Released in 2004, Directed by Yasuaki Nakajima
Starring Velina Georgi, Zorikh LeQuidre, Jaqueline Bowman
Shot in Brooklyn this movie has been near the top of my to-watch list for some time. What's compelling about this film is the actors have no lines. It's basically a silent movie, and to top it off it's in black and white. letting the actions speak for themselves. The idea is, gasses still present in the air after the Third World War prevent anyone from speaking to each other, so one woman travels with four men as they try to navigate the rubble of the old world.
I love anything daring, and anything shot in New York, so I really can't wait to see this one.
Released in 2003, directed by David DeBartolomé (as David Barto)
Starring Christopher Lambert, Kelly Brook, Lou Diamond Phillips
I love most movies with lou Diamond Philipps. He's a great actor with a really intense presence. He was one of my favorite actors in the Young Guns series. I guess he was low on work when he took this job. It's a Matrix rip, as most 80's PA films ripped off Mad Max, the Matrix was the pole to dance on after 1999.
In 2010, the population has been torn apart by a virus, and a megalo-giant corporation has an antidote, a drug called Absolon, that will keep you alive, but you must pay them, and buy it, forever. So it's not that far off from many of today's pharma-scams. like any good Hollywood trash, only one man can hope to save the world from ultimate destruction. Actually it's more like the megalo-corp kills one of it's scientists, and then gets a hair across it's ass when a cop starts to investigate (the nerve!) so they send out a bunch of hoodlums in expensive black clothes to take him down.
If you're into the 'chase me till I get to where I need to get to without getting killed by assassins or sidetracked by a stupid broad so I can save humanity', with plenty of guns and Matrix-like graphics, then by all means, jump in!
Images are snagged from Cyberpunk.com, check out their review and more on this sweet sexy website: CyberpunkReview
Released in 2008 Directed by jim Torred Starring Joshua Leonard, Azura Skye, and Nathan Baesel.
It's been twenty years since plague ripped humanity to shreds. It's been 15 years since a baby was born with any success. Now, this young mother finds herself the target of every scumbag in town. They want her baby, for what, who's to say? But she must escape, her only friend a crafty radio Deejay who guides her through the tunnels of the underground. An incredibly original story in a most diluted genre.
Released in 2009 Directed by Shane Acker Starring Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover.
This is the kind of film that really makes you feel like you're watching something special. It's the kind of film you can easily call a film, and not just another action-packed PA movie. Based entirely on the dark vision of a short film written by Shane Acker, it's a visually stunning and moody trip inside a world that's so wonderfully detailed, you'll find yourself forgetting to blink lest you miss another turn.
The main character is called 9, the last of nine dolls created by a lone genius who watched the world end, leaving these small living dolls as humanity's last hope against the robots who wiped everyone out. If that's not gothic enough, Tim Burton produced the film, tipping it right over into that dark special place where your mouth opens just a bit more, your eyes push forward, and you somehow feel the most intense empathy for each character, in fact, more empathy than you'll probably feel for any movie on this page. The animation is astounding, the colors engulf you like a warm but itchy blanket of cool gloom, and the manner of expressions accomplished through characters with only buttons for eyes is worth an award in itself. It's like Wall-E meets the Corpse Bride.
I highly recommend buying the DVD, because you'll surely want to play this more than once.
Released in 2006 Directed by Alfonso Cuaron Starring Jullian Moore, Clive Owen, Claire-Hope Ashity, Michael Caine, and Chiwetel Ejiofor .
Based on the novel 'Baroness of Bad" by P D James, Children of Men is one of the most compelling PA movies of the last decade. Indeed, it's one of the best. That's why IMDB has over 1,155 user reviews. There's no Tom Cruise in shiny jackets, no Hollywood cliches, just a staggering $76 million dollar epic in the desolate war-torn future where the Army is constantly embattled with it's citizens. It's scarier than most PA movies, because its very believable. References to the treatment of prisoners of the 'war on terror' are obvious, and brutal. Gunfights are incredibly realistic and disturbing. Human nature is on display in all it's forms, naked and shameless.
Set in 2027 London, all the women are infertile. Except one. One lone miracle exists. One lone color in a world of grey. Our main man Theo is talked into escorting the young woman named Kee to a safe place where she can raise the first baby to be born in 18 years. In fact, the last 18 year old alive had just made headlines with his own sudden death, spurning a national outcry of mourning at the tragedy, a storm of rage at the system which struggles to oppress those who are still alive, a dystopic uproar at a lost world that offers no hope, no future, and no one to blame.
There's no real answer to what happened to the world, as newspapers and agencies can be trusted only as much as the next roving band of survivors. Kee's pregnancy is considered a miracle by most, and a commodity by others. Together, a small group must endure a storm of bullets and deception to reach their destination.
This isn't your typical 'hero must get from point A to point B and kill everyone along the way' kind of film. In fact, for an allegorical reason that can only be answered by the viewer, Theo never picks up a gun, even when you're begging him to. Dude, it's right in front of you, there's shots everywhere, you need a gun! Pick up the gun! But he never does. If it's fate, or faith, or luck that keeps him alive, you never are quite sure, but distinctly placed artwork and references to the modern day, Picasso, Pink Floyd, and TS Eliot give you more reasons to repeat the movie. Like Fight Club, you'll learn something new every time you see it.
"28 Days Later" Released in 2002 Directed by Danny Boyle
"28 Weeks Later" released in 2007 Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Christopher Eccleston; and Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle, respectively.
One easy to remember rule in these movies: Everything shitty starts with someone else's good intentions. In this case, a bunch of animal lovers bust into a lab to 'free' the captive monkeys who would obviously lead a better life wandering the streets of London. Little do they know the monkeys are all infected with a highly contagious virus that makes people go totally ape. yea, like zombies, crazy, homicidal, like Stephen King's "Cell". our protagonist wakes up four weeks later from a much deserved nap to find most of London devoid of life. Apparently the rest of the city agreed to politely move away and let the monkeys have the city. Nah, they just went bezerk and killed each other, and now our man must fight for his own life with the help of a beautiful girl who never shows her tits because this was made in the squeemish American Hollywood of 2002 and not 1982.
28 Weeks picks up five months later after the infected have been cleared from the city and everyone just can't wait to move back in, including a man who's been carrying the virus without knowing it. It's like watching the first movie, but you're seeing everything that happened during our friend's nap; that is, people going nuts and ripping each other apart. This time without the monkeys to help. Too bad.
Released in 2004, Directed by Yasuaki Nakajima
Released in 2003, directed by David DeBartolomé (as David Barto)
