There’s some controversy brewing over Brian de Palma’s Redacted, a dramatization of the brutal Mahmudiyah Killings (Note that our “evil” military is tossing these assholes in prison for potentially the rest of their lives). The movie won the Silver Lion at Venice and the user ratings at IMDB show something interesting:

US Voters: 3.4
Non-US Voters: 8.2

Now, raise your hand if you are surprised that a film portraying a brutal atrocity by Americans is very popular in Europe. (Put that hand down, Chris!). Europeans loved Loose Change and every other 9/11 conspiracy book/movie. My cat could make an anti-American movie and win, at minimum, the Palme d’Or.

I’ll wait until the November release to try to decide whether or not to join in the inevitable Right Wing bloviation-fest. But I should note something about the newly certified Great Film-Maker Mr. De Palma.

Number of Oscar Nominations for Brian de Palma: 0
Number of Golden Globe Nomination for Brian de Palma: 0
Number of Razzie Nominations for Brian de Palma: 5

I’m just sayin’.

Good thing he made this. Now he’ll get some nominations, even if the film itself is his usual crap. When your best film is The Untouchables and the best thing you’ve done in the last ten years is the lesbian scene in Femme Fatale, I guess it’s time to go political.