Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Screenplay by Mark Boal

Stars: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Fares Fares, Jennifer Ehle, Édgar Ramírez, Mark Strong and James Gandolfini

One of my most anticipated releases of 2012 was Kathryn Bigelow's latest feature, Zero Dark Thirty.Waiting on bated breath as the movie didn't come out in wide release until it was nominated for five Oscars on Thursday. Bigelow's last film was the Oscar winning The Hurt Locker, which was my number one movie of 2009. I fully expected that this movie was surpass it. Needlessly to say, I was slightly disappointed with it.

Maya (Chastain) is CIA operative who has been reassigned to Pakistan after the events of 9/11. She witnesses first hand what interrogators do to get the information they need to find the most wanted man ever. The small groups of operatives go off of leads and intelligence reports to find the exact whereabouts of bin-Laden. Is he in a cave as the American people all believed? Was he hiding in place sight and nobody knew anything about it? That was Maya's number mission to locate and bring bin-Laden to justice.

I remember the night when the president announced that Osama bin-Laden was killed. People were gathering in front of the White House cheering on his death. Watching a movie, I remembered a phone interview I had with former Fox commentator John Gibson on his radio show a few years back. He asked me if the US should go into Pakistan to get UBL. I said, yes. We debated on how can the US invade a friendly country to get the mastermind behind 9/11. He had to pay for killing 3,000 people that day. I was proven right. In your face, John Gibson. Suck on that.

As stated before, my expectations with this movie were very high. I thought it was going to blow all of the other movies out of the water. Was the movie intense? Yes. They were few and far between, expect the last act of the movie was edge on your seat. I had the same feeling when I saw The Master. The movie felt empty. I was bored was the movie, shifted around in my seat. I think that Chastian's performance deserved the nomination for Best Actress. There were specific moments in The Hurt Locker that I back on with awe. I guess, that would be said with the last moments of the movie, but it had to be added in when the US captured bin-Laden as they made the movie. Without that last part of the movie, it would been another disappointment as I had many this year.

My Rating

Che: The Argentine

Che: Part One (2008)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Screenplay by Peter Buchman

Based on the memoir, "Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War" by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara

Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Rodrigo Santoro, Julia Ormond, Oscar Isaac, Ramon Fernandez, Yul Vazquez, Jsu Garcia, Victor Rasuk and Édgar Ramírez

I had a tough time deciding whether I was going to review Steven Soderbergh's epic biopic, Che with one or two reviews. When I got through watching Part One, I thought it would be better to make it two. Even thought I don't know that much about Che Guevara, this movie is not The Motorcycles Diaries.

This half of the movie deals with the time that Ernesto (Del Toro) joins the rebel army with Fidel Castro (Bichir) to overthrow the current regime. Fidel and Ernesto embarks on a journeys the forests of the Cuban countryside to kill the opposition. Being a doctor, Ernesto has not gotten in on any of the action like Fidel and his comrades have. It chronicles the precise moment that Ernesto became Che.

Che Guevara is a polarizing figure for people. Some think that he is a revolutionary, others think that he is a murderer. I cannot make a determination on either side of the issue. I am here to talk about the movie. The movie is a mixed bag. I know that the movie is about Che. It felt like the movie focused more on Fidel. Che barely said anything in the movie. This is only the first two hours of the whole. I felt that the middle of this movie was really taxing on me. I became restless and wanted to turn the movie off, but the end picked up and held my attention again.

My Rating