A House of Dynamite (2025)

The White House Situation Room has just been informed of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from an unknown origin set to target the city of Chicago within the next twenty minutes. Kathryn Bigelow's political drama plays it as close to the bone as possible, almost like a dry run for the actual event, as it unfolds from three different perspectives. I personally find movies like this quite boring; there's a lot of technical jargon and it's not very interesting to watch. And the movie ends without any sense of resolution, which just pisses me off. I guess the point of it is to show how unprepared the government is for unforeseen emergencies and how we're always minutes away from uncertain disaster. Just more fearmongering porn to add to the burning pile of humanity.

DEFCON 2 out of 5

Strange Days (1995)

A sci-fi drama set in L.A during the last days of 1999. It was co-written by James Cameron, so it’s typically overblown and overlong but there’s a solid story within. Lenny is a black market trader of real life experiences, recorded moments seen through someone else’s eyes that can be re-lived by anyone. Want to know what infidelity is like without ever laying hands on another person? Lenny can provide. Of course, there’s an even darker side to human activity that can also be exploited.
Lenny’s life moves at a fast pace and the camerawork reflects that. It's not as nauseating as it could've been, but nor is it wholly beneficial to the story.
Most of the acting is good, though. My favourite being Angela Bassett; everyone needs a friend like Angela.

3 squids on heads out of 5

POINT BREAK [1991]

Director Kathryn Bigelow pumps up the philosophical adrenaline in the silly but wildly entertaining crime-thriller Point Break.
Keanu Reeves does his best to play a broody FBI agent that goes undercover to try a nab a gang of notorious bank robbers that may or may not be surfers.  Elevated by some beautifully photographed surf scenes and perfect pacing, Point Break doesn't speak to the viewer like most action films like this would.  Instead it tries to get into the minds of why folks like this do the things they do...still, the film isn't without it's numerous 80's & 90's action movie clichés and mind-numbing dialogue.
It could have heavily benefited from going in the direction I suspect Bigelow was striving for but was held back from the studio and instead comes off as silly action flick with a few hints of being something more.

3 Ex-Presidents out of 5

Near Dark (1987)

All Caleb wanted was to plough Mae’s furrow. but he got a Winnebago full of trouble instead and an overwhelming thirst.
It’s set in the 80’s but it’s a Western beneath the surface, albeit an atypical one because it’s a vampire film, but you’ll not hear the word ‘vampire’ spoken once. I really liked it when I was younger, but the glasses came off quickly. The most effective thing is the binding atmosphere prevalent throughout; even when there’s nothing happening with the story it holds things together. Credit for that goes primarily to Bigelow’s astute direction, but also to Tangerine Dream’s dramatic music.

2½ security blankets out of 5

ZERO DARK THIRTY [2012]

Director Kathryn Bigelow tells the true story of the manhunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the controversial procedural spy-thriller Zero Dark Thirty.

Like The Hurt Locker, she carries the film with uneasy tension, only instead of thrilling tension, it's an emotional one that made me feel queasy in some of its more intense moments.  Utilizing effective camerawork that gives the appearance of a human eye watching, rather than a camera, the film never ceases to allow the emotional tension to break until it's final moments.  Viewers might be turned off looking to be entertained because this technical film is far from entertainment. It might be nearly 3 hours long but not a minute is wasted on filler which I can't say for a few of the other "critically acclaimed" films of the year.

4 motherfuckers who find places out of 5

THE HURT LOCKER [2008]

Point Break director, Kathryn Bigelow's intensely suspenseful Iraqi war film, The Hurt Locker is an adrenaline driven masterpiece that will leave you drained as the end credits begin rolling.
The beautifully detailed cinematography, hauntingly disturbing performances (particularly Jeremy Renner), well-timed action pieces and unsettling avant-garde score from Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders hypnotize you right up until the end.
It's angry, loud, desolate and so very, very foreign to the happy little lives we live behind our interwebs. Highly recommended.

5 easy choices made difficult and vise versas out of 5