Hurt Locker

This is a podcast episode about the 2009 Best Picture winner, "The Hurt Locker." The hosts apologize for technical difficulties and missing parts of the recording. They discuss other films nominated that year, including "Avatar," "Up," "Precious," "District 9," "The Blind Side," "An Education," "A Serious Man," "Up in the Air," and "Inglourious Basterds." They provide brief descriptions and opinions of each film. The episode ends with a summary of the top-grossing films of the year. Hi this is Dennis. Before we get into this week's podcast about the Hurt Locker, the 2009 Best Picture winner, I just want to let you know that unfortunately we have a lot of technical difficulties with this particular podcast. This is actually our second recording. The first one was mangled to the point where it was inaudible and so we finally got the chance to record again but unfortunately the microphone again cut out at the end so we lost the last 10 to 15 minutes of the podcast. So I want to apologize for that and give you a heads up at the beginning. I do think we have an interesting conversation but unfortunately it's a bit incomplete and we just don't have the time to record it again so I'm just giving a heads up at the start and so please bear with us. But without further ado, here is the podcast as we have it for the Hurt Locker. Enjoy. Hi, welcome to Crippling Cinema. I'm Dennis. I'm Bonnie. And we are here counting down the Academy Award winners for Best Picture from worst to best. We are all the way up now to the top 40. Wow. We're number 40. What movie are we talking about today? We're talking about the Hurt Locker. Yeah. From 2009. Yes. So what's your history with the Hurt Locker? I had not seen it although I had heard of it. Okay. Yeah. I saw it during my Gaynor period. We had talked about it previously. I wasn't going to movies that much. This is one that I did see in the theater. I saw it when I was in London actually on vacation. Wow. London on vacation. Yeah. I went to Florida on vacation in 2009. Oh, why didn't you see the Hurt Locker? Well, it was actually early 2010. Oh, yeah. Never mind then. I didn't go on vacation that year. All right. So this is... We already talked about the... Well, we talked about the two surrounding years. The year after Slumdog Millionaire. Oh, yeah. Which was not too long ago. Good movie. Yes. Very good movie. And we talked about the following year was The King's Speech, which we talked about a while ago actually. I liked that too better than you liked it. Right. I liked it when it first came out. I had some issues this time. But at any rate, this is our first year with 10 nominees. Okay. Or the first year we started with 10 nominees. We talked about in our Slumdog Millionaire podcast that was the last year was five. We think it was because of the snubs of movies like The Dark Knight and Molly. How long had it been where they had done five? They've been five since 1944. Oh, long time. Long time. Yeah. And why... Refresh my memory. Why had they tightened it up to five? I don't know specifically. I mean, it was... I mean, most of the other categories are fives. Okay. So it just kind of... It does make it consistent. Okay. And that's kind of a nice... It's a very considerable number. Like if somebody in the general public wants to see all the best picture nominees, it's very doable with five. It's very hard with 10. Okay. But they've stuck with the larger number. All right. So they went back to five. Yeah. Okay. So now we're down to... No, we're up to 10. We're up to 10. And so this year, they've included the biggest hit of the year of all time, actually, as of 2010, which was James Cameron's Avatar. Okay. I've never seen it. Yeah. You've heard of it, I'm sure. I've heard of it. I don't understand. Why is this the biggest hit of all time? Because it made the most money. Okay. But why... Yeah. It really hit a nerve, I think, from what... I personally don't care for it. Okay. At all. It's... It creates this... I think what people respond to when I listen to them is the world-building. Yeah. And they really get immersed in this. It's set on kind of a very utopian planet with these people called the Navi, like these tall, blue people. And they just live in harmony with each other and with nature. And the story is about the Americans, so to speak, sort of. Set in the future, so like America. They come in to try to... They want to harvest some of the rare minerals on the island. And so it's been called, somewhat derisively, the Dancing with the Wolves in Space. Okay. Yeah. Because it's a very similar type of storyline. In my reading, I don't think it's as nuanced as Dancing with the Wolves. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I just... Again, I understand that a lot of people just really are taken with it and just get transported to a new world and I just don't... I just can't get into it. It's just something about the Navi are like too human-like to be fantasy, but too... It's just kind of like an uncanny valley for me where I just don't... I don't feel what Americans feel. That was an enormous hit. And James Cameron was his first movie since Titanic, which is the movie that beat the top grossing movie of all time. So, it's kind of vulnerable. Yeah. And it was made for a rather... A lot of media fodder because James Cameron used to be married to Catherine Bigelow, who directed The Hurt Locker. So, now they're up against each other this year. Oh. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And Avatar is probably the biggest competition. I think at one point... So, they're divorced. Yeah, they're divorced. I think it was more... Yeah. That's okay. Yeah. And just for full disclosure, we are re-recording this from... Which is so pathetic. Yeah. No, that's... I don't know. It takes me a couple weeks, but... Yeah. Yeah. There were problems with the recording that I just couldn't fix. So, we're talking about it again. And it's great because it's like it's all new for me. Yeah. Yeah. So, they were... Okay, they're... I don't... I think it was probably more of a media thing because they divorced in like 1991, I think. All right. So, as far as I know... They're probably happy for each other. Yeah. I think he's happy for her and she's not. It's a timid kind of love of hers. I just want her to get along with. But I think it does make sense... Yeah. So, this... Avatar seems interesting in the sense that it's maybe trying to create... What would the world be like if the fall had never happened? Because you're describing sort of the Garden of Eden where everything is in balance. Right. And there's no unbalance that's happened and then unbalance comes in from the outside. Yeah. Yeah. That's very generous reading. Well, I... Yeah, again, it's like I don't want to bash on it. I find the money, I guess, always. Okay. But, you know, it's... Its objective is to rule people over and it was successful in doing that to people who aren't made of just a ton of money. Still, it was the highest grossing movie, at least domestically, until Avengers Endgame. So, it held the title for quite a while. Okay. So, Avengers Endgame is the highest grossing movie? Yes, but then Avatar was re-released and it took back the title by adding... Oh, Endgame should re-release. Yeah, I'll just be... I mean, what's wrong with me? Yeah, so also, another big hit that year and it became the first animated Best Picture nomination in 1991. Since Speeding the Beast. Okay. Yeah. Toy Story should have been nominated. Oh, yeah. That was a great movie. Fantastic. Well, what about The Incredibles? That did not get a nomination. That should. That was the stellar year where Million Dollar Baby, you know, the forgettable movie. Oh, gosh. Yeah, but at any rate, 2009 Up was benefited from the increase to 10. It got six nominations and you've seen it, Up, right? Yep, I've seen Up. I haven't seen it a bunch, but I've seen it... I've definitely seen it. I might have seen it a second time. I like this movie. That's great. Yeah, I love this kind of heartbreaking montage at the beginning. I do also really like the relationship between Carl and Russell. And they have a montage at the end, too, don't they? When he's going through his scrapbook. And he kind of lets go of being a person that he is. Yeah, that's really sweet. He's too really happy. Yeah. Sorry, that's a... we should have done spoiler. Yeah, I know. Squirrel. Squirrel, yeah. Yeah, that's a delightful old movie. Yeah. Precious. Precious. They sell the novel about Push by Sapphire. Yeah, when we first recorded this, I'd never heard of this at all. I remember I was really taken by your description. So, do that again. Oh, I was thinking you were going to say you watched it. No, I forgot to watch it. Yeah, so Precious is the story of a 16-year-old from just the worst circumstances imaginable. She's a very overweight black teenager. She can't read. She comes from a very abusive family. She's pregnant with her second child, and both her child's were products of rape by her father. Her mother is played by Monique, who is a stand-up comic. I believe this was her first movie, or one of her first movie, or first little serious role, at least. She is just really a performance that really gets under your skin as this very emotionally abusive mother. So, which, in the pictures you're showing me, which one is Monique? Monique is, yeah, in Todd Kerber, she's just kind of sitting on her recliner with a cigarette in her remote controls. That's pretty much how you see her in the movie. She plays the mother of the 16-year-old. Yeah. Because she looks pretty young. Yeah, 16-year-old girl is played by Gabrielle Sinive. This is her first movie and another really good performance. Yeah, I have to make a note to watch this movie. Yeah, well, it's precious. I don't know where it's going to be for that long, but okay. Also, District 9. You've never seen this one. I've never seen this. Yeah, so this is a really interesting, unusual movie to get a Best Picture nomination. It's just a genre piece about an alien invasion. Aliens, they're called prongs because they have kind of a shrimp-like shape to them. But it's set in South Africa, and it becomes kind of a metaphor for apartheid because it sets up a two-tiered society where the aliens are being quarantined. So, it's a like sci-fi action movie, but has a social conscience. And we've talked about it before, but Blindside, you know it very well. Yeah, Blindside I've seen a few times, maybe even three times. Yeah. Yeah, so this is... Oh, I remember. We had a discussion about this. Yeah, well, Sandra Bullock plays this Southern woman, Mississippi? They go to Ole Miss. Yeah. So, she kind of takes on a disadvantaged teenager, I think. Michael... Michaelson? Michael Moore. That's who it's based on. Yeah. Oh, no, they even call him the same name. Right, right, right. Yeah. Yeah, I just didn't know the name. And then, so she kind of mentors him. He plays for the... Raven. Oh, okay. The part that is just kind of right up the center of Alex Ali's most of the discussion on the movie is her, just kind of a star performance, movie star performance. It does... Has an age, particularly, though, or at least it gets a lot of criticism for its white figure. Yes, there's definitely an age. Yeah. And not just... I think it's not just that, but the movie kind of presents him, Michael, in a very infantilizing way, and also a way that's not based in facts. Or at least he and his family, a lot of people dispute how much credit she gets versus how dependent he seems. This is definitely a movie that is told from the... It's not a documentary. Oh, definitely not. It's just this, you know, it's based on this story. And, you know, if you take that with a grain of salt and realize it's giving the single perspective of the Sandra Bullock character, I don't remember what the woman's name is. Yeah, you have to understand that's what it's doing. It's not trying to give a nuanced understanding of what actually happened. It's just what happens through the eyes of this movie. Yeah. Yeah, I haven't really seen it. I don't think I've seen it since it came out. I've seen some bits and pieces of it, and I can see where people are coming from. There's a way to tell it from her point of view, where even if you write it with him as a supporting role, you can have it best out more than it is. Yeah, I would agree. I don't disagree with that. I would say, you know, in defense of this movie, and of course I say this as a white woman, but first of all, I love her character because she reminds me of my friend Pam. Oh, great. Yeah, I can see that, yes. Jess, so she's just delightful. Spunky. She's just this beautiful, spunky, you know, just a great character. But what you definitely see in this movie is not about, although it does tell the transformation of this kid, but it's really about her transformation. And it shows you how, so if you enter the movie from that point of view, then it kind of very, you know, shows like she's realizing how shallow she is. And I think even the part where he's infantilizing, it's, you know, it's kind of going to, you know, she's trying to teach him things that she's never had to teach somebody before, you know, some tutoring and such. And just, anyway, you can see her horizons kind of broaden as they go, and her entering into, you know, his world a little bit just to kind of be his light savior, his defender, which starts out, she thinks it's going to be just easy, and then it ends up being a little harder than she thinks. But anyway, so it's a, you know, I don't think it should have won Best Picture, and I don't know that it would have necessarily been, whatever, but I don't know necessarily that it would have been nominated for, like, Best Picture. Oh, yeah, I don't think it would have, it's over five, I don't think. Yeah, but I think it's still a good, I mean, it's still an enjoyable, it's still an enjoyable movie. You prefer up? I do prefer up, yeah. So, An Education is, yeah, it's kind of a coming-of-age story set in the mid-20th century, starring Carey Mulligan, and kind of her career-defining performance. She plays this very gifted student who's bound to be, she's preparing for an Ivy League education. She's, I believe, going to be the first female college-bound student in her family, or at least first in an Ivy League. And she kind of gets in a whirlwind, she falls head over heels for this guy who's just out of color, he's an older guy. And so, the movie's kind of about her struggle between her long-term plans and just her feelings of freedom and everything that she gets from the relationship with this guy. And I haven't seen it since, I think I saw it on my flight back from London. Same trip you talked about earlier? Yeah, I don't go to London very often. So, I haven't seen it in a while, but it's a person that's still kind of sticking in my mind, because remember, you can really get a topical sense of the intensity of the feelings she has, but you're like, oh, he's an all-out sort of guy. And who's that guy? He looks familiar. Yeah, Peter Sarsgaard. He's a character actor. He's been in a bunch of stuff. I mean, I know him best from Shattered Glass. I don't know if you've seen that movie. I'm sure he's been in stuff that you've seen. So, is this the one that you recommend? Yeah, I'd like to see it again, actually. I've only seen that one on the plane. Okay. Serious Man. Yes, I did see this. Yeah, this is the movie that's kind of a modern-day telling of Job. Job from the book of the Bible. What's your one-sentence description of that? A guy being tested by God in all sorts of Yeah, a good guy who, through no fault of his own, a series of, I don't know if I would say tragedies, but bad things happen. And you've got people giving advice, and of course, there's always terrible life. Right, exactly. Yeah, I really like this movie. That sort of takes place in 1950s, 1960s suburbs, right? Yeah, something like that, mid to late 20th century. Might be 70s. Yeah, it might be. He's a Jewish man who's also a teacher, I believe. And it's just like a lot of trial, even a laundry list of misery, because it's just sort of stuff that light hands you. And there are these three rabbis, he goes to throughout the movie, and it's really fascinating to me. It's a very surreal, I think, experience. Yeah, I do think it's a surreal experience. I'd like to see it again, actually. Yeah, I think it's one that you... Anyway. It's kind of a follow-up to their Oscar, O'Malley, I don't know. It's a follow-up to Burn After Reading, but it's a couple of years after No Country For Old Men. Oh. I didn't know No Country For Old Men was a comedy. Oh yeah. Oh, that's why you snicker every time. I don't snicker. You do. I don't. Okay. So, Up in the Air, which I think you said last time that you've seen it. I have seen it. Yeah. So, this is George Clooney. He's kind of a jerk. Yeah. He's a guy whose job is he's hired out by corporations to come and inspire people. And the premise is his experience as a frequent flyer. Yeah. Because he's going around the... So, he learns all over the internet. And I think you were talking about that last time about you still think about... Yeah, I do. I saw that, and there's one piece of advice I was like, oh, that's actually true. It's like, when you go through security, you follow an Asian man. Yeah, exactly. Because they always have slip-on shoes and a briefcase. They just go through very quickly. But a lot of it has to do with they tend to wear slip-on shoes versus tie-on shoes. And you never want to get behind a family. Oh, gosh, never. So, I don't necessarily look for Asian men, but I do look to see what sort of people are in front. And it is true that... Well, definitely look out for the family. Definitely. The small kids. Oh, yeah. I mean, it takes a lot longer. Well, you're usually the one with the small... Well, not anymore. No, not anymore. I'm not the one with the small kids. But no, now I go through, I always wear slip-on shoes. I have everything set and ready to go. So, like, I'm a good one to go in after. But I really have to think about... Yeah, up in the air, there's kind of this adult comedy. Also kind of a cerebral comedy. I'd say more of a comedy than a serious manner. Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and it also deals with sort of the issues of, you know, late-stage capitalism. Oh, yeah, definitely. Yeah. Finally, we have Quentin Tarantino in The Glory of the Bastards. Yeah. You've heard of this. I've heard of this mostly... I'm sure I'd heard of it before, but I do remember talking about this with you. I've never seen it. Yeah. So, this is kind of a... How do I explain that? Kind of a historical fantasy comedy. Kind of about a troop of American Jewish soldiers who are on a mission to assassinate Hitler. Okay. During World War II. All right. It's mostly known for... Well, the whole thing is one of Quentin Tarantino's most acclaimed movies, but it's most notable for the opening scene, which has been studied and analyzed ever since it came out. It's one of the most riveting openings in a movie. It's terrific. Okay. Yeah. So, if you want, you still want the opening scene. Okay. Thumb up. Yeah. Yeah. But, I think Quentin Tarantino's first trip back to the Oscars was Pitcher's Sense of Fiction. Okay. Did Pulp Fiction win? No. No, it lost some foursome. Oh. Okay. Well, we'll have a lot to talk about when we get there. So, just an overview for the year. Avatar was the biggest hit by a country mile, followed by a series of franchise films. Transformers, Harry Potter, the sixth Harry Potter movie, I believe. The Half-Blood Prince. Twilight Saga Moomoo is the second? I don't know. First? I don't. I'm not. I haven't seen Twilight. I haven't seen any Twilight, sorry. Up was number five. Yeah. Up was fifth, and The Hangover was sixth. Great comedy, I think. Yeah. The Blind Side was in the top ten. Also, the reboot of Star Trek, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Yeah. Just to show how checked out I was this year, the number 11 movie is Monsters vs. Aliens, which opened at almost $60 million in March and made almost $200 million in the United States. I can't picture this movie. I have no idea what this movie is. I think we talked about it last time. We kind of assume it's animated because of frameworks. And I think I've seen it. Yeah. But yeah, I was checked out. All the other top movies I've heard of, but I do not know what. Yeah. I'm sure what I've seen is this. Well, maybe I haven't. It says a woman transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to do something. Maybe I haven't seen it. I think there's a good chance that we had been in a parallel universe where this thing didn't exist and somehow got transferred to this universe where it did. I just like the Berenstain Bears. Yeah. Like the Truman Show. Not really like that. It's a great movie. And then we have the Hurt Doctor. Speaking of great movies. Yeah. So we are going to continue after, as we said, we've already talked about this, but it's a new day, so you're free to change your opinion. Yes. You're free to change your opinion. I am. I will. Okay. Make a case for me. So, Bonnie, what is the Hurt Locker about? The Hurt Locker is about an EOD unit in Iraq. Yes. EOD is the... Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Okay. And I think this is an Army unit. Maybe it has EOD as well. Maybe Air Force, I don't know. But this is about an Army unit, and yeah, so it follows this unit as particularly focused on the main character played by Jeremy Renner, who is Hawkeye in the Marvel Universe. Yes. Not in M.A.S.H. What? Not in M.A.S.H. Not in M.A.S.H. Right. Right. No, the Marvel Universe Hawkeye. But anyway, he comes in to this unit and kind of, he's leading it. I guess he's the senior enlisted guy, but he just has... Some squad leader, right? The sergeant. Yeah, I guess. And then he just has issues. And the team has to deal with these issues, and then he goes home. So that's what it's about. It's a very intense movie. Yes. No, I can sense the enthusiasm in your voice. So what did you think of The Hurt Locker? Yeah, I don't like this movie at all. This is down... Of the ones we've watched, this is down... So far this is in my bottom five, so... Wow. Explain to me why this has any redeeming... anything? There's so much I don't like about this movie, but... I like the movie quite a bit. I don't know that I'd quite say it's in my top five, but it's... I don't feel like you did last time. I'll have to see where I put it. It's kind of close to that. Okay. Two more movies haven't since we talked about it before, but... Yeah, that's true. At any rate, I actually... even before we watched it this time, this movie that I think about a lot, I really... One of the things that I appreciate is it's... I definitely don't like combat movies, but I appreciate here is it's just about the job. It's really a series of different missions, and the tension comes from not just defusing the bomb, but also with the team, the squad. And the pressure is put on them in this really fraught situation where the United States has overthrown Saddam Hussein. You're allied with the new government, but you're fighting insurgents. And so, the war zone is actually a populated... very populated city of your allies. The new government is your allies. And so, there's such palpable tension because you just look at these people all around, and someone takes out a cell phone, and you don't know, is this deadly? Is this a threat? Or naturally, people are going to be curious and take out their phones, and you see people whispering to each other. And I found that tension really compelling. But where I think about it a lot is this getting kind of under the skin of this personality that seeks danger and walks into danger. And I think about a lot in context of a lot of the debates that we have in the culture in terms of... we mostly have it in terms of policing and issues with what is the difference between a risk and a threat. And just like kind of the complexities of getting in situations where you don't know if this person's a danger to me, but the death itself has consequence. And so, the guy who drives a car up to you, you can't talk to him, and you can't hear back. It's like he's... this is a human being. It's not just a threat or a potential terrorist. Yeah. So, I found that really compelling, and I like the... well, I wouldn't say I like the Jeffrey Miller character. He's a very unlikable guy, but I think he's interesting in that he's not wicked. He's dangerous to those around him because I think he's wired in a very strange way, and he's almost kind of addicted to the danger. Yeah. He's mentally ill. Oh, yeah, certainly. I think that does come through. Yeah. Definitely has PTSD. Yeah. Or, I mean, I can't diagnose him. Yeah. Okay. Well, I mean, I appreciate that. Here's what I don't like. I don't like the character at all. He's a dangerous guy. He takes way unnecessary risks, which, you know, the tagline is, you don't have to be a hero if, you know, just looking at it, The Hurt Locker, you don't have to be a hero to do this job, but it helps. But he takes risks that put other people in way more danger than they need to be. So, it's not like they... So, first of all, I don't like that at all. The other thing I don't like is that there's no repercussions ever for any of his dangerous behavior. So, it's just like it goes through mission after mission after mission. And you're right. Each one of these is very, you know, palpably like, oh, no, what is going to happen? Right? But after each one of these, when he takes, you know, dangerous, unnecessary risks, then there's no repercussions at all. So, I find that annoying. And it's also, you know, unrealistic because they, you know, it's like at each point, this tiny band, which, you know, is a big deal. Like, it's crazy what they do. And important what they do, and technical, and hard, and I don't, you know, I don't even... I'm a housewife. I don't even understand. Yeah. No one can really speak to how realistic the movie is. I do know that they don't do everything. They don't clear buildings. There's other people that are involved. They have a specific job that they're called in to do, and they do that job. In this movie, it's like they do everything. So, even when they're, you know, under fire with that, what looks to be, you know, British Special Forces, the British Special Forces guys just crumble under the pressure. And the EOD guys, like, now all of a sudden they're snipers. They have all this other training, and it's all them. Yeah. Well, I think that the rafting troop was a private. They weren't British Special Forces, and I think that was part of it. Like, they were the hired GED or whatever you call them. Are you sure? Why do you think that? That's what it said in the description. Okay. Yeah. So, but even if they did, these are still Special Forces guys that go back as, you know, as contractors. Yeah. No. So, you know, either whether they're still in uniform, or they're, you know, uniform loosely over there, or not. I just, you know, it seems very fanciful and annoying. But mostly I'm annoyed by, I feel like Platoon, this movie does, like all the things you talked about, as much as I find Platoon hard to watch, I think Platoon does a much better job of describing that. Because it is, you know, you don't know who's in combat and not, and they had that village scene. I just think Platoon does it a lot better than the Hurt Locker, and the Hurt Locker shouldn't be up this high, because it's just dumb. Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm surprised everybody's ahead of Platoon. I mean, the list is for fun, and they're, like, three spots apart. Something that we didn't talk about. We have, I don't know if you know, we worked in, like, on the right list, so, like, one outlier. One thing that we did not talk about when we first recorded this is, where is the list? I want to see who skewed this, because it got so high, and see if it was you. It might be. I had Platoon pretty low, so it might be because of me that they're ranked where they are. But at any rate, it doesn't really matter when one's 40, one's 43, it's all just kind of parlor game stuff. But it's still good to see, right? Yeah. We don't look right now? No, we should look at the end. Or now. Okay, I didn't have it up yet. Hi, so it's Dennis again, and unfortunately, this is where the podcast cut out. There was some further discussion of the Hurt Locker, and then we had wrapped up the podcast. So I think we did get the gist of our takes, and it's really unfortunate that we lost part of it, because this is one of our sharper disagreements, certainly since public CODA, or probably our, maybe this is our biggest disagreement. But I think you got the gist of where we were at. Maybe at some point, we might record an addendum to add in some additional thoughts. But we're just going to have to end it here for the time being. After the podcast, we did go through our usual, the limerick I will have in the show notes. And we did select our next week's movie, which is already recorded, and that recording is fine. So that turns out to be our number 39 movie in our countdown from here to eternity from 1953. So please join us next week as we talked about that. And apologies once again for the problems with this week's podcast, but hopefully that will be smooth sailing going forward. Thank you very much. Bye.