You remember Kathryn Bigelow, right? She's that stunning, gifted female filmmaker who is also the answer to the trivia question, "Who was the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director?"
Yes, Bigelow won an Academy Award for The Hurt Locker, trouncing that money-making machine named Avatar, which was made by her ex-husband, that money-making machine named James Cameron. But that was a couple of years ago, ancient history by contemporary standards. Perhaps you need a reminder of what Bigelow can do. If so, I have just the thing.
The snooty New York institution known as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA to its friends) has announced an upcoming exhibition called "Crafting Genre: Kathryn Bigelow," a retrospective of Bigelow’s work. The description on MoMA's website mentions a couple of Bigelow's films by name, but there’s no schedule of what will actually be shown. MoMA is too busy being pretentious to provide real, useful information.
According to the good people at MoMA, "Bigelow transforms the language of genre and challenges audiences to rethink filmic iconography." They go on to describe Bigelow as "a measured filmmaker who defies genre expectations" and "uses sensual and visceral imagery to confront societal mores and lay bare individual psyches." Oh, MoMA, you crack me up. While that all may be accurate, it's also a pretty highfalutin way to describe Point Break and Near Dark — fine films to be sure, but MoMA makes it sound like you need a degree in Epistemology to enjoy Keanu Reeves vs. Patrick Swayze on surfboards…but I digress.
The exhibition was organized by Jenny He, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Film, and will run from June 1 to August 13, 2011. If you're in New York this summer, drop by and enjoy the psychic disconnect bound to be experienced by watching Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton eat people at the Museum of Modern Art.
So, Bigelow might not be getting those bazillion-dollar paychecks that her ex gets, but she has won the Oscar as well as the respect of the leftist intellectual upper-crust elite. And, hey, isn't that what showbiz is really all about? [Editor's note: No, showbiz is all about getting those bazillion-dollar paychecks. Really.]
You remember Kathryn Bigelow, right? She's that stunning, gifted female filmmaker who is also the answer to the trivia question, "Who was the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director?" 
