Secret War Journal[26 January 2012][Spoiler Alert]
Chinese New Year is round the corner! Most of my friends have already bought their Chinese New Year clothes but I had not finished my shopping yet. Thus, today we are gathered to get some last minute shopping. Hahas.
With me as advisers are Marcus, Keller, Qi Xiang, and Meldon to accompany me. Originally, I planned to head to Bugis to get a pair of pants for Chinese New Year. I had thought of buying a light brown pants for a very long time, since last year. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we ended up in Ion Orchard. As I had thought about it for so long, I purchased a pair of Chino pants after trying it out immediately. Meanwhile, Marcus and Keller attempted to find clothes to buy too.
When we were finally done, we had lunch at Pepperlunch while Meldon ate out at Subway since he is vegetarian. Keller had to go after lunch for Reunion dinner. Thus, the rest of us went to play LAN without him.
Discrepancy
After two hours of gaming, it is time for a movie! Marcus wanted to watch Zero Six Thirty so here we are, heading into the theatre with 2 large drinks and a small-looking popcorn. Without realising we were actually late, causing us to miss out the introduction of the movie. As it turns out, it is actually quite important because the omission of the very beginning took me some time to understand when the movie actually started in.
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Review
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At this point, I feel that I should include the synopsis of the movie or else I am afraid some people who get lost here. :P
Synopsis
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.
Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.
Perhaps the first thought that would come to mind when the movie finishes would be that the movie was a bit too long. Designed to be slow-paced movie to allow the audience to ponder and reflect through the process of finding Osama bin Laden to his imminent death, the lengthy film has a tendency to tire out the audience as they strain their brains for a good 157 minutes. Not very gentle for the causal moviegoers, I would say.
One of the highlights of the earlier parts of the movie would be the treatment of the confinees. Captured terrorists were held in black sites. There, they were 'tortured' and brutally interrogated. Treatments include depriving them of food and beverage, physical punishment and water torture. Tactics such as occasionally being nice to get information were also used to obtain intelligence on the extremist movements. These continued to be used in the war effort against terrorists until President Obama put an end to it due to the public uproar over it.
While it is a serious breach on human rights, let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves: Why did the Intelligence Branches have to resort to such inhumane acts? I am not supporting nor sanctioning such acts but they do have a point, which Kathryn emphasize quite brilliantly. Without the threats that they can issue to the confinees, how are they going to 'persuade' them to leak vital information that would help to prevent terrorist attacks, hence saving countless lives in the process? The principle "kill one to save many" is a cruel mandate but if one is given a choice to kill one to save many or kill many to save one, I believe the answer by most would be the former.
Meanwhile, the movie then goes on with their struggles with obtaining information without the conventional means. As terrorist attacks grow rampant, it became a race against time for the operatives to obtain useful leads to guard against future attacks. On the other hand, Maya, the main lead in the movie, with the help of her aide got hold of a terrorist who seems to be willing to sell the terrorist network out for money. On the promise of information about the elusive network, they decided to meet face to face in a camp supposedly named Camp Chapman. When the convoy comes into the camera view and a sad music plays in the background, you already know full well that the outcome is not going to be pretty. In the end, the informant turns out to be a suicide bomber (no surprise, is there?), killing Maya's aide and a task force with him.
That was a setback that almost broke Maya. However, she instead decided to turn it into a force of hatred, driving her to find the heart of the network and hunt him down, Osama. Not much progress was made until one fateful day, they found the real identity of Osama's most trusted courier. Seeking him finally led them to the whereabouts of Osama and the rest, as they say, was history.
Chinese New Year is round the corner! Most of my friends have already bought their Chinese New Year clothes but I had not finished my shopping yet. Thus, today we are gathered to get some last minute shopping. Hahas.
With me as advisers are Marcus, Keller, Qi Xiang, and Meldon to accompany me. Originally, I planned to head to Bugis to get a pair of pants for Chinese New Year. I had thought of buying a light brown pants for a very long time, since last year. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, we ended up in Ion Orchard. As I had thought about it for so long, I purchased a pair of Chino pants after trying it out immediately. Meanwhile, Marcus and Keller attempted to find clothes to buy too.
When we were finally done, we had lunch at Pepperlunch while Meldon ate out at Subway since he is vegetarian. Keller had to go after lunch for Reunion dinner. Thus, the rest of us went to play LAN without him.
Discrepancy
After two hours of gaming, it is time for a movie! Marcus wanted to watch Zero Six Thirty so here we are, heading into the theatre with 2 large drinks and a small-looking popcorn. Without realising we were actually late, causing us to miss out the introduction of the movie. As it turns out, it is actually quite important because the omission of the very beginning took me some time to understand when the movie actually started in.
--
Review
--
At this point, I feel that I should include the synopsis of the movie or else I am afraid some people who get lost here. :P
Synopsis
A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May 2011.
Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.
- Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/
--Perhaps the first thought that would come to mind when the movie finishes would be that the movie was a bit too long. Designed to be slow-paced movie to allow the audience to ponder and reflect through the process of finding Osama bin Laden to his imminent death, the lengthy film has a tendency to tire out the audience as they strain their brains for a good 157 minutes. Not very gentle for the causal moviegoers, I would say.
One of the highlights of the earlier parts of the movie would be the treatment of the confinees. Captured terrorists were held in black sites. There, they were 'tortured' and brutally interrogated. Treatments include depriving them of food and beverage, physical punishment and water torture. Tactics such as occasionally being nice to get information were also used to obtain intelligence on the extremist movements. These continued to be used in the war effort against terrorists until President Obama put an end to it due to the public uproar over it.
While it is a serious breach on human rights, let us pause for a moment and ask ourselves: Why did the Intelligence Branches have to resort to such inhumane acts? I am not supporting nor sanctioning such acts but they do have a point, which Kathryn emphasize quite brilliantly. Without the threats that they can issue to the confinees, how are they going to 'persuade' them to leak vital information that would help to prevent terrorist attacks, hence saving countless lives in the process? The principle "kill one to save many" is a cruel mandate but if one is given a choice to kill one to save many or kill many to save one, I believe the answer by most would be the former.
Meanwhile, the movie then goes on with their struggles with obtaining information without the conventional means. As terrorist attacks grow rampant, it became a race against time for the operatives to obtain useful leads to guard against future attacks. On the other hand, Maya, the main lead in the movie, with the help of her aide got hold of a terrorist who seems to be willing to sell the terrorist network out for money. On the promise of information about the elusive network, they decided to meet face to face in a camp supposedly named Camp Chapman. When the convoy comes into the camera view and a sad music plays in the background, you already know full well that the outcome is not going to be pretty. In the end, the informant turns out to be a suicide bomber (no surprise, is there?), killing Maya's aide and a task force with him.
That was a setback that almost broke Maya. However, she instead decided to turn it into a force of hatred, driving her to find the heart of the network and hunt him down, Osama. Not much progress was made until one fateful day, they found the real identity of Osama's most trusted courier. Seeking him finally led them to the whereabouts of Osama and the rest, as they say, was history.
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