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*should have been early-2000s for Threat Matrix-doh!
"Zero Dark Thirty": The Ashes Of American Flags
by Jefferson Robbins Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty is politically abhorrent, an ideologue's digest of how torture "works" on behalf of democratic governments seeking to defend from or avenge themselves upon terrorism. There's no debate: by means of torture, CIA operative Maya (Jessica Cha...
Well done Jefferson for the article, and it's a nice companion to Angelo's original review.
I remember watching an episode of the post-911 TV series Threat Matrix in the early 90s, within which one of the characters knowingly tortured a terror suspect to death by feeding him citrus (to which he had an allergy), and in a subsequent courtoom episode the torturer was acquitted (and their actions implicitly vindicated) because the torture yielded results. It honestly reminded me of what an East German TV show from 1961 glorifying the Stasi would have looked like.
I also remember watching the post-911 episode of The West Wing within which a character sought to explain middle eastern politics on a fucking blackboard, implicitly patronising the audience aschildren, and leading to the stunning conclusion that "Al-qaeda=KKK" Well no, it didn't then and doesn't now.
Then there's Zero Dark Thirty. I think it was unusually brave for an American film to be this morally complex and let its audience decide whether losing your soul justifies being king (or queen) of the world-the Hays code and its demand for morally pat endings still casts a long shadow, and kudos to Bigelow for not yielding to the easy option.
"Zero Dark Thirty": The Ashes Of American Flags
by Jefferson Robbins Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty is politically abhorrent, an ideologue's digest of how torture "works" on behalf of democratic governments seeking to defend from or avenge themselves upon terrorism. There's no debate: by means of torture, CIA operative Maya (Jessica Cha...
Gee Chris, heaven forbid Walter might have been using "echo-chamber" as a metaphor for art as a mirror to the soul, as opposed to a metaphor for internet argument. Let me guess which one is more important in your world. And as for passive-aggressive, methinks you could do with a mirror yourself....
Film Freak Central's Top 10 of 2012
by Walter Chaw I wish To the Wonder had been released this year--Take Shelter, too. The one because I love Terrence Malick and I'm excited that he's working so much, the other because I fear that Take Shelter is the last time Michael Shannon will anchor a picture without being instantly Christ...
Thanks Bill, the Korine one sounds worthwhile!
Wrapping Up TIFF '12
by Bill Chambers There's something a little ghoulish about still reviewing TIFF movies at this late date, I know, but I wanted to briefly touch on a few of this year's selections I never got around to reviewing in full, before they became indistinguishable dots in the rearview. Ghost Gradua...
A Miranda July film scripted by Mitt Romney.
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
**/**** starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry screenplay by Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, based on Alibar's play "Juicy and Delicious" directed by Benh Zeitlin by Angelo Muredda The trailer for Beasts of the Southern Wild promises a harmless experience, but woe to anyone who goes in expecti...
Hey Aqua-magma, that's the funniest thing I've read all week. Looking forward to your impassioned excoriation of Walter for daring to dimiss the beautiful empowering messages of Mac and Me once that review gets put back on the site....
The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D (2005)
ZERO STARS/**** starring Taylor Lautner, Taylor Dooley, Cayden Boyd, David Arquette screenplay by Robert Rodriguez and Racer Rodriguez directed by Robert Rodriguez by Walter Chaw So it was written by an eight-year-old and shot in the same horrific 3-D process as Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, meani...
Was half-looking forward to this one on the basis of Renner's participation....damn.
The Bourne Legacy (2012) - Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + Ultraviolet
½*/**** Image A+ Sound A Extras B- starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Stacy Keach screenplay by Tony Gilroy & Dan Gilroy directed by Tony Gilroy click any image to enlarge by Walter Chaw By the end of Tony Gilroy's unbearably long and talky The Bourne Legacy, one is left ...
How unlike modern Hollywood to equivocate! Thanks for the warning.
Hey atheistconservative, how about spamming somewhere else with your birther opinions?
The Campaign (2012)
*/**** starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Brian Cox screenplay by Chris Henchy & Shawn Harwell directed by Jay Roach by Walter Chaw Empty, apolitical, and ultimately cowardly, Jay Roach's The Campaign appears this election year with a promising head of steam that fast ...
Thanks for the warning....
Total Recall (2012)
**/**** starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bill Nighy screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback, based on a screenplay by Ronald Shusett & Dan O'Bannon and the short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick directed by Len Wiseman by Walter Chaw For ...
Saw it yesterday-trust me, Walter's review makes perfect sense if you've seen the film, which is hardly an endorsement of it. Apparently edited in a blender and demanding not only suspension of disbelief but suspension of logical faculties...
Prometheus (2012)
*/**** starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof directed by Ridley Scott by Walter Chaw It's time, probably long past time, to admit that Ridley Scott is nothing more or less than Tim Burton: a visual stylist at the mer...
Hmmm, Roger Ebert's review is also spoiler-heavy but he's not actually trying to warn you away from seeing the film. Don't think spoilers a re really a problem in an overwhelmingly negative review....
Prometheus (2012)
*/**** starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof directed by Ridley Scott by Walter Chaw It's time, probably long past time, to admit that Ridley Scott is nothing more or less than Tim Burton: a visual stylist at the mer...
Now a John Milius take on the Avengers-that would have been interesting!!!! I'm sure the pendulum will swing away from comic book properties eventually...
Good to see the comments back...hope a fanboy blowback doesn't send them away again.
Marvel's The Avengers (2012)
The Avengers **½/**** starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel L. Jackson screenplay by Joss Whedon directed by Joss Whedon by Walter Chaw Joss Whedon delivers his definitive artistic statement with the completely inoffensive, agreeably stupid Marvel's The Avengers. It's a...
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