The Crippled Corner

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Pogledao sam LOOKER Michaela Crichtona, courtesy of Ginger.

Ovaj film je odbačen kao slab i marginalan, međutim mnogi nedostaci su mu u međuvremenu postali vrlina ili simpatičan retro element.

Reč je o pulpy SF premisi koja je u vreme izlaska filma 1981. godine delovala apsurdno, dok danas sa ekspanzijom performace capture animacije deluje kao neka premisa vezana za blisku, najbližu budućnost. Ideja da se modeli koriste za modelovanje savršenih animacija za reklame koje će savršeno manipulisati potrošačima danas deluje kao sasvim realan projekat.

Svakoa da ni savremena tehnologija ne objašđnjava zbog čega bi neko ubijao te devojke potom i sebi navlačio policiju i druge samarićane na vrat, ali film definitivno u današnjem CGI miljeu deluje relevantno.

Kad je reč o paranoidnom prilazu televiziji, on je retro i po svojoj naivnosti dostie ravan carpenterovog THEY LIVE s tim što je Crichtonova smrtna ozbiljnost u tako paničnom pristupu zaista draga na poseban način.

I uopšte, čini se da je naglašena ozbiljnost Crichtonovog pristua ovoj pulpy priči snažan recidiv socijalno dogovornog SFa sedamdesetih koji je imao sklonost da upozorava na razne nuklearne, ekološke, populacione rizike. Samim tim šte ja što umesto žanrovski nedefinisanog Albert Finneya u filmu ne glumi Charlton Heston. On je ipak pravi heroj kada treba da se brane stare vrednosti.

Retro feelu doprinose i ambiciozni, gotovo kenadamovski setovi na kojima se film odigrava.

Iako je Crichtonova režija sasvim pristojna, šteta je što ovaj projekat nije radio neko poput Brian De Palme ili Richarda Frannklina ko bi svojim stilskim zaokretom uspeo da izleči sve kontradikcije scenarija.

Međutim, i ovakav, možda više straight nego pšto je trebalo, LOOKER stoji kao simpatično gledalačko iskustvo u kome ima mnogih kvaliteta koji nedostaju savremenom filmu.

* * 1/2 / * * * *

[crippled_avenger]

'American Carol' zings liberals
Zucker's satire helps GOP roast the left
By TED JOHNSON
Zucker


More Articles:
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GOP sending muddled messages
Republican convention downsized
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Web welcomes convention coverage
BBC America to cover conventions
Hollywood is tapping into a new marketing pit stop: political conventions.
Denver saw no less than a mini film festival last week at the Democratic National Convention, with an ongoing series of screenings of politically tinged docs and features.

Delegates to the GOP gathering are seeing their share of films on an even grander scale than those staged in the Mile High City: Director-writer David Zucker ("Airplane!," "Naked Gun") screened his upcoming pic "An American Carol" to more than 1,000 conventioneers at the Minneapolis Convention Center. At a lavish reception, Lee Greenwood sang standards and buffets were themed around the armed forces.

The comedy satire, a spoof of "A Christmas Carol," centers on a Michael Moore-like filmmaker (Kevin Farley) who is campaigning to end the Fourth of July. He gets visited by three ghosts — those of George Washington, George S. Patton and John F. Kennedy — who try to get him to rethink his ways. The cast also includes Kelsey Grammer, Robert Davi, Jon Voight, James Woods, Leslie Nielsen and Dennis Hopper. Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has a cameo in which he admits to the Moore look-alike, "I just enjoy slapping you."

Zucker, who wrote the movie with Myrna Sokoloff, doesn't water down the satire.

The convention attendees "are just surprised at how over the top and funny it is. A lot of the movie is pretty shocking, and I don't think Republicans are prepared for it because they are not used to movies that laugh at the left," Zucker said from the Fox News skybox, where spent much of the day Monday promoting the film with Voight. He was attending his first political convention and, among other activities, he planned to attend a dinner with Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush.

"I think we will be doing a lot of promotion on talkradio — anywhere we can reach the main audience for this," Zucker said. "I think it will attract attention because of the controversial nature of the movie."

The film skewers protesters, which was especially resonant on Monday after hundreds were arrested outside the Xcel Center.

One of the film's producers, Steve McEveety, tapped into GOP contacts to co-host the event, including New York hedge fund tycoon Paul Singer. The pic is being released by McEveety's Mpower Pictures and Vivendi Entertainment.

In addition to Zucker, Voight and Davi, the convention has drawn musicians including John Rich, who sang at a Lifetime Rock the Vote bash on Tuesday, and GOP stalwart Pat Boone, who was seen dining at the CNN Grill. MGM's Harry Sloan, a supporter of John McCain since the start of his campaign, was expected to come into town for McCain's acceptance speech. And there was a possibility that Sylvester Stallone would attend.

There's also a handful of industry figures on the other side of the spectrum. Stuart Townsend screened "Battle in Seattle" on Monday, just as he did for the Democratic Convention, as part of the Impact Film Festival. The fest is hosting screenings in St. Paul as well.

Zucker was a longtime Democrat who backed Al Gore in 2000, but his political views changed after 9/11. He's a McCain supporter who describes himself as a centrist, pro-choice and pro-environment (he has two Priuses).

"My goal is to convince Republicans to abandon nuclear power," he said.

Zucker is an unabashed conservative on fiscal issues and national security. He used his creative skills in making biting anti-John Kerry ads for the Club for Growth in 2004 and provocative spots, one of which featured Madeleine Albright painting Osama bin Laden's cave, for the Republican National Committee in 2006.

He has no plans yet to cut spots or take some other role this year — but he would like to.

"I almost can't resist," he said. "Humor is so ripe for this political season."

[Kunac]

Svakako da ni savremena tehnologija ne objašnjava zbog čega bi neko ubijao te devojke potom i sebi navlačio policiju i druge samarićane na vrat, ali film definitivno u današnjem CGI miljeu deluje relevantno.

To je i mene bunilo. Ali:

The television version, rarely seen, has an additional 15 minutes of plot! Scene involves Dr. Roberts (Albert Finney) and Cindy (Susan Dey) discussing the possible motives of the mysterious Matrix corporation for killing off the top commercial models. Ironically, the main complaint by critics at the time of the movie's release was this very lack of explanation. It is not available in the laser disc version either.

[Tex Murphy]

Pro-choice    Još jedna u nizu retardiranih američkih kovanica.

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Eto vidiš. Ali opet verzija koja traje 15 minuta duže zaista zvuči predugo. Meni je i ovo trajanje od 94 minuta bilo pozamašno...

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Kunac i ja smo kao najvatreniji fanovi sinoć imali priliku da pogledamo prvu ruku montaže filma ZONA MRTVIH Milana Konjevića i Milana Todorovića.

Što se mene tiče, Milani su premašili čak i moja najoptimističnija očekivanja i mislim da će Sagitaši biti više nego prijatno iznenađeni krajnjim rezultatom.

Pre svega, mislim da je ZONA MRTVIH jedinstven film kada se uzmu u obzir razmere zahvata koji su Milani preduzeli. U zemlji u kojoj postoji samo par make up stručnjaka a samo Lakobrija u suštini radi horor, prava je hrabrost snimiti film o sveopštem ustanku zombija. Štaviše, čak i u svetskim okvirima u poslednje vreme su retki filmovi koji se bave invazijom zombija ovih razmera, i što je još važnije još je manje filmova koji to rade na ovako solidan i energičan način.

U kinematografiji u kojoj glumci izbegavaju transformaciju, raduje da vidimo ovoliko masovne transformacije.

Pored krvoprolića i zombifikacija, film obiluje pucnjavama koje u ovom broju nismo videli još od partizanskih filmova kod nas, i sve to je urađeno bez ikakvog kompleksa i zaista funkcioniše.

Čini se da je na mnogim nivoima, slično ŠEJTANOVOM RATNIKU pre toga, ZONA MRTVIH porušila još neke tabue. Ako se uzme u obzir da je film snimljen u razumnom roku i za razumne pare, ubeđen sam da će ZONA u pozitivnom smislu pomeriti odnos prema žanru i spektaklu kod nas.

Ja ne mogu da kažem da pratim baš sve naslove sa zombijima, mahom gledam one koji ipak stižu s nekom preporukom, ali u ovom trenutku ZONA MRTVIH sigurno može da se plasira u sam vrh vanholivudske ponude. Kunac će o ovome sigurno dati još detaljniju elaboraciju pošto on gleda sve sa zombijima.

Međutim, ono što je možda i najveći adut filma, a sigurno najveći kompliment Milanima i ekipi, jeste to da na nivou ritma, već i verzija od 110 minuta odlično funkcioniše. Odavno u srpskom filmu nisam video film koji tako dobro teče na nivou čistog storytellinga, nema praznog hoda, svaka situacija ima neku funkciju, priča se pomera od tačke A do tačke B, karakteri su u okvirima svoje funkcije definisani. Ovo je zaista najveće priznanje koje može da dobije bilo koji filmmejker.

Pri tom, film ima vrlo dobar razvoj, jasno definisan početak, sredinu i kraj, sa gradacijom situacija, promenama odnosa i transformacijama karaktera što takođe retko viđamo u srpskom filmu.

U okvirima žanra, a vabnholivudskog zombi filma naročito, ova priovedačka veština i ekonomičnost stoje kao adut pošto su savremeni zombi filmovi mahom statični, imaju duge, neopravdane karakterne uvode i sl. ZONA MRTVIH ima strukturu u najboljem maniru američkog repertoarskog filma, sa preciznim i lakim uvođenjem likova i efikasnom eskalacijom krizne situacije.

Često se dešava da uzmem da gledam neki horor koji je baziran na formuli ove ili one pretnje i da onda moram da čekam na tu pretnju tokom artificijelnog uvoda. ZONA MRTVIH je u tom smislu vrlo poštena i može biti zanimljiva čak i onima koji su siti filmova o zombijima.

U ZONI MRTVIH je uspostavljena idealna pripovedačka ekonomija u tom smislu, i moram priznati da do sada nisam sretao filmove u ovako ranoj fazi montaže da toliko dobro funkcionišu na planu ritma.

U predstojećem periodu Milani će imati samo slatke muke kako još da doteraju film što je sjajno.

Ja sam zadovoljan ovim filmom i mislim da će on iduće godine dostojno reprezentovati Novi srpski film i pokazati šta je sve moguće snimiti kod nas. Što se stranih producenata tiče, verujem da će oni biti prezadovoljni ovim naslovom jer slutim da će ga žanrovska kritika dobro prihvatiti i preporučivati kao vrlo prijatno iznenađenje. Ono što nikakav budžet ne može da kupi je upravo pozitivna enerija koju većina savremenog vanholivudskog exploitation horora nema.  iako mnogi naslovi tog exploitation ranga imaju veći budžet i resurse, retko kada su obogaćeni tom pozitivnom energijom i entuzijazmom koji filmu dodaju production value. To nije samo moj subjektivni stav već se to objektivno vidi, primera radi na statistima koji su odlično uradili svoje zadatke kao zombiji što se recimo u tim projektima retko viđa. U ZONI MRTVIH svi zombiji imaju neku svoju personalnost i u svakom se ogleda neki trzaj života koji je vodio ranije, a to se ne bi moglo postići da nije bilo masovne regrutacije zombija među kolegama i fanovima.

Mislim da je srpska kinematografija u Milanima dobila vrlo kvalitetne reditelje koji su svojim prvim filmom pokazali da imaju veliki potencijal, i nadam se da će uskoro dobiti novu priliku.

[crippled_avenger]

The old WB and the online future
06:43 PM PT, Sep 2 2008


Last week, Warner Bros. brought back the defunct WB channel in a new form: an online-only network, the first one with a name inherited from Hollywood. You can watch august old WB shows on TheWB.com, along with raggedy new Web-only video series, and the effect, so far, is something like those professional dog walkers who have a Great Dane, two chihuahuas and a bulldog on the same leash. You know they're all the same species but -- wow, did the Creator really intend for them to be out strolling together?

But that's a little bit like Warner Bros. television. There's the studio itself, which is massive and traditional, defined by shows like "ER" and "The West Wing." Then there was, for a decade, the WB network, which, through independent-minded shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek," created iconic teen worlds in which beautiful people also suffered, and outsiders' obsession with social status could somehow look like social justice.

TheWB.com blends those two corporate identities into what they're calling a "curated experience" -- much in the spirt of an old-school TV network, in fact. With its attempt to be something unified in spirit, it goes a few sprightly steps further than sites like NBC and News Corp.'s more catch-all Hulu.com toward fusing the old TV model with the new one that's emerging on the Web.

Above all, it's a way for Warner Bros. to wring some small change, at least, out of its library, in this case popular shows like "Gilmore Girls" and "Everwood" that ran on the WB, which merged with UPN to form the CW in 2006. Be warned: The network is not putting everything online -- right now there are only around 200 selected episodes, with "fresh" ones substituted each week so viewers keep coming back. Not every WB show is there, either: No "Dawson's Creek" or "Felicity," at this point. (But you do get "Veronica Mars," a Warners show than ran on UPN.)

So if it's merely a small step toward the dream of every TV show or movie you want, available any time at the click of your mouse, TheWB.com is still a tentative peek into a future of convergence, in which your TV and your computer will be the same animal. As Hollywood brands go, the frisky WB seems like a natural test case for a Web/TV hybrid. The Web network too wants to come across as a force of liberation: "The WB isn't about putting a limitation in front of our viewer," Brent Poer, the site's general manager, told me over the phone. "It's about saying, here's the content -- enjoy it when you want to."

Shows like "Gilmore Girls" have some age on them at this point, but still, they had a particular feel -- intimate and intense, soapy but not dopey -- that makes them Web-friendly. With smallish, loyal followings, a "Gilmore Girls" (or "Veronica Mars" or "Everwood") were always scaled more in the niche way that has come to define a Web audience. Watching them with your computer screen inches from your face feels appropriate. "Buffy" and "Smallville," the Superman prehistory drama, are also right at home on a computer screen, with their science-fiction underpinnings and superhero DNA.

Those shows easily sucked in a particular kind of brainy, emotional viewer ("Smallville," still on the air, continues to exert its pull), but were too precise and moody to have the mass appeal of a TV juggernaut like "Friends" -- which, by the way, TheWB.com is throwing into the mix, since it was a Warners production that ran on NBC. "Friends" will probably get a healthy share of clicks, but in a way, it's working against the identity that TheWB.com is trying to build. As a glossily packaged comedy with next to nothing to do with real human life, it looks weird sitting on the home page next to a sincere and depth-seeking show like "Everwood."

Web series in the mix

Since the old shows are a finite, exhaustible trove, the network will also have to furnish new material too. So it's including a handful of original Web series -- that ever-shifting category, defined for now by fuzzy parameters. (Shot on video, presented in bite-sized episodes, influenced by the democratic, tell-your-story-into-the camera vibe of YouTube. Add to that: unlikely to make any real Hollywood-style money in the near future.)

TheWB.com will have one high-end Web series that looks like it comes from money, at least -- slick-looking, McG-produced "Sorority Forever," which premieres Monday and has an appealing (and "Buffy"-ish) premise: a sorority that appears to be also some sort of evil cult. It stars the only actress to anchor a hit Web series, Jessica Rose, better known as lonelygirl15, and it's got all the production values of a regular old TV series, but with super-quick-cut episodes all in the six-minute neighborhood.

TheWB.com has a few other new Web series launching in the months to come, including one from "Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz* (whose Fox show "The O.C." is another non-WB hit playing at TheWB.com). This one aims to involve viewers in a new way: It's set in a Hollywood rock club that users will be able to "visit" online.

Less explainable is the selection of what TheWB.com is calling "snaggables." Brent Poer described these shows as "short-form, information-based or humor-based, not episodic. They allow you to view a little content and go on with your day." While a series like "Sorority Forever" is conceivable on TV (just as another Web-born series with Hollywood DNA, Marshall Herskovitz's "quarterlife," ended up on NBC), these other shows are, as Poer put it, "things you wouldn't necessarily see on air, but they are part of the daily diet of this audience."

In other words, these are existing grass-roots Web shows that have been plucked from Internet micro-microfame and given the red-carpet WB treatment. These particular shows are not, so far, benefiting. The contrast makes them look hokey and striving instead of refreshingly un-Hollywood.

There's "A Boy Wearing Makeup," in which a friendly young guy named Mathieu Francis gives makeup instructions by demonstrating on his own face. Someone apparently found this gender-bending premise exciting; Francis has some charm but he's not funny, and he is all business. There's nothing else going on here, no submerged narrative, and his conventional approach could be right out of a Bobbi Brown instructional video (though all his products are from MAC, adding a suspicious infomercial overlay).

"Whatever Hollywood" is a little better, with its three singing and dancing chicks mocking both celebrity culture and their own lack of fame. But it still seems to belong more to the realm of things you find randomly on the Web than to something that would have the WB stamp on it.

It's been only a couple of years now that Hollywood and the Web have been trying to imagine a way to live as one. TheWB.com may not be that just yet, but it's a sign that the two approaches are not ridiculously far apart. If you squint hard at the site, you might pick up a hint about TV's next act.

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Prva kritika HURT LOCKERa, izgleda da se moj omiljeni MILF vratio with a vengeance:

TIFF Review: THE HURT LOCKER
Posted by Todd Brown at 11:57am.
Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Drama, Action, USA & Canada, Toronto Film Festival 2008.


I present to you a basic Hollywood reality that should have been recognized long ago but apparently has not been:  This is a bad time to be making an Iraq War film.  Good film, bad film, big cast, no cast, fiction, documentary, it really doesn't matter.  Whatever the merits of the film in question - and there have been a number of good ones made - if it is about the Iraq War it is destined to fail at the box office as has been proven repeatedly over the last year.  The conflict is still far too fresh, still far too much in the news and an audience overloaded by Iraq every night on the six o'clock news simply won't pay money to see more of the same on the big screen.  Too bad for Kathryn Bigelow, then, because with The Hurt Locker she has put together one potent piece of work.


Set in the current Iraq conflict The Hurt Locker tracks a three man unit through the final days of their military service.  The threesome has just over a month left, their task:  finding and defusing bombs.  It's a job that demands precision and absolute trust, a job that has zero margin for error, but the balance of the group is shattered with the arrival of new team leader Will James.  It's James' job to actually defuse the bombs while the other pair offer support and protection but James has zero regard for protocol, zero regard for the safety of his team members, constantly rushing in to situations poorly prepared, riding from one wave of adrenaline to the next.

Bigelow has created one sterling bit of film here.  It is impeccably performed, keeps the tension ratcheted up to the highest possible extreme, and manages to capture both the scope of the conflict while remaining close and intimate.  It is also a surprisingly apolitical film.  If Bigelow has any opinions on the causes and course of the conflict she keeps those opinions resolutely off the screen, focusing instead purely on her central trio of characters and the effects the conflict is having on them.  When you're on the ground with bullets flying, after all, you really don't care about why you're there, all that matters is surviving to see another day and she captures that feeling perfectly.  The stresses play on each of the three principles in different ways and Bigelow does a remarkable job of showcasing each of her three characters without ever sermonizing, without feeling the need to spell out their histories.  She simply lets them live and lets us observe.  By focusing on a bomb squad Bigelow has found not only the perfect image to capture the war in Iraq - where roadside bombs play such a hugely prominent role - but she also finds a squad of soldiers that everybody can sympathize with regardless of their political bent - however they got there all these men are trying to do is clear the country of weapons designed to kill and maim indiscriminately and it's awfully hard to criticize them for that regardless of their behavior.

Bigelow shoots her film with such an incredibly high degree of technical skill and a willingness to put all of her characters at risk that it may well be the most immersive and compelling war experience caught on film since Ridley Scott;'s Black Hawk Down but where that film was plagued with overwhelming "Go America!" rah rah, this film avoids that particular trap throughout.  Yes, it's impossible not to feel a certain thrill through some of the action sequences and the story is certainly told from the American perspective but the film is also smart enough and honest enough both to capture the confusion and disorientation of its leads, the complexities of the situation and to show all involved as more than a little bit flawed.  After a solid two hours of subtle character work Bigelow can't quite resist the big, overwrought moment of exposition at the end, just in case anyone out there has missed the point, and while the final sequence is heavy handed and unnecessary it is certainly not distracting enough to do any serious damage to the film as a whole.

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Druga kritika:

Story  


The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
Fionnuala Halligan in London
04 Sep 2008 17:00

 

Dir. Kathryn Bigelow. US, 2008, 124 mins.
The Hurt Locker probably isn't the "great" Iraq film which will finally move audiences into theatres but it does play out like fragments of one. Kathryn Bigelow holds pieces of the jigsaw in this impressionistic, tense war drama shot at street level, but commercially The Hurt Locker is facing down the public's well-documented indifference to Iraq fare without the armour of star wattage (Fiennes, Morse and Pearce all have brief cameos).

In reality, the lack of known faces works in The Hurt Locker's favour, but whether audiences can be persuaded to take the risk is another matter and the all-male cast and testosterone-fuelled subject matter restricts the demographic. In telling the story of a three-man bomb disposal unit working the streets of Baghdad and the addictive risks their work entails, this is closer in spirit to Fight Club than other recent Iraq-set fare, although Hurt Locker is instantly visually reminiscent of everything from Jarhead to The Kingdom and is evidently a war film.

Bigelow crafts here a barrage of individual set pieces of great, often heart-stopping tension, but they don't quite add up as a whole and, towards the end, almost strain against the central impetuous of the film. She captures very well, though, the feel at street level for these comrades-in-arms (Jordan subbed for Iraq) and it is possible this could play well to veterans and their families, kick-starting word-of-mouth.

Based on the reminiscences of Boal, a former correspondent assigned to one of Iraq's special bomb units, The Hurt Locker starts by illustrating the correct procedure for Bravo Company to dismantle a street bomb – by sending in a robot down the rubbish-filled streets to investigate and then, if necessary, the unit's sergeant (Guy Pearce) in an astronaut-style suit and a set of pliers.

With 38 days remaining on their tour, Bravo's new adrenalin-junkie boss James (Renner; a "redneck piece of trailer trash" according to his second-in-command) recklessly dispenses with all the formalities and immediately throws the unit's chances of survival into extreme jeopardy. Sanborn (Mackie) and Eldridge (Geraghty) must now find a way to deal with their leader's seeming indifference to death if they are themselves to survive. Their reactions vary wildly over the course of the film, and give Hurt Locker an effective emotional arc. James's character is more challenging for audiences, however. The film's opening frame tells us how the rush of battle can be a powerful and lethal addiction and he evidently personifies the warning, but his journey feels almost pre-destined and uneasy interludes with a young Iraqi boy do little to open him up.

Moving off the Baghdad streets, a desert interlude with a bulked-up Ralph Fiennes' band of British mercenaries half-way in is extremely effective but, as often seems to happen in The Hurt Locker, once it concludes the film flattens out and has to build up momentum again.

Technically, this is all you can ask from a war film, and Barry Ackroyd shoots low and intensely. A big relief is the lack of a powering, throbbing sound-track; Bigelow allows her characters make their own case without the score pumping it out for them.

Production company/int'l sales

Voltage Pictures

1-323-464 1062
Producers

Kathryn Bigelow

Mark Boal

Nicolas Chartier

Greg Shapiro

Tony Mark

Screenplay

Mark Boal

Cinematography

Barry Ackroyd

Editors

Bob Murawski

Chris Innis

Main cast

Jeremy Renner

Anthony Mackie

Brian Geraghty

Ralph Fiennes

David Morse

Guy Pearce

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Bigelow film gives Venice a jolt
'Hurt Locker' focuses on Iraq bomb squad
By NICK VIVARELLIMore Articles:
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VENICE — The Iraq war dominated the day at the Venice Film Festival, where the world preem of Kathryn Bigelow's high-adrenalin bomb squad actioner "The Hurt Locker" gave the Lido a jolt and proposed itself as the Iraq pic that might break through to American auds.
"We represent something that's very different from any other Iraq war film that we've seen so far," producer Greg Shapiro told Daily Variety.More than one option(Co) Daily Variety
Filmography, Year, Role
(Co) Daily Variety

Shapiro has high hopes of closing a U.S. distribution deal in Toronto for the you-are-there war drama, which follows an elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team operating in and around Baghdad.

Jeremy Renner ("28 Weeks Later"), Anthony Mackie ("Million Dollar Baby"), and Guy Pearce ("Factory Girl") star as the death-defying defusers, with Ralph Fiennes putting in a cameo as a mercenary.

The indie pic shot in Jordan, produced by Shapiro and Nicolas Chartier's Voltage Pictures, goes out in Italy via Warner Bros. October 10.

At the packed presser, Bigelow, who is the only woman helmer in the Lido's 21 title competition, called "Hurt Locker" "a very topical film about an underreported war."

But politics are really peripheral.

"My interest was to give this conflict a human face, and to enable the audience to actually experience what a soldier experiences, based on personal observation from the battlefield," she said.

Journo Marc Boal, who was embedded with an Iraq EOD team in 2004, and penned the screenplay based on that experience, called "Hurt Locker" "primarily observational, as opposed to polemical."

A psychological aspect of any war that is central to "Hurt Locker" is the drive that possesses volunteers to enlist in the army during a conflict.

"It's almost a dirty little secret of war that, as horrible as it is, there are some men who through the intensity of the experience come to find it alluring," said Boal.

Despite this pic's deeply different new tack, Shapiro acknowledged that the marketplace for Iraq war films is very tough.

Obvious examples of the lack of interest Iraq has sparked so far are Paul Haggis drama "In the Valley of Elah," and Brian de Palma's "Redacted," both of which preemed in Venice last year.

"But hopefully this film presents the war in a new and a fresh way that people haven't seen, so we're hoping that perhaps that will break the trend in America," Shapiro said.

Slotted just as Toronto opens, "Hurt Locker" provided further proof that Venice topper Marco Mueller has backloaded the fest, which during the first week really lacked films with firepower.

The Venice fest ends Saturday.

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The Hurt Locker
By DEREK ELLEY
'The Hurt Locker'

A Voltage Pictures presentation, in association with Grosvenor Park Media and FCEF, of a Voltage Pictures, First Light, Kingsgate Films production. (International sales: Voltage, Los Angeles.) Produced by Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro. Executive producer, Tony Mark. Co-producer, Donall McCusker. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Screenplay, Mark Boal.

Staff Sgt. William James - Jeremy Renner
Sgt. J.T. Sanborn - Anthony Mackie
Specialist Owen Eldridge - Brian Geraghty
Sgt. Matt Thompson - Guy Pearce
Contractor Team Leader - Ralph Fiennes
Col. Reed - David Morse
Connie James - Evangeline Lilly
Col. John Cambridge - Christian Camargo
"Beckham" - Christopher Sayegh
 War may be hell, but watching war movies can also be hell, especially when they don't get to the point. Often gripping at a straight thriller level, but increasingly weakened by its fuzzy (and hardly original) psychology, Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," centered on an elite U.S. bomb squad in Baghdad, doesn't bring anything new to the table of grunts-in-the-firing-line movies. Modest biz looks likeliest.
Though pic has yet to garner a U.S. distrib, its B.O. fortunes, especially Stateside, will depend to a large extent on its reception at Toronto, and on whether marketing the film more as a thriller will be enough to overcome auds' resistance to Iraq War movies. Internationally, Bigelow's cult rep could be a further plus on the back of good reviews.

The major problem with the script by journalist Mark Boal, who was embedded with a bomb squad in Baghdad four years ago, is that it's unclear where the drama in "Locker" really lies. It's emphatically not a "cut the red wire!" countdown thriller -- these guys get by on old-fashioned guts and instinct rather than sissy hardware -- but it's not a pure men-under-stress drama either.

In fact, Boal's script stirs a little of everything into the pot, which boils down into seven setpieces divided by brief intervals of camaraderie/conflict among the three protags. Three of the setpieces don't even involve defusing bombs, and are basically there to broaden the action and deepen the characters. But whether it's the adrenaline rush, a death wish, macho posturing or just "doin' a job" that drives these men is little clearer by the end than it is at the beginning.

After an opening quotation that "war is a drug," pic jumps straight into the action as an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team, led by iron-jawed Sgt. Matt Thompson (Guy Pearce), is called in to examine a suspicious pile of rubble. When the robotic hardware goes on the fritz, Thompson "suits up" in protective clothing and does the job by hand -- recklessly, as it proves.

Attention-grabbing opening reel -- with handheld, slightly grainy lensing, nervous cutting and one sound effect that will test any theater's woofers -- sets the tone, and much of the content, of the next two hours. When Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner) arrives to take Thompson's place as head of the three-man unit, it's clear he's even more of a cowboy than his predecessor.

Conflict between him and his deputy, by-the-book Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), comes to a head early on. Meanwhile, cornball Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), is taking voluntary counseling with a Bravo Company colonel, Cambridge (Christian Camargo).

Unlike many men-in-war movies, "Locker" concentrates on a small number of characters that are clearly identifiable from the start. Even in the setpieces involving considerable military backup, the dramatic focus is kept tight on the three protags. Especially in their first two assignments, this works very well, with James the guy on the ground while Sanborn rat-a-tats orders as he and Eldridge scan the surrounding buildings for snipers or trigger men.

It's when the movie starts to fan out at the 45-minute mark -- with a developing friendship between James and a jive-talkin' Arab kid, "Beckham" (Christopher Sayegh) -- that the script starts to show signs of artificially straining for character depth. As the end of Bravo Company's rotation approaches, James threatens to go off the rails in some highly manufactured (and not especially enlightening) ways. Flip-flop final reel is limp.

After a couple wobbly entries ("The Weight of Water," "K-19: The Widowmaker"), it's good to see Bigelow again flexing her gift for sheer physicality. Even when the men are mouthing commonplace dialogue or male-bonding cliches, there's a real feel for them on a flesh-and-blood level. Helmer's ability to create a sense of ever-present menace, seen in her early pictures, pumps up scenes in which the trio is silently "observed" by hostile/curious Arab bystanders.

Film steers clear of questioning the U.S. presence in Iraq and, with a couple brief exceptions, treats its entire Arab cast as either faceless cannon fodder or potential threats. This may sit uneasily with some viewers, even though it's clear early on that this is more a dramatic choice than a political one.

Renner is fine as James, especially in his freewheeling early scenes played off against his suspicious colleagues. It's basically Renner's film: Mackie and Geraghty are just OK, and other roles are bits. Ralph Fiennes pops up briefly as a Brit mercenary, and David Morse contributes a memorable thumbnail of a complete military psychopath.

As the 1949 bomb-squaddie classic "The Small Back Room" proved, antsy cutting and camerawork and gritty processing aren't necessarily de rigueur for building tension. Still, Barry Ackroyd's lensing, halfway between faux-docu and regular drama, is highly emotive, equally textured in sun and shade, catching the immensely realistic detail in pic's production and costume design. (Like Brian De Palma's "Redacted," the film was shot in Jordan.)

Editing of the mountain of footage captured by multiple Super 16 cameras is aces, kinetic but not aggravatingly so. Music is either bland or simply atmospheric.


Camera (color), Barry Ackroyd; editors, Bob Murawski, Chris Innis; music, Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders; music supervisor, John Bissell; production designer, Karl Juliusson; art director, David Bryan; costume designer, George Little; sound (Dolby Digital), Ray Beckett; sound designer, Paul N.J. Ottosson; stunt coordinator, Robert Young; special effects supervisor, Richard Stutsman; visual effects, Company 3; associate producers, Jack Schuster, Jenn Lee; assistant director, David Ticotin; second unit camera, Niels Reedtz Johansen; casting, Mark Bennett. Reviewed at Venice Film Festival (competing), Sept. 4, 2008. (Also in Toronto Film Festival -- Special Presentations.) Running time: 127 MIN.

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Film Review: The Hurt Locker
Bottom Line: War made exciting
By Deborah Young
Sep 4, 2008

Venue: Venice Film Festival, In Competition

The definitive film about the U.S. involvement in Iraq has yet to be made, and "The Hurt Locker" doesn't aspire to compete in the category. Tensely action-packed and muscularly directed by Kathryn Bigelow, this tale of an elite U.S. army bomb disposal unit in Baghdad is a familiar story in new clothes, targeted at the young male demographic. Its Iraq setting is downplayed as incidental, perhaps to avoid the commercial disappointment of the two Iraq-themed titles screened in Venice last year, "Redacted" and "In the Valley of Elah." "Locker's" refusal to take a moral stance on the war should widen its audience to the U.S. military, while lowering its chance for a a major festival prize.

Bigelow (Point Break, K-19: The Widowmaker) and screenwriter Mark Boal (who has story credit on "In the Valley of Elah") here toy with the idea of war as a drug whose adrenaline-inducing excitement is addictive. In a fast-paced opener, shot like newsreel footage, a three-man team loses their commander (Guy Pearce) when he tries to detonate a street bomb. Arriving to take his place is Sgt. Will James (Jeremy Renner), who immediately does something incredibly dangerous, demonstrating fearlessness bordering on a death wish.

His men Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are shocked by his reckless behavior. Sanborn is furious with him for not following the rules, and Eldridge is scared out of his wits. As they bounce around the gutted city in their Humvee, counting the days until their tour of duty is over, their missions become increasingly dangerous. On one, the foolhardy Sgt. James removes his protective suit to disarm a car rigged with explosives in front of the U.N. building. On another, he tries to help a frightened man remove explosives locked to his body before a timer blows him to kingdom come.
At one point, they stumble across a make-shift bomb factory and find the blood-soaked body of a young boy. His stomach is stuffed with explosives - he apparently died while being turned into a human bomb. James's emotional reaction to the sight readies us for a plot twist, but leads to nothing more than a picturesque solo excursion through nighttime Baghdad. Typically, his encounter with the locals is fleeting and inconclusive.

For a film purporting to be about soldiers' psychology, "The Hurt Locker" makes little in-depth analysis of its characters. An army psychologist (Christian Camargo) spouting priestly platitudes to poor terrified Eldridge gets short shrift from the manly script. As final credits roll, James's motivation is the same as when he first came on screen: he simply gets high on danger.

Renner, Mackie and Geraghty acquit themselves honestly in a film that offers them little character arc or chance to become likeable. David Morse cameos as a colonel who compliments James on his bravery, and Ralph Fiennes as a British bounty hunter. The indistinguishable Arab actors just stare at the Americans.

Convincingly lensed in Jordan by cinematographer Barry Ackroyd in a classic actor's point-of-view documentary mode, the action scenes are shot through with raw tension, in 140 fast minutes and the quiet bits edited out.

Production company: Voltage Pictures, First Light, Kingsgate Films. Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Evangeline Lilly, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Guy Pearce. Director: Kathryn Bigelow. Screenwriters: Mark Boal. Executive producers: Tony Mark. Producer: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro. Director of photography: Barry Ackroyd.  Production designer: Karl Juliusson. Music: Marco Beltrami. Costumes: George Little. Editor: Bob Murawski, Chris Innis. Sales Agent: Voltage Pictures, Los Angeles. 140 minutes.

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Reprizirao sam THEATER OF BLOOD Douglasa Hickoxa.

Ako uzmemo u obzir da sam ga prvi put gledao prilično intoksikovan za vreme studija jer nam je bilo zabavno da se šegačimo uz film o glumcu koji simulčra šekspirijanske scene kako bi ubijao kritičare koji su njega ubijali u svojim kritikama, utisak koji sam imao na prvo trezno gledanje je znatno drugačiji.

Nažaost THEATER OF BLOOD je možda i najslabiji Hickoxov film koji sam gledao. Moram reći da sam ja jedan od retkih ljudi, uz Aleksandra Radivojevića koji su genuine Hickoxovi fanovi, on je mahom doživljavan kao marginalni exploitation reditelj iz sedamdesetih, nije snimio puno filmova, oni mahom nemaju kultni status, i tek poneki dobija svoj revival, tipa BRANNIGAN koga hypuje Edgar Wright.

Meni je lično najdraži Hickoxov film SITTING TARGET koji je potpuno ispod radara i retko ko ga pominje. Međutim,, narečeni THEATER OF BLOOD se smatra kultnim Hicoxovim filmom zbog svog high concepta, zahtevne uloge Vincenta Pricea u kojoj on na neki način pravi metafilmski zahvat itd.

Ali, ako se izuzme zaista dobar koncept i Price u glavnoj ulozi koja nije onoliko dominanatna kao što bi se očekivalo, dobija se jedan monoton film oslonjen na ređanje set-pieceova ubistava koji su prilično mediokritetski i ne ispunjavaju ni petinu svog potencijala.

Potencijalni sukob između simpatičnog kritičara i glumca nije valjano izdiferenciran i izuzev toga što je simpatični kritičar mlađi čovek, nije do kraja jasno zašto zli glumac ima nešto popustljiviji odnos prema njemu.

Kad je reč o Hickoxovoj režiji, izuzev slidne scene mačevanja u kojoj je isuviše jasno da se dubleri nalaze pod zaštitnim maskama, sve ostale scene su mahom arhaično režirane, daleko od standarda koji je Hickox postizao u to vreme.

Stoga, THEATER OF BLOOD je zanimljiv koncept i deo istorije žanra, ali realno ne nudi ništa više od toga.

* * / * * * *

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Red army, silver screenTwo films about 70s terrorism will be released this autumn in Germany, marking another chapter in that country's examination of its troubled past
Gwladys Fouché guardian.co.uk, Wednesday September               03 2008 00       :07 BST
Article history

Not just a period piece ... Moritz Bleibtreu in Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

A historical tale of 1970s communists trying to turn West Germany into a workers' paradise doesn't exactly sound like a recipe for box office success, now, does it? Even if they do have guns and bombs. Yet not one, but two films on that very topic are about to hit screens in Germany.

First out, at the end of September, is The Baader Meinhof Complex, a high-paced thriller tracing the history of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a movement that is believed to have killed more than 30 public figures in an attempt to crush West German capitalism. Written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, the man who brought us the 2004 hit Downfall, The Baader Meinhof Complex is already the most eagerly anticipated movie of the year and could turn out to be Germany's next breakout international hit. It is also embroiled in controversy after journos were threatened with up to £80,000 in fines if they wrote about the movie before a date set by the film's backers.

The Baader Meinhof Complex will be followed later in the autumn by Long Shadows by Connie Walther. The feature follows the relationship between Widmer, a former RAF member released after 25 years in prison, and his next-door neighbour Valerie, whose father Widmer may have killed. That a real RAF member contributed to the screenplay adds extra authenticity. "It was important for me to depict both sides, perpetrators and victims," says Walther.

These films' examination of controversial - and relatively recent - local political events is significant. For much of the second half of the 20th century, Germany's foremost directors, among them Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders, shied away from local historical and political events, focusing instead on intimate, personal stories. Lately, though, German film-makers have begun to take a closer look at their country's past.

We've already been taken to Hitler's bunkers with Downfall and followed the doomed attempts at resistance against the Nazis from within Germany in Sophie Scholl: the Final Days. Meanwhile, Good Bye Lenin! gave us a comic glimpse of life under the GDR, while The Lives of Others detailed the sinister work of the Stasi secret police.

These features have not only been hits at home - daring to broach what were once taboo topics with subtlety and compassion - but have proved popular with foreign audiences, tapping into historical moments non-Germans are familiar with.

And now it's terrorism's turn. Producers are hoping to repeat their worldwide success with The Baader Meinhof Complex. "I've already sold the rights for [the film] throughout the world, which is remarkable," Eichinger told Variety last year - a sign that non-German distributors have faith in the movie's commercial potential.

The infamy of the Red Army Faction is one reason. Another is that it resonates deeply with international audiences. As Eichinger points out, "there were terror attacks in countries like France, Italy and the UK around the same period. Obviously it's something all these countries can relate to in their past." And of course, terrorism is far from a dated historical subject. "We are living in times of terror right now", Eichinger says.

The German history lesson does not end here, either. After the terrorist wave hits British cinemas in November, we will again meet that villain of villains, Adolf Hitler. Despite its title, Mein Kampf is not an adaptation of Hitler's autobiography, but the screen version of a stage play fictionalising the Führer's youth in Vienna.

It's a welcome change for foreign audiences to see German history portrayed by the Germans themselves, rather than over-the-top Hollywood productions, which even today are too often caricatured portraits of goose-stepping baddies.

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Pogledao sam TIME AFTER TIME Nicholasa Meyera, courtesy of Kunac.

Ovaj film iz 1979. o H.G. Wellsu koji juri Jack the Rippera po savremenom (doduše tada savremenom San Francisku) može se smatrati pretečom velikih time ravel blockbustera osamdesetih kao što su TERMINATOR i BACK TO THE FUTURE.

Međutim oba navedena naslova su neuporedivo superiornija i jedino što daje eventualni kvalitet ovom predugom, sporom i sporadično nejasnom filmu jeste izvesna arhaiziranost pripovedanja pošto sve gledamo iz vizure H.G. Wellsa pa Meyer povremeno uspeva da stvori utisak kako gledamo neku avanturu iz viktorijanskog perioda.

Iz ovog filma se sada svakako mogu čitati razni potencijalni uticaji koje ćemo kasnije sretati, međutim, zaista ne mogu biti toliko siguran da je iz jedno zaista poluuspelog filma toliko sjajnih stvari moglo biti derivirano. Pa ipak, recimo koncepcija za LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN je svakako mogla biti inspirisana ovim romanom/filmom.

Ono što se eventualno, ako ne na nivou gledalačkog uživaja a ono barem na nivou pokušaja mora poštovati, to je Meyerov uporni pokušaj da celoj priči da izvesni društvenokritički kontekst koji je je verovatno i u ono vreme delovao potpuno besmisleno ali sigurno je dodavao odeđeni kredibilitet filmu.

Što se podele tiče, David Warner je moj stari favorit, mada sam očekivao da će biti zabavniji kao Jack the Ripper. Inače, u Meyerovoj postavci dok se Wells slabo snalazi u svetu budućnoti i nailazi na razne teškoće, Ripper izgleda kao da mu sve ide od ruke, i to malo deluje fake. Štaviše bilo bi zanimljivo da nam je Meyer pružio glimpse toga kako se serijski ubica starog kova snalazi u San Francisku.

Isto tako, očekivao sam da će Ripperova ubistva biti povezanija sa Zodiacom, ali na kraju ta veza se povezala samo na jedno pominjanje.

* * / * * * *

[Meho Krljic]

Da, sećam se tog filma od pre jedno dvadeset godina i zaista nije bio naročito dobar mada ga je tema dosta vadila u mojim očima.. Inače, to da se naš junak slabo snalazi u promenjenim okolnostima a da se lupež u njima snalazi dobro je, čini mi se jedno opšte mesto. Evo, na pamet mi pada Demolition man, pa onda onaj film sa Denzelom i Raselom Krouom gde Krou ispadne iz virtualne realnosti i krene da pravi ršum po gradu...

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Slažem se da je opšte mesto, ali za razliku od mnogih opštih mesta koja su zapravo vrlo dobra pa su tako i postala opšta, ovo nije.

[Meho Krljic]

Pa, ja ga nekako doživljavam kao neraskidiv element ovakvih filmova. Time se negativcu pripisuje određena dimenzija onostranog što ide uz sugestiju da njegovo zlo nije nego ljudsko zlo nego da je delić iskonskog zla itd....

Nego, kako si se proveo na Dajnosarima? Nama na Najlu bilo lepo.

[crippled_avenger]

Ako izuzmemo to što me je u nekoj vrsti male bondinga Cane iz Brejkera od milja munuo u grudni koš i izbio mi vazduh, od čega se još uvek oporavljam (kapiram da je navikao da su mu druagri momci čvrtog kova), bilo je odlično. Tašmajdan se ruši, na svu sreću išao sam sa kumom pa mi je ona dala ruku u kritičnim fazama.

Dinosauri su bili sjajni. Iako laže onaj ko kaže da je uspeo da razlikuje prve tri pesme, posle je sve došlo na svoje. Prašili su kao mladići.

Ne mogu da kažem da su kao Metallica uspeli da naplate za sve godine obožavanja, ali su bili blizu toga. Znam da je apsurdno porediti koncert Dinosaura i Metallice ali pošto su to bendovi koje podjednako volim, onda moram i da uporedim. Dinasauri su svirali festivalski set od poštenih sat i po. Metallica je ipak imala full blooded koncert. Mnoge moje omiljene pesme time nisu obuhvatili ali ovo što su svirali je bilo sjajno, naloženo i jako daleko od staračke tezge. Barlow se primao kao tinejdžer a Murph je zakivao.

Tako da, super sam se proveo.

Pošto je tu Meho, znam da očekuje od mene cepidlačenje, pa će ga i dobiti. Ono što bi ovom nastupu Dinosaura moglo oduzeti legitimitet je upravo ono što je Mascisovim postavama Dinosaura oduzimalo. Naime, iako je sinoć svirala kanonska postava benda, treba imati u vidu da su oni maltene u toj postavi kraće svirali nego u drugim postavama. U tom smislu meni je, na nekom istorijskom, metafizičkom nivou, ova postava delovala nekako muzejski, nisu odavali utisak benda koji je aktivan već je imalo taj reunion vibe.

Ali, kako rekoh, ipak sam se super proveo.

[DušMan]

Ako izuzmemo to što me je u nekoj vrsti male bondinga Cane iz Brejkera od milja munuo u grudni koš i izbio mi vazduh, od čega se još uvek oporavljam (kapiram da je navikao da su mu druagri momci čvrtog kova), bilo je odlično.

Muke VIP osoba u Srbiji.

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The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow (USA)



Bigelow's latest is mostly a series of set pieces. But what set pieces! Always a master kineticist, Bigelow outdoes herself in this 130-minute epic centred on a company of U.S. grunts charged with defusing one improvised explosive device after another in and around pre-surge Baghdad. The company has only 38 days left in its tour of duty when a swaggering Jeremy Renner joins the unit as its hot-shot bomb-disposal technician. Are his smarts and adrenalin-addiction going to keep them safe — or get them all killed? Bigelow and cinematographer Barry Ackroyd crank up the tension to nail-biting, gut-churning extremes and the mayhem is powerfully visceral. Some may chafe at the film's lack of context, but haven't 5 1/2 years of war given us all the context we need? J.A.

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The Hurt Locker
Dir Kathryn Bigelow w/ Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie. 130 min. Special Presentations.
Favourite   Add to your favorite  Recommend: 0    BY Jason Anderson   September 02, 2008 20:09

Editorial Rating: Largely off her game since her flop with 1995's Strange Days, Bigelow proves her mettle as one of action cinema's true virtuosos with this politically provocative and visually arresting thriller about a Baghdad bomb disposal unit that's imperiled by its risk-addicted, hotheaded leader. Whether the character is meant as a critique or an endorsement of the American warrior code — smart money says both — James (Renner in a riveting performance) is a worthy addition to the gallery of conflicted, macho dick-swingers who populate Bigelow's best films. The Hurt Locker's expertly paced and realized action sequences are just as ballsy.

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The Hurt Locker
Director(s): Kathryn Bigelow
Country: USA
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie
Program: SP
Rating: NNNN

« ...Return to TIFF review listings

Review
by BH
Bigelow, finally out of movie jail after 02's abysmal K19: The Widowmaker, returns to the kind of muscular filmmaking that earned her a hardcore cult following after Near Dark and Point Break.

The Hurt Locker follows an army bomb disposal unit trying not to get blown to bits in Iraq. While bigger names line the marquee (Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse), it's Renner's cowboy C.O., Mackie's tightly wound realist and Brian Geraghty's conflicted grunt who own the film start to finish.

And Bigelow proves she can handle the pyrotechnics. If bombs aren't going off, then characters are, resulting in some truly tense moments. If you're expecting a rah-rah G.I. Joe action movie, forget it. There's a lot more ticking inside The Hurt Locker than the roadside IEDs waiting to detonate.

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True Blood
(Series -- HBO, Sun., Sept. 7, 9 P.M.)
By BRIAN LOWRY
Stephen Moyer stars as a vampire and Anna Paquin as his g.f. in Alan Ball's creation 'True Blood,' which bows Sunday on HBO.

More than one option(Person) Alan Ball
Filmed in Los Angeles and Louisiana by HBO. Executive producer, Alan Ball; co-executive producer, Brian Buckner; supervising producer, Nancy Oliver; producers, Alexander Woo, Carol Dunn Trussell; co-producer, Raelle Tucker; writer-director, Ball; based on the novels by Charlaine Harris;

Sookie Stackhouse - Anna Paquin
Bill Compton - Stephen Moyer
Jason Stackhouse - Ryan Kwanten
Tara Thornton - Rutina Wesley
Sam Merlotte - Sam Trammell
Lafayette Reynolds - Nelsan Ellis
Andy Bellefleur - Chris Bauer
Hoyt Fortenberry - Jim Parrack
Arlene Fowler - Carrie Preston
Rene Lenier - Michael Raymond James
Bud Dearborne - William Sanderson
Eric - Alexander Skarsgard
Adele - Lois Smith
 Creator Alan Ball insists, not entirely convincingly, that the vampirism in "True Blood" isn't just a sociopolitical metaphor for homosexuality. Nevertheless, if the popularity of "Twilight" and the Sookie Stackhouse books that inspired this series are any indication, women clearly embrace the romance of guys who suck for more exotic-than-usual reasons, creating otherworldly impediments to true love. So while the show is a trifle hokey, its soapy elements, gothic atmosphere and cliffhanger endings -- coupled with Anna Paquin's knockout performance -- do reel viewers in, laying the groundwork for what may be the cultish, undemanding romp HBO needs to inject much-needed life into its lineup.
Ever since "Dark Shadows," people have sought to perfect the vampire soap, although even a "Shadows" revival failed to find the proper vein. And while Ball -- of "Six Feet Under" renown -- might seem an unlikely choice to go from chronicling the dead to the undead, he wisely approaches the material with few pretensions.

In the world of novelist Charlaine Harris, vampires have been living invisibly among humans for ages but only felt comfortable emerging from the shadows -- essentially, coming out of the coffin -- after the Japanese invented synthetic blood (or Tru Blood, packaged in cute containers that look like beer bottles). Still, there's considerable unease about having bloodsuckers roaming around freely, with humans resisting the push for "vampire rights."

Having participated in the X-Men movies -- which set up mutants as another discriminated-against minority -- Paquin is a marketable choice for a genre audience but brings much more than that to the role of Sookie, a Louisiana waitress whose psychic ability has caused her to shun romance.

So to her surprise, when a hunky vampire, Bill (Stephen Moyer of "The Starter Wife"), moves into the bayou town of Bon Temps -- taking advantage of vampires' recent decision to go public and enter the mainstream -- she's instantly drawn to him, as he is to her: Uncomfortable with knowing the inner-most feelings of those around her, she's blissfully unable to hear Bill's thoughts. Similarly, he senses immediately that Sookie is "something more than human."

Prejudice, however, dies hard, and Sookie's attachment to Bill alarms those closest to her --including her boss Sam (Sam Trammell), man-whore brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten) and fast-talking best friend Tara (Rutina Wesley). Nor are Bill's vamp buddies exactly warm and cuddly.

The supporting players aren't nearly as interesting initially as the intense bond between Sookie and Bill, though they do keep the first few installments busy, including some nicely gratuitous sex, adventures in the Viagra-like effects of vampire blood and a tepid murder mystery. Only Sookie's grandma (Lois Smith) fully accepts Bill, in part because she yearns to enlist the 173-year-old vampire to address her Civil War group. Yet whatever the distractions, Bill and Sookie's relationship -- and the difficulties it poses -- remains "Blood's" beating heart.

Based on the way women in particular have glommed onto the bodice-caressing aspects of such fare (consider the torch a dedicated few are still carrying for CBS' "Moonlight"), HBO figures to have a cult hit on its hands at the very least -- with Moyer representing the kind of brooding figure many would covet, dead or undead. Special effects are sparing but effective, which should boost male appeal, as will Paquin, who manages to be sexy, vulnerable and mysterious all at once.

How deeply the series resonates beyond that will hinge on how the plot advances and weaves in the secondary characters. Either way, the concept seems like a smart against-the-grain move for HBO, which has already done a phenomenal job marketing it.

If nothing else, nobody will confuse Bill from Bon Temps with "John From Cincinnati." The only question now is whether "True Blood" barely breaks the skin or can tap into a whole new artery.

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Pogledao sam TWILIGHT Roberta Bentona. Taj film sam želeo da gledam još u vreme izlaska 1998. godine, ali mi je nekako stalno izmicao. Nadao sam se da će taj film biti neka vrsta zaključenja filmova o Lew Harperu, ali glavni junak nije Lew i TWILIGHT nije na toj liniji.

Pošto Harpera gledamo iz vizure Newmanovog opusa, ovaj film je više na liniji NOBODY'S FOOL, uostalom pisali su ga Russo i Benton, a u Bentonovom opusu je blizak naslovu THE LATE SHOW.

Međutim, LATE SHOW je bolji pošto u njemu mlad i vitalan Benton tumači starost, dok u TWILIGHTu umoran Benton tumači starost i pokušava da je učini lažno vitalnom, kao što ju je mladi Benton u LATE SHOW tretirao gotovo tugaljivom. Međutim, LATE SHOW je uspevao da iskomunicira snažniju emociju, a TWILIGHT s druge strane, ne ne nudi previše zrelosti i ostaje banalan u većini ključnih situacija.

Naravno, nesumnjivo je da Benton i Russo nude par tačaka koje su zanimljive i relevantne, ali one su suviše retke u ovoj hardboiled misteriji koja je suviše rutinska u svom žanrovskom okrilju, previše naivna u kontekstu savremenog filma, i suviše lišena kontemplativostio da bi nadomestila te nedostatke.

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Pogledao sam DANTE 01 Marca Caroa, courtesy of Ginger.

Iako nisam neki preveliki fan Jeuneta i Caroa, moram priznati da sam užasnut ovim filmom. Nisam očekivao ništa od Caroa, ali ipak me je iznenadilo što je pokušao da u svemirskim uslovima ponovi svoju kič estetiku širokougaonih objektiva i hiperdizajna, a da kao novitet uvede naivnu i slabu psihologizaciju baziranu na mešavini duševnih bolesti, izolacije u svemiru i antiutopijske budućnosti.

Ne samo da DANTE 01 nije previše originalan film već bih rekao da od svih klaska od kojih pozajmljuje, uzima najgore delove uključujući i kraj koji liči na ozloglašeni Kubrickov kraj 2001.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32ghzwGK51E

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Pogledao sam ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER Kevina Macdonalda, sa kojim je osvojio oskara za dokumentarni film.

Reč je o izvanrednom dokumentarnom filmu o palestinskom napadu na izraelske sportiste u Minhenu 1972. godine. Macdonald se u svom filmu isključivo fokusira na događaje koji su se zbivali u Olimpijskom selu, i sve zakulisne radnje koje su se događale oko otmice, gledano iz vizure porodica sportista, nemačkih zvaničnika koji su imali jednu agendu i izraelskih koji su imali sasvim drugu, ali i iz vizure jednog od Palestinaca otmičara koji je do snimanja filma uspeo da preživi sve pokušaje Izraelaca da ga našu i ubiju.

Uz BBCjev BAYONET koji se bavi izraelskom odmazdom, ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER čini odličan dokumentarni uvod u gledanje igranog double billa SWORD OF VENGEANCE i MUNICH.

Neki kritičari su zamerali Macdonaldu što je određene tragične trenutke a naročito snimke leševa prikazao kao montažnu sekvencu urađenu na pesmu Deep Purple. Primetio sam to rešenje ali ga zaista nisam našao ni neukusnim, ni banalnim, već sasvim funkcionalnim pošto muzika jako dobro uspeva da evocira period u kome se sve ovo dešavalo.

I uopšte, Macdonald odlično bira dokumentarni materijal sa kojim barata tako da je u filmu ostvario briljantnu rekonstrukciju perioda u svakom smislu, i zato ne čudi što je kasnije vrlo lako prešao u svet igranog filma gde podjednako uspešno stvara fikcionalne svetove i sveukupnost njihove atmosfere što je na primer uspeo u LAST KING OF SCOTLAND koga karakteriše odlična rekonstrukcija atmosfere.

ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER je odličan, kaloričan dokumentarac koji u svojim najboljim delovima, po Godardovoj paradigmi uspeva da funkcioniše kao igrani film.

* * * * / * * * *

[raindelay]

Pih, bolje da si pogledao:
od dokumentarnih

"Munich: Mossad's Revenge (2006) (TV)"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0778788/

a od igranih nenadmashni:

"Sword of Gideon (1986) (TV)"( bio 100x na tv-u)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092038/
ps: jedino ako "SWORD OF VENGEANCE" nije isti film sa drugim nazivom.

[crippled_avenger]

Isti film, nego sam pomešao naslov filma sa naslovom Jonasove knjige o Avneru.   Mislim da još uvek negde imam Vidcomov original.

Što se MUNICH: MOSSAD'S REVENGE tiče, šta ja znam, BAYONET mi je bio relevantniji zbog toga što se u njemu pojavljuje čovek za koga sumnjam da je Mike Harrari (sudeći po događajima u kojima je učestvovao), ali oba su sasvim solidna, i oba su u formatu od 48 minuta, klasičan televizijski sat.

ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER je 90 minuta, plus ima prvu izjavu čoveka koji je bio otmičar na licu mesta dok su u ova dva dokumentarca bili neki half-cocked Palestinci.

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Fest Bet: The Iraq war, brought down to the pavement
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TIFF coverage Gallery: The stars come out Dispatches from the festival Share your TIFF photos TIFF reviews in brief TIFF's must see films Stars expected to be at TIFF Need tickets? TIFF map The TIFF index Aug 31, 2008 04:30 AM
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Peter Howell
Movie Critic



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hurt Locker
Starring Guy Pearce, Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Just when you think the battle of Iraq war dramas has been fought and lost, along comes one that demands to be seen – if you can handle the raging adrenaline.

Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker strips the Iraqi conflict of politics and brings it right down to the garbage-strewn pavement, where lives are saved through skill and nerve but lost through bad luck and malevolence.

The film follows the men of Bravo Company, the elite U.S. army unit tasked with defusing bombs left on Baghdad streets by increasingly violent and determined insurgents.

The bomb-removal boys have robots and shrapnel-resistant suits at their disposal, but they can't stop every blast – as we see with devastating impact early on.

The job ultimately comes down to playing hunches, keeping your cool and staying ever vigilant. If the IED (improvised explosive device) doesn't get you, the sniper hiding on a nearby rooftop just might. If not on this street, then the next one.

Gutsy and gung-ho but new to Bravo is a sergeant named James (Jeremy Renner, in a breakout role), a reckless cowboy who has disarmed 873 bombs but is one short fuse away from being blown to kingdom come. He reminds himself of this with a collection of detonators he keeps under his bed.

His subordinates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are shocked by his methods and not shy about saying so, but are loyal to task and team.

Testosterone flows non-stop and so does blood, but these macho men are just getting the job done. In so doing, they reveal much about themselves and also deliver some home truths about the Iraqi quagmire. This is no message movie, yet insights abound.

Bigelow knows the male mind and she's an ace at action, as she's demonstrated before in films like Point Break and Strange Days. Now she can add titan of suspense to her laurels.

If you can sit through The Hurt Locker without your heart nearly pounding through your chest, you must be made of granite.

[raindelay]

Sorry, nije namerno naravno, nego gledam na imdb-u pod "SWORD OF VENGEANCE" stoje sve neki azijati pa rekoh sta je sad ovo.  

PS: ovaj "Munich: Mossad's Revenge (2006) (TV)" imas online na
http://www.bodocus.com/.....(Geo)Politics....Middle Eastern Issues...Israel

ups...Ne videh odgovor

[crippled_avenger]

The Hurt Locker: A Near-Perfect War Film
Thursday, Sep. 04, 2008 By RICHARD CORLISS / VENICE  Article ToolsPrintEmailReprintsSphereAddThis RSSYahoo! Buzz The U.S. Army bomb disposal unit has three men: an intelligence officer, the specialist who covers the scene with his rifle and the staff sergeant who walks up to the device and tries to turn it off. Today there's a report of one on a Baghdad street. Mission simple to define — "Let them know that if they're gonna leave a bomb on the side of the road," the staff sergeant says, "we're gonna blow up their f---in' road" — but way harder to accomplish. As he walks toward the contaminated area wearing a heavily insulated space suit on a 130-degree day, he catches the corner-eyesight of a man about to use a cell phone. The spaceman turns and runs. Too late: BOOM! The bomb detonates and so does he. Blood seeps down his helmet visor like red rain on the wrong side of a car windshield.

This is the first scene of The Hurt Locker, which has its world premiere here at the Venice Film Festival before playing Sunday at the Toronto fest. No U.S. opening or distributor has been secured, but that should change once festival people strap themselves in for this dynamite drive through the Iraq occupation. (Make that war.) Except for a few digressive scenes — a solo sortie of personal vengeance, a conversation about what it all means — that could easily be cut from the 2 hr. 11 min. running time, The Hurt Locker is a near-perfect movie about men in war, men at work. Through sturdy imagery and violent action, it says that even Hell needs heroes.

The director, Kathryn Bigelow, has paraded her adroitness with complex stories about oddball characters in two curious subgenres: Near Dark (1987) was the all-time teenage vampire love story, Point Break (1991) the all-time surfer-heist movie. The scriptwriter, Marc Boal, is a journalist for Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and Playboy, which ran a story that Paul Haggis expanded into the sharpest of last year's Iraq-related dramas, In the Valley of Elah. These two filmmakers have pooled their complementary talents to make one of the rare war movies that's strong but not shrill, and sympathetic to guys doing an impossible job.

With the death of their boss, and 38 days left in their rotation, the two survivors — Sgt. J.T. "Bomber Mike" Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) get a new guy, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), who lacks the dead man's leadership skills or his bluff camaraderie. James doesn't say much, just does his own thing, which is to keep little pieces of Baghdad from blowing up.

On his first mission, James releases a cloud of smoke, protecting him from sharpshooters but obliterating his comrades' view of him. (There's another company ready to cover him closer to the action.) A taxi has just edged toward the suspected device; he tells the driver to back out of the area. No movement. James walks closer, repeats the order; stillness. He puts his gun against the man's head: "Wanna back up?" The car slides into reverse. "Well, if he wasn't an insurgent," somebody says, "he sure is now." Finding a string nearly buried in the street dirt, James finds it attached to seven bombs and matter-of-factly snaps the wire for each. OK, that's done. Piece of cake, seven slices.

It's a creepy marvel to watch James in action. He has the cool aplomb, analytical acumen and attention to detail of a great athlete, or a master psychopath, maybe both. A quote from former New York Times Iraq expert Christopher Hedges that opens the film says, "War is a drug." Movies often editorialize on this theme: the man who's a misfit back home but an efficient, imaginative killing machine on the battlefield. Bigelow and Boal aren't after that. They're saying that, in a hellish peace-keeping operation like the U.S. deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan (James' previous assignment), the Army needs guys like James.

Some people have the luck or curse to do what they're supremely good at; and the exercise of that skill gives pleasure, even if the job carries the imminent risk of death. The talent that another man might have for making bombs, James has for finding and silencing them. It's not just his job, it's his vocation. Whether he's stripping a car piece by piece or cutting open a boy's stomach to pull out an IED, James has the instincts, let's say the genius, to do it. "Mission accomplished" is not a Presidential PR phrase, it's a definition of this man at work. It'd be a crime not to apply his expertise to saving lives. James is also in it for the fun. We learn that he has a wife and a baby back home, but Baghdad is where he feels most alive — performing a task that could end his life. If defusing bombs isn't a drug for James, it's a stimulant, pure caffeine, his headiest, most essential adrenaline.

A genius makes his own rules; a soldier isn't supposed to. Before examining the suspect car, James doffs his space suit; at this close range it won't offer much protection. ("If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna be comfortable.") More recklessly, he tosses his headset on the ground, so he doesn't have to hear Sanborn's pleas to get the hell out of there. Groups of men have gathered at storefronts, on the balconies and roofs of apartment houses, and James' lone-gunman bravado could jeopardize the mission. But a genius has to stay focused. There's got to be a bomb in here somewhere; ah, under the hood. Though his mates aren't crazy about his methods — Sanborn sucker-punches James in the jaw after this little escapade — they'll come to appreciate him. "Not very good with people, are you," Eldridge tells James, "but you're a good warrior."

The heart of the film is a half dozen sequences, most of them on bomb-squad detail, one long, terrific one showing the unit holed up with some Brit mercenaries (led by Ralph Fiennes, the star of Bigelow's 1995 futuristic movie Strange Days) fighting off fire from al-Qaeda-in-Iraq types out in the desert. Boal and Bigelow know that there's enough tension in the act of walking up to a bomb and trying to defuse it; they don't have to amp up the suspense with theatrics.

The appearances by some familiar faces — Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse — are all too brief. But the three leads don't make you long for star power. They're fine: Mackie as the veteran who plays by the book, Geraghty as the subordinate with jumpy nerves, and especially Renner. He's had supporting roles in North Country, 28 Days Later and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but this is his big chance, and he seizes it. He's ordinary, pudgy-faced, quiet, and at first seems to lack the screen charisma to carry a film. That supposition vanishes in a few minutes, as Renner slowly reveals the strength, confidence and unpredictability of a young Russell Crowe. The merging of actor and character is one of the big things to love about this movie. The other is that its tone, of steely calm, takes its cue from the character it so acutely observes. It's as if James was not only the subject of the movie — he made it.

Later I may think of a better depiction of the helplessness and heroism attending the U.S. presence in the war on terrorism, but for now I'll say this one's the tops.

Some people have the luck or curse to do what they're supremely good at; and the exercise of that skill gives pleasure, even if the job carries the imminent risk of death. The talent that another man might have for making bombs, James has for finding and silencing them. It's not just his job, it's his vocation. Whether he's stripping a car piece by piece or cutting open a boy's stomach to pull out an IED, James has the instincts, let's say the genius, to do it. "Mission accomplished" is not a Presidential PR phrase, it's a definition of this man at work. It'd be a crime not to apply his expertise to saving lives. James is also in it for the fun. We learn that he has a wife and a baby back home, but Baghdad is where he feels most alive — performing a task that could end his life. If defusing bombs isn't a drug for James, it's a stimulant, pure caffeine, his headiest, most essential adrenaline.

A genius makes his own rules; a soldier isn't supposed to. Before examining the suspect car, James doffs his space suit; at this close range it won't offer much protection. ("If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna be comfortable.") More recklessly, he tosses his headset on the ground, so he doesn't have to hear Sanborn's pleas to get the hell out of there. Groups of men have gathered at storefronts, on the balconies and roofs of apartment houses, and James' lone-gunman bravado could jeopardize the mission. But a genius has to stay focused. There's got to be a bomb in here somewhere; ah, under the hood. Though his mates aren't crazy about his methods — Sanborn sucker-punches James in the jaw after this little escapade — they'll come to appreciate him. "Not very good with people, are you," Eldridge tells James, "but you're a good warrior."

The heart of the film is a half dozen sequences, most of them on bomb-squad detail, one long, terrific one showing the unit holed up with some Brit mercenaries (led by Ralph Fiennes, the star of Bigelow's 1995 futuristic movie Strange Days) fighting off fire from al-Qaeda-in-Iraq types out in the desert. Boal and Bigelow know that there's enough tension in the act of walking up to a bomb and trying to defuse it; they don't have to amp up the suspense with theatrics.

The appearances by some familiar faces — Fiennes, Guy Pearce, David Morse — are all too brief. But the three leads don't make you long for star power. They're fine: Mackie as the veteran who plays by the book, Geraghty as the subordinate with jumpy nerves, and especially Renner. He's had supporting roles in North Country, 28 Days Later and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, but this is his big chance, and he seizes it. He's ordinary, pudgy-faced, quiet, and at first seems to lack the screen charisma to carry a film. That supposition vanishes in a few minutes, as Renner slowly reveals the strength, confidence and unpredictability of a young Russell Crowe. The merging of actor and character is one of the big things to love about this movie. The other is that its tone, of steely calm, takes its cue from the character it so acutely observes. It's as if James was not only the subject of the movie — he made it.

Later I may think of a better depiction of the helplessness and heroism attending the U.S. presence in the war on terrorism, but for now I'll say this one's the tops.

[crippled_avenger]

Hvala u svakom slučaju za link. Ima stvari koje nisam gledao a deluju zanimljivo.

[crippled_avenger]

Na ovom sajtu koji je preporučio raindelay može da se vidi, ko ima strpljenja da streamuje, odlična BBCjeva mini-serija THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES. Ja je imam na DiVXu, ne znam kako izgleda kad se streamuje ali koga zanima može da je pogleda.

[crippled_avenger]

Posle deset godina sam pogledao THE INFILTRATOR John Mackenziea.

Nije toliko dobar kao prvi put kad sam gledao. I tada mi je delovao prilično naivno, sada mi deluje podjednako naivno s tim što zaplet sa nacistima koji očanički traže finansijera iz Amerike deluje razumljivije, tako da mi njihovo odavanje tajni u zamenu za kontakt sa bogatim nacistom deluje uverljivije, znajući srpski NGO sektor.

Ako imamo na umu da je film baziran na knjizi Yarona Svoraya, sagitašima poznatog pre svega po svojim nalazima o snuffu koji su često citirani u vreme promotivne kampanje za 8MM, pitanje istinitosti cele priče postaje dubiozno, pošto Svoray ima imidž oportunog tabloidnog novinara. Ipak, centar za istraživanje Holokausta Simon Wiesenthal se pominje u filmu tako da valjda nije sve izmišljotina.

U svakom slučaju, ova tema je na HBO tretirana prerano. Imajući u vidu sadašnji nivo ove produkcije siguran sam da bismo dobili klasik. Ovako, meni inače ekstremno drag reditelj Mackenzie uporno pokušava da Yaronovu priču smesti u okvire pitkog trilera sa jasno defiisanim pozitivcima i negativcima. Pošto je ograničen istinitom pričom, Mackenzie ne uspeva da napravi istinski uzbudljiv triler, a s druge strane formula pitog trilera čini da se izgubi utisak istinite priče.

Ipak, uprkos svemu INFILTRATOR je gledljiv TV film, i vrhunski prioizvod u kontekstu vremena u kome su zahtevi bili manji.

[crippled_avenger]

Žika, Kunac i ja smo komisijski pogledali KRVOPIJCE Dejana Šorka. Ovaj danas već zaboravljeni naslov nije izgubio previše na relevantnosti, naročito ako uzmemo u obzir da u vreme svopg izlaska nažalost nije bio previše relevantan.

KRVOPIJCI su na liniji šijanovskog, i kovačevićevsko-pajkićevskog tretmana horor žanra i porodičnih odnosa, i mislim da je prilično jasno da je Šorak pre svega pokušao da se vodi šijanovskim putem u reinterprtaciji žanra, mešajući high gothic motive sa hipertrofiranom pseudo-aristokratskom crtom i sukob urbanog-ruralnog i aristokratskog-malograđanskog u savremenom okruženju.

Porodični odnosi među Šorkovim junacima su na liniji MARATONACA i BALKANSKOG ŠPIJUNA, dakle kovačevićevski, a žanrovski detalji su na tragu DAVITELJA dakle pajkićevski. Ipak, kada se koristimo ovim definicijama treba imati na umu da porodični odnosi nisu toliko radikalni i bizarni kao kod Kovačevića a da odnos prema žanru nije toliko pun referenci kao kod Pajkića.

Ono što je sprečilo Šorkov film da bude totalni crowd pleaser ili barem cult klasik kao Šijanov rad jeste prilična uzdržanost njegove glumačke podele koja celu osu stvar igra vrlo ozbiljno. što je odlično, ali je problem u tome što je kadriranje arhaično, gotovo naivno i mnogo bliže upravo nekoj vrsti komedije bazirane na glumcima. A glumci su suviše uzdržani da bi tu komediju isporučili.

Drugi problem je svakako sama struktura priče. Iako film nije dosadan, čini se da glavbi zaplet filma počne prekasno u odnosu na minutažu, tako da zanimljivi detalji ostaju nerazvjeni, uključujući i sam kraj koji je bio pripreman da bude velika poenta a na kraju od toga nije bilo ništa.

Ipak, KRVOPIJCI, naročito izmešteni iz konteksta trenutka u kome su izašli i tretirani kao retro, deluju kao vrlo zanimljivo gledalačko iskustvo. Film donosi barem dva zaista ingeniozna scenaristička rešenja na nivou pojedinačnih scena koji daju naročit dah svežine filmu i dostojni su američke produkcije.

Isto tako taj retro šmek mu daje i izvesni goofiness u kome smo sinoć, uz odličnu lojaničku rakiju zaista uživali.

* * 1/2 / * * * *

[crippled_avenger]

TORONTO -- Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" sparked keen interest at the Toronto Film Fest on Tuesday, but whether anyone is brave enough to release an Iraq war pic after several pics of that genre were box office bombs remains to be seen.
"Hurt Locker" is different from recent war film titles like "Lions for Lambs" or "In the Valley of Elah" in that it doesn't make sweeping political statements, but is much more of an action-thriller.

Film first screened Monday night at the Ryerson Theater. Several distribs were interested in picking up North American distribution rights as of Tuesday afternoon, including Summit Entertainment.

One deal point filmmakers want is a wide release, which means putting up major marketing coin.

This year's Toronto Film Fest has been notably slow in terms of acquisitions, in line with other recent fests and markets. There's been only one major buy so far at Toronto, Fox Searchlight's pickup of Darren Aronofsky's Mickey Rourke starrer "The Wrestler" (Daily Variety, Sept. 9).More than one option(Co) Daily Variety
(Co) Daily Variety

"Hurt Locker" focuses on a U.S. military bomb squad stationed in Baghdad that faces life-or-death situations on a daily basis. Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes star in the film, which is loosely based on the experiences of journalist Mark Boal, who was embedded for Playboy magazine with a bomb unit in Baghdad.

Boal worked with Paul Haggis on "In the Valley of Elah" but says that "Hurt Locker" is a "totally different movie that gives you the experience of soldiers on the ground."

Pic is being sold by Voltage Pictures.

Just after "Hurt Locker" screened Monday night, Voltage Pictures prexy Nicholas Chartier showed up at Summit's party, where he fielded calls. He also huddled with Summit's Rob Friedman.

After "The Wrestler," "Hurt Locker" could bring in the next biggest sale of the fest, if someone is willing to tackle what's sure to be a challenging marketing campaign.

A handful of titles also were in play on Tuesday. They include Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy "Management," which was produced and is being sold by Sidney Kimmel Entertainment. Lionsgate, Overture and Screen Gems are reportedly eyeing the pic, but it's doubtful that any deal will come before the festival ends this weekend.

Irish black-and-white drama "Kisses," about two runaways, also is generating some interest. The CAA-repped film has been well screened on the fest circuit, including at Telluride. Some lowball offers have been made, but CAA continues to shop for a bigger deal.

Richard Linklater's period piece "Me and Orson Welles" is getting second looks from several distribs, including Sony Pictures Classics. Yet with a stack of 10 films here -- their most ever -- SPC can afford to be patient.

Another deal expected to close within days is Magnolia's acquisition of Steven Soderbergh's two-part Che Guevara biopic "Che," which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival to decidedly mixed response among buyers and critics (Benicio del Toro took home Cannes' actor prize.). The version screening at Toronto is 17 minutes shorter.

Wild Bunch has been finalizing a distribution deal with 2929 Entertainment's Magnolia releasing arm, which handled the 2005 day-and-date experiment with Soderbergh's "Bubble." Sources say that a conventional theatrical release is in the cards for "Che."

Several docus are earning attention. "Valentino," about the famed Italian designer, and "Soul Power," about the concert that coincided with the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman fight in Africa, have both drawn offers. Buyers also are looking at Participant Prods.' "Food Inc." and "Every Little Step," about the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line."

[crippled_avenger]

Pogledali smo SOS Žika, mrkoye i ja danas, komisijski.

Pošto sam prethodno već bio pripremljen da će film biti užasan, i pošto su Leon i Macavity već elaborirali svu degradaciju i besmisao pojedinih scena, ja ću pokušati da o ovom filmu pišem hladne glave koliko je to moguće.

Prvo, SOS je jasna replika formule KO TO TAMO PEVA. Reč je o studiji karakternih i etničkih tipova u svetlu prelomnih istorijskih događaja, formula koja je dala filmu KO TO TAMO PEVA naročitu težinu i oplemenila njen u suštini gross out mentalitet. U ovom slučaju, Šijan je pokušao da kickstartuje svoju karijeru jednom potpuno identičnom pričom, međutim imao je scenario znatno slabijeg kvaliteta i glumce sa znatno manje harizme i talenta. Rezultat svega toga je spoznaja da Šijan očigledno ipak SAM nije dovoljan da bi snimio dobar film, i mislim da nam SOS vrlo jasno daje do znanja koliko su Duško Kovačević i narečeni glumci bili bitan deo Šijanovog dometa.

Međutim, ono što je pored spoznaje o tome koje su Šijanove mogućnosti još važnije jeste to da on očigledno više ni nema moć da prepozna dobar materijal koju je imao u vreme rada sa Kovačevićem i da je potpuno izgubio kompas.

Vrlo sporni scenario Miloša M. Radovića (to nije THE Miloš Radović koji je radio OTVORENA VRATA, MALI SVET i PAD U RAJ) još je dodatno upropašćen iživljavanjem glumaca a naročito Lazara Ristovskog koji je reprezent nečega sa čime ne može da se nosi niko pa ni Slobodan Šijan a to su pomahnitali glumci koji su potpuno preuzeli našu kinematografiju.

Konačan skor, ako se još ima u vidu da je film rađen u srednjebudžetnim uslovima bez filmske trake i svih benefita onoga što film ima sam po sebi u smislu glossa, i da izgleda dosta shabby je poražavajući.

Što se mene lično tiče, pošto sam odavno odustao od ideje da ću od srpskog filma ikada ponovo dobiti neko punokrvno gledalačko iskustvo, moram priznati da sam u SOSu video ponešto zanimljivo vođen kineskom poslovicom da je pametnom čoveku i komarac muzika. Činjenica je recimo da film postaje prililčno giddy u fazama kada se kuju zavere o podizanju krajiškog ustanka a da jako padne kada krene potpuno besmislen character study takmičara. Ili recimo ima tu i solidnih uloga gde bih naročito istakao Bjelu i Katarinu (izuzev njenog nestajućeg ruralnog akcenta) koji su sporadično vrlo solidni, a njihove scene kada se dogovaraju za nagradu izgledaju kao dokumentarni materijal sa niškog festivala 2002. godine.

U panteonu Lošeg srpskog filma, SOS mi je bio zanimljivije gledalačko iskustvo od recimo ČITULJE ZA ESKOBARA koji je možda kudikamo bezbolniji za gledanje, paušalno rečeno bolji, ali i manje sadržajan. Iako nisam jedan od onih koji smatra da postoje vrednije i manje vredne teme, SOS ipak ima zanimljiviju temu od ESKOBARA, i u najmanju ruku manje eksploatisanu temu. SOS sasvim dosledno spada u tu grupu staračkih filmova naših velikana tipa ODBAČEN, TURNEJA i sl. U krajnjem skoru da li je film dosadan zato što u njemu Laza šmira ili Cvele baulja pa kao ovo kad Laza šmira je šund a kad Cvele baulja je umetnost pa je zato opravdano što je dosadno, meni ne pravi preveliku razliku.

U poređenju između NA LEPOM PLAVOM DUNAVU i SOSa, SOS mi je ipak bolji. Iako DUNAV ima još zanimljiviju temu i bolju produkciju utoliko što je sniman na filmu, svaki ima svoju šmiru, svaki ima svoju tezu, a SOS je ipak kudikamo uljudniji svemu tome. Ipak, činjenica je da je između njih mrtva trka.

Naravno, ono što je posebno zanimljivo to je kako je film SOS uopšte snimljen kada nikada nije pobedio ni na jednom Konkursu?

Ovo je film oko koga nikada nije bilo priče, nikada nije pominjan među dobitnicima konkursa, na neki fantomski način je dobio novac, i moram priznati da me jako zanima da saznam koji su ljudi bili upleteni u tu zakulisnu radnju jer je ovo vrsta promašaja koja bi im se mogla natrljati na nos. U tom smislu, osećam kako i među gledaocima a i u esnafu vlada atmosfera da je ovo ozbiljan misstep, a odsustvo bilo kakvog traga o tome kako je Šijan i na osnovu čije procene dobio pare poprilično diskvalifikuje njegove žalopojke o tome kako mu niko ne pruža priliku. Videćemo kako će se ovaj film reflektovati na Šijanovu već narušenu reputaciju.

Što se mene tiče, SOS je fatalan udarac za Šijanovu karijeru. Kritika nažalost neće imati snage da kaže punu istinu zbog tog strahopoštovanja koje ima prema njemu, međutim, kad je o staroj gardi reč, nažalost oni više nemaju čime da podupru to strahopoštovanje koje prema njima postoji. Oni se još uvek vrzmaju po našoj produkciji samo zato što je novim rediteljima onemogućeno da se nametnu i steknu tu vrstu ugleda koju oni imaju.

Žao mi je što oni neće biti smenjeni time što će doći neko novi nego što će nestati sa scene tako što će snimati besmislene filmove i na kraju sami sebe uništiti kao što je to uradio SOS.

* 1/2 / * * * *

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The Hurt Locker
They say war is hell as is the case of Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker", an intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat.

When a new sergeant, William James [Jeremy Renner], takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn [Anthony Mackie] and Eldridge [Brian Geraghty], by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat.

James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever. Bigelow has always immersed herself into male-dominated genres, and here she seems in her element.

While most Iraq-set war films have next to no characters of any substance, Mark Boal's script is finely tuned as it explores the nature of war in this often gripping, quite mesmerizing piece. Shot on location in Jordan, "The Hurt Locker" bristles with the realistic sounds of bullets, explosions and the urgency of war in a way we haven't seen before.

Partly an engrossing thriller, superbly edited by Chris Innis and Bob Murawski, and featuring stellar performances by its trio of protagonists, here at last is a film set during this politically unpalatable war that gives audiences a riveting glimpse into what these men do on a daily basis. It's a fascinating and disturbing piece, superbly directed by a risk-taking director.

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Pogledao sam TRANCERS Charlesa Banda.

Ovo je jedan od naslova koji su bili callig card za ozbiljno shvatanja osnivača Full Moona. Istovremeno, u ovom filmu igrali su i radili neke kasnije vrlo relevantni ljudi kao što su Helen Hunt i Miguel Sandoval, stuntove je radio Dan Bradley, danas jedaod najtraženijih stunt coordinatora i second unit reditelja, za drugom kamerom je radio David Boyd koji je potom snimao serije FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS i DEADWOOD a kao asistent scenografa tu je bio Frank Darabont.

Dakle, TRANCERS nudi zanimljivu špicu kao i mnogi Cormanovi naslovi.

Iako je sasvim jasno da je reč o kombinovanom rip-offu BLADE RUNNERa i TERMINATORa, i da se radi o jednom B-derivatu, ono što je zarobljeno u ovom filmu a čega danas više nema jeste a toje velika snalažljivost ekipe koja radi niskobudžetni film. taj giddiness eksploatatora koji rade sa ekipom entuzijasta jeste nešto čega danas više nema.

On se oseća na svim nivoima, od pokušaja da se po svaku cenu, za svaku situaciju nađe što zanimljivija jeftina lokacija, preko svih mogućih obrta koji će oneobičiti situaciju i učiniti je inetersantnijom na nivou scenariju a sve pod uslovom da to košta što manje, sve do vešto koncipiranog početka koji nameće niskobudžetni, sporadično gotovo naivni ton filma, koji ne nudi visoka već čak malo snižena očekivanja pa ovaj naslov kako ide prema kraju postaje sve zanimljiviji.

U podeli se pojavilo taman onoliko dobrih glumaca koliko je potrebno da zadrže pažnju. Iako nisam neki fan Helen Hunt moram reći da se u ovom filmu vidi da je ona ipak čak i u ovakvom materijalu ozbiljna klasa u odnosu na ostatak grindhouse ekipe.

U svakom slučaju sa tom nodoljivom naivnošću i trajanjem od 76 minuta, TRANCERS je odličan primer efektnog niskobudžetnog explotation filma snimljenog kao showcase. Nažalost, ovakav film je mogao da prođe samo osamdesetih, danas više ne postoji dovoljno velika publika pred kojom bi ovakav tip B-filma mogao da bude relevantan, a sigurno da je to dovelo i do krize glavnog toka.

* * 1/2 / * * * *

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Toronto lesson: War is swell?
IFC and Summit bet on challenging pickups
By Steven Zeitchik and Gregg Goldstein

Sept 10, 2008, 08:59 PM ET

"The Hurt Locker," left, and "Che"

Related Content Complete Toronto coverage  
TORONTO -- A pair of deals for two ambitious but challenging films were sealed Wednesday in Toronto, as IFC and Summit each picked up a pic set in war-time.

IFC nabbed all North American rights to Steven Soderbergh's twin-bill, four-hour "Che," the two-part story of the revolutionary icon's campaigns in Cuba and Bolivia in a low seven-figure deal.

Summit scooped up U.S. rights to Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," an action pic about an Army squad defusing bombs in Iraq, for about $1.5 million

The IFC deal, which closed Tuesday night, took many in Toronto by surprise, since there had been rumors that Magnolia was negotiating for rights to the pic, which debuted to a mixed reponse at the Festival de Cannes.

However, talks between financier/seller Wild Bunch and Magnolia ultimately broke down over marketing and release questions.

At the same time, IFC execs Jonathan Sehring and Arianna Bocco had been staying in touch with Wild Bunch since the Croisette debut. They presented a case to the French outfit (with which they had a fruitful collaboration on last year's Palme d'Or winner "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days"), to producer Laura Bickford and to Soderbergh that IFC was in the best position to handle the movie. Soderbergh was particularly keen on the VOD option that IFC offered. The negotiations concluded when Josh Sapan, president of IFC parent Rainbow Media, flew into Toronto and became involved in the negotiations.

The pickup is a coup for IFC, marking one of the highest-profile acquisitions in its history. It will also be the most expensive film by far to open in theaters and on cable/VOD simultaneously.

During the summer, Wild Bunch said at least four U.S buyers were pursuing the film, for what it apparently hoped would be for a $3 million to $ 4 million upfront purchase that would quickly reimburse the film's Spanish investors. If that wasn't possible, Wild Bunch was willing to forego an upfront payment and craft a deal which would provide comparable cash in the long run through other incentives and deal points. In the end, the company settled for an unspecified lower upfront figure from IFC.

Meanwhile, as negotiations heated up over "Che," Summit purchased the tense thriller "Hurt Locker" several days after its well-received Toronto bow. Summit originally offered an estimated $2 million but the filmmakers, repped by CAA, decided to continue shopping the pic. When they returned to Summit, the company lowered its offer to closer to $1 million. Eventually, the parties agreed to meet somewhere in the middle in a deal that provided a significant backend for the filmmakers.

Each release will present challenges.

For Summit, the trick will be to market a film that's set in Iraq -- a setting that has not exactly excited filmgoers -- as a broader action title.

"We went into this with our eyes wide open," said Summit co-chairman and CEO Rob Friedman. "But we think the action and drama this movie creates will overwhelm any of the anxieties about the Iraq setting."

The company plans on releasing the movie no earlier than the spring.

In the case of "Che," IFC will first offer the four-hour version of the movie in a one-week, Academy-qualifying run in Los Angeles and New York in December. In January, it will roll out part one, beginning in L.A., New York and a few other cities and quickly ramping up to the 300-400 theaters, including New York's Ziegfeld Theatre, that are willing to play a film appearing day-and-date in theaters and on VOD.

The second part of the film will follow a week or two later, with both parts then remaining available in theaters.

Soderbergh on Wednesday acknowledged the challenges in releasing the film. "I know it's an unusual commercial proposition," he said, referring to the pic's length. "We're hoping that the combination of curiosity and brand identification makes audiences show up." A total of about twelve minutes have been cut from the Cannes version, which clocked in at just over four hours.

Also at the fest, a deal was close Wednesday for "Every Little Step," a doc about "A Chorus Line," with Senator and Magnolia said to be circling. The Paris Hilton doc "Paris, Not France" also piqued interest and could wind up with a pricey TV deal as well as a smaller theatrical one.

Steven Zeitchik reported from Toronto; Gregg Goldstein reported from New York. Borys Kit in Toronto contributed to this report.

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Pogledao sam RECOUNT Jay Roacha, TV film snimljen za HBO koji govori o čuvenim izborima na Floridi koji su doneli vlast Son of a Bushu.

Ovaj film je izuzetno zanimljiv da se gleda iz srpske perspektive pošto su krađe na izborima kod nas česta pojava, ali ipak naši autori se do sada nikada nisu ovako eksplicitno pozabavili tom temom. Mislim da je kranje vreme da naše televizije kao HBO i BBC počnu da snimaju serije i TV filmove o našoj politici, naslove poput AFERE BODRUM i sl.

Ne samo da bi bilo zanimljivo i poučno videti dramatizaciju tih događaja, već bi oni svakako bili zanimljiviji i strancima od prikaza politike u nekim uglađenijim duštvima.

RECOUNT je sasvim jasno, na strani holivudskih liberala, i naprosto na nivou strukture "navija" za Demokrate pošto se njihova borba više prati od republikanske i njihovi članovi su prikazani kao simpatični i uporni likovi dočim su republikanci dosta rigidniji, prljaviji, isključiviji, a po ličnosti Katherine Harris bilo ih je i priglupih.

Ipak, kad se sabere utisak koji donosi Roachov film, čini mi se da su zaključci podeljeni. Ako imam na umu da mi je RECOUNT prvi i jedini ozbiljniji dokument koji sam sagledao o ovoj temi, i da nisam imao priliku da vidim išta što bi Republikanci izneli kao svoju istinu, ne mogu da kžem da je RECOUNT bio apsolutno pristrasan.

RECOUNT je pokazao pre svega da i u institucijama kao što su federalni i državni sudovi, pa čak i vrhovni sudovi postoje sudije koje su na strani partija koje su ih imenovale, a da isto važi i za lokalne administracije. Međutim, iako su u konkretnom slučaju Floride oni mahom na strani Republikanaca jer su tamo oni na vlasti, postoje i na Floridi i van oni koji su liberali i na strani Demokrata, tako da se ne može reći da su Republikanci uzurpirali čitav sistem i u tom smislu RECOUNT nikada ne zalazi u domen paranoia-trilera.

Međutim, sasvim je sigurno da RECOUNT kritikuje činjenicu što su institucije politizovane. S druge strane, uprkos svim manipulacijama, RECOUNT svedoči o tome da zakon i sistem ipak na neki način funkcionišu pošto uprkos svim teškoćama i opstrukcijama, Demokrate zamalo uspevaju da se izbore za ponovno ručno prebrojavanje glasova, a praktično Gore je pre potpunog okončanja svih potencijalnih pravnih procesa odlučio da obustavi pritisak kako se zemlja ne bi kompromitovala.

Nama može biti zanimljivo što neki od političara sa kojima smo i mi imali posla poput Warrena Christophera i Jamesa Bakera imaju učešće u filmu.

Ono po čemu se u krajnjoj liniji razlikuju Republikanci i Demokrate u Roachovom filmu jeste to što su Demokrate potegle sve moguće liberalne teze i zakonske mogućnosti ne bi li izbori bili što pošteniji pošto su shvatili da im to odgovara, a Republikanci su želeli da se prizna taj prvi, sporni rezultat pošto je njima odgovarao. Međutim, iako se ispostavlja da je sistem izbora vrlo bizaran, i Demokrate to maltene uspevaju da dokažu, u ceo proces su ušli tek kad se ispostavilo da ih je taj sistem koštao pobede. Iako u ovom filmu ličnosti iz Demokratske partije zastupaju liberalno, logično, istinski demokratsko razmišljanje, ipak treba imati na umu da su oni u tu euforiju upali tek kad su osetii da je to put koji ih vodi na vlast.

Što se Republikanaca tiče, oni su prikazani kao vešte, narodjačke hulje, međutim, isto tako, i njihovo antidemokratsko ponašanje je u suštini inspirisano pokušajem da se dokopaju vlasti, i sasvim je moguće videti iste te ljude kako zastupaju sličan stav kao i Demokrate. Za razliku od Demokrata koji su razjedinjeni i relativno zavađeni mđu sobom, Republikanci su prikazani kao ljudi koji su odaniji jedni drugima, a u sdeni kada james Baker objašnjava zašto je prešao iz Demokrata u Republikance vidimo da se njihova unutrašnja kohezija bazira na prisnijim međuljudskim odnosima.

Konačno, odlična poenta je sačuvana za kraj filma kada se oktriva da šefovi izbornih štabova zapravo ne veruju u svoje kandidate.

Roach je postigao pravi film look, i osim u par situacija u kojima mu prorade komediografski instinkti, naročito u scenama sa porodicom Bush. Međutim, mislim da je dostojno omdenio Sydneya Pollacka koji je trebalo da snima RECOUNT ali se razboleo.

U svakom slučaju, koga god zanima politika, preporučujem RECOUNT kao zreo primer prikazivanja jedne situacije koja je podatna za razna tendenciozna i uznemirena tumačenja.

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Đurić je napravio zanimljivu listu omiljenih stvari za Popboks

http://www.popboks.com/tekst.php?ID=6729

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The Hurt Locker
Posted on Thursday September 4, 2008, 17:04 by Damon Wise



I've just come from The Hurt Locker, which I feel moved to tell you about RIGHT AWAY. I wasn't a big fan of Kathryn Bigelow's last film, K-19: The Widowmaker, but it seems she's really got her mojo back here. If it wasn't for the awful timeliness of its subject matter it would simply be a great war-is-hell movie, a little lacking in narrative drive perhaps but the set pieces are amazing. Sadly, it'll probably lumped in with more political pieces like Redacted and In The Valley Of Elah, both of which were here last year, and ignored, which would be a crying shame.

I wanted to leave during the first ten minutes, not because the film is bad but because it's so tense, with Guy Pearce trying to defuse a bomb in a built-up Baghdad suburb. The clock is almost literally ticking, and the suspense is expertly handled. The scene serves to pave the way for the arrival of explosives expert Will (Jeremy Renner), a maverick specialist beginning his first tour of duty with this particular regiment. He's cool and he's crazy, going in solo where other men send robots, having neutralised some 870-odd devices in his time out there. Will is a thrill-junkie, but then so is Bigelow, and (perhaps unwittingly) the film recalls her one out-and-out sci-fi flick Strange Days, about living vicariously through other people's experiences: her camera takes you right into the action, with often nerve-shredding results.

The film seemed at little long at times but I think it needs that pace to give you the build-up that pays off in a very unexpected but satisfying ending. The camerawork is extraordinary – every frame is ugly-beautiful or just beautiful – but the cast deserve special merit. Renner I've liked for a long time, and this film is a testament to his usual high standards. But Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are pretty good too, though. Bigelow has an eye for talented young men as well as action, and this film finds her well back to form on both counts. Look out for it. Please!

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Based on journalist Mark Boal's real experiences following bomb disposal experts in Iraq, The Hurt Locker isn't just a welcome return to big-screen action from director Kathryn Bigelow (who has wrung both fame and infamy with Near Dark, Strange Days and Point Break). It's an assured, confident, swaggering piece of moviemaking that manages to not only evoke every war of the 20th century but also, despite the claims by makers and some reviewers that it's an 'apolitical' film, speaks very specifically to the Iraq war. Even so, plunging us into the thick of things alongside the highly-trained men (and they're all men here) who defuse bombs for the Army, Bigelow and Boal avoid the speeches and postures and long, contemplative talks of home front films like Stop-Loss and In the Valley of Elah by staying in Iraq, and they shun the loopy, loony formal experiments of Brian De Palma's Redacted. Boal and Bigelow stay laser-focused on one group of men with a singular mission, and make us live in the constant possibility of death. Viewed from half a world away, a bomb is a political concern; viewed from less than a foot away, a bomb's just a high-stakes exercise in problem-solving, where making a mistake means a final, terminal education in the physics of expanding gases.

The Hurt Locker follows three soldiers -- bomb tech James (Jeremy Renner) and his subordinates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldrige (Brian Geraghty) into the jaws of death; it's all last names in The Hurt Locker, as seen on patches and heard in urgent radio dispatches. Early on, Bigleow establishes that people will be killed in this film -- with a bravura sequence that depicts a bomb's detonation on the macro and micro level, billowing bursts of smoke and pressure and flame intercut with gravel and dust leaping choreographed in lockstep by the pressure wave, as if God had slammed his fist on reality hard to make a point -- and while Renner, Mackie and Geraghty are fine actors, they're also unknown enough to subconsciously let us know that they aren't safe from what may happen.

The Hurt Locker follows three soldiers -- bomb tech James (Jeremy Renner) and his subordinates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldrige (Brian Geraghty) into the jaws of death; it's all last names in The Hurt Locker, as seen on patches and heard in urgent radio dispatches. Early on, Bigleow establishes that people will be killed in this film -- with a bravura sequence that depicts a bomb's detonation on the macro and micro level, billowing bursts of smoke and pressure and flame intercut with gravel and dust leaping choreographed in lockstep by the pressure wave, as if God had slammed his fist on reality hard to make a point -- and while Renner, Mackie and Geraghty are fine actors, they're also unknown enough to subconsciously let us know that they aren't safe from what may happen.

Recreating Iraq in Jordan, the production team creates the chaos of the streets -- strewn with trash and bodies and burnt-out cars, and we understand that anything -- or anyone - could be concealing a bomb. Production designer Karl Juliusson (Breaking the Waves) and his team make us feel the city; editors Bob Murawaski and Chris Innis, as well as sound designer Paul N. J. Ottosson and a great effects team, make us feel every explosion with the sick, slick power of a sucker-punch to the gut.

But it's Bigelow who makes us feel the moments before a bomb explodes (or doesn't), and feel them keenly and fiercely. Bigelow and Boal (who also produced the film, demonstrating yet again that the best way to make the film you most want to make is to make it yourself) are to be commended for avoiding any of the easy narrative arcs we might expect in The Hurt Locker; there's no cat-and-mouse chase with a master bomber on the other side, no ticking-clock plot that must be stopped. It's just what these guys are doing for a living, and they're good at it. There are conflicts and clashes, with the enemy and each other for these men, and the challenge of work you have to be crazy to do but that still needs doing. No one in The Hurt Locker gets the "What are we doing here, man?" speech, thankfully, and that's in part because the question's posed in every frame. Weren't the Iraqi people supposed to greet us as liberators, bearing bouquets and not bombs? Vice-President Cheney said so, and if that was hard to believe then, it's harder to believe while watching The Hurt Locker.

The opening quote from author Chris Hedges from his book War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning that starts The Hurt Locker is burned down to its last few words on-screen-- "war is a drug" -- and as we watch these volunteer soldiers risk their lives again and again, we understand the thrill they get from their work. Of course, if war is a drug, that implies both users and pushers; The Hurt Locker stays with the soldiers on their adrenaline high, never shows us the decision-makers who put these men in harm's way, just their orders. And still, we know this is Iraq, now, the reality of the war glimpsed in the heat-haze distance. A briefing mentions 'Camp Victory' as a staging base; a soldier asks "Camp 'Victory?' I thought it was 'Camp Liberty.'" He's corrected: "Ah, no -- they changed it about a week ago; 'Victory' sounds better. ..." A commanding officer (David Morse in one of the film's three great cameos) approves of James's ways and work in dead, flat praise: "You're a wildman, soldier. A wildman." The soldiers may convey that young, heady mix of danger and competence that Gustav Hansford, in The Short-Timers (later adapted as Full Metal Jacket) dubbed "phony-tough and crazy-brave," but they also convey the worries and doubts that mask is supposed to hide.

And all these bigger questions -- political, philosophical, psychological -- tend to evaporate in the presence of the blunt, heavy presence of the bombs themselves; as Johnson said, "when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully," and each time our leads are on-screen, them and us knowing they may die in the next five seconds in the course of their work, we're riveted. Boal and Bigleow let us into this world, and we get a loose sense of how these professionals work, but neither are the defusing sequences talked through like a bad home improvement show segment telling you how to best apply spackle. One of the greatest pleasures in film is that of watching professionals at work, and The Hurt Locker provides plenty of that precise delight. The script, and the actors, also manage to show us how callow and cool these men have become in the face of brutality, and show how there are still terrors and atrocities that can reach even them. We don't know a lot about these men, but we've seen them face death and goof off, make mistakes and make decisions -- and we lean forward in our seat to know what's going to happen next.

The Hurt Locker was picked up in Toronto by Summit Entertainment, which means it'll be coming to a theater near you at some hypothetical future point; you'll want to see it at a theater near you, in fact, on the largest possible screen with the best possible sound. War is awful, but on a certain level, war movies are awesome, and Bigelow knows that. Bigelow's a terrific action director, but the industry doesn't offer her the chance to demonstrate that as often as you might like; it could be sexism or just the bad juju that sticks to some directors that explains that, but either way Bigelow blows both those off the screen along with everything else in a blast of Dolby splendor and big-screen spectacle. The Hurt Locker looks and feels like a terrific action film, but there's a piece of art ticking away within it that goes off inside your head and your heart while you're watching.

[crippled_avenger]

Pogledao sam PIKNIK U TOPOLI Zorana Amara.

Ovaj film je zanimljiv iz više razloga. Prvo, Zoran Amar je jedan od jugoslovenskih filmmejkera koji se dosta muvao po sceni, snimio je tri filma ali je svoje prisustvo ostvario kroz brojne cameo uloge u raznim naslovima. Amar je pored toga radio niskobudžetne filmove i snimio je jedan od prvih filmova na elektronici u našoj kinematografiji. Nažalost, njegovo prisustvo nije bilo ispraćeno kvalitetom tako da je ubrzo počeo da radi na televiziji i na kraju je i napustio zemlju. PIKNIK U TOPOLI je krajnje niskobudžetni film.

Drugi zanimljivi činilac ovog filma je scenarista Radoslav Pavlović koji je poznat po tome što je ušao u sukob sa Dušanom Kovačevićem i ovaj mu je u priličnoj meri zagorčao život. Na početku svoje karijere, pre fatalnog sukoba, Pavlović je bio poznat kao mladi pisac koji se bavio problemima mladih. Sa tim imidžom je došao i do saradnje sa Mišom Radivojevićem na filmu ŽIVETI KAO SAV NORMALAN SVET.

PIKNIK U TOPOLI je snimljen godinu dana pr nego što je Pavlović stigao do Miše.

U svakom slučaju, osnovna ideja koju su imali Amar i Pavlović bila je da snime jugoslovensku varijantu francuskih filmova o problemima mladih koji su poznati po svojoj jednostavnosti, dugim kadrovima u kojima ljudi hodaju i razgovaraju. U tom cilju angažovan je i Fanđo, čuveni snimatelj koji je osmislio kadar sekvencu kao rešenje za filmove Žike Pavlovića.

Nažalost, ipak francuski film, ma koliko bleferski bio, ipak nije tako jednostavan za imitiranje. Očigledno da u filmovima ljudi kao što je Rohmer ipak postoji još nešto sem ljudi koji blebeću u dugom neprekinutom kadru.

Naročito, ako su ti ljudi recimo Predrag Ejdus i Branislav Lečić.

Da nije reč o sasvim bezvrednom filmu, shvata se tek na kraju kada krene situacija sa neprijatnim meštanima Topole koji ne vole kada sa Beograđani igraju sa njima i pokušavaju da koketiraju kako bi kroz prkosne odnose sa njima rešavali svoje konflikte. Iako je sama tuča koja krene da se dešava između meštana i Beograđana heavyhanded, ona zapravo, iako bez reči govori mnogo više o karakterima nego prethodnih sat vremena filma. Isto tako, upravo u ovoj deonici imamo zanimljiv detalj kada jedan od tipova iz Topole iznenadi Beograđanina krnuvši mu žvaku.

Upravo zahvaljujući ovoj bizarnoj završnici u kojoj film malo oživi, PIKNIK U TOPOLI n može da se smatra apsolutno bezvrednim filmom.

Po IMDBu, film traje 80 minuta. Kopiju koju sam ja gledao su život i TV rip sa BNa premontirali na 68 minuta. Ipak, ne mogu da kažem koji delovi zapravo nedostaju, nije bilo nekih naročito nelogičnih skokova u priči. Najveće nelogičnosti se uglavnom dešavaju unutar kadra gde se junaci ponašaju kao idioti ne bi li nam autori pokazali da je reč o nepriklagođenim mladim ljudima.

U tom smislu, dodao bih da je upravo pozivanje na priču o neprilagođenim mladim ljudima, problemima mladih i sl. zapravo jedan od najsnažnijih blefova koji mogu da opravdaju razne dramaturške i rediteljske neveštine. U konkretnom slučaju PIKNIKA U TOPOLI, mislim da ni taj blef nije dovoljan pošto je Amarov diletantizam ipak dominantan, ali ovo je samo izuzetak koji potvrđuje pravilo.

* 1/2 / * * * *

[crippled_avenger]

Koga zanima, evo i intervjua sa Kathryn Bigelow...

http://dobanevinosti.blogspot.com/2008/09/samo-da-joj-ujemo-glas.html

[Ghoul]

Pogledao sam PIKNIK U TOPOLI Zorana Amara. * 1/2 / * * * *

ako se dobro sećam, to je film koji sadrži legendarnu, ultimativnu, nezaboravnu, pregenijalnu repliku-usklik (valjda bane cvejić, ako on uopšte igra tu): DEMOLIRAĆU ŠUMU!!!
   

[crippled_avenger]

Branislav Lečić obeća da će demolirati šumu. Još jedan dokaz da je reč o nezaboravnom filmu...