14 posts tagged “war”
In honor of Independence Day, show us something patriotic.
California is not subsequently consumed by the Fire of Hades. Surprise! Funny how the world doesn't end when things like this happen.
Meanwhile, the country continues to be embroiled in an immoral and
illegal war, the economy continues to creep toward complete meltdown,
and our president cravenly invokes "appeasement" for the purpose of
smearing a Democratic candidate while speaking in Israel. This
fucker still has half a year to destroy America, people. Don't
lose sight of that just because there's some good news from California.
I don't know about you, but I feel VICTORIOUS AS HELL.
WOO!!
'MERICA!
I only forgot the most important and fractious issue of our time, didn't I? Let people know how you feel about the Iraq conflict and war in general:
Here's a link to a great Disinfo article that very simply and succinctly illuminates (as if we needed further evidence) the utter contempt and ignorance with which Bush regards the broad powers to declare and prosecute war granted to our Legislative Branch by the U.S. Constitution, the document he has sworn an oath (twice!) to preserve, protect and defend.
The power granted to the President by the Constitution during wartime is basically that of a Supreme General, but Bush has chosen to define "Commander-in-Chief" in terms that are downright Palpatine-esque.
Never in this nation's history have the reins of leadership been handed to a man more disdainful of the founding principles of the country he serves.
Every day, it seems, there is another story about support for the war plummeting. You know what? I was part of the 28% that didn't buy this bullshit from the very beginning. Now that everybody else is starting to wake up to the facts that this war is a fiasco, I gotta wonder: where the hell were you people back when it mattered?
Thing is, most of these people probably aren't against the war becasue it's illegal, or because the justification was built on a foundation of lies, or because of the rampant corruption and war-profiteering, or because we've made America less safe and more prone to acts of terrorism, or even the rising body count.
They're just bored of it.
America needs a new distraction, and the new season of American Idol isn't cutting it now that they've kicked off the slutty girl.
We may be easily duped, we may be easily swayed by cartoon rhetoric and demagoguery, but at least we've got a short attention span.
I recommend that you take your expectations down a peg. It is a very good movie, but it's not the non-stop awesomefest that the trailer (still one of the finest ever cut) has led us all to believe.
What isn't great?
1) David Wenham's narration is WAY over the top and frequently unneccessarily intrusive. I understand the framing idea of the "storyteller", I totally get why it's in the movie [and was, no doubt, in the original graphic novel, which I've never read (confession: I don't think Frank Miller is a very good writer)], but we could have easily done without it. There is no information imparted by the narration that we cannot discern on our own, and that's the surest sign of ill-conceived narration (see also: Blade Runner).
2) The interruption of the action to to fill us in on the Queen's dealings at home. Seriously: who cares? We came to see a movie about 300 Spartans standing firm against thousands of enemies, not a movie about a loyal wife trying to drum up support for her husband's war. This sort of political "intrigue" is precisely the reason why I never really enjoy these sword-and-sandal epics as much as I'd like. Film-makers, take heed: this shit is BORING. That aside, Lena Heady is a very talented and beautiful actress, and those two facts alone made her subplot tolerable (plus, admittedly, there's a great payoff at the end).
3) The same speed effect is used OVER and OVER again during the battle sequences. You know, the one where it goes regular speed, then SUPER FAST, then immediately SLOOOOWS DOOOOWWWNN, then SUPER FAST again. Repeat. Okay, I GET IT. It's all very pretty, but it gets a bit repetitive when every fucking sword- or spear-hit is accompanied by the same change in film speed.
4) That shitty Enya-esque vocal crap that movies like this always use when the good guys are dying. Hey, guess what? Just because they used it in Gladiator doesn't mean we need to hear it every time a guy wearing sandals bites it. KNOCK IT OFF. I don't like to listen to that shit no matter the context.
What's Good?
1) Everything you have seen in the trailer.
2) Gerard Butler's King Leonidas easily secures a high position on the list of Cinema's Greatest Badasses. This is a towering, titanic, thundering performance that should seriously raise this guy's profile.
3) For once, I love the use of anachronistic instrumentation in a period movie.
4) Every second that occurs on the battlefield.
5) It's all very pretty.
Observations:
1) There's been some talk about the political agenda of this film. There isn't one. Folks, this is based on a comic book which is based on a legend which is based on historical fact. Spartans really were this fanatical about defending their freedom. If you want to vew this as some sort of pro-war diatribe just because the bad guys are Persians and we're currently waving our swords at Iran, go right ahead. You can choose to view everything through a jaded political prism, or you can sit down and have a good time.
2) This may be the gayest movie ever made. I don't think I've seen such a celebration of the male physique outside the confines of the man-on-man section of my favorite porn shop. If you are a man or woman who likes to watch half-naked guys with amazing abs getting all sweaty and dirty, then RUN, don't walk, to purchase your ticket for this film. You won't be disappointed. (As an aside, there's a fair amount of female nudity as well, but truth be told, I have to keep REMINDING MYSELF.)
3) It sort of sucks that the footage looks prettier on my computer monitor than it does on a big screen. I'm getting a bit frustrated with this disconnect between digital film-making and analog presentation. The sad fact is, I'm not going to really get to see 300 the way it was meant to be seen until the DVD comes out. I know there's no way that this film was sent out from Hollywood with this much fucking grain. Hey, Regal Cinemas: spend some coin and convert your older theaters to digital projection, you fucking cheapskates! I'm tired of going to watch eye-candy and watching something that looks like it's 30 years old. You guys suck.
They were. They were wasted. More are being wasted, and more are being called upon to be wasted. When you send soldiers to fight an ill-defined and unwinnable war for the reasons of greed and hubris, and those soldiers die, that is the definition of "wasting a life".
Should have stuck to your guns on this one, Obama.
Read the article and tick 'em off. If you run out of fingers, go ahead and use your toes.
The doozy: "The minute we found out they didn't have weapons of mass destruction, I was the first to say so."
The minute you found out, huh? Well, that minute must have occured after every other informed source on the planet had already come to that conclusion, because I seem to recall this administration being the last to say so.
I also love his assertion that he doesn't sit around worrying about his legacy: Mr. President, that is patently obvious. Here are some other things he probably doesn't spend too much time frettin' about: civil liberties, the separation of church and state, the checks and balances of our three-branch government, and a rising toll of needlessly dead American soldiers.
This is not a new plan. A new plan is when you do something markedly different from the old plan. This is an escalation of the same plan.
Imagine, if you will, that you have cancer. Your family believes in the healing power of prayer versus scientifically tested medical procedures, so they round up 100 of their fellow lunatics and pray day in and day out for your cancer to go away. After several months, you are only getting worse, and hope is fading. Your mother comes into your room to gleefully announce that the family has come up with a "new plan". "Great!" you think, "I love the Lord, but this whole prayer thing obviously isn't working out...bring on the medicine!"
"What's the new plan?" you ask expectantly.
With a broad grin, your mother informs you: "We've rounded up another 100 people to pray for you!"
