2009
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Hurray! Another film in the 1001 Book that was directed by a woman. That brings our total to what...like 10? Actually, don't tell me. It will just depress me.
While I was looking for pictures for this post I came across an article titled "Here's Why 'The Hurt Locker' is the Worst War Movie of All Time." Apparently, it is incredibly inaccurate in its depiction of what its like to work on an army bomb squad. I was about to launch into a review about how I didn't find this enjoyable but it may be important to see...that really knocked the wind out of my sails.
Ahem...onwards. Sergeant First Class William James is assigned as a new team leader of EOD unit in the Iraq War. However, his unorthodox way of doing things lead to dissension in the squad. Fill in the blanks with the familiar war themes.
The filmmakers do a tremendous job of building suspense and the visuals are surprisingly stunning, given the environment. On the other hand, I'm not sure this movie really did anything particularly new for the genre. But hey, I don't really like the genre to begin with, so perhaps I'm not the best judge.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
First film to win Best Picture that was directed by a woman.
Lowest grossing Best Picture winner of all time.
