'such is my reality, a sad irrationality..'
(Kal Penn, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay)

Cloverfield

No matter which side you're on, us or them, if only one lousy day of the past ten years would be allowed to go into the history books, the eleventh of September 2001 is a strong contender. Of course that doesn't mean terrorist tragedies in poor countries are any less sad, same goes for tsunamis, exploded fireworks factory (disaster of the decade in Holland), murdered politicians and deceased cats. However, the burning Twin Towers, despite newly found hope in recent years, is an iconic image for our current world and everyone knew it would be the moment it happened. Hollywood responded immediately: Spider-Man (2002, Sam Raimi) spinning a web between the towers was removed from the trailer and other new films erased them from their posters as well. They soon reappeared: in Gangs of New York (2002, Martin Scorsese) and Munich (2005, Steven Spielberg) these shots are fairly unprovocative and effective. People might be less forgiving for Uwe Boll, as usual. His outrageously funny comedy bonanza Postal opens with a plane crashing into a WTC window cleaner, so you know from the beginning it's not worried about political correctness. Man on Wire (2008, James Marsh) is just as entertaining, but this documentary shows no video footage of the actual walk between the towers. Without wanting to start no conspiracy theory: there's no way anyone can't prove this Oscar winner hasn't been photoshopped.

New World Order

Of course the official story is telling the truth. There's no need to filter concrete evidence from the avalanche of details and farfetched suggestions anymore, by now everyone has had enough time to make up their mind. I could have posted so many witty comparisons and cynical observations, this article would have become the most exciting happening since Reichstag and the best thing: everyone is invited, just like Bilderberg. Truth is, it's much more fun to sit back and enjoy another propaganda pamphlet, especially since the terrrrorists seem to be on a well-deserved vacation. Loose Change, Protocols of Zion and Zero: An Investigation into 9/11 are average and largely interchangeable, Michael Moore does not need further introduction slash exposure. Recently a doc with an original approach has popped up: New World Order is more about theorists than theories, although every single big one is being depicted for a decent amount of time. It's no masterpiece by any means, but the added human layer forms a welcome depth: not all conspiracy nuts are nuts. If all this cynical activity left you with too much hope, The Obama Deception is available to make you feel guilty about your own righteous optimism. Despite all the facts and knowledge, life is full of illusions. It's what keeps the economy going.

'lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish..'
(Sean Astin , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

United 93 (2006, Paul Greengrass) is the best of the semi-fiction movies directly linked to 9/11, pushing the right buttons, offering what could be the most exhilarating thirty minutes of the decade in a Titanic sort of way: you just know the vehicle is going down. It's sprinkled with more than enough non-exploitative intelligence to compensate for doubts the viewer only has while not watching the film. Bangs for your buck are also delivered by handheld hype Cloverfield (2008, Matt Reeves), about something destroying the Big Apple, it could be a monster. For a country in deep distress, massive disaster entertainment being allowed to flourish again so soon is quite the achievement. American movies are escapism at its finest: embrace your trauma, make it into a rollercoaster ride.

Films that are more about acting than adrenaline tend to receive a little less attention. Robin Wright Penn's gripping performance in Sorry, Haters (2005, Jeff Stanzler) deserves special mention. Her portrayal of a woman already on the path of self destruction when she meets a Syrian cab driver, should have swept that particular award season. For his role in The Visitor (2007, Thomas McCarthy), about an allround friendly man who finds his apartment accidently being occupied by immigrants, the great Richard Jenkins got more applause. What the world needs now is this kind of toned down observation, although Edward Norton spitting out his hatred in 25th Hour (2002, Spike Lee), aimed at everything and everyone so it's not racist, is yummy! Two years earlier in Keeping the Faith he directed a scene with an evening cocktail party across the river, making it one of the last films to show the landmark towers alive.

Oliver Stone did the most controversial thing imaginable by making his World Trade Center into a 'based on a true story' sentimental film starring Nicolas Cage's moustache and he got slammed for not being controversial?! People are strange. The film starts with business as usual, though not from the Gordon Gekko point of view: it's just a dopey fireman waking up. Soon there's a lot of looking up, trying to catch a glimpse. As a bonus to all this emo stuff New York went through, we got the best highly personal metaphor of the decade: being buried alive, helpless under the economic rubble of this mad world gone evil, waiting for someone to pull you out. When it happens, it's a religious experience. That is 9/11 in a nutshell, but it got hijacked by politicians and even worse, by heaps of amateur directors who claim to know the truth. One question remains unanswered: Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? Probably not on The Road to Guantanamo.


 

'I don't think I'm hurt, but I can't move..'