The Hurt Locker

"Macho as nuts" - Mark Kermode, BBC Radio 5 Live

A classic of the "it's not about..." genre, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker may be set in Iraq and portray the lives of people in bomb disposal, but it's not about bomb disposal, it's about men.

The film made a star of the then-unknown Jeremy Renner, celebrating his "nihilistic machismo", as Mark put it. Renner's star turn was helped by the fact that his character lasts so much longer than those of most of the people whose names you recognise in the credits.

The Hurt Locker was also was notably the first time a woman won the Best Director Oscar.

When interviewed by Simon Mayo to promote the film's release, Bigelow was notably underenthusiastic, in a Liam Neeson type way.

Although Mark thought The Hurt Locker was a "very fine and edgy piece of work", he wasn't sure it quite the masterpiece everyone else thought it was. But still, better than Smurfahontas.