movie thoughts: The Hurt Locker (2009)

The Hurt Locker

Wow.  So, I doubt there is anything I can say about this film that you have not already heard.

It's gripping, well acted, well filmed, the editing is fantastic and it will stick with you.  

Movies about the war in Iraq (or whatever it is called at this point) always seem to effect me more than I expect.  I think it's because I can't even fathom that environment.  I mean, we've all seen World War II movies with soldiers wandering Europe, but I get that landscape, that world.  The only new thing for me is the war.  But when it comes to the Middle East, it's all so different.  The desert, the people...it's just foreign.

I think that's what makes 'The Hurt Locker' so mesmerizing to me.  The idea that these people live in a land where bombs are just left in the street blows my mind.  That these men risk their lives every day over there to protect so many.  It's their job.  

'The Hurt Locker' is not a documentary though, it's a movie about a team of men and the way the war alters them.  I know that sounds cliche...but this movie is just so well done, you forget about that theme and just focus on the screen.  It would have been so easy to just despise the main character, but somehow I understood his choice in the end.  

"The Hurt Locker" is an intense and well-crafted film that ranks up there as one of the best war movies I have ever seen.

Originally posted on orangerful.vox.com

movie thoughts: Moon (2009)

Moon

Do you like Sam Rockwell?  I mean REALLY like Sam Rockwell?  Because if you don't, you probably won't like 'Moon' because Sam is it (well, Sam and Kevin Spacey as Gerty the Computer). 

'Moon' is a story set in the future.  To solve our energy crisis, we figured out a way to harvest power from the Moon.  But someone has to be up there to monitor the equipment.  Sam has signed a 3 year contract with the company.  He has been living on the moon, his only companion a computer called "Gerty".  He has 2 weeks left before he can return home.  But something is not quite right....

And I'll stop there.  If all of the reviews of 'Moon' seem vague to you, it's for a reason.  No one wants to say too much and spoil any part of this movie.

I thought Sam Rockwell did a great job considering he was all on his own.  He's come a long way from 'Guy' (Galaxy Quest).  

I'm not so sure about the re-watchability of this movie though.  I don't think I would view it a second time, but the first time through was interesting and it drew you in.  But after it was over, it was over and that was that.  

Originally posted on orangerful.vox.com