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dustyinasia
Reviews
Weather Girl (2009)
Can't run the distance
If I had been forced to stop watching this at around the half hour point I think I would give this movie 9 stars just for the comic moments, the plot build up and the characters. It just doesn't hold to the end though and the film actually manages to get quite bleak and depressing before going into an awful slow poignant moment where the camera definitely lingers on the stars, in close up longer than they can act for (I was also massively put off by the fact that in this scene she reminded me of the actress from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding").
Did one person write the first half and someone else the second, or did they just get bored? Such a waste of potential.
The Boys in Company C (1978)
Iraq parallels are frightening
This was my favourite Vietnam flick for many years, however always thought it was a Hollywood number not close to truth. In 2003 I came to Iraq and worked closely with the US military - OMG.
The parallels between what is going wrong now and what is messed up in this film are astounding. People dying for worthless convoys, no base dominating patrols, no desire to engage with the enemy, unrealistic rear areas out of touch with the ground, using untrustworthy and useless locals, ill discipline.
If anyone wants to understand Iraq and what the US military is like on the ground watch this movie. At least the soldiers now do up their helmet straps, so one step forward.
Shadow Company (2006)
Excellent all round
I saw the trailer for this film and having worked in Iraq was intrigued by it and never heard another peep about the film. I did a trawl recently looking for it after a conversation in which I remembered it (thank goodness for youtube as had forgotten name) and then went to the website and bought it.
There is much said about the security world and this really is an incredibly well balanced documentary. It shows the good and the bad, the professionals and the idiots. Mostly it is an incredibly well made film, everything is explained well, the editing is slick, the interviewees are varied and incredibly knowledgeable.
If you want to begin to understand the private security world this is a must see, it is also a must see if you want to try and understand Iraq and its reconstruction.
Well done on such a good production.