The Hurt Locker | Maryland Film Festival Blog

Posts Tagged 'The Hurt Locker'

OSCARS: Baltimore & Beyond

Published February 2, 2010 1 3 Comments
Tags: Anna Kendrick, AVATAR, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Documentary Short, Best Editing, Best Original Screeplay, best picture, Elinor Burkett, Geeta Gandbhir, James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Music by Prudence, Oscar Nominations, Pathric Wright, PRUDENCE, Rocket Science, Roger Williams, The Hurt Locker

MFF 2009 Closing Night: THE HURT LOCKER

Screenwriter Mark Boal, Director Kathryn Bigelow, & Washington Post Film Critic Ann Hornaday

Unbelievably, defying all odds, MFF 2009 Closing Night film, THE HURT LOCKER, was nominated for NINE (!!!!!!) Oscars, sharing the Most Nominated title with the Biggest Movie in History, James Cameron’s AVATAR. THE HURT LOCKER was nominated in many major categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, etc. If Kathryn wins Best Director she will be the first female director to do so. She’s already broken one glass (titanium ?) ceiling- she’s the first female to win the Directors Guild Best Director, which is a pretty good predictor of Oscar favor.

Also, MICA professor and MFF Alum Patrick Wright’s new film, MUSIC BY PRUDENCE, for which he produced and edited was the co-producer and assistant editor, was nominated in the Best Documentary Short Category. Maybe, like KING GIMP, he’ll bring another Oscar back to Baltimore in this category.

Other Bmore related Oscars: Anna Kendrick, nominated for Best Supporting Actress was at our event for CAMP, and is the female lead of ROCKET SCIENCE, a filmed in Baltimore movie that was MFF 2007 Closing Night. She’s up against another Marylander, Mo’Nique.

-JED

**CORRECTION**: MUSIC BY PRUDENCE was produced by Elinor Burkett and Roger Williams – and edited by Geeta Gandbhir. We apologize to the filmmakers for the mistake.

First Sunday is almost over

Published January 25, 2010 1 Closed
Tags: Barry Levinson, Benazir Bhutto, best picture, Bhutto, Blue Valentine, Casey Affleck, Cherie Curie, Cyrus, Dakota Fanning, Duplass Brothers, Jed Dietz, Jim Thompson, Joan Jett, Kristen Stewart, Lifetime Achievement Award, Maryland Film Festival, Michael Winterbottom, Michelle Williams, Producers Guild, Ryan Gosling, Sundance Film Festival, The Hurt Locker, The Killer Inside Me

I’ve gone from the emotional doc about Benazir Bhutto, (BHUTTO) to the wildly goofy and insightful CYRUS by MFF alums the Duplass Brothers, to Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in the ponderous BLUE VALENTINE (if you want to see Williams hit the ball out of the park, rent WENDY AND LUCY) and back again with Joan Jett and Cherie Currie (THE RUNAWAYS). It seems fit that I’m going to end the day with the premiere of a psychosexual film noir, THE KILLER INSIDE ME, by the great Michael Winterbottom, from a Jim Thompson novel and starring Casey Affleck.

Exciting news away from here, but very much in the mountain air- Barry Levinson is getting a lifetime achievement award from the Writers Guild, and the Producers Guild has picked THE HURT LOCKER (MFF 2009, Closing Night) for best picture. -Jed

Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart who play Cherie Currie and Joan Jett respectively in THE RUNAWAYS, hosting Q&A. The real Joan Jett and Cherie Currie are hiding near the screen.

MFF Director, Jed Dietz, will be at the Sundance Film Festival from January 23-30. Keep checking back for Jed’s daily updates and reports straight from Park City, Utah!

Closing Night Film Announced: Kathryn Bigelow’s THE HURT LOCKER!

Published April 22, 2009 1 Closed
Tags: Ann Hornaday, Closing Night, Evangeline Lilly, Guy Pearce, Iraq, Kathryn Bigelow, Maryland Film Festival, Ralph Fiennes, The Hurt Locker, tickets

The Maryland Film Festival is proud to announce it’s 2009 Closing Night film: Kathryn Bigelow’s THE HURT LOCKER. Fresh from its triumphant screenings at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, where it received standing ovations and multiple awards, THE HURT LOCKER features an extraordinary cast (Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, Guy Pearce) and tells the story of an elite army unit working in Baghdad to defuse IEDs. Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal will attend the screening and Bigelow will be interviewed by Washington Post critic Ann Hornaday after the screening.

“This film represents moviemaking at it’s highest level” said MFF director Jed Dietz. “Kathryn Bigelow has an amazing track record and she has brought all her skills as a filmmaker to bear on this intense and entertaining story.”

THE HURT LOCKER will be released in June.

Click here to purchase tickets to the Closing Night Screening of THE HURT LOCKER!