By
Debbie Schlussel
One really fantastic new movie debuting at theaters this weekend. The rest: skipworthy.
* “
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” –
Rated R: This is a great movie. Very well done. I liked it much better than
“American Sniper” (read my review).
It’s nearly 2.5 hours long, but you’d hardly know it, as it is full of
heart-pounding action, suspense, and–yes–comedy. It is very
entertaining, but an important education for every American, even if you
know many of the details of the true story of what happened on
September 11, 2012 at two U.S. installations in Benghazi, Libya–one a
diplomatic outpost and the other a secret CIA base.
Although Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are never mentioned, it’s
very clear that they are the failed “leaders” who bear responsibility
for the Muslim murders of three security team members and Ambassador
Chris Stevens. As indicated by the title, the movie details the 13
hours of horror faced by six security detail members and how they begged
the CIA station chief to give them permission to respond to the attack
on the Ambassador’s residence, permission he repeatedly refused to give.
The movie shows in stark detail the arrogant, smug, hateful attitude
exemplified by many a State Department diplomat toward our military men
and contractors. They treat the military and security contractors like
dirt and constantly tell them they are “not needed.”
The CIA station chief, Bob (played by David Costabile, who was
meth-maker Gale Boetticher in “Breaking Bad’) is the worst among them.
He’s the one who repeatedly orders the security team to “stand down” and
allow the terrorist attacks to happen. He’s an elitist, who constantly
tells the military men who saved his ass, that “we have people here
from Harvard and Yale.” But Harvard (Barack Obama) and Yale (Hillary
Clinton) didn’t save the day. They helped create a night of horrors.
There are many scenes of drone views of the impending and, then,
occurring attacks on the two American outposts in Benghazi–one a
temporary residence for the Ambassador and the other a secret, but
not-so-secret, CIA base. And although Clinton and Obama are not
mentioned, the dialogue makes it obvious that everyone at the White
House, the State Department, and the Pentagon knew what was going on,
but just simply ignored the pleas for help. The security team members
note that those in the Oval Office, at State, and at the Pentagon are
not only seeing what’s going on through the drone footage, but that
“they’re seeing more of what’s going on than what we’re seeing.”
The dialogue also responds to the phony claims, frequently shrieked
by Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice with Barack Obama’s full sanction and
approval, that the attacks were caused by an “anti-Islamic” YouTube
video. The security team discusses that and notes that “we didn’t hear
anything about any video,” whether in chatter or in the chants and
protests of the Muslims who attacked them. They also talk about how the
attacks had to have been coordinated and planned for weeks and maybe
months because they were so precise and because the “secret”
installations and the airwaves of the security were so easily and
quickly pinpointed by the Muslim attackers.
As the movie also makes clear, every single other foreign embassy and
mission saw the danger and closed down, evacuating Libya ahead of this.
Only the U.S. ignored the obvious warning signs, partly because of the
naive pan-Islamism of Ambassador Chris Stevens. This movie captures
very accurately the smarmy, pan-Arabist naivete of Stevens, who also
said he didn’t need security because he stupidly thought the Muslims to
whom he pandered would return the favor. Instead, they showed him the
“big Islamic love” for Americans: torture and death (the movie doesn’t
show what we know happened: that
Stevens, a gay man, was tortured and sodomized by the Muslims before he was murdered).
As I’ve noted on this site, Stevens was a big supporter of the
overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi, a big supporter of Islam and the FUBAR
“Arab Spring,” and
a friend of HAMAS and the Palestinians, who mourned him.
(He was also a well-known Israel-hater–yup, Israel, the only place in
the Middle East where he could be openly gay and live to see the end of
the day.) There’s a reason that
Stevens was mourned by the PLO and HAMAS.
The guy romanticized Muslim extremists (a redundant phrase) for a
living and was their willing tool. Although Stevens is portrayed
somewhat as a “victim” here, he is more an accessory and had the blood
of the three security men on his hands. He irresponsibly put everyone
at risk in the name of his “Arabian Nights” fantasies. And the movie
does show that he
didn’t want much security, lest it offend his Muslim friends and killers–something I pointed out on this site, back in 2012.
They Were Murdered Because . . .
. . . These Dhimmi Idiot Didn’t Want to Offend Muslims w/ Adequate Security . . .
John Krasinsky is
ostensibly star of this movie, but the
real star is Pablo Schreiber, younger half-brother of Liev Schreiber,
who plays real-life former Army Ranger Kris “Tanto” Paronto. He’s an
up-and-comer who’s had bit parts until “Orange is the New Black.” But
as this movie makes clear, he’s got the acting chops. He’s got great
delivery and comedic timing.
And might I say, as a red-blooded American woman, all of the guys who
played the security team in this movie, were hot, hot, hot–even with
their bushy beards. Schreiber, James Badge Dale (“Rubicon”), David
Denman, Dominic Fumusa (the ex-husband in “Nurse Jackie”), and Max
Martini, were all smokin’, and for us chicks, there were a lot of nice,
eye-candy scenes of these very cut, very masculine guys working out with
their shirts off. See, as a woman, I can be just as much of a sexist
and chauvinist as a guy, but I get away with it (and pop culture doesn’t
lecture me about it and call me a future rapist the way they do with
men). Those are my kinda guys–strong, courageous, proud, and not afraid
to do what is right. And they really captured the spirit and persona
of ex-Army Ranger, ex-Navy SEAL security contractors.
Muslims will not like this movie because it tells the truth and it
shows these men wearing and waving Islamic crescents and shouting
“allahu [FUBAR]” before and during their terrorist attacks. And while
director Michael Bay does make a silly effort–in fact, he tries way
toooo hard–to try to show us that “not all Muslims” are this way, we
know this was a Muslim attack and that no Muslims tried to stop it. In
fact, the “friendly” Muslim militias paid to protect the U.S.
installations in Benghazi were anything but friendly. They were weak,
useless, and, in many cases, probably working with their fellow
co-religionists to murder Americans.
Although this is rated “R”–mostly because of language and somewhat
violent and bloody (including a semi-dismembered hand) images–it’s fine
for teens–they need to see what America is up against and will be up
against more and more in the very near future. My only fault with the
movie is a minor technical one: the postscripts at the end of the
movie–telling us what happened to each of the characters–go by very
fast. Way too fast to actually read them. I could have used a few
seconds more.
Best line in the movie: “Payback’s a bitch, and her stripper name is
Karma.” Problem is, not a single American official who allowed the
Benghazi attacks to take place and left Americans to the Islamic wolves,
has gotten even an iota of payback or karma. One of ’em is currently
Prez and another will probably soon see her ugly cankles occupying the
Oval Office.
This is riveting. Go see it.
FOUR REAGANS
Watch the trailer . . .
* “
Anomalisa” –
Rated R:
I hate movies that rely on gimmicks, and this is one of those gimmicky
movies. With or without the gimmicks, it’s just a slow, boring, sludge
through some average life and a complete waste of time. Even reality
TV is more exciting than this. So, what is the gimmick? Well, there
are two of them here: it’s animated, and the characters are all
supposed to be marionettes. It’s stupid and pointless because, the
marionette part has no bearing on the plot. These are supposed to be
real humans, except that they have barely visible seams on their faces
and on one occasion, part of a guy’s face falls off, and he puts it back
on. So what? Again, what’s the point? The only “cute” part of the
gimmickry is that most of the characters, including women, have the same
voice–a man’s voice. But that quickly wears off, as it becomes
extremely confusing. The most “memorable” scene in this movie (and I’d
rather unsee, unsee, unsee! this) is a very creepy, very weird,
extended, graphic, sex scene between the marionettes. Eeuuww.
The “story”: Michael Stone (David Thewlis, who has a British accent)
is a customer service expert who has written a book and gives speeches
at conventions. He travels to Cleveland to give a speech at a
convention there. He has a mundane life, including a wife and a
son–with neither of whom he seems much endeared. The movie starts out
with an annoying, talkative cab driver gabbing endlessly to him about
stupidity–urging him to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a sex
toy shop. Then, there is more annoying and boring crap. Stone settles
into his hotel, interacts with hotel staff and guests, and meets two
women who are big fans of his. One of them, Lisa (Jennifer Jason
Leigh), has a scar on her face, and he goes for her. He takes Lisa to
his room and convinces her to have sex with him. Then, we “get to see”
this paunchy, aging customer service expert–animated as a
marionette–naked and having sex with the scarred Lisa, whom he calls,
“Anomalisa.” It’s gross and something I could have definitely lived
without. Nothing romantic about it. Maybe there’s some merit to having
this disgusting, unromantic kind of sex scene in movies–better to show
teens this than the fakery in most Hollywood movies. Still, yuck!
The rest of the movie is equally a waste of time. Michael has a bad
dream in which the hotel manager tries to trap him in the basement to
stop Michael from romancing Lisa. Michael wakes up and tells Lisa he
wants to leave his wife for her. Michael delivers his speech and gets
flustered and stumped in the middle of it. Michael looks for a toy for
his son and buys him a creepy Japanese sex toy figure. Michael returns
home to an unwanted surprise birthday party thrown for him by his wife.
Michael doesn’t love his wife or much care for his young toddler son.
But he’s resigned to it. The end.
Um, why do I care about any of this? The movie didn’t tell me, and
instead stole 90 minutes of my life I’ll never get back . . . and
laughed at me.
If you want to see Mundane America, you can see that life every
single day at the mall. You don’t need to waste ten bucks plus and 1.5
hours that seem like three.
High-quality artsy-fartsy Gitmo torture material.
TWO ISIS BEHEADINGS
Watch the trailer . . .
* “
Ride Along 2” –
Rated PG-13:
As a rule, I generally try to see the first installment of a movie
series before I see the sequel. But there is something so disgusting–so
perverted!–about cop-hating thug Ice Cube playing a cop that I avoid
seeing his crap as much as possible. I mean, this is the guy who for
years–and to date–rapped, “F–k Tha Police.” And he raised a generation
of Black (and White) Americans to think that way, to the point that it’s
now open killing season on police across America. And then he has the
utter chutzpah to make zillions on playing a cop?! Whatta guy. And
he’s laughing all the way to the bank–yup, another slimy example of
anti-capitalist capitalism. To call him a schmuck would be an insult to
schmucks.
Oh, and on top of that, Ice Cube (slave name: O’Shea Jackson), is a
Jew-hating member of the Nation of Islam, who proudly poses on the cover
of one of his albums with a copy of Louis Farrakhan’s
completely debunked “The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews”
(which falsely blames Jews for the Black slave trade in American
history–um, that was Muslims). Excuse me if I don’t like bigoted
Cop-and-Jew-haters and don’t wanna help contribute to their
megazillions.
And the movie has zero merit. It’s stupid, silly, and boring. The
lamest re-run of “Miami Vice” is far more exciting. This movie looks
like it came out of ’80s movie schlock (with apologies to ’80s movie
schlock for the comparison).
The story: screw-up police officer Kevin Hart longs to be somebody
on the Atlanta police force. His future bro-in-law Ice Cube is a police
detective. Hart is supposed to marry Ice Cube’s sister (who is a full
foot taller than Hart) the following weekend. After botching an
undercover drug buy, Cube and Hart discover some intel on a murderous
Miami drug kingpin (Benjamin Bratt). Cube manages to get permission to
take the bumbling Hart to Miami with him to investigate. They team up
with a local Cuban police officer (the half-Chinese Olivia Munn, who
looks as “Cuban” as Lisa Ling does) in their investigation. In a series
of typical, stale plot “points,” the three of them are repeatedly
foiled by the drug kingpin, who is a major donor to the police and has
built up goodwill with the head honchos on the Miami police force (um,
didn’t I see that in “Breaking Bad” with Gus Fring?). They also
repeatedly screw up. Gee, I didn’t see that coming. But, ultimately
and predictably, they get the bad guy.
Yaaaawn. In fact, this is so tiresome that I fell asleep
three times and missed nothing. There are a few funny lines in this.
But, mostly, it’s just unbearable. Yes, I get that Kevin Hart is only
5’4″ tall. But is that the only thing they can make fun of in this
movie? It gets old . . . fast. Just like this movie. Tired, silly,
pointless, and a total waste of time. Hey, that’s why they released it
in January.
THREE MARXES
Watch the trailer . . .
MP4 Video - 720p (79.85 MB) 
MP3 Audio (1.23 MB) 
Hillary and FBI Director James Comey
Lucas Gallone/Unsplash 
In FrontPage this morning I explain why the current mini-controversy over Huma Abedin bespeaks a much larger problem with America’s contemporary political culture.
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