The Hurt Locker is episode 134 focusing on the movie of the same name, as part of the Pod-19: The Widowcaster miniseries covering the filmography of Kathryn Bigelow. Posted November 2017.
Summary[]
Sonia Saraiya (Variety) joins Griffin and David to discuss 2008’s bomb action-drama, The Hurt Locker. But will filming in 120 degree desert heat affect a production? How does this movie score with audiences and critics for its portrayal of the Iraq War? What about the cinematography helps to convey the feeling of being in combat? Together they discuss the significance of Bigelow winning for Best Picture, Jeremy Renner’s career and the difficulty of putting a straw into a Capri Sun. [1]
Sonia Saraiya comes back to the show for the first time since the early days in the broom-closet-sized UCB recording studio. After some near-miss appearances that were scotched due to scheduling, she sits down with #TheTwoFriends to discuss the first female-directed film to win Best Picture and Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow's masterpiece The Hurt Locker.
Given the tales from the set, this movie sounds a bit like it was Bigelow's version of The Abyss. No wonder she and James Cameron get along.
This was the lowest-grossing Academy Award Best Picture winner anyone can remember, and it had an unusual path to Oscar through things like the Spirit awards. It's also a rather unadorned portrait of a hypermasculine environment, to the point where Griffin's best childhood friend Sophie thought he was doing a two-hour-long bit when he told her a woman directed it.
As the first full-fledged effort in Bigelow's developing documentary-like style, for better and worse did this set the tone for everything she has done since? The movie had an insanely low ratio of footage used to footage discarded - combined with the middle-eastern filming locations, what effects did this have on the shoot, on the actors, and on the finished film? Does Jeremy Renner have a Resting Grump Face? And most relevantly, which Harry Potter movie is the best one?
Milestones and Ephemera[]
- New Ben nickname: The Voice Of Reason
- Ben's Marvin the Martian impression: perfect
- Wisdom teeth: actually really stupid
- Box office game: Weekend of June 26, 2009/
References[]
- ↑ The Hurt Locker on Audioboom. Retrieved July 26, 2021.