Matewan

“So now I’ve got Matewan by John Sayles, and I am absurdly ignorant when it comes to the films of John Sayles, and he is somebody that all of the people that I admire look up to. So now I’ve got more than a starting-off point. I have seen some of his films, or at least one of his films, but this one, I am told, is a classic.”

“I know I keep saying that these are my favorite movies, but this truly is. This is Matewan directed by John Sayles. I really put Matewan on the top of my list along with this...”

“And I’ve always heard that this is dope too, Matewan. I’ve never seen it, but this is also him. And, if it’s okay, maybe I’ll do these two.”

“Matewan. It's about union organizing in West Virginia coal mines. If you look up the Matewan massacre to see how the coal mining companies did their union busting. There's a great speech that Chris Cooper makes in this film when James Earl Jones' character shows up about how the corporations often separate people along racial lines or ethnic lines and that's how they keep people from power. I think that's a lesson that we could learn a lot from today.”

“Probably saving the best for last. Matewan. My senior year of film school, I remember seeing an ad for this in the LA Weekly... And just kind of being intrigued and took a chance. And I did this and was blown away. John Sayles has a way, I would say Richard Linklater has the same, just a way of doing multi-protagonist movies. He just loves to make the worlds sort of greater and richer than just the singular protagonist. If you only take one movie away from this whole pitch: Matewan.”