Hello again. Had an interesting afternoon. Watched a good movie on DVD. In my opinion, Christian Bale is definitely an actor to watch for. Having first seen him in Shaft (as the bad guy), I was impressed enough to seek out his first film, American Psycho. He's had his share of not-so-good ones (the ultimately flawed Reign Of Fire comes to mind) but those faults were never because of the acting. Bale and the ingenious Colin Farrel definitely should be on Hollywood's A list. Back to the movie. It's a little-known sci-fi tale called Equilibrium. In the movie, Bale is John Preston, an elite member of the Cleric class in the city of Libria. It is the future, and all emotion has been outlawed. Citizens are required to get regular doses of an emotion-suppressing drug several times a day, and any form of resistance (or sense offenders, as they are called) is treated extremely harshly. Books are burnt, paintings destroyed, and song is only a remembrance. In the opening scene, we see the state police and Clerics in action as they raid a Resistance den. A print of the Mona Lisa is torched, the offenders killed outright and an unfeeling Bale watches over the proceedings (Oh, and did I mention Sean Bean of Boromir fame also has a cameo as Bale's partner? Another reason to like the movie). All in a day's work for John Preston. However, as we find out soon enough, he misses his dosage the next morning, and his awakening begins. After suffering withdrawal symptoms, Preston begins to discover that the city he protects is not such a utopia after all..

Comparisons will doubtless be made to The Matrix, Dark City and other films of this ilk. Especially The Matrix. But Equilibrium manages to hold its own against these movies, and also one-ups them in certain ways. For instance, Preston is established early on as being extremely proficient in a specialised form of martial arts with guns. It is not that he has a special, paranormal power (think Neo). Instead, members of the Cleric class are trained since childhood to be able to kill efficiently and silently.Their martial arts enables them to calculate the exact angle of fire necessary to neutralise threats, and at the same time evade enemy fire. This results in some of the best gunfight sequences I have ever seen in a film. To make a long story short, the plot, acting and the action are all very well done, and really drew me in. Oh, and be prepared to meet Preston's match in Taye Diggs, in a role he evidently relished. I honestly can't recommend it enough to fans of thinking (and butt-kicking) movies. Definitely worth a DVD purchase..or at least a rental.

Well there you have it! My first unofficial movie review! Not much, but not bad for a first amateur job, if I do say so myself, heheh. Hmm...how time flies. Looks like it's time to hit the sack. Another Monday...and another week at work. Till tomorrow, then, Constant Reader. I leave you with a certain quote from a certain English poet. It made a good plot point in the movie..good enough for me to look a more complete version up and post it here, to share. And people say you can't stimulate the mind with films...hmm. Cheers!

HAD I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

W.B Yeats. The Wind Among the Reeds,1899.