Zero Dark Thirty +4 (Films 22-26). I'm Ahead!
As I promised myself, this blog/project would not run my life (so to speak, although, I think it would be really cool to have this goal that I set for myself actually met by the end of the year, because I bet a lot of people are wondering just how faithful I will keep at it; I have discovered that in order to meet the goal, I should try to stay a couple movies ahead of myself, even if that means not necessarily writing about them, but keeping up enough to keep them fresh in my mind- we know all my mind works overtime quite often).
It's been really busy these past few days. I've had a chance to visit with friends and family, as well as get over the nasty "flu" that I think I caught from every single one of my students. I laid low for an entire 2 weeks, really, which I think helped (I actually made responsible adult decisions to just go to bed instead of going out late at night).
Saturday, I got to hang out with my great friend, Vanessa, and her wonderful family (two kiddos that are adorable). I feel like the surrogate uncle, since I've known those kids for almost 5 years now. It's been amazing to see them grow into little "people."
Sunday I had another football-filled day with my dad. We watched the AFC.NFC Championship games where both my picks ended their seasons (Falcons and Patriots), so the Super Bowl will be a rather "boring" event, since I have no vested interest in either team. I will be looking forward to hopefully seeing a decent game, though, since I am just a fan of football, in general. Also, got to see and have dinner with my grandmother, which is kind of a rare event. Every time, though, I always tell myself that I should make more time and more of an effort to see her. I know it seems morbid, but she won't be around forever, so I should try harder to make more time for elders in my family.
Monday, a day off from school, I had a great time at breakfast with Vanessa and spent the evening having dinner and watching movies with a colleague and her roommate, sharing some laughs (as well as my devotion for Taylor Swift).
Two movies: "Anchorman" and "Valentine's Day" which I will be discuss in detail other than to say the former is an instant classic, laugh-out-loud, roll on the floor laugh-fest and the latter, a typical, formula-driven "chick-flick" that is rather predictable. Even the brief moments of viewing Taylor Swift on film (for me) do not make up for the predictability, but in good couple both movies were worth viewing. Everyone who knows me, knows I love, love (in a completely healthy way) Taylor Swift.
"Anchorman" has always been a favorite of mine. I remember seeing it in college at the theatre, with some great friends, and I literally was on my knees, in the aisle, laughing hysterically. Do yourself a favor and watch "Anchorman" again and again.
"They've done studies...60% of time, it works ALL TIME!"
I also watched the remake "Prom Night" starring Brittany Snow as the Jamie Lee Curtis character from the original 1980 horror film. This is certainly nothing to write home about, very typical, predictable horror film, except you feel absolutely nothing for the characters. Meaning, you don't care if they live or die, and you actually are hoping for their demise, because it means the film will reach its conclusion faster. I'm prone to enjoy straight-up slasher films, instead. Give me the "scary" slow-walking villain that terrifies everyone in film by usually saying nothing at all. Give me blood.
ZERO DARK THIRTY--
This is the movie I'm dying to talk about. This film is Kathryn Bigelow's (The Hurt Locker director, which won Academy Awards a few years ago, so she has credibility, put aside the fact that she was married to James Cameron, a Hollywood ruiner, in my opinion, at least she had enough sense to divorce him later) new film. She tackles another war topic with "Zero Dark Thirty" and she doesn't do it lightly. It is certainly one of the more intense films I've seen this year. It focuses on the 10-year manhunt for Osame Bin Laden, which culminated with an strategic raid on his compound in Pakistan by a team of NAVY SEALS.
Going into the film, you know the inevitable ending- Osama Bin Laden dies (sorry to ruin it, if you've been living under a rock for a couple of years, that is). Even knowing this, the last act of the film had me on the edge of my seat, which is proper for a Thriller-genre film. I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen as they turned each corner in that compound. When were they going to find him? I wanted to see him, too, but like every great film villain, his ominous presence is felt, but he is never seen until he is dead.
Although the story is well-crafted and the filmmaking is unbelievable, I think this film belongs to Jessica Chastain, who plays Maya, the CIA agent put in charge (unwillingly and uncomfortably, at first, but then she really takes on role since no one is really supporting her). I fully grew to respect Maya as she stuck to her convictions that she knew where Bin Laden was and how he was going to be found and killed. Nobody seemed to believe that he would be hidden in plain sight, but to Maya, that was the beauty of his entire decades-spanning plot (I mean, his entire plot against America started years ago- he supported and funded attacks on sea, on land, and finally, most devastatingly by air on September 11, 2001). The case became Maya's life for the entirety of the 10 years it took to pursue and eventually find/kill him. The Academy voters love seeing an actor/actress transform for a role and you can really see a transformation of Maya both physically and emotionally/mentally as she tracks down leads (some that go nowhere and some that lead to the death of her colleagues and friends). She is so physically drained by the end of the film that when she boards the plane that will bring her back to D.C. for debriefing (she is the lone passenger on a large cargo plane), the last shot of the film is her crying. And her tears are due. They've long been held in (unlike her frustration over what seems to clearly be a battle of the sexes, as she fought against male, top-ranking officials that for all intents and purposes wanted to see her mission ultimately fail, but for what reason, you can only guess...and my guess is because these men did not want to be shown up by a young female CIA agent, who clearly had a lot more intelligence then all of them combined).
Since I couldn't say it better myself, I will quote Roger Ebert (since I've always respected his opinion on most movies):
The subtext deserves a movie of its own, about a disagreement between macho males who feast on torture and hard-boiled guts, and a woman who depends on more on her intelligence and imagination. The leading male characters in the opening of the film are in the tradition of that beloved formula in which an expert team acts together with high tech. Maya, on the other hand, is more like the dutiful female heroine of one of those thrillers set in big business and corporate finance, who uses no privileged intelligence but is willing to fly in the face of the way men have always done things.
A lot of people are having a problem with the film for its unleashing of "facts" especially in terms of how the U.S. government seemingly gained a lot of their intelligence through torture, which I don't believe is glorified by Bigelow at all. I think you have to be in denial to believe that we haven't been using torture to gain intelligence for years and years. It is a fact. Why deny it? And why punish a film, which is meant to "entertain" you anyway, for presenting our society with a mirror to itself. By the way, this is the same society that toted Jack Bauer, a fictional character played by the superb Keifer Sutherland on the television show "24," as a hero for his backwards and ultimately illegal ways of pertaining any and all information from terrorists in a fictional America. He saved the day-- 8 different times!
"Zero Dark Thirty" is a film based on actual events, from "actual accounts." Perhaps that's what the government has a problem with...the fact that the people its protecting are let behind the curtain for 2 hours and 37 minutes. This is why we have our freedoms. Like it or not.
I judge many of the films that I view by whether or not I feel for the characters (unfortunately many films fall short of any emotional connection to the characters...that's why I love independent films, the characters are "real"). In "Zero Dark Thirty" I feel for Maya as she struggles to prove herself right. I want her to win. And I felt relieved in the end, but also feared that she never got the respect she deserved. Perhaps Jessica Chastain will win the Oscar for Best Actress and my hope is that she will dedicated to the real Maya.
This film is hands-down my favorite film of the year and my pick for Best Picture (although, I fear it will not win for the backlash it is getting for its "controversy" but it certainly deserves the accolades).
It's been really busy these past few days. I've had a chance to visit with friends and family, as well as get over the nasty "flu" that I think I caught from every single one of my students. I laid low for an entire 2 weeks, really, which I think helped (I actually made responsible adult decisions to just go to bed instead of going out late at night).
Saturday, I got to hang out with my great friend, Vanessa, and her wonderful family (two kiddos that are adorable). I feel like the surrogate uncle, since I've known those kids for almost 5 years now. It's been amazing to see them grow into little "people."
Sunday I had another football-filled day with my dad. We watched the AFC.NFC Championship games where both my picks ended their seasons (Falcons and Patriots), so the Super Bowl will be a rather "boring" event, since I have no vested interest in either team. I will be looking forward to hopefully seeing a decent game, though, since I am just a fan of football, in general. Also, got to see and have dinner with my grandmother, which is kind of a rare event. Every time, though, I always tell myself that I should make more time and more of an effort to see her. I know it seems morbid, but she won't be around forever, so I should try harder to make more time for elders in my family.
Monday, a day off from school, I had a great time at breakfast with Vanessa and spent the evening having dinner and watching movies with a colleague and her roommate, sharing some laughs (as well as my devotion for Taylor Swift).
Two movies: "Anchorman" and "Valentine's Day" which I will be discuss in detail other than to say the former is an instant classic, laugh-out-loud, roll on the floor laugh-fest and the latter, a typical, formula-driven "chick-flick" that is rather predictable. Even the brief moments of viewing Taylor Swift on film (for me) do not make up for the predictability, but in good couple both movies were worth viewing. Everyone who knows me, knows I love, love (in a completely healthy way) Taylor Swift.
"Anchorman" has always been a favorite of mine. I remember seeing it in college at the theatre, with some great friends, and I literally was on my knees, in the aisle, laughing hysterically. Do yourself a favor and watch "Anchorman" again and again.
"They've done studies...60% of time, it works ALL TIME!"
I also watched the remake "Prom Night" starring Brittany Snow as the Jamie Lee Curtis character from the original 1980 horror film. This is certainly nothing to write home about, very typical, predictable horror film, except you feel absolutely nothing for the characters. Meaning, you don't care if they live or die, and you actually are hoping for their demise, because it means the film will reach its conclusion faster. I'm prone to enjoy straight-up slasher films, instead. Give me the "scary" slow-walking villain that terrifies everyone in film by usually saying nothing at all. Give me blood.
ZERO DARK THIRTY--
This is the movie I'm dying to talk about. This film is Kathryn Bigelow's (The Hurt Locker director, which won Academy Awards a few years ago, so she has credibility, put aside the fact that she was married to James Cameron, a Hollywood ruiner, in my opinion, at least she had enough sense to divorce him later) new film. She tackles another war topic with "Zero Dark Thirty" and she doesn't do it lightly. It is certainly one of the more intense films I've seen this year. It focuses on the 10-year manhunt for Osame Bin Laden, which culminated with an strategic raid on his compound in Pakistan by a team of NAVY SEALS.
Going into the film, you know the inevitable ending- Osama Bin Laden dies (sorry to ruin it, if you've been living under a rock for a couple of years, that is). Even knowing this, the last act of the film had me on the edge of my seat, which is proper for a Thriller-genre film. I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen as they turned each corner in that compound. When were they going to find him? I wanted to see him, too, but like every great film villain, his ominous presence is felt, but he is never seen until he is dead.
Although the story is well-crafted and the filmmaking is unbelievable, I think this film belongs to Jessica Chastain, who plays Maya, the CIA agent put in charge (unwillingly and uncomfortably, at first, but then she really takes on role since no one is really supporting her). I fully grew to respect Maya as she stuck to her convictions that she knew where Bin Laden was and how he was going to be found and killed. Nobody seemed to believe that he would be hidden in plain sight, but to Maya, that was the beauty of his entire decades-spanning plot (I mean, his entire plot against America started years ago- he supported and funded attacks on sea, on land, and finally, most devastatingly by air on September 11, 2001). The case became Maya's life for the entirety of the 10 years it took to pursue and eventually find/kill him. The Academy voters love seeing an actor/actress transform for a role and you can really see a transformation of Maya both physically and emotionally/mentally as she tracks down leads (some that go nowhere and some that lead to the death of her colleagues and friends). She is so physically drained by the end of the film that when she boards the plane that will bring her back to D.C. for debriefing (she is the lone passenger on a large cargo plane), the last shot of the film is her crying. And her tears are due. They've long been held in (unlike her frustration over what seems to clearly be a battle of the sexes, as she fought against male, top-ranking officials that for all intents and purposes wanted to see her mission ultimately fail, but for what reason, you can only guess...and my guess is because these men did not want to be shown up by a young female CIA agent, who clearly had a lot more intelligence then all of them combined).
Since I couldn't say it better myself, I will quote Roger Ebert (since I've always respected his opinion on most movies):
The subtext deserves a movie of its own, about a disagreement between macho males who feast on torture and hard-boiled guts, and a woman who depends on more on her intelligence and imagination. The leading male characters in the opening of the film are in the tradition of that beloved formula in which an expert team acts together with high tech. Maya, on the other hand, is more like the dutiful female heroine of one of those thrillers set in big business and corporate finance, who uses no privileged intelligence but is willing to fly in the face of the way men have always done things.
A lot of people are having a problem with the film for its unleashing of "facts" especially in terms of how the U.S. government seemingly gained a lot of their intelligence through torture, which I don't believe is glorified by Bigelow at all. I think you have to be in denial to believe that we haven't been using torture to gain intelligence for years and years. It is a fact. Why deny it? And why punish a film, which is meant to "entertain" you anyway, for presenting our society with a mirror to itself. By the way, this is the same society that toted Jack Bauer, a fictional character played by the superb Keifer Sutherland on the television show "24," as a hero for his backwards and ultimately illegal ways of pertaining any and all information from terrorists in a fictional America. He saved the day-- 8 different times!
"Zero Dark Thirty" is a film based on actual events, from "actual accounts." Perhaps that's what the government has a problem with...the fact that the people its protecting are let behind the curtain for 2 hours and 37 minutes. This is why we have our freedoms. Like it or not.
I judge many of the films that I view by whether or not I feel for the characters (unfortunately many films fall short of any emotional connection to the characters...that's why I love independent films, the characters are "real"). In "Zero Dark Thirty" I feel for Maya as she struggles to prove herself right. I want her to win. And I felt relieved in the end, but also feared that she never got the respect she deserved. Perhaps Jessica Chastain will win the Oscar for Best Actress and my hope is that she will dedicated to the real Maya.
This film is hands-down my favorite film of the year and my pick for Best Picture (although, I fear it will not win for the backlash it is getting for its "controversy" but it certainly deserves the accolades).
Lynda and I saw this last night. We have vowed to see every nominee this year, by the way. Not that easy with her class schedule.
ReplyDeleteFor such an intense subject this film is masterfully understated. The final scene is apparently very close to the exact timing of the real thing. The violence of terrorist attacks is jarring, even when I remembered what happened.So far Jessica Chastain has my vote for Best Actress. There is no way Sally Field's seemingly token role in "Lincoln" matches. Please see this movie no matter where you fall on the political spectrum of how you feel about the events. It is a smart and riveting work.
I have seen this, "Lincoln", "Moonrise Kingdom", "Argo" and "Beasts of the Southern Wil". Need to see "Django Unchained", "Life of Pi","Les Miserables", "Amour" and "Silver Linings Playbook". Lynda has seen "Les Mis".
Ed, I want to see "Moonrise Kingdom" and "Argo" as well as "Beast of Southern Wild" (I spoke to someone at Nickelodeon and they said it was hands down the best film of the year).
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