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When the sci-fi action flick “Virtuosity” was first released in the summer of 1995, it opened to mixed reviews and modest box office. It was the kind of mid-range studio programmer (it came from Paramount under the Sherry Lansing regime) that came out with dependable frequency in those days, a movie enjoyed by some but quickly forgotten by most before it left theaters to make way for other genre films like “Desperado,” “The Tie That Binds,” and “Hackers.”

Looking back now, studio slates like the ones Lansing oversaw — release schedules that made room for an abundance of medium-budget comedies (“Clueless”), thrillers (“Primal Fear”), sci-fi films (“The Relic”) and adult dramas (“Nobody’s Fool”) in between large-scale blockbusters like “Mission: Impossible,” “Braveheart,” and “Titanic” — seem far more varied and artistically fruitful than they did at the time, when we never knew such range was in any danger of disappearing. It was easy at...

Years before Academy Award-winning actors Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe went head-to-head in Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, the two would first face off in the cult classic, techno-thriller Virtuosity. Whereas, in American Gangster, Washington played the drug kingpin and Crowe was the hardened cop on his tail, in Virtuosity, Crowe was a Joker-esque digital amalgamation of serial killers, while Washington plays the cop that hunts him down. Blu-ray.com reports on the new 4K Blu-ray of the movie that will be distributed by Vinegar Syndrome sometime this month.

The description reads,

“The near future: A virtual reality company is completing the development of a highly sophisticated training simulator designed to give police a taste of how to handle the dangers they might encounter in the field while tracking and apprehending criminals. In order to perfect this state-of-the-art technology, prisoners are selected based on their skills and toughness and forced to serve as test subjects.

Academy Award winner Denzel Washington is rightly considered one of the greatest actors not only of his generation, but of all time. But even a powerhouse performer like Washington is not immune to critics, with one of his earlier, much-maligned, efforts now landing on the streaming service Prime Video. Titled Virtuosity , Washington starred in the sci-fi action movie way, way back in 1995, alongside fellow Academy Award winner Russell Crowe . While the movie was panned at the time, and holds a rating of just 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, knowing what we know about the actors now, and the plots use of Ai, was it perhaps misunderstood?

Coming after acclaimed performances in the likes of Cry Freedom, Glory, Malcolm X, and Philadelphia, Virtuosity is set in the futuristic year of...1999, and finds Washington starring as Parker Barnes, a former cop who is imprisoned for killing the psychopath who killed his family. While serving time,...

A new episode of the Black Sheep video series has just been released, and in this one we’re taking a look at a movie you might expect to be really popular, since it’s a sci-fi action thriller that pits Denzel Washington against Russell Crowe. It’s not popular… but maybe it should be. The movie is Virtuosity (watch it Here), and you can hear all about its virtues by checking out the video embedded above.

Directed by Brett Leonard from a screenplay written by Eric Bernt, Virtuosity has the following synopsis: A former cop who has been imprisoned for murdering the psychopath who killed his family, Parker Barnes is recruited to test out a new virtual-reality program where the goal is to apprehend a computer-generated being called Sid 6.7, who has been modeled on hundreds of deranged criminals. When Sid manages to escape into the real world, Barnes must...

Science fiction frequently takes contemporary fears and turns them into something much larger. Just look at Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," considered by many to be the first science fiction novel, which took people's fears of autopsies and medical research at the time and created a fictional scientist who turned a corpse into a monster. Over a century later, writer Eric Bernt ("Surviving the Game") and director Brett Leonard ("Lawnmower Man") would create their own story of contemporary fears and their own Frankenstein's monster, too, played by Russell Crowe. The biggest difference is that while Frankenstein's monster was once human, Crowe's character Sid 6.7 is a computer program given a body composed of nanobots. He is as inhuman as they come.

"Virtuosity" was released in 1995, possibly the single greatest year for weird cyberpunk sci-fi movies. In a year populated by films like "Judge Dredd," "Johnny Mnemonic," and "Tank Girl," "Virtuosity" just couldn't compete.

Z Nation, Season 1, Episode 4, “Full Metal Zombie”

Written by Eric Bernt

Directed by Michael Robinson

Airs Fridays at 10pm Est on Syfy

The appeal of Z Nation undoubtedly lies in how incredibly action packed it is. With plenty of zombie skull smashing and some very fast paced episodes, it can be a welcome retreat for a tired mind at the end of a long work week. Although this makes for a fun series, the profound lack of depth in the plot may disengage viewers and prove troublesome in future episodes. At this point in the season, there is minimal promise that some sort of satisfying plot twist or big reveal is to come in the next few episodes. The main characters are burning through foe after foe in the span of each forty minute installment, with nothing particularly set in motion to imply an upcoming substantial obstacle. Instead, Z Nation...

Long time Twitch readers may well remember us talking about Filipino horror film Sigaw a couple years back. Written and directed by Yam Laranas it came late enough in the run of Asian horror films – and in some ways played to the standard conventions of the genre enough - that many overlooked it but Sigaw was such a well crafted little gem of a film that introduced some subtle changes to the genre that I truly believe it is one of the last truly important films to come out of that initial Asian horror boom.

And so I have been tracking with great interest the development of the English language version of the film. Titled The Echo it again puts Laranas at the controls shooting a script adapted from his own by the writing duo of Eric Bernt and Shintaro Shimosawa. The result feels more like a riff on the...

Jesse Bradford has signed to star in The Echo, a remake of the acclaimed Filipino thriller Sigaw being produced by Roy Lee and Doug Davison of Vertigo Entertainment.

Yam Laranas, who co-wrote and directed Sigaw, is directing the movie, which is being additionally produced by Shin Shimosawa, Tyler Mitchell and Will Wright.

The story centers on a young ex-con (Bradford) who moves into an old apartment building only to learn his neighbor is an abusive police officer who savagely beats his wife and daughter. When the ex-con tries to intervene, he becomes trapped in a curse.

Eric Bernt wrote the screenplay.

QED's Kimberly Fox and Elliot Ferwerda are exec producing. QED International is handling all worldwide sales on the picture.

The film is being fully financed by venture capitalist Robert Hoff through his new company RightOff Entertainment. He serves as exec producer.

Shooting is scheduled to begin mid-August in Toronto.

Bradford next stars in Gold Circle's My Sassy Girl, opposite Elisha Cuthbert, also being produced by Vertigo.