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The Hurt Locker, a review by KinkyCyborg

The Hurt Locker




Title:The Hurt Locker
Year: 2008
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Rating: R
Length: 131 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Jeremy Renner
Anthony Mackie
Brian Geraghty
Guy Pearce
Ralph Fiennes

Plot:
War is a drug. Nobody knows that better than Staff Sergeant James, head of an elite squad of soldiers tasked with disarming bombs in the heat of combat. To do this nerve-shredding job, it's not enough to be the best: you have to thrive in a zone where the margin of error is zero, think as diabolically as a bomb-maker, and somehow survive with your body and soul intact. Powerfully realistic, action-packed, unrelenting and intense. The Hurt Locker has been hailed by critics as "an adrenalin-soaked tour de force" (A.O. Scott, The New York Times) and "one of the great war movies." (Richard Corliss, Time )

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery


So here it is... the movie that went up against the behemoth Avatar at the Oscars and came out on top. I think both movies are great and equally deserving of the Best Picture nod but they are obviously geared towards different audiences. I don't think Cameron was too upset about losing out on the Oscar... he already has one for Best Picture and he can console himself with the booby prize, that being a $2.6 billion worldwide box office...   

The Hurt Locker is about as gritty and intense as a movie can get. Every day of this unit's rotation and every insane, deadly scenario they are thrust into is breathtaking and hypnotic. It was as if my entire body was clenched throughout the movie. Jeremy Renner was simply awesome as the bomb disposal expert who gives new meaning to the expression 'adrenaline rush'. Even when he wasn't playing beat the clock with killer ordinance he was off rushing blindly into dangerous situations, many times putting his other unit members in harm's way.

A few telling moments for me in this film. When James's (Renner) tour is up and he goes home to his wife and son you can see it in his eyes and body language. He hates it, just loathes that ordinary existence. He has a complete indifference to his home and family. If anything, that life scares him more than the bombs do.

The on screen countdown that pops up day to day to show how many days remain of their tour was so meaningful for as that number got smaller the missions and the threats became all the more terrifying and suspenseful. Then when in the final scene, Cinematic brilliance! 

I think why this film didn't receive the accolades it should have prior to it's Oscar win is that the subject of IEDs and suicide bombers was for too real for many of the viewers in North America. Americans and Canadians alike have seen and heard far too many times about good men and women losing their lives to these cowardly devices in Iraq & Afghanistan. A movie like this would be like rubbing salt in an open, raw wound. It's because of exactly that reaction why I applaud Kathryn Bigelow for bringing that menacing world and shoving it in our faces.

Everyone casually says they support our troops. Watch this movie and you will have a new born appreciation for what these men and women do for us in these miserable countries abroad.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on April 12th, 2011)

Cat People, a review by Danae Cassandra

Cat People
Year of Release: 1942
Directed By: Jacques Tourneur
Starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph
Genre: Horror

Overview:
Directed by Jacques Tourneur, Cat People is the trailblazing first of Lewton's nine horror classics. Simone Simon portrays a bride who fears an ancient hex will turn her into a deadly panther when she's in passion's grip.

My Thoughts:
This is a stylish, atmospheric film with horror by implication rather than exhibition.  It's horror centered on psychology, on the subtext of what deeply held beliefs mean to a person, and what jealousy can drive someone to.  It's also a romantic story, and a story of romance gone cold, and of how romance and love are not the same thing.  It's very strikingly filmed, with great use of light and shadow.  Recommended unless you need a lot of action or gore in your movies, in which case steer clear.  This is a much slower and more subtle movie.

Bechdel Test: Pass

Overall: 3.5/5

(From Danae's 2013 Horror Marathon on October 5th, 2013)

"Due South" marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

Letting Go

Great episode! Though the "Rear Window" storyline has been done to death (one of these days I need to see that movie!  ) I never fail to enjoy it. And ok... I admit it... I am really getting to like the character of Fraser's father!  The bit with him in the pool was hilarious! And let me just say DAMN!... if I go for a stay in the hospital... I want a nurse that looks like that!  And I don't normally go for blondes... but there was just something about her!

My Rating:

(From "Due South" marathon on July 31st, 2009)