 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
108.71.182.157
It's showing here in limited release at two theaters. From what I heard the weekend showings were flat sold out so I caught it midweek. Still a decent crowd, coulda been a group of 60 something audiophiles (lots of balding overweight oldsters in attendance). It was showing in a monster auditorium with XD Extreme Digital sound for $13 freekin bucks. I've got to say the sound fairly jumped outta the screen and was as enveloping, when called for, as any flick in recent memory.Bigelow did a great job of translating the 10 year old manhunt for and the final resolution of UBL to the screen. Jessica Chastain was her usual great self portraying a CIA analyst whose only job, ever, was fndng him. Lots of nice supporting performances by the always reliable Jennifer Ehle (Contagion). Jason Clarke did a fine job as a CIA agent charged with using enhanced interrogation techniques to extract crucial info for use in the hunt for UBL. Slight spoliers follow but no "giveaways":
Bigelow effortlessly shows the interrogations thoughout Act I without condoning or supporting them. Really, no political statements were made one way or the other. In the book Kill Bin Laden (KBL) much was made of BHO and his staff waffling on whether to execute the raid or not. In the movie, the politicos were portrayed as having reasonable reservations due to the subjectivity of the intel. In hindsight we know those reservations were unfounded but as they were dealing in real time, at least in Bigelow's interpretation they seemed reasonable.
Tension builds thoughout and culminates in the raid on the compound. Even knowing the outcome, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire 30 minutes of the final Act. One slight negative, Bigelow could have focused more of the narrative on the Seal team, perhaps cutting 10 minutes elsewhere and devoting it to the team. As it was, we felt very little empathy for them. It wasn't the actors' fault, there was just zero plot exposition regarding them. This is one area where the KBL book bettered this movie IMHO.
All in all a surefire Oscar contender for Best Piccy, Director, Actress and ancillary awards.
--------------------------
A pox on his family and 100 years of bad luck for the inventor of "Intelligent Touchpads" for laptops!!!
Edits: 01/09/13 01/09/13
Propaganda for the use of torture and for the entire 911/Bin Laden/Terrorism BIG LIE.
It's light years better than most of the dreck out there. Bigelow is quite talented and put together a compelling, and in many ways, restrained, narrative. Never once did I feel I was being propagandized to, re-torture. It was just there, part of the narrative, leaving it to the viewer to make his/her own decisions regarding it.
If you see it, post yer thoughts eh?
--------------------------
A pox on his family and 100 years of bad luck for the inventor of "Intelligent Touchpads" for laptops!!!
they could have condensed the first hour or so and made a more compelling film but I guess they went for all the information available and accuracy instead
Chastain was good but so was most of the cast. I appreciated the complexity of the hunt and felt a bit of relief seeing how the trail to UBL went cold during dubya's second term ("human error"). In a look back at the history of the hunt it's so hard to imagine how ineffective a $25M reward was. Most of us would have given up our mother for that. Those fanatics got it going-on.
I agree with the final sequence. It was very tense because you felt like you were there. That's movie magic at its best. I felt Bigelow kind of chose the Mohammed route by not showing UBL's face. I guess she wants to be able to walk the streets the rest of her life.
All in all a good effort that comes very close into seducing you into a "documentary film" frame of mind.
Sort of a mini-IMAX. Where I live, CA, the price was over $15 and this was for an early matinee. Despite that, I would choose to see any movie on a big sharp screen like this.
As far as the movie, it was OK for me. It was 2 hours 40 minutes, and I found myself a bit bored at times. The film making was expert, the suspense during the final hour was maintained despite the inevitable reality that I knew how it ended (everyone does). But the build-up to the end was pretty protracted. And as with any such movie, I was left with doubts about historical accuracy versus cinematic punch. Did this agent's gut feeling really carry as much weight as portrayed? I wonder, and I doubt it.
I too had doubts about the weight the analyst's subjective belief that BHO was in the house carried, but, somebody's subjective belief, or the sum of several somebodys' beliefs, carried the day. As Bigelow pointed out on Letterman last night, she tried to portay events correctly as a whole with of course liberties being taken in the details. FWIW, she said that Maya's writing of the "days" on the glass wall of her superior's office was 100% accurate based on the info she was given.
--------------------------
A pox on his family and 100 years of bad luck for the inventor of "Intelligent Touchpads" for laptops!!!
Edits: 01/10/13 01/14/13
...only in their best theater.
We all know what the outcome was, but the screenwriter and Bigelow did a fine job of creating and maintaining suspense.
I agree with Road... that the movie could have built a little empathy for the SEAL team, which, I believe, was never identified as such.
----------
Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted." Albert Einstei
Could you tell what the timeline was concerning the enhanced interrogation?
2003-2005 ish. The Paul Rudd looking dude got it first and worst. Could have been some later under BHO's reign but this margrta has given me scrambled brains.
--------------------------
A pox on his family and 100 years of bad luck for the inventor of "Intelligent Touchpads" for laptops!!!
Just Pelosi got upset and wanted some answers....if it were under dubya I doubt she'd give a flying Depends.
Post a Followup:
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
