by adding the Bourne movies to its collection, which includes a number of other "mainstream" works (e.g. all of the James Bond films). I'm a bit surprised the MoMA curators were able to get any sort of consensus on Bourne, given many cinephiles' distaste for the hyperactive editing style of Supremacy and Ultimatum. Of course, I do agree with the assessment that the movies represent a higher standard in action filmmaking, both dramatically and technically. As for how much they have to contribute to our understanding of "brain function, memory, personality, and identity" -- ehhh. I like the films, but I'm not sure they seriously engage with those questions. I'm all for talking about it though.

Expect to hear a lot of Moby in independent films from now on. According to Variety, the recording artist has decided to offer 79 different tracks, most of them unreleased, to independent, nonprofit and student productions at no cost to filmmakers. Only if the film becomes distributed for profit does Moby demand a small fee. But that money will go towards charity. The songs include 11 instrumentals off the album "Hotel", six tracks from "Play: B Sides" and three tracks from "18". If you're interested in using one of the songs, even for your home video (I wonder if video blogs or online shows count), you can find them at the website Mobygratis.com. Moby said the reason he set up the service was because of indie filmmaker friends complaining about the difficulty and high expense of acquiring music licenses. Moby should definitely know about the price of licensing music for movies; he's contributed to enough films and commercials that he could probably live off that money alone. I bet he could buy a house just with the fees made off the Bourne trilogy theme.

Suddenly I have a whole lot more respect for Moby, who also scored the new movie Southland Tales. This reminds me of a five minute high school project I made that was possibly going to be shown on public access. It was the first and only time I attempted to contact record companies about using their songs for no cost since I wouldn't be making any money off the project. I only heard back from one company, which told me I couldn't use AC/DC's "Back in Black" under any circumstance, even a school production, without paying for it (I wonder how much The Daily Show pays every time Lewis Black comes on). I didn't understand what the deal was. Many bands would kill to have the exposure of being on a film's soundtrack -- indie or mainstream. So, I think Moby wins out in the end with this decision. He gets to appear the charitable guy, and he gets some free exposure, whether he needs more or not. He probably prefers to have more than enough fans than more than enough cash. He's like the Mr. Deeds of music licensing.

I used to think Julia Stiles was the next big thing. That was back when she seemed to star in every Shakespeare update around (10 Things I Hate About You; Almereyda's Hamlet; O). Then she somehow became better remembered as "Nicky", the deer-in-headlights character from The Bourne Identity and its sequels. Sure her part increased through the series, but all I can think of is that line, "I can send Nicky to do that, for Chrissakes." Now, I associate her with any role that's so easy even she could do it. Which certainly seems to apply with a movie in which she's just been cast, Cry of the Owl. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stiles is replacing Sara Polley in the thriller, which makes me wonder if maybe the part is too simple for the now-very-respected Polley. "They can send 'Nicky' to do that, for Chrissakes," the actress must have thought.

Cry of the Owl is based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith (author of The Talented Mr. Ripley, which starred Bourne co-star Matt Damon) and was previously adapted by Claude Chabrol. This version will be helmed by Jamie Thraves, who directed my favorite Radiohead video, "Just", as well as videos for Blur ("Charmless Man") and Coldplay ("Scientist"; "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"). The movie co-stars Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) as a new guy in town who Stiles' character falls for. Problem is, he's also stalking her. Scott Speedman (who was probably looking forward to working again with Polley, his My Life Without Me co-star) plays her ex, who plots revenge for being dumped. The movie begins shooting in Toronto next week.

To be fair to Stiles, I have to admit that coming from Highsmith, Cry of the Owl may not be just another stalker thriller. Also, she has been delivering fine performances in little-seen movies like A Little Trip to Heaven and Edmond -- never mind that she also starred in The Omen remake. She's also just made her directorial debut with the short Raving and she's set to star in an adaptation of The Bell Jar. Perhaps one of these days I'll have something new, and more favorable, to associate her with.

I'm probably one of the biggest Doug Liman supporters -- even if I do get crap for loving Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- so I get excited about every new project announced with his name attached. I'm even looking forward to a new Knight Rider TV movie (possibly pilot) I just read about that Liman will helm for NBC. He says that it will have a tone somewhere between The Bourne Identity and Smith, and will featuring a morphing KITT. Even if I didn't like Liman's work, I'd be curious. Liman also called the original Knight Rider "the Shakespeare of our generation." But I hope he was joking.

According to Variety, the director has another movie on the fast-track at Dreamworks that will star Jake Gyllenhaal. The untitled project (being called "Untitled Moon Project"), will be Liman's first attempt at outer-space science fiction, and its plot will focus on a private expedition to the moon to set up a Lunar colony. As much as I can tell, this will also be Gyllenhaal's first time costumed in a space suit, which should bring him back to his glory days as the Bubble Boy.

Liman co-wrote the original script for the project, along with his cousin, writer-director John Hamburg (Along Came Polly). However, it's now being re-written by author Mark Bowden, who wrote the source material for Black Hawk Down and Joe Carnahan's in-development Pablo Escobar movie, Killing Pablo. Liman, Alli Shearmur and Simon Kinberg will produce the film, which will presumably begin shooting as soon as Gyllenhaal is done with Brothers.

James Bond -- when played by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and now Daniel Craig (and a bit less so when played by Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton and George Lazenby) -- has long been the gold stanard by which all other cinematic spies have been judged. He's smooth, aloof, quick-witted and charming. Guys want to be like him and women with names like Pussy Galore want to sleep with him. But these days, 007 has some serious competition from a more reserved, grittier and -- dare we say -- more likeable amnesiac spy named Jason Bourne (Matt Damon).

When The Bourne Identity came along in 2002, it pretty much reinvented the action-spy genre, placing its hero, Jason Bourne, squarely in the real world (where things like Bond's invisible car do not exist) and dealing with the unheard of (in the Bond world, at least) issues of moral accountability, character metamorphosis and even vulnerability. Clearly influenced by his neophyte rival, a new Bond was born in 2006's Casino Royale, with Daniel Craig stepping into the tux of a more down-to-earth, relatable and gadget-free 007. Even so, the gap between these two men remains enormous.

From the cars they drive to the villains they battle to the way they fight to the women they bed, Moviefone compares the two most badass spies ever to grace a movie screen in a Jason Bourne vs. James Bond gallery. Check it out and then tell us: Who do you think is the more super spy?

Now that Paul Greengrass has won the hearts of American audiences and critics with United 93, he could easily keep hidden his political criticisms of the U.S. and hope for a prolific career in Hollywood. But he doesn't seem to want the easy life. Once the director finishes post-production on The Bourne Ultimatum, he is set to begin work on a film about the aftermath of the Iraq War. He will write a script based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran's non-fiction book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, and then direct the film for Universal.

Greengrass is no stranger to Iraq. Ten years ago he made a movie for British television called The One That Got Away, about an operation during Desert Storm. His hand-held documentary style is perfectly suited for the discord of the region and its post-invasion events, though he will probably bring something original to the project that hasn't yet been seen in the actual documentaries coming out of the Iraq War.

Despite his putting out mostly apolitical work since arriving in Hollywood, he is typically a political filmmaker and we can probably expect a very critical position from him here. Chandrasekaran's book apparently reveals the failures of the U.S. occupation and presents the whole thing as a major historical disaster. The Washington Post journalist does depict some involved individuals in a good light, though. If Greengrass can keep it as honest and balanced, he might be able to keep some of his patriotic audience.