Hailing from Skokie, Scott Greene is a cinephile through and through. I wanted to introduce him — he’s an integral member of the Roy’s World team and we’re delighted to have him on board!
What’s your earliest movie-going memory?
A double feature of a Zorro film and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. I remember only one moment from the first: Zorro breaks a man out of a prison cell, and scratches a “Z” into the stone for the man’s captors to find. Since I was rather young at the time, most of my early memories of Empire have been replaced by more recent ones. But I know just how important Star Wars was to me, like many other kids my age and older. The film remains one of my all-time favorites.
Which upcoming movies are you most looking forward to seeing this fall?
So many! Joel and Ethan Coen are due to release The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, I believe. Steve McQueen’s new crime drama Widows looks very intriguing. Christian Bale is playing Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s (The Big Short) new movie Backseat, which also stars the incredible Sam Rockwell as Dubya. I’m also interested in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, Damien Chazelle’s First Man, The Hate U Give from George Tillman, Jr., Bad Times at the El Royale from Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard, and the new documentary on Quincy Jones. Inglorious Basterds star Melanie Laurent has directed a film called Galveston, starring Ben Foster, who’s been on quite the run of good films lately. Robert Rodriguez, Robert Zemeckis and Shane Black all have crowd-pleasers on deck, I rarely miss a movie from any of them.
What’s your favorite film set in Chicago?
Probably Jupiter Ascending … thank you, I’m here all week. If I have to pick a favorite, that might be the legal thriller Primal Fear. No actor since Alan Rickman in Die Hard has made a stronger first impression on me than Edward Norton in that potboiler. But I also can’t ignore the Burt Reynolds/Kathleen Turner/Christopher Reeve comedy Switching Channels, which I’ve loved since I was a kid. Honorable mentions: Stir of Echoes with Kevin Bacon, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Drinking Buddies, Stranger Than Fiction, Rookie of the Year … and The Fugitive ain’t half bad, either.
Which aspects of Chicago history do you find most intriguing?
Anything related to public transportation, as I rarely drive through the city but have ridden buses and trains every week for the last twenty years. The evolution of the various elevated lines and bus routes is something I’ve kept a close eye on during my adulthood, but looking back at how those systems got underway during the post-Great Fire years is truly fascinating. And of course, I have a keen interest in Chicago’s film history as well.
RandomCha 