The Hurt Locker won awards. I know plenty of people who like it.
Most people I know who don't like it, like myself, are veterans, or still in the military. To sum up why I don't like in one word: accuracy (to be fair, some elements were spot on). Other than that, it has a decent story, good cinematography, good acting. You know, the stuff they care giving rewards out for.
As for generic weapon: there are dozens of different sniper rifles, assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, but there aren't enough .50 CAL machine guns for the model chosen to be lost in a sea of diversity. So when I see a design obviously based on the Browning model my mind's eye automatically begins imagining the weapon's action. The barrel and the double buffer are the only things that looks inexplicably off to me.
Enough with beating a dead horse, or turning a ant hill into a mountain. The new UI looks like it did what it set out to do, make the game look nicer and more streamlined.