At the Movies With Peter Travers: “The Book of Eli,” “Fish Tank” and Golden Globes
It’s still January *At the Movies*, and even though the month is regarded as a proverbial cinematic cesspool, Rolling Stone movie critic Peter Travers has found a pair of worthwhile films hitting theaters this weekend, including Denzel Washington’s Book of Eli. In this post-apocalyptic action film from directors the Hughes Brothers, Washington plays a ruthless killer in possession of civilization’s last Bible. The film is full of religious parables, but counter-weighted by copious amounts of ultra-violence.
Much like we saw in The Road, the apocalypse will evidently come with desaturated colors and sepia tones. Still, this is the first Hughes Brothers film in over a decade, and Denzel as always steals each scene. During Oscar season, it’s OK to look past a film like this, but in the dog days of January, Book of Eli is one of the better pictures out there. Also worth checking out: Fish Tank, a nearly great small British film about a teenager’s trials and tribulations.
Don’t be fooled by Travers’ recommendations, however: This is still January and there’s still plenty of bad movies out there to banish to the Scum Bucket. This week, it’s Jackie Chan’s deplorable The Spy Next Door, which also features the comedic talents of Billy Ray Cyrus and George Lopez. Chan plays, surprise, a spy that is forced to pose as a nanny and babysit his neighbor’s children. Sounds like that Vin Diesel’s The Pacifier movie, but this time around the hijacks are even more unbearable. Avoid.
Also, Travers takes aim at the Golden Globes voting body the Hollywood Foreign Press, a group of 80 or so race car drivers and cement layers who don’t know jack about the movies. How else can you explain Jeremy Renner’s incredible turn in The Hurt Locker and the Coen Brothers not being nominated for Globes?
Read This Week’s Movie Reviews:
• The Book of Eli
• Fish Tank
• Crazy on the Outside
Read all of Peter Travers’ movie reviews.
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