Sneak Peak ...

M, O, Gar & myself all scored free passes last night to go see the new Poseidon movie. An interview on Good Morning America yesterday morning stated that: "We were not trying to make a remake of the 1972 classic". Let's see...a ship named "Poseidon" is hit by a tidal wave on New Year's Eve at midnight. Everyone on board drowns in the grand ballroom except a small handfull of people who must climb up to the "bottom" of the ship and make their way out of the propeller shaft. Of the cast of survivors, one is a little boy who suddenly disappears in the depths of the ship and another is a leader who must sacrifice his own life in order to save the others...

Yup...no similarities there...

All that aside, I was abosuletly floored by the movie! The special effects will definately be a serious contendor for an Academy Award. The rogue wave hits about twenty minutes into the movie and, not only are you witnessing what happens in the grand ballroom, but you're swept away in flash fires and explosions throughout the ship as thousands of passengers and hundreds of crew members are tossed about like ping-pong balls in a bingo cage. A short, but gripping scene during the rollover takes place in the 10-story lobby of the ship, as glass elevators (of course filled with people) are ripped from the walls and plummet down/up to the floor, along with a second scene (also having to do with an elevator) where you know someone is about to die, but you find your palms beginning to sweat and the hairs on the back of your hands start to stand as the director makes you wait and wait for the inevitable.

Richard Dreyfuss plays a gay architect who had just been dumped by his lover. With his life seeming to have no meaning, he is just about to take the ultimate dive into the depths of the Atlantic when he looks up and sees the full moon hanging delicately above the horizon suddenly being blocked out by a wall of water. As you see the fear rise in his eyes, you can suddenly feel your own heart begin to race as you, along with the suicidal architect on screen, begin to realize what's about to take place. From that point on, it's a roller coaster ride that doesn't let up until the closing credits scroll up from the bottom of the screen.

I must admit, as the world was turned upside down before me and everyone on the screen was swimming through water filled corridors, I was swimming in those blue pools that were Josh Lucas' eyes. Against a backdrop of burned walls and oil slicked tuxedo shirts, his eyes were ablaze in color and I found myself waiting anxiously for each and every close-up shot.

I look forward to the official opening night of Poseidon. I plan on seeing it again...if not for the special effects, than to just sit back and look into the eyes of this week's obsession...