Buried: Too bad it didn't stay there.

Civilian contractor Paul Conroy, a truck driver working in Iraq, wakes up after his convoy was attacked to discover he has been buried alive in a wooden coffin. With only a limited amount of oxygen, a cell phone and a candle, he must keep his wits about him in order to escape and survive.

The film certainly featured an original (and timely) premise which could have led to a thoroughly engaging and thrilling cinematic experience. However for all of the inventive shots inside the cramped wooden coffin and an intense turn by a guy who is better known for his comedic or action hero roles, Buried was flawed in its presentation and the logic of its story. Suspending disbelief for a film is something of a necessity (especially for all those big budget, cgi-laden blockbusters in the theaters nowadays) but when a director ask the audience to buy into a number of plot devices that are realistically implausible (while having that story grounded in the “real world”), they run the risk of straining credibility and ultimately (as was the case in this film) the devices are so unrealistic that they distract from the film as a whole. Director Rodrigo Cortes had the best intentions with the film but the aforementioned lack of realism and vague nature of the script and story made it close to agonizing to watch.

There will be others who champion this film and point to its minimalist approach or sociopolitical underpinnings regarding the United States war in Iraq as welcome signs of a film that breaks from current Hollywood film trends of more guns and more cgi in order to focus on the story or the idea that Cortes was making a deeper statement with the movie but don’t believe them. Buried felt more like an over-hyped student film than a classic claustrophobic thriller.

Grade: D+

Green Zone: You might not like what you see

A word of advice for those of you checking out this film. It is not another "Bourne" movie. Green Zone took on topics much closer to reality than a super soldier who lost his memory.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller is sent out to find weapons of mass destruction in the provinces of Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. When the intell he and his troops receive fail to uncover anything, Roy sets out to discover why. The answers he finds lead him into a world of lies and cover-ups perpetrated by factions within the U.S. Government.

It is rare to find a film that not only provides excellent action but also has the courage to make a meaningful statement, Green Zone is one of those films. Director Paul Greengrass delivered the same kind of frenetic, hand-held camera shot action pieces audiences have grown accustomed to seeing from his previous work on the last two "Bourne" films. Matt Damon was solid as Roy Miller, a soldier whose singular focus on discovering the truth about the weapons of mass destruction propelled the story and kept the film moving. But where Green Zone distinguished itself from other action thrillers set during the second Iraqi conflict was in its portrayal of the U.S. Government. Inspired by true events or not the film painted quite an unflattering picture of certain Government agencies. Those agencies, the CIA and Defense Intelligence, bickered amongst themselves as each attempted to weld power and create an Iraq that they could control. The question of if the United States even had real intell to justify invading Iraq to overthrow Saddam was posited in the film as well, further pushing American viewers out of their comfort zones of believing their Government had nothing but the noblest of intention when freeing the Iraqi people. Clearly this depiction of events might upset some viewers but one has to admire the statement both Greengrass and Damon were trying to make. Green Zone was not just some action film filled with funs and explosions but a complex war thriller with loftier aims of making the audience face some truths they might not have wanted to.

Grade: B