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Box Office: The Proposal Sweeps Audiences Off Their Feet

BuzzSugar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 08:30:35 -0700

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

Box Office: The Hangover Hangs On to the Top Spot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:30:55 -0700

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.

How Well Do You Know Denzel Washington?

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:15:31 -0700

Denzel Washington is one of those mega-superstars who has mostly avoided becoming a tabloid staple, which is probably why I'm so enamored by him. Well, that and the fact that he has the whole tall, dark, and handsome thing going on. He's also hugely talented and has enjoyed one of the longest, most successful careers in Hollywood.

So it's high time for a quiz on Mr. Washington's career, especially in light of his latest movie, The Taking of Pelham 123, opening this weekend.

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The Taking of Pelham 123: The Taking of Our Time, 104 Minutes

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:30:58 -0700

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 attempts to make up for the lack of drama, or to fill in the gaps between the few genuinely tense moments, director Tony Scott favors fast-paced montages of crowded subway platforms and general New York "hustle and bustle." Zooming camera shots, blurry quick-moving figures alternate with "dramatic" slow-motion and close-ups on grim faces, all set to loud tunes like "99 Problems." Because, you know, Ryder is a tough guy. This is a tough guy's game because Jay-Z says so. At first, this distracts us from the fact that we don't really care much about this story, but that wears off as the movie wears on.

Denzel Washington often brings an elegance and gracefulness to his characters, and he always exhibits a calm control over his performances. We're supposed to like Walter Garber, and we do, but this entire thriller can't rest on this particular average Joe's shoulders, no matter how nicely Washington presents him. Garber's not all that compelling. Supposedly providing the jolts of craziness (and therefore, in this case, entertainment), is John Travolta who gets a few really good lines in but who mostly seems like he's impersonating a crazy person rather than inhabiting an actual character.

Theoretically this should be an excellent Summer movie - digestible, intriguing, exciting. But I can't recommend this for a theater-going experience. It'll probably be a pretty solid rental, if you're quite bored. I wanted to be swept up in the mystery of it all (why is Ryder doing this? How will he pull it off? How will they stop him?) and the tension of the situation, but really, it's a silly movie. In order to get swept up, I'd have to be able to take the movie seriously and it just wouldn't let me do that.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Watch, Pass, TiVo, or Rent: The Taking of Pelham 123

BuzzSugar — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:30:24 -0700

The Taking of Pelham 123 is a remake of the 1974 thriller in which "armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime."

The movie features Denzel Washington and John Travolta in the lead roles, and the trailers for it look a little intense. What do you think? Will you see this in the theater, or is it more of a rental or something to randomly catch on TV someday? Or is The Taking of Pelham 123 something you'll avoid altogether?

One-sheet image courtesy of Sony Pictures

Movie Preview: The Taking of Pelham 123

BuzzSugar — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 07:30:04 -0800

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.

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James Gandolfini Goes From Mob Boss to NYC Mayor for Pelham Remake

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:33:21 -0700

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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