movie: SYRIANA

[movie zombie]

saw this flick on tuesday of this week without knowing anything about it. good story, well acted, and particularly relevant at this time.... and brings to life incidents i''ve read about over the past years. pakistani immigrants who work in the oil industry, lobbyists, contractors, sheiks, lawyers, elected congressional officials, department of justice....its all there and creates a tapistry that comes together that is larger than any of the individual parts. if you liked A CONSTANT GARDNER, you''ll like this film. not exactly a ''holiday'' film but well worth a look see.

peace, movie zombie

 

[MINE!!]

I like King Kong... very well remade classic film based on absoultely NOTHING. Nothing to think about, just a movie to enjoy..ahhhh

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 12/16/2005 4:46:24 PM
Author: MINE!!
I like King Kong... very well remade classic film based on absoultely NOTHING. Nothing to think about, just a movie to enjoy..ahhhh

a film about nothing and nothing to think about? not for everyone!

see for a serious breakdown: http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC06folder/KingKong.html

or less serious but hits all the points in the above but has some more interesting things going on:

re King Kong: "I constantly tell my students, ''You are what you see.'' You want to tell me he''s the sexual libido of an adolescent? Now I know who are you, thank you very much." , Wesleyan University film expert Jeanine Basinger, author of nine books on movies.

http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/entertainment/movies/13371754.htm

personally, i subscribe to the ''Film authorities say modern audiences will find their own meanings in Kong, in his new full-color rendering and his older black-and-white self, and rediscover the metaphors that intrigued earlier fans. But which of the many ways of viewing Kong is correct? "All of them. And none of them," Thompson says. "I don''t agree with any of them if they say, ''This is the truth.'' If you say, ''This is one possible way of watching King Kong,'' every one of them is interesting."

peace, movie zombie

 

[MINE!!]

Relax MZ.. was just busting your chops. I find that if I go to a movie that I need to feel something about.. then I have nothing better to worry about in my own life. I find it difficult to remain in a world of ''victims.'' To each his own. But I know you like feeling deep meaningful things when you watch the world through a screen, I see it as entertainment and sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

 

[movie zombie]

Mine, i go to movies with no expectations of feeling anything deep...... or shallow, for that matter. i go to see where it leads me....like dreaming. and like dreams, some are more obvious in interpretation than others and some people place more importance on them than others might. what's important is that you enjoyed the film.


peace, movie zombie

eta: i don't understand the remark re 'victims'.

 

[AGBF]

I never go to the movies. Some movies I see once they are out on tape or DVD (now they come out only on DVD). Most of them I miss. I am sure there are great movies I am missing, but the only ones I see are ones my daughter insists I see (like, "Bend it Like Beckham") or that a friend brings over. (I saw one about making noodles in Japan because a girlfriend came over saying she thought I was the one with whom she should watch it.)

I am an old movie buff, so I don't know why I feel this way. I know I do not feel, as you do, MZ, that I want to be challenged during a movie at this point in my life. I need escape far too much for that! In the past, I used to love evocative movies. "On the Waterfront". "The Fugitive Kind". "The Sound and the Fury". And political movies. I do not pop one of these into the VCR or the DVD player now, either.

I would say that I am like Mine and want to see, "King Kong" but I don't want to see "King Kong"! I would have thought I would be bored by it and now that you have said I might be intellectually challenged by it (!), I will run in the other direction!

Saddest of all is that I have loved Jane Austen all my life and now that she is incredibly popular, I am not going to see al the versions of her books that have come out as movies! I think I feel as if the popular media commercialized what was mine, but it may just be that all the versions of her books that have come out are just too overwhelming to sift through!

Deb

 

[movie zombie]

deb re KING KONG: you can go watch it and not be intellectually challenged......its what i would call a good ride in and of itself without going into the symbolism and historical meaning. go and have fun or be bored, either way, your choice.

my posting the links and discussing KING KONG was only in response to "I like King Kong... very well remade classic film based on absoultely NOTHING. Nothing to think about, just a movie to enjoy..ahhhh " as posted by Mine. the statement that it is a film based on absolutely nothing and had nothing to think about is merely Mine''s assessment which she is entitled to....i was offering some evidence and/or call it food for thought that there is more to the film SHOULD ONE WISH TO GO THERE.

there is nothing wrong with wanting only a good ride when going to the movies.....and not going any further than the surface. i do that myself at times. i merely wanted to share that i had seen a good movie, imo, and i never intended to get into any other discussion other than about SYRIANA.

peace, movie zombie

 

[movie zombie]

"An Egyptian actor in a movie about oil and violence in the Middle East has praised Hollywood for taking a frank look at the region and showing nuanced characters instead of trading on stereotypes of Arabs as terrorists."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051220/film_nm/arts_arabs_syriana_dc

peace, movie zombie

 

[sxn675]

I saw it and I think it''s probably closer to the truth than some might feel comfortable with

 

[widget]

I rarely go to movies...just wait for them to hit cable...

When I do go, I guess I prefer ones that are 'intertaining' rather than 'good for me'. I'll definitely see Syriana eventually, but at home.

Here are the movies I do look forward to seeing....

1. Pride and Prejudice

2. The McCarthy hearing one

3. The Johnny Cash Bio

Any quicky reviews from PSers?

AGBF: I've actually rediscovered Jane Austin through recent movies...I LOVED Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet(?) in 'Sense and Sensibility'.

widget

ETA: I find I really enjoy the historical bioflicks: Ray, (Ray Charles); Thirteen days (Cuban missile crisis); and on Cable: "Something the Lord Made" (first successful heart surgery for "blue babies"), and "Warm Springs", (FDR and polio); I'm sure there are more....

 

[hoorray]

I saw Syriana, and agree with MZ. It''s a provacaive movie that probably hits pretty close to home, but then who really knows. it''s not a 3+ hour movie which is what turned me off about King Kong (my only other choice in my small mountain town.) i''m looking forward to reading the book that Syriana is based on, as I think there are probably lot of realities depicted-- at least in a general sense, about the global politicalism of oil.

 

[rubydick]

I saw Syriana a few days ago and enjoyed it quite a bit (with the exception of the gratuitous violence scene where Bob gets a "manicure'').

It is obviously a movie with an agenda, but nonetheless extremely well made. It shows several "soldiers" (Bob, a CIA hit man, Mousawi, his Arab counterpart, along with a Pakistani bomber), along with the various puppetmasters who pull their strings. Basically a morality play in the best tradition of the Bard. For those who don''t mind movies that are something beyond mindless entertainment, I highly recommend it.

Another nice one is Clooney''s "Good Night and Good Luck," which revolves around Edward R. Murrow''s campaign against Joseph McCarthy.

Interestingly, BushCo. has now attempted to co-opt Murrow''s good name with a govt. funded disinfo campaign called the Edward R. Murrow Journalism Fellows Program. Call me cynical, but after a string of black-equals-white, up-equals-down programs like the Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind, Clean Skies Initiative, etc., I always expect the worst from this bunch. Particularly since they have done everything possible to destroy honest journalism, both here and abroad.

And now I suppose I''ll be accused of going off topic, but only by those who never viewed Syriana.

 

[movie zombie]

as a reviewer recently wrote re george clooney: enjoy your IRS audit.

peace, movie zombie