13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
The new Michael Bay movie depicts the 2012 attack of Libyan militants on two American compounds in the city of Benghazi, and to Bay's credit, he doesn't try to weave in a broad conspiracy plot or any political intrigue. This is a relatively mean and lean (well, as lean as 144 minutes can be) action movie with tons of pyrotechnics and almost zero context. We simply see what happened during those 13 particular hours: shooting and shouting and grown men with beards being incrementally covered in dirt, sweat, blood, shrapnel, and honor. Still, the confusion and sense of disconnect that surrounded the unfortunate incident are basically shoved down the viewers' throats. You can just tell conservatives are gonna love 13 Hours' conspicuous timing and jingoistic malarkey, and will do their darnedest to turn it into a piece of propaganda.
by Ned Lannamann