Hurt Locker | the m0vie blog

Watch! Dark Zero Thirty Trailer!

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Darren

So far, Dark Zero Thirty has been a bit of an unknown quantity in the end-of-year Oscar race. Following the team responsible for assassinating Osama Bin Laden, Kathryn Bigalow’s movie has to be on the short-list for awards contention. It received a fairly radical change of course yesterday, meaning that it might not open in the States as early as expected. Instead, it looks like it might be pushed back to January for a wide release, following a more traditional Oscar pattern. It’s a roll-out strategy that was worked quite well for contenders in other years.

Reportedly, the film’s release had been considered for the November elections, but it may now open wide in the States only slightly early than it opens here. (The notion of being used as a political volleyball in various election-related op-eds was probably less-than-appealing to the film.) It releases in Ireland on 25th January 2013, and we have the new trailer below. Bigalow has assembeld one hell of an ensemble, with some fantastic actors putting in appearances. I am very much looking forward to this one. Enjoy.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, Dark Zero Thirty, Hurt Locker, Ireland, Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Kathryn Bigelow, Osama bin Laden | Leave a comment »

The Stars That Never Were: The “Next Big Thing” That Never Quite Happened…

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Darren

I was watching Safe House over the weekend. It was fairly okay, but I couldn’t get over the fact that I was watching Ryan Reynolds headlining a film with Denzel Washington. It was only last year that it seemed Reynolds was being given a massive push by Hollywood. It’s always interesting to look at the actors who received a very substantial push from Hollywood, only to barely miss their shot at legitimate stardom – those actors and actresses heralded as “the next big thing”, seemingly the subject of every talk show and newspaper clipping for the better part of a year, only to fall a little bit short of the mark and to end up fading. It’s a cruel industry, and it is sometimes a little disheartening to see the way that certain performers get swallowed up whole by it.

Not quite playing it Safe (House)…

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Dark Knight Rises, denzel washington, green lantern, hollywood, Hurt Locker, jeremy renner, Matthew McConaughey, Reynolds, ryan reynolds, safe house, transformers | 8 Comments »

Does Anybody Actually Take the Oscars Seriously These Days?

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Darren

And people complain that Christmas starts too early! It’s still 2011 and we’re already in the heart of what might be termed “Oscar season”, the spiritual counterpart to the equally expansive “blockbuster season.” Both have very different measures of success. Success in blockbuster season is measured in the words “record-breaking” and “box office” along with various other aggressive adjectives like “smashing”, “breaking”, “crushing” or “dominating.” The winners get their choices of big budgets and high-profile roles and franchises, or the opportunity to risk it all and play again during Oscar season. The rewards at the end of Oscar season are a little gold statue and something like “artistic credibility”, along with the right to stick “Oscar-winner” in front of your name. I’d swear Meryl Streep’s mail is addressed to “Oscar-winner Meryl Streep.”

I might Doubt their credibility...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: academy, Academy Award, Christopher Nolan, eddie murphy, gary oldman, Hurt Locker, meryl streep, oscar, People's Choice Awards | 2 Comments »

Right Here, Right Now: Thoughts on Kathryn Bigalow’s Osama Bin Ladin Project…

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Darren

It’s interesting that the piece of news which grabbed me most coming out of the whole news cycle around the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin by US troops in Pakistan wasn’t any of the discussion over the legality of the act, nor the debate over whether assassination is now an acceptable tool of foreign policy. It was the near-instantaneous announcement that Kathryn Bigalow would be working on a feature film adaptation of the killing, an adaptation that reportedly has a mostly finished script and a lead actor already. Perhaps it’s a stunning illustration of just how quick the news and media cycle is, but I wonder how quick we feel the need to turn history into cinema.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: adaptation, assassination, feature films, films, history, Hurt Locker, kathryn bigalow, kill bin laden, Mark Boal, Movies, oliver stone, Osama bin Laden, Osama Bin Ladin, United States, war on terror, Warfare and Conflict | 3 Comments »

Can a Good Talent Be Over-Exposed?

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Darren

Jeremy Renner is having a good year. Recently confirmed to take over from Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, offered the job of taking over from Matt Damon in the Bourne series, playing Hawkeye in both Thor and The Avengers, and starring in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, it seems that Renner is on the cusp of being huge. And, for those of us who have noted Renner’s performances in films like The Town and The Hurt Locker, it’s surely well-deserved. However, can Renner be over-exposed?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: actors, brands, Cuba Gooding Jr, exposure, Halle Berry, helen mirren, Hurt Locker, hype, jeremy renner, Jerry Maguire, matt damon, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, names, over-exposure, overexposed, overexposure, publicity | 6 Comments »

Where Have All the Good Movies Come From?

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Darren

I know I wasn’t alone when I claimed that this summer had been (with a few big exceptions) a massive disappointment for movie fans. In fairness, with a few bright spots, 2009 wasn’t exactly an above-average year either. However, myself and the better half have been going to the cinema fairly consistently over the past number of weeks and I have to admit that I’ve been more consistently impressed by films like The Social Network, The Kids Are Alright, Easy A and The Town than I have by any run of films in at least the last year. Is it just me, or are things finally looking up?

A veritable feast of good cinema...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2008, 2008 in film, 2010, 2010 in film, danny boyle, Darren Aronofsky, Easy A, film, forgetting sarah marshall, good movies, Hurt Locker, inglourious basterds, jeff bridges, kenneth branagh, Movies, november, october, oscar season 127 hours, quentin tarantino, the black swan, The Kids Are Alright, the social network, the town, tron: legacy, true grit | 7 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Town

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Darren

It’s interesting to see how well Ben Affleck has redeemed himself as a director. After seeing Gone Baby Gone two years ago, I was willing to forgive the actor his roles in bad films like Jersey Girl, Phantoms and even Daredevil. I know he did Gigli too, but I can never forgive him for that. His second film behind the camera, The Town, demonstrates that he isn’t a one-hit wonder – but I have to admit that perhaps I am a bit disappointed. It isn’t that The Town is a bad or even an average film, it’s just one that I heard so much about that I had almost psyched myself up to watch. It’s a well-made exploration of urban decay which tackles its subjects with what seems (to a guy educated and living in a different country) to be a lot more honesty and neutrality than most films on the same subject matter.

So good it's criminal?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Baby Gone, bank robbery, ben affleck, Blake Lively, boston, charlestown, Chris Cooper, film, gone baby gone, Hurt Locker, jeremy renner, Jersey Girl, Movie, non-review revew, Pete Postlethwaite, rebecca hall, review, Titus Welliver, victor garber | 3 Comments »

Should There Be a Distinction Between The Best Picture and the Best Director Oscar?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Darren

Ignoring the fact that, in practice, the Best Director Oscar simply exists to be a “runner-up” award in a really tight Best Picture race (like with Crash and Brokeback Mountain), with there being a huge overlap between the winners in both categories, I have been thinking a bit recently about whether there should be a more practical distinction between the two. Perhaps we should divorce the two awards, and decouple them in public consciousness. Of course, this is a purely academic argument (as the Academy voters will continue to associate them), but is the link between the two yet another indication of Hollywood’s director-centric culture?

Is it two for one?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Academy Award, academy award for best director, Academy Award for Best Picture, academy awards, best film, best picture, Brokeback Mountain, Christopher Nolan, Hurt Locker, jim carrey, Movie, Oscars, ridley scott | 10 Comments »

Why The Social Network isn’t an “Outside” Choice for Best Picture…

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Darren

I enjoyed The Social Network. Hell, I loved The Social Network. I think it’s easily one of the best films of the year. It has – deservedly in my humble opinion – generated a huge amount of buzz about the Best Picture Oscar. However, the more interesting facets of discussion measure the film against the other favourites, like The King’s Speech or Black Swan. A number of these arguments suggest that The Social Network deserves the Oscar because it is “more socially relevant”, even painting the Oscar voters at a crossroads – forced to choose between a modern film (The Social Network) and a classy but stuffy period piece (The King’s Speech). However, I find this argument rather disingenuous. While the Oscar voters in that situation would undoubtedly be choosing between two solid films, I think it clearly misrepresents the appeal of David Fincher’s deconstruction of the American Dream.