... for war is a drug.

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2013)

"The best revenge is ... success." -- Sinatra LADIES and GENTLEMEN !! Welcome to tonight's bout !! David vs. Goliath, James Braddock vs. Max Baer, Team USA vs. Russia (1980 ice hockey Olympics). In one corner weighing in at $6.2 BILLION total box office smackeroos, we have James Cameron - director of Avatar. THE CROWD ROARS !!! In the other corner weighing in at $98 million total box office dollars (only 1.6% of James' total), we have Kathryn Bigelow ... or as the uneducated public knows her as - James Cameron's ex-wife !! (some laughter ... and crickets) The setting: The 82nd Oscars, former Kodak Theater, 2010. Nominated for Best Director and Best Picture front runners: James Cameron with Avatar (having grossed $2.8 BILLION on a $230 million budget) vs. Kathryn Bigelow with Hurt Locker (grossing $49 million on almost $13 million budget). And the winner is !! ... wait ... there must be a misprint ... Kathryn Bigelow, the first female to win Best Director ... and Hurt Locker for Best Picture ...
Gradual applause ... fake, sycophantic, ubiquitous smiles for the camera.
But there was no mistake about it people. Hurt Locker is the most earth-SHATTERING, rule-BREAKING, dynamic, ride of adrenaline filled with INCREDIBLY rich, original, non-pretentious characters I have ever seen. Let me repeat that phrase: I have ever seen. No modifiers. So who am I ?? What credibility do I have ?? Probably not too much. I'm a 33 year-old Navy nuke veteran who is addicted to film. It is my one true passion. I was immersed in it from birth (1980 - Empire Strikes Back). My mother was always watching black & white AMC film, showing me the classics. I know good film when I see it. I love it. It is my vice, my escape ... but enough about me.
Hurt Locker is my favorite movie of all time. There is SOO much I could say about it - and in the end - you just need to see it for yourself. There is no antagonist. It took almost 9 MONTHS just to EDIT !! It is man vs. self GLORIOUS story-telling. No political overtone. No militaristic agenda. NOTHING. It is - THE SINGLE, PUREST war film I have ever seen. From the first seconds of Marco Beltrami's GRIPPING score, to the "full-tilt" unending optical assault of Barry Ackroyd's cinematography, Hurt Locker will BLOW YOU AWAY.
There are many "worthy" films to be listed at the Top. I would put Hurt Locker in the Top 20 films of ALL TIME - truly. It can hold its own amongst West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, Citizen Kane, Godfather, Casablanca, et al Kathryn Bigelow took a relatively no-name cast, and directed them like gosh darn Orson Welles at his prime. She took barely $13 million in budget and walked away with 6 Oscars.
THAT'S HOW YOU CURB-STOMP James Cameron.