First Snow (2006)

"I saw... no more roads. No more tomorrows. Not much time left. "

At a glance:

Might as well smoke your heart out.

From the trio who wrote the script and screenplay of Children Of Men (2006), we get this very adequate thriller about just how far a man would go to change his fate. Suave salesman Jimmy Starks (Guy Pearce) is stranded in a small New Mexico town, waitin on the car repairman, so he humours himself with the services of bystandin soothsayer Vacaro (J.K. Simmons). Sure enough, the fortune teller's ominous readings start to come true before long and our disbelievin wheeler-dealer starts to panic. Movie title alludes to the time up until which Mr Starks has before he must die.

Bad news on the doorstep:

The reliable lead actor's character arc wins our attention and sympathy but the out-of-place antagonist Vincent (Shea Whigham) is either underwritten or overwritten because we don't really need him for this story. Piper Perabo is pretty pedestrian and she further shortchanges the pervos by not even takin off her bra in a mornin quickie as the girlfriend. Jeez girl, these guys have been waitin since Coyote Ugly (2000).

Perennial wonderment:

Guy Pearce

After decades of providin the star appeal that drives smaller but memorable films, Guy Pearce seems to have renewed his interest in mainstream Hollywood lately by takin on supportin roles in blockbusters e.g. Prometheus (2012) and the in-production Iron Man 3 (2013) . I saw the instantly forgettable Lockout (2012) last month and thought oh no, he's gone back to The Time Machine (2002) again. Perhaps his charmin rascal looks exclude him from classical leadin man opportunities, so he'll forever be remembered for his anti-hero or villainous turns in Memento (2000) and The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002). Someone should try castin him in an out-and-out good guy role and see what happens. By this I mean have him play alongside Brendan Fraser as a sensitive gay comedian.

"Nah, it's probably one of those Autodialers.
Lowest form of organic life, a Telemarketer."

Most memorable line:

“This road you’re on… you put yourself on this road… on this exact night. Who chose this? A man makes his destiny, right? Nothing makes the gods laugh harder."

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

I liked it. ★★★

The Hurt Locker (2009)

At a glance:
More Jarhead (2005) than Black Hawk Down (2001), less-than-industrious female director Kathryn Bigelow returns with a technically accomplished, frighteningly realistic and morally challengin war movie called The Hurt Locker. Devoid of all the in-your-face drama and intrusive music that war movies so often shoot down your throat, this compact adventure about a self-conflicted Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit with the U.S. Army's Bravo Company is a festival favourite that can win over commercial audiences if only given the chance. We're led to Iraq to follow headstrong Sergeant First Class William James (a composed lead performance by Jeremy Renner, smokin, pic) whose passion for bomb diffusion goes beyond the call for duty. The man doesn't even care that the previous soldier in his position (Guy Pearce) was killed in similar operations but his subordinates certainly don't take kindly to this maverick manoeuvres. The 'safety-first' Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie, black, pic) and the nervous Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) form a bond with him but war and death mean different things to each of them. As they go on more and more daily operations involvin the disarmin of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), we're brought uncomfortably close to the action and learn to see what life is like as a soldier.
Perennial wonderment:
Why ain't we seen much from Kathryn Bigelow? Point Break (1991) must be good. Near Dark (1987) was class. Ain't got the chance to see K-19: The Widowmaker (2002) yet.
Reminds me of:
Saïd Taghmaoui and Don Cheadle in Traitor (2008).
Watch out for:
British attitudes towards the war, personified by a Ralph Fiennes cameo. Wonderful suicide bomber sequence near the end. Hurt Locker goes for impact both in terms of physical bombs and human drama. Explosions are dusty and powerful (obligin a slow-mo scene every now and then) and the characters are complex but their actions, singular. They don't need to talk about what they're doin or why they're doin it - they just do it.
Most memorable line:
Colonel Reed: What's the best way to go about disarmin one of these things?
Staff Sergeant William James: The way you don't die, sir.
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?Reportedly, producer James Cameron said this about his ex-wife's film: I think this could be the Platoon (1986) for the Iraq War. The movie is from an acclaimed source material - best-sellin 2002 novel War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning by a NY Times war correspondent. It even opens with a quote card from it - the rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug. You won't hear many complaints about this neat effort, unless you're sorry Evangeline Lilly from TV's Lost only gets about five minutes of screen time. Four stars.