Bigelow in SB

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Santa Barbara Film Festival chief Roger Durling conducted an intelligent and intriguing discussion last night with Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow at the Lobero theatre. You can't hear him as clearly as Bigelow on my video clip, but that's okay. The Loveless, Near Dark and Blue Steel weren't right for me. Like many others I got on the Bigelow boat with Point Break, and it was clear sailing until September '08 when I first saw The Hurt Locker, at which point she entered my all-time pantheon.

Here are Kris Tapley's impressions of same.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 9, 2010 at 9:34 AM

comment #1

actionman says ...

I just re-watched K19 a few days ago. Much better movie overall than what I remembered.

Posted by actionman at February 9, 2010 9:58 AM

comment #2

Floyd Thursby says ...

Does anyone like Weight of Water?

Posted by Floyd Thursby at February 9, 2010 11:07 AM

comment #3

SHR says ...

K19:The Widowmaker, The Weight of Water, Strange Days, Point Break, Blue Steel, Near Dark.

Not bad but I don't see how this body of work is that of a great film director.

Posted by SHR at February 9, 2010 11:40 AM

comment #4

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

I actually much prefer her earlier work, at least up until the release of THL, which is undoubtedly her best. But "clear sailing," Jeff? Would you like to tell me what specifically knocked you out about K-19 and The Weight of Water (Strange Days is pretty cool, I'll give you that one)? And what on earth didn't you like about Near Dark? Does it possess that icky genre filmmaking stigma that you just can't stand?

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at February 9, 2010 11:41 AM

comment #5

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

I think it's quite possible she's always been a great director, but she's not always made very good films...is that even possible? If so, I'd say she'd probably fit in that (very narrow) category along with Tarsem Singh, and uh...I'll get back to ya.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at February 9, 2010 11:44 AM

comment #6

JTag says ...

Floyd, "The Weight of Water" is actually the only Bigelow film I don't like. I was a huge fan of the Anita Shreve novel on which its based, and I think the film just doesn't ever make the parallel stories work. Once that fails, the movie falls apart. Elizabeth Hurley is terrible, as is Sean Penn. Glad Penn is throwing his Academy weight behind The Hurt Locker though.

Posted by JTag at February 9, 2010 12:15 PM

comment #7

Markj74 says ...

Near Dark, Point Break and Strange Days are three of the greatest genre movies ever. I find all three vastly superior to The Hurt Locker, as much as I enjoyed it.

Posted by Markj74 at February 9, 2010 12:33 PM

comment #8

Markj74 says ...

@actionman: Completely agree, K19 is pretty underrated.

Posted by Markj74 at February 9, 2010 12:33 PM

comment #9

Gordon27 says ...

"If so, I'd say she'd probably fit in that (very narrow) category along with Tarsem Singh, and uh...I'll get back to ya."

I don't think it's as rare as you're giving it credit for, so much as the fact that she has so few great movies to counter the not very good ones.

I can't believe anybody can pretend to be interested in film and prefer 'The Weight of Water' to 'Near Dark'. Actually, scratch that -- I can, but only if a person is up front about not liking horror movies, which Jeff absolutely never is. He dismisses them all completely, but then acts as if it's their fault he doesn't like them.

Don't believe me? Try to find a single film blogger or reviewer besides Jeff who never once mentioned 'Let the Right One In' last year.

Posted by Gordon27 at February 9, 2010 10:14 PM

comment #10