Tag: war
A Pyrrhic Defeat - Margins on Power and the Iran War
To comprehend the ongoing upheavals in Iran, one must grasp the underlying nature of class struggle in the country over the past half century.Before 1953, Iran possessed a democratic government under the leadership of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, who undertook the bold step of nationalizing the oil industry, then under British control. In order to safeguard the interests of capitalist corporations, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and British intelligence (MI6) coordinated a coup...
The age of corridors
The role of the Venezuelan people in the political crisis of the past decade is ironic. The legitimacy of a leader, in principle, can only be recognized by the people. The paradox here is not so much the will of society, as the capacity for that will to pass through a recognized procedure and become legitimate power, such as elections. When electoral bodies, courts, media, and security forces operate as checkpoints; the people can reject a government/authorities in the collective consciousness. ...
Land of Bad
Land of Bad is more Land of Mediocre . It’s your standard “Hooah!” (is this the right service for that?) jingoistic American war film. The new guy gets hazed, captured, rescued, goes on a mission to help rescue a team member behind enemy lines, gets captured, gets tortured, escapes again, rescues some folks and then barely averts a friendly fire disaster. It’s fine, it’s forgettable and it’s saving grace is Russell Crowe’s dedicated, four times married and cantankerous “Reaper”.
Sisu: Road to Revenge
Much like the first Sisu film , Sisu: Road to Revenge is unrelentingly violent, action-packed and helmed by the stoic, silent Aatami Korpi. The guy lost his family and all he wants is to move his house. You took the land, let him move his house. He brought the truck, wrote assembly instructions that IKEA to shame and did all the work to load it up. You already know the guy is deadly, what you've lost up to this point is a sunk cost. Instead you get to through bodies you don't value after bodies you probably didn't value to begin with. I'm looking forward to Sisu: Unfinnished Business .
Primitive War
🇺🇸🇻🇳🇷🇺🦖🦕🪖🔪👨🏻🔬🧨🚁 Oh, good. We're following a junkie into hell. The best war movies are often the ones made by folks who don't have historical ties to it and thus benefit from some distance and objectivity. This isn't strictly a war movie nor is it one of the best war movies, but there is some objectivity. There are also a whole bunch of dinosaurs rendered to screen with a small budget. It's also far more entertaining than any of the newer Jurassic Park films. Get drafted (or sign up) and go to Vietnam. Do terrible things and don't go home because you were eaten by a dinosaur. This isn't what I would expect to come out of screwing around with a particle accelerator built out in the middle of an active war zone, but I'm not a scientist. Try for teleportation, get dinosaurs instead. Just smile and pull the trigger 'til the problem goes away. It's also the American way. There are guns, guts, camaraderie, bad accents and explosions. It is fun.
12 Strong
'Murica! Probably a story worth being told but it ends up being a mediocre action movie with a foreign policy disaster as the backdrop.
Chickenhawk
Ostensibly about the Vietnam war but laser-focused on the author — Robert Mason's — experience flying a helicopter in assault missions over the course of a year-long deployment. Mason manages to avoid the broader, thornier historical context and relay what he went through, what his fellow soldiers went through and what he saw first person. It can get repetitive, but that repetition is a product of his assignments. A compelling first-hand account, but not the one you're looking for if you're looking for a discussion of the broader geopolitical or moral implications of the conflict. Boots on the ground, rotors up, try to make it home and all that. : I don't know if this is a thing.
Rambo
If you encounter Rambo, leave him alone. If you can't do that and he actually talks to you — maybe, just maybe — listen to him. If you can't do any of that, well, I wish you luck. Lots of people irritate or ignore Rambo and things go poorly for most of them. My wife and I have been using Buffy the Vampire Slayer as background noise at night recently, so I immediately recognized July Benz's voice (hi Darla!). It's a Rambo movie, you know what you're getting into. Watch (or don't) accordingly.
Rambo III
Historical context isn't particularly kind to this one, but it's a fun action movie (with some pacing issues) and Stallone in peak John Rambo form. Stick to stick combat, hand to hand combat, a plethora of guns, helicopter on tank violence and a brief Kurtwood Smith feature. Fun stuff.
Rambo: First Blood Part II
A fun action movie, though a pale shadow of the first in the series. Less nuance and — in its place — more violence and jingoism.
First Blood
An intense, timeless and violent action thriller. Stallone manages to convey some genuine vulnerability towards the film's conclusion and the whole film speaks to the way in which unrelenting cruelty can break anyone. Couldn't they have just left the guy alone? Or — maybe, just maybe — helped him instead? A classic.
Civil War
A movie called Civil War that is not, in fact, entirely focused on a civl war. They don't explain how it started or why it's continuing — it begins before the movie and ends, to a degree, when the movie ends. It's all about the reporters covering the war as it progresses to its conclusion. Reporters looking to get a scoop, without having to wade directly into the politics or offering a value judgement. They're looking for a statement and a shot. I loved it — it's an excellent cast, beautifully acted and the scene with Sammy where Sturgill Simpson's "Breakers Roar" cuts in is both beautiful and heart-wrenching.