Drugs, Dragons, & Detectives

So you plan on seeing Terminator Salvation this weekend because you love the idea of seeing Christian Bale fight back against the threat annihilation in a desolate, bleak, and hostile future environment. Well guess what gang this is nothing new. Not only has Bale done this already twice before, but better in their own guilty pleasure kinda way.


Video Pick(s) of the Week:

Equilibrium: In the not too distant future government officials decide that in order for mankind to survive its own volatile nature, man must put his own feelings in check. A mandatory drug is distributed throughout the land called Prozium, a drug that suppresses man's ability to feel. Emotions and contraband that might cause emotion (art and music etc.) are outlawed. Anyone caught feeling is rendered a 'sense offender' and is then executed. Bale plays John Preston, his position in this brave new world is a Grammaton Cleric. A Cleric is an elite enforcement agent that hunts down sense offenders using instinct and a bizarre method of gunfighting Karate much to the delight of big brother. One morning Preston drops his dosage of Prozium, and begins to see the world in a different way. He starts to question what the world has become and turns into the very thing he has been hunting all of his life. The film has moments that replicate ideas created by George Orwell and Ray Bradbury, while at the same time mingling those ideas with fantastic shootouts & sword fights. The whole thing works as a low budget Matrix by way of 1984 clone.


Reign of Fire: Mankind has got a big, bad, fire breathing problem in this unfairly bashed hoot from 2002: Dragons. You heard right, dragons have taken over the world. Bale this time plays Quinn Abercromby who as a child witnessed the birth of the planet's new rulers, followed by the immediate death of his mother. Decades later mankind's numbers have dwindled to mere thousands if not hundreds now living underground. The earth's surface has been scorched, and it looks as though all hope is fading. Enter Denton Van Zan played by none other than Matthew McConaughey (Unfortunately, yes some of the time shirtless) a fearless dragon slayer looking to kill the queen bee in the hopes all the rest will parish with her. Abercromby and Van Zan clash when it comes to priorities. Abercromby feels hiding and protecting the children is the smartest move, but Van Zan wants blood more than Quint & Ahab combined. The action sequences are impressive (the sky diving sequence has a gleefully nasty surprise), and the special effects are top notch. These dragons are faster, meaner, and sleeker than Jurassic Park's Dinos. I know far more people that loathe this movie than love it, and I have no real defense for it. I just admire brainless action sometimes and recommend this creature feature to fans of fare like Deep Blue Sea.


Trailer Report: Sherlock Holmes
If Guy Ritchie were to remake Tim Burton's fantastic Sleepy Hollow, it might look a little something like this. Robert Downey Jr. appears right at home (when does he not) as the detective who smokes his pipe, plays his violin, and solves mysteries. The difference here is that it looks as though this character is unafraid to get down and dirty, and refrain from being the debonair gentleman we all remember him as. Slow-mo, shirtless, Snatch-style fistfights, sexual innuendo, explosions, and hammer humor dominate this trailer. Jude Law will assist Holmes as the always loyal companion Watson on his latest case, which seems to revolve around the occult or something of a supernatural state. Where will I be when this film opens on Christmas Day? Why that's elementary my dear Watson: In a movie theater, of course.