Feral Jundi

   They are the top downloaded films of 2009, and they are all up for best picture at the Oscars.  Wow.

   Well everyone here knows my feelings on all of these movies.  I have had a chance to see all of them, and my opinions really haven’t changed too much.  Probably my favorite out of all of them, if I can put aside the whole ‘PMC’s are evil’ angle, is District 9. It trumps Avatar for a unique story and kick ass sci-fi. Plus they made it for way cheaper than Avatar, and you have to give it up for the little guys who do a lot with a little.

   I think the worse one for bashing the military and contractors, is Avatar. So for that, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Hurt Locker or District 9 beat out Avatar, just to see Cameron’s face in the close ups at the oscars. The Hurt Locker is probably the least offensive out of all of these films, but even in that film, they portrayed contractors (one of which was played by Ralph Fiennes) as murky seedy dudes of the desert, who only care about themselves and money. In other words, they played up the mercenary stereotype to the hilt in their portrayal of contractors in the film, and I was turned off. And in this scene, they act like the military was fearful of contractors in Iraq.  If anything, most of the military guys I came across wanted to be contractors or if they saw a contractor PSD team broken down on the side of the road, they usually pulled over and asked if we need any help.  The movie makes it seem like military and contractors were at odds with each other over there, and that could be the farthest from the truth.  Contractors also helped out the military with medical calls or security support, and I saw way more collaboration and mutual respect over there, than what the film portrayed.

   I have yet to see a company fork over the money and provide a Barrett M 82 .50 Cal for road work either. Not impossible, but highly unlikely, and especially with the weapon restrictions contractors faced in Iraq. If a British contractor would like to pipe in and prove me wrong on this, I am all ears.  I never saw them roll with that kind of weaponry out there, but I could be wrong.

   The funny thing with all of these films, is that I think more films will be made with PMC’s in them.  I am even optimistic enough that eventually someone will make a good movie that will portray this industry in a positive light.  The reason I say that, is because every time Hollywood tries to make political statements in their films, it backfires on them. Apocalypse Now was meant to be an anti-war film, and instead it turned into a cult classic.  Platoon, was meant to be an anti-war film, and made by an extreme left-wing loony tunes veteran named Oliver Stone. Instead, that film has become a cult classic.  Full Metal Jacket is another classic war film, that was meant to repulse the viewer about war and the military, and instead, it has created a following throughout the world. Hell, that movie is what motivated me, and thousands like me, to join the Marines. lol So will Hollywood only motivate others to want to become contractors, with their attempt at making ‘anti-contractor’ films?

   So will this new batch of anti-contractor/anti-PMC films, actually backfire on Hollywood?  Look at the video gaming industry?  Those are easily comparable to film releases and revenue, with multi-million dollar campaigns to sell them and huge start studded release parties, all trying to promote the allure of their shooter PMC related games.  There was even talk of making Army of Two a movie. Wow, I didn’t see that one coming.

   Look at the top downloaded films below, and the free market has definitely made it’s choice about what it wants.  And you know what? What the viewing public wants, it gets.  lol So will we see more films that involve this industry, and will Hollyweird continue to inadvertently elevate this industry through it’s naive attempt at demonizing us? I am getting more and more emails from kids and individuals who never served in the military or police, who want to become contractors or who are just interested in learning about the industry. Interesting cultural developments if you ask me, and that is why I cover this stuff.

   The best thing the film industry could do, if they really don’t like us, is to ignore this industry and keep us out of their scripts. But the temptation is just too strong, and I think we will see more films that have either negative or positive portrayals of contractors in them.  And that portrayal will further thread this industry into the fabric of culture–good or bad. Interesting times, and we will see who wins at the Oscars. –Matt

Edit: And the Hurt Locker wins Best Picture.  -hee hee

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TorrentFreak’s Top Downloaded Films For 2009

1. District 9 – 12,639,000

2. Avatar – 11,326,000

3. The Hurt Locker – 7,930,000

4. Up – 5,437,000

5. Inglourious Basterds – 5,376,000

6. Precious – 4,922,000

7. Up In The Air – 4,855,000

8. A Serious Man – 3,836,000

9. The Blind Side – 1,845,00010. An Education – 683,000

Link to TorrentFreak blog here.

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Best Motion Picture Nominees of 2009

“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)

A Lightstorm Entertainment Production

es Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)

An Alcon Entertainment Production

Nominees to be determined

“District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

A Block/Hanson Production

Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)

A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production

Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

A Voltage Pictures Production

Nominees to be determined

“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production

Lawrence Bender, Producer

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production

Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

“A Serious Man” (Focus Features)

A Working Title Films Production

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

“Up” (Walt Disney)

A Pixar Production

Jonas Rivera, Producer

“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

A Montecito Picture Company Production

Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Link to the Oscars website here.