The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
Superb in every way, intelligent, April 26, 2010
Emily Blunt
There are some really fine reviews here with detail unknown to me and I recommend them for broader background. This DVD joins my list of recommended DVDs for those who normally focus almost exclusively on non-fiction.
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Dark, Worthy, Held My Attention to the End, April 26, 2010 |
I salute the other excellent reviews, this is primarily a short note for those who follow my reviews, including the sub-set, DVDs for intelligent people.
Definitely there. Sombre, thoughtful, and very worthwhile. See all my DVD reviews at Phi Beta Iota, the Public Intelligence Blog, under Reviews, DVD Only (bottom of second column). We're recovering from an attack that Word Press was not ready for, so it may be a week before we are clean and locked up against outside attack.
Do NOT Give Up in Early Part–The Ending is Riveting, April 26, 2010
Do NOT give up on this movie in the first third. I stayed with it because a very experienced global law enforcement officer with anti-terrorism experience told me the movie was worth seeing through to the end, and he was absolutely right.
This is a fine depiction of how gangs and religious and political conflicts get started, it is a superb depiction of the “collateral damage” that affects “bystanders” to the end of their days, and it ends absolutely brilliantly with a typically strong but never-the-less very moving closure by BOTH of the main actors.
Highly recommended to those who wish to think about cause and effect and the psychological dimensions of intra-community violence.
Recommended–An Intelligent Movie, April 26, 2010
Mel Gibson
I cannot improve on the lead review, this review is primarily for those who follow my reviews, and the sub-set within my reviews, DVDs for intelligent people.
This is certainly a top-notch film with great acting, what I liked about it was the depiction of one lone person's ability to get to the bottom of a government conspiracy against the public interest. While things happen that are arguably improbable for the average person, this film is both a revelation of just how much government can do that is NOT in the public interest (but assuredly at the public expense) and an inspiration on how possible it might be to stop such high crimes and misdemeanors by demanding integrity at all times.
Some oldies but goodies to make use of the excellent link feature that Amazon provides:
The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition)
The Pelican Brief (Snap Case)
Three Days of the Condor
Possibly a Seminal Work with Infinite Variations, April 26, 2010
Bertrand De Speville
This book was brought to my attention by a media article, “Tunku Abdul Aziz to give anti-corruption primer to PM, ministers,” in The Malaysian Insider of 26 April 2010 (today). I am in the process of getting a copy, and wish to note my high regard for the firm publishing the book in that they listed it on Amazon. If they were to offer it free online with no-cost translation Creative Commons license, this could help spread the work.
The book as distributed in Malaysia has a Foreword by Tunku Abdul Aziz, so I am inspired to imagine the translation of this book into multiple languages, each with a Foreword by an appropriate local leader–Spanish, Chinese, Russian, etcetera.
Phenomenal on all fronts, April 26, 2010
This is a phenomenal piece of work that has joined a handful of DVDs that I watch repetively on background when doing light work in the office–others include De-Lovely: The Cole Porter Story; Beyond the Sea; and Joyeux Noel (Widescreen). Of course my youngest son–the athlete–and I also love the best of the best in football movies, including Remember the Titans (Director's Cut); Rudy (Special Edition); and Invincible, to name a few.
What sets this movie apart, in my view, are the nuanced facial expressions and the deep sincerity that the two main actors bring to the screen. I certainly regard the actor playing the hero of this film, the adopted son, to be in line for best supporting actor, or the other way around. Every time I watch this movie I find something I missed before, and I simply do not tire of that pleasure.
It troubles me that a movie as rich as this, telling a true story that is representative of what can be the best of America in a single individual doing the right thing for the right reasons, seems to bring little minds out of the crevices where they have been hiding. This is not a Christian movie, an anti-Christian movie, a bi-racial movie, or anything else. It is an American Story in the grandest possible manner. In no way does that excuse the continuing segregation and abuse of people of color, the really rotten education system for all, the two-party tyranny, the corruption of the US government at all levels–but in one small very real time and space, one family–one mother–got it right.
Outrageously Priced, Rotten Provision of Information, April 16, 2010
Luis de Sousa, Barry Hindess, Peter Larmour
This is probably a very important book, but it will never be bought by most because it is outrageously priced (272 pages, this should be selling for $27.20 at most), and the publisher has been grievously irresponsible in failing to use the free Amazon tools to provide a sufficiency of information. The authors and the content are without question superb. How this book has been offered is itself a study in corruption.
