 
Cellular The Bourne Supremacy The Shield: Season 3 If it’s big-budget action and thrills you’re after, you could do worse than our next set of flicks. Last year in my review of the original Manchurian Candidate, I wondered whether or not Jonathan Demme’s remake could approach the intensity and integrity of the original and I’m happy to say that it does. It’s hard to go wrong with a cast that includes Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liv Schreiber, even if they are recreating roles made famous by Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury. In the original, Sinatra and Harvey played two soldiers captured during the Korean War and brainwashed, in order to carry out a nefarious political assassination. In the updated version, the soldiers are abducted during combat in Iraq and play out their fated roles on the streets of New York during a national convention. Washington is convincing as the decorated ex-soldier who is haunted by horrible dreams that seem a bit too real and Streep steals the show as a manipulative Senator and mother to Schreiber, now a candidate for office himself. There are some nice touches, such as moving the plot away from the Cold War and into the territory of corporate special-interests, as was the use of new technologies to play on our paranoia of Big Brother. While not required, it’s fun to see both films, make comparisons and then debate which version is superior. Memory (or lack of it) also drives The Bourne Supremacy – the sequel to 2002’s The Bourne Identity, itself a remake of the 1988 thriller starring Richard Chamberlain, adapted from the book by Robert Ludlum. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and girlfriend Marie (Franke Potente) are living in India – far away from U.S. government ops or anyone else that might try and drag them back into the world of espionage. Right. Within the first half-hour of the movie, the Bourne is framed for a murder he didn’t commit, the couple are on the run, Marie is killed and Bourne is once again running for his life. As in Identity, Damon does a fine job as the former agent who is forced to live by his instincts to stay alive, while trying to regain bits of his memory and put together the fragmented puzzle pieces of his past. Supporting Damon is a strong cast, headed by Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Julia Stiles and Karl Urban, all of whom look great set against the backdrops of India, Germany and Italy. If you like car chases, you’ll find some exciting footage here that rivals the freeway scene in The Matrix: Reloaded, albeit it on a smaller scale. If hand-held camera work makes you queasy, you’ll want some Dramamine before removing the disc from the package. Cellular also wastes no time in diving into the action, as we see Kim Basinger walk her son to school, then moments later, she’s kidnapped at gunpoint. Tossed into the attic of a strange house, she takes the pieces of a wall phone (recently deceased) and somehow manages to cross a few wires to randomly connect to Ryan (Chris Evans), a likeable but clueless dude, who’s taking heat from his girlfriend on the Santa Monica pier. Once Basinger convinces him that he’s not in the middle of an episode of Crank Yankers, the action intensifies and the clock starts running, not only on the lives of Basinger and family, but on Ryan’s cell phone battery. William H. Macy is great as a cop on the verge of retirement who can’t help but do some fine detective work, even when he’s trying to plan his new career as the owner of a health spa. There are crooked cops, car chases and some funny moments sprinkled in amongst the action sequences that strike just the right balance. If you’re in the mood for a decent thriller, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. When it comes to television, no show delivers in the action-thriller genre like The Shield. It might be due to the fact that the FX network is a basic cable channel and can take risks that the broadcast networks can’t (though not as much as HBO), but for three seasons now, Michael Chiklis and the rest of the outstanding cast deliver powerful performances week after week. In case you haven’t seen the show (or this most recent season), Chiklis’ Detective Vic Mackey heads up the Strike Team - an autonomous unit within an experimental police squad in one of L.A.’s toughest neighborhoods and targeting some of the worst drug dealers and violent offenders. While the Strike Team isn’t above using unethical methods to catch criminals, they’re also not above some sketchy behavior of their own, such as ripping off an Armenian mob’s “money train” for hundreds of thousands of dollars. As Season 3 begins, they learn that much of the money has been marked and they’re being investigated by some of their fellow detectives (CCH Pounder; Jay Karnes) for their role in the heist. There’s also some serious friction within the team that threatens to cause a major implosion, Mackey’s home life is crumbling as he and his wife separate and there’s plenty of political power play behind the scenes as Captain Aceveda (Benito Martinez) prepares to step down and join the City Council. The Shield is often uncomfortable to watch, due to the unflinching brutality (both physical and emotional) that permeates every episode, yet it’s impossible to tear your eyes away. Interwoven throughout the episodic plot are individual stories of criminal behavior that are true-to-life and don’t always wrap up neatly. Creator Shaun Ryan is adept at complex and nuanced character exposition, allowing us to get into the minds of the major players and better understand their motivations. Like The Sopranos or The Wire, The Shield is highly addictive and all three seasons hold up well under repeated viewings. By the time you read this, Season 4 will have begun and promises even more surprises with the addition of Glenn Close to the cast. In the meantime grab Season 3 (or all three) and be prepared to be riveted to your seat by some of the best TV on DVD. -- David Bassin
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The
Manchurian Candidate
(20th Century
Fox)