Trailer!: The Book of Eli

The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.

0 comments

Trailer!: The Book of Eli

POSTED: Thursday, October 1, 2009, 8:45 PM

Filed Under: Movies trailer!

Last week, I sat with a bunch of friends for an impromptu Denzel Washington festival. No one meant to gather for Denzel, but on three separate channels, there were three separate Denzel movies: Crimson Tide, Remember the Titans and Training Day. Unknowingly, we were presented with the body of work of a well-rounded (and critically acclaimed) star: Denzel the Hero, Denzel the Inspiration and Denzel the Villain.

Now, we have Denzel the Badass.

It's a departure for Denzel who, in movies like Man on Fire and Deja Vu, played the saves-the-day kind of guy has never taken on this kind of big budget, fantasy heroism (sure Deja Vu had those whack, outta-this-world plots but I thought it was stupid so I'm not going to count it). What does this mean for a guy like Denzel? He's getting older so, like Bruce Willis in Live Free or Die Hard/the in-theaters Surrogates, need to prove his still bountiful virility in the face of graying hair? Or is he just trying on some superhero shoes to see if they fit? (Sigh, in his younger days, that smile would have looked fantastic under a Captain America mask.)

It also marks the return of the Hughes brothers: The twin wunderkinds who premiered at Cannes as mere 20-year-olds with Menace II Society but stumbled with Dead Presidents, got up again with American Pimp and face-planted with Alan Moore adaptation From Hell. Their first feature since the latter's 2001 release, The Book of Eli is a road picture in the post-apocalypse. The trailer certainly picks up the religious undertones, most likely stemming from the titular book that the sun-bespectacled Denzel protects.

I'm pumped to see Denzel as a Mad Max-type gunslinger and I already like the washed out color palette. But what's better than all of those things is the return of batshit Gary Oldman. I love it when he gets down, dirty and crazy. I was worried that Commissioner Gordon had softened Oldman but he still likes to play it nuts.

Posted by Molly Eichel @ 8:45 PM Permalink | Post a comment

0 comments

Comments (0)

Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
What we're trying to do this weekend
ICE CUBE: In Memoriam: Joe Tartaglia
Coming soon to Philly: Two cockamamie movie promotion schemes
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
PHILLY LOVE NOTES: An ode to Spruce Street
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
CONCERT REVIEW & PHOTOS: James Blake @ TLA 5/11
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: The Archbishop meets the Geator, the Mayor goes suit shopping, Le Bec Fin fin.

About this blog

Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

Follow Critical Mass editors Patrick Rapa and Emily Guendelsberger on Twitter:

@mission2denmark | @emilygee

Search this blog:

Topics:

Blog archives:

May
April
March

February
January

Past Archives: