u/Confabules

Ever feel less… real? (when real is not an unironic reply to an ironic unironic meme of a painful situation)

You look at this protagonist at the helm… he’s traversing the play so clumsily and awkwardly, unlike the other actors. The idiot doesn’t adhere to character, direction, or the supposed "script", yet he gets to keep the role!?

"Get your shit together" is what you advised this failing actor; he cannot really hear you, yet you keep watching. The stage is increasingly unwelcoming to this fool. You can sympathize with him, but you can feel disdain too, can’t you? It‘s his fault!

Slowly, interest dwindles in this failure… you become more apathetic, and you stop watching with such intensity, or giving any advice really. This protagonist exists in the spaces in-between, collecting fragments of "belonging", aware that they will never coalesce into a… home.

These diatribes are arduous and receive "who cares?" as a reply. The interlocutor seems to have ameliorated by acquiring reticence.

I enjoyed Body of Lies and its grittiness.

Mark Strong’s portrayal of Hani Salaam (pictured above) was convincing. I presume many viewers unfamiliar with the actor may have assumed he was Middle Eastern. The character oozes charisma and arguably steals every scene he's in.

The pacing is often frantic (as is the constant phone calls) but giving the subject matter, this adds to its realism. The mixed reception was surprising; I suspect this to be a result of parading the inefficacy of American spycraft and intelligence.

Two different paradigms were explored and contrasted:

1. A constant bureaucratic penchant for results, coupled with paranoia and a desire to be on the “right side of history”. In addition to overreliance on technology and surveillance.
2. Building human relationships based on trust and an understanding of people, culture, and credibility with patience and long-term strategy taking priority. Quoting Salaam: “Urgency does not call for changing methods that work, for methods that do not work.”

It is not without fault, however. The film exaggerates the capabilities of modern surveillance technology, and no one would object to describing DiCaprio's character as a masochist, given the sheer amount of punishment he endures throughout the story.

Edit: typos, also my watchlist is ballooning, keep 'em coming. Thanks everybody!

>Every morning, a stray orange cat in Rize, Turkey walks up to the same market, meows at the door, and hugs the owner, Ferhat Hayat, who first won her over by feeding and playing with her. The footage went viral with millions of views and has drawn crowds to his shop just to witness the daily routine. Turkey has a long and well documented culture of locals forming bonds with street cats, but this one clearly has her favorite person.

I ADORE the little stretch, it melts my heart when my cat does it.