By Jared Curtis jared@dmcityview.com
‘The Hurt Locker’
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Rated R, 131 minutes
One of the best movies of the year, “The Hurt Locker” is an intense and unpredictable thriller about a group of soldiers that work in the highly stressful and fatality ridden Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. To put it in simpler terms, it’s a bomb disarming unit. Jeremy Renner (“Dahmer,” 28 Days Later”) gives an Oscar-worthy performance as SSgt. William James, a wild man who has disarmed more than 800 bombs in his time in Iraq. James has grown so accustom to taking his life into his own hands that his wife and small child back home have become a distant memory. The entire movie had me on the edge of my seat, leaving me tense long after the credits rolled. “The Hurt Locker” is a tremendous achievement for director Kathryn Bigelow and is one of the best war movies since “Apocalypse Now.” CV
‘Point Break’
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
1991, Rated R, 120 minutes
Director Kathryn Bigelow (“Strange Days,” “Near Dark”) proved long before “The Hurt Locker” that she can make an action film crazier than most men. “Point Break” follows FBI Agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) who is pursuing a group of bank robbers known as The Ex Presidents. After his grizzled partner, Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey), discovers a number of similarities between the bank heists, Utah is sent undercover as a surfer and meets Bodhi (Patrick Swayze) and his gang of surfing misfits (James LeGros, Bojesse Christopher and John Philbin). Soon after Utah learns Bodhi is the leader of the Ex Presidents, all hell breaks loose. “Point Break” is easily Reeves’ and Swayze’s best films and has some of the wildest actions scenes ever. There have been many imitators, but there is not another film as wild and reckless as “Point Break.” CV
