The Taking of Pelham 123

The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, took the box office by storm over the weekend earning $34.1 million and securing the No. 1 spot. This was Bullock's best opening ever! Woo-hoo!

Both The Hangover and Up continued doing good business coming in second and third place respectively. Jack Black and Michael Cera's primitive buddy comedy, Year One, came in at No. 4 earning an estimated $20.2 million. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 rounded out the top five.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

The Hangover had another fantastic weekend at the box office. The comedy came in at No. 1 with an estimated $33.4 million, and is now being called a bona fide box office phenomenon. Pixar's Up also did very well, coming in second place with an estimated $30.5 million over the weekend. According to Variety, "It's unusual for two films like Hangover and Up to simultaneously have such solid holds domestically."

Meanwhile, The Taking of Pelham 123 debuted at No. 3 and earned a solid $25 million, followed by Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Will Ferrell's Land of the Lost took the fifth spot while Eddie Murphy's newest comedy, Imagine That, had a fairly dismal debut at No. 6.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

I wanted The Taking of Pelham 123 to be great, or at least kinda fun — full of thrills and interesting characters with a few little one-liners tossed in. Expecting too much? Maybe. But I was disappointed nonetheless because it turns out this movie is predictable and forgettable. It managed to keep my attention for a while, but mostly it's just blah.

For the most part, what you see in the trailers is what you get, in terms of plot: A crazy guy who wants to be called Ryder (John Travolta) hijacks a subway car in New York and he demands millions of dollars in exchange for the hostages' lives. He tells the dispatcher, Walter Garber (Denzel Washington), that the mayor (played a sleazy New Yorker to a "T") has one hour to get Ryder the money and for every minute they're late after the hour, he's going to kill a hostage. Ryder becomes attached to Garber and he forces Garber's secrets to come to light during their interactions, which everyone in the Garber's room can hear — including his boss and the mayor of New York. Ultimately Ryder wants Garber to deliver the money personally, and then we wait to see whether or not Garber can stop Ryder from continuing on with his plans once he gets the money. For more of my thoughts, read more

In The Taking of Pelham 123, Denzel Washington plays city employee Zachary Garber who gets tangled up in a dangerous hostage situation when armed men take over a subway train and try to negotiate money in exchange for releasing the trapped New Yorkers. John Travolta plays the mean mastermind behind the whole thing who gets to know Zachary Garber fairly well during their little back-and-forth.

Have you seen the original 1974 film The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw? The trailer for this remake is pretty heart-poundingly intense, actually. I'm curious to see this come June 12. What about you?

To check out the trailer, read more

Everybody's favorite TV mob boss appears to have turned over a new leaf. James Gandolfini has been cast to play the NYC mayor in director Tony Scott's remake of the 1974 thriller The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three. He joins Denzel Washington and John Travolta. Variety has more:

Gandolfini will plays a pol under incredible pressure to end a crisis when a packed subway car is ransomed by a criminal (Travolta) and his gang.

So, from the Bada-Bing strip club to city hall, I'd say Gandolfini's doing pretty well for himself, wouldn't you? I look forward to seeing how Scott plans to update this movie, though I have a long time to wait: Pelham most likely won't be released until Fall 2009.

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