Sunday, February 14, 2010

Hurt Locker

I finally saw Hurt Locker last night and I'm not sure what to say about it... except maybe WOW.

Should it win Best Picture Oscar? imo... No.
It was indeed a powerful film with a subject matter not easy to understand or watch. Do you know the premise?
In a nut-shell... It's about a 3-man team of blasters, those brave souls who find/diffuse IED's. It was intense and very real. It did not glamorize war.
It wasn't anti-American nor was it pro-American. Not anti-Iraqi and not pro-Iraqi. Not overtly anti-war but very anti-war.
It just was.
It's brilliance lay in the grey-area and absolute avoidance in painting things black or white. The good guys were kinda bad and instead of giving the audience a bad guy to hate, it gave us war to hate.

Everybody should see this movie because it will make you uncomfortable as war should.
btw - it wasn't overly graphic, so if that's stopping, it shouldn't.

Should Bigelow win Best Director Oscar? imo... resounding YES.
Where Cameron (Avatar) is all bigness, brightness and much over-the-top-ness, Bigelow is subtle, symbolic and she let the landscape and quietness scream the loudest. She made it look effortless but if you look, really look, it was anything but. Every shot had a reason, every frame meant something.

I found it interesting that both movies shared a theme... and you have to see them both to understand how powerful but drastically different they relate that theme.

btw - I still don't get the title. Am I stupid? Did I miss something key?? Anyone know where 'hurt locker' comes from?

4 comments:

Thomma Lyn said...

Hurt Locker sounds like an excellent movie! I don't have any idea where the title comes from, either.

Julia Phillips Smith said...

I haven't seen this one yet, but likely will when my husband brings it home eventually as a new release from Blockbuster.

A hurt locker is like being stuffed into a locker in junior high, but the locker is filled with dungeon-like pain.

NikkiS said...

I just watched this last night as well. Good movie? Definitely. Is it one I would rave about? Probably not.

It definitely makes you think and I agree with you, Wylie, as to the sublety and depth of meaning. It's well worth watching. I just feel like a GREAT movie leaves you feeling...more when you walk away from it. And I wasn't sure what I felt walking away from this one.

Also didn't get the title either. Thanks to Julia for that explanation!

Wylie Kinson said...

Nikki - you hit the nail on the head. I didn't walk away with the GREAT MOVIE FEELING. :)