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Syriana

sal

By sal
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sal Newbie

sal

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I saw Syriana on Friday night, and I must say that this is the most thought provoking American film that I've seen in a movie theater in years. The film, through an intentionally complicated plot, shows how big oil executives, American government employees, Middle Eastern royal families, and many others go to extreme lengths to ensure American domination of the oil industry, and most importantly, it shows the negative consequences of these behaviors, such as Islamic extremism, political assassinations, and basically the loss of morals.

It was an absolutely stunning film that I think people on this board will appreciate. The themes are so powerful and well-executed, that its easy to overlook the technical aspects of the film itself. The cinematography and editing are excellent, and the performances are all solid, especially George Clooney's, who is an actor that I've never particularly liked before this year ("Good Night and Good Luck" is also one of the year's best). The movie's intricate plot details can be confusing at times (which adds to the effect of the film....see it and you'll know what I mean), but overall the message is clear. Do yourself a favor and check this one out.

Anyone seen it yet? Thoughts?

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jazzbo Grand Master

jazzbo

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Definitely will be seeing it within the next few weekends. Been looking forward to it since seeing the first trailers months ago.

Clooney is one of those few actors (Pitt is another) who I really don't want to like so much but have to admit can really act if challenged to!

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patricia Newbie

patricia

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Can't pick just one, Harold. "Munich" and "Syriana", which I think looks the most intriguing, are now on my list. They are all showing here now, so the temptation is to back-to-back them.

I'm curious to discover why "King Kong" has merited yet another re-make. How many is this now?

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Harold_Z Newbie

Harold_Z

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Can't pick just one, Harold. "Munich" and "Syriana", which I think looks the most intriguing, are now on my list. They are all showing here now, so the temptation is to back-to-back them.

I'm curious to discover why "King Kong" has merited yet another re-make. How many is this now?

Three that I know of.

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Johnny E Newbie

Johnny E

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I saw Syriana on Friday night, and I must say that this is the most thought provoking American film that I've seen in a movie theater in years. The film, through an intentionally complicated plot, shows how big oil executives, American government employees, Middle Eastern royal families, and many others go to extreme lengths to ensure American domination of the oil industry, and most importantly, it shows the negative consequences of these behaviors, such as Islamic extremism, political assassinations, and basically the loss of morals.

Better watch it Sal, this topic is just about to get sucked into the Hidden Hole. Better not go into any more details regarding the plot...So how are the box office receipts? Is it a commercial success?

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Alexander Newbie

Alexander

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I've been a big Clooney fan for years (well, I like both him AND his aunt). The first film that really caught my attention was "Out of Sight" (which is an AWESOME movie). To me, George Clooney is a leading man in the "old Hollywood" sense. He's like Cary Grant (another favorite of mine) or Jimmy Stewart. You don't so much go to the movie to see him act as much as you go to see HIM. To experience his presence. His personality is absolutely magnetic. You can't look away...

I realize I sound like I have a crush on him...and I suppose I do, in a non-sexual sort of way. :g

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Rosco Newbie

Rosco

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Can't pick just one, Harold. "Munich" and "Syriana", which I think looks the most intriguing, are now on my list. They are all showing here now, so the temptation is to back-to-back them.

I'm curious to discover why "King Kong" has merited yet another re-make. How many is this now?

Three that I know of.

Does the one with Jessica Lange count? :rfr

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Harold_Z Newbie

Harold_Z

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Can't pick just one, Harold. "Munich" and "Syriana", which I think looks the most intriguing, are now on my list. They are all showing here now, so the temptation is to back-to-back them.

I'm curious to discover why "King Kong" has merited yet another re-make. How many is this now?

Three that I know of.

Does the one with Jessica Lange count? :rfr

1 - Fay Wray

2- Jessica Lange

3- Naomi Watts

Really I think I'll see Syriana and Munich before King Kong.

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BruceH Newbie

BruceH

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What a coincidence; I saw Syriana last Sunday. It struck me as a good movie, easy to like, hard to love. Very earnest, but interesting to see the various players go through their paces. Many of the characters don't meet, but the actions of one will affect another, and their reaction will affect someone else, and so on. They sure used a heck of a lot of recognizable character actors and stars. In this way it reminded me of Soderburgh in general, particularly with the movie Traffic. I hear that the writer of Traffic was the writer and director of Syriana. In some ways I thought it was tighter than Traffic, no longer than it needed to be.

The thing about Clooney as an actor is that he's so recognizable now that his presence can distract from a character despite the fact that his acting has, if anything, improved over time. This is probably ONE of the reasons that he bulked-up and grew a beard for this role. He did a good job here, but as my wife said, you don't forget that he's George Clooney. But that didn't matter so much, since in this ensemble film he's just one cog in the works. I initially found it very distracting that one of the princes (the smart one) was played by Alexander Sidig, the actor who played Dr. Bashir on Deep Space Nine. I was wishing they had gotten someone else, because I couldn't get Bashir out of my mind, but after a while he started looking different to me. That has to be some sort of compliment to the acting, directing, or something.

I was expecting the torture scene with Clooney to by worse, after hearing about it for so long. I was wondering if Bob (the character) was going to be tortured for days, but it was over quickly. They may have cut a lot out, from this and other scenes, and if so, I think that cutting was probably a good idea.

Alexander----Out of Sight is my favorite Clooney film too, by quite a margin. And I tend to agree with you that Clooney has that "Old Hollywood" star chemistry. It's just too bad that they don't make Old Hollywood movies anymore.

The most interesting character, for me, was the black investigator, the one whose job it is to sift through tons of oil company documents and find something. He was the most isolated character in the film, I thought, living with his drunken father, kind of low on the corporate food-chain, not part of the in-crowd, having to prove himself, and censore himself. I found myself wishing for more time with him. There's a moment when he and his boss are in a fine restaraunt and Plumber's character, Whiting, comes in. He says hello to the two, and the black guy automatically offers his hand and Whiting just refuses to take it! He just keeps his hands to himself, leaving the guy hanging, and says "How are ya?" The guy is just sort of stunned or nonplussed for a moment, and just sort of swallows it, as he has to. You wondered how many little humiliations like that he had to put up with in the average week.

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BruceW Newbie

BruceW

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Saw Syriana last week and also saw King Kong;

Syriana is a movie everyone must see. Hard to follow, hard to understand, but the point looms very clear. Oil is very important and people and countries will do anything to have it and/or control it. I personally think the casting was close to perfect. The actors, their nuances, their faces, all seemed to fit their parts very well.

King Kong is a great remake. The absolute very best yet. Of course Fay Wray in the original was the original and captivating at the time. A classic now. FORGET the remake with Jessica Lang, it was a horrible whored version. The latest version with Naomi Watts by Peter Jackson will stand for a very long time. Doesn't anyone thing Naomi Watts should have been freezing her ass off on top of the Empire State building in the winter; standing there with her hair blowing in the wind in a very thin evening gown.

As a matter of fact, the wind should have blown their her ass away, but it is a very good movie and some flaws have to be overlooked.

:-))

<_<

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  • 2 weeks later...
Harold_Z Newbie

Harold_Z

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SYRIANA QUESTION. (IF YOU DIDN'T SEE IT YET DON'T READ THIS.)

Saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it. There's lots of cuts from one subplot to another. Just let it flow and it the plot unfolds................. BUT one thing I didn't understand.

What was George Clooney trying to do at the end when he stopped the procession of cars ?

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BruceH Newbie

BruceH

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SYRIANA QUESTION. (IF YOU DIDN'T SEE IT YET DON'T READ THIS.)

Saw it this afternoon and enjoyed it. There's lots of cuts from one subplot to another. Just let it flow and it the plot unfolds................. BUT one thing I didn't understand.

What was George Clooney trying to do at the end when he stopped the procession of cars ?

I figured he was trying to warn the guy that there was a CIA hit out on him. A little late on that, as it turned out.

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