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Look to the small independent film makers for good movies these days. The Hurt Locker is not a war movie in the normal sense we’re used to. It is really a character study of a unique personality type driven by adrenalin and danger. It could be the portrait of a Nascar driver, free-style rock climber, or big wave surf boarder, but this character happens to be a soldier trained for explosive ordinance disposal (EOD). There are scenes of incredible tension and suspense that will make your hair stand on end. The main and supporting characters are well developed and the acting is superb. Filmed mostly in Jordan, you get a realistic portrayal of life in a war zone. There are naturally some clichés such as the hoorah Army Colonel and behind the lines psychologist who just doesn’t get it. There are some implausible scenes that just don’t seem to fit, but overall the story is engrossing, the dialog believable, and the action scenes exciting. The real art in this movie is the thought put into the main character portrayed by Jeremy Renner. You are engrossed in him and spend the entire movie trying to figure him out. Is he a real hero or a simple redneck? You really don’t know what to expect or how things will turn out. This makes some folks uncomfortable and many will not enjoy this movie. I really enjoyed this welcome change of pace. I believe there will be an Oscar nomination or two stemming from this production and it will be well deserved. The Hurt Locker is one of the best films so far this year.

I enjoyed reading the first Harry Potter book and thought the first movie was entertaining. I have not read the other books and have seen a couple of the other films on TV. I knew I was taking a chance on seeing this movie with out a thorough grounding in the total storyline, but I thought a good movie might stand on its own and bring even folks unfamiliar with the Potter world satisfactorily up to speed.  Well, I was wrong. If you aren’t  versed in books 1 to whatever, you will be lost in this movie. It assumes the audience knows what has already happened and what will be happening. Fans may like this, strangers will certainly feel left out and wondering what the hubbub is all about. Obviously the franchise is not looking for new audiences and is quite willing to suck the profits out of the existing fan base. I found the movie rather boring with little intrigue or suspense. I talked to others, my father for one, who is a fan and read the book and couldn’t wait to see the movie. He was almost as disappointed as me and wondered why so much exciting stuff was left out and new scenes inexplicably created. So, another summer lackluster blockbuster. Are we done with these movies yet? I hope so.

There is nothing special about this movie. The story is embarrassing and makes hardly any sense. I really didn’t care about any of the characters and found myself kind of rooting for the Decepticons or whatever their name is. Why was Megan Fox even in this movie? Why is she in any movie? Shia’s parents are the best part of the movie and even they are superfluous time fillers. The acting is adequate if uninspiring. The action is old hat and nothing imaginative. The transformations are so fast and blurred you feel they are hiding the fact they can’t make the transformation from car to giant robot look believable. The toys actually do transform and you can see how each part moves from function to function, so why can’t they make a computer rendering work that way? For kids and maybe adults who love the toys and the cartoon series, the movie may seem worthwhile. I was thoroughly unimpressed with this film.