|
|
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CookDojo.com |
home | recipe box | cooking recipe e-book | recipe management software | gourmet web template | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Others say...
"A study in unreasonable torture" I like films that question the methods our present administration is involved, and this film does that. Well acted by all, including a caustic Senator enacted very well by Meryl Streep. The film raises the question of how far can we go in the detaining of a person we suspect to be a terrorist and the methods of what constitues "torture". I think the only people who would object to this film would be the conservative right. "A serious film about a serious topic that will make you cringe" This 2007 film is scary. That's because the theme is about the practice of interrogating suspected terrorists in a foreign country where laws against torture do not apply. This practice is called rendition and this film makes it real. It's hard to watch. The film opens in an American middle class suburb. Reese Witherspoon is playing with her small son when they get a phone call from her husband, Omar Metwally, an Egyptian citizen who has lived in America for 20 years. He tells his wife and son he is on the way home from a business trip and they plan on meeting him at the airport. All seems well. When he gets off the plane, however, he is detained at the airport and questioned. He is a chemical engineer and the questioners are asking questions about a terrorist bomb plot. He denies everything. He seems clean but Meryl Streep, playing a high powered Washington decision maker, orders him to be put into rendition and he is whisked away to an unnamed middle eastern country and his name erased from the plane's passenger log while his wife and son wait patiently at the airport for a husband and father who has disappeared. The scene now shifts to an unnamed middle eastern country where Yagal Noor, an Israeli actor of Jewish Iraqi descent, is cast in the role of the interrogator. Jake Gyllenhaal is cast as an American diplomat, who has just lost a co-worker in a suicide bombing, and has been promoted to assist Yagal Noor with the questioning. It is awful. I am cringing now just writing about it as scenes of waterboarding and electric shock torture are shown in detail. There is also a subplot about the interrogator's daughter and a suicide bomber which expands the story. In the meantime Reese Witherspoon is trying desperately to find her husband. She seeks out an old boyfriend, played by Peter Sarsgaard who works for a senator, played by Alan Arkin. Even when they confront Meryl Streep, there is a blank wall of silence. Jake Gyllenhaal, however, is beginning to have a change of heart as the torturing goes on. This is a serious film about a serious topic. It will make you cringe and it will also make you think. I give it a high recommendation but it is not recommended for the faint of heart. "Outstanding" Outstanding presentation of a dark turn in American policy. "For every man you torture, you make a thousand enemies." "Good, gripping movie" This was definitely a typical Hollywood portrayal of torture and rendition that I'm sure has gone on. I'm also sure that when authorities are out looking for suspects and leads, they undoubtedly come upon some that are false. I don't think they s/b tortured, but they shouldn't be given rights as US citizens either. I think this movie portrays the exception - a person who's been in the US for 20 years. What should be done? In this case he s/h/b brought in for questioning and detained. then released and watched. For others that have been caught like bin Ladens driver with missiles in the car, they should be imprisoned like he was. "Typical mindless liberal nonsense." Typical left wing "Hate America first" moive. It is all our fault terrorists hate us. There were not terrorists before Bush etc... Save you money and get the same BS from the kook liberal blogs.
|
Rendition
Special offer for you..find the cheapest!
inetvideo from NY, United States offers this stuff for:
inflatable-madness from NC, United States offers this stuff for:
the_nps_store from UT, United States offers this stuff for:
pieceofmindbooks from MA, United States offers this stuff for:
Moms Video Store offers this stuff with condition New, new for:
moviemars from NC, United States offers this stuff for:
-dvdlegacy- from NY, United States offers this stuff for:
mediathrill from IL, United States offers this stuff for:
detroitwhut offers this stuff with condition New, new for:
Supermart offers this stuff with condition New, new for:
What our customer's say! "Not vintage Meryl Streep", I am always interested in Meryl Streep. Her name was listed in a way suggesting she was a principal player. She is not. This DVD will give you about 10 minutes of a character type that does not allow Streep to display her range of acting talent. There are many other reviews which address the question of the use of interogation techniques in fighting terrorists and I don't wish to add another. This is not a "war" movie which will bring the country together. "Thought provoking film", Some interesting twists in this one! The acting is well done. The story is more political than I expected but is worth watching. Character portrayal seems genuine although harsh as probably it needs to be to depict the real world. The film seems one sided at times as you are pulled into the situation the pregnant wife is facing waiting for for news about her husband after missing from an international trip. There are no right or wrong answers here. Those in charge are guarded about what they are doing and those who can help are reluctant to risk their careers by getting involved. For the viewer, who is not really sure if the captive is guilty or innocent, it's important to see things from both sides. The tactics are considered legal to fight terrorism but what if the suspect is innocent of the charges? There is a related thread that does not connect until quite late in the film. I had to keep wondering how that story line was related to the main topic - then the surprise ending... and it all comes together. "Our dark history", Rendition is very well done. It left me speechless and exhausted at the end. This movie is an indictment on the outgoing Bush administration and where our country as descended in human and civil rights. "Torture: American Style", Films that incorporate a solid political message along with outstanding performances are few and far between. The problem is incorporating the message without ramming it down the audience's throat. Or not losing the audience in a quagmire of politicalese. Syriana suffered from the latter, while this one suffered only slightly under the strain of throat ramming and some poor character development (or minimal screen time). The film's premise is based on the U.S. legal maneuver known as "extraordinary rendition," which, when translated, means the deportation of suspected terrorists to countries outside the U.S. for interrogation (see torture). Names, a person's birth country, and the color of one's skin come into play strongly, giving the flick a well-deserved sense of political bigotry. When Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally, Munich) comes back to the U.S. (his adopted home country) he is met at the airport by agents who quickly stuff him into a van and whisk him off to a far-away country. The big question is why? The reality is startling. When a U.S. agent is accidentally killed, the U.S. terrorists chasers want a scapegoat or, at the very least, someone to cop to helping the one who did it. And poor Anwar just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (with the wrong name and skin color). Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) stars as a CIA operative who has to witness firsthand the "interrogation" of Amwar. Having been friends with the American who was killed, Douglas Freeman (Gyllenhaal) quickly loses his stomach for the methods used by the U.S.- backed, foreign interrogators. Back in America, Amwar's pregnant wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line) is wondering why he hasn't returned home. Calling upon an old beau named Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard, Jarhead) who works for Senator Hawkins (Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine), Isabella is given the runaround by the higher-ups regarding her husband's whereabouts. Finally given the name of a homeland security person named Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada) she again butts heads with government silence on the policy of extraordinary rendition. Horrible and redeeming, RENDITION has plenty of strong actors who are given tidbit parts (except for Jake Gyllenhaal), giving much of the film an unidentifiable message from the standpoint of characters and our lack of caring for any of them. It is, however, well told. And the way the story works itself from beginning to end and then back again was pretty impressive (more of a parlor trick, though, but still fun to watch). "Extraordinary Rendition", Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: From the Secret Files of Harry Pennypacker Shadow Watcher Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake "I fear you speak upon the rack, where men enforced do speak anything." That's a line from Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, and it's also a key theme in RENDITION, a disturbing, yet very good film. Omar Metwally plays an Egyptian citizen, a successful chemical engineer who has lived in the United States since he was 14-years old. He's married to Reese Witherspoon, has a young son and another child on the way. On his way back to his home in Chicago from a scientific conference in South Africa, he is intercepted at the Washington D.C. airport and taken into custody by the CIA. They believe he is a terrorist and may be responsible for a recent bombing in North Africa. Even though he passes a lie detector test and there is no credible evidence against him, CIA chief Meryl Streep orders that he be sent back to Africa for interrogation and torture. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a low level CIA agent, assigned to oversee Metwally's interrogation. He becomes increasingly uncomfortable with what he observes, particularly after he is convinced that the man is innocent. Alan Arkin and Peter Sarsgaard are cast as the U.S. Senator and his chief aide to whom Witherspoon turns when her husband disappears. RENDITION, directed by Gavin Hood, is a tense, exciting political thriller that follows multiple characters and storylines to a powerful climax. There is also a major surprise near the end of the film. © Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD 
Read this reviews before You buy... "If you think torture's a good idea, follow through your own logic", I was pleasantly surprised by Rendition. Sure, the film is political, and many will feel annoyed at the coverage. But, when you think about it, the torture in the movie "isn't that bad". In other words, if you buy Cheney's POV, then this is the least you could expect to happen - a bit of waterboarding. Is it pleasant to watch? No. But then, again if you agree with Dick, it shouldn't matter much, should it? Why raise a fuss? What I liked about the movie is that it didn't shirk at showing the arguments _for_ torture. Merry Streep's much more convincing when she states "we saved 7000 people with those kinds of methods, a few months back" than her character in Lions For Lambs. Simple, to the point. And some of the Islamists are shown to be pretty ugly-minded folks as well, not much deserving of sympathy. The flip side? Well, the torturee confesses to something he didn't do (wouldn't you, to make it stop?) and the suicide bomber is initially motivated by his own brother's death at the hands of the secret police. The locale seems to be Morocco or Algeria, some Francophone place with heavy anti Islamic repression. So all in all Rendition does a good job of presenting the fairly complex moral context in which this type of torture is being used. Too bad there is no real way to dress it up as an ethical choice, innit? The Gestapo was famous for waterboarding, btw, so be careful which moral side you pick and remember that it costs, heavily, in public relations. Remember also that, if torture really won wars, more countries would be doing it. Movie-wise, the end twist was neat. But I could have done without the Reese Witherspoon pregnancy tearjerker. And Jake's character's actions were a bit hard to believe in. ""The Fight Over 'Rendition'...Has to Be Water-tight!"", You have to go out on a limb reviewing `Rendition'. It makes political points, but it asks relevant questions. Liberals, undoubtedly, will enjoy the import of the film which takes issue with tortured suspects interrogated in foreign lands. Conservatives will take issue with some of the tactics and hand wringing that goes into these procedures, yet it must be stated there are some balances within the film. The most relevant questions have to do with plausibility. Is this a believable and watchable viewing experience? It is, but with some reservations. The film brings us to three major fronts. In Chicago, Egyptian born Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) has called home, informing his wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon) when to pick him up from the air port. He is returning from South Africa on a business trip as a chemical consultant. Meanwhile, in an unnamed country in Northern Africa, a terrorist bombs a café where artist Khalid El-Emir (Moa Khouas) is meeting with his girlfriend, Fatima. Her father is at that café, but so are C.I.A. operatives Dixon (operative head) and his young sidekick, Douglas (Jake Gyllenhaal). During the bomb blast Dixon is killed in their car as a dazed and bloodstained Douglas gets to safety and is appointed temporary head of the operation. In Washington D.C. Anwar makes his last connecting flight home, when he is suddenly detained, hand-cuffed, and interrogated by Lee Mayer (J.K. Simmons). Even more tough minded is official Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep) who ensures Anwar remains extradited in Egypt where he's subject to the kind of torture and coercion not allowed on our own borders. His ordeal is grueling to watch, but the scenes of water boarding, electrical torture, and solitary confinement make an emotional appeal to the audience. Expecting soon, Isabella at least has some of her burden removed by an advocate at our nation's capital. A high aide to Senator Hawkins (Alan Arkin), Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) knows Isabella and Anwar and makes an appeal, trying to investigate his strange disappearance. He becomes impotent when confronting a tight lipped Whitman and Hawkins who doesn't want to appear soft on terror. The weakest link of the movie is not the mistaken identity scenario, which is truly believable, but the method used. Apparently cell phone records were contacted, and officials tell that "maybe" Anwar has a record linking him to the terrorist attack. Of course he does make some calls to relatives, but as traceable as evidence gets, the connection is a little far-fetched. Despite all the characters presented, 'Rendition' is fairly simple to follow. Don't expect it to be as taxing or confusing as 'Syriana (Full Screen Edition)' or 'Babel'. While the film asks unsettling and controversial questions, it doesn't provide the tension or execution of movies like `The Kite Runner' or `A Mighty Heart'. (The latter film was about the beheading of `Wall Street Journal' reporter Daniel Pearl and may satisfy some who may be skeptical about the ability of Hollywood to balance it's views on terrorism.) Here Corrine Whitman is a stalwart, but with a steely voice she does point out to Alan that their operation saved thousands of lives in the U.K. Is this film "fair and balanced"? To a point, but it does raise real issues with a treatment that's well acted, decently scripted, and mostly provides a good, plausible movie experience. "Disturbing", I'm glad that this film was made. The issue covered in this film needs to be made public as many people don't know about `extraordinary rendition' and the ramifications of this government rule. It's maddening to know that you can be taken prisoner and tortured without a court order just because you have a certain name/ appearance. The torture scenes are indescribably horrific but I suppose they needed to make the film as graphically `real' as possible. What I found most disturbing is that the incident that happened in the film has probably happened to countless people. The only part of the film which I found unbelievable was the ending; I sincerely doubt that there is a `light at the end of the tunnel' in reality. The film was well-casted and the acting was so powerful, I needed to remind myself that I was watching a film and not a documentary. "WWJD (what would Jake do?)", would I have the courage to stand up for my principles if it meant that my career would likely be permanently damaged - if not destroyed? could I truly risk my personal & professional comfort in order to help another - without having 100% certainity that I was doing the right thing? these are the personal questions Rendition left me asking? it's easy to get into the abstract Sunday morning talk show debate about US definition & policy on torture or to revisit the freshman-year philosophy class regarding whether the "means justifies the ends". but how about you? me? what are we willing to stand up for? how much risk are we willing to take? are we willing to help someone... but only as long as its not too uncomfortable? use Rendition to take a ride to the Washington DC cocktail party circuit and a Morrocan prison to see what answers and questions you find in your gut. great performances by Jake Gyllenhaal (newly promoted CIA station chief in Morocco), Omar Metwally (the Egyptian-born, American-living, young father & husband who has been "renditioned" to Morocco), Reese Witherspoon (the distraught & confused but determined spouse) and Meryl Streep (the wiley, self-righteous, overly-confident Washington beauracrat). "STUPID", The makers of this film would rather see further terrorist attacks on the United States than do whatever is necessary to interrogate TERRORISTS! Terrorists who have been taken from the BATTLEFIELD. Just plain stupid. (too bad we can't vote negative stars) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Software Download Directory / Files Download / Digital Camera Review
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:15:12 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0.63 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.0.63 OpenSSL/0.9.7a mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635
Last-Modified: Sat, 04 Oct 2008 11:13:00 GMT
ETag: "1eccd5d-56e-88666700"
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 1390
Connection: close
Content-Type: text/plain
Free Online Recipe,
Lowongan Kerja,
Indonesia Map,
Kamus,
Video Lyrics,
Health Vitamin,
PAD Generator,
Free Web Template, Wordpress Theme,
Deal Bargain Offers,
Affiliate Datafeed,
Mac OSX Tricks
Online Game Cheat,
Online Flash Game,
Electric Guitar Review,
RC Helicopter Reviews
Ascii Art, Anagram Finder, Clapper Generator, Post-it Note, Dog Name Generator, Freelance Jobs, Network Tools © Copyright 2000 - 2008 . All Rights Reserved. Online Recipe Collection 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
