Last night, The Hurt Locker won a handful of awards, including Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. Oh yeah, it also won Best Picture and Achievement in Directing, but no one really cares about those awards. I saw The Hurt Locker, and while I thought it was a quality film, I didn't really understand it. I appreciated the fact that it managed to be the most powerful film about the War in Iraq (that I've seen so far) with almost no actual warfare, or guns a-blazing. But that isn't saying much, because most films about the War in Iraq outright suck, because the message itself, including in The Hurt Locker, always seem to be the same: the war sucks. No one understands it, it's pointless and unnecessary, terrorists are absolutely bonkers, etc. It's just a matter of why the film decides it sucks; in this case, its addiction. Those ol' wires and diffusing, James just can't get enough of them. I just hope the Academy chose this film for the right reasons, not because of it's controversial or relevant theme (I'm looking at you, Brokeback Mountain). Within days before the Awards, lots of controversies surrounded the film, mainly from Iraq veterans. A veteran even admits to watching it with his buddies overseas and laughing at it. Ouch. Obviously, that wasn't enough to damage it's reputation. I haven't seen all ten of the nominated pictures, but I was secretly hoping Inglorious Basterds would make a surprise and take away Best Picture or Director, because God knows Tarantino deserves one of those by now (although I believe he won one for Best Screenplay for Pulp Fiction). Oh, well. At least Christoph Waltz got the much deserved Supporting Actor award (I don't think I've ever loved a Nazi's presence more on-screen).
