Gunner Palace

Lawrence Lessig provides a link to reflections by documentarian Michael Tucker on a movie he’s finishing, entitled Gunner Palace. There are also links to trailers on the site. The documentary follows the 2/3 Field Artillery Unit in Baghdad. The moviemaker’s reflections are fascinating and powerful:

This had become their movie, not mine-each person with their own reference. For the older officers and NCOs it was MASH. They brought aloha shirts for poolside BBQs. For others it was Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. You could see it in the way they rode in their HUMVEES. One foot hanging out the door-helicopters with wheels. For the teenagers, it was Jackass Goes to War. This was a war unlike any other. They had Playstations, souped-up gaming laptops and Internet access-Paris Hilton and Amazon on demand. The emails and the Sat phones helped them stay in touch with family, but all the technology in the world couldn't bring them home.