Intellectual Defenestration

In the news today

From InstaPundit, here is a link to an interesting article by Paul Johnson on the death toll in France due to the heat wave. I have found the body count to be genuinely unbelievable - how could a "civilized" country let something as basic as this happen (and why should we let them help administer Iraq)? Johnson's article has helped me understand the situation a little better and is enlightening as to the current state of economic affairs in the EU.

When I first saw the trailer for the Rundown, I was singularly unimpressed. Christopher Walken seems to be the only remotely appealing aspect to what looks like a tired rehash of standard-issue Hollywood plots.

However, I just got my weekly email movie digest from our beloved Baltimore Sun (motto: Bush sucks. Iraq = Vietnam II). The Sun trashes most movies, but it was surprisingly laudatory of the Rundown, calling The Rock "a professional wrestler whose surprisingly adroit acting muscles are on full display in The Rundown, an action-adventure flick that could turn into this generation's Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Other reviews linked to by the email digest are the Chicago Tribune: "'The Rundown' has what we usually want to see in movies like this: bravura action, tongue-in-cheek humor, but most of all attitude" and The Sun-Sentinel: "The Rock has arrived as a movie star." Only Newsday complained about the movie.

Does this mean I'll go see the Rundown this week? The short answer is: no. However, I might stick it in my Netflix queue for later consumption.

September 26, 2003 12:01 PM