Caught the movie on Friday night with friends at the pretty swanky Ambler Theater. It’s very good, obviously. That said …

• The movie was too long (but I always say that). If you could meld several characters into Maya, then you could have telescoped some of the early stuff into a more compact version of the Torture Years.
• Having the guy from “Parks and Rec” as a Navy SEAL really made me think that becoming a Navy SEAL can’t be THAT hard.
• The last 45 minutes are as riveting as anything I’ve seen in years.
• If I don’t see someone tortured for a long while, it’ll still be too soon. I think the charges that the movie justified torture were overblown. But I still find watching it excruciating. I know that’s why it’s done, but it doesn’t make it any easier.
• All that said, Katherine Bigelow was robbed of a best director nomination (There’s little in Silver Linings Playbook that warranted a top director honor, for example).
• Best movie? It certainly has to be in the final mix on my list, with Beasts of the Southern Wild and Silver Linings Playbook.
• I still need to see Life of Pi.