December 8, 2004
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WEDNESDAY MOVIE Persons of Interest
Okay, let’s say you already know you’re a Liberal or a Progressive or whatever label we’re called and you know you despise most of what’s going on politically in this country right now and the war in Iraq is like a future Vietnam and you don’t need to be convinced of any of this, it’s like preaching to the choir. Still, if you want to add to the depth of understanding of what all this might mean to Arabs or Muslims living in this country since 9/11, you must see this film. You probably won’t find it anywhere but arthouses, so if you don’t live in New York City or some big urban area, you’ll have to check the video store (it was just out this year) or the library (where I got my copy). More than 5000 of these people were detained after the 2001 attacks, and this film brings you the stories of 12 families, in whose case horrible mistakes were made and lives ruined or forever altered. Some were deported to conditions they had fled. All had long months of confinement. Shot in a simple bare room where each family simply stands and tells their experiences, it is incredibly powerful. Interspersed with the stories are shots of John Ashcroft making ends-justify-the-means comments about rounding them up and keeping them in custody. This film is the antithesis of stereotyping. Hope you see it soon. (Documentary by First Run/Icarus Films).
Deep Thought: “You know what would be the most terrifying thing that could ever happen to a flea? Getting caught inside a watch somehow. You don’t even care, do you.”
Today I am grateful for: Digital technology
Guess the Movie: “Don’t you ever say that again about your fathers, because they are not cowards. You think I am brave because I carry a gun; well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility, for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. And there’s nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with no guarantee anything will ever come of it. This is bravery.” Answer: The Magnificent Seven, 1960.
Winner: thenarrator.
1,000th U.S. Soldier Killed in Action in Iraq
BAGHDAD — The number of U.S. troops killed in action in Iraq hit 1,000 Tuesday when the military said a soldier had been shot dead on patrol in Baghdad.
“One Task Force Baghdad soldier died of wounds received at about 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 7. The soldier was on patrol when the unit came under small arms fire,” the military in Iraq said in a typically brief routine statement.
“The name of the soldier killed is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.” (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 8:58 pm
+ = Jon Stewart was on Larry King Live tonight immediately followed by his own show.
- = Everybody at my office wore red today for the office Christmas party, well pretty much everybody, except me and some others who weren’t going.
Comments (10)
DO NOT accept this ‘killed in action’ description the Bush administration uses. Every soldier and marine killed in Iraq has died in action. Think about this: According to George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld no one who drowned approaching the Normandy beaches on D-Day died in action – those were ‘accidents.’ No one whose parachute failed to open died in acton -’accidents’ again. If your tank overturns and you drown in the Euphrates while going to gas up your vehicle so you can go out on patrol, that’s a combat death. I still can’t figure out how any military family can support such a viciously anti-military President.
The Magnificent Seven?
You’re good! Mag 7 is correct. And you’re right about the killed in action thing. I don’t accept ANYTHING Bush and his people have to say.
O, man, the narrator beat me to it! Charles Bronson’s speech in the Magnificent Seven. Sounds like a great documentary.
You know what I noticed? The children smiling. Out of all the horrors their families may have suffered the children can still smile for a camera…what a wonderful way to be. It really is all a matter of perception. Thank you for sharing.
It still amazes me that this man was re-elected………….
I’ve seen this film. It makes my flesh crawl. We have a petty, tryrannical dictator in the Big House, and a bunch of petty tyrannical wannabe dictators serving him. Heil Bush, the New Hitler (and all his little baby Hitlers)!
There are no words to express the contempt and disgust I have for that stupid, ignorant, arrogant asshole and his pathetic lackeys.
T
You go girl!
I love your deep thought.
But there’s also the thought: can a flea even be terrified?
And I haven’t seen a single good quality in Bush. I’m sure there may be one, but I’ve never seen one. The fact that he was re-elected makes me hate the country as well. His first term should have been enough to show the country what he was like. So everyone who voted for him is either stupid or a total asshole.
saying hello
I finally saw Seven Samurai! I liked it! Was I imagining things, or was it really three and a half hours long? I think it said 2 hours on the DVD jacket but it was way longer than that. My girlfriend couldn’t take it, but I stuck it out. I thought the scene at the end with the four mounds towering over the remaining samurai was very powerful.