The Happening (US-India, 2008)

The end of the world as we know it?

Like Cloverfield (two posts ago) The Happening is an obvious disquisition on the west’s ‘war on terror’ intermingled with the ongoing climatic disaster. The opening half is terrific, a mixture of stunning imagery (the builders falling off buildings) and portentous threat. However, it’s difficult to deliver on [...]

Cloverfield (US, 2008)

American liberty has lost its head.

It’s taken 10 years for Blair Witch (1999) to get a proper sequel. Whilst Cloverfield is not as effective as its predecessor, it is a fascinating take on a (western) world at war on terror. It’s not just the camcorder aesthetic that is so effective, much of what is happening [...]

In the Valley of Elah (US, 2007)

The number of ‘Iraq’ films coming out of Hollywood is quite astonishing, especially as only the gung-ho Green Berets was produced during the Vietnam war. Unsurprisingly these are not doing well at the box office; even the action based The Kingdom. There are not many nations that would queue up to see themselves criticised. However, [...]

Charley Wilson’s War (US, 2007)

To say this mess is confusing is an understatement. It ranges from a condemnation of America’s lack of reconstruction of Iraq to a celebration of childlike Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Presumably the latter is such a retro-representation of 3rd world peasants that it’s meant to be satire; read it as you will.
Even if we take the [...]