First up, “Desert Warriors: Lions Of The Namib”, which was excellent, at least as far as content. Great documentary about a pride of desert-adapted lions and their struggle to survive in the Namib Desert.
Only real complaint was the somewhat repetitive music that just wouldn’t stop. It was allllllways there, in the background, not always full-blast, sometimes quite subdued, but still ever-present. After a while it got distracting.
Also a really sad tearjerker part that just bothered me. I’m [not] sorry, but if I saw an old lioness starving to death and circling the drain, “researcher” or not, I’d bring the poor gal a rump-roast and some water, and not just stand by and keep watching and filming her last breaths. Chrissakes…
Second for tonight, an oldie, “Adrenalin: Fear The Rush”. Pretty good, incredibly simple plot, gets pretty much right to the action with zero ado. Christopher Lambert and Natasha Henstridge and other actors are cops of some international-ish police force with accents from all over Europe and the ’States. Ostensibly the city is Boston(??), but has a huge prison that looks like it was modeled on the Bastille. The cop leader has an American flag and one other white-with-stuff-on-it flag on his desk, but has a thick French accent that makes Jean-Claude Van Damme sound like David Brinkley. And the little European clown-cars used by the cops had “Policia” on them, so they’re not quite French (“Le Po-Po”?). Point being, I have no idea what universe that was supposed to be in (and I suspect, neither did the moviemakers).
Anyway, some Mystery Virus infects a mutant sporting a wifebeater shirt, and gives him Suleban eyes and Cryptkeeper hair and face, and weird vampire teeth and other mutations. And in 23hrs or so, he’ll turn into a supercarrier and go viral and everyone within windshot will get infected. So, after he starts killing the locals, the cops are sent to kill him, then the Well-Armed Guys In Yellow Rubber Suits follow somewhat late in the movie.
Okay, so it sounds ridiculous so far, but they cut right to the action and you don’t have time to dwell on any of that. The cops think they got the mutant trapped in the Bastille, but haha, he knows all the shortcuts and secret passages, and starts picking off the Expendible Characters with ease.
So after it’s up to Tasha to go get help because everyone else is either dead or in a serious world of hurt, she runs into the WAGIYRS dewds once she’s outside, and then goes back in(!) to get her comrades out.
I’m still in favor of the nuke-it-from-orbit approach, but that wouldn’t make for a very compelling movie.
What does bug me is when someone makes explicit mention “I’m down to my last clip”, then fires repeatedly into nothingness, and/or into a huge metal door as it closes. And then magically has lots and lots more ammo later. And apparently all the cops there get issued the crappiest flashlights ever, which blink sporadically like they have Lightning Mode, and fizzle out at the most inopportune times. You just wanna point ’em at Convoy or Sofirn or something, eh?
Anyway, just shift your brain into neutral and coast through the movie. It’s only 1¼ hrs, and goes by pretty quickly. Here’s the key: Just Don’t Think. Enjoy the ride, the weird random accents, the Bad Decisions made on a regular basis, and try not to think about, well, anything. It’s still a pretty fun ride. And loads of laffs to poke fun of later.