Weekend Movie Forecast: The Hurt Locker Vs. Transformers

The Hurt Locker finally opens this weekend, and we definitely recommend it. Set in Iraq in 2004, this wholly immersive thriller thrusts you right alongside the Army’s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad. These are the soldiers called to defuse or blow up IEDs found on the road or in a crowded marketplace; upon arrival one of them usually ends up donning a protective Kevlar suit which (hopefully) protects the wearer from less devastating blasts. Not a fun job, but it makes for riveting entertainment when observed from the air-conditioned safety of an American movie theater.

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, whom we recently interviewed, from a script by journalist Mark Boal, who spent some time embedded with an EOD squad, The Hurt Locker radiates a visceral authenticity that's been missing from other Hollywood attempts to depict Iraq—and without any of the polemics, either. Bigelow and Boal will be on hand for Q&As following multiple screenings Friday and Saturday night at the Sunshine, and following two Sunday matinees at AMC Lincoln Square.