By: homunculus
That would be the "confinement box," one of the earliest torture techniques the CIA used on an al-Qaida detainee known as Abu Zubaydah. (The agency wanted to put insects in it, to heighten Abu...
View ArticleBy: Egg Shen
Peter Bergen, author of Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden, from 9/11 to Abbottabad (who has seen the movie):"distorts the story in ways that could give its likely audience of millions of...
View ArticleBy: Rashomon
koeselitz [F]irstly, I believe there is such a thing as absolute truth, and I think certain perspectives are more or less valid, depending on their proximity to the absolute truth. Secondly – probably...
View ArticleBy: tonycpsu
Johann Georg Faust: "You don't have to have seen the film to feel bad about the way something is portrayed." But you don't know how something is portrayed unless you've seen the film. I get that the...
View ArticleBy: Egg Shen
Emily Bazelon (who has seen the movie): "the movie is putting a thumb on the scale for torture""the movie reads as pro-torture""the movie had successfully led me to adopt, if only temporarily, Maya's...
View ArticleBy: Smedleyman
You don't have to have seen the film to feel bad about the way something is portrayed Which is why the same thing was ok to with the The Passion of the Christ or the Last Temptation of Christ? (both of...
View ArticleBy: Uther Bentrazor
Maybe it's unfair to the actor, or the real people involved in the events depicted, but the fact that the trailer shows that Andy from "Parks and Recreation" as one of the soldiers adds a dimension of...
View ArticleBy: straight
If viewers, having seen a film, say that the film taught them something about history that isn't true, you don't need to watch the film yourself to say there's a problem with it.
View ArticleBy: lupus_yonderboy
> The fact that he took so long to see this movie, but couldn't be bothered to wait until he did to write the piece, is an example. The article discusses this question at great length: have you...
View ArticleBy: koeselitz
lupus_yonderboy: “I'm noticing that people on Metafilter don't tend to actually critique Greenwald's reasoning - instead, like you, they criticize him personally. And because Greenwald seems to have no...
View ArticleBy: lupus_yonderboy
> One can be anti-torture AND anti-pompous pandering blowhard, you know. "What do you think about this movie and how it portrays torture? What are your thoughts and feelings on torture itself? I...
View ArticleBy: fatbird
Having not seen the movie, my interpretation from everyone's reporting, including Greenwald's, is that it draws a clear line between "we tortured brown people and killed bin Laden as a result". I think...
View ArticleBy: lupus_yonderboy
> Wow. I didn't know you could get that much poison into the well. I am not going to bother anyone who's offended by torture with my comments - and I believe and hope that is a majority of...
View ArticleBy: fatbird
When it comes down to it, a lot of you are apologists for torture. I cannot respect that in the slightest. Wow. I didn't know you could get that much poison into the well.
View ArticleBy: lupus_yonderboy
Just to help you along, here are some key quotes: The key evidence - the identity of bin Laden's courier - is revealed only after a detainee is brutally and repeatedly abused. Sitting at a table with...
View ArticleBy: lupus_yonderboy
> Does it turn out he's decided he was completly right all along? Because that would be a shocker. You could if you wanted read the article and find out. But from reading your comments above, it's...
View ArticleBy: Artw
Does it turn out he's decided he was completly right all along? Because that would be a shocker.
View ArticleBy: the man of twists and turns
'Zero Dark Thirty' and the new reality of reported filmmaking - "" 'Reported film' is like 'found art' to me," she said definitively. "The event happens, then it's reported on, and then there's an...
View ArticleBy: homunculus
In other torture news: CIA 'tortured and sodomised' terror suspect, human rights court rules. Landmark European court of human rights judgment says CIA tortured wrongly detained German citizen
View ArticleBy: Egg Shen
If Hitchens could do it, I assume Bigelow and Boal will be up for it. To give her due credit, Bigelow has used the "t"-word to describe the CIA interrogations. And perhaps it would be unfair to demand...
View ArticleBy: the man of twists and turns
WIRED: Alternative to Bin Laden Raid: A Teeny, Tiny Missile Strike
View ArticleBy: homunculus
That gives me an idea for the DVD extras. If Hitchens could do it, I assume Bigelow and Boal will be up for it.
View ArticleBy: homunculus
Christopher Hitchens: "I apply the Abraham Lincoln test for moral casuistry: 'If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong.' Well, then, if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such...
View ArticleBy: Grangousier
[P]rior to the election some on the right thought that Zero Dark Thirty would be a campaign ad for Obama. Now that the election has passed some on the left think the film has a right wing perspective...
View ArticleBy: marienbad
New Red Dawn Film as watched by racist idiots. AFAIR Red Dawn is completely over the top ridiculous, yet it has this effect.
View ArticleBy: Drinky Die
Kenny's review points to a good piece by Jane Mayer - "Kathryn Bigelow...milks the U.S. torture program for drama while sidestepping the political and ethical debate that it provoked. In her hands, the...
View ArticleBy: Drinky Die
Surely you recognize that films rarely have a single meaning, or a fundamentally "correct" interpretation. Smart people will often disagree on these things — and that's a notion that Greenwald's piece...
View ArticleBy: Mothlight
Also, heh, this may be the first time Devin Faraci and Glenn Kenny have agreed on anything.
View ArticleBy: Mothlight
I don't care if it's a great film or not. If I see people watching the film and then talking about how torture is justified in certain circumstances, I'm going to hate the film and criticize it...
View ArticleBy: straight
What I think is missing from many of these critiques of Greenwald is that he doesn't really care about the movie, he cares about the practice and acceptance of torture in our country. I care a lot less...
View ArticleBy: tonycpsu
Scott Lemieux weighs in: Here's the thing: in not wanting to show they complex internal debate about torture within the executive branch, Bigelow (whatever the results, which I still can't evaluate) is...
View ArticleBy: homunculus
Kenny's review points to a good piece by Jane Mayer: Zero Conscience in "Zero Dark Thirty"
View ArticleBy: Mothlight
I understand Greenwald's concerns here, but I don't think much of his skills as a film critic. That's why I'm glad Glenn Kenny took the time to post a comprehensive takedown last night. People who...
View ArticleBy: homunculus
Here's more on the letter from Panetta to McCain which was mentioned in the above link: Private letter from CIA chief undercuts claim torture was key to killing Bin Laden
View ArticleBy: homunculus
Has torture become acceptable? A new Hollywood film suggests that harsh CIA interrogation techniques led to the killing of Osama bin Laden.
View ArticleBy: straight
Surely you recognize that films rarely have a single meaning, or a fundamentally "correct" interpretation. Of course. But I think sometimes it's legitimate to say, "I don't care about the actual...
View ArticleBy: Drinky Die
BBC: The letter, made public on Wednesday, was co-signed by Dianne Feinstein, Carl Levin and former Presidential candidate John McCain. The trio, all of whom are members of the Senate Intelligence...
View ArticleBy: tonycpsu
Greenwald and Spencer Ackerman were on Up With Chris Hayes today talking about the film, its portrayal of torture, and its use of 9/11 imagery.
View ArticleBy: homunculus
The Colbert Report: Bin Laden Film Controversy - Since America is long overdue for a thorough investigation into its use of torture in movies, the Senate Intelligence Committee goes after "Zero Dark...
View ArticleBy: homunculus
CIA Official Who Destroyed Torture Tapes Squirms at Zero Dark Thirty Abuse
View ArticleBy: homunculus
'Zero Dark Thirty's' torture implication prompts Senate inquiry: Intelligence Committee members dispute suggestion that torture advanced the hunt for Osama bin Laden and ask if CIA misled filmmakers...
View ArticleBy: homunculus
"Zero Dark Thirty" And The CIA's Hollywood Coup: How the invisible hand of the premiere American intelligence agency produced an Oscar contender.
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