Zero Dark Thirty and Torture (?)

So "Zero Dark Thirty" finally made it to my area after a period of playing exclusively in the city in a couple of theaters (what is it with that, anyway?). I had heard a lot of noise about the torture scenes ("enhanced interrogation"?), especially from Andrew Sullivan's blog. Yes, the scenes were brutal, and depicted the questionable results of such methods (did they really lead directly to the courier, or was it indirect? I still don't know for sure). However, I found myself less moved than I had been led to expect. Does this mean I'm a brute myself? The answer, I think, lies in the context of the film. Yes, if I seen the scene in real life, I'm sure I would be sickened. However, in the film, the scenes are surrounded by a lot of other material, especially the opening sequences which sets the stage for what follows: we are presented with a title card reading only "September 11, 2001" against a black screen, then real life recordings of phone calls from the towers of emergency calls (among others) from people trapped - people who would soon be dead. In particular, one young woman, clearly terrified, describing the rising heat, and asking if she was going to die.
I have to say that, after this visceral experience, what followed (the interrogation scenes) didn't move me much at all. In fact, all that followed, fit the deranged and terrified tenor of the times. These were the people responsible for that atrocity, and they got pretty much what they deserved, is how I felt.
Anyway, I felt the film was brilliantly executed (although it seemed to drag a bit here and there), and the final act, which depicted the actually assault, was amazing. After seeing the film, I am astounded that the Academy left Kathryn Bigelow out of the directorial nominations. Shame on them. I hope she wins the Directors Guild Award. The film was brilliant, the acting superb, the writing sharp and spot on, and the technical work excellent. I commend this film to everyone.