I loved Kathryn Bigelow's THE HURT LOCKER, but then... I'm a huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow's career. I love THE LOVELESS, NEAR DARK, BLUE STEEL, POINT BREAK, STRANGE DAYS, K-19: THE WIDOWMAKER and I really love THE HURT LOCKER.

I saw this and TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN in the same day - and the common thought would be that Michael Bay would be where I got my testosterone fix, but if anything - Kathryn Bigelow made Bay look dickless by comparison. Sure Bay has the bigger explosions, more outrageous action - but none of that reveals an ounce about being a MAN - on the contrary, it only reveals one's insecurity regarding manhood.

Kathryn Bigelow loves her male characters - and she effortlessly knows how to make men be the sort of men we all look to as being the prototypes of manhood. The best of whom I feel is Steve McQueen. For me, the most awesome MAN in film history is Steve McQueen. Because Steve could handle his action, but more than that - his face judged his situation, his actions were honorable, yet macho. He had a brilliant way of not giving a shit, that made us give a shit. And all of that is fused into Jeremy Renner's portrayal of Staff Sgt William James.

But more on him later. In many ways, this is the first apolitical IRAQ war film. It doesn't judge the war, it doesn't politicize the war, it doesn't disgrace our involvement, it just deals with the working lifestyle of War. In this case, it is about an Army Bomb Squad unit that is on the tail-end of its rotation in IRAQ. The team finds itself with a new leader in Jeremy Renner's James - and he's counter to everything they knew from their previous leader.

Gone is caution. Instead, you have a man that likes to beat the bomb. He knows every moment may be his last, but he's ok with that. He knows he's smart enough to survive his encounters with bombs, if he just does his job and defuses the situation. His second in command, Sgt Sanborn, played by the amazing Anthony Mackie... well, Sanborn and James are not birds of a feather. The risks seem to continually ramp up, and each time we see James heading to meet it face to face.

Now the greatest thing about this film is that these guys are not being challenged by a single mad bombing mastermind that they'll track down and defeat. This isn't a procedural investigation film, it is about doing this very specialized and life-saving work in the tensest working conditions imaginable.

This is where I go into a personal story that many of you just won't believe. Prior to AICN, I sold collectibles - sometimes at a place called CITY WIDE GARAGE SALE here in Austin. And I made friends with an off duty officer that used to hang out and chat about all manners of subjects during the boring hours of work that we both faced. He was actually the senior officer that worked with Austin's BOMB SQUAD. I remember being shocked at how much BOMB diffusing he had to do in a given week in Austin. It seems Meth-labs in particular have bombs triggered to blow the labs, and he and his team always got called in. Then there's just all sorts of WAR memoribilia that they have to explode. But he always described to me how awful it felt to get in the "suit," how sweaty and nerveracking the work was. But he did it. I really admired him.

And in watching this movie, I found myself admiring the work these guys do over there. They're not just saving American military, but Iraqis too. These guys are doing work with pure evil. Bombs that are meant to indescriminately kill whomever may be around when they go boom!

I also love Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes and David Morse in this film. They have small, but key parts - and it is very very realistic.

However, the centerpiece sequence is the sniper scene. The back and forth in this sequence is so tense, that you could feel yourself working up beads of sweat - even whilst sitting comfortably in air-conditioning. I also feel that the scene is THE turning point in Sanborn & James' relationship - and it is all about the Capri-Sun. Watch the scene and see if you agree. There's something awesome about how that is handled that I just love.

Here, you have riveting tension, without sacrificing logic, sense or reality. You have real heroes, that never beat their chests or brag. It's just a job, they're not saving the world, they're just trying to survive the day - and that is one of the great truths to heroes. For so many, it is just the job they do.

Lastly, Kathryn Bigelow. Thank you for showing men that are not assholes, womanizers or jerks. They're just men. Men that dream of families and lives that they've yet to live. They're men worried about surviving every day, but not whining about it constantly. They just are cognizant of the situation they are in. Also, thank you for giving me a good movie to see today that shows men and robots and wasn't painfully offensive, retarded or insulting. You know... thanks for making a wonderful film!