Movie Briefs

While it has it’s inaccuracies, The Hurt Locker is a movie I’d heartily recommend. The most impressive parts of the film for me were those depicting the stressful situations the soldiers were in while doing their job, ie; everyday life for a U.S. combatant in Iraq circa 2004.
On a completely different note, I also liked The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a movie based on the book by Roald Dahl. It wasn’t a kiddie film by any means. As Ross Douthat put it in his review for National Review (NR subscription req’d).

In Dahl’s book, the foxes and badgers are delighted to live permanently underground, feeding off the farmer’s storehouses, while their enemies wait in vain for them to emerge. In the movie, things are more ambiguous. “I’m a wild animal,” Mr. Fox tells Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep), explaining why he can’t stop taking risks, and there’s a sense throughout the film that this wildness is imperiled — that the farmers may be defeated, but that the animals will be forced to domesticate themselves in order to survive, living more as parasites on civilization than as the hunters they were meant to be.

And the animation style is compelling.
Finally, I haven’t seen Avatar yet. (If you haven’t guessed, I tend to be a little late in my movie viewing habits!) But I did finally see Pocahontas. Ehhhh….sorta-typical Disney pc fare–only mild de-programming of the children required, post-film. But if, as they say, the former is merely the latter with more flash and bang, perhaps I’ll pass.

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Patrick
14 years ago

I like these kinds of posts from Marc. I wouldn’t want to see one every day or anything, but some non-political, non-governmental posts are good too.
Of all the movies you mention, I’ve only seen Mr. Fox. Everyone I went with (including my 4 year old) loved it. I hated it. I would have been fine with walking out.

Steve A.
Steve A.
14 years ago

Any comments on 2012? Wondering if I should rent it.

Marc
14 years ago

Patrick – Thanks, part of my occasional but ongoing effort to prove that “conservatives are real people too!” 😉
Steve A. – Nope, haven’t seen it.

Warrington Faust
Warrington Faust
14 years ago

Pocahontas?? Perhaps you know, when did they invent the Wonder Bra? I thought it was well after Pocahontas’ time.

joe bernstein
joe bernstein
14 years ago

I saw The Hurt Locker.I know nothing about EOD work,but I understand a lot of Iraq veterans think the movie is fantasy.I noticed some glaring errors,such as no reticle in the sights on a sniper rifle.Duh.
The film,however, did not trash American troops or the USA like so much leftist Hollywood crap does.

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