Pun Salad

If you're in the mood for a post-apocalyptic thriller with religious overtones, with some good acting, in theaters right now… well, then, this is not a bad choice at all.

Approximately 30 years previous, some sort of war/environmental catastrophe killed off most of humanity and other living things. The remainder live in the world envisioned by Hobbes, the life of man being solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. Eli, played by Denzel Washington, is a pilgrim on a mission to transport a valuable cargo west (no spoilers here, sorry).

He's taking his time, obviously. (But the Israelites also took an inexplicably long time getting from Egypt to the Promised Land, so I guess it's an occupational hazard.) Eli has developed survival skills that serve him well against the ragtag gangs of thieves, murderers, and rapists he runs into. But then he happens across a town run by strongman "Carnegie" (Gary Oldman), and that's a bit more of a challenge.

Of all the kids on That 70's Show, I would not have guessed that Mila Kunis would wind up being the most versatile movie actor. She's pretty good here.

Of course, when you go to the movies you get previews. My impression was that there are a lot good actors appearing in a bunch of upcoming cheesy movies.

• They are remaking the (British) Death at a Funeral, moving it to America, and making the cast mostly Black. Except Peter Dinklage, the amazingly good, albeit height-impaired, actor will reprise his role.

• Jake Gyllenhaal is the hero in Prince of Persia.

• Liam Neeson is in both Clash of the Titans (playing Zeus) and The A-Team (playing George Peppard). In one of them he actually shouts "Release the Kraken!"

• Mel Gibson is going to kick some ass (and, apparently, have the worst Boston accent ever) in Edge of Darkness.