Iraq war takes center stage at Oscars

Three war-themed movies - The Messenger, Avatar, and The Hurt Locker - seek Academy Awards.

HOLLYWOOD - Seven years after Michael Moore protested the invasion of Iraq at the Oscars stage for, three films linked to the conflict are poised to take the top prize at the Academy Awards here Sunday.

With less than a week to go until the Oscars are handed out at the Kodak Theater, Kathryn Bigelow's gritty "The Hurt Locker" is the overwhelming favorite to be crowned best picture.

James Cameron's "Avatar", seen by many as symbolically referring to the Iraq war, is competing for awards.

And "The Messenger", too, is expected to collect an award.

A slew of dramas about the war have been released in recent years, from Robert Redford's earnest 2007 "Lions for Lambs" to Brian De Palma's "Redacted," but most did not do well at the box office.

While "The Hurt Locker" has attracted criticism from some veterans groups for its depiction of a bomb disposal unit -- several have described it as unrealistic, John Wayne-style hokum -- others have applauded it.

Another Iraq film is vying for honors at the Oscars. Woody Harrelson is nominated in the best supporting actor category for his performance in "The Messenger," a low-budget independent film about the work of an army officer whose job is informing next of kin about a bereavement.

A vocal anti-war activist, Harrelson said work on "The Messenger" helped change his attitudes towards the military.

"The former administration of this country would have us associate the warriors with the war. So that when they say 'Support the troops' what they're really saying is 'Support Our War,'" Harrelson says.

"So I always kind of lumped it altogether. It wasn't until I had the opportunity during the shooting of 'The Messenger' to spend a lot of time with people in the army that I started to realize how amazing these people are.

"I was knocked out. But much as I have come to love the warrior I still loathe the war."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37573.