An unheralded classic of urban gritology, ‘The Incident‘ is a b/w film from 1967. The story is primarily, and claustrophobically, confined to a New York City subway car. As it hurtles and rattles through dark underground tunnels, it becomes a terror ride for a cluster of local types. Two young thugs, including a teen-aged Martin Sheen, taunt, threaten and intimidate the other passengers. They take over the car and hold the other riders hostage to their whims, their sadism, and their unabated cruelty.
The passengers on this night ride include Beau Bridges as a soldier with a broken arm from the mid-west and his Manhattan GI buddy, Ed McMahan as a harried young father (nope, no “Herrrre’s Johnny!” in this flick), a whiny old husband and wife, a gay guy, a black couple, and a few other typical subway strap hangers. [Read more…]
Super 8: Scariest Thing I Ever Saw
Along with the release of Iron Man 2 has come the trailer for what could be the hit of 2011: “Super 8.”
The J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg collaboration already has the Web buzzing with theories. Is this really a Cloverfield sequel? A LOST extension? The “Dark E.T.”?
All we know is that there’s a brutal train wreck in Ohio in the late 1970s, and onboard was some sort of Air Force cargo. Whatever IT is, it survives the crash. [Read more…]
Ryan Reynolds to get Buried
Ryan Reynolds’ star looks like it’s continuing its trajectory towards stardom. The guy has proven to be a great comic actor with the slew of well-received roles that he’s gotten of late. The writers of Wolverine may have ruined the character of Deadpool but Reynolds made the character a near-perfect interpretation of Deadpool’s deadpan, snarky character (until, of course, that atrocious reveal at the end). He has also proved that he can hold his own with superstars as evidenced by his well-loved performance opposite Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. The guy’s already beginning to reap the benefits of his Next Big Thing status by snagging another comic book based movie. He’ll officially be donning the ring of The Green Lantern for the new movie on the popular DC Comics character.
What he haven’t seen from Reynolds much though is a serious role. He’s apparently got that thing covered too with his new movie Buried. The thriller, helmed by Rodrigo Cortes, tells the story of Paul, an American contractor who’s working in Iraq. Paul gets in the middle of an attack by a group of Iraqis and finds himself buried inside a coffin. With just a lighter and a cellphone, he must find a way to escape before his time runs out.
It’s a great premise for a movie although it’s a tired concept. It’s been done in the Quentin Tarantino-directed episode of CSI. And the concept also reminds me of the movie Spoorloos. Will Reynold’s prove to be a versatile actor to tackle such a serious role? We’ll soon find out when the movie is released.
Chris Pine cast as Jack Ryan
Another reboot is in the offing in Hollywood.
Chris Pine is reportedly in talks with Paramount Pictures to play Jack Ryan, the popular CIA analyst character in Tom Clancy’s novels.
A script is currently being written for the planned reboot. Although the movie’s title wasn’t revealed yet, I’m guessing they’ll restart the franchise with the first novel, The Hunt for Red October.
If Pine accepts, he will be the fourth actor to assume the role of Ryan. Alec Baldwin starred in The Hunt for Red October. Then Harrison Ford assumed the role when Baldwin decided to do The Shadow instead of Patriot Games. The last actor to play Ryan was Ben Affleck.
Taken Took My Attention
I did a post on Taken last month and gave you a peek to what it’s about but was only able to see Taken the other night and found that, while it was pretty entertaining to watch, what it really impressed upon me is just how sick and selfish people can really be. Taken, not to be confused by the 2002 Taken alien flick which by the way I really liked, is the story of an ex-operative (Liam Neeson) whose teenage daughter is taken by Albanians dealing in the sex trade. The father goes on a killing rampage as he tries to find his daughter within the 96-hour window given to him before the chances of him never seeing her again goes bye bye.
The action sequences are cool with smarts and training factoring in to the character’s success. While the movie did show the horror of sex trade what’s really nice about the movie is that it didn’t get preachy and was realistic in the sense that the Liam Neeson’s character didn’t get too wrapped up with the issue (as horrible as it is!) especially after he got his daughter back. What I liked though was that he got to hurt those bad men pretty bad (I loved the torture he inflicted on Marco) because they deserved it! It does satisfy ones appetite for revenge.
You’ll love this film if you are into action films. And if not at least it will remind you once again why sex trade should be fought. As for girls like me it reminds me to be more careful when traveling!