After the Oscars’ glitz faded, we all know that Avatar failed to win the major awards. The Hurt Locker won the Best Picture and Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to be given the Best Director award (which Jane Campion should have achieved a long time ago). Noong pinapanood ko yong awards night, hindi ko pa napanood ang Hurt Locker kaya I just shrugged off Avatar’s loss. Naisip ko lang ‘hmmm… maganda siguro talaga ito kaya sinemplang ang paborito kong Avatar’.
On my flight back to Dammam, natuwa na naman ako sa in-flight entertainment ng Qatar Airways. Dahil ayun na naman ang mga kapapanalo lang ng Oscars. First choice ko syempre ang Hurt Locker (watched 3 movies again on the 9-hr flight! Ugh! I’ll tell you about the other two later). I gotta see for myself what made this film better than my favorite James Cameron opus.
Alam ko namang war movie sya kaya hindi ko sya hahanapan ng mga visually stunning scenes like what I saw in Avatar. Instead, ang ini-expect ko ay isang highly engaging film dahil nga war movie sya. Most particularly, I’m looking for that wow factor that will convince me that yes, this is a better film than Avatar and yes, it deserves it’s awards.
Pero kalahati pa lang ng film parang gusto ko nang ihinto. Napilitan na lang akong tapusin. In fact, seeing it only reinforced my conviction that Avatar should have won the highest honors.
Agree naman ako that it was an excellent portrayal of actual events in Iraq particularly on a small unit of US Army EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). Kuhang-kuha naman talaga yong tension, the action, the death, the violence and the senselessness of a war. And I agree with critics who called it raw and visceral. Saludo ako kay Kathryn Bigelow for coming up with something as ‘astig’ as this. She must be one tough lady to have crafted such a testosterone-filled movie.
According to write-ups, this movie was based from the stories/reports of a journalist embedded in one of the troops fighting in Iraq. Doon siguro nanggaling yong pagkadismaya ko. Because it was a compilation of events that took place in a band of army, wala yong traditional story-telling ng isang pelikula. Nothing holds the film together to make it coherent. Para ka lang talagang nanonood ng isang maganda at highly effective na documentary. Kaya naisip ko, It should rather be a 3-part HBO series like The Band of Brothers instead of putting it in the league of ’86 Best Picture Platoon.
Dahil nga walang character development kaya hindi mo maiintindihan at hindi ka makikisimpatya kung bakit ganon yong mga tao sa pelikula. Lalo na yong bida (Sergeant First Class William James) who was portrayed as someone who is recklessly heroic to the point of being an idiot. Hindi ako natutuwa at hindi ako nakikisimpatya sa mga characters na tulad niya. Yong tipong unconventional pero hindi in-explain kung bakit at basta na lang nagpapaka-rambo, unjustifiably violating rules (specially the procedures of something as dangerous as bomb disposal) just for the sake of making them look the part of the hero. Sa akin hindi yon heroism. That’s plain and simple stupidity. At alam kong walang bomb experts ang gagawa ng ganon sa totoong buhay. Ito yong lagi kong sinasabing cinematic effects pero sinasakripisyo ang authenticity nong film.
Because of the documentary-type format, it only allows you to watch from a safe distance but never get involved. In fact, para lang akong nanonood sa isang one-way mirror. I stand witness to the gory details of bombs exploding, body parts a-flying and blood a-spurting. But I was just that – a witness. Hindi ako na-involve kasi nga hindi ako maka-simpatya sa mga bida. At times I was even cursing William and hoped that the bomb would explode dahil gustong-gusto ko na syang sabihan ng ‘buti nga sa yo, g*go!
But why did it win the critics over? Because, according to them, it is the best Iraq war movie as of yet. This means that anything that comes their way, if it is well crafted and about Iraq, deserves their respect. Bakit? Because this film provides them the timely vehicle to piggy-back their sentiments towards the American government who have been dipping its toes on unwinnable wars.
Lately, the call to stop these wars has never been louder. The American people (even the Canadians, Europeans and Australians) have been asking their government to send the troops home. Ayaw na nilang magpadala ng young men and women na bumabalik in caskets. Tag-hirap na ang karamihan ng Kano and they’d rather have their taxes spent on their poor, hindi sa giyera ng kung sino. Kaso, dedma sa kanila ang gobyerno nila. Kaya they need The Hurt Locker to bring their case to a wider audience.
So lobbyists for this film didn’t find it hard to market the film. Na hindi kayang tapatan ng Avatar kahit gaano pa ito kaganda technically, artistically and aesthetically. Because to them, Iraq and Afghanistan is more urgent than maintaining the balance of nature and preventing catastrophic results that could wipe out the entire human race from the planet earth. Duh!
Back to the Oscar awards nights, one of the earlier awards given out was that of the Best Supporting Actress. Si Monique ang nanalo and during her acceptance speech, may binanggit syang pasasalamat dahil daw Oscars was not about politics. Nong sinabi nya yon, I’m sure she wasn’t aware that just a few minutes away comes the greatest contradiction to what she said. She must be sorry to have spoken too soon.
On my flight back to Dammam, natuwa na naman ako sa in-flight entertainment ng Qatar Airways. Dahil ayun na naman ang mga kapapanalo lang ng Oscars. First choice ko syempre ang Hurt Locker (watched 3 movies again on the 9-hr flight! Ugh! I’ll tell you about the other two later). I gotta see for myself what made this film better than my favorite James Cameron opus.
Alam ko namang war movie sya kaya hindi ko sya hahanapan ng mga visually stunning scenes like what I saw in Avatar. Instead, ang ini-expect ko ay isang highly engaging film dahil nga war movie sya. Most particularly, I’m looking for that wow factor that will convince me that yes, this is a better film than Avatar and yes, it deserves it’s awards.
Pero kalahati pa lang ng film parang gusto ko nang ihinto. Napilitan na lang akong tapusin. In fact, seeing it only reinforced my conviction that Avatar should have won the highest honors.
Agree naman ako that it was an excellent portrayal of actual events in Iraq particularly on a small unit of US Army EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal). Kuhang-kuha naman talaga yong tension, the action, the death, the violence and the senselessness of a war. And I agree with critics who called it raw and visceral. Saludo ako kay Kathryn Bigelow for coming up with something as ‘astig’ as this. She must be one tough lady to have crafted such a testosterone-filled movie.
According to write-ups, this movie was based from the stories/reports of a journalist embedded in one of the troops fighting in Iraq. Doon siguro nanggaling yong pagkadismaya ko. Because it was a compilation of events that took place in a band of army, wala yong traditional story-telling ng isang pelikula. Nothing holds the film together to make it coherent. Para ka lang talagang nanonood ng isang maganda at highly effective na documentary. Kaya naisip ko, It should rather be a 3-part HBO series like The Band of Brothers instead of putting it in the league of ’86 Best Picture Platoon.
Dahil nga walang character development kaya hindi mo maiintindihan at hindi ka makikisimpatya kung bakit ganon yong mga tao sa pelikula. Lalo na yong bida (Sergeant First Class William James) who was portrayed as someone who is recklessly heroic to the point of being an idiot. Hindi ako natutuwa at hindi ako nakikisimpatya sa mga characters na tulad niya. Yong tipong unconventional pero hindi in-explain kung bakit at basta na lang nagpapaka-rambo, unjustifiably violating rules (specially the procedures of something as dangerous as bomb disposal) just for the sake of making them look the part of the hero. Sa akin hindi yon heroism. That’s plain and simple stupidity. At alam kong walang bomb experts ang gagawa ng ganon sa totoong buhay. Ito yong lagi kong sinasabing cinematic effects pero sinasakripisyo ang authenticity nong film.
Because of the documentary-type format, it only allows you to watch from a safe distance but never get involved. In fact, para lang akong nanonood sa isang one-way mirror. I stand witness to the gory details of bombs exploding, body parts a-flying and blood a-spurting. But I was just that – a witness. Hindi ako na-involve kasi nga hindi ako maka-simpatya sa mga bida. At times I was even cursing William and hoped that the bomb would explode dahil gustong-gusto ko na syang sabihan ng ‘buti nga sa yo, g*go!
But why did it win the critics over? Because, according to them, it is the best Iraq war movie as of yet. This means that anything that comes their way, if it is well crafted and about Iraq, deserves their respect. Bakit? Because this film provides them the timely vehicle to piggy-back their sentiments towards the American government who have been dipping its toes on unwinnable wars.
Lately, the call to stop these wars has never been louder. The American people (even the Canadians, Europeans and Australians) have been asking their government to send the troops home. Ayaw na nilang magpadala ng young men and women na bumabalik in caskets. Tag-hirap na ang karamihan ng Kano and they’d rather have their taxes spent on their poor, hindi sa giyera ng kung sino. Kaso, dedma sa kanila ang gobyerno nila. Kaya they need The Hurt Locker to bring their case to a wider audience.
So lobbyists for this film didn’t find it hard to market the film. Na hindi kayang tapatan ng Avatar kahit gaano pa ito kaganda technically, artistically and aesthetically. Because to them, Iraq and Afghanistan is more urgent than maintaining the balance of nature and preventing catastrophic results that could wipe out the entire human race from the planet earth. Duh!
Back to the Oscar awards nights, one of the earlier awards given out was that of the Best Supporting Actress. Si Monique ang nanalo and during her acceptance speech, may binanggit syang pasasalamat dahil daw Oscars was not about politics. Nong sinabi nya yon, I’m sure she wasn’t aware that just a few minutes away comes the greatest contradiction to what she said. She must be sorry to have spoken too soon.
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