Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Taking of Pelham 123: 10,000,000

Official Site: www.catchthetrain.com
Director(s): Tony Scott
Writer(s): Brian Helgeland, John Godey
Producer(s):Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Tony Scott, Steve Tisch

Starring: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, Luis Guzmán, Victor Gojcaj, John Turturro, James Gandolfini(IMDb). Rated-R 106min.

The taking, the taking, the taking of my full attention. This was a delight. I wonder what the 70's version of the film is like. In any event, when I saw the preview, I was not enthused. I thought OK, I'll check it out. So finally when the the film was released- honestly, I'm still waiting for Transformers, and GI-Joe. I didn't even know the release date of this film, but I'm glad I saw it.

Washington was great, and Travolta was explosive. The support cast was stellar. It was good to see Gandolfini again. It was an awesome cast. Ya know, I'm experiencing writers block right now, and yeah the casting was great moving on.

Washington's character was humble, imperfect, and lovable. And Travolta's character was driven, unethical, comedic, and charismatic. Washington's character was a regular working guy, and Travolta's character was an avaricious criminal who seemed genuinely concerned about the struggles of the average worker; there was a modicum of honor in his disposition.

Pelham 123 was not boring at all, very engaging. I think the dialogue between Travolta and Washignton was the most amusing part of the film. According to metacritic.comn, the film earned mixed reviews, and rottentomatoes.com granted the film 61 fresh tomatoes to 59 rotten ones thus far. I enjoyed this film I'll grade it an 82. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.


Trailer




Tony Scott

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Terminator Salvation: CGI Cameo

Official Site:terminatorsalvation.warnerbros.com
Director(s):McG
Writer(s): John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris
Producer(s): Derek Anderson, Moritz Borman, Victor Kubicek, Jeffrey Silver

Starring:Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard Common,(IMDb). PG-13, 130min.

Well what can I say about Terminator Salvation? I can say it was awesome. Not a dull moment, very exciting, and hopeful. Bale portrayed a sincere John Connor who cared deeply about his fellow humans. As I watched the film I felt how important Connor was even though most of the resistance only knew him by his voice, a voice that was a beacon of hope.

The production epitomized movie craftsmanship. The filth, and rustic nature of post "judgment day" life was so well defined on screen, the depravity the characters experienced was tangible. Living parsimoniously, eating two day old coyote, and walking around with soiled skin, and soiled clothes, were living conditions the characters considered common, but certainly not favorable, and I felt for these characters.

The action scenes were well directed. I was so amazed at how one aspect of the actions scenes tied in with another aspect of the actions scenes. It's difficult to describe, but in simple terms the action scenes were intricate, and they "kicked ass". This film definitely delivered. According to metacritic.com the film received generally mixed reviews, and rottentomatoes.com granted the film 53 fresh tomatoes to 100 rotten ones. This film was awesome. I'll grade it an 85. Stay tuned movieporium.blogpsot.com.


Trailer


Cast Interview



Saturday, May 16, 2009

Angels and Demons

Official Site: angelsanddemons.com
Director(s): Ron Howard
Writer(s): David Koepp, Akiva Goldsman
Producer(s): John Calley, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard

Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Armin Mueller-Stahl, (IMDb). PG-13, 138 min.

I was not too excited about seeing this movie, and it certainly was not on my to see list, but thank goodness I saw it, well, honestly I was going to see it anyway. In any event, from the antimatter research center to the costumes , I was really impressed with the over all production of the film. The production really delivered the essence of Rome, even though I have never visited Rome.

The pace was great; there was no lag, or boredom, and the major parts of the film such as antimatter were explained expeditiously and clearly. I don't think this film was suspenseful, but the sense of urgency in the plot was pronounced through the skillful detective work of Professor Langdon, as he deciphered the significance of one symbol to the next.

Overall this film was fun, fast paced, well acted, and very entertaing. According to metacritic.com, the film earned generally mixed reviews, and rottentomatoes.com granted the film 65 fresh to 110 rotten tomatoes thus far. Good stuff. I'll score it an 85. Stay tuned, movieporium.blogspot.com.

Trailer


Cast Interview



Saturday, May 9, 2009

Star Trek: Emotionally Compromised

Official Site:www.startrek.com
Director(s):J.J. Abrams
Writer(s):Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Producer(s): J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof

Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana,Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Greenwood,Karl Urban,Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin(IMDb).

"Space...the final frontier", this particular Star Trek film has surpassed the frontiers of the preceding Star Trek films I have seen. Besides being exciting, funny, and emotional, Star Trek (2009), was explained quite well. When all the characters that we are familiar with, such as Scotty, and Dr. McCoy were introduced, it was like seeing old friends.

Seemingly, what distinguished this film from the previous films was the absence of lag. It seems like Abram's kept this in mind, and directed the film so that in every scene there was something essential and entertaining occurring. In the other Star Trek films that I have scene, I remember the lag, for at some point the pace of the film would slow down, and it would become slightly boring. Certainly, that is not the case in this film.

The casting was impeccable but William Shatner should of had a cameo .Even though detecting Eric Bana took some time on my part. It was difficult not to like the cast. My favorite was Simon Pegg as Scotty. With that said, it seems like this is a lightning in a bottle type casting. According metacritic.com the film received generally favorable reciews, rottentomatoes.com granted the film 195 fresh tomatoes to 9 rotten ones thus far. Awesome. I'll grade it a 95. Stay tuned movieporium.blogspot.com

Trailer


Interviews