The Newburgh Sting by David Heilbroner and Kate Davis - HBO, 2014

Just 60 miles north of New York City sits the poverty-stricken town of Newburgh, where, in 2009, four men were LURED by a shady Pakistani man into a plot to bomb Jewish centers in the Bronx. But once the men were on board, their leader, who doubled as an FBI undercover agent, led them straight to the authorities. Their arrest was hailed as a national victory in the war on terror. Using never-before-seen footage from hidden cameras, David Heilbroner and Kate Davis investigate just what homegrown terrorism truly means in this shocking and galvanizing exposéis.

This is a documentary that came out I don't know how, since all the footage I guess were supposed to be confidential. This explains so clearly the entrapment there is little to rethink about. The press ate the information provided by the FBI and the Mayor's office, simple PR, good PR for the war against terrorism, except they had it all wrong. Targeting Islam isn't going to build a confidence between the Mosks and government, and therefor isn't going to facilitate a dialogue in case of suspicious behavior within their community. This guy was really an obvious case of somebody trying to get people involved in extremism, that even the Imam noticed in his first visit. Then, the recruiting looks even like a joke. Non-practicing, poor and called by the money, how could they possibly have been smart and say no. The involvement was minimal, and they were naive enough, perhaps unconscious. Now, yes, they accepted to be a part of it, for their own reasons, which are explained by bits by their family, they were following somebody who knew what he was doing, and honestly it looks like it wouldn't have been possible without him. So what does it say about the war on terrorism... There are times when the counter-terrorism is effective, but in this particular case, it has deviated to a community-targeting, with an accent on poor and hopeless people, and Muslims, which is exactly wrong in essence. I think Ben Affleck said it better the other day: "How about more than a billion people who aren’t fanatical, who don’t punch women, who just want to go to school, have some sandwiches, pray five times a day, and don’t do any of the things you’re saying of all Muslims. It’s stereotyping.”

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Homeland Season 4 Premiere, by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa - Showtime, 2014 (TVMA)

with Claire Danes, Rupert Friend, Nazanin Boniadi, Laila Robins (Concussion), Tracy Letts, Mandy Patinkin, Amy Hargreaves, Suraj Sharma (Life of Pi), F. Murray Abraham, Sarita Choudhury, Corey Stoll (House of Cards, Non-Stop, The Normal Heart), Nimrat Kaurm

Carrie Mathison is calling the shots as the newly appointed Station Chief in Afghanistan, deploying every weapon in the Agency's arsenal to fulfill her mission. But every drone strike and tactical raid comes at a cost and she soon learns the true price of power. 

Fuliginous start for Homeland with a two-episode premiere. Honestly, aside from missing Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) through Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), his death doesn't feel like a gap in the story. We already moved on to a far more intriguing storyline. The story reflect on the reality of today's wars in the American way and the controversy of it, through drones and blind operations, as well as the question of guilt and detachment when everything is only visible through screens. On a different level, the series explores the ethical conflict of being a mother but not being able to confront the responsibility. And more... because everything is on a spinning table and we don't know anything, so much is open to possibilities. Looking forward to see where the characters of Aayan Ibrahim (Suraj Sharma - Life of Pi) and Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) are going, and how they will put back once more Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) into the action.
More on Homeland past seasons

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Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow, 2012 (R)

with Jessica Chastain (The Debt, The Help, The Tree of Life, Take Shelter), Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Jennifer Ehle (The King's Speech, Michael Clayton), Mark Strong (Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy, Robin Hood), Kyle Chandler (Argo), Édgar Ramírez, James Gandolfini, Chris Pratt (The Five-Year Engagement), Reda Kateb, Scott Adkins, Taylor Kinney, Mark Duplass (Your Sister's Sister, The Five-Year Engagement), Frank Grillo (The Grey, Warrior), Christopher Stanley (Mad Men, Argo)
From the Director of "The Hurt Locker"

This pulse-pounding thriller dramatizes the night of May 2, 2011, when the Navy's SEAL Team 6 set out to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. The world knows of their triumph; now the chronicle of every perilous second is about to unfold.

Golden Globe for Best performance by an actress in a motion picture - Drama : Jessica Chastain
Oscar Nominated for Best Picture, Actress in a Leading Role, Film Editing, Sound Editing (WON) and Original Screenplay

Intense movie, not only because it starts in a rough note with torture, but also because of the tight ten year timeline to depict, a large amount of relevant people that got involved in the hunt as well as the amount of people interrogated, and finally the complexity of the facts and strategy. It is an interesting movie because it is not as much about the achievement of killing Ben Laden but about the journey, the struggle, the knowledge accumulated, the patience of knowing when to do the right thing, the risk evaluation. As a personal opinion on the operation, I guess because of the large amount of information on that same site allowing to dismantle the network, it didn't feel as vain to kill Ben Laden, but it was definitely lucky. The movie has an interesting ending in that regard, which I found intelligent. Jessica Chastain's role is one of a woman who is determined, intelligent and still very human, sensitive, this is an unusual portrayal of a secret service agent. In a way, Claire Danes in Homeland is a far more extreme character. It is a challenging movie because it makes you think, it doesn't simplify the story to a manhunt. Perhaps the only thing I would say against the movie is that the editing make you feel that everything went very fast, while the characters insist on how long everything takes, which is a contradiction. Still, some movie!

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