Ante up, listeners - we're dealing out another big one this week. Paul Schrader's 2021 follow-up to FIRST REFORMED, the (ostensible) poker drama THE CARD COUNTER, was another "Man in a Room" film, this time exploring the moral weight of past actions. Joining us to talk about Abu Ghraib, Iraq War films, and how much a filmmaker's stated politics really matter compared to what's on screen is writer and critic Roxana Hadadi! Don't worry, there's plenty of Star Wars prequel digression on this one, too.

Further Reading:

Roxana's review of THE CARD COUNTER

Homeland: The War on Terror in American Life by Richard Beck

Lynndie England interview in Stern

Paul Schrader interview in GQ

Paul Schrader interview with The Playlist

Further Viewing:

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (Morris, 2008)

CAMP X-RAY (Sattler, 2014)

FIRST REFORMED (Schrader, 2017)

THE REPORT (Burns, 2019)

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http://www.roxanahadadi.com/

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