Review (DVD): The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

5 Star, Culture, DVD - Light, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Intelligence (Government/Secret), Military & Pentagon Power, Reviews (DVD Only)
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5.0 out of 5 stars Five if you are former CIA or SOF, rest of world will not get it

May 7, 2010

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges

An extraordinarily talented and experienced international law enforcement officer watched this on loan from me before I saw it, and hated it. Now that I have watched it myself, I understand–if you have not been deeply engaged with CIA and all of its idiocyncrasies including remote viewing, acoustic-kitty, the pigeons that came before Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and then over to SOF (Special Operations Forces) where “unconventional” had to go covert to survive the straight-leg generals with no clue, you will simply not appreciate this movie.

DanD nails it–this is satire and also a brilliant documentary of what can only be decribed as a well-intentioned long-running Goat F..k. The movie is a collage of several different real initiativces including the First Earth Battalion (I knew a couple of the principals, decades ahead of their time); the Peace Warrior initiative, and of course Remote Viewing, the CIA's notorious MKULTRA and LSD for unwitting victims, and so on.

At one point in the movie the two principal actors are discussing the remorse–the angst–over having used his power to actually kill a goal, and the other guy pops in with “Silence of the Goats.” That just about sums it up–this is, for someone steeped in the well-intentioned lunacy of the past–a perfect five, and I have to believe that the world-class actors that decided to do this did it knowing that it would be misunderstood by many, but a real hoot among the veterans of the seventies and eighties.

The only thing not in here, certainly worthy of a sequel to this movie, is extra-terrestial encounters, leveraging extra-terrestial technologies, warnings from extraterrestrials [humans now being in a state of quarentine for being stupid squared], and the exotic, wasteful, and generally hilarious methods used to keep Area 51 and related projects “secret.”

See also:
Peaceful Warrior (Widescreen)
First Earth Battalion Operations Manual: Reprint of Original Manual from the 70's
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence
Psychic Warrior
Psychic Warrior: The True Story of America's Foremost Psychic Spy and the Cover-Up of the CIA's Top-Secret Stargate Program
Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of U.S. Government Remote Viewer 001
Hidden Secrets: The Complete History of Espionage and the Technology Used to Support ItHidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge
Disclosure : Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History
Hidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge

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Review (DVD): Crazy Heart (2009)

4 Star, Culture, DVD - Light, Reviews (DVD Only)
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4.0 out of 5 stars Great as far as it goes not as good as Walk the Line, May 1, 2010

Jeff Bridges

Jeff Bridges is indeed gifted in his portrayal of the alcoholic song writer and guitarist, but the script is a bit too simple and starts in the middle of the story–would have been much more engaging if we had seen him at his height, even if only an opening scence and then “six years later,”–so I personally was somewhat disappointed.

The female supporting star is absolutely wonderful, comes into the film not a second too late.

There wasn't enough music for my taste–same song over and over, and I could not hear the words for the so-called great song that got him back on his feet financially.

Not as good as:
Walk the Line
Pure Country/Honeysuckle Rose
Beyond the Sea
De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story
Coal Miner's Daughter – 25th Anniversary Edition

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