The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau stars Matt Damon as a politician running for a state senate seat in New York. When he meets Elise, a ballet dancer played by Emily Blunt, he immediately falls in love, but strange (and very well dressed) men threaten him with his life, and hers, if he pursues her.

I really enjoyed this film. Damon has really grown into the respectable leading man, from his earlier "pretty boy" career, but the pretty boy in him helps a little bit in this role. He becomes totally believable as this, almost, Kennedy-esque political figure - Young, attractive, knowledgeable, and a power for the people. And Blunt? Well, it's Emily Blunt. She's pretty much going to be awesome in anything she does. The fact, though, that she does her own ballet dancing in the film is impressive, though Natalie Portman still wins, between the two, as her dancing in Black Swan was much more complex. Regardless, Emily Blunt. Awesome. And Anthony Mackie - Where has this guy been? I remember seeing him in some things here and there a while back, and really liking him, but I feel like I haven't seen him in a while. I like him as an actor, and hope his role in this film guarantees him a lot more work soon. John Slattery and Terence Stamp are great, as well, as these sort of fixer characters.

There aren't any game changing effects or crazy plot twists, but I think that's what I like about it. Some of the things that happen in it are supernatural enough without having to go into Shyamalan territory. The film feels like a well written Twilight Zone episode, just in a feature length format. And, yes, it does make you fall in love with New York all over again.

The Hurt Locker

Kathryn Bigelow has made a name for herself as being, basically, the only ultra successful female action film director. With a list of films to her credit that includes Near Dark, Point Break, and the critical and commercial misfire K-19, The Widowmaker, Bigelow has spent over twenty years building her name in the industry with films that have been successful, whether that be commercially, critically, or both. Bigelow returns to form, after some time off, with The Hurt Locker, a film about a small unit of soldiers whose job is to disarm bombs planted by terrorists in Iraq, circa 2004.

Jeremy Renner plays the death wish loving Sergeant Williams, with Anthony Mackie as Sanborn and Brian Geraghty as Eldridge, the junior officer who's ability to deal with the war is breaking down as Williams keeps putting them in more and more risk. Williams is one of these guys who has nothing to lose, or at least feels like he doesn't. He has a wife and newborn at home, but whenever he calls them, he refuses to talk, leaving his wife, on the other end, wondering if its him before he hangs up. Sanborn and Eldridge, after having seen their previous Sergeant die before their eyes, are not about to let Sanborn take them down with him.

The Hurt Locker is a singularity among most current war films, in that it doesn't really make a judgement call on whether our involvement in Iraq is good or bad. It simply follows a group of soldiers who have one of the most difficult, most intense jobs in the entire world, and how that affects who they are, both physically and mentally. It is tense, and when Bigelow tightens the strings, she doesn't let up. She obviously has the pedigree to make these kinds of films, but, by the time Hurt Locker is over, there is no second guessing.