It took me an unforgivably long time to do it, but I finally—finally—got around to watching Syriana last night, a film that was terrifying and bewildering and important, a pretty stunning piece of filmmaking in just about every way, and something that—just like real life—will keep you up at night, unable to sleep and scared and twitchy, if you continue to think about it past one or two in the a.m. A lot of people missed this film in the theaters, and if you’re one of them, you should rent it immediately.

It’s interesting because the film’s directed by Stephen Gaghan, but comes from Section Eight, the production company of Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney, which also put out one of 2005’s other astonishing films, Good Night, and Good Luck. Right now, Section Eight has the weird, cool A Scanner Darkly in theaters. There are very, very few production companies I trust inherently, and Section Eight is one of them.

If mystics and filthy hippies are to be believed, stars and celestial favors often align, providing streaks of positive occurrences. Perhaps that is the case, though I am loath to believe it, as not two days ago, Chas emailed me this fucking rad Soderbergh interview from the Believer. Reading it is another thing that is well worth your time.