In the first weekend of the New Year, I saw what will probably end up being one of the best films of 2007. It is called Children of Men and stars the criminally underrated Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine. It is based on the eponymous P.D. James novel, and it is jaw-dropping, but I hesitate to tell you anything about it simply because I would not want to lessen its visceral impact. A story set in the Great Britain of the near-future, it is everything V for Vendetta could have been, had the one-hit wonderboy Wachowskis gone less preachy, simplistic and heavy-handedly "on the nose".
Director Alfonso Cuaron stuck 28 Days Later, Saving Private Ryan, and The Handmaid's Tale in a blender and sprinkled the concoction with his own visual flair to create a striking and genuinely intelligent Dystopian action-adventure flick. Unlike V for Vendetta, the audience is not spoon-fed political tripe and beaten over the head with "these are the good guys and those are the bad guys" exposition. There are no good guys or bad guys in this movie. Just desperate, despondent people with different agendas. It is at 93% at RT. Enough said. See it.
Speaking of dystopian... What the hell is going on in this country?
Finally, a bit late, but in a similar vein... Can't remember where I found this, but it is the perfect holiday greeting for the times:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all; and a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures, and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, choice of computer platform, or sexual preference of the wishees. DISCLAIMER: By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
