Why Everyone Needs to See: The Invisible War

The Basics
Genre: Documentary
Director: Kirby Dick
Run Time: 1h39m
Release Date: October 23, 2012
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Being that "The Invisible War" is a documentary, formatting and length will be different than the usual paradigm
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Synopsis
The Invisible War is a documentary, directed by Kirby Dick, that examines the darker grittier elements of female military service. Specifically, The Invisible War tells the stories of a handful of female vets, sharing their story of sexual assault, humiliation, and rape in their time of service. The women interviewed tell an intimate, and heart breaking story of how their lives were turned upside down, and how their life since is the textbook definition of "Murphy's Law".
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Why Everyone Needs to See: The Invisible War
The Invisible War captures the story of one of the greatest human injustices that could be done unto one another, opening to an audience not of certain parties, but as genuine human beings.

There is no possible way I could do the women, and their stories, proper justice by reiterating them on this blog. There story is something that can only be  truly grasped seeing glimpses of a torn, broken soul peeking out their eyes. While The Invisible War only tells the story of fifteen woman, they are quick to illustrate the darker side of serving that most of their higher ups will never admit exists.

Technically speaking, one of the more notable aspects of The Invisible War is it's one of the few political documentaries that doesn't, right off the bat, disenfranchise half its audience like a Michael Moore film might. In fact, even though it puts the military and military politics, under the microscope, The Invisible War speaks to us not as republican/democratic voters, but rather our humanity and common decency. The most gut wrenching thing the film brings to light, besides the assaults and rapes themselves, is that the vast majority of rapes and sexual assault on women (and occasionally men) go unreported. Even those that do get reported, even after being brought to the attention of those who could do justice, hit an impassible brick wall.  Outside of the attackers themselves, the biggest obstacle these women face is the American Military PR. No matter the specifics of each crime, all the cases captured in The Invisible War get lost in the endless cycles of bureaucracy Much like any scandal brought to national attention, it is ablaze for three weeks, and then disappears. The political push back from the military-complex in the film, is twice as much because they, in theory, are America's first impression to the rest of the world. 

A citizen's duty is to be informed, and act appropriately with that information. These women, all women, who have serve(ed) in the military fought just as valiantly as any other. Why everyone needs to see The Invisible War is that after risking their lives, marching through hell, these women earned more than their share of justice. While there may be little we can do for the interviewees themselves, let us do it then for our daughters, their daughters, and grand-daughters whom will surely stand where these women have. 

Why Everyone Needs to See: "28 Weeks Later"

The Basics                                     Cast

Genre: Horror/Survival Horror                                               Jeremy Renner/Rose Byrne/Robert Carlyle

Director: Juan Caros Fresnadillo                                          RT:(70%) IMDb:(7.0) MC:(78%) 

Run Time: 1h40m

Opening Week: $9,800,000

Release Date: May 11th, 2007

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Synopsis

28 Weeks Later is the sequel to the 2002 breakaway film, 28 Days Later. The story picks up, as the title implies, twenty eight weeks after the first transmitted infection of The Rage Virus. In other words, 28 Weeks Later is set twenty eight weeks after the break in at the animal testing lab. As opposed to waking up and facing the apocalyptic nightmare of an eradicated England, the story of 28 Weeks Later brings us back to the shattered nation of England as it slowly, but surely, begins to pick up the pieces cast aside by "Rage" and The Infected.

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Why Everyone Needs to See: 28 Weeks Later

-Those who have seen "28 Weeks Later" are quick to pass judgement, how it is an utter failure in the face of its predecessor. That's only because the last thing "28 Weeks Later" should be compared to is "28 Days Later". In so many ways, the films couldn't be more antithetical to each other.

Abandonment, apathy, betrayal, selfishness, and pride, especially at the perverse degree 28 Weeks Later subjects us too, would never of even crossed the minds of Jim and Selena. 28 Weeks Later in this aspect is a very different, and in some rights more haunting, nightmare than 28 Days Later. While London may be growing back to its full population once more, in regards to something one could actually define as "humane", the streets are just as barren as the ones Jim strode down before. This new, apathetic human nightmare, is the real monster chasing us in 28 Weeks Later.

Don is the characterization of this affliction; while bitten nonetheless, he becomes something darker than the "Rage" that cast the world into this Hell in the first place. Don is the product of a scarred world. Even though her survived the onslaught at the shack, he is far from living. The vice that let him escape such a bloody death, is a soulless evil that will follow him to London, and consume the entire city with it. Even though 28 Days Later itself had an element of human evil about it, the core of the issue was still the infected. In 28 Weeks Later, for all intents and purposes the infected are only catalysts for the evil people unleash on each other.

Why Everyone Needs to See: "Insidious"

The Basics                                  Cast

Genre: Horror (Supernatural/Occult)                               Rose Byrn/Patrick Wilson/Lin Shaye/Ty Simpkins

Director: James Wan

Run Time: 1h42m

"Opening Week: $13,271,464

National Release Date: April 1st, 2011

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Synopsis

Insidious tells the story of the Lambert family. Shortly after moving into a new home, Renae (Rose Byrn) and Josh (Patrick Wilson) Lambert's son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) falls into a deep coma. As it turns out, Dalton's coma cannot be diagnosed or explained in any sort of way, by any tool of modern medicine. As one thing starts to unravel after the other, The Lambert family soon finds themselves facing the reality of Dalton's coma, and its paranormal induction. The Lambert family is pit in a race against time to save their son Dalton, and his soul, from being trapped forever in a supernatural world called "The Further".

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Why Everyone Needs to See Insidious
-Even though "Insidious" is a horror film, there is a lot to be taken from it. So much so that any fan of drama/"rites of passage" stories can enjoy the film just as much.

For most people, the horror genre may seem pretty "cookie cutter", but the reality of horror movies is that the devil is in the details. One of the more prominent features that establishes Insidious apart from other iconic ghost stories, (The Shining, Poltergeist, Paranormal Activity) is that the human characters in the story have a (relatively) great deal of power to hold against the monsters that threaten their son's life.

In The Shining, the hotel itself, and the dreaded Room 237 plays host to what unravels Jack Torrance's sanity. In Poltergeist, the spiritual world crosses over through television static after telecast sign-off, and in Paranormal Activity the ghost is simply an entity all its own. The common thread linking all these stories, is that there is a single (almost omnipresent) paranormal figure following the characters, or that the characters are thrown into with out any choice in the matter. Insidious on the other hand, gives the people a little more charge of the situation. In the world called "The Further", where Dalton Lambert is lost during his comatose state, he wanders amongst the trapped, agonized souls of the dead. He is, what later characters will refer to as, "An Explorer", and a very seasoned one at that. The niche is though, that Dalton has traveled to, and and back again, The Further many a time in his dreams. Dalton was not always lost. What brought Dalton into his coma, among other things, is simply that he "wandered too far, and became lost." The entities within The Further did not seek him out personally from the get go (like Paranormal Activity's spectre). Neither did they become trapped eternally within a hotel. In the case of The Explorers, their body's can be seized by the spirits, giving them a chance to live again. The Further is a world Dalton walked into, all his own, and the spirits seized their opportunity. They didn't just happen. The film later divulges details about Dalton and his family history that further endows The Lamberts' abilities. 

Another enticing aspect of Insidious is its powerful atmosphere and imagery. After being raised on horror movies, there is only so much that can scare you anymore, so personally I look for atmosphere in modern horror movies more than anything.

The imagery and its associated double meanings throughout Insidious, creates powerful, and sometimes moving, metaphors as well as instances of foreshadowing. One of the first and foremost imagery concepts in Insidious, just like in most horror films, is its association with light. These instances are cited by the cinematography, whether it's a camera shot focused on the light/bulbs themselves, or the sense of inclusive lighting (and its diminish) around the characters. One quick example of this, is when Elise is first introduced to the story. As she describes what she sees to her assistant Specs, he begins to sketch it. The final product is a character who will later be referred to as "The Man with Fire on his Face". Even though the demon isn't actually shown outside of the sketch, when Renae goes to look where Specs doodled the demon would be, the light around its location shrouds more and more as the camera pans until it simply disappears; right where he is watching them. 

Another case, is when Elise's associate Tucker explains one of his devices to the Lamberts. The machine is a take on the "ViewMaster" toy, and allows him to detect changes in the UV light spectrum, since the spirits of The Further are virtually invisible to the naked eye.

Howdy Neighbor!

GREETINGS EARTHLINGS! I COME IN PEACE!
June 3rd, 2013

Welcome to my blog, "Why Everyone Needs to See -blank- 
(WENSB) is a blog homage, to the "bakers" and "icers" of the icing on top of the proverbial  cinematic cake. More specifically, celebrating (or defacing) the directors, actors/actresses, cinematography, and whatever else made the movie what it is. For the most part, films are chosen at random off my Netflix queue. Since we are only half way through 2013, and the blockbuster release season has only just begun, films mentioned will be from 2012 and years prior.

THIS IS A SPOILER FREE ZONE:
You can't say that one part of the movie is better than the other, it's all part of the same puzzle. When it comes to the bigger puzzle pieces, and twists, please keep your comments vague so everyone can enjoy the film properly.

If the film I caught, ended up being an absolute train wreck, keep your eyes opened for posts annotated "Honey, Let's just Stay Home". The title really says it all, and you can thank me later for biting the bullet and sitting through the hour and a half of pain. 

If there are any suggestions (of any kind) that you believe would help the page, by all means email me at Matthew.Ian.Dollar@gmail.com. Either way, thanks for stopping by and I hope to be reading your comments/emails in the very near future.

Cheers,

Author,
Matthew Dollar