The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow - 2008
2009 Academy award for Best Picture, we enlist with an Army troop of elite bomb techs. Our protagonist, James, has deactivated nearly 1,000 in his time and keeps a few disembowelled bomb widgets under his cot as souveniers of things that "nearly killed him". Included in this treasure are actually a picture of his son and ex-wife (Evangeline Lilly). I've never been a war movie junkie but I didn't get that dragging feeling with this film as I get with some films about war. A few of the bomb deactivating scenes felt like I was watching the last 5 seconds of an NBA game with the scores off by 1 point--mega suspense and cringing. Central to the heart of war movies, in my opinion, is to capture soldiers' human emotion and insecurities and put that to combat with the cunning and cut-throat requirements of warfare survival. I had to turn my head away at some of the gory scenes, but at the very least the scenes I did have the stomach to watch were very convincing.
Look out for: Evangeline Lilly AKA Kate from Lost plays James's wife.
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Walt Disney Pictures Presents: Pixar Short Films, Volume 1 - John Lasseter - 2007
Watching this collection I was surprised to discover I've seen almost all of the 13 short films. It doesn't go without saying the shorts were excellent, you just don't enjoy them the second time around. That's probably because I'm not as enthralled by kid-friendly slap stick and exaggerated facial remarks as I was when I was younger. This collection showcases Pixar's dramatic evolution in computer animation; presenting the films in chronological order makes the technical progress very noticable. Some shorts that I always thought were created in the early to mid '90s were actually done in the '80s. Very impressive. The vibrant colors, condensed action, and quick laughs of these shorts are what originally drew me to short films.
Look out for: You should Youtube "Jack-Jack Attack" and "Mater and the Ghost Light".
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Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock - 1954
Watching this film I realized there is a Shia Labeuof (sp?) film that's an exact modern day knock off, trading a man in his 40s/50s with a high school underclassman with a behavioral disorder. I watched it in college and the film was not compelling enough for me to remember the name let alone search for it to properly reference it here. Anyway, Hitchcock did a spectacular job filming a movie almost entirely from the perspective of a peeping tom, distantly intruding into the windows of those across the block. I didn't suspect the majority of this film to be framed shots; scene after scene framed by brick and window sill with our visibility limited to an unsuspecting, gaping portal into private lives. Our protagonist broke his leg during a photoshoot so he is confined to a wheel chair for several weeks. This being, the entire film took place with him sitting in his apartment, reminiscent of those Sunday morning college hangovers.
Look out for: Grace Kelly!!
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