Ever forget where you put something? Was that something ever your kid? And when you went looking for that something, did people start telling you that you never had that something to begin with? Thus goes the pitch for “The Forgotten,” the new Julianne Moore vehicle, in which everyone thinks she is insane for insisting she used to have an 8-year-old son, including her psychiatrist, played by Gary
September 23, 2004
Bottom Line:Your standard Hollywood thriller, but it has a nice hook.
When the daughter of the President of the United States goes off to college, she turns into a weapon of mass consumption who drinks and smokes her way onto the front page. Actually, as interesting as that film might be, “First Daughter” serves up a more conservative approach to presidential offspring; when Samantha MacKenzie (the ever-pouting Katie Holmes) goes off to college, she demands of her father (President Michael Keaton) that she not be followed by legions of Secret Service agents. So, being the honest guy he is, he assigns some hot young guy to secretly follow her. What do you think happens when they meet up? What about when she learns the truth? The suspense!
Bottom Line:Maybe there will be some good previews.
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This enlightening documentary, which will play at 7 p.m. Friday at University Place 8, points the camera toward the media covering the Iraq War and sheds some light on the news we get. Focusing most of its attention on the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera, “Control Room” examines the differing truths offered up by both Western and Arab media and what truth lies in between.
If anything, the film, directed by Jehane Noujaim, adds some much-needed humanity to the portrayal of Al-Jazeera, which has consistently been demonized by the Bush administration for allegedly being a platform for Osama bin Laden.
As it turns out, the journalists working for Al-Jazeera who are shown in “Control Room” practice their trade in a manner that seems distinctly Western, showing concern for getting both sides of the story and painting a balanced a picture as possible.
At the same time, we see journalists from all over the world trying to strangle the truth out of the U.S. military. Together, they all become frustrated. There are no cultural divisions when it comes to that.
The film, which was an official selection at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is perhaps not the most technically accomplished film ever made in its genre, but its eye-opening truths more than maintain attention. For media observers, it’s an intriguing look at how the news comes out of Iraq. For the general public, it’s simply an informative look behind the camera. And as for the cynics, they’ll eat up Rumsfeld’s comments about Iraq pushing its lies on the world stage and Bush’s assertion that we will treat prisoners of war humanely.
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