Rating: 5/5
The movie is about two undercover cops who infiltrate a big drug smuggling organization. Pretty soon they got entwined into this world and Sonny (Colin Farrel) especially faced the risk of losing sight of the original objective. But he declared he hasn’t and proved it, somewhat, in the movie’s action packed climax reminiscent of Heat’s street shootout.
There are chick flicks and there are guy flicks. This is definitely a guy flick. And definitely not an art film. But don’t think that’s bad!
Rating: 4/5
“It’s just a case of land grabbing.” These words from my classmate grossly oversimplified the Middle East issue. The following is not as simplified and will surely muddle up the issue. But the world is never a simple place.
Jews, along with other people, have been in the Middle East area since the dawn of civilization. After all, the area is the cradle of civilization. And where there is civilization, there have always been war (so much for being civil). During these times, kingdoms (including Jewish kingdoms) rose and fell, people migrated and immigrated. So much so that you scarcely can tell which is which and who is who.
But it was the conquest by Roman Empire that really ended the Jewish kingdoms and led to the Jewish diaspora, the scattering of the Jewish people all over the world. There they became merchants, bankers, doctors, etc. and became well-off. For this people resented them and they were oppressed: forced to live in ghettos and suffering through organized massacres. They even had a word for it: pogrom. The funny thing here is that, though they were still oppressed, the Jews were actually generally treated better in Muslim areas than in Christian areas.
At some point in time, some Jewish thinkers decided that the only way the oppression will stop is through the [re]creation of a Jewish homeland. This is the basic tenet of the movement which became known as Zionism. The Zionists worked towards this end culminating in migrations by Jews [back] to the Middle East, the pressuring on the British for the allocation of land, and the formation of Israel.
This formation came about in the midst of an attack by Arab countries (which included Lebanon) opposed to it. Israel fought off the attack and several other attacks through the years. In this forge of war, Israel became a strong country. You can’t easily oppress a strong country but the hate goes on. People do not hate Israel for what it does. People have always hated Israel. Israel does what it does because people hate them.
It turned out to be quite a good watch. It’s about the adventures of two friends as they made a decision to leave what they have to do and people they love behind to travel across South America. Most of us probably had the same conflicts and stayed pretending that we can do it later. But do we really NEED to do these things? Can’t the ones we love wait or at least go with us? Can we really do it later? But these two, travel they did with just a few bucks, some bags, an old motorcyle, and their wits. The epitome of the spirit of adventure.
It is also in a way a view on the plight of the rural South Americans and a glimpse of the influences behind Che Guevara’s ideology later in life. One scene of this aspect that I particularly liked is when they asked a couple they met along the way on why they are travelling. The couple responded “To work.” then threw back the question. There was silence as the friends took the answer in and finally answered “We travel just to travel.” It captured the essence of the issue.
The movie is probably not for everyone but do at least give it a try to see if it is for you. If it is, you won’t be disappointed.
Rating: 4/5
Once upon a time, there was a man who asked a woman to marry him. She said no. And he lived happily ever after.