Movie Thread

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

He chose the lesser of two evils.

[Kugelfisch]

Say what you will, but at least Tupac dodged a bullet.

The only one he dodged.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

He had the choice which bullet to dodge. He chose wisely.

[CuckTurdginson]

The Wild Bunch is so fucking good - hadn’t seen it in 10 years.
Tarantino wishes he were Peckinpah.

[veris leta facies]

Munich (2005)

In the aftermath of these recent events in Israel, I thought I'd watch a few movies related to the topic. I had seen this one before when it was new, but I didn't really remember anything about it. Spielberg is capable of occasionally making a good movie, when he doesn't make his trademark over-sentimentalising and spoon-feedy garbage, and when he's not out doing (((propaganda))) like Schindler's List (OK, it's still a movie with some merits). Would he be able to make a watchable film about the Munich attack and its aftermath? Let's find out!

The film is about the story of Israeli Mossad agent Avner, who is recruited by the state of Israel to kill all those behind the Munich massacre. This theme opens up a lot of opportunities to look at the Israel-Palestine issue on many levels. So, how deep does Spielberg go? Well, no difficult topics are really brought up, Spielberg settles for stating: "deep down we are all the same", "both parties are equally at fault" and "violence breeds violence", what a brilliant insigt there Mr. Spielberg, that's deep. Spielberg absolutely knocks it out with his undoubtedly genius uptake, as Avner's gang chases terrorists across Europe, this visionary keeps reminding us in very ingenious ways about the locations of the venues, in France we see the Eiffel Tower, in Holland everyone rides bicycles. I was a little disappointed that we didn't see the Big Ben in the scene set in England, but at least it rained in these scenes, Spielberg at least threw us that bone lol.

The events in Munich and the assassination events taking place in Europe overlap. It all builds up to this beautiful mass murder/sex-crescendo where Avner is fucking his wife and ejaculates while thinking of the mass murder that happened in Muni.. Wait, what?? Don't fuck with me Spielberg! Really, what the hell is this? There's even this sweaty, euphoric hair flip in slow motion as the Munich hostages are being murdered and melodramatic music plays at full blast, what an absolutely ridiculous scene! If these are the things that go through Avner's head while he's having sex, maybe it would be a good time to make an appointment with a shrink. Or.. or could it be that Jews get off by the deaths of other Jews? Like it's some sort of a Jew thing, they are people so exterminable that even they themselves are excited by their own deaths? That's why muh six gorillion is so important to them, not to mourn them but to get aroused about it? That's pretty crazy and fucked up Spielberg. Even Takashi Miike, the king of WTF-cinema, doesn't go to these levels.

The film finally ends with a shot of the Twin Towers that has nothing to do with anything. Or maybe it was Spielberg's visual reminder to the viewer that we are now in NEW YORK.

Sword of Gideon (1986)

I started watching this not knowing anything about the movie, all I knew was that it was an 80's Canadian TV movie about Mossad assassinations and it starred Steven Bauer, actor whose most famous role was playing Manny in Scarface. After twenty or so minutes of watching, I had to press pause and start reading about the movie, this is almost a copy of Munich (or rather, Munich is a copy of this), the same events and scenes, the same characters and the same names with the same fictional characters (Avner), almost the same lines etc. Are these movies based on the same book or something, or did Spielberg completely rip this movie off? It turns out both of these films are based on the book Vengeance by George Jones.

For some reason prior to seeing this movie, I was left with the impression that Steven Bauer is just a hunk with very limited range in acting, but he was not bad at all here. The role offers a wide range of different strong emotions to portray out (anger, sorrow, inner conflict) and he was completely believable in his role (also more believable as a Jew than Eric Bana). SoG is actually quite impressive, it was made with only a fraction of the budget of Munich, but it doesn't really lose to it in any aspect. You could say it's Vengeance without the Spielberg cheese. SoG also deepens the story in many scenes, such as how much Avner was paid for the assassinations, how the group was instructed to dispose of each other's bodies should any of them happen to die during the mission, etc. An explanation is also given as to why bicycles were used in the assassination set in Holland. This time we also see Big Ben in a scene set in England. Now my Mossad-assassination European Sightseeing Tour is complete. Strangely, this movie also ends with a shot of the Twin Towers in New York. It's like poetry.

Conclusion: These are both actually pretty competent films, despite their own flaws. Solid 8/10 both. Politics aside, if you take these as mere agent thrillers, both of these contain several quite brilliant and suspenseful scenes. Would I unreservedly recommend these to anyone? No. But if the subject matter is interesting to you (Mossad assassinations in the aftermath of the Munich events), these are both must-sees.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Did the scenes in Munich have anyone in Lederhosen? Just so you know it's in Bavaria?
Personally I'm more interested in the attack itself, and more specifically the colossal incompetence shown by the authorities.

>both movies show the Twin Towers
9/11 Inside Job theory confirmed.

[Le Redditeur]

Did the scenes in Munich have anyone in Lederhosen? Just so you know it's in Bavaria?
Personally I'm more interested in the attack itself, and more specifically the colossal incompetence shown by the authorities.

The same kind of inompetence that allows a massive terrorist attack employing fucking paragliders to happen without no one being the wiser - if you don't believe the theory that the Israeli government just let it happen to have an excuse to carpet bomb the remaining Palestinians they wanted to permanently displace and prop up the faltering Bibi government.

[Kugelfisch]

Which I don't. Believing a shit government fucks up yet again is very easy.

[Lindsay's Liver]

Have you guys seen the dwarfs for the upcoming Disney live-action reboot of Snow Latinx?

The dwarfs are now CGI. Looks great!!!!!!

[CuckTurdginson]

Oh, no…
That looks like straight up ass.
Looking forward to blacked Fantasia.
I’m sure the budget is inflated.