Atomic Cafe

This was definately an interesting documentary.
The title "Atomic Cafe" also really captures the light-heartedness of the theme about war being all a game. Therefore, this documentary can be compared to Dr. Strangelove.
One would think thhat a documentary about the Atomic bomb would be of all seriousness (i think Mr. Benett mentioned that this was the original intentions of the film?), with the killings of thousands of people, destructions of major cities, and the utter ruinings of several islands and whatnot.
I think that all of us in this class would agree that this film has done the job well in portraying the bomb in a different light.
For example, at the very end of the film, there was the depiction of the back-and-forth between reality and silly as we first see actual footage of the bomb going off or a tree being exploded to ruins, then people hiding under their picnic blankets, then another footage of the bomb going off, and then children hiding under their chairs, or turtles hiding in their shells.
This really change our perspectives of the atomic bomb. Instead of thinking, "oh, the bomb really was for all good intentions. It helped the U.S to win the war, and we were victorious, and our leaders really made the right decisions, and yay its another war won that we can add to our list of victories...", amongst many thoughts, the film makes us think, "oh...this is really quite embaressing how the U.S. threw that bomb on japan...so many people died, it's caused so many damages, and the way americans acted towards the atomic bomb is utterly silly. They'll hide under picnic baskets, and meanwhile, people were being klled by thousands, and mass destructions everywhere...wow..just woowww."
haha, yeah that was basically what i was thinking while watching this (:

Dr. Strangelove

This movie had some parts that I enjoyed:
I thought it was pretty funny how the general has an obsession with bodily fluids. In the chaotic midst of shooting, he talks of bodily fluids as if it is the best time to talk of such a topic. But I guess that is all part of making this movie a comedy.
I like how this movie portrays war as a play thing or a game even. In the beginning scene for example, a plane carrying an atomic bomb flies over russia, but playful music plays in the background and makes me think of parachutes, hot-air balloons, and puffy white clouds in a child's playroom.
Dr. Stranglove's personality is also quite interesting. His arm spazzes out and i wonder what kind of health issue he has...but all in all, i don't really see how Dr. Strangelove is important in this movie, or even how his name got to be the title of this movie.