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Strepsi
Nice post. It is also ironic that these cheerers of “progress” forget that from cinema’s inception until the 1970′s, the top box office draw was ALWAYS a woman. From tough and hilarious dames like Carole Lombard, Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Joan Crawford (who was the number one box office draw for over a DECADE), and directors like Leni Riefenstahl and Dorothy Arzner, women were actually pushed back severely, and are only now beginning to again enjoy the equality they enjoyed in the 1930′s !!!
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Dutch
Did you really just mention Riefenstahl? Should we celebrate her work? Let’s give Goebbels an award for great PR. There’s no denying her talent, but to hold her up as a model for successful women in film is insane.
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ibivi
Riefenstahl’s glorification of the nazis may be distasteful but it is still an important work of cinematography by a woman. Her movie remains a masterpiece of propaganda.
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ibivi
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Glenn
Joan Crawford was not a number one box office draw for a decade. Get your facts straight.
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Ashley
Actually K Hepburn was deemed box office poison…
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EEK
Only for a short period. She was a huge box-office draw in the 30′s, then fell off but re-emerged in 1940 in The Philadelphia Story, which was a huge success.
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EEK
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Dutch
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Keith
Bravo, Lisa!
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Eva
I think The Hurt Locker, although very difficult to watch because it’s so gritty and true, is the most important film of the year. No American likes to think of the Iraq war. We’re pretending it isn’t even happening anymore. But The Hurt Locker will stand as a witness to the war for all time. It was terrifying and poignant. And, like you wrote, Lisa, whether a man or woman directed it, that director should win the Oscar for Best Director. As it happens, it’s a woman, so historically, it would be amazing to crack that glass ceiling–finally. Go Kathryn.
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Eva
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Jason
The Hurt Locker wasn’t as well directed as Inglourious Basterds, Avatar, OR Up in the Air. Had a man directed the movie, with a 12 million dollar box office take it would have been on discount shelves in Blockbuster and forgotten by now. I’ve seen six of the ten nominated movies (HL, Avatar, Up, Up in the Air, District 9 and IB), and The Hurt Locker was easily my least favorite.
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Ray
Inglourious Basterds has to be the most stupid movie I have ever seen.
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Jason
Stupidest is a word.
Your comment is invalidated. -
Alan of Montreal
@ Jason, Actually, according to the website Everything Language and Grammar:
The superlative form of stupid is most stupid, as in I made the most stupid mistake, not stupidest. Stupidest can be heard and seen everywhere, but it’s wrong. (Please don’t ask me to roll out my entire exposition on why finding a word in a modern dictionary doesn’t make it legitimate, standard English. Paul and I have already paddled across that ocean several times.)
Stupid is just like lucid (same -id ending). The comparative form is more lucid, and the superlative form is most lucid. Likewise, the comparative form of stupid is more stupid, and the superlative form is most stupid. In fact, in general, -id words use more and most instead of –er and –est. (The water was more tepid, he was the most lucid, they could have been more candid, his reflexes have grown more torpid, the milk was the most rancid, his tongue had grown more acrid. No one would even think to say tepidest, lucidest, candidest, torpidest, rancidest, or acridest.)
And the senior members of the forum for WordReference.com say both are acceptable. So, in otherwords Jason, Ray’s grammar is correct (and I think is opinion is, as well)
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KS
@ Alan: I love you.
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Jason
This isn’t a grammar forum – but if a word is in a “modern dictionary” then it IS correct. That’s the whole point of dictionaries. Besides, you’re using someone’s personal blog as your support? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen
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@Jason
If it’s not a grammar forum, then why did you feel the need to point out someone’s (non) mistake? Putz…
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jj
Poor Jason is used to being picked on, so let’s leave him alone.
Hurt Locker was amazing. I hope lots of people go to see it. -
waya
I liked “Basterds” and it was a better “war” movie than Hurt Locker was.
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Jason
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Chris Price
Ranked Best Pic Nominees (finally seen all of em):
1. Up In The Air
2. A Serious Man
3. Up
4. The Hurt Locker
5. Inglourious Basterds
6. Precious
7. District 9
8. Avatar
9. An Education
10. The Blind Side-
t.g. pierson
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Precious
3. Up in the Air
4. District 9
5. The Hurt Locker
6. Avatar
7. An Education
8. Up
9. Serious Man
10.The Blind Side -
K2
1)The Hurt Locker
2)District 9
3)Inglorious Basterds
4)Avatar
5)Precious
6)Up in the Air
7)Up
8)A Serious Man
9)An Education
10)The Blind Side -
Rich
Just did a post on this today:
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kate
Haven’t seen Precious, Blind Side, or A Serious Man but excluding those I would say
1)Up in the Air
2)Inglorious Bastards
3)An Education
4)District 9
5)Up
6)Avatar
7)The Hurt LockerI have to admit I just didn’t find the Hurt Locker as engaging as I found many of the other nominees. To each their own I suppose. I thought Up in the Air was amazing and I adored Up, I even have to confess that I preferred the spectacle of Avatar to the somewhat ordinary war story of Hurt Locker- not that hurt locker wasn’t a well crafted film just that it wasn’t my cup of tea.
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t.g. pierson
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LOL
Up in the Air was the best I have seen. IB was probably the worst of the bunch.
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Franklin
Agreed. It wasn’t even one of the 20 best movies of 2009. It’s extremely overrated and this whole “woman” angle is forced and reeks of sexism. It doesn’t matter if she’s a woman. Men happened to direct much better films than her last year. And another woman did as well – Jane Campion.
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DarkLayers
THL has the highest score on metacritic at 94. Not just affirmative action.
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DarkLayers
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Ben
So because it was YOUR least favorite that would automatically put it on the discount shelves? So glad to know that you have the final word on the subject.
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Jason
No, because the movie got 12 million dollars at the box office. No one would remember it now if it hadn’t gotten all those awards.
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Jason
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jj
Poor Jason. He is used to being picked on, so let’s leave him alone.
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arr
It got 12 million at the box office because it was hardly advertised and wasn’t widely screened.
A woman directing the film has nothing to do with whether it would end up on ‘discount shelves,’ because it’s an excellent film. I for one am awfully glad that people recognize this DESPITE its very limited public release. I saw all the films mentioned and not one of them is poorly directed, and I wouldn’t name a favourite because that’s simply irrelevant. I felt, however, that the Hurt Locker was the most innovative and intelligently directed (yes, even over the giganti-smurfs…*particularly* over them, in fact, though I admit that the film in question was pretty).
Fortunately the Academy’s not made up of people who simply vote for best picture based on what made them feel the most warm and fuzzy inside.
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Ray
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Chris M.
Agreed Jason, thought the flick was boring and the lead character being an a-hole was a turnoff.
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Frank Anderson
I thought that Hurt Locker was just ok. I think it would be a bigger achievement for women if the movie won for Best Picture and actually made an impact beyond the minuscule box office of Hurt Locker.
Not that I think Oscars should be given out based on box office alone, I just think in the case of this film the lack of box office is because it simply isn’t as good as the critics want to make it.
I would go with Precious and then District 9.-
Juneau
Box office has more to do with the number of screens a movie is playing on than how good it is. Example: Avatar.
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Frank Anderson
I am talking about impact here. No matter what anyone tries to say about Avatar, it will be more emulated and will have a longer lasting effect on Hollywood than Hurt Locker could ever dream.
I don’t think any argument trying to claim that Avatar’s sales had anything to due with screen count could possibly hold water. Did you even see how long that film stayed at #1?
Still, Precious and District 9 performed better than Hurt in their rather brief runs, and were also both better movies if you ask me.
I think Precious is a film everyone should see- even if it is not fun to watch. District 9 is a much better movie than Avatar in almost every way, and shows Hollywood that great action movies can be made with great special effects and still have a story that is worth while and not cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Frank Anderson
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Juneau
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Chris Price
Wait, you’ll be IN your couch?
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Lisa Schwarzbaum
Oops. you’re right, thanks for the correction–I’ll be IN my couch only if I’m buried by pillows.
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Lisa Schwarzbaum
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whatever
Whether you liked the film or not, part of the reason that “Hurt Locker” made so little money was its limited distribution, not its quality. This is a challenge for all films that don’t have millions of dollars to spend on promotion & advertising.
Once the Oscar buzz started, it was easier to get that film out where it could be seen, & generate more revenue.
And I have to agree with the negative assessment of Inglorious Basterds. I loved, loved, loved the Jew Hunter character, but the overall film seemed pointlessly revisionist, ridiculous & excessively violent…but that’s what we’ve come to expect from Tarantino, I guess.
I can only hope that his over-the-top gore-fests serve as a release valve for young male aggression rather than a trigger for it, because I really see no point in them otherwise.
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Joshua
In all fairness Inglorious was very rich with excellent story, drama and comedy but just because most felt it was stupid only because it had so much gore and violence which is Tarantino. Jew Hunter should win hands down best supporting.
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Heather Ferreira
If you’re going to hand another Oscar to Quentin Tarantino, preface it by giving one to Ralph Bakshi – for there is not one thing Tarantino has put to live action film Bakshi didn’t put there first, better, and on cel. (Personally, for at least two wretched reasons with faces I can think of, Kathy Bigelow deserves to win Best Picture and Best Director. I personally hope she wins both. I will be riveted watching this year’s Oscars to get that priceless coming cut-away shot to Quentin Tarantino’s and Lee Daniels’ faces the moment her name is read from that envelope.)
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Dan
This is the kind of comments I like to read several times
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tad
My picks- Best Picture, Hurt Locker
Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow
Best Actress, Sandra Bullock
Best Actor, Jeff Bridges
Supporting Actress, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Supporting Actor, Christoph Waltz
Animated film, Up
Art Direction, Avatar
Cinematography, The Hurt Locker
Costume design, The Young Victoria
Documentary Feature, Which Way Home
Documentary Short, Music by Prudence
Film editing, The Hurt Locker
Foreign Language film, A Prophet
Makeup, The Young Victoria
Music,Original Score, Hurt Locker
Original Song, The Weary Kind
Short Film,Animated, French Roast
Short film live action,Kavi
Sound Editing, Hurt Locker
Sound Mixing, Hurt Locker
Visual Effects,, Avatar-
Barb
Why do so many people think that Bullock should get an award just because she was better than expected? ‘Better than expected’ should not equal getting an Oscar. She was all right, but it was not a difficult role and one that many others could have easily played. I’m so sick of this band-wagon mentality.
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ibivi
None of Ms Bullock’s movies have been a great stretch for her. She usually plays some variation of herself. I can’t put her on the same level as Helen Mirren or Meryl Streep or Juliane Moore or other lesser-known actresses who toil away with great work but don’t get Oscar recognition they deserve. Maybe she’ll be Oscar ready in 5 years or so but not yet.
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ibivi
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Barb
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Truth…
Precious was in limited release and it made 47 mil. domestic so no it isn’t because of the limited release. Hurt Locker just sucked and a $16mil movie with a $12mil domestic take means no word of mouth and that’s just bad. if this wins best picture this too would be a first time a bonafide flop won, and that looks bad for women. it’s like, “awww, you’re a girl who did a boy movie, here’s an Oscar…”
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Monica
Avatar fanboys say the wackiest things!
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kate
I completely agree with you. I’m not sure that her win would reflect well on women because I’m not sure she deserves the award over some of the other films… personal opinion though
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arr
So, um, given that “Cop Out” has so far been the second-highest grossing film this weekend, and has made more than Hurt Locker ever did, I’m to assume that it’s a better film?
I hope to see it at the top of the list of nominees next year, boy howdy. -
t.g. pierson
I don’t care how much a movie makes…that has no basis on whether the film is good or not. Look at the box office…Transformers 2 was the biggest pile of junkyard crap I have seen is many many years…It raked in the money…just because a movie makes money doesn’t mean it is good.
Precious had Oprah behind it so that explains that…and look at An education and A Serious man, both of those films made less than Hurt Locker but you don’t hear any backlash about them. The Hurt Locker is a great movie and Kathryn Bigelow deserves every award she has recieved.
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waya
Ask vets who have seen Hurt Locker and they say its totally bogus, plus the guy who wrote it never thanked the bomb squadron he based it on. When the soldiers tried to get him to acknowledge them, he came up with the old, “This is just a made up story” cr*p. So much for how that group cared about our troops! Total scumbags.
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Monica
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Daniel
Here is a thought.. Have a year where there are only credits for the actors promoting a movie since its obviously going to be in the trailers and they have to have some sort of marketing. But, why not leave out all other credits till nominations so there is not any bias towards who did what or who deserves this now notion. Let the voting begin and we will ALL know at Oscar night who truly deserves the awards. Might be the king of the world, could also be a college student film maker. That would work for me. Less politics in awards show would be great.
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Jenny
I love this post. In my opinion, the best part of The Hurt Locker was the direction. The way she shot scenes in one long shot builds the suspense and tension all the more. The angle and feel of the movie was spot on. Of the nominated directors, she deserves the Oscar the most. And I hope that it will inspire more women to take up directing too.
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Austin
Watch “Children of Men” and then talk about scenes with long shots that are filled with tension. Alfonso Cuarón > Kathryn Bigelow.
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Nick
“Children of Men” was fantastic but that does nothing to take away from Bigelow’s astounding direction of “The Hurt Locker”.
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Nick
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Austin
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Bill
Was he really trying to suggest that having 2 women nominated for Best Actress supported his contention that 2009 was a great year for women in the movies?
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kate
I know- it’s so unusual when women get nominated for best actress awards. These are crazy times people.
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kate
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More Oscars 2013
Kathryn Bigelow: If she wins the Oscar for directing, does that mean it's been a great year for women?
Um. I guess every media outlet is trying to fill the hours leading up to the Oscars on Sunday night, aren’t we? So I told the TV producer this: As a movie-lover, I hope Bigelow wins, because of, well, her great directing of The Hurt Locker. As a woman (and thus, apparently, an oracle for the purposes of his little pre-Oscar feature) I’m aware of and excited about the significance of such a win, since she’d be, oh, the first woman ever to take the trophy in that category (and only the fourth ever nominated). But as a movie-lover, I’d like to think that if a man had directed The Hurt Locker as well as Bigelow did, then he would win the Oscar. I’d like to think that if Bigelow wins, the biggest benefit for women who want to make movies in Hollywood — a Hollywood run, as most of the world is run, by men — would be greater industry-wide recognition that talent comes in all sexes, colors, and sizes. A woman can make an action flick or a war movie; a man can make a feminine romance. All we want is to see stories that move us, excite us, entertain us, challenge us. Sometimes those movies are about alien blue people. More often, those movies are about people with whom we can identify, characters who look as young or old as we are. And as male or female, too.
See that divine bundle of Penelope Cruz, from Nine? She’s delicious, she’s sexy, she represents fantasy womanhood on what used to be called the silver screen. Long may she sparkle! But the success of Kathryn Bigelow represents real workplace progress, accomplishment, and the equal opportunity of talent rewarded. Women — and for that matter, humans of every gender — are invited to cheer. I’ll be on my couch on Sunday night, waving a hankie of hope.