Review of In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) by Jasmine — 29 Dec 2011

This movie is intelligent, strongly executed, well-crafted, intense, graphic, and compelling. It is one of the best movies of the year. Jolie did an excellent job for a first time director. I will write a more detailed review later. She was brave for tackling this controversial subject. It is from the victim's point of view and should be viewed circumstantially instead of taking any sides politically or religiously. Zana Marjanovic gives an Oscar-worthy performance. It was so heartbreaking. I was horrified, moved, saddened, and even enlightened at times. It was such a powerful and thought-provoking experience. God bless those people affected by the Bosnian War. It also sheds a light on rape was used as weapon in war. It shines a light on atrocities and brings awareness. I decided to contribute to relief efforts in Bosnia and Yugoslavia after watching this film. This is a fine achievement and should be critically acclaimed especially when compared to fluff like The Artist which got high reviews and is incosequential in comparison. This is the type of movie that could have done well at Cannes. It is a shame she has to overcome media corruption, personal misconceptions, and slander. The nasty comments on Rottentomatoes was really upsetting. Plenty of users gave excellent reviews but the site is just displaying two inflammatory post from her haters who believe lies about her and those type of comments shouldn't even be allowed. You could tell some people were just flaming her and have not seen the film. She is NOT a homewrecker and that bs shouldn't even brought into discussion of the movie anyway. No other actress has to deal with that. That lawsuit had no legitimacy and was based on a false, far-fetched claim.

But now you have Fanistons bombarding Rottentomatoes & other sites with ugly attacks that have no basis in truth. Those inflammatory comments should not be allowed on that site. I also want to make note of the fact that Peter Travers review for Rolling Stone was labeled positive here but gotten a rotten rating on the tomatometer. He or the other site needs to fix that. The Salon review was also positive here and labeled rotten on the tomatometer. There is a discrepancy. The rottentomatoes site needs to fix this asap! I really hope by 2012, the ratings will be higher, at around 60% on both sites.