DImebag Darrell 1966-2004 R.I.P.

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Blade - a movie review

BLADE: TRINITY
Keith Dotson

This is the third entry in the Blade series and is by far the weakest of the three. Third time screenwriter, first time series director David Goyer chooses in many cases style over substance to the movies’ detriment. Erratic performances by various members of the cast break things down from time to time as well.

Early in the film we find the titular character Blade (Wesley Snipes) brought out into the open by a very public event devised by a group of vampires, led by horribly miscast Parker Posey. We are informed that the vampires are waging a public relations war while setting up their “end game” by resurrecting the first vampire. This character, is primarily referred to as “Dracula” but bears very little resemblance to any version of the character ever to appear on screen or in print. This is due primarily to a murky back story that I wont delve into.

After being set-up by the villains, it becomes necessary for Blade to align himself with a group of monster hunters led by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds) and Abigail Whistler (Jessica Biel) called the Nightstalkers. The Biel character being the daughter of the Whistler character played by Kris Kristofferson in all three films. Other than King And Whistler the characters, though showing promise, never go anywhere, lessening their supposed emotional impact to the story.

The movie hums along at a brisk pace ultimately climaxing with the inevitable fight between Blade and Dracula. The look of the film is very unique to the series. Starting out with a film stock that appears to be similar to many 70's films (Escape from NY and the Dirty Harry movies come to mind) it shifts to digital with the introduction of Biel’s character and her first fight scene, shifting back and forth between storylines finally ending all digital toward the end. (Excuse my description of the process. Being a layperson, I have no idea as to how these techniques are achieved. )

I found there to be too many “self-congratulatory” action moments in the movie where you can almost hear the filmakers - - in their best Butthead imitation - - saying “that’s cool” while checking out the dailies of various explosions. Also, one more slow motion montage of the characters walking somewhere I think I would’ve screamed. Bad dialogue in spots, plot holes you could drive a truck through and certain jokes that just weren’t funny also mar things a bit but overall, surprisingly after all my criticisms, it’s wasn’t terrible.

Director Goyer seems enamored with flashy techniques but it’s possible that this is something he’ll grow out of with future efforts. If not, he could always occupy the same niche that also includes successful director Stephen Sommers. A rumored spinoff featuring the Nightstalker characters could still possibly prove interesting.

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WTF?

I'm having a wtf moment tonight. I purchased a domain name from Yahoo tonight but if I use it to mask the url of this blog then it displays Yahoo ads at the bottom. WTF?