Eye in the Sky

[merjet]

Eye in the Sky is excellent and available at Redbox.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Merlin,

I just put it in my Netflix DVD queue and pushed it to the top. I have to first watch Altered States, which I got because it was written by Paddy Chayefsky, and return it before they will send me the new DVD. 

Unfortunately, it's not on Netflix streaming nor is it included with my Amazon prime without an extra charge. If it sounds like I'm a cheapskate, I am.  

Eye in the Sky looks good. I look forward to seeing it.

Michael

[9thdoctor]

You haven't seen Altered States?  With its John Corigliano score?  And it's all about drugs?  Man, you think you know a guy...

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

I finally saw Altered States and then Eye in the Sky a couple of day after.

Ayn Rand mentioned Paddy Chayefsky as one of the best modern Naturalists. Maybe she didn't see Altered States.  

The thing I most like about Chayefsky is something I once read in a review somewhere. His main character is usually a normal person who suffers under a lot of pressure, then breaks and explodes in a fountain of verbiage. Think Network and "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore." I've even had my own moments like that.  But Altered States was nothing like that. It was about a mad genius scientist who marries another, but one less mad. There's an awful lot of philosophy in it, too.

As to Eye in the Sky, this is pure moral dilemma porn. It's about drone warfare against terrorists and how far collateral damage should go when impossible decisions have to be made--and the effects of these decisions on all involved. It had an adorable innocent little girl thrown in to make matters really tough. My favorite part was the fact that the enemy group, the ones who provided the actual dramatic tension, was not the terrorists, but instead the bureaucrats who couldn't or wouldn't make a decision without covering their asses despite the urgency. This aspect was almost Randian in nature. Also, it was interesting to see all the personnel and moving parts involved in using military drones, from the small bird and insect drones to the airplane-size ones equipped with hellfire missiles. 

It's funny how things worked out, though.

Altered States was great except for a totally lame ending. Love conquers all in one of the most lame-ass character reversals on film. 

Eye in the Sky was great except for a totally lame beginning. What a slog before it got going. Have you ever gone to someone's house and they insisted on showing you a family picture album full of people you don't know? And it doesn't stop? The beginning of this film was like that and it drug on and on. But after the tension kicked in, I couldn't take my eyes off the story.

Michael