Movie Review - 'Brooklyn's Finest'

Brooklyn's Finest Starring Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, and Don Cheadle Directed by Antoine Fuqua Rated R

Finding the way out depends on where you're standing. The three cops in Brooklyn's Finest are each face to face with a situation they can't wait to escape: One feels he has nothing left to live for, another every reason to bend the rules for his family, and the third just wants his old life back after years undercover and under the gun. Each man has different stakes, and each one of their actions carry their own consequences. But the desperation, that need to get out, is etched on their embattled faces. Eddie Dugan (Richard Gere) has a week left on the job, and yet he can't find the will to break his morning ritual of a shot of whiskey and the muzzle of a revolver in his mouth. His wife's moved out, the world's moved on, and Eddie just wants to keep his head down for seven more days. And then, well, he's out. And that's that. After years of being undercover as part of one of Brooklyn's most ruthless drug gangs, Tango (Don Cheadle) sees a promotion and a desk job in his future, but when? As it often happens in the movies, he has one more hurdle to overcome first, the dangling carrot held over a cliff. And with his family growing faster and faster, far outstripping his ability to take care of them, the way out for Sal (Ethan Hawke) may actually get him deeper in. There's a lot of dirty drug money flowing through Brooklyn and as Sal says, he hasn't gotten a raise in four years. Why should seized drug money go to the city's excess fund to buy some government official a new mahogany desk and a Persian rug, Sal asks. He has twins on the way and three more mouths to feed on top of it. Tough to do that on an honest cop's salary.

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Movie Review - 'Daybreakers'

Daybreakers Starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill Directed by Peter and Michael Spierig Rated R

It is admittedly hard to divorce yourself from all the vampire movies and TV shows and any other vampire movies or TV shows. But in a way, that's better, because when a good innovation comes around, it stands out that much more. Daybreakers, from writers-directors Peter and Michael Spierig, is not perfect, but it is ghoulish, inventive, and takes the familiar vampire blueprint and does something with it, which in and of itself is more successful than some recent ventures in this arena. The year is 2019, and a raging plague spread by bats has decimated the human population. Vampires run everything, but there's a problem: Because there are so many of them, the blood supply is almost dried up, and vampires, as cool as they might seem, pretty much stop at nothing to get the blood they need. This creates a massive headache for the culture, but an even bigger opportunity for a big pharmaceutical company. If a synthetic substitute can be found, not only will it save vampkind, it will push the company to never-seen heights. What could possibly go wrong? Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is a hematologist, which sounds like a sweet gig in this environment. But he's not your average vampire, having sworn off human blood. But he is assigned by the brass at Bromley-Marx Pharmaceuticals (including a wonderfully steely Sam Neill) to discover the secret. Dalton knows that such a solution probably won't work and - here's the turn - he's sympathetic to the human cause, and happens upon a small band of unincorporated survivors.

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Ten New Images from the Vampire Flick 'Daybreakers'

Although this is a dead weekend at the box office for new releases (there's no doubt it will still be huge thanks to Avatar, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Sherlock Holmes), next week it picks back up again with three new films. The highlight is probably Daybreakers, a darker vampire movie than New Moon, certainly, set about ten years in the future when the world's blood supply is about to run out.

Lionsgate just sent us a crop of new photos for the film, which stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Isabel Lucas from the second Transformers movie, and Sam Neill. Take a look:

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Trailer - Gere, Hawke, Cheadle Are 'Brooklyn's Finest'

At long last, Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest will finally hit theaters early next year. It was originally going to be an early fall 2009 release, I believe, but by the time it gets here, it will be nearly two years after the film went into production.

Don't pin it on the film itself, however. Brooklyn's Finest was one of several independently produced movies picked up by Senator Distribution. That company didn't last very long, and in fact, the biggest release it had during its very short run was last year's The Informers. It bombed, the company couldn't raise money to market the rest of its 2009 schedule, and just like that, this film and a few others had to start the distribution marathon from scratch. Senator acquired this property at Sundance in January, and by June, it was more or less out of business. But Overture pulled this one out of the ashes, and is releasing the cop drama on March 5th. Because it probably didn't spend a lot to get the film, I'm not sure Overture will break the bank supporting it opposite Alice in Wonderland and sandwiched between Shutter Island and The Green Zone. There is probably hope that if it plays well with critics, the cast - Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes - as well as the advertising friendly line "from the director of Training Day" will bring audiences to theaters for a a few days. Here's the trailer:

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Second Trailer for the Vampire Flick 'Daybreakers'

Here's kind of a Cliffs Notes version of the Daybreakers trailer. If you haven't seen anything for this one yet, brace yourself. It looks like a very cool sci-fi vampire flick, the sort of variant we could really use in a world dominated by the romantic, sensitive vampires of Twilight.

I don't think these guys qualify for Team Edward, and for a certain percentage of the moviegoing public, that's OK. Daybreakers is the second feature film (the first with a major studio) for twin brothers Peter and Michael Spierig. Their story unfolds in 2019, after vampires explode on the world scene and drain almost every last drop of blood out of humans. So what happens when they run out of blood? Ethan Hawke plays a scientist who has to answer that question and keep the vampire race alive. Even if he has to piss off the Volturi to do it...

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