Movies!

Over at NRO, I've got a review of a couple of movies I saw at the G.I. Film Fest this weekend. I've got about a zillion and a half (roughly) articles to write in the next week or so, but I promise I will shortly return to regular blogging/boring you to death with vapid posts about giant robots and long-winded discussions of George Lucas. Honest. I swear.

Addendum: I also have a slightly longer piece on surveillance technology in 24 and The Wire in the new issue of The New Atlantis, which is now online. Starters:

Two hit television dramas exhibit the complex human response to technological surveillance: 24 and The Wire. Both shows shed light on the growing societal awe of surveillance technology while also reflecting our fear and uncertainty about our ability to master it. Although surveillance technology dominates the worlds of both shows—24’s built-up city of Los Angeles and The Wire’s decaying Baltimore slums—the shows’ overarching attitudes towards surveillance differ greatly. Fox’s 24 bows in awe of the omnipotence and omnipresence of satellites and fiber optics, while HBO’s The Wire regards phone taps and recording devices suspiciously, as flawed tools that reveal the corrupt nature of bureaucracy and are, at best, necessary evils. Thus, the difference between the two shows is one of belief: one’s view of surveillance technology is based in faith, the other’s in doubt.