The TV Addict 

Much like my previous installment of this column, I found out about this film because I was looking up someone’s IMDB credits to see what they were up to. In this case the person I was looking for was one of the best living action directors we have: Kathryn Bigelow.

Bigelow is hardly a director one would call prolific, but she is undoubtedly one that has made an impact. That’s all the more impressive given that her reputation as one of Hollywood’s finest action directors rests almost entirely on the films NEAR DARK, BLUE STEEL, POINT BREAK, STRANGE DAYS, and K-19. Heck, I consider her one of my favorite directors based solely on NEAR DARK, one of the best vampire movies ever made. In my students days I even picked up this book (one I highly recommend) to satiate my Bigelow fixations.

Ever since STRANGE DAYS in 1995 her output has reduced dramatically giving me little to fixate on though. Aside from a very brief short film (MISSION ZERO with Uma Thurman) her last feature film was K-19 in 2002. Now supposedly sometime this year we’re getting another Bigelow film, this one called THE HURT LOCKER. Excitingly enough the story does appear to be Bigelow’s on concoction, making it her first writer/director credit since BLUE STEEL in 1990. The actual screenplay is written by Mark Boal who wrote the article IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH was based on. The film stars Ralph Fiennes in an apparent small role, with Guy Pearce, David Morse, and Jeremy Renner also starring along a slew of young up and comers.

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