Eye in the Sky

[weekender]

No thread?  OK, here's one.

On the face of it, I wasn't sure about this. 

A war film about extremist groups in Africa?  Sure I've seen similar.

It's hard to comment much without spoilers, but here goes.

It starts off a little slow, whilst setting the scene, but over time the tension becomes either unbearable or ridiculous - which is a good thing.

I imagine this was intentional, but there are so many moments when you don't know if this is actually a drama or a darkly comic observation on modern warfare in the vein of Dr Strangelove.  I took it to be both, it's a clever film.  The more I think about it, the more I think how like Strangelove it is, there are just so many 'dramatic' moments that ended up making me laugh, but they don't do it in such a way as 'we're taking the piss here', they do it in a way that is 'this stuff happens, life is ridiculous'.

It unflinchingly challenges issues head-on, without shying away from the complexities - in fact, exploring those complexities is probably what makes it such a good film.  There's politics, economics, philosophy, morality, and more.

To achieve this, there are some great performances from at least 10 actors, each of whose characters interact and challenge each other in such a way that is utterly convincing, and makes it clear that the world is not black and white, it's grey.  So, so grey.

Ok, there are flaws - I do have a big complaint about how time is represented - but they can be put aside.

On reflection, I think it's a tragic observation on how things actually happen in the world, which is ultimately as depressing as it is amusing.

I want to see it again though, just to absorb/enjoy/marvel at everything this film brings.

TL;DR? 9/10.

[thraxx]

[clingfilm portent]

Well, there goes my tag.

[Head Gardener]

damn, and there was me hoping this would be the long awaited Alan Parsons Project biopic...

[Head Gardener]

I got off my arse to see this yesterday and was pretty bored with the

Spoiler alert

little girl selling bread gonna get blown to bits

[close]

thread
which just

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dragged on and on and ON

[close]

and then it all turns out

Spoiler alert

to be a waste of time as she gets blown to bits anyway

[close]

ffs.
avoid

[Glebe]

Saw this last week and forgot to post about it... I was a bit skeptical at first, thought, "Ooh, this is tastelessly using recent terrorist atrocities as a springboard for tense thrills," and while it did have that aspect, it turned out to be a diverting tale about collateral damage and ethics. So thumbs up, with caveats.