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• Spoken like a true wild man ... The Hurt Locker posted on 30 Aug 2009

  I was always under the impression that it would be another liberal propaganda-driven message movie like all the others coming out recently. To my great surprise, it was not. Rather than use the war to tell people already against it to protest, Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal decide to use Iraq purely as a backdrop to the real subject matter at hand—war itself. Plain and simple, war is hell, but it is also a drug each soldier feeds on, an adrenaline rush that makes him wake every morning to see what may happen. We are thrown into the action as Bravo Company's bomb team has just 38 days left in rotation. Let's just say the day doesn't end well and the final month has its ups and downs showing the world what is going on over there—the pressure, the friendships, the duty, and the loss.The authenticity is astounding throughout. I know people will gripe about the shaky camera style, but that lends itself to the realism and puts you into the action of this bomb squad under the cowboy antics of leader William James, played by Jeremy Renner. He is a recent addition, replacing the team's last technician after a tragic accident involving a bomb and an Iraqi cell phone. It would appear that he has a death wish, going into situations without recon and letting his emotions get the better of him every step of the way. He does have a girlfriend and son back home, though, and the compassion a father has comes out at times, especially when dealing with a young Middle Eastern boy named Beckham selling DVDs and playing soccer. James uses his sense of humor strangely, telling people he'll chop their heads off or some other such nonsense with a straight face before smiling, saying he's just kidding, and rubbing their head. His carefree attitude may seem cavalier, but by the end of the film we will realize what makes him tick. He is doing this for his country, filling a job in high demand with the US army, a job he's damn good at.The other two members of his team don't necessarily share his laidback demeanor. As another soldier says later on in the film, this team is wired tight. Anthony Mackie's JT Sanborn is a by-the-books guy, holding the safety of his men above all else. He is willing to have a good time and can drink, punch, and joke with the best of them, but when it comes to a live bomb out in the middle of a street, he wants you with your radio on, listening to what he has to say. When a surrounding area has been evacuated and he asks James to pull back, letting the engineers take over, he wants to be listened to. Renner's technician is not that kind of guy, though. He sees a puzzle and he wants to solve it, almost admiring the bomb creator whose work he is dismantling. Unafraid to give his Sergeant the finger and continue with his work, headphones and bomb suit off—Specialist Eldridge right next to him in the blast zone being told to fall back by Sanborn but having to stay since James is the commanding officer—he lives for the excitement at the edge of life and death.As for Eldridge, played by Brian Geraghty, who is used to the desert having been in Jarhead, he is a young novice on the team, never having seen a dead body, never having been in a firefight, and yet here he is putting himself in the way of active bombs that could blow him to pieces. A boy that isn't quite able to shake the fear of death, nor the thought that being in Iraq means he already is dead, Eldridge is visited often by a Colonel, who is also a psychiatrist of some sort, helping him through the war. Their relationship ends with devastating effect that resonates from Geraghty's performance despite being an obvious result when watching the sequence leading up to the event. It really is the performance by each of these three leads—Renner, Mackie, and Geraghty—that makes The Hurt Locker as effective a tale as it is. Eldridge may keep his demons on his sleeve throughout, but both James and Sanborn keep theirs hidden until they can no longer. Both do brilliant work at expressing the inner fears and desires, especially those dreams they aren't sure they'll ever be able to fulfill.A lot of credit must be given to Bigelow for getting all the pieces together and crafting a very effective war film. It is character-driven throughout, hinging on the audience believing that these men are in life or death situations each and every day. She opens the film through the eyes of an Army bot, calling to memory the first person filming in—what is my favorite film of hers—Strange Days. And while many will label Bigelow as a man's director, doing action and testosterone-induced work, you can't deny her delicate care in expressing the human psyche. It isn't even just the fight scenes or the high-pressure anticipation of a bomb going off; no my favorite moment is when Renner goes off camp to seek revenge for something he believes occurred. He is alone, without his uniform or equipment and only a sidearm at his disposal, wandering the streets of Iraq. Just the matter in which he has to return to base shows how on edge everyone is. This isn't a video game played by faceless automatons, no, war is most definitely hell. It's being fought, win or lose, by people just like us, full of aspirations and dreams we just hope we'll live long enough to see come to fruition.

• A Rare Occurrence of Thought Provoking Action posted on 26 Aug 2009

  Over the past three years, give or take, there have been an assortment of films that have attempted to articulate and illustrate the many complexities of the Middle East. Paticuluarly in the aspect of Western involvement in this tense region. The Hurt Locker is that: tense and at times nerve racking.The generation of such sensations and feelings of anxiousness and distress should be much accredited to Kathryn Bigelow, the director. Yet the reason for her success which of course is her direction, is quite unorthodox. The most tense and debilitating moments are done so in slow pacing and seemingly tranquil moments rather then rushing into rapid action and quick camera-shots. The screenwriter of the film, Mark Boal continues to rise with The Hurt Locker as only his second screenplay, the other being In the Valley of Elah. The two combined together create not just greatly done action sequences but ultimately thought provoking ones.The performances as well were quite convincing from almost seemingly upcoming stars in Jeremy Renner, Brian Geraghty and almost certainly Anthony Mackie considering his powerful résumé. There are also greatly meaningful quintessential cameos from such well accomplished actors such as Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes.Films on this subject have tried focusing on very focused and specific aspects of this plight and find themselves wandering off into unnecessary and confusing aspects of the story. Others have attempted to assess the situation broadly but with doing so, most often make the mistake of presenting the different facets in a much too mundane or simplified fashion. With this it is obvious very few films have succeeded in presenting a thorough, accurate and sensible look at this tense region. The Hurt Locker creates a tension that I last felt from Apocalypse Now. I'm certainly not saying the film is of the status of Apocalypse Now but I certainly advise to watch at the least a very good war film.

• Intriguing, but stops short posted on 18 Aug 2009

  It seems that people are either hating this film or loving it. Well, I think I can easily sum this up for anyone considering watching this.It's basically "Generation Kill", just with different characters and not enough time to develop all the characters. The movie was over two hours and yet I wanted to learn more about the characters. I was really drawn into the characters and there was a lot of depth that could have been played upon, yet it seems a lot of story remains on the cutting room floor. Besides the characters, there seemed to be a few sub-plots to the story that were not being told and it really left me wanting more. Perhaps this really should have been told in a mini-series format, because some things are just left hanging and you need to fill in the details yourself. Maybe if it was a mini-series though, the Generation Kill producers would cry foul, because they're that close in format to one another. It makes me wonder which production came first or was there some collaboration between them? Bottom line, if you liked Generation Kill, then you'll like this without a doubt. It's production is the same caliber and it's only missing the length to call it a true squeal.

• Wow.. what can I say? I had hopes, but... posted on 16 Aug 2009

  but it still sucked. OK, let me qualify this statement- if you are not in the military, or are not a strong military history buff, then perhaps you can enjoy he movie for what it is, a mild action/thriller set in the middle east. Otherwise you will be very irritated watching this movie.I am on my second tour in Iraq as a Cavalry Scout, currently living at VBC, as mentioned in the movie. I have provided MANY EOD escorts to IED sites. There are some key factors that his movie really gets wrong.First, EOD almost never, ever disarms IEDs. They blow them in place, using C4, much like the first bomb scene. This is because it is much safer for the EOD team than disarming the bombs, many of which are set with the sole intent of killing EOD, and to prevent another insurgent from coming along and reusing the bombs. Also, the explosion usually will set off any secondary IEDs that may be wired into the first ones, stacked beneath it, etc. Of course, that bomb really only needed one block of C4 to detonate it, and the robot could have easily taken that out in it's claw, but I can buy the excuse as the director needed to kill a character off for the plot. I've seen the guys in the suits as much as with th robot, it all depends on the situation, however none have ever sat around with a Gerber multi-tools, puling on the wires and dragging the bombs around. These are very volatile substances and yanking on the blasting caps can easily set them off.EOD always has a cordon of security out before going to work. Snipers and IEDs as ambushes to lure EOD techs into the open are very common. Watching his two other soldiers as they stand on HMMWV hoods, stand in the open street and wait to be taken out with a sniper shot is just grating.A soldier with an M4 carbine is no security against vehicles, as the car scene shows. A vehicle crew would never, ever dismount the heavy machine gun in the turret to stand about with an M4 on the ground. That is just ridiculous. It seems that every time this EOD team rolls up to another bomb, all the crews have dismounted away from their heavy weapon and hide clustered in buildings. There is no security cordon whatsoever.The car bomb scene was a disaster. First is the sniper using the Chinese AK that sets the car on fire with a seemingly well placed shot to he gas tank? The ca, full of bombs (which are wired together), need to be set off by lighting the car on fire? If this Arab was such a good shot, perhaps e could have just been shooting the EOD team standing out in the open. As it is, he shoots over the heads of these guys just to hit the car. And if that was the method of triggering the bombs, what were they actually wired to? And the wire appears to be thick, like det cord, not electrical wire. Det cord would detonate in a fire... Anyway, EOD, instead of backing off and letting the fire do it's job and destroy the bomb, grabs the fire extinguisher from their HMMWV to put out the VBIED? So if they are ambushed or blown up on their way back to base they won't have anything to put their own vehicle out with because they used it all on a bomb?? So after the sniper shoots the car, a single EOD team member goes in an clears the roof tops, without the aid of the squad of soldiers nearby. He just rushes through a place that is known to have had at least one insurgent in it, by himself. That is just asking to get shot, or worse.My favorite line at the VBIED scene is when the black soldier radios up that the building is evacuated, and tells the guy ripping through the car looking for the initiator (why?) to leave it for the engineers. WTF? EOD leaving bomb disposal to the engineers? That is what EOD IS FOR! Then there's the disregard for rank structure. The Specialist that refuses to say Sir to a Lieutenant Colonel, when E5 Sanborn slugs E7 James with no repercussions, standing at Parade Rest for officers (never mind they are in a hot area still...). The uniforms bug me, like an American flag on both sides of the ACU top, the green subdued cloth lag is unauthorized for wear according to AR670-1, the sleeves are never rolled up on an ACU top...And who exactly is this O5 with the 1st ID patches? Is he supposed to be mental health, chaplin, or something like that? Then there's the sniper scene. WTF is happening here? EOD suddenly just goes off somewhere near Najaf, because guess what, there isn't a lot of desert like that near VBC. And who goes off without an escort? And the mercs, the Barret scene... oh God, it just goes on and on painfully.All this and the movie isn't even half over yet. From my time working with the EOD teams in our areas I can say that this movie is crap. It would be much better as a police story in a busy city, not in a warzone. Then I could buy into why this guy is disarming bombs. I am glad I saw this on a $2 burned Haji copy. If I'd paid real money for this movie then I too would have a death-wish.

• These men deserve to have their stories told. posted on 12 Aug 2009

  As far as movies centered around the War in Iraq this movie has done the most justice of displaying the mentalities of some of the bravest men in the world. During my tours in Iraq seeing regular men come up in extraordinary situations was something that was always impressive and inspiring, yet to see the men of Explosive Ordinance Disposal (Bomb Squad) go out multiple times a day was the most insane. While everyone is trained to run away or stay back these guys were mounting up to go in. They are some of the bravest men I have ever had the privilege to work with and it is about time a movie was made for them. This film does a fine job of showing the many layers of a soldier or marines mind frame during the hardships of life at war. Great acting and great effects neither obscure or become detrimental to the storytelling.A little snag in the middle with a slightly unrealistic scene but we can forgive. In a perfect world a movie will come out that shows this type of realism of characters combined with the realism of the way we really fight over there. -USMC-

• Bigelow Detonates All the Right Marks posted on 10 Aug 2009

  Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) is the "wild man" team leader who has defused more than eight hundred bombs and has built his reputation on being an adrenaline junkie in order to mask his inability to cope with the emotional connections he feebly tries to make at home and on the job. Sergeant JT Sandborn (Anthony Mackie) approaches his work with a by-the-book stoicism that can't comprehend the recklessness of James. Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) is highly trained but still feels overwhelmed by his morbid thoughts on war and his role in it. These are the members of the EOD Army bomb squad stationed in Baghdad in 2004, and "The Hurt Locker" is their story.After failing to do so with the depressingly somber and serious "In The Valley of Elah", screenwriter Mark Boal wisely places politics and moralizing aside this time to give us an intimate look into one squad with a highly specialized job to do. Hollywood has always loved to play with the grunt's-eye-view-of-war-as-hell theme, but "The Hurt Locker" spins that volatile cocktail on its head and blows it up all over the screen by focusing on an elite team and proposes the notion that maybe war is a drug...for some.Director Kathryn Bigelow hits all the right detonators with her fascinating presentation of modern warfare in the Middle East. Bigelow hasn't really made anything memorable since her 1987 breakthrough, the cult vampire/western "Near Dark", but she has always managed to make interesting failures-- just take a look at her attempt to do a literary adaptation with the superficially obtuse "The Weight of Water". Often living under the shadow of ex-husband James Cameron or having to share the title of "that female action director" with Mimi Leder (until Mimi murdered her film career with the abominable "Pay it Forward") Bigelow, determined to finally leave her mark, displays an astounding technical prowess with "The Hurt Locker" that can only come from the wisdom of experience. Close-ups, slow-mo's, quick cuts and inventive plays with the camera's point-of-view are used sparingly and with pin-point precision to heighten tension. Here she shows the "good ol' boys" she once emulated but has now trounced that style can be used for dramatic effect but need not be excessive. Her sense of space allows us to be right there with the bomb squad as they are faced with unimaginable danger. We always know where each character is positioned in relation to the bomb, and we always find in turn our stomachs have hit the floor. Her technique is brilliant and delivers a picture that is so taut it might be the most intense experience this side of Clouzot's "Wages of Fear". Now knowing all the moves, however, I wonder how the film will hold up on return viewing."The Hurt Locker" is not for those seeking generic thrills or anyone currently on medication for emotional problems. It gets deep down into the gritty nature of bomb defusing by offering us lessons on suicide bombers, IED's and body-bombs that will make your gut churn. There's also some fantastically rendered sniper scenarios that are used not just for a visceral jolt, but also as a way to explore character development. Soldiers are not only put in precarious situations during combat but also in their day-to-day life dealing with their own conflicted emotions on top of a moody Iraqi populace that includes people treating them as tourists and looking to make a quick buck, people looking at the carnage as a spectator sport, people suffering as innocent bystanders, and people who wish to kill the soldiers and any one else in any way possible.While there are a few details one could quibble with (for instance, the title is never explained), "The Hurt Locker" is impossible to dismiss and sometimes hard to digest. It paints a picture of war that shows there are no politics when it comes to the daily experiences of soldiers in the field. Their everyday heroism is painted in varying shades of moral ambiguity, while their internal struggles are shown to receive no emotional closure. As in real life, the story arcs of the fictional characters seen here are left open-ended, and the possibility of redeployment looms not just as an act of cruel fate but as a conscious and determined choice.

• The "SAW" of war movies posted on 08 Aug 2009

  Please bear with me, when I say that this is the "SAW" of the anti war movie genre. It doesn't mean that "The Hurt Locker" has a lot of explicit violence (only some), but that it constantly attacks your nerves. There is almost no moment of peace in the entire two hour movie. Accordingly you leave the theatre exhausted or you just snap out of the story halfway through because it is just too much. At the showing that I just came home from a guy in the front row fell asleep and started snoring so loudly, the whole theatre could hear him. Two guys next to me left the cinema saying that they found the movie boring. I don't think it is boring. It's just relentless, never allowing the story to calm down now and then.Mark Boal, the screenwriter, is a journalist who supposedly took a pretty neutral stance in his articles about the Iraq war. (This information was given to the audience by the guy who introduced the movie). Now, I find that a bit surprising, because "The Hurt Locker" isn't really that neutral in its outlook. Sure, it probably strives to be a realistic depiction of the constant physical and emotional pressure of being in the U.S. Army's bomb squad, but we only ever see the American side of things. The American soldiers, all of whom are the best of people with the best intentions - the lead character fulfilling the old John Wayne-cliché again (and having him "break down" once or twice doesn't change a thing about that). Whenever an Iraqi shows up, he's a terrorist or at least a threat. I am aware that this, too, is a reality for an American soldier, but STILL... for a depiction of reality, this movie relies too much on theatrical moments, some out-of-place one liners and clichés. Still, "The Hurt Locker" is properly unsettling. It makes you feel the constant paranoia of being in the war zone. The cast is good (especially Jeremy Renner in the lead) and so is the score. Whereas the pictures and the pacing are "in your face" (quite literally actually, we mostly see the characters in extreme close-up, which adds to the tense atmosphere), the score is almost play-like. That makes for a nice contrast. If the action on screen is about the here and now, the apocalyptic score transmutes certain moments into scenes that show the eternal madness of man killing his own.Those are the moments when "The Hurt Locker" works best. However, it hurts the movie that we're only shown the American side of things. We only see the American soldiers who try their best, but are broken by the war. That may be one aspect of this horrible situation, but it's either blue-eyed or ignorant to make this the only point of your film.

• Exceptional War Film posted on 06 Aug 2009

  After a long break, director Kathryn Bigelow returns with 'The Hurt Locker', and shows why she is one of the most exciting film-makers working today.Following a particular bomb squad currently serving in Iraq, the film shows the conflict on a number of different levels. From the ground-level troops, to the commanding officers, to the civilians who witness every intense stand-off on a daily basis, 'The Hurt Locker' puts the viewer on the front line.Where other war-related films revel in the action-orientated battle scenes, Bigelow deliberately drains all the excitement and popcorn approach from the scenes involving gunplay and bombings, making for a much more natural, realistic effect.The interaction between the U.S soldiers is first-rate, showing how the Bush government's ham-fisted invasion of Iraq has affected the troops' effectiveness on the ground, and its alliance with Iraqi civilians.Performances are perfect. Jeremy Renner is excellent as Staff Sergeant James, who loves the rush of disarming bombs, even if it means putting his fellow soldiers at risk. Anthony Mackie is great as the level-headed Sanborn, while Brian Geraghty scores strongly as Eldridge, who admires both James and Sanborn, but can't decide which side to take.A great companion piece to Brian DePalma's criminally under-rated 'Redacted', 'The Hurt Locker' is an incredibly vivid, technically brilliant drama that shows that the people who suffer the most during war are the ones who have to experience it first-hand, and that a war plan half-completed can only lead to disaster. It is also great to see Kathryn Bigelow ('Near Dark'/'The Loveless'/'Strange Days'/'Point Break'/'K-19 : The Widowmaker') back, showing once again what a terrific film-maker she is.

• Fascination with war's futility posted on 04 Aug 2009

  Some films transport you to a world so completely that for a time you enter the minds and hearts of those the film seeks to portray. It is interesting that it has taken the genius of a female director, Kathryn Bigelow, to evoke for our time the soul destroying futility of the world that men make, the world of war. We see the war in Iraq through the eyes of a bomb disposal crew. It is a micro view of a massive tragedy scarring the current generation of young American and British men who have been put "in harm's way", to use that awful euphemism for those who risk their lives for the dreams of silver haired politicians, many of whom made sure they were never in a place of greater harm than the golf course. We learn in the first minute of the film that "war is a drug". Its insidious allure creates moments of extraordinary bravery. But those who get high on that particular drug, the 'wild men' who know they are alive when their lives are in great peril, lose something very precious. This is touched on seemingly in passing in the film, but is perhaps the main motif. The three key actors are excellent in portraying that mix of despair and elation, courage and abject fear that perhaps have been the soldiers' lot since time immemorial. In particular the acting of Jeremy Renner, as staff sergeant William James, is powerfully convincing. Some moments in this film create a tension as high as that of the most eloquent work of Hitchcock or Michael Mann. The enemy are ever present because any ordinary citizen of Iraq could be that enemy. Yet Bigelow avoids making these enemies super villains; they are just the other side in a life destroying endeavour that the film does not seek to explain, because for the troops on the ground, such explanation is virtually futile. For me this film is a perfect example of its genre, the intelligent war movie, and deserves to be seen widely and thought about deeply.

• War is a drug posted on 02 Aug 2009

  The conflict in Iraq has presented a new dynamic for the United States in they way it fights a war that is being waged on the streets of its most important cities. This is a new type of combat because the troops are on a constant death watch, a peril presented by the explosive devices planted on the streets and on the roads where the soldiers must cover looking for hostile enemies.As the story opens, we are taken to watch how Sgt. Matt Thompson goes to diffuse a device planted on the pavement. The special trained soldier doing this type of job, must wear a protective costume in order for him to get so near the bomb to cut the wiring. Unfortunately for Thompson it is the end of the war and of his life.His replacement, Staff Sgt. William James, is a fearless man. From the start he exudes confidence, as he approaches each task that requires his talent for disconnecting an explosive device intended to end the lives of American soldiers. His team is composed by Sgt. Sanborn and by Specialist Owen Eldridge, who cover up while James goes to do his job. It is easy to understand the pressure the three men face on a daily basis and the dangers they are under. It takes nerves of steel to accomplish each mission entrusted to them as anyone of the curious onlookers could be detonating the bombs with their cell phones."The Hurt Locker" is one of the most accomplished accounts about a war in recent memory. Thanks to its director, Kathryn Bigelow, this picture keeps the viewer at the edge of his seat because of the action never stops. Ms. Bigelow was lucky in bringing to the screen Mark Boal's screenplay. He was responsible for writing the excellent "In the Valley of Elah" that dealt also with the Iraq conflict, but in a different form.The film owes its appeal to Jeremy Renner, an actor that gets better all the time. His work in "Dahmer" was seen perhaps by a selected few, but one hopes the success of this film will bring him the recognition he rightfully deserves. Anthony Mackey makes a good contribution as Sgt. Sanborn, a man that goes by the book and who must be alert all the time to protect James. As the specialist Eldridge, Brian Geraghty does an outstanding job for Ms. Bigelow. Seen in small roles, Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes, do excellent work to enhance the film. The film is triumph for Kathryn Bigelow.

• "The Hurt Locker" - My First Impression posted on 29 Jul 2009

  The Hurt Locker ~reviewed by Topher-LiamIf it'll help in any way to sell this masterful piece of celluloid, I offer my praise (no I am not so self-righteous to think my opinion means very much) to the reams of critical praise blanketing this movie. I saw it this afternoon and was blown away by its incredible power.This film is the best war film since "Saving Private Ryan" and belongs on the same shelf of greatness as the likes of "Apocalypse Now", "Full Metal Jacket", and other classics. The dogma, Paul Greengrass style of semi-documentary shooting suits the material perfectly. Kathryn Bigelow's direction and editing throws you into the center of combat. She creates an unstable world where you can never quite feel the men on screen are safe. The tension reaches unimaginable points. Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce are the most recognizable faces, but pass along the screen for a few minutes at most. The stand out performer is leading man Jeremy Renner, whose turn is charismatic, naturalistic, compelling, and note-perfect.This is a film that wisely makes no direct statement about the Iraq War, but all wars, through demonstrating how it affects individuals. The moment where one soldier cries that no one will care if he dies made me think of every man or woman who has ever died in battle. Their individual deaths may seem like numbers on a chart to some, but each singular death must have affected countless friends and families. This film damns war and salutes soldiers at the same time. It belongs amongst the greats for pulling no punches, no moments of dishonesty. It is not made to glorify, it is a slice of reality stripped of cinematic artfulness. A character piece about a man who may be seen as brave or obsessed, it throws its viewers into a world of death and horror, and brings us as far into the scene and terror of battle as a fictional motion picture can. 10/10

• A Perfectly Shattering Film Going Experience posted on 25 Jul 2009

  Kathryn Bigelow concocts a masterpiece of a film without tricks or gimmicks, at least none to be detected and that in itself is a triumph. Realistic yet poetic like the works of the great masters. It enters and fits a genre and at the same time is unique, unexpected. It shutters, moves and alters every sense, like a powerful drug. I saw it last night and I'm going to see it again tonight. Last night Jeremy Remmer came to speak to the audience in a face to face moderated by Sam Rockwell, great idea but it change my perception of Remmer in the film, of his character. Although he praised Kathryn Bigelow, he said things like "I don't tell her how to direct and she doesn't tell me how to act" Watching the film I felt that childish arrogance belonged to the character by his personal appearance showed it belonged to the actor. In any case, it works on the screen. A character you warm up to almost immediately in spite of his contradictions. Remmer will remind you at times of Robert Redford and others of Michael J Pollard. He is truly terrific so try to avoid his personal appearances not to contaminate that impression. The rest of the cast works wonders and the brief cameos by Guy Pearce and Ralph Finnes are the most organic and unobtrusive cameos I've ever seen in my life. All in all extraordinary. I predict, even if we're only in June, that Kathryn Bigelow risks to be the first female director to win the Academy Award. She certainly got my vote.

• Bigelow helms an Oscar-worthy look at the war in Iraq with a truly stunning turn by Renner; one of the year's best. posted on 23 Jul 2009

  THE HURT LOCKER (2009) **** Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly. Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow's absorbingly, nerve- jangling, Oscar worthy look at the war in Iraq is bold, original and powerful thanks largely to the anchored performance of Renner (seriously should be nominated for Best Actor), as a cool- as-a-cucumber, Unorthodox US Army Staff Sergeant whose mission is to disarm bombs upon combat situations with a team of two others (Mackie and Geraghty equally affective) while jeopardizing the chaos surrounding the trio in constant harms' way. Loaded with enough teeth-clenching, sweat-inducing anxiety and stress the you-are-there-approach echoes Stone's "PLATOON" and Spielberg's "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" and the film joins the ranks of those two exceptional war films as an elite force unto itself. One of the year's very best and a must see.

• The Hurt Locker Movie Review from The Massie Twins posted on 19 Jul 2009

  A war film unlike any other, The Hurt Locker examines a group of Army bomb squad soldiers in Iraq and the extreme toll the horrors of war and the debilitating awareness of imminent death takes on their lives. Incredibly suspenseful from the start, the pressure and paranoia to get the job done never lets up, and though the balance between realism and personalized fiction seems to shift more towards the latter further into the turmoil, few films can boast war scenes of such a gloriously intense magnitude.After the leader of an Army bomb squad unit in Iraq is tragically killed, brash-but-experienced bomb technician William James (Jeremy Renner) is brought in to replace his command. His new squad includes Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty); the trio must learn to trust each other through their various, always perilous missions, constantly coping with the daily reminders of the fragility of human life and the infinite dangers surrounding their every move."War is a drug" states the opening quote by author Chris Hedges. That idea isn't fully revisited until the conclusion when The Hurt Locker resorts to being a mouthpiece for soldier's mentalities, the regimentation of their lives and their inability to reinsert themselves back into the world they knew before. It seems an unnecessary effort, considering the incredible amount of raw suspense and nail-biting action that drives the majority of the film. It's a small dose of political agenda, leaving the rest to be solidly entertaining, proving once again that director Kathryn Bigelow can handle action movies like the best of them.The Hurt Locker is partly a biopic of a fictionalized EOD specialist, and part pseudo-documentary about a tension-wrought Bravo Company 40 day rotation. Instead of focusing on a story arc that separates specific villains and related events, the film chronicles several unrelated bomb missions and the tolls they have on fellow soldiers, Iraqi citizens and James' beliefs and methodology. Without catching those responsible or even hunting specific terrorists, The Hurt Locker relies on tremendously powerful imagery, adrenaline-fix recklessness, mental stresses and an obsession with death, heart-stopping explosions, camaraderie, Full Metal Jacket-influenced commanding officer execution thoughts, and enough suspenseful intensity to level a movie theater. It's borderline humorous the way Bigelow toys with the audience, setting up extreme anticipation for the next detonation or ambush, pouncing on the viewer's senses like a horror film.Being a bomb squad technician is like a roll of the dice, a high-pressure, high-stakes risk that demands a sound mind and a dizzyingly calm intelligence. There is no room for error, and actor Jeremy Renner provides a believable hero - one who demonstrates a daredevil disregard for protocol and safety that might just be a mask for a man whose perfectly-honed skills are the mark of an uncompromising professional. The supporting cast is superb, as are the sound effects and numbingly immersive camera-work. Witnessing a different side of the Iraqi war zone, a modern battlefield, coupled with real-life sacrifice and heroism is powerful, alluring, and eye-opening entertainment.- The Massie Twins

• Real war as it should be portrayed posted on 17 Jul 2009

  Going to watch 'The Hurt Locker,' I was naively unaware of the talents of one Kathryn Bigelow. Having now seen the film, I find myself wanting more, much more. This is of course the main theme throughout the film. From the offset we are made to think about a quote from war journalist Chris Hedges and standout phrase that 'war is a drug.' We soon learn exactly why. The opening scene sets the tone perfectly as a seemingly simple and straightforward procedure to end a bomb threat goes terribly awry. The familiar washed out look of many Gulf War films is there (Three Kings, Jarhead), but somehow it is fresh and new as Bigelow paces the proceedings so that the audience are only too aware of the bleak surroundings as are the soldiers on the front line as shaky hand-held camera work puts the audience there too (Barry Ackroyd delivering a gritty, very real scope). This paranoia that anything or anyone could be a threat is established. Watch as an approaching civilian seemingly distracts Sgt. JT Sanborn (the no nonsense Anthony Mackie,) heightening tension that is surrounding Sgt. Matt Thompson's (Guy Pierce) bomb disposal squad so that even the slightest of inklings to a threat as a mobile phone is missed, resulting in the horrific end to this incident . Jeremy Renner's Sgt. William James now takes over as Bravo Company's bomb disposal squad staff sergeant. Immediately he is carefree and alarmingly self assured to the particular annoyance of Sanborn. Despite this lack of professionalism as team leader, we fully believe that James is more than capable of doing the job right (he has disarmed over 800 bombs so far.) Walking head strong into the arena, James disarms with ease; it is mainly the surroundings that Bigelow uses to add a daunting prospect and tension. As James gets on with his work, the audience are with Sanborn and Special Owen Eldridge (the painfully torn Brian Geraghty) as they assess the threat and will themselves to be out of harm's way as soon as possible. Contrasting Sanborn and Eldridge's desire to be safe and precarious, James keeps little momentums ('signatures') from each bomb he disarms, revelling in the fact that it could've killed him as we understand that this is James' drug. The much talked about scene where Bravo Company meet up with British mercenaries is a thing of frustrating and never ending tension that excites and grips more than anything I have seen all summer as detail is lost in the distant desert as snipers pick out this meeting, we witness a drawn out and mind numbingly sparse stake out that Bigelow is in no rush to conclude. The tight angles reveal little and the unknown enemy who fire from off screen create a claustrophobic atmosphere, even in the expansive land. A film not about 'war' as such in the political sense, it is about those in war and how they deal with the pressure, whether they love it or hate it. Eldridge seems to have found a Father figure in lesser character Col. John Cambridge (Christian Camargo) and is agonisingly torn between his affections for Sanborn and James as role models. Sanborn, the ever professional does not like the risks and carelessness of James and is not afraid to express this and yet, in the end, we see a broken man who seemingly envies James. Then Renner as James gives the most conflicted and rounded character. Here is someone who smiles at the complexity and difficulty of disarming a bomb that could destroy half a city, secretly admiring the bomb maker. His obsession with bomb disposal overshadows every aspect of his life, he can't even bear to talk to his wife on the phone and once home with family, admits that he has one love, one drug as it were, war. The timing of this film comes perfectly as juxtaposition to Tarantino's 'Inglorious Basterds.' Where Tarantino fictionalises war for his story, 'The Hurt Locker,' has the brilliance of a writer with first hand experiences of the gulf war (journalist Mark Boal) and delivers a very 'real' experience. Where explosions may light the sky up in other summer blockbusters, here we are showered in dirt and debris (there are particularly beautiful touches with slow motion observations of the reverberations of explosions) and where other soldiers may talk about going home to their daughter and beautiful wife, we have men who have nothing but war and when they do, it is not enough. War is where they are at home and home is where they are at war.Patrick Waggett

• Style With Little Substance posted on 15 Jul 2009

  With no explanation The Hurt Locker starts off amidst a moment of extraordinary anxiety. A U.S. bomb-squad task force is in the midst of weighing their options. Just a few hundred yards ahead of them on an abandoned Iraqi street lies potential instantaneous death. It is their job to approach it, disarm it, and return to base unscathed. This fear of death looms over the scene. Little noise is heard aside from light dialogue. Although the set is simple, the visuals are a complex blend of real and imagined anxiety. The camera, to great effect, is tremendously shaky. It helps to transport us inside these men's minds. The barren landscapes all appear to be minefields, ridden with a million ways to die, and no expectation of forewarning. Visually, this is without a doubt one of the most immersive war films ever made.After this first scene we get to meet the characters. After being made to feel each and every nuance of perturbation from their perspective, you'd think that there would be something equally engaging going on under the hood. Unfortunately, with lines of dialogue like, "Every time we go out it's life or death; we roll the dice," the characters we are made to care so much about quickly devolve into shallow stereotypes.You can read the full review I wrote on The Hurt Locker at http://cfilmc.com/the-hurt-locker/

• The suspense sequences are awesome posted on 15 Jul 2009

  War/action drama about an American bomb squad in the Iraq war. The film is extremely apolitical - the Iraq setting is almost incidental. The themes and incidents could, except for the technology involved and some of the elements of the suspense (notably that the fact that the enemy is made up of Iraqi insurgents, and it's difficult to tell the enemy apart from anyone else), this could just as easily have been about a police bomb squad or one in any other war. What makes The Hurt Locker special is its suspense sequences. God, it's been a long time since any Hollywood action director got suspense right. Bigelow takes the old Hitchcock maxim about the ticking of the bomb being more exciting than the explosion to its logical extremes. There are a handful of bomb diffusion sequences in the film, and they are all very tense (there's also a sequence where the group, along with some British allies, are pinned down by snipers, that is reminiscent of Ford's The Lost Patrol). It can be a very impressive film, and in a summer overrun by idiotic movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, it's not at all surprising that so many critics have declared this a masterpiece. It's not, though. The main problem is that the human story surrounding the action/suspense setpieces is nothing special. Jeremy Renner plays the new leader of this squad, with his two veteran assistants, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty. They lost their previous Sergeant through carelessness, and they are eager to protect the new guy. But Renner is an adrenaline junkie. He dares what no one else will (screw robots! I'll march right up to that bomb without a second thought!). There is a lot of tension between the three men because of this. Meanwhile, Renner wonders how he can ever return to normal life with his wife (Evangeline Lily) and young son without the excitement of the field. There's also a subplot about a young Iraqi boy Renner befriends who disappears. The stuff around the setpieces isn't necessarily bad, it's just not exceptional. I could also complain a little about the action sequences themselves. They are definitely exciting, but, if you think them through, they don't seem too realistic. For instance, in the opening sequence, when the first Sergeant is approaching a bomb, Geraghty sees a butcher across the street pull out his cell phone. Geraghty yells at him to put it down, but hesitates in taking a shot. Yeah right. This guy would be dead the second he pulled out that phone (and he should be; there's no room for mistakes in this kind of situation). You would really hope the real guys in this situation would be much more careful than Renner is. If these exceptionally trained individuals weren't that trained, you'd think they'd all be dead by now. And in the sniper sequence, when one British sniper gets waxed, Mackie grabs his gun and seemingly goes to the exact same spot to snipe. What? I won't at all be surprised to see a ton of technical debunkings of this film as it becomes more popular. I've already seen a few on the film's IMDb board. Technical problems don't bother me too much, though, and I still quite enjoyed the movie.

• The best modern war movie in my opinion... posted on 13 Jul 2009

  Let's get the highlights out of the way first… Pros: - Great premise - Authentic atmosphere/locations - Great Tension - Good Acting - Best modern war movie to date Cons: - Forgivable unlikely scenariosOK… now some people may disagree with me but out of the modern war movies, this one has the least political agenda of them all. Having said that… I could enjoy the movie's true grit without rolling my eyes about some strong pro/con message about the Iraqi war. One of the movie's best attributes is how it maintains a certain degree of tension the entire time; basically your thinking anyone can die at any moment. Even when a bomb is disarmed… the mood encourages you to think that the situation still isn't entirely safe. Another great attribute that isn't normally mentioned is the dynamic between the 3 men in the bomb unit. Sergeant James did not fear war or death at all; in fact, he treats most situations with an uncaring attitude. Sanborn hid his fear by being professional and operating by the book. Finally specialist Eldridge showed his fear by being unsure about everything and basically thinking he's dead already. Overall… this movie is great. By default, I liked it because—like Public Enemies and hopefully like District 9—this movie is very original unlike most movies these days. Secondly, I liked it because it created a great modern war atmosphere without over-the-top special effects or graphic violence. In conclusion, I'd defiantly say this is the best movie I've seen in 09. -AX

• Inaccurate overrated movie posted on 09 Jul 2009

  First off let my start by saying that I am a 3 time veteran of Iraq. This has been called the "definitive" Iraq film. Is is not. The definitive Iraq film has yet to be made and probably won't ever be made. It always amazes my how the critics laud the inaccuracies in these films and call them "masterpieces". To us vets, however they are as phony as can be. To cite just 4 examples of what is wrong with this movie: 1. When the lead character Sergeant James encounters a car bomb filled with explosives he immediately removes his protective suit and begins to rummage around looking for the trigger wire. I have met EOD guys and have a lot of respect for them but I know for a fact that they WOULD NEVER EVER DO THIS. If any self respecting EOD soldier did that he would be court- martialed. No soldier would ever remove all his gear especially in the middle of a city. The critics showed his as being brave but this was plain out stupidity. 2. When James encounters the body of a young Iraqi boy he had befriended and sees that explosives have been placed in his abdomen, he attempts to find out who killed him. He does this in the most implausible way possible. He gets into the car of an Iraqi merchant dressed only in his fatigues and with no gear on points a pistol at his head and orders him to drive him to what he thinks is the boys house. Upon arrival there he finds nothing so what does he do then? He WALKS ALL THE WAY BACK FROM THE HOUSE TO HIS BASE WITH NO PROTECTIVE GEAR IN THE MIDDLE OF BAGHDAD AT NIGHT AND NO ONE NOTICES HIM?! This defies belief. Again no soldier would ever or has ever in 6 years in Iraq ever done this. It could not happen. 3. After defusing the car bomb his fellow soldier a subordinate punches him for taking off his radio headset. In real life that soldier would be done. He struck a superior?! No way. 4. During a climactic battle sequence the aforementioned soldier takes off his helmet while firing a sniper rifle. Again this would never happen. 5. Last but not least at the end of the movie the lead character has returned to Iraq after an unspecified amount of time at home. The scene shows him walking towards another bomb with his suit on. The caption reads " Days left in Alpha company's rotation-365. This is also wrong as all soldiers coming to Iraq train at least 2 weeks in Kuwait and this is counted as part of your year there.At the end of the movie the credits list the main character as a Staff Sergeant but in the movie he is wearing the rank of Sergeant First Class. This may have been an intentional error but it is still an error.When "Apocalypse Now" came out critics called it a masterpiece, the definitive Vietnam movie. Vets I talked to however said by and large it was garbage phony as hell. It wasn't until "Platoon" came out that the vets were pleased. "Platoon" was written directed by Oliver Stone who was a veteran. To me it is the definitive Vietnam movie. I believe when and if the definitive film about the current conflict comes out it will be made by a veteran someone who really knows what went on over here. I believe this film does not portray these soldiers heroically but rather as gung-ho reckless cowboys. The real heroism displayed by these guys every day is not shown at all. Hollywood owes it to us veterans to make a film that is honest about this war and not resort to phony heroism when there is plenty of real heroism out there every day. "The Hurt Locker" is well acted and well made but utterly preposterous and not a realistic portrayal at all.

• Movie Review: The Hurt Locker (2008) posted on 09 Jul 2009

  Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is a sure fire Award season contender and the most intense action movie of the summer. This is not a movie that is focused on plot or storytelling. Shot in documentary style using hand-held cameras, it is a movie that is focused on putting us in the shoes of the people at war, and that is why we care about them – because they can die at any second.The movie, written from a script by Mark Boal that is loosely based on his real life experience following a bomb squad, focuses on three people that work within a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit disarming bombs in Iraq. Those three people, played by actors who the average moviegoer will have never heard of before, are Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty).All three characters have distinct personalities. It is a pleasure to witness the conflict between James and Sanborn. Renner's character is the cocky type who approaches his job of defusing bombs about as cool as you can. Sanborn, on the other hand, is a vigilant, by-the-book leader who is not too polite to share his disapproval of James' methods. Eldridge is the quiet one in the bunch. He is the nervous guy, always thinking about the possibility of death.Even though three leads aren't big names, the movie does feature a variety of cameos from well-known actors such as Guy Pearce (Memento), Ralph Fiennes (The Reader), and Evangeline Lilly (ABC's Lost). The acting in the movie is top-notch, with all three leads turning in great performances. Renner gives a career-making performance in the lead role, while Mackie plays the perfect foil to his character. Watching all three of these men work together and bond over time is a joy to watch. You couldn't ask for better casting here.The great thing about this movie is that it is so effortless in getting us to care about the men involved. It realizes that the people don't have to bear their feelings to each other to gain our sympathy. Why does the character's brother have to be dead in order for us to care about if he lives or dies? Why does his father have to be a former soldier to gain our respect? Simply by putting these basically good people in life or death situations, we care for them instantly.It is so refreshing to see a war film that isn't trying to send some universal message, or trying to preach to the American people. This is simply a movie about the soldiers, because when people think about war they should think of the men who are risking their lives day in and day out. The result is an experience is as good as any action war movie I've ever seen. Bigelow's spot on direction and the great sound effects provide us with situations so intense that your heart rate is constantly flying during this movie.