Comments on: New review: The Hurt Locker http://www.seanax.com/2009/07/09/new-review-the-hurt-locker/ Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:57:54 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: The Way You Don’t Die: The Hurt Locker | Parallax View http://www.seanax.com/2009/07/09/new-review-the-hurt-locker/comment-page-1/#comment-4977 The Way You Don’t Die: The Hurt Locker | Parallax View Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:07:06 +0000 http://www.seanax.com/?p=2841#comment-4977 [...] from a review originally published on seanax.com, July [...] [...] from a review originally published on seanax.com, July [...]

]]> By: DVDs for 1/12/09 – Hurt, Bloom, Strange, Moon and Loop | seanax.com http://www.seanax.com/2009/07/09/new-review-the-hurt-locker/comment-page-1/#comment-4910 DVDs for 1/12/09 – Hurt, Bloom, Strange, Moon and Loop | seanax.com Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:26:24 +0000 http://www.seanax.com/?p=2841#comment-4910 [...] This may be the same sun-bleached Iraq of dusty dirt streets and open deserts we’ve seen in other Iraq war films, but it’s a different kind of movie. Bigelow’s handheld camerawork roams like a spotter’s eyes, always surveying, always getting another look, and the cuts are shifts of perspective that both to keep you off-balance and give a sense of how vigilant they are. Bigelow shows up how they see the world out of necessity. She also shows us that the quote by Chris Hedges that opens the film, “… war is a drug,” is not all about thrill. It’s about the need, not to kill, but to what you do. Jeremy Renner is remarkably effective as James, a man of action in the manner of a Howard Hawks hero: he’s defined by what he does and how he does it, not what he says. James is the best at what he does, and when he does it he is in control. When he’s not, he’s just another guy looking for his place in the world. There’s no political message here, nobody questioning their mission or arguing policy. These are just men doing their jobs in an unforgiving workplace, and Bigelow, more than anything, is interested in how they do it, because the how is the difference between going home at the end of the rotation in one piece or not. You can read my feature review on my blog here. [...] [...] This may be the same sun-bleached Iraq of dusty dirt streets and open deserts we’ve seen in other Iraq war films, but it’s a different kind of movie. Bigelow’s handheld camerawork roams like a spotter’s eyes, always surveying, always getting another look, and the cuts are shifts of perspective that both to keep you off-balance and give a sense of how vigilant they are. Bigelow shows up how they see the world out of necessity. She also shows us that the quote by Chris Hedges that opens the film, “… war is a drug,” is not all about thrill. It’s about the need, not to kill, but to what you do. Jeremy Renner is remarkably effective as James, a man of action in the manner of a Howard Hawks hero: he’s defined by what he does and how he does it, not what he says. James is the best at what he does, and when he does it he is in control. When he’s not, he’s just another guy looking for his place in the world. There’s no political message here, nobody questioning their mission or arguing policy. These are just men doing their jobs in an unforgiving workplace, and Bigelow, more than anything, is interested in how they do it, because the how is the difference between going home at the end of the rotation in one piece or not. You can read my feature review on my blog here. [...]

]]> By: Rustin Thompson http://www.seanax.com/2009/07/09/new-review-the-hurt-locker/comment-page-1/#comment-4121 Rustin Thompson Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:22:26 +0000 http://www.seanax.com/?p=2841#comment-4121 Hi Sean, One correction: Bigelow's DP Barry Ackroyd shot the film with 4 handheld 16mm cameras. It was not shot with digital cameras. Hi Sean,

One correction: Bigelow’s DP Barry Ackroyd shot the film with 4 handheld 16mm cameras. It was not shot with digital cameras.

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