Let's be real, we all knew we were being watched, it's the stuff that we usually joke about with friends. "Oh shit did I say that out loud? I'm sure someone's listening in on this conversation" and so on- I don't think after watching Laura Poitras' Citizenfour you will look at that joke the same way again. Poitras is a competent filmmaker with a decent hand at making absorbing stuff out of post 9/11 america. Truth be told the reason why she's getting such rave reviews for this newest film is because she struck gold by getting an in-depth 8 day hotel room interview with former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, in fact most of the documentary takes place as the news is about to break about the dirty little things the NSA has been doing on not just its own citizens but many foreign countries around the world. The footage is landmark, historic, jaw-dropping as you see Snowden reveal details to stunned Journalist Glenn Greenwald from the Guardian and Poitras herself in a tiny Hong Kong hotel room. The film is so fascinating because even after all is said and done you still haven't quite figured out Snowden's intentions and the exact reason why he is putting himself and -eventually- his family and 10+ year girlfriend in this absurdly chaotic situation. It's mesmerizing stuff that -to me- was just as interesting from a journalistic point of view, the role of a journalist and the lengths one may go in getting this kind of information out in public no matter the consequences.