Let’s be honest, Coronavirus has killed a lot of people, screwed the economy, and given a lot of people an unwanted and unaffordable holiday. In the scheme of things, not being able to go to the cinema isn’t a big deal.
It certainly sucks for the film and cinema industry. But for me, it’s a Thursday afternoon where I watch something on SBS on Demand instead of spending fifty bucks down at Mt. Barker Wallis.
Regardless of how small my issue’s may be, I still cannot wait to get back to the cinema.
The latest Christopher Nolan effort, Tenet is on my list, and probably everyone else’s, and I am salivating at the mouth waiting to see if Black Mass and Hostiles Director Scott Cooper’s latest, Antlers, cops a theatrical debut in South Australia, as many films hit Sydney and Melbourne, but not Adelaide.
Unhinged is one I am also keen to check out. The Russell Crowe starer is directed by Derrick Borte who helmed 2009’s The Joneses, a look at the how a great marketing plan may dictate consumers lives, and also ruin them.
Crowe is credited as ‘The Man’ in Unhinged, a thriller that looks like it could be a cross between the Michael Douglas film Falling Down and the Rutger Hauer classic, The Hitcher with a dash of Charlie Sheen’s 1997 flick, Bad Day on the Block thrown in.
Changing it up, Crowe takes up the role of a villain for Unhinged, which, while he play’s a fair few assholes, is reasonably rare, especially since his acclaimed turn in 2000’s Gladiator. But it’s this turn that makes me most intrigued in this film. While in the trailer, ‘The Man’ seems to be a pretty dark character, likely someone who has snapped after having a tough few years (Maybe he’s been quarantined for far too long?)
I like Russell Crowe, he’s a bloody good actor and I am keen to see his performance as a stalking maniac. I’ve actually been waiting for a long time for something like this from Crowe, since 1995 film Virtuosity in fact.
The Brett Leonard directed Sci-fi action film, which starred Denzel Washington as a Detective, who’d been convicted of killing some reporters in an investigation gone wrong. The film blends real life with virtual reality when a computer simulation used to train police officers by combining the minds of deranged serial killers is materialized in the form of SID 6.7 (Russel Crowe) after the memory of computer the simulation is inserted in a nano-tech android, which only needs glass to repair itself.
While the film is pure schlock, it is a bucketload of fun. Washington only took part in the film because his son thought it would be a fun movie to watch, which is a good enough reason to watch it anyway, but Crowe is sublime.
SID 6.7 is a relentless, heartless, bastard, specifically wired to provoke Washington’s character, Lt. Parker Barnes and Crowe seems to only have fun with the role.
SID 6.7 is absolutely grotesque, the joy he gets from killing is clear from the wide smiles and glowing eyes. From terrorizing wrestling arena’s, innocent lab technicians, and club DJ’s, it’s clear the SID 6 doesn’t have any other hobbies.
Crowe is an Academy Award Best Actor Winner, and a three-time Oscar best performance nominee all up, and has been recognised plenty of other times with other award wins and nominations.
Absolutely none of those awards nominations are for the role of SID 6.7, but that role is still the one that makes me look forward to Unhinged.
And while it may not seem like something worth crowing about, I’ll be watching it in cinema anyway, because I’m just that keen to get back in front of the big screen.
Director: Derrick Borte
Cast: Caren Pistorius, Russell Crowe
Writer: Carl Ellsworth
