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Reviews
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Life and death with the buzz junkie
Katheryn Bigelow creates a horribly believable canvass of chaos amid a nation trying to pick itself up and live a normal life. Placing themselves in harm's way to do their day job for people who don't want them there, is a professional team of experienced Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialists.
Bigelow excels throughout this movie by creating spectacular and revealing contrasts; they're everywhere you look and its difficult to explain without spoiling - so I've listed some at the end. Go find more...
Renner is excellent as the driven man, who knows he has responsibilities at home he'd rather not face.
It's hard sitting here watching the team obey their rules of engagement against threats, when you're willing them to take action to make themselves safer. I was completely absorbed. It's a great movie - some action but lots of thought. 8/10.
=== Spoiler alert: spoiler below gives examples ===
Contrasts (see above):
* calm and measured team leader in the "old firm" vs gung-ho risk taker as the "new boy".
* the cool, clean and clinical inside the morgue vs almost anywhere else, on-base or in-country.
* intense yet careful approach of the EOD team vs the cool but professional nonchalance of the British contractors.
* tormentors and victims.
* the day job in the zone vs the day-to-day at home.
And the eyes; they're everywhere !
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Clever heist, precisely executed with more than one prize.
Expertly woven show, tell and reveal Las Vegas heist from Steven Soderbergh. Andy Garcia gives a chillingly believable nice/nasty portrayal of the coldly professional gaming boss. George Clooney and Brad Pitt spark off each other wonderfully to show two old mates who are out to work a spectacular, intelligent and meticulously planned robbery.
Recruitment of the team is amusingly handled and you soon grow to love this diverse parcel of rogues. Refreshingly, the concentration of so much testosterone didn't unleash the usual torrent of swearing, which helped make it such a hit with my young teenagers, for me.
Even with Don Cheadle's tongue-in-cheek cockney as Basher, this was a hugely enjoyable, rollocking ride of criminal precision and a study in predicted behaviour of the victim.
Julia Roberts was nicely understated in what turns out to be a pivotal character in the story. But I just couldn't quite believe the final choice she made.
This is a good movie. Go see it. You won't be disappointed.
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Was that really a mike I saw carelessly bobbing around over Mr Clooney's head during the opening scene, in the UK release ?
The Winter Guest (1997)
A cradle of warmth in a land of ice
This movie is a masterpiece. A touching tale of generations just failing to find their answers. Slow and serene; chill out in a big chill. Set in deepest winter in a Scottish coastal village, it begs the question of just who is the guest ?
For some, it's lost youth and fumbled relationships, for others it's life experience yet to be, for another, it's a life that's gone and can't be recovered.
Magnificent cinematography of a silent land, closed in and smothered by nature. The whole is underscored by Elizabeth Frazer's hauntingly beautiful melody "Take me with you".
If you like the walls pounding with action, this isn't for you. 9/10.
Earthlight (1998)
Mind blowing, but mind numbing in parts as well.
Earthlight Special Edition is special and I'm glad I've bought it. In parts it is awe inspiring stuff: sand dunes draped over desert rock, land locked seas with swirling sediment washed in from rushing rivers - and all in high resolution. This is the stuff for geologists to die for. The disappointing parts for me were something I should have thought through: 70% of the Earth is ocean; about 70% of the footage is over the oceans. The cloud tops ARE fascinating but the overland footage is spectacular and offers so much more to see and wonder at. This is a great DVD and you should get it, but much as I'd like to fly a mission with the NASA team, they need to teach the crews a bit more finesse with the camera technique. This title promises so much, but for me, it didn't quite deliver. 7/10.