Zero Dark Thirty doesn't endorse torture, and neither did 24.

Zero Dark Thirty finally opened wide last weekend, which means that the general movie-going crowd finally got to see what all the fuss was about.  But while I don't want to rehash the various 'No, it doesn't endorse torture!!' arguments that I've made here and elsewhere yet again (review, essay 01, essay 02), I would like to take a moment to address a side issue.  In many of the discussions about Zero Dark Thirty, be it pro or con, we've seen the television show 24 being used as a shorthand for being a mainstream entertainment that did all of the things that Zero Dark Thirty is accused of.  I intended to write something of this nature back when the show left the air in May 2010, but life got in the way.  24 premiered in November of 2001, not directly inspired by the 9/11 attacks but unfortunately in their shadow.  I wrote extensively about that first season when it ended (read it HERE), but looking back, it's clear that the show wasn't intended to be a lightning rod of controversy and/or the go-to talking point when discussing the post 9/11 'war on terror'.  Throughout its eight seasons, 24 was never 'the torture show', nor was it intended to represent one political ideology (or political party) over another.

Review: Melancholia (2011) engages primarily in its opening and closing passages.

Melacholia
2011
135 minutes
rated R

by Scott Mendelson

The opening and closing reels of Lars von Trier's latest opus are so engaging, imaginative and potent that it seems almost a shame to relate that the middle 100 minutes don't amount to all that much.  Like 2001: A Space Odyssey (a better film, although still not among my favorite Kubrick pictures) the film makes its point pretty pointedly during its jaw-dropping opening and closing moments, but strains viewer patience during the body of the film itself.  It is splendidly acted and has a certain emotional weight that will stay with you past the credits.  Whether it's worth your time to see what works about this passionate tone poem is arguable.  But one cannot deny that it is still, warts and all, a singular work of art.