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Posts Tagged ‘Jeremy Renner’

Mike Long

Review: ‘The Hurt Locker’

by Mike Long

The Hurt Locker is not about Iraq, why we went there, what we did when we got there, or whether we should have gone in the first place. It is not about American foreign policy or domestic disagreement over that policy; it’s not even about soldiers or their qualities or character …  it’s not about politics at all.

The Hurt Locker is about an adrenaline junkie who gets off defusing bombs.

Sgt. Will James is very good at this narrow work. He is occasionally a fool who takes unnecessary chances. Far more often he is an expert who enjoys that his wisely bold tactics occasionally make him appear a fool—because a fool’s luck has nothing to do with his success. Early in the picture and after much prodding, Sgt. James admits to a superior officer that he has defused “873 bombs, counting today.” (more…)

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Posted Jul 15th 2009 at 11:07 am in Reviews | 19 Comments

John Nolte

Review: ‘The Hurt Locker’

by John Nolte

Katherine Bigelow’s direction of “The Hurt Locker” is masterful and might very well place her back where she belongs, at the top of anyone’s list looking for a top-shelf action director. But that’s not enough to save the film from episodic plotting, jarring and unnecessary political statements, a troubling depiction of our troops and an even worse portrayal of the Iraqi people. This is a movie you want to like, but an unsettling after-taste lingers long after the thrill of the set-pieces fades.

Produced and scripted by Mark Boal (who embedded with a U.S. Army bomb squad operating in Baghdad), the year is 2004 and Iraq is a country under siege, thanks mainly to determined insurgents and roadside IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) that seem to be everywhere and frequently come with nearby triggermen lying in wait for the opportunity to do the most amount of damage, preferably to American servicemen and women.  Charged with the dangerous and technically complicated job of defusing these bombs is a three-man EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) team led by Staff Sergeant James (an excellent Jeremy Renner) and his squad mates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). (more…)

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Posted Jul 2nd 2009 at 4:20 pm in Featured Story, Reviews | 113 Comments

Alexander Marlow

Review: ‘The Hurt Locker’

by Alexander Marlow

Updated.

Epigraph: a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme.

Epigraphs crop up occasionally in literature and film, but more frequently on the SAT exam.  In fact, I am using the definition of epigraph as the epigraph for this review.  If you are to the right of Bill Clinton, all you need to know about “The Hurt Locker” is its epigraph: “War is a drug.”

Incredibly, the mainstream media is trying to position “The Hurt Locker” as politically neutral.  The mainstream media are dense. “War is a drug.” Drugs are bad.  Thus, war is bad.  This is a left-wing film.  End of story.  Witness the first five seconds of the movie and read the epigraph; if you still have the audacity to trumpet its neutrality, you should be committed to an insane asylum or the newsroom at MSNBC.  (more…)

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Posted Jun 27th 2009 at 7:52 am in Media Criticism, Reviews | 54 Comments

John Nolte

‘The Hurt Locker’: Hollywood’s Idea of ‘Not Political’

by John Nolte

I jumped at the opportunity to join “The Hurt Locker” press junket. The film’s director, Kathryn Bigelow (”Point Break,” “Strange Days,” “Blue Steel”), has been a favorite of mine since catching a 3 a.m. Cinemax screening of “Near Dark” some twenty-five years ago. No director — not the Scott brothers, not Michael Bay or even Clint Eastwood understand or are able to get inside the skin of driven men of action like Bigelow. This makes even her rare misstep like “K:19 The Widowmaker” much more watchable than it deserves to be (actually, I watch it all the time).

The junkets are simple. You sit in a hotel room with other writers and one by one the film’s participants stop by for a few minutes. So, in no particular order, as a group we had the chance to interview Bigelow, screenwriter Mark Boal (”In the Valley of Elah”), who researched the film in Iraq, and actors Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.

All were charming and personable to be sure, but whenever politics or previous Iraq War films came up, things would get a little tense and surreal as each responded by assuring us they weren’t worried because “Hurt Locker” wasn’t at all political. Again and again, the film was described as a straight-forward war picture that just happened to be set in Iraq. (more…)

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Posted Jun 12th 2009 at 5:03 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 82 Comments

Tom Tapp

‘Hurt Locker’ May Do Iraq Right

by Tom Tapp

For those who’ve agonized over Hollywood’s portrayals of the Iraq War, I give you “The Hurt Locker.”

The film’s second trailer hit the Internet today and, as I sit here wearing my (apparently passe) Camp Liberty t-shirt, I must say it looks pretty good.

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YouTube "Hurt Locker" trailer 2  

Billed as the “first non-political Iraq War film,” “Hurt Locker” follows the story of Staff Sergeant William James, a maverick bomb removal expert who leads a team trying to save lives – including their own.

It was directed by Kathryn Bigalow, who is herself something of a maverick.

Bigalow has made her name in Hollywood as one of the only female directors of action films. Her credits include “K19: The Widowmaker,” “Point Break” and “Strange Days.” (more…)

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Posted Apr 15th 2009 at 3:49 pm in Entertainment, Military, Video | 29 Comments