Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Taking of Pelham 123

The Tony Scott remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974) begs the question; Should Hollywood do remakes? I say YES! How else would I have ever got to see this gritty New York tale?

Pellam 123 got run over like a freight train by bigger summer movies on it’s opening weekend. This movie is a Hollywood re-make or upgrade to the 1974 film of the same name.

The modern version stars John Travolta and Denzel Washington. Travolta plays Ryder, a convict with a plan to trade hostages on a subway like commodities on the stock market. After taking the train over, he begins a rapport with a district train control center operator named Walter Garber played by Washington.

As Walter tries to learn as much as he can about Ryder, a few dark secrets are learned about Walter himself which adds some dimension to the characters. I thought the conversations were a little over the top between the two protagonists, but it was much better than the banter between Denzel and Clive Owen in Inside Man (sadly they are making Inside Man II).

The movie has a simple premise, a couple of mild action sequences, and really no other interesting character’s other than the mayor perhaps (James Gandolfini).

I enjoyed watching the plot unfold and knew it would “end badly” for one of the characters. But this was not a must see summer block buster by any means. I would recommend checking out Pellam 123 on Netflix!

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Land of the Lost


I grew up in the seventies watching the two seasons of the TV series, Land of the Lost. I was really hoping this movie would be a glorious reboot of that creative show. It wasn't
I mean I get that Will Ferrell is a comedian and he has his moments but I had hoped this wouldn't be another "Will Ferrell" flick. It was. Full of language, and sexual innuendo (this is no kid's film), and he even manages to offend Christians by making light of Jesus. (don't get me wrong, he did it in Talladega Nights and Christians do have a sense of humor, it was funny).
But overall I think the audience is getting over the tired Will Ferrell humor train. Box office sales were disappointing for LOTL on it's opening weekend, especially considering the film cost 100 million to make!
I'd definitely wait for the DVD rentals to check this one out if at all, cause soon it will be Lost in the Land of forgotten movies.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Terminator Salvation



They're back!
Those pesky human killing machines have returned to the big screen. Not sure if this one could be called the best of the series, but I definitely enjoyed the movie! I am a big fan of the Terminator franchise and I am still bitter that FOX canceled Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles.

This film is of course set farther into the future than the other movies and we finally get to see a grown up version of John Conner (Christian Bale). I will say the overall look of the film was awesome! Great action and excellent CG effects as one might expect.

The story was adequate but it flitted from character to character and the two main characters, John Conner and Markus battled for attention and so that resulted in weak character development for everyone. I really wanted the whole movie to be just about John Conner and his struggle to save mankind since the premise of the war against the machines is based on him. So I was a little disappointed in that regard. But there were pletny of throwbacks to the previous movies that were great.

Bottom line though, it was a great ride and I hope they make another one. So if you want to live, go check out Terminator Salvation before you are ..... Terminated.

Rest In Peace


David Carradine
12/8/1936 - 06/04/2009