Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Sherman's March, The Woodsman, & Othello

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib was extremely distressing. Depressing, as well. That Americans could possibly do the things that they did in Abu Ghraib is a permanent stain upon our country. The use of the Milgram experiment footage fits quite well with the concept of a government that not only condones, but encourages torture. Graner's commendation for his work at Abu Ghraib definitely suggests that it was encouraged. It's definitely interesting, even if there was nothing I didn't already know (except for the bits blurred out in the pictures available online, but I am familiar enough with the male anatomy that I didn't need them unblurred). That it is available really does make one wonder why anyone thinks that torture is a good way to do anything except turn people against you.

Sherman's March: A Mediation to the Possibility of Romantic Love in the South During an Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation is both an interesting and inherently masturbatory look at one man's search for a woman to love in the 1980s South. It's quite long, but that allows for a slow rhythm to be created allowing the film to live up to that subtitle. Ross McElwee is an odd man, although I do wish that constantly carrying a video camera around would help you pick up women now rather than just have them think you're a creep. McElwee is clearly not a creep, since he seems to be genuinely nice to everyone, except possibly Burt Reynolds, but he deserves it. The biographical aspects of Sherman do work quite well with Ross's look at his love-life (and lack thereof). The survivalists who were building tennis courts don't really fit in well with anything, except the shambling nature of the documentary. Not quite as focused on Bright Leaves, but quite worth watching if you either enjoy 80s female hair or navel gazing. I do wonder if that exercise works to fix cellulite, though. Maybe I just need to watch more women do that to make sure...

The Woodsman bothered me because it was Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick. Actually, it's mainly Kyra Sedgwick. Not a big fan of hers. It does deal with the important issue of how to reintegrate sex offenders into society without turning them into repeat offenders, but just eh. I didn't like anyone in the film, except Robin, so I pretty much was just eh. I didn't care. I guess it was good, and Mos Def occasionally was interesting, but eh.

Othello was the one with Orson Welles in blackface. Yes... sigh... I wish that it was just because they couldn't have a black man kissing a white woman, but it's really because it wasn't that big of an issue. It is more visually interesting than most of Shakespeare's movies, but I am not at all a fan of the play. Give me King Lear any day. It's just overwhelmingly depressing, with the innocents punished far too much, being unnecessarily unpleasant. I wish Welles had made a movie that didn't require him to wear blackface. It's good despite that, though.