This last weekend, I finally got around to renting and watching "The Fog of War" and "The Control Room."

Both were excellent, and should I stumble upon a heaping load of cash, will become permanent residents in my dvd library.

I feel like I have a better handle on what's going on with Al-Jazeera now that I've seen the movie. To be completely honest with you, the only things I knew about Al-Jazeera before I watched the movie, were that it was an Arab based news channel, and that the White House didn't much care for it. But after watching the movie, I now feel that I at least partly understand what Al Jazeera's trying to do.

They seemed to really strive for objectivity, and I can totally respect that. I think the most striking line of the movie is when the program manager says, "Rumsfeld calls this 'insighting,' we call this the only true journalism around." The movie left me with a sense that any news agency is going to be, at least partly, subjective in their coverage. I feel that Al Jazeera at least tries to make it as fair and balanced as they can. From what I can tell, their coverage of the war seemed pretty unbiased. But what do I know? ;-)

"The Fog of War" was EXCELLENT and may be one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. While watching it, I almost gained a sense that war was almost an organic, living and breathing entity that can't be done away with no matter how ugly it is, and no matter how hard people try to stop it. I guess the movie just showed that men are ugly to one another, and that as long as there are men, there will always be war. The movie pointed to the brutalities that war brings, and just laid them out for the viewer.

Robert McNamarra really seems like an intellectual on the subject. He seems to know the ins and outs of war better than anyone I've ever seen interviewed. While not completely apologizing for his actions, I felt as if he knows that maybe his life has led a certain degree of tragedy. He was an uber-intelligent guy, who happened to choose a career where he could put his wicked awesome rationalizing skills to destructive use. It's surreal just thinking about the type of life that he's lived, and the type of destruction people like him have brought upon the world.

Plus, it had a rockin' Philip Glass soundtrack. ;-)

I've just taken two tests back-to-back, and am not making a lick of sense. Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead.

matt out