The Hurt Locker

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Hurt Locker!

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 82 (2009)

As previously mentioned, I am convinced that the movie going public will never forgive Shakespeare in Love for it's upset Best Picture victory. So the question is raised: How do people feel about The Hurt Locker's upset win?
It seems to me that this movie is in the same boat as Shakespeare in Love as it both beat some stiff competition and became something of a watershed for the Best Picture Oscars: It beat out Up and Avatar. It was the lowest grossing nominee. It was a low budget/small scale movie triumphing over the bigger budget movies. It's director, Kathryn Bigelow, was the first female to win Best Director (and who also beat out her former husband James Cameron). It was the first movie since Mrs Miniver to be about a war that was then in progress. 
An impressive legacy to be sure but what of the movie itself?

It certainly is compelling in it's depiction of working in a bomb disposal unit. The setting, Iraq, is also handled convincingly as well as the distrust the troops get from the locals. I don't doubt the realistic manner of the situations and how they are handled but I do question the reckless behaviour of some of the grunts: I may not be a military expert but I'm pretty sure you don't go acting like a tool when the dangerous task of bomb disposal is in progress,
Still I won't fault this movie for it's incredible use of tension and the sense that one is put right into the action. Many war movies can claim to do that but this one, I feel, actually pulls it off.
Looks like we have winner.

The Best Years of Our Lives

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Best Years Of Our Lives!

Original image located here. Accessed 1st March 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 19 (1946)

Last month I watched Mrs Miniver so it's fitting I should watch this. That's because both films share the same director, William Wyler, and both have the same DNA. Whereas Mrs Miniver was a film made during World War II and focuses on the civilian life during the war, The Best Years of Our Lives was made after the war and focuses on the lives of three servicemen as they adjust to the aftermath. 
Well, you can't accuse the Academy for not lauding films that tackle topical narratives.

I assume it would be safe to say that this movie perfectly described the feelings and mood of people in the aftermath of World War II. And if this movie exists to function as a document of that time period then it is well and truly successful. It is, if anything, honest and challenging - pretty much all that a great movie needs to do. 

Mrs Miniver

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Mrs Miniver!

Original image located here. Accessed 16th February 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 15 (1942)

In recent years I've heard complaints that the Oscars are being too political. Such a notion never made such sense to me as it would seem that they have always been political. Such was the case with this movie as it was a made during a major worldwide event - that being World War II.

So what we have here is a family, and a community, being effected by the War. Of course, this subsequently comes across as being a propaganda piece. Nevertheless, there are some moments of note: The tension from the pilot scene, the character development and the finale in the church. 
It may have been dull in places but it seems that it's humane approach is what makes it succeed.