Thoughts on Restrepo

Perhaps the Psalmist had in mind Afghanistan's Korangal Valley when composing the 23rd Psalm. The 2nd Battalion of the 503rd Infantry Regiment would certainly agree; throughout the course of their deployment - and the duration of this documentary - the men of B Company are tasked with the thankless objective of securing the most deadly, unforgiving, and, as the film seems to suggest, useless plot of land on the face of the planet. Embedded alongside these troops are journalist Sebastian Junger (he of The Perfect Storm fame) and photojournalist Tim Hetherington whose footage informs the majority of the film.

Junger and Hetherington's coverage affords audiences an intimate, first-person perspective of military engagement that follows B Company in their efforts to establish an outpost (christened "Restrepo" in remembrance of a recently deceased comrade) at a strategic location in the Korangal Valley. It's worth noting that the combat footage captured in this film is immediate and harrowing, seemingly an attempt to shatter the abstraction of "The War in Afghanistan" tossed about so plaintively on the evening news. Gunshots and explosions are no longer special effects, rather, they are the very real exclamation points of the brutal deployment through which these men must struggle to survive.

Intercut with the chronological progress of B Company are ex post facto testimonials recorded with the surviving members of B Company. As they relate their experiences and elaborate on their thoughts, their facial expressions and mannerisms reveal scars both physical and otherwise. Having survived unimaginable horror, these men are now expected to return to a civilian life that now seems tragically alien. Asked how he plans to return to civilian life, one soldier admits that he has no idea.

Though ostensibly apolitical, Restrepo broaches a number of contentious issues. Junger and Hetherington seem to follow each sequence of frenetic combat with a wide shot of the indifferent, implacable Korangal Valley. This land is dry, craggy, cruel, and isolated (read: worthless). One trooper reminisces about hunting on his ranch back home which he describes as just a big plot of land where he shoots at things. Sounds awfully familiar.

The captain of B Company explains that the key to victory in the Korangal Valley lies in the cultivation of a relationship with the elder Afghani people, and the film documents a number of the unit's meetings and discussions with the Korangal Valley's community of elders. As the captain relates plans for new roads, supplies, and infrastructure during one such meeting, Hetherington's camera focuses on a particular elder as he attempts to open a packet of juice (think Capri Sun). Minutes later, having completely ignored the captain's speech, the elder has still failed to slide the straw into the pouch. Through moments like these, Junger and Hetherington seem to suggest a fundamental flaw in the American strategy that places our chances of success in the war somewhere outside the realm of possibility.

Movie #11 Scott Pilgrim

I will attempt to write this review without using the word "zeitgeist."

The source material for this new Edgar Wright joint is a comic book series by Bryan Lee O'Mally that pays homage to classic arcade-style video games. There are boss battles, enemies that turn into coins when defeated, and combos galore here. But does it deliver to more than just the gamer demographic? Let's take a look, shall we?

Here's fifteen seconds worth of the plot to get you grounded for this review. Scott Pilgrim meets a girl. He likes said girl. Unfortunately, this girl has seven evil exes that will attempt to kill Scott if he tries to date her.

This leads to a problem. There are SEVEN evil exes. Sure, this works in a six book comic series, but in a movie that is a little under two hours, that means there isn't much time left for character development, thematic exploration, or anything close to side story. The film is paced well enough that it could have been fine with being over two hours, and this could have solved this problem. Unfortunately for us, it didn't.

We've got Edgar Wright on our side, though, and he knows what's up. Wright does his best to make the Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers' relationship be believable, and he did better than most directors would have, but in the end he just didn't cut himself enough time. All this bashing is kind of a downer. Let's jump to good stuff for a bit.

Between a decently humorous script and Michael Cera's delivery, this film ends up being pretty funny. It manages to poke fun at Seinfeldian sit-coms, DDR, and, of course, video games.

Speaking of which, this movie is essentially nerd porn. No, it doesn't star Emma Watson. This film, as I stated earlier, is stylized as if it were an old arcade game. This is pretty cool. Wright does a fantastic job of capturing that style. From the graphics that indicate how many points an enemy was worth to the infamous NegaNinja, it's all here. This is compounded by the fact that it is based on a graphic novel, so we get comic book "Ka-Pows" and all that jazz, which is neat. Both of these aspects get a little tedious near the end, when we have our fiftieth shot of the characters faces cut by comic book lines (similar to the picture in this post.)

Because it is fun despite its flaws, Scott Pilgrim gets a B. (I'm testing out actually rating my movies with a letter grade. We'll see if this lasts. Also, I didn't say "zeitgeist.")