I Revisited The Hurt Locker

and it's still a very good picture: 

Turner Classic Movies is in the midst of a two month long deal where each Tuesday evening they air parts of a longform documentary series about women directors and then play various films from same... many of which I hadn't even heard of before. This played last night and it was my first time experiencing The Hurt Locker since I saw it theatrically late in the summer of '09. As Kathryn Bigelow is still the only female to win Best Director at the Academy Awards and this is still the only movie from a distaff director to win Best Picture, it was natural it would be part of that deal. BTW, I am sure that people still laugh about Bigelow being her ex-husband James Cameron's Avatar for those two big Oscars.

Much to my relief this motion picture is still effective. It is still a thrilling look at a trio of men in the United States Army in Iraq who are in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal field... that is bomb disposal. Jeremy Renner is the new member of this trio and as he's a maverick, the other two have conflicts with him. Those three are always fascinating to watch interact with each other and how they handle all those stressful situations-which are still stressful to experience for the viewer. It is shot close up and with handheld cameras... it very well could have been nauseating to see the camera shake about but even on the big screen I remember that not being the case.

At the time I definitely did not expect Renner and Anthony Mackie to become much more popular, let alone the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's a shame that Brian Geraghty did not also reach those heights in his career as everyone in the trio did a great job... that being said, from IMDb I know he has since been on various television shows so at least he still has a career. Not only is it a tale filled with tense moments, but for an unaware dope like me it was interesting to hear what it was like for soldiers in Iraq back in the early 2000's.

I was happy not only to revisit a movie I still think is very good, but to talk about it on what is Veterans Day in the United States. I know some people-from back in my Illinois hometown-who went to the Middle East via the armed forces as young adults and not all of them were able to return home alive. I of course won't go into detail there but if anyone reading this is a veteran, my hats off to you... and not just on this day.