Oscars 2013: Ranking This Year's Best Pictures
3. Zero Dark Thirty
Initial Impression: Confession: I hated The Hurt Locker. I thought it was too boring, and it couldn't make up its mind between whether it was a deep character driven piece on the effects of long term warfare on the human psyche, or if it was an action packed adrenaline pumped thriller. That film seemed to have a foot in each pond, and couldn't decide which one to swim in. The only part about that movie that really effected me was the ending, and even in that case it wasn't tied enough to the central narrative for me to care completely. But then Kathryn Bigalow showed off massive stones in saying, "Hey...let's make a film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden!" As if that didn't get my attention enough, the fact that we actually caught him gave the film the potential for a perfect, cathartic ending. Plus, Jason Clarke and Jessica Chastain's stars have been on the rise for some time, and Ms. Chastain's nomination for Best Actress showed that this could have been a film worth paying attention to. The Verdict: Wow. Just wow. Never did I think that I would be on board with a Kathryn Bigalow film, as up until now the only film of hers I could really say I enjoyed was K-19: The Widowmaker. (No, I wasn't a fan of Point Break. Blasphemy, I know.) When she was announced to be helming this film, I was dreading it would be a pseudo sequel to The Hurt Locker, especially with Mark Boal writing yet again. However what I got instead of a disappointing film was a film that made me appreciate the efforts of the CIA, Seal Team Six, and military intelligence worldwide. What's more, Jessica Chastain is ever continuing to impress with her acting chops as we see her go from green field operative to an ultimately worn down woman. Relieved that her job is finished, and that she can go wherever she wants, by time the final frame roles around she doesn't know what she wants. She probably doesn't even know what she'd call "home" at that point, as for almost a decade she's called her job the sum total of her life. Equal parts thrilling, dismaying, and ultimately triumphant, this film helped me see the Bigalow that everyone was talking about with The Hurt Locker.