2008 Woodie Awards
Current movies
By Seth Pardick
Rocket Staff Writer
Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: Entertainment
If summertime is the time when Hollywood unleashes its big-budget and mindless action films, it seems that February has been designated as the time of year when Hollywood decides to unleash its just plain mindless films. But it's the perfect time, isn't it? All the films that were potential Oscar nominees were rushed out before the end of the year in order to be eligible for awards. And is it likely that "Date Movie" or "The Pink Panther" would really compete with upcoming summer releases like "Superman," "X-Men 3," or "The DaVinci Code," to name just a few?
This past weekend, I had the choice of attending such dross as "Final Destination 3," "Big Momma's House 2," or "When a Stranger Calls," among others. Oh well, it is February. I reluctantly walked into "Freedomland," the new film starring Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, hoping that I'd be able to escape the type of poppycock I sat through last week ("Firewall"). Well, it seems that I traded poppycock in exchange for utter nonsense. "Freedomland" does everything in its power to circumvent intelligence and plausibility; it avoids logic like its some type of epidemic.
If there is any reason at all to watch this film, I suppose it would be to experience the single most ridiculous sequence in film history. While the opening credits are still flashing across the screen, we see Edie Falco, head of an organization of parents who search for missing children, leading a march down a dark street. Samuel L. Jackson, a police detective, happens to be sitting in one of the few cars in the vicinity. They make eye-contact for a few seconds, although it is discovered later that they have never met. We also see a dazed Julianne Moore listlessly walking what appears to be the same relatively deserted street, her hands covered in blood. Stop. You mean to tell me that we've just seen the three stars of the film nearly bumping into one another in the first scene, a scene that has no bearing on their relationships, or on the rest of the film?
This past weekend, I had the choice of attending such dross as "Final Destination 3," "Big Momma's House 2," or "When a Stranger Calls," among others. Oh well, it is February. I reluctantly walked into "Freedomland," the new film starring Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, hoping that I'd be able to escape the type of poppycock I sat through last week ("Firewall"). Well, it seems that I traded poppycock in exchange for utter nonsense. "Freedomland" does everything in its power to circumvent intelligence and plausibility; it avoids logic like its some type of epidemic.
If there is any reason at all to watch this film, I suppose it would be to experience the single most ridiculous sequence in film history. While the opening credits are still flashing across the screen, we see Edie Falco, head of an organization of parents who search for missing children, leading a march down a dark street. Samuel L. Jackson, a police detective, happens to be sitting in one of the few cars in the vicinity. They make eye-contact for a few seconds, although it is discovered later that they have never met. We also see a dazed Julianne Moore listlessly walking what appears to be the same relatively deserted street, her hands covered in blood. Stop. You mean to tell me that we've just seen the three stars of the film nearly bumping into one another in the first scene, a scene that has no bearing on their relationships, or on the rest of the film?
