Movie: Rock the Kasbah

Bill Murray isn't always funny but I thought I'd give him a chance. I felt like taking in a movie at the local lunch-and-a-movie emporium. Pita bread and hummus and a chocolate chip shake.

Okay it won't win any awards but it wasn't bad.  Nice warm heart and good performances all around.  Kate Hudson is a hoot as "the base whore" and Bruce Willis was a kind of one-man Blackwater. Murray plays a talent promoter who is reduced to taking his one client on a USO tour of Afghanistan -- surely the bottom of the barrel. The scene showing Zoey Deschanel asking, "Wait a second -- did you say body armor???" is classic.

The scenes of Afghanistan -- actually filmed in Morocco -- looked believable and the portrayal of Pashtun rivalries that ruled local politics sounded about right, from what I've read. The film was not dismissive of local politics, but portrayed them accurately and sympathetically -- while still pointing out their absurdity to outsiders.

I guess the central story -- Pashtun girl sings on Afghan Star TV show -- was based on a real event. Doubt it happened anything like this though.

Nope, Setara Hoseinzadeh did not win the competition, and has lived in fear of her life ever since. And there was a second female contestant, Lema Sahar, who went even further in the competition.

Oh well, Barry Levenson's version fits in better with American prejudices.

Soldier's views on Afghanistan local politics, when they actually encounter it.

15 US Soldiers Reveal The Truth About Their Time In Afghanistan.

I've never been in Afghanistan, but many of those remarks sound very familiar.

Yes, this sounds AWFULLY familiar:

Quote :

I had in my mind that it would be these organized ambushes, against a somewhat organized force. It may have been like that for the push (Marjah), but once the initial defense was scattered, the fighting turned into some farmer getting paid a year's salary to go fire an AK47 at our patrol as we walked by. I mean, no wonder there was so much PTSD going around...it doesn't feel okay when you killed some farmer for trying to feed his kids, or save his family from torture that next night. It feels like shit actually.