i like that grumpyGOP and i agree that its political commentary has nothing to do with partisan left v. right

which is how real debate should be

in the end, neither party should be sticking up for the status quo as it stands in regards to oil

12/11/2005 1:44:07 AM

Quote :

"Car chases! Excessive violence! Jessica Alba! You will not find any of these blockbuster requirements in Syriana. However, an engaging plot and powerful performances from a strong cast raise this film from the depths of anonymity. Syriana is a political thriller that uses multiple characters to gain different perspectives in the ongoing battle for oil in the Middle East. The story comes to life with the help of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Jeffrey Wright, and William Hurt. For those who would like a more in depth plot review go to imdb.com, look up the movie Traffic, and substitute the word drug with oil. Having said that, Syriana is a very well made movie that keeps the viewer interested from start to finish and without a doubt deserves the tag “Worth Watching”. Before you line up to get your ticket though, take this test to see if Syriana is the movie for you. Turn on your television to the History channel. If you can watch this station for half an hour without changing to another channel, you will not mind sitting through a two hour movie about oil."

haha...good review there...http://moviesbythor.com/wordpress/

12/11/2005 2:07:11 AM

Quote :

"in the end, neither party should be sticking up for the status quo as it stands in regards to oil "

You mean both of them should be supporting $100/barrel prices?

I think its ridiculous to villify ourselves for electing people who look out for our own interests, aka cheap energy. While its unfortunate that these gains are made on the backs of the people of the middle east, I can live with that.

In all actuality however, this movie just demonstrates how we just need to GTFO of the area, carpet bomb the place and drill for oil domestically.

gtg for now, need to go fill up my 12mpg vehicle for the third time this week.

(everything except for the last line was not meant as a troll, its actually how I feel. Matt Damon and George Clooney aren't going to change that for me)

12/11/2005 1:27:41 PM

Quote :

"You mean both of them should be supporting $100/barrel prices?"

no, they should be advocating
1. renewable sources of energy
2. sources of energy that can be produced domestically so we are never dependent on other countries
3. the end of meddling

12/11/2005 2:55:53 PM

^^ So I take it you don't act like a surprised vagina when people hate us and/or attack our interests?

12/11/2005 3:03:05 PM

skokiaan, I understand that they hate us, they have good reason.

However, I'm not going to go along with some pacifist bullshit "we need to understand them" crap.

12/11/2005 3:47:50 PM

Quote :

"Ishtariana Stephen Gaghan's new Middle East potboiler is an incoherent mess "

http://indyweek.com/durham/current/movie.html

12/11/2005 5:25:45 PM

^harsh

12/11/2005 5:39:25 PM

excellent movie....granted i spent some of it trying to explain what was going on to my roommate lol but i stil lloved this movie, definitly looking forward to the DVD.

and then spent an hour after that arguing with my roommate cause he was saying that the US was the 'good guys' throughout the whole movie and that they were doing the 'right' thing

(and don't confuse the 'right' thing with whats in the best interest of the greedy politicians)

12/14/2005 3:36:01 PM

hehe lol

12/14/2005 3:37:51 PM

I came into Syriana wanting to love it...and I was let down. It's not a great movie and I didn't even feel like it was as "incendiary" as the reviewers are calling it. The structure of the narrative does shit for character development....I felt myself not really giving a shit about those who I felt I should give a shit about.

When compared to "Good Night and Good Luck,"...I mean, I can't even compare the two. GN & GL is amazing; Syriana is a classic example of a film that says something, but could have said so much more. Instead of bombarding the audience with names and faces and locations in the beginning, I think the writer/director should have told one story and stayed with it.

It could be that I'm ADD and got turned off by all the various plots, characters and jargon. But apparently, this seems to be the beef for many a professional critic, too.

12/14/2005 7:29:17 PM

yes
i liked gn & gl more

and the only character arc i really got into was matt damon + the older brother (i think it really was the best part of the film)

12/14/2005 7:31:16 PM

only characters i wanted to see suceed was the older prince that got blown up by the usual suspects.

12/14/2005 8:15:14 PM

right

i mean

the whole usage of brothers displayed in that segment was tremendous

12/14/2005 8:26:30 PM

i don't follow what you are trying to say in that last post. Cause the way i looked at it was

older brother wanted to do what was best for his people and country, give the whole world the same trade oportunities that will benifit his people as a whole, if that means selling oil to the chinese then to the americans then so be it, its a free world.

younger brother would do anything for whatever country fattened his pockets the most. which in this case was the US. and of course the US wants him to be the next king because they'd rather have a pawn then a 'free' middle east.

12/14/2005 8:36:53 PM

what this thread needs is people who speak english

12/14/2005 8:50:32 PM

^^ thats how i saw it too

12/14/2005 8:52:44 PM

I kind of chuckled at the torture scene too, but then, I'm a sick, sick individual.

12/14/2005 8:52:56 PM

think more about the relationship between matt damon's children (the older brother dies, leading to the increased fortunes of his family) to that of the Emir (the older brother dies in order to preserve the safety of his family's fortunes)

also look at the evolution of the relationship between damon and the emir's older son

it almost hits a cantilever point when both men express themselves probably a lot harsher than they intend (damon explaining the arabs will be poor and barbaric again when the oil runs out, and the emir's son saying he would pay him 1oo million for his other son)

at the beginning, damon is sketchy on the whole race/region, but after the honesty moment, you can see him almost becoming infatuated with the man, to the point where he is entirely swept up into his plan almost to the point of losing his family and his life, which is exactly what happens to the emir's older son (i should really just look his name up)

and if you notice, it is by pure chance that he survives, which speaks to the notion that the american ideas and the arab ideas are not different by design, but almost by chance

[Edited on December 14, 2005 at 9:55 PM. Reason : `]

12/14/2005 9:53:45 PM

worst. movie. ever.

12/15/2005 12:59:11 AM

good movie.

i chuckled/giggled a lot through it.

even during the torture scene.

hee hee.

12/15/2005 3:07:02 AM

i shaved my head and it grew back fine. what a tool clooney is...

want to see this flick

12/15/2005 3:20:57 AM

i saw this movie last night...and was very surprised with all the posts saying it was a great movie. i thought it was bad. maybe it was because i'm not into the whole politics thing that much, but i thought the movie was pretty boring and confusing

12/17/2005 10:53:15 AM

Eh...I want to say this movie sucked.

I mean...the whole movie you're bored out of your fucking mind and trying to remember everything because you know it's going to make sense in the end. Then the end comes, and all the stories come together, and that's it. The last 10% of the movie that was good doesn't make up for the first 90% of total boredom in my opinion.

Don't go to this movie sleepy.

12/25/2005 1:29:05 AM

good movie

go see it

12/29/2005 10:39:56 AM

There was a lot going on. Like 5 stories, around 15 main characters. And all old white men look the same. Was good, just a bit complicated.

12/29/2005 7:15:20 PM

"uuuhhhhh...global warming...billion-dollar corporations..."

12/29/2005 8:05:37 PM

from a storytelling pov, it's nice to see the director trying to push the boundaries of the medium/challenging the viewer. and nice to see such experimentation done in a more or less mainstream movie.

1/2/2006 2:13:28 PM

Finally saw it, really liked it.

1/2/2006 7:43:24 PM

definately a complex film. i enjoyed it, but i wouldn't consider it spectacular.

1/2/2006 8:09:46 PM

i really liked the terrorist sub-plot also...it really showed how young men that are mostly uneducated can become victims of terrorist movements that brainwash them by feeding them propoganda. it was really subtle too, they began by first legitimately educating them and then they started to feed them some horseshit stuff and then by the end of the movie they were just believing anything and everything the terrorist group was teaching them w/o question.

1/2/2006 8:42:33 PM

It's interesting that you saw it like that.

1/2/2006 10:47:33 PM

obligitory "compare it to how we indoctrinate from g.i. joe to 'an army of one' over here" post

1/2/2006 10:51:48 PM

http://www.variety.com/VR1117936402.html
warners has been advertising this as an "original screenplay" for oscar contention...durrrrr

1/19/2006 1:21:44 PM

It's at the dolla fitty now in case anybody's interested.

3/26/2006 12:10:43 PM