Movies Opening This Week: Fallout 3, minus the Vault

Post-apocalyptic movies are nothing new, but movies that verily remind me of the world of Fallout 3 feel very weird. It's not that Fallout 3's vision of post-apocalyptic Washington is particularly the most original (although it's very immersive), but just the feel of the shooting scenes, the hobos and a lot of other things in this movie just feel a bit too Fallout... What I'm talking about is...

The Book of Eli
I'm not too used to seeing Denzel Washington this early in the year (then again, he hasn't really appeared in any movie lately) nor am I used to seeing him play a 'badass action hero' who's obviously experienced with the post-apocalyptic jungle set in this movie.

In fact, I'm rather inclined to think that this movie should've been a Will Smith vehicle. Then again, the tone and setting of the movie will just remind people of I Am Legend, and it would probably be a bad way to market the film.

Then again, why question Denzel's acting chops? And for that matter, Gary frigging Oldman's?

I just can't help but note, however, that the missile launcher that Denzel was shooting was aided with VATS or something.

Also of unquestionable pedigree, however, is Helen Mirren's acting skills in...

The Last Station
It also sort of concerns a book, but unlike the Book of Eli which is key to saving the world, the book featured in this movie is an adaptation of Jay Parini's work of the same name.

James McAvoy and Helen Mirren are no strangers to period films, but the surprise comes in the form of Christopher Plummer who is pretty much coming back to film, beard and all. I mean, the last I heard of Plummer before Parnassus, was... The Sound of Music. Now, he's likely to have starred in a few roles in between, but it's only now that he's coming back and becoming high profile again.

So here's the story: Leo Tolstoy, a Russian author, is sick, and his wife Sofya wants to fight him for his money and inheritance. The last year of Tolstoy's life unfolds in this dramedy, and it looks rather interesting enough to watch, even though critics say that every role in the movie is underwritten, and only Mirren emerges to transcend the slimness of the script.