It seems i’ve watched The Pianist before, but i didn’t really remember any of it. I must have dozed off the first time, because after the first 20 minutes or so, everything looked familiar even though it felt like i had never seen it before, and i would slowly remember a few plot points.

Didn’t Brody win Best Actor for this? I guess he was pretty good, but didn’t seem like he did much. Maybe that’s why it was good.

I’m told i look like Adrien Brody, and watching this makes me wonder if i’d be any good at acting.

I was right. I can count the number of times i went to the theater last year on my fingers. As far as i can remember, these are the ten movies i went to see in 2009.

1. Slumdog Millionaire
2. Taken
3. Sin Nombre
4. Star Trek (IMAX)
5. UP (3D)
6. Funny People
7. District 9
8. 9
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox
10. Avatar (IMAX 3D)

Slumdog won Best Picture. Liam Neeson was surprisingly entertaining as a middle-aged Jason Bourne in Taken. Sin Nombre was a gritty train ride. Star Trek was probably the most incredible sci-fi flick to date. Up was the first movie i’ve ever seen in 3D (with glasses). Pixar packs so much story and emotion into into their little montages, without using any words. Funny People had jokes. Girls didn’t like District 9. 9 was an amazing vision with an slightly less-than-satisfying conclusion. Mr. Fox was a quirky tale saved by an appropriately quirky soundtrack. And… Avatar. I didn’t like it; the chrome finish wasn’t enough to cover up a rusty script.

So i had seen a preview for this probably over a year ago, then i guess i came out in limited release over the summer, but i missed it. It happened to be playing again at a local theater, so i got some friends to check it out with me.

One of the most intense and realistic depictions of modern war — certainly in the Middle East in the past 10 years. Hurt Locker managed to keep me entertained on the edge of my seat without a lot of the typical Hollywood war film fluff. These aren’t American cowboys running around in the desert shooting everything that moves. They’re real, young men doing their jobs. There are rules. And consequences. That’s the part they know. But they happen to be working and living in a foreign land with foreign people and they don’t know who is friendly or not. It was such a tangible portrayal of the anxiety and emotions and confusion that precipitate in these circumstances.

Seeing the trailer i had wondered what kind of story there could be about a bomb squad in Iraq. Are they just defusing bombs and running away from explosions in slow motion the whole time? Well… kinda. My favorite scene had our heroes ambushed while out on patrol leading to the best and most accurate (in my amateur opinion) sniper scene in film. Movie snipers are always so glamorous and faultless, when it’s really laying in the dirt and discipline and trial and error.

But the real conflict is between these three EOD troops, trying to understand and get along with each other, while getting the job done and staying alive so they can get home.

Evangeline Lily is in this movie like Shia LeBeouf is in I, Robot. And i wouldn’t have recognized the actor playing “Doc” Cambridge if i hadn’t recently finished season one of Dexter. There were a few other faces i recognized, like Guy Pierce from Memento, and David Morse from The Rock and Dancer in the Dark. Sanborn was Papa Doc in 8 Mile.

A few spectacular high-speed shots of explosions, a well-photographed sniper battle, and snappy editing break up the drab monotony of the day-to-day in Iraq. Just wish i could have seen and heard it in a newer theater — Shirlington AMC is a tad aged, with a small screen and floor seats that make you look up at the screen.

Update:
The Hurt Locker is out on DVD, Blu-ray, and on-demand this Tuesday, January 12th.