gavinp9

'The Correspondent' is from the director of 'Red Dog' and 'Danger Close', and is based on the true story of Peter Greste (Roxburgh), the Australian journalist working for Al Jeezera in Cairo in 2013, during the Arab Spring uprising, when he & colleagues Fahmy (Maroun) and Mohamed (Romahn) get arrested. The film starts well, setting up some of the protests and why Greste is there, but not really delving much into the wider politics of what's happening in Egypt.

It's all filmed in Australia, as we don't see much of Egypt, due to mostly being inside prison blocks. The film only follows Greste, often consciously claustrophobically so, as he tries to comprehend what's happening to him and how to navigate his way out, without compromising his journalistic integrity. Having Fahmy and Mohamed in the same predicament, albeit not foreign nationals, helps him share his burden at times, but also adds complications.

Part courtroom drama, part psychological horror, it's a slow-burn at 2 hours, with a mostly-happy ending - even if it's mostly inexplicable as with the initial arrests - that's sobered by the on-screen statistics that close the film. All the actors are good, with Roxburgh carrying the weight of the situation on his face and shoulders, and Kate (Stone) fleshing out some of his past guilt in flashbacks of his time with her in Mogadishu.

'Warfare' is based on a true story and follows a squad of US Navy Seals in Iraq in 2006. The film takes place over a short period, <12 hours, and after a funny intro, we get introduced to the characters - primarily Ray (Woo-A-Tai, from 'Reservation Dogs'), Elliot (Jarvis, from 'Shogun'), Sam (Quinn, from 'Stranger Things'), Frank (John Smith, from 'Sharp Objects') and Erik (Poulter, from 'We're The Millers) - as they hole up in a house in an Iraqi town in support of a larger operation. Nothing happens for 30min, so we get to learn something about most of them.

Then things start to escalate, and holding position quickly turns to trying to evacuate. This is all close-quarters, tightly filmed fight scenes, with no real respite. When things explode, we hear the ringing in the ears/semi-silence, and stay with the squad as they deal with the aftermath - there's no edits to later on, just the reality of the moment. Some interesting war tactics I'd not seen before, including the "show of force" from the planes and how they use the tanks.

This is a tight 95min - lean and nothing wasted. It's not a typical war film - there's no central protagonist, no hero's journey, no glorification. It's all just dirt, explosions, and pinging bullets. Closest film I can think of to this is 'Black Hawk Down'. The ending is good, as the entire battle is effectively pointless - which is the point, as arguably all war is. Good performances from the cast, who come across as both young and out-of-place - like that entire war was.