17 | October | 2008 | Robot Pirate Ninja

Just a quick review on this one. It was nominated for a bunch of awards and I had wanted to see it for some time, but didn’t get the chance until this weekend.

It is a very deliberately paced and honestly told story of a oil-man in Southern California. It goes through the trials and tribulations of drilling a well and brining it to market, with all the blood and gore that such an undertaking can often entail. The grittiness of the story and the brutal honest of the film-making are a testament to the inspiration of the story, Oil! by Upton Sinclair.

It was only when I became aware of the originator of this story that I finally “got it”. To be honest, I burst out laughing when I saw at the end of the movie where the story had began.

I won’t go into any spoilers, but I will say that There Will Be Blood! is not a normal dramatic movie. Those waiting for a particular act that exists in most movies will be left waiting a long time in this one. That is because this is not a normal dramatic movie. It is a two-and-a-half-hour parable.

And when you watch it like one, it makes a whole lot more sense and serves its purpose nicely.

NOTE: the book and the movie are only loosely related, as this review reveals.

It should also be noted that I was reminded to write this review by the Southpark last night [Episode Whatever Where Cartman Gets His Ass Kicked By A Girl (Wendy)] which ended an epic struggle with an homage to the movie. Nicely done, gents.

Iraq and the United States have finally agreed on a security pact which would mean that US forces would withdraw from Iraq by 2011, American and Iraqi officials said yesterday.

The accord became a major test of strength between the Iraqi government and Washington since negotiations began in March with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, pictured below, demanding US concessions on the date of the troop withdrawal and immunity for US troops. The pact replaces the UN Security Council resolution enacted after the American invasion of 2003.

The agreement still needs to be approved by the council of Iraqi leaders, the cabinet and the Iraqi parliament. Mr Maliki saw the highly influential Shia religious leader, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, last week and was assured that he would not stand in the way of the pact if approved by parliament.

via Obama’s Iraq plans vindicated as US agrees to pull out by 2011 – Americas, World – The Independent

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Looks like we are, finally, making some progress towards resolving this debacle. As the title suggests, this is Obama’s world now. McCain’s plan was full force in Iraq through his Presidency, maybe withdrawal AFTER TOTAL “VICTORY” in 2013, and a serious “presence” for 100 years.