Franciszek Honiok, Enron, and Source Code

Last week was a week for reestablishing old friendships; after a year's hiatus, I talked with both Fred and Emo within a two day period, and the next day went to see Source Code with my cousin Jon.

Source Code is the story of an American soldier who is sent back in time, initially against his will, to endlessly repeat the last eight minutes of a terrorist attack. The purpose? To identify the bomber and prevent further bloodshed. The movie has gotten superb reviews from just about every critic, and I certainly wasn't displeased with the film. I also wasn't blown away. I think that guidebooks ten years from now will tone down the praise.

It is a solid film, but it was nothing overtly original. I guessed the soldier's 'secret' early on, and the actual identification of the bomber was unusually ho-hum, as if the script was in a hurry to wrap that up in order to further explore the romantic relationship. Three stars.



I rented Tron: Legacy soley to christen my new Blu-Ray player. Why not start off with a big, splashy special effects epic? Sadly, as my TV lacks an HDMI port and I connect via component cables, the Blu-Ray displays the disc in the same resolution as a DVD. Yay me.

As for the movie - it was fine. I wasn't in love with the original film, so keep that in mind, but I thought this was OK. Nothing more.



We just finished watching Christina Aguliera in "Burlesque". I'm not sure why the reviews I read last year were bad. Sure, the plot was predictable, but what, you rented it expecting The French Connection? The music was good, the women were hot, and the romance was sweet. I liked it.


The Gleiwitz Case is an East German film recreating the events that began WWII, namely a Nazi ruse where "Polish" troops took over a German radio station along the border. From what I gather this was a state sponsored Cold War era film, and yet it has a noticeable artistic style despite a matter-of-fact style. What bothers me the most about how the war began is the murder of Franciszek Honiok, an innocent Polish farmer, in order to leave behind 'proof' of the raid. Yes, I know. Millions upon millions died in the war, and yet this hits home extremely hard. It just seems so banane and callous a way to start such a momentous event in history; if the war was to begin with the murder of a civilian, wouldn't you question the motives of your government from the very start? Naive of me, I know.
The Smartest Guys in the Room is the tale of Enron, the superstar company that was built - and destroyed - by fraud and deceipt. As Bush era documetaries are wont to do, some of the blame is laid at the feet of the Bush family, despite most of Enron's machinations falling under the eyes of the Clinton administration. Argh, enough about politics. The story of Enron is one of lies, theft, and more lies. It's truly a corporate tragedy.