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Nov. 7th, 2007 04:27 pmIn case any of y'all haven't been watching: Pushing Daisies is still the cutest thing going. Six or so weeks now, and it's still managed to stay adorable. Worth picking up if only for wardrobe tips from the female stars.
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I had a dream in my semi-consciousness between snooze buttons where Dexter killed someone. I'd give my subconscious bonus points for the method, except I know it cheated by piecing together my recent time in a mini-van and yet another viewing of Serenity from yesterday: Dexter was inside a mini-van with the seats folded into the floor (hmm, just like my mom's car...) and he grabbed a woman under her arms, around her shoulders (not at all like Mal disabling the Operative, nosir), and brought her neck up sharply against the roof of the car where the side door had been opened, breaking it. I think that she and a pair of guys were trying to mug him. Otherwise, that's all I remember.
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The War Tapes is a documentary featuring soldiers telling their own stories with video cameras given them by the filmmakers. It's revelatory, yes, as the unadulterated passions (or lack thereof) in the military abroad are exposed. Worth a watch, if only to see the one guy who is obviously struggling not to have the break down that will confirm the VA doctors' diagnosis of PTSD; to appreciate the boredom that leads to more trouble than even the outright bigotry; to understand how intelligent many of the soldiers are that they know how money has brought them to where they are and how its protection and generation drive their lives; and to hurt for just about everyone you see (or don't--censorship and attitude have a lot to say about that). Very little is heartening about the exposure this type of documentation provides; despite the gleaming beacons of hope--the one Arabic-speaking soldier with a keener understanding and sympathy for civilians in Iraq, the fact that the troops are as outraged at the lack of protection for the foreign workers who drive supply trucks (and are huge targets) as they are over their own equipment problems--the support for a war of theft is still there at movie's end.
Most surprising? The soldiers all have very artistic directorial styles. Their framing choices are so artful, at times I could not believe that, in the middle of a war zone, they were the ones controlling the camera. When things went to hell with a mortar shelling or an IED exploding, the cameras would be dropped and shoved aside, bringing the authenticity back from the aesthetic. Like my experience watching The Bridge, I just gaped at the fact that I was watching people die. But most of the time the beauty and skill of the camera soldiers really defies description. The desperation of their situation renders tragic what are already poetic, eulagaic shots.
*
I had a dream in my semi-consciousness between snooze buttons where Dexter killed someone. I'd give my subconscious bonus points for the method, except I know it cheated by piecing together my recent time in a mini-van and yet another viewing of Serenity from yesterday: Dexter was inside a mini-van with the seats folded into the floor (hmm, just like my mom's car...) and he grabbed a woman under her arms, around her shoulders (not at all like Mal disabling the Operative, nosir), and brought her neck up sharply against the roof of the car where the side door had been opened, breaking it. I think that she and a pair of guys were trying to mug him. Otherwise, that's all I remember.
*
The War Tapes is a documentary featuring soldiers telling their own stories with video cameras given them by the filmmakers. It's revelatory, yes, as the unadulterated passions (or lack thereof) in the military abroad are exposed. Worth a watch, if only to see the one guy who is obviously struggling not to have the break down that will confirm the VA doctors' diagnosis of PTSD; to appreciate the boredom that leads to more trouble than even the outright bigotry; to understand how intelligent many of the soldiers are that they know how money has brought them to where they are and how its protection and generation drive their lives; and to hurt for just about everyone you see (or don't--censorship and attitude have a lot to say about that). Very little is heartening about the exposure this type of documentation provides; despite the gleaming beacons of hope--the one Arabic-speaking soldier with a keener understanding and sympathy for civilians in Iraq, the fact that the troops are as outraged at the lack of protection for the foreign workers who drive supply trucks (and are huge targets) as they are over their own equipment problems--the support for a war of theft is still there at movie's end.
Most surprising? The soldiers all have very artistic directorial styles. Their framing choices are so artful, at times I could not believe that, in the middle of a war zone, they were the ones controlling the camera. When things went to hell with a mortar shelling or an IED exploding, the cameras would be dropped and shoved aside, bringing the authenticity back from the aesthetic. Like my experience watching The Bridge, I just gaped at the fact that I was watching people die. But most of the time the beauty and skill of the camera soldiers really defies description. The desperation of their situation renders tragic what are already poetic, eulagaic shots.
