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Brothers Albert and Allen Hughes (Menace II Society) redeem themselves from their overrated 2001 Jack the Ripper thriller From Hell with this entertainingly screwball take on the postapocalyptic survival yarn. Denzel Washington plays an ass-kicking former Kmart associate on a mission from God to carry the last Bible on earth to fertile spiritual ground on the west coast. Passing through the devastated red states, he falls into the clutches of erudite thug lord Gary Oldman, who would misuse the book to ideologically reenslave the few remaining humans. The sepia-toned palette gets a little wearying, but the dialogue is hilarious, the violence is crunchy, and cameos by Tom Waits and topflight Brit character actor Michael Gambon are worth the ticket price alone. R, 118 min.

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Official Site: thebookofeli.warnerbros.com
Director: Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes
Producer: Joel Silver, Denzel Washington, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, David Valdes, Steve Richards, Susan Downey and Erik Olsen
Cast: Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Evan Jones, Joe Pingue, Frances de la Tour, Michael Gambon, Tom Waits, Chris Browning, Richard Cetrone, Lateef Crowder, Keith Davis, Don Theerathada and Thom Williams

Sorry there are no showtimes for The Book of Eli on Thursday, September 9.

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Re: “Cream of the Crap

Actually I was visiting family in Macungie, Pennsylvania.

Posted by J.R. Jones on | Report this comment

Re: “Cream of the Crap

Funniest positive-negative review in a looooong time. Thanks for an entertaining read that almost made my lunch come out my nose from laughing.

Posted by emerald772 on | Report this comment

Re: “Cream of the Crap

emerald77s: Bless you, my child.

J.R. Jones: Same dif. I knew it was one of those playgrounds of the privileged and powerful.

Posted by Cliff Doerksen on | Report this comment

Re: “Cream of the Crap

“Anyway...” 350 words into this review we finally get to the review. Ugh. Self-referential ironic wit only works when we care about the subject matter or the reviewer can pull in other genre-related references to make the original piece being reviewed relevant to a larger cultural discussion. “Anyway...” that's what “I” think...

Posted by longtimereaderreader on | Report this comment

Re: “Cream of the Crap

Genre-related references related to a larger cultural discussion? It's not too late. Fold these into the batter, bake and serve:

Panic in the Year Zero, Soylent Green, Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome, Pale Rider, The Bed-Sitting Room, Welcome to Blood City, No Blade of Grass.

Posted by Cliff Doerksen on | Report this comment

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