I saw Zero Dark Thirty this afternoon and it is a stupendous work of cinema and the best movie of 2012 by far. Though you know the the events from recent history, Kathryn Bigelow still manages to ratchet the tension throughout the entire movie. I literally flinched several times even though I knew she was about to portray the 2005 London bombings, the 2008 destruction of the Marriott Islamabad, and the 2009 bombing that killed seven CIA agents and a number of others at Camp Chapman. But even more disturbing was how this movie captures the moral darkness that the United States plunged into post 9/11. It’s in this sense that Zero Dark Thirty is an essential movie and an valuable record of the War on Terror. That it’s also a breathtakingly thrilling movie almost reinforces its message. We embarked upon a trillion dollar military adventure, engaged in two wars, and sold our soul to the dark side and for what? The almost surgical, totally merciless assassination of one man in particular. It almost makes you want to cry like Maya does at the end.