Category Archives: Vietnam Redux

War and the damage done: Review of In the Valley of Elah

By Andres Kabel | Published: June 5, 2009

 From scanning reviews, I’d always presumed In the Valley of Elah to form part of the early post-9/11 response from decent filmmakers. After the initial, palpable, fear-led self-consorship by the American media came a clutch of movies that attempted to criticize the invasion of Iraq, not directly but hesitantly at the fringes of the war. Most [...]

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Another competent, uncaptivating thriller: Review of Body of Lies

By Andres Kabel | Published: May 17, 2009

The search for brilliant modern thrillers goes on . . . and on. There seem to be so few that I’m forever trying unpromising ones, such as Body of Lies, directed by the master, Ridley Scott, which came out six months ago and is already available on DVD. I expected taut, visually sparkling direction from [...]

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Pursuing the torturers

By Andres Kabel | Published: April 16, 2009

At last year’s Melbourne Writers Festival, I was priveleged to attend a session featuring Philippe Sands, a lawyer and the author of Torture Team, an eye-opening book that examined the Bush administration’s apparent complicity in the torture practices that so shocked the civilized world. Sands came across as extremely logical, most determined, and possessed of [...]

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