The Jarheads of the title are a group of young and relatively inexperienced Marines facing their first real combat in the Iraqi war. Sam Mendes' film deals with some familiar dilemmas of the modern battle field, namely; ‘who exactly am I fighting and why?', a question compounded by a heady mixture of fear and the desire to shoot someone. The first hour and a bit is about their confusion and increasing disgruntlement with the lack of clarity of their orders and how tedious the almost 4 months the
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JOHN PILGER DOCUMENTARIES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (2003)
CertificationE Our Rating
'Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq' (2000), 'Palestine is still the Issue' (2002), 'Breaking the Silence: Truth and Lies in the War on Terror' (2003)
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OUTFOXED (2004)
CertificationE Our Rating
‘Fast, Fair and Balanced'. So the FOX News credo goes. This compelling (if slightly overcooked) documentary about the systematic bias inherent in Murdoch's Neo-Conservative news channel is a must see to anyone with a passing interest in how They take Their news over There. From explaining how FOX's misinformation led to a massive percentage of its viewers believing there was a proven link between Iraq and Al Quaeda to a sensational interview with the belligerent Bill O'Reilly chastising the son
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REDACTED (2007)
Certification15 Our Rating
Another Iraq movie, this time a true story from Samarra about an atrocity committed by US troops. Not exactly gratifying, rape and murder rarely are, the film's narration may 'sympathise' with 'brutalised' squaddies, but the characters portrayed are thoroughly unpleasant.
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STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (2008)
Certification15 Our Rating
With over two years of investigation, including the collection of a million and a half words of interview transcript, 'Standard Operating Procedure', from director Errol Morris, is the story behind the infamous photographs taken by US soldiers in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. Not as interesting or revelatory as you might hope, and hamstrung as Morris is by the fact that most of those interviewed aren't that bright or able to verbalise why they did what they did, and are only clear that they were hun
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STOP-LOSS (2007)
Certification15 Our Rating
Stop-Loss is the process by which when American soldiers terms of service come to an end they find that their contract has been compulsorily extended. In this film three blue-collar Texas boys, who've had a hard time in Iraq, return to a civilian life which they can't adjust to and, for one, being press-ganged for another tour of duty is all too much and he legs it.
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TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE (2007)
Certification15 Our Rating
Starting with the murder in an Afghan prison of an innocent taxi-driver by American soldiers, this brilliant documentary outlines the lines of command from Cheney and Rumsfeld down to those on the front line. We learn about the techniques of torture and who authorised which methods. We hear about some of the history of CIA torture methods, the irrelevance of torture to extracting information and its use as a weapon of terror and political posturing by those in power in Washington.
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THE DEVIL'S DOUBLE (2011)
Certification18 Our Rating
Adapted from Latif Yahia’s ‘apparently’ autobiographical novel, we follow him through the hedonistic and sadistic world of Saddam Hussein’s infamous son Uday in the late eighties just prior to the first Iraqi ‘conflict’.Ladif is chosen as Uday’s double and i
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THE HURT LOCKER (2009)
Certification15 Our Rating
US Army Sergeant Will James, Sergeant JT Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge comprise the Bravo Company's bomb disposal unit and it is their 38 days together in the chaotic and bloody period following the US/UK led occupation of Iraq that we closely follow. Sanborn plays it by the rules, Eldridge is insecure about his soldiering role and James is seen by his colleagues as a dangerously committed loose cannon and a threat to their survival chances. Hurt Locker is a slick, well directed, performe
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THE KINGDOM (2007)
Certification15 Our Rating
A team of four FBI forensics experts are sent to Saudi Arabia after the mass killing of American oil workers. What begins as an investigation soon turns into a hard arsed fight and, damn, these boys and girls are up for it. "The Kingdom" is a well right of centre action-drama with a simplistic childlike view of the world. Just don't think too hard, slap your scruples in a dark draw and, as an action flick, it won't let you down.
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