As a tonic to all the hoopla surrounding The Hurt Locker and its Oscar win as Best Picture, we’re reprinting BL writer Jay Rothermel’s provocative review of the film, originally published on August 14, 2009 on the blog Marxist Update. * * * “The great ignored question raised by events depicted in The Hurt Locker ... read more »

I mean, DAME Helen Mirren.  (Photo via Associated Press.  Joke via Oscar co-host, Steve Martin.) Very happy for Kat B and The Hurt Locker. Worst Award of the Evening -  The Best Cinematography Award to Avatar.  It should have gone to the great Robert Richardson (Inglourious Basterds), or if not to him, to Christian Berger who was ... read more »

Can a filmmaker spend most of his or her artistic life recycling other people’s ideas and still be a true auteur?   Sure. Why not? Any idea, theme, style, or attitude if repeated frequently or obsessively enough can constitute an artistic signature – something that immediately identifies a particular movie as un film de [insert ... read more »

The reason why Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker succeeds where every other Iraq War movie made to date has failed has little to do with the war itself. Audiences have generally avoided films dealing with this unpopular – and probably unwinnable – conflict/occupation. If The Hurt Locker seems as fresh and compelling as it does, ... read more »

In response to the AFI’s manifestly failed attempt to list the “100 Greatest American Films of All Time,” the Mediascape Journal of Cinema and Media Studies has published its own list entitled, “Top 100 American Films by Women Directors.” Now that’s what I call a useful list. It reminds us once again of the difference ... read more »