2.10 - JASON BOURNE (2016) & the Mainstream

The last in the Bourne franchise (for now, at least) is this week’s topic. A couple of epic rants are followed by some more reasoned discussion about why films get made in the way they do, what makes a movie ‘mainstream’ — and why this isn’t good for the Bourne films.

This Week’s Watching
HOOK (1991): Steven Spielberg, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams
PRISON BREAK (2005–09): Bobby Roth, Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller

Recommendations
SALT (2010): Phillip Noyce, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Liev Schreiber
THE DANISH GIRL (2015): Tom Hooper, Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander
LA HAINE (1995): Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé
ELEMENTARY (2012–): Robert Doherty, Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu

Footnotes
The interview in which Steven Spielberg explains that he is interested in going back to see if there’s anything he actually likes about HOOK is here (the relevant part starts about 19’20”). The review of JASON BOURNE that Sam first mentions, referring to Damon’s character as both a quasi-superhero and a psychological mess, is here. And this is the second review, which describes the plot of the movie as basically an extended HR exercise. Finally, here’s the CGP Grey video that’s the source of Sam’s Las Vegas trivia.