Laws of Attraction - 2004

Deep River Productions, Irish DreamTime, Initial Entertainment Group (IEG)

Directed by Peter Howitt

Cast:

• Daniel Rafferty – Pierce Brosnan
• Audrey Woods – Julianne Moore
• Thorne Jamison – Michael Sheen
• Serena – Parker Posey
• Sara Miller – Frances Fisher
• Judge Abramovitz – Nora Dunn

Story: When you are the number one divorce lawyer in the city, especially when its New York City, you tend to get noticed and attract high profile clients. But what happens when you are suddenly vying to keep your status as number one? Audrey Woods is a ruthless professional who tries to keep everything professional in her life, including her sparsely populated love life, when suddenly she comes face to face with Daniel Rafferty, an incredibly talented attorney who has the audacity to compete with her, even beat her in court. When Rafferty “steals” a client away from him, the fashion designer wife of a rock star, Woods counters with becoming the rock star's attorney, and the discovery is so hostile over a castle in Ireland, the two lawyers are ordered to investigate the claims by traveling to Ireland and speaking with staff. While in Ireland they attend a local town festival where they are introduced to the local customs, in a very personal way.

Review: Delightful and wonderfully romantic. Is that too much? Seriously, you have here the perfect love story in the perfect setting with the most perfect couple one can think of, if you are thinking of true Irishmen and Irish descendents. Pierce Brosnan is witty, charming, cute “as per Frances Fisher in the film”, and above all, incredibly gifted in this role. When you watch him here, you are reminded of the films of David Niven or Cary Grant, and that is no mean comparison coming from someone who sorely laments the lost of such talents. Julianne Moore comes up to Pierce brilliantly, and you could see this film occurring thirty years ago, starring Grant and Hepburn. Julianne's character is the perfect foil for Brosnan's in this delightful duel of the sexes. Parker Posey and Michael Sheen are the typical young adults caught up in their success, and going through a rough patch of the “I'm so neglected” stage of marriage, which the two of them carry off wonderfully. The maraschino cherry on this particular confection is the wonderful appearance of the beautiful Frances Fisher, than lovely lady who has the cheekbones of Venus de Milo and the accompanying smile. Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language, I personally recommend this as a film for you and that significant other when the kids are in bed, or for Date Night.

Blade: Trinity - 2004

New Line Cinema, Shawn Danielle Productions Ltd., Amen Ra Films

Written and Directed by David S. Goyer

Cast:

• Blade – Wesley Snipes
• Whistler – Kris Kristofferson
• Hannibal King – Ryan Reynolds
• Abigail Whistler – Jessica Biel
• Danica Talos – Parker Posey
• Drake – Dominic Purcell
• Jarko Grimwood – Paul “Triple H” Levesque
• Dr. Edgar Vance – John Michael Higgins
• Ray Cumberland – James Remar
• Sommerfield – Natasha Lyonne
• Zoey – Ginger Broatch (as Haili Page)

Story: The Vampires, as usual, are up to no good. Not only have they finally located the final resting place of Drake, the original Vampire (known as Dracula or Dagon), but they've managed to set up Blade so he kills a familiar, and they get it on tape. So now Blade has to deal with law enforcement as well as Vampires, and when they raid his base, they capture him while Whistler is killed in the process. Blade is being held in police headquarters when a group of vampire hunters named the Night Stalkers intervenes for a rescue. When they complete the rescue, Blade discovers Whistler was in cahoots with this group as backup for Blade in case something happened to him. The group includes an ex-vampire named Hannibal King and an adept archer named Abigail Whistler...Whistler's daughter. This group is tech savvy and has advanced weaponry and a plan to thwart the vampire nation, a biological weapon called Daystar. The only problem? The DNA from the turned vampires is too thinned out to be of use. Unwittingly, the vampires have brought back the only source of vampire DNA pure enough to make Daystar effective: Drake.

Review: Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson reprise their roles and the hybrid vampire hunter and his partner / armorer. While this film lacks some of the more visceral elements of the first two, it makes up in action what it lacks in darkness. Dominic Purcell is perfect in the role of Drake, the true immortal who is risen from his sleep by the desperate Danica Talos, played by Parker Posey. Parker does a nice job if you take into account a vampire like that might be a bit on the emo side, and the sarcasm between her and her former lover, played nicely by Ryan Reynolds, plays a major part of the script. Reynolds role is non-stop smart ass, and it suits him well. Triple H does an adequate job as the strong arm vampire, but my advice to Paul is not to give up his day job. Jessica Biel shines as Whistler's daughter, and her acting is one of the saving graces of the film. All in all, we do have to remember this is a comic book based in an alternate universe (Canada qualifies, I do believe) and the characters are two dimensional, which is expected. The cinematography and photography are great, the action scenes are exceptional, and we get the impression Blade may not come back to the screen. But who knows, there may be another threat coming up soon. Rated R for violence, language, and brief nudity (Jessica Biel in the shower....oh yeah), this is a collectible is you are a fan of Blade or just a fan of the comic (graphic novel) genre.