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(LA Times) Followup Fark "Up in the Air" and "Avatar" - "The Hurt Locker" is emerging as a solid contender for Best Picture 2009   (latimesblogs.latimes.com) divider line 99
More: Followup, Hurt Locker, Mo'Nique, Neill Blomkamp, Colin Firth, Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz, movie critics, supporting actor  
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1610 clicks; posted to Entertainment » on 14 Dec 2009 at 5:14 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»   |    Get this fabulous T-Shirt and impress the methane out of your friends! shirt it!



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2009-12-14 03:36:53 PM
That was a good farking movie. I hope it gets something.
 
2009-12-14 03:37:30 PM
Nothing will ever be as real as being in the military oneself, of course...

...but below that level, The Hurt Locker did a grimly efficient job of bringing a shade of the conflict to where oblivious people could see it. All of the expected "war is hell" elements were in place, but I was ashamed to see how much of the narrative surprised me. If you haven't seen this film yet (and had the opportunity and have never been in the military), you are doing it wrong.
 
2009-12-14 03:39:17 PM
#1 on my list, it's farking awesome that it hasn't been forgotten months after its release.

/slightly ahead of The Road ATM
//could change at any time
 
2009-12-14 03:50:07 PM
I need to see this movie.

I'd love to see The Road, too. Too bad it's only playing in about 8 theaters in the entire United States for some ridiculous reason.
 
2009-12-14 04:45:28 PM
It's a good film but they're going to have to change that stupid title.

Sounds like a film about as much fun as "The Waaambulance".

Who wants to watch a film about a busted locker?
 
2009-12-14 05:17:42 PM
sigdiamond2000: I'd love to see The Road, too

Ugh. My last colonoscopy was more fun than the book. Good art is fine, but damn - that was not enjoyable in any way, shape, or form.
 
2009-12-14 05:18:20 PM
Except that it's the same old completely unrealistic hollywood war shiate. Just laughable really.
 
2009-12-14 05:18:35 PM
EverWatcher: Nothing will ever be as real as being in the military oneself, of course...

...but below that level, The Hurt Locker did a grimly efficient job of bringing a shade of the conflict to where oblivious people could see it. All of the expected "war is hell" elements were in place, but I was ashamed to see how much of the narrative surprised me. If you haven't seen this film yet (and had the opportunity and have never been in the military), you are doing it wrong.


Just as soon as they get around to releasing the damn DVD. I've had it (and Moon) in my Netflix queue since October.
 
2009-12-14 05:18:41 PM
Up
 
2009-12-14 05:21:41 PM
Earlier this summer, while out with friends and dropping in at a movie theater to see what was playing I had the choice of seeing two movies: The Hurt Locker or Moon. In the end, not having heard much about Moon, I went with The Hurt Locker, for which I had at least read good reviews. It was a fantastic movie, gritty, kept my attention throughout the entire film (except for one cliched plot point). It actually had the astounding ability to completely make me forget that I was watching a fictional story, and not a documentary, until about halfway through (when that one plot point occurred). After it was over, I kept telling friends and relatives to go see it, but universally they all laughed at the name of it and never got around to it. Hopefully this will change their minds.

/for the record, I think Moon was also just as good a movie, but in very different ways, and I think it's a tragedy when the next week, after having gone online to see what I had missed the previous week and decided to see the movie, it was already out of theaters after having only been in them for less than three weeks.
 
2009-12-14 05:22:01 PM
i47.tinypic.com
 
2009-12-14 05:24:31 PM
There's a god
A movie god
 
2009-12-14 05:25:16 PM
JohnBigBootay: sigdiamond2000: I'd love to see The Road, too

Ugh. My last colonoscopy was more fun than the book. Good art is fine, but damn - that was not enjoyable in any way, shape, or form.


Some people like relentlessly bleak stuff. I really need to pick up that book, truly nihilistic stories are rare and awesome.

/I think Despair by Nobokov might be one of the few things I've read that I would call nihilistic
//I mean, it has some commentary on the nature of reality and the way we view the world, but mostly it just seems a story about the utter pointlessness of our actions because of our inability to accurately perceive reality.
 
2009-12-14 05:26:13 PM
Spoiler alert:

I liked the flick until it seemingly became a recruiting video. I've never been in the military, but I'm sure that some soldiers would rather be home with their friends and family than enjoy the rush of street and desert warfare. I have been known to miss a point. I guess it would be good to know where the writers drew the inspiration for the characters (real troops, made-up, combo?). Being anti-Iraq War, I have a problem with the idea that our peoples can't wait for another tour overseas, though it's entirely possible.
 
2009-12-14 05:27:25 PM
notmtwain: It's a good film but they're going to have to change that stupid title.

Sounds like a film about as much fun as "The Waaambulance".

Who wants to watch a film about a busted locker?


I think 'The Hurt Locker' is EOD-slang for where you end up if you cut the wrong wire, so to speak.
 
2009-12-14 05:29:13 PM
i liked that movie. it seems like feel-good movies have an advantage as far as the oscars go. i wouldn't exactly call the hurt locker a feel-good movie.
 
2009-12-14 05:29:20 PM
Curt Blizzah: Spoiler alert:

I liked the flick until it seemingly became a recruiting video. I've never been in the military, but I'm sure that some soldiers would rather be home with their friends and family than enjoy the rush of street and desert warfare. I have been known to miss a point. I guess it would be good to know where the writers drew the inspiration for the characters (real troops, made-up, combo?). Being anti-Iraq War, I have a problem with the idea that our peoples can't wait for another tour overseas, though it's entirely possible.


Um, did you miss the opening quote in the movie, where they basically bold "war is a drug?" That was sort of the point, and I never got the impression of it being a recruiting video. That was the point, the filmmakers weren't making a political statement, they were making a character study.
 
2009-12-14 05:29:26 PM
One more vote for Hurt Locker - BRILLIANT!

My 2nd favorite, Gran Torino, is also brilliant, but has a few small flaws - like getting amateur young people to act well. Its message of cultural assimilation and general political incorrectness also makes Hollywood recognition less likely.

Certain people do not seem real in movies. When actors portray scientists, engineers, or soldiers, it is often difficult to ignore that it is an emotional extroverted ACTOR dramatizing his interpretation of the role. One personality is too far removed from the other, for example, the big fat schmaltzy Virginia ham that is Contact.

This just seems real.
 
DD0
2009-12-14 05:30:52 PM
Great flick. And amazing to sit back and think there are next to zero women in it.

And I know, I know, 2 minutes of the hot chick from Lost makes a big difference, but still...

Especially considering it was directed by a woman.
 
2009-12-14 05:32:09 PM
The hurt locker was really great. it is a shame more people didn't get to see it. That is really the largest problem with these highly acclaimed movies is that no one gets to see them due to distribution. the studios would rather everyone see 2012 and the other movies with big budgets and big names in them, which is fine, it is how those people make money. however, maybe there would be a greater viewership for non-ginormous budget films were they effectively marketed across the US rather than on the coasts.

i knew when i saw it, hurt locker would be up for best picture. that was in june (?). i'd have to go back and look at my ticket.
 
2009-12-14 05:32:10 PM
Curt Blizzah

Spoiler alert:

I liked the flick until it seemingly became a recruiting video. I've never been in the military, but I'm sure that some soldiers would rather be home with their friends and family than enjoy the rush of street and desert warfare. I have been known to miss a point. I guess it would be good to know where the writers drew the inspiration for the characters (real troops, made-up, combo?). Being anti-Iraq War, I have a problem with the idea that our peoples can't wait for another tour overseas, though it's entirely possible.


Personally I thought the end of the movie wasn't a recruiting video. The character's job had become his life, to the point where he was alienated from his wife and child. And while risking your life to save others is extremely admirable, (essentially) abandoning your family isn't.
 
2009-12-14 05:32:13 PM
Haven't seen Hurt Locker so I can't comment on it but District 9 is easily the best movie I've seen this year.
 
2009-12-14 05:32:58 PM
1. Anti-Christ
2. Star Trek
3. Hangover
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
5. Adventureland

Yeah, that's my list and I'm stickin to it.
 
2009-12-14 05:33:54 PM
xalres

Haven't seen Hurt Locker so I can't comment on it but District 9 is easily the best movie I've seen this year.

District 9 loses points for having Alien Westley.
 
2009-12-14 05:35:45 PM
Tyrone Slothrop: xalres

Haven't seen Hurt Locker so I can't comment on it but District 9 is easily the best movie I've seen this year.

District 9 loses points for having Alien Westley.


Cary Elwes was in it?
 
2009-12-14 05:39:05 PM
I didn't expect to like "The Hurt Locker" very much, but I really did like it a lot. Of course, I saw it in the middle of a 15-hour trans-Pacific flight after ingesting many cocktails and a Xanax, so my assessment of it might not be all that reliable.
 
2009-12-14 05:39:32 PM
also, don't really see the huge appeal to up in the air, other than the clooney. it is a fine movie but i don't get why everyone thinks it is the most amazing movie evar. if someone can explain it to me, rock on.
 
2009-12-14 05:39:34 PM
JohnBigBootay: sigdiamond2000: I'd love to see The Road, too

Ugh. My last colonoscopy was more fun than the book. Good art is fine, but damn - that was not enjoyable in any way, shape, or form.


Sure that movie was depressing, but it was not an epic sort of thing. I am afraid that, with The Road, that what you see is all you get. I had wanted so much more... alas. Hurt Locker I liked, but did not love.
 
2009-12-14 05:40:25 PM
4.bp.blogspot.com
 
2009-12-14 05:40:48 PM
I like my war in real-time on the news, not in some dated old movie.
 
2009-12-14 05:40:59 PM
eraserhead's Baby: 1. Anti-Christ.

Dear God, the last thing we need to do is continue to feed LVT's already busting at the seems ego by awarding his Dario Argento inspired, B-movie schlock.
 
2009-12-14 05:41:53 PM
InmanRoshi: eraserhead's Baby: 1. Anti-Christ.

Dear God, the last thing we need to do is continue to feed LVT's already busting at the seems ego by awarding his Dario Argento inspired, B-movie schlock.


holy god, this
 
2009-12-14 05:47:01 PM
Fark It: notmtwain: It's a good film but they're going to have to change that stupid title.

Sounds like a film about as much fun as "The Waaambulance".

Who wants to watch a film about a busted locker?

I think 'The Hurt Locker' is EOD-slang for where you end up if you cut the wrong wire, so to speak.


It's a generic military phrase. Do something stupid and you will end up in the hurt locker...
 
2009-12-14 05:47:17 PM
eraserhead's Baby: 4. Fantastic Mr. Fox

I liked that movie a lot more than I thought I would.
 
2009-12-14 05:48:02 PM
Wait... so subby thinks that anyone is considering Avatar a serious Oscar contender?
 
2009-12-14 05:49:44 PM
"An Education" is the best film I've seen this year - haven't seen "The Road" or "Avatar" yet.
 
2009-12-14 05:51:31 PM
haysoos: Wait... so subby thinks that anyone is considering Avatar a serious Oscar contender?

From what I've been reading, most of the movie people tend to think it's going to get nominated. Given the fact that Titanic won a metric asston of Oscars, I would be inclined to say that Avatar being nominated is likely.
 
2009-12-14 05:52:39 PM
all the CGI on Avatar was done on Linux machines using Open Source Software.


now you know.
 
2009-12-14 05:52:44 PM
haysoos: Wait... so subby thinks that anyone is considering Avatar a serious Oscar contender?

I imagine they've already inscribed the trophy for visual effects
 
2009-12-14 05:52:51 PM
haysoos: Wait... so subby thinks that anyone is considering Avatar a serious Oscar contender?

There's 10 nominations allowed this year.
 
2009-12-14 05:52:51 PM
FTFA:

The last time the LAFCA and the Academy Awards agreed on best film was for 1993's "Schindler's List."

The Hurt Locker is going to get robbed, isn't it?
 
2009-12-14 05:54:05 PM
Wow... so... is the guy from National Lampoon's Senior Trip poised to win an Oscar?

www.videodetective.com
"Let's do some Van Damage."

I'm gonna owe people money.
 
2009-12-14 05:57:03 PM
Linux_Yes: all the CGI on Avatar was done on Linux machines using Open Source Software.

now you know.


We get it. You're a fan-boy. But that's no reason to drop the comment in every Avatar thread.
 
2009-12-14 05:57:44 PM
nickxero: Wow... so... is the guy from National Lampoon's Senior Trip poised to win an Oscar?


"Let's do some Van Damage."

I'm gonna owe people money.


Nice! Wanna start a club?
 
2009-12-14 06:00:32 PM
ecx.images-amazon.com
 
2009-12-14 06:01:41 PM
bigmattress: Nice! Wanna start a club?

Please! Can we watch "Loaded Weapon" too?!
 
2009-12-14 06:05:18 PM
ranak: We get it. You're a fan-boy. But that's no reason to drop the comment in every Avatar thread.

I'm pretty sure that's the only reason he gets out of bed.
 
2009-12-14 06:09:37 PM
I watched a this movies trailer online when it was in theaters. The trailer made it seem like a very good movie, except for constant cheesy one-liners. The kind that you would expect from any michael bay movie. It really turned me off and I chose to see "moon" instead. Was the movie actually riddled with these horrible "jokes" or was it just the trailer?
 
2009-12-14 06:10:12 PM
Fark It

It would be interesting to find the funding for that flick. If money came from folks who are tied to profiting from war, it would not surprise me. I judge a film by its storyline, acting, and cinematographic merits; "The Hurt Locker" stood up to that. I wasn't trying to knock it, but with the ending I got the feeling the tone placed job over family; the guys who talked about going home and what they would do ended up dying, I believe. Yes, the character had done that job many times and must have liked it. Political sentiments and a person's opinions can draw a cynical analysis of an artist's inspiration for a piece without knocking the way it is put together. I just feel for the folks that don't want to be overseas and are unable to be back home; especially with the number of suicides in our military.

Fellini could make a flick about kicking my dog around, and while I might be amazed at the artistic elements, I'd still have a problem with my dog being kicked (ok, terrible analogy; so what). If I did have a connection to the US's foreign policies of the past years, I would want these people to make my film.

I really dug District 9. I found it well-made stylistically, as with Hurt Locker.
 
2009-12-14 06:11:19 PM
Hmph. The Butt Locker is more like it.

I haven't seen it yet, but I still like to call it that to make myself feel cool and smart. It looks good.
 
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