What I Watched -- The Hurt Locker

This is an amazing movie; I hope it wins the Oscar for Best Picture. In fairness, though, I haven't seen a lot of the other movies that have been nominated. Actually, that's not true. I haven't seen any of the other movies that have been nominated. But still, this is an amazing movie.

The viewer is following a three-man bomb squad as they attempt to diffuse roadside bombs and IEDs in Iraq. The emotional complexity arrives in the form of Staff Sergeant William James, who loves the thrill of the diffusing. His unspoken motto: the riskier, the better. His attitude begets conflict at every turn, and his emotional instability presents itself in surprising ways -- sometimes good, mostly bad.

If for no other reason, you should see this movie because it presents the Iraq war from the point of view of the soldiers who are living it every day. They are under immense strain and pressure, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. An existence like that, where danger awaits around every corner, is so far removed from what most of us know that it is truly an eye-opening adventure.