Top 5 New Year's Eve films: 4. "Strange Days"

December 29, 1:41 PMClassic TV ExaminerDoug Krentzlin

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         Ralph Fiennes & Angela Bassett in "Strange Days"

This is the fourth of five recommendations of films involving New Year's Eve (to be presented in chronological order).

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by James Cameron, “Strange Days” (1995) is an intense sci-fi film noir in the tradition of “Blade Runner” and “Dark City.” Set on the last two days of 1999, the film’s premise is that technology will exist that can record people’s memories and physical sensations and download them to discs that other people can replay as a virtual reality experience (not unlike the “feelies” in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”).

Ralph Fiennes stars as Lenny Nero, an ex-LA vice cop who makes his living dealing in black market “clips” (memory discs). On New Year’s Eve, he anonymously receives a disc recording the murder of a prostitute that several thugs and corrupt cops are determined to get ahold of. With the help of his best friends, limo driver Mace (Angela Bassett) and private detective Max Peltier (Tom Sizemore), Lenny seeks redemption by solving the crime.

Not a great movie, but the film’s set piece – a four block outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown LA – is pretty damn impressive and Bigelow’s direction keep things moving at a swift pace.