Syriana

[Zardoz]

I guess you could call this the first of the "end of the oil age" movies:

Syriana trailer

Syriana reviews

Generally good reviews, but it sounds like it takes some concentration to keep track of what is going on.

 

[Dave A]

I've not noticed this movie before, it looks and sounds like it could be really good.

 

[Solid Fro]

Just like The Day After Tomorrow, this trailer gave me a slight chill. I dug deeper.

George Clooney and Matt Damon, hmmm? Doesn't seem to be off on the right foot. Then I saw the slight subliminal messages at the end of the trailer: CIA, DIE, LIE, OIL, etc. Finally, I saw the URLs at the end: http://participate.net/ which leads you to a site that campaigns it's agenda through movies like North Country and Good Luck, Good Night, and to create "social change."

Oh, geeez. Talk about 1984... Funny how one of the blog posts on the site talks about how America inserting it's own propaganda into the media.

Quite ironic.

Doesn't matter "how good" this movie is, it is already dead in the water. 👎

 

[VIPFREAK]

Looks interesting but oddly feels like a micheal moore propaganda some how. I don't know if that's better than bush propaganda.

 

[Sprite]

Yes this film looks good, will watch it soon as it hit the shores of the uk. 👍

 

[Solid Fro]

Looks interesting but oddly feels like a micheal moore propaganda some how. I don't know if that's better than bush propaganda.

Bush propaganda?

Oh, you mean some of that Bush and Miss Beazley videos?

 

[Zardoz]

...Finally, I saw the URLs at the end: http://participate.net/ which leads you to a site that campaigns it's agenda through movies like North Country and Good Luck, Good Night, and to create "social change."

I'm really curious to find out what your specific objections are to each of the four "causes" posted on the top of their home page. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they seem to me to be about the physical abuse of women, the way the news media has been corrupted into just another entertainment outlet, America's extremely dangerous dependence on imported oil, and athletic programs for disabled people.

Tell us how a reference to that web site earns the movie your thumbs down.

 

[Solid Fro]

Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions of people, rather than to impartially provide information. In some cultures the term is neutral or even positive, while in others the term has acquired a strong negative connotation.

The most common use of the term (historically) is in political contexts; in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments, political groups, and other often covert interests. Some propaganda includes significant and deliberate falsehoods. However the message does not have to be untrue to qualify as propaganda, but it may omit so many pertinent truths that it becomes highly misleading.

The aim of propaganda is to influence people's opinions actively, rather than to merely communicate the facts about something. For example, propaganda might be used to garner either support or disapproval of a certain position, rather than to simply present the position. What separates propaganda from "normal" communication is in the subtle, often insidious, ways that the message attempts to shape opinion. For example, propaganda is often presented in a way that attempts to deliberately evoke a strong emotion, especially by suggesting illogical (or non-intuitive) relationships between concepts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda

 

[Zardoz]

Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation directly aimed at influencing the opinions of people, rather than to impartially provide information. In some cultures the term is neutral or even positive, while in others the term has acquired a strong negative connotation.

The most common use of the term (historically) is in political contexts; in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments, political groups, and other often covert interests. Some propaganda includes significant and deliberate falsehoods. However the message does not have to be untrue to qualify as propaganda, but it may omit so many pertinent truths that it becomes highly misleading.

The aim of propaganda is to influence people's opinions actively, rather than to merely communicate the facts about something. For example, propaganda might be used to garner either support or disapproval of a certain position, rather than to simply present the position. What separates propaganda from "normal" communication is in the subtle, often insidious, ways that the message attempts to shape opinion. For example, propaganda is often presented in a way that attempts to deliberately evoke a strong emotion, especially by suggesting illogical (or non-intuitive) relationships between concepts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda

Lots of people try to use films to influence us, don't they? :

"Is it propaganda? Is it patriotism? Perhaps it's both."

The term "propaganda film" could sure cover a ton of movies, couldn't it? Some that come to mind include "Birth of a Nation", "Who is John Doe?", "The Grapes of Wrath", "The Green Berets", "Red Dawn", and even a joke like "Delta Force".

I don't know, but it seems that a movie like "Syriana", which explores what our complete dependency on Middle East oil is going to do to us in the very near future, is a film that could do us a lot of good.

And I still don't see why the four subjects on the "Participate" web site would be objectionable to anybody.

 

[a6m5]

I just finished watching this film. I'm giving it an "A". Also, this film may be propaganda to the Far-Right Americans, but it depic the "behind-the-scenes" politics very well. It does definitely lean to the left, but those shady deals, assassinations, framing, scandals, they really do happen. It's not just the U.S. either. Don't be naive. All the major governments operate this way, and this is how it's been done forever. It goes on from the agencies that we don't even know they exist, to CIA, to corporate levels. Enough about politics and conspiracies though.

My MVP of "Syriana" is Amanda Peet. We all knew that she is really cute and really funny. As Matt Damon character's wife in this movie, she moved up few notches. Now, she's pretty much one of the best actresses in my book. George Clooney was fat. He gained a few for this role, he was pretty good. His character wasn't too bright(for an veteran CIA operative), so that bothered me a little bit. Jefferey Wright, who I must admit, never noticed him before. He was excellent. It shouldn't be, but another huge surprise was Christopher Plummer. I didnt' even know he was still around. When he goes, he will be sorely missed, because he still is one of the finest actors around. Unfortunately, I don't know any names of the actors who played the characters on the Arab side, but they were really excellent as well. Some were even better, simply magnificent.

This movie is around 2 hours long, but it's one of those movies that wasn't long enough. It is out on DVD for rent or buy, I strongly recommend this film. 👍👍

 

[Dave A]

I watched this movie when it first came out in the cinemas, I wasn't overly impressed with it because I was having trouble following it, but that was due to the fact that I was half asleep before we even got there let alone by the end of the movie. It's one of thoes you really need to be wide awake to appreciate, I will watch it again to get a proper viewing of it, but I think it's one of thoes films you need to be in the right mood when you watch it because I was definitely in the wrong one when i saw it .

 

[a6m5]

Yeah, if you follow the Middle East politics or just plain knowledgeable about oil politics, it will be easier to follow, but this certainly isn't new Spiderman movie. DVD is great, because if you miss a key conversation or something, you can just rewind and hear it again.

P.S. I didn't mention Chris Cooper in my earlier post. He was every bit as great as you expect him to be.

 

[555]

I think Syriana is a film you either really like or really hate.

The view of me & my mate. Utterly boring!! It was good for about 30 mins, but then it was sleep enducing (literally), my mate fell asleep for a few mins. I think it couldve been better, had the characters had room to breathe, there was far to much going on at times. And it must really go some for me to lose interest in a film. I mean i managed to sit through Battlefield Earth & The Postman.
I think id give it 5/10

 

[a6m5]

It took me two tries to finish this movie as well, but that was because I was sleepy before the movie started. I wanted to finish it, but couldn't stay awake. My coworker today told me that he fell asleep during this movie as well! He didn't like it.

 

[Zrow]

I also admit that I also dozed off for a minute or so during the middle of it - I was pretty tired when I started it though.

 

[Dave A]

The thing with this film is it's so damn slow, and all the important bits of info are tucked in the general dialogue so you have to be paying close attention to what they say to get the next bit, I missed loads of it.