Filmspotting #152: 300 / Cabinet of Dr. Caligari / Top 5 Battle Scenes

March 16: The last time Adam and Sam had a conversation about the film adaptation of a Frank Miller graphic novel, it was March 2005, and the movie was Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City." Sam hated Rodriguez's religious devotion to its misogynistic source material, while Adam was thrilled by the movie's visual inventiveness. Well, it's been two years since "Sin City," and the wounds still haven't healed.

Now Zack Snyder has adapted Miller's 1998 graphic novel "300," the writer's fanciful rendering of the 5th century BC battle at Thermopylae, which pitted 300 Spartan soldiers against the great Persian army.

The question: is Snyder's testosterone-fueled, CGI-constructed adaptation of "300" the next evolutionary step in movie combat? A "Matrix" or "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for 2007? Or is it just the mind-numbing equivalent of watching someone play a blood-soaked video game for two hours?

With "300," Frank Miller has, for the second time, inspired Adam and Sam to take opposing sides of a heated argument.

Also on the show: The six-week Silent Movie marathon continues with Robert Wiene's 1919 German Expressionist classic "The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari". Plus, Listener Feedback, Massacre Theatre, and our Top 5 Battle Scenes.

Music by Arcade Fire from the new album "Neon Bible" courtesy of Merge Records.

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Filmspotting #151
:18-17:16 - Review: "300"
Music: Arcade Fire, "Intervention"
17:49-18:56 - "300" Voicemails
18:57-24:05 - Poll, Notes
24:06-31:49 - Listener Feedback (Lives of Others, Top 5 Voyeurs)
Music: Arcade Fire, "Black Mirror"
32:31-36:48 - Massacre Theatre (Winner: Mark Larson)
36:49-41:27 - Listener Feedback (Birth of a Nation)
41:28-48:54 - Silents #2: "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"
Music: Arcade Fire, "Keep the Car Running"
49:14-51:02 - New DVDs, Donations
51:03-1:05:41 - Top 5: Battle Scenes
1:05:42-1:07:27 - Close/Next Show

CORRECTIONS/NOTES
- For an illustration of what Adam meant when talking about the film's 'flatness,' watch the Xerxes clip that was played at the beginning of the review. They might as well be acting against rear projection.
- According to karlwinslow in the Filmspotting boards, The Battle of Helms Deep occurs in "The Two Towers," not "The Fellowship of the Ring."

Have a comment or Top 5 list you'd like to share? Send an e-mail or short mp3 clip to feedback@filmspotting.net. Or give us a call at 206-203-CINE and leave a voice message.