Recent Viewing: Iraq Edition and Murderball
I've gone through a period of great viewing recently. Lucky me, you might say, but no luck was involved. My recent hard work and the build up of Karmic goodness has finally resulted in this, the most delicious of just desserts.
Murderball
First up, was the documentary Murderball. This lovely little film follows various members of the US paraplegic wheelchair rugby team as they prepare for the Athens Olympics. Their sport would have looked pretty familiar to Ben Hur: it seems to consist of spectacular collisions between armoured wheelchairs driven by screaming fanatics. Great stuff! But, as you'd expect, the real strength of this documentary lies in the insight into the private lives of the athletes themselves. We learn (in expliit detail) how they continue to have healthy sex lives, how they dress themselves, and how they came to be in wheelchairs in the first place. We also get to follow a young man learning to cope with his new life as a paraplegic after a motorbike accident. Highly recommended.
Revisiting Iraq
I recently bought the HBO series Generation Kill, but I haven't watched it yet. However, I did manage to catch The Hurt Locker at the cinema and I really enjoyed it.
If you're looking for a political movie, THL is not for you. It ignores the big picture and instead focusses tightly on the terrifying world of a single bomb disposal unit. The plot is pretty straight forward, but the characters are beautifully drawn and the director (Kathryn Bigelow) has a wonderful talent for building up tension.
But then again, politics can be fun too, especially when combined with the caustic wit of somebody like Armando Iannucci. In the Loop is a comedy dealing with the period leading up to the Iraq Invasion and, in particular, with the creation of Downing Street's famous "Dodgy Dossier". No real names are used, and this is good because the characters are exaggerated to the max -- usually with hilarious effect. The Rumsfeld talk-a-like constantly spouts clever-sounding (but ultimately, meaningless) gibberish, but the real star of the show, is the fake Alastair Campbell -- Tony Blair's famous press secretary and Spinner-in-chief. None of the other characters can pass through his orbit without suffering severe psychological trauma. His attacks are filthy, invasive, deeply personal and always funny. In a sick kin of way.
Of course, if he existed in real life, I wouldn't want to meet him myself...
This one had me laughing all the way until after the final credits. Highly recommended if you like them wordy and evil.
Murderball
First up, was the documentary Murderball. This lovely little film follows various members of the US paraplegic wheelchair rugby team as they prepare for the Athens Olympics. Their sport would have looked pretty familiar to Ben Hur: it seems to consist of spectacular collisions between armoured wheelchairs driven by screaming fanatics. Great stuff! But, as you'd expect, the real strength of this documentary lies in the insight into the private lives of the athletes themselves. We learn (in expliit detail) how they continue to have healthy sex lives, how they dress themselves, and how they came to be in wheelchairs in the first place. We also get to follow a young man learning to cope with his new life as a paraplegic after a motorbike accident. Highly recommended.
Revisiting Iraq
I recently bought the HBO series Generation Kill, but I haven't watched it yet. However, I did manage to catch The Hurt Locker at the cinema and I really enjoyed it.
If you're looking for a political movie, THL is not for you. It ignores the big picture and instead focusses tightly on the terrifying world of a single bomb disposal unit. The plot is pretty straight forward, but the characters are beautifully drawn and the director (Kathryn Bigelow) has a wonderful talent for building up tension.
But then again, politics can be fun too, especially when combined with the caustic wit of somebody like Armando Iannucci. In the Loop is a comedy dealing with the period leading up to the Iraq Invasion and, in particular, with the creation of Downing Street's famous "Dodgy Dossier". No real names are used, and this is good because the characters are exaggerated to the max -- usually with hilarious effect. The Rumsfeld talk-a-like constantly spouts clever-sounding (but ultimately, meaningless) gibberish, but the real star of the show, is the fake Alastair Campbell -- Tony Blair's famous press secretary and Spinner-in-chief. None of the other characters can pass through his orbit without suffering severe psychological trauma. His attacks are filthy, invasive, deeply personal and always funny. In a sick kin of way.
Of course, if he existed in real life, I wouldn't want to meet him myself...
This one had me laughing all the way until after the final credits. Highly recommended if you like them wordy and evil.