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The 1990s were a golden era for action movies, with Hollywood churning out high-octane blockbusters at an unprecedented rate. Big-budget spectacles dominated the movie theaters, and the rise of CGI, as rudimentary as it was, opened new frontiers for sci-fi and cyber-thriller genres. Yet, in the flood of explosions, car chases, and high-stakes heroics, some movies — despite featuring A-list stars — failed to leave a lasting mark.
Nestled between genre-defining hits such as 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 1999’s The Matrix, some cinematic gems simply flew under the radar. One such hidden gem is Virtuosity, a cyberpunk thriller starring none other than Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. This 1995 movie has been re-released in 4K UHD by Vinegar Syndrome, offering a fresh look at this often-overlooked release. The movie, though released in the ’90s, bears heavy influences from the previous decade and mixes up some of the best tropes sci-fi action films have to offer.
Denzel Washington portrays Parker Barnes, a former policeman imprisoned for killing a terrorist who killed Barnes’ wife and child. However, Parker also shot two reporters by accident and ended up being sentenced to 17 years to life. During his imprisonment, Barnes and another inmate were used to train different iterations of AI in virtual reality. At the beginning of the movie, they were tracking down a serial killer named SID (short for Sadistic, Intelligent, Dangerous) in VR, which ended with a disaster.
SID is an amalgamation of some of the most violent serial killers throughout history, and during their time in VR, he manages to wound Parker and kill another inmate within the simulation. Once the simulation ends, the director overseeing the project orders SID’s termination. However, SID manages to convince his programmer to transfer him into a synthetically grown android body, thus bringing SID into the real world.
Given that he’s an amalgamation of some of history’s greatest killers, SID resorts to doing what he does best. Once the word gets out that SID is now plaguing and causing chaos in the real world, those in charge offer Barnes a pardon if he manages to catch SID and bring him back to virtual reality. The rest is the usual cinematic play of cat and mouse in which a disgruntled police officer chases a criminal — whose personality profile also contains a profile of a man who killed Parker’s wife and child.
The movie ends like most sci-fi action movies do; there’s a climactic battle in which the bad guy uses the last bit of his strength to try and kill the good guy, but the good guy ends up winning anyway. Story-wise, the movie really isn’t anything special. As previously mentioned, it’s a blend of typical action movie tropes mixed in a cautionary tale about an unethical development of technology and AI, especially since it accurately predicted the present fears stoked by AI and VR technologies.
But what makes Virtuosity great is its cast. Denzel Washington portrays Barnes as a troubled and conflicted hero haunted by a tragic past. Washington does well with his portrayal, as he gives Barnes a commanding presence that provides a grounded counterpoint to Virtuosity’s more outlandish elements — of which there are plenty. He’s everything you can expect from a ’90s sci-fi action movie protagonist: a no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point action hero capable of delivering his now-iconic one-liners.
Russell Crowe‘s SID 6.7 is an excellent villain. Crowe provided a completely unhinged and joyous performance of an antagonist who escaped the confines of virtual reality and now spreads chaos throughout the real world. Not only that, but he’s actually having fun with murder and mayhem. He’s thrilled with his physical existence and is almost always smiling, even in the film’s darkest moments. Truly exceptional.
Apart from Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the rest of the cast is populated by some of the best character actors in the industry at the time. William Fichtner, best known for Contact, Armageddon, and Black Hawk Down, makes every movie and video game he’s in better. William Forsythe is yet another great actor; not only is he great in everything he ever appeared in but he could actually make watching paint dry look and sound interesting.
Despite the great performances of its cast and a generally intriguing premise, Virtuosity suffered from a weak and formulaic script and an inconsistent tone and direction. The movie managed to recuperate its production budget, but it received mixed to negative reviews from both the critics and the audiences, resulting in it falling into oblivion. But now, thanks to Vinegar Syndrome, we have the opportunity to re-examine the movie in 4K UHD resolution, complemented with a ton of new and interesting content, such as director commentary, various interviews, and featurettes.
Still, none of that will change the fact that, while being a hidden gem of ’90s cinema, Virtuosity falls short of being a cinematic masterpiece. It is, however, one of the subgenre’s most creative and thrill-packed releases, and it is almost certainly going to provide a lot of fun to those who like sci-fi action films.
The post Cult Classics: The Cyberpunk Denzel Washington Thriller ‘Virtuosity’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
The 1990s were a golden era for action movies, with Hollywood churning out high-octane blockbusters at an unprecedented rate. Big-budget spectacles dominated the movie theaters, and the rise of CGI, as rudimentary as it was, opened new frontiers for sci-fi and cyber-thriller genres. Yet, in the flood of explosions, car chases, and high-stakes heroics, some movies — despite featuring A-list stars — failed to leave a lasting mark.
Nestled between genre-defining hits such as 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 1999’s The Matrix, some cinematic gems simply flew under the radar. One such hidden gem is Virtuosity, a cyberpunk thriller starring none other than Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. This 1995 movie has been re-released in 4K UHD by Vinegar Syndrome, offering a fresh look at this often-overlooked release. The movie, though released in the ’90s, bears heavy influences from the previous decade and mixes up some of the best tropes sci-fi action films have to offer.
Denzel Washington portrays Parker Barnes, a former policeman imprisoned for killing a terrorist who killed Barnes’ wife and child. However, Parker also shot two reporters by accident and ended up being sentenced to 17 years to life. During his imprisonment, Barnes and another inmate were used to train different iterations of AI in virtual reality. At the beginning of the movie, they were tracking down a serial killer named SID (short for Sadistic, Intelligent, Dangerous) in VR, which ended with a disaster.
SID is an amalgamation of some of the most violent serial killers throughout history, and during their time in VR, he manages to wound Parker and kill another inmate within the simulation. Once the simulation ends, the director overseeing the project orders SID’s termination. However, SID manages to convince his programmer to transfer him into a synthetically grown android body, thus bringing SID into the real world.
Given that he’s an amalgamation of some of history’s greatest killers, SID resorts to doing what he does best. Once the word gets out that SID is now plaguing and causing chaos in the real world, those in charge offer Barnes a pardon if he manages to catch SID and bring him back to virtual reality. The rest is the usual cinematic play of cat and mouse in which a disgruntled police officer chases a criminal — whose personality profile also contains a profile of a man who killed Parker’s wife and child.
The movie ends like most sci-fi action movies do; there’s a climactic battle in which the bad guy uses the last bit of his strength to try and kill the good guy, but the good guy ends up winning anyway. Story-wise, the movie really isn’t anything special. As previously mentioned, it’s a blend of typical action movie tropes mixed in a cautionary tale about an unethical development of technology and AI, especially since it accurately predicted the present fears stoked by AI and VR technologies.
But what makes Virtuosity great is its cast. Denzel Washington portrays Barnes as a troubled and conflicted hero haunted by a tragic past. Washington does well with his portrayal, as he gives Barnes a commanding presence that provides a grounded counterpoint to Virtuosity’s more outlandish elements — of which there are plenty. He’s everything you can expect from a ’90s sci-fi action movie protagonist: a no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point action hero capable of delivering his now-iconic one-liners.
Russell Crowe‘s SID 6.7 is an excellent villain. Crowe provided a completely unhinged and joyous performance of an antagonist who escaped the confines of virtual reality and now spreads chaos throughout the real world. Not only that, but he’s actually having fun with murder and mayhem. He’s thrilled with his physical existence and is almost always smiling, even in the film’s darkest moments. Truly exceptional.
Apart from Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the rest of the cast is populated by some of the best character actors in the industry at the time. William Fichtner, best known for Contact, Armageddon, and Black Hawk Down, makes every movie and video game he’s in better. William Forsythe is yet another great actor; not only is he great in everything he ever appeared in but he could actually make watching paint dry look and sound interesting.
Despite the great performances of its cast and a generally intriguing premise, Virtuosity suffered from a weak and formulaic script and an inconsistent tone and direction. The movie managed to recuperate its production budget, but it received mixed to negative reviews from both the critics and the audiences, resulting in it falling into oblivion. But now, thanks to Vinegar Syndrome, we have the opportunity to re-examine the movie in 4K UHD resolution, complemented with a ton of new and interesting content, such as director commentary, various interviews, and featurettes.
Still, none of that will change the fact that, while being a hidden gem of ’90s cinema, Virtuosity falls short of being a cinematic masterpiece. It is, however, one of the subgenre’s most creative and thrill-packed releases, and it is almost certainly going to provide a lot of fun to those who like sci-fi action films.
The post Cult Classics: The Cyberpunk Denzel Washington Thriller ‘Virtuosity’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
I think it’s safe to say that most of us have been leading lives that were minimally impacted by the choices of our government. It’s not a secret that President Trump has made some extremely intrusive and questionable decisions while passing some laws that have negatively affected a lot of people (ironically, that pool includes the very same individuals who voted for him, imagine that).
In recent times, it’s been hard to ignore the increase in books that have been banned in the U.S. after Trump took office and hyper fixated on shutting out topics relevant to Black History and topics surrounding racial justice and identity. This poses a threat to many, especially younger children of color in school who will not get the proper education about their people’s history. This is extremely damaging when a president forces his own personal agenda that ultimately impacts our people the most. This also affects the prices if we wanted to purchase them as he has placed a high tariff on imports.
The Bigger Issue at Hand
Our rights are being violated in real time as banning certain reads goes against representation and freedom of expression. These actions severely censor the Black voice and threaten to erase our history as the new generations aren’t getting the proper exposure to our stories and art. Although they are being restricted in libraries and schools, the literature itself is still available for purchase, but that isn’t the point to be honest. There shouldn’t have ever been any reason to eliminate these books from the beginning, and it’s hard to ignore that this is, on some level, racism handed down directly by our own President of the United States. While the messages that Black authors have aimed to shed light on has consistently ruffled feathers, it has been awakened by the “Make America Great Again” movement.
What Books Are Affected?
According to Pen.org, 10,046 book bans were reported for the 2023-2024 school year, with books with people and characters of color occupying 44% and those featuring the LGBTQ+ community and themes taking up 39%. The site goes on to further highlight how “nearly 60% of these banned titles are written for young adult audiences, and depict topics young people confront… including grief and death, experiences with substance abuse, suicide, depression and mental health concerns and sexual violence.” While the list is fairly long, some 10 notable books on the ban list included the following:
Toni Morrison – The Bluest Eye, Beloved
Angie Thomas – The Hate U Give
Jason Reynolds – Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (with Ibram X. Kendi)
George M. Johnson – All Boys Aren’t Blue
Layla F. Saad – Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
Jacqueline Woodson – Brown Girl Dreaming
Maya Angelou – I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Emmanuel Acho – Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy
Juan Williams – Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary
Ellen Labrecque – Who Was Maya Angelou?
What Can We Do?
Fascists are thriving right now, but we can’t let that stand in the way of us teaching our younger generation and exposing them to what they need to know about the history of their people. From the books on the banned list to overall topics that have been removed from schools’ course curricula, it is up to us to have these discussions. Authors of these books and other minority writers are banding together to fight back, joined by advocacy groups along the way.
Social media has began the hashtag #LetBooksFly and Banned Books Week to bring awareness and point a spotlight on an issue a lot of people don’t notice, especially if you aren’t someone who reads often. There have been several lawsuits filed to correct this matter, including PEN America v. Escambia County School District that challenged “removals and restrictions of books from school libraries that violate their rights to free speech and equal protection under the law.” This further proves claims that the state of Florida continues to have one of the highest rates of book removals in the U.S. If you want to get involved, you can join discussion groups, subscribe to newsletters, and even donate to support the cause.
Overall, this is truly the beginning of something ugly. It starts with books but has the potential to expand into more forms of media and aspects of our daily lives. What if documentaries about the struggles of our people and our history start to get yanked from streaming platforms? What if holidays like Juneteeth and Martin Luther King Day are no longer observed and corporate doesn’t allow you company time as some jobs currently do?
This can be very discouraging for the younger generation to see so much of who they are get stripped from the history books in real time. We were supposed to be past that, but it seems things have just amped up either further with our new president. If all goes well, these next four years will breeze by and our next person in leading the country will put an end to this and restore some normality.
The post Black Book Ban: Sweeping Fascism Erases Black History and Art appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.
Serial dater Noa Bar (@heyimnoabar) has uploaded another banger after a date ended in failure–again. In a viral TikTok, Noa shared how her date “punished” her for a common request while eating out.
In the clip, Noa removes her makeup as she shares her dating story.
A published model is urging folks to stay away from Botox after her latest session left her with a “crooked” smile. Isabelle (@belleboo) posted a series of TikToks sharing her PSA, collectively earning over 30,000 views as of writing.
Botched Botox
Isabelle reveals in her videos that she got 50 units of Botox put into her face, mainly her jaw, to help with her teeth grinding at night. She kept her followers updated as the days went by. However, she started to notice something was off around the four-day mark.