Screenhead

From Paris with Love may seem like a little film but wait. The movie stars John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as unlikely partners. Travolta plays a crazy American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in Paris, and Rhys Meyers plays a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador who meets up with him.  The movie is directed by French filmmaker Pierre Morel, who brought us Taken.  So the movie isn’t all that little; but it has taken a couple of years for the movie to hit the theaters February 2010. I like the poster because it’s simple, the predominately black and white with a touch of red for the word “love.”

Popularity: unranked [?]

I’ll preface my remarks today by saying that I’ve never actually ridden in a subway car before.  It’s one of the consequences of not spending a lot of time in big cities, or as I like to call them, giant urban death mazes.  But I DO know at least a little something about how they work, which is why I can easily describe The Taking of Pelham 123, featuring Denzel Washington and, from literally out of nowhere, John Travolta (I was not aware he still had either a. a functioning career or b. sufficient bribe money left to get INTO a movie).

Despite my astonishment at the revelation that Travolta still has a functioning career as an actor, I have to admit that I did like The Taking of Pelham 123, which has only just opened about three hours ago, or  may be just barely opening if you’re on the west coast.

Anyway, this one’s about a dastardly plot to hijack a subway car in New York City, car number 123 on the Pelham Bay route.  After a series of careful and well-executed maneuvers, car 123, now jam-packed full of hostages, is parked in a tunnel in the middle of the subway system.  A cadre of gunmen, aided by a former New York City motorman, is holding onto the train until a sizable ransom is paid for the hostages’ safe release.  A train dispatcher is trying valiantly to keep the hostage takers talking, until something can be done for the hostages, but there are plenty of plots at work here, and the one the police are actively trying to unravel may not even be the MAIN plot.  So can the train dispatcher and New York’s finest manage to save a subway car full of hostages?  And if they do, will it even matter in the long run?

I compare The Taking of Pelham 123 to a subway car for a very good reason.  Both start very slow and take a good long while to fully escalate.  In fact, for about the first hour or so, all I could think was: “When are these two putzes going to stop TALKING so something interesting can actually, you know, HAPPEN??”   I’m not just being facetious there, either–most of the first hour of The Taking of Pelham 123 is going to be Denzel Washington talking into a microphone from his dispatch center while John Travolta responds into what looks like a CB radio from the train.  Just talk, talk, talk–let me take a moment here to address the writers.  You’ve GOT to break up your exposition a little more.  Otherwise you get this thick infosludge that everyone’s got to choke down before they can get to the good stuff.

And there will be good stuff in this movie too–lots of chases and gunplay and plans going wrong and plans going right and twists and turns and chicanery and everything else you want in a good old fashioned suspense / thriller movie.  It’s all here and it’s all nicely done.

Of course, there’s not a whole lot of specific reason to see this one in theatres.  There are a couple of really choice car crashes but nothing so spectacular that your home theatre won’t deliver a satisfying experience.  If you’re not in the mood to hit the theatre, rest assured that you won’t miss much by letting it go to video.  But if you DO go to the theatre, you should have a nice time of it.

The Taking of Pelham 123 will deliver the goods, but expect delays.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Today we see a lot of famous personalities and popular celebrities doing their share of promoting eco-friendliness and going green. If you ask around, the list can go on and on. But apparently there are two people who have stood out above the rest. Their names? Leonardo DiCaprio and Oprah Winfrey.

DiCaprio beat off male counterparts Bono, Brad Pitt and actor Ed Begley Jr. to top the male category in the survey, which was carried out by GreenDaily.com and Bebo.com, to mark Earth Day today.

Winfrey out-shined Angelina Jolie, Hayden Panettiere, Gwyneth Paltrow and Sir Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills to lead the female category.

Meanwhile, Mariah Carey was ruled to be the least environmentally friendly star, following reports she regularly flies her personal trainer from the Caribbean to New York to keep her fit.

John Travolta joined her on the hit list, after research found the qualified pilot generates 800 tons of carbon emissions each year flying around the world.

(Source) Vancouver

Popularity: unranked [?]

Columbia Pictures (Sony) offers viewers another movie worth watching in “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” The film carries a star-studded cast led by Denzel Washington and John Travolta. The upcoming movie set to be released on June 12, 2009 also stars James Gandolfini, the main star who plays mob boss Tony Soprano on HBO’s The Sopranos.

In the film, Washington plays New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train. Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, threatens to execute the train’s passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages. But there’s one riddle Garber can’t solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Fantastic Trailer!!! If the movie is anything like the trailer, it will roll at the box office.  Good job Tony Scott!!

Popularity: 1% [?]

The trailer for Bolt starring Miley Cyrus and John Travolta is looking good. What a great combination of stars. The hamster is so adorable! The movie opens this month and I will be there in the movie theaters the first weekend it opens. I smell a sequel.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I can’t believe it Miley Cyrus and John Travolta singing a duet!!!! Bolt opens this month with John Travolta as the voice for Bolt and Miley Cyrus the voice for Penny.  

Popularity: 1% [?]

From Paris With Love will star John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the Pierre Morel thriller. 

The film will be shot in a suburb of the French capital for another eleven weeks.  

The screenplay is by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak. The story centers on a young embassy worker and an American secret agent who cross paths while working on a high-risk mission in Paris.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Okay, so you know I don’t like remakes, well…Director Tony Scott and screenwriter David Koepp have teamed up, as most movie enthusiasts know, to remake The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.  Denzel Washington and John Travolta star. Washington is the good guy and Travolta is the bad guy. With this formula, I have to say there are exceptions to the rule — this is one exception.

I came across a couple of production stills of Washington wielding a gun. Take a look. I already like his character. What a wonderful actor.

Popularity: 1% [?]

I just came across a comedy, Old Dogs, starring John Travolta and Robin Williams, which is suppose to arrive at the movie theaters April 2009. 

The story focuses on “a divorced father of 6 year old twins and his womanizing best friend/business partner who have their hands full when they’re forced to care fro the kids for two weeks.”

I personally don’t see how the title Old Dogs fits into the plot, but it’s a comedy. 

Kelly Preston also stars, which quite possibly makes her second film with her husband, Travolta.

Popularity: 1% [?]