The Oscars are over, I was proven wrong on my favorite prediction (that "Avatar" would win for Best Picture and "The Hurt Locker" would not), and I cannot be more happy about having been proven wrong.
If I remember correctly, I was the first to mention a film called "The Hurt Locker" here, and to my shame I did it in the context of Kathryn Bigelow's ex-husband's film, "Avatar." I was pleased to see the media-friendly friendly competition between exes for the Best Director Oscar, but I honestly don't think it ever occurred to Jim Cameron that the Best Picture Oscar was up for grabs. Kathryn grabbed it. Good on her. I have been a fan of Kathryn Bigelow since "Near Dark" came out. It blew my mind. Not only was it her first gig as a solo director, not only did it completely reinvent the vampire genre, not only did it have a score by my then-favorite musical group Tangerine Dream...Kathryn Bigelow was a *babe*. You saw her photo in the trades, and you thought, "That is the kind of woman I'd pay a month's salary just to share a cappucino with for a few minutes." Kathryn just *screamed* "kundalini and the willingness to use it." She *rocked*. Not only had she teamed up with the best (then) Young Turk Screenwriter New On The Scene, Eric Red, she had directed this genre-redefining glimpse into the world of vampires while shooting the entire production on a vampire's schedule: at night. My kinda gal. Now she's the first woman to ever win an award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the Best Director of the Year. My kinda gal. In between there were a number of quite remarkable and memorable films, for those of you who don't know her. "Blue Steel," as effective a psychological portrait (or portraits) as I have ever seen created onscreen. "Point Break." Yeah, not everyone's cuppa Keanu, but I kinda...begrudgingly...liked it. "Strange Days." A science fiction masterpiece. "The Weight Of Water," which I think Shemp recommended here, and I have yet to be able to watch it. Then a few...uh...seemingly less-memorable films until... "The Hurt Locker." Possibly the most definitive film ever made about war and the thing that *inspires* war and keeps it replicating in our world. See quote below. If you didn't see it, you maybe should. If you only saw it once, it gets better on a re-viewing. Y'know... the way great art does when you go to the museum a second time. "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug." - Chris Hedges
