Comparing The Two Takings of Pelham 1 2 3

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (1974) - Walter Matthau plays a subway operator who must outwit a team of hijackers who hold a car of people for hostage for $1M. This is classic 70s cinema in the best way possible. It reminds me a lot of Dog Day Afternoon. It's funny but at times gravely serious. Everyone talks and acts like they're from the Bronx and the whole movie takes a cue from Matthau's humorous nonchalance fed-up-edness, making it wildly entertaining. For example, when Matthau tells that the lead hijacker has a British accent, he relays "He's either English or a fruitcake." Cheesy The story is a battle of the minds. I just love it when the heroes and the villains have enormous respect for each other. Everyone plays fairly (tho the hot-headed Mr. Grey henchman has his moments). And it's also an action movie complete with a ticking clock. It builds up halfway, and then unfolds non-stop action for the second half. Truly a well-done screenplay.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) - Within seconds, I could tell you it's by Tony Scott (I somehow missed the "A Tony Scott Film" opening credit so the Produced By credit was validating). It's all flashy colors with ostensibly glamorous jobs like subway dispatcher. The original looks like United 93 by comparison. It foraskes the original's realism for Bruckheimer-style gloss. The biggest difference is Robert Shaw's calm collected villain is replaced by John Travolta's Broken Arrow-style criminally insane one, leaving little to no character development for the other villains or passengers. Also, the introduction of wifi and (sigh) a subversive video chat on a laptop. The differences actually spiral exponentially (esp starting at the halfway point), so that by the end, they're almost two different stories.

By no means is the remake a bad movie. It's as good as a well done music video, and the original story really elevates it (it's hard to screw up a story this well written). But the absolute best part of the remake was introducing me to the original as well as offering a fun thrill ride where you don't have to turn your brain off to enjoy it (well, maybe just a little). I look forward to rewatching the original (4 stars). I could take or leave the remake (3 solid stars).

My Favorite Movies of 2009

This list will be surprising for many. Most notably for putting "Avatar" and "Funny People" so high and for putting "The Hurt Locker", "Inglourious Basterds", "Moon" and (especially) "Up" too low. But this list isn't YOUR list. It's MY list. I could easily make a list that you could agree with. However, this is my PERSONAL favorite movies of 2009. Biggest factors for ranking are a combination of how much fun and enjoyment I had watching a movie and how much I'd like to return to that movie. So let the controversy begin:

These movies get an "A":

1. Avatar
2. (500) Days of Summer
3. I Love You, Man
4. Star Trek
5. Zombieland
6. Funny People
7. District 9
8. Taken
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox
10. Julie & Julia
11. Inglourious Basterds
12. The Hangover
13. Watchmen (note: this movie has grown on me over time)

B's:

14. Monsters Vs. Aliens
15. Michael Jackson: This Is It!
16. Princess & the Frog
17. Precious
18. Humpday
19. Coraline
20. The Hurt Locker
21. Moon
22. Up In the Air
23. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
24. Big Fan

C's:

25. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
26. Where the Wild Things Are
27. State of Play
28. Push
29. Capitalism: A Love Story
30. Paranormal Activity (note: avoids getting an F for the final scene)

D's:

31. Up (note: talking dogs flying bi-planes just loses me)
32. It Might Get Loud
33. Disney's A Christmas Carol
34. Knowing

F's
35. Bruno
36. Transformers 2

So... have you calmed down from my low ranking of "Up" yet? Haha. Hm... 36 movies. That may be a new record for me. The three movies I started watching but abandoned (out of sheer not-in-the-mood-ness) are "Ponyo", "Drag Me To Hell", and "Terminator: Salvation".

Here are the movies I haven't seen yet that I plan on seeing (in order of how much I want to see them):
New Moon (+RiffTrax)
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Food, Inc.
Harry Potter and Whichever One Came Out This Year
Whip It
The Informant!
Adventureland
Sherlock Holmes
Jennifer's Body
Mike Judge's Extract
In the Loop
White Ribbon
A Single Man
An Education
A Serious Man
Bright Star
Away We Go
Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Men Who Stare At Goats

My Oscar Nom Reaction 2010

I woke up this morning at 7:30am to flip around the news channels and land on CNN (the only news network carrying the Oscar noms live). So, "Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" tie with 9 noms each (way too many for "Hurt Locker" imo considering it's technical achievements aren't *that* astounding). The $16M indie vs. the $2B blockbuster. Snobs can rest easy. "Hurt Locker" will grab Best Pic and Director. "Avatar" could sneak Best Director. At this point, "Hurt Locker" is a surefire Best Pic win. Here is my take on things along with my predictions (a "-" denotes who I think will win):

Actor in a Leading Role

-* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
* Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

REACTION: No real surprises here considering this is pretty competitive. Maybe Morgan Freeman is the only thing that comes close, but apparently he was the best element of "Invictus". Jeff Bridges will win, and it will be a message of long-time-coming.

Actor in a Supporting Role

* Matt Damon in “Invictus”
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
-* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

REACTION: I called Christoph Waltz as this year's winner right after seeing "Inglourious Basterds". My prediction stays tho Plummer could easily win for seniority (typical for this category). Both Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci had a stellar year, tho Tucci has a good shot at this. Matt Damon is the biggest surprise here.

Actress in a Leading Role

-* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

REACTION: I had a bet going that Bullock would not get nominated. Now she is the front-runner. Just watched "Julie & Julia" and, tho I don't normally root for Meryl Streep, I think it is a truly transforming performance and wholly delightful in every possible way. But this being Streep's 16th nom, Bullock will walk away with the gold. Congrats to a deserving Gabourey Sidibe too.

Actress in a Supporting Role

* Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
-* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

REACTION: "Precious" is well done in may regards, but I'd say Mo'Nique comes out on top as the best element. I'm rooting for her, and she is the favored one. Glad to see "Up In the Air" get the double noms. Wouldn't be upset if Vera Farmiga won considering how well she did.

Animated Feature Film

* “Coraline” Henry Selick
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
* “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
* “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
-* “Up” Pete Docter

REACTION: The first truly competitive year for Animated Films since its inception in 2001. I called all these except that I predicted "Mary & Max" to get the darkhorse nom. Instead it went to "The Secret of Kells" (something totally off my radar). Rooting for "Mr. Fox" or even "Coraline", but it's no question that "Up" will win.

Directing

* “Avatar” James Cameron
-* “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
* “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
* “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

REACTION: I love this year's directors. They could've done well with 10 nominations. Any one of these in a different year could win. I'm a huge fan of both Reitman and Tarantino but it's a head-to-head with the formerly married Bigelow and Cameron. Cameron has a shot, but Bigelow will win.

Best Picture

* “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
* “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined
* “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
* “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
-* “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined
* “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
* “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
* “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
* “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

REACTION: Two surprises here. One good; one bad. The good: "District 9". It really is an amazing well-put-together movie and by far the most ingenious on the list. The bad: "The Blind Side"!?!?! This one really upsets me. I'm convinced there are over a handful of other films that deserve higher recognition (I would include "Star Trek" and "The Hangover" among them). I really think this has more to do with appealing to viewers than anything else. Shameful. Then again, this *is* why they increased the ballot to 10 noms this year. It's Cameron vs. Bigelow again. Bigelow will come out on top (to casual viewers' dismay... because they haven't seen it).

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

* “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
* “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
* “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
-* “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

REACTION: Really tough call on the winner. They're all so good. Would this be Reitman's first Oscar if he won? Anyway, really glad to see "District 9" on there. This puts "In the Loop" back on my radar. It seemed "too British" kind of funny and highly political, but I may wind up watching it now.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

* “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
-* “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
* “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
* “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
* “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

REACTION: I'm guessing a three-way race among "Hurt Locker", "Basterds" and "Up". Since I can't guess among them, I'll go with my fave, "Basterds". To see Tarantino on stage (not seen since '94) would be great.

Art Direction

-* “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
* “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
* “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
* “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
* “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

REACTION: "The Young Victoria" is the one least on my radar, but there's always a place reserved for period pics like this. No clue who will win, but I want it to go to "Avatar".

Cinematography

-* “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
* “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
* “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
* “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
* “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

REACTION: "Harry Potter" is a real surprise here as well as (but not as much) the Best Foreign Film front-runner "White Ribbon". I'm hoping something other than "Hurt Locker" or "Harry Potter" will win, so, let's say, uh, "Avatar".

Costume Design

* “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
* “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
* “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
* “Nine” Colleen Atwood
-* “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

REACTION: I've heard of them all but only want to see a couple of 'em. I'll take a blind guess and go with the period drama.

Documentary (Feature)

* “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
* “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
* “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
-* “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
* “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

REACTION: Best Doc has the best record for snubbing when it comes to noms (Foreign Film is a close second). "Food, Inc." is the only one I've heard of (which means it probably won't win). I'll go with the most politically themed as the winner.

Film Editing

-* “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
* “District 9” Julian Clarke
* “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
* “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
* “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

REACTION: Wow. I've seen every one of those and walked away from each one of them noticing how well they were edited. I'll say "Avatar" waging on something of a technical sweep.

Foreign Language Film

* “Ajami” Israel
* “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” Argentina
* “The Milk of Sorrow” Peru
* “Un Prophète” France
* “The White Ribbon” Germany

REACTION: The only one on my radar is "White Ribbon". A WWI movie from Germany with noms in other categories? Yeah, it should win (tho, like, Best Doc, it's very unpredictable).

Makeup

-* “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
* “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
* “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

REACTION: Haha! "Star Trek"? I really want that to win, but I'm going with the least known one here.

Music (Original Score)

* “Avatar” James Horner
* “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
* “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
* “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
-* “Up” Michael Giacchino

REACTION: "Hurt Locker" had a score? Whatever. Giacchino is loved. "Up" is adored. It will win.

Music (Original Song)

* “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
* “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
* “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
* “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

REACTION: Glad to see TP&TF get a couple noms. Jeff Bridge's acting has really helped "Crazy Heart" get recognition, and I'm guessing it will push this into a win. Nominations aren't too hard to guess for this category, but the winners are usually not as predictable.

Visual Effects

* “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
* “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
* “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

I have no reaction to Documentary (Short Subject), Short Film (Animated), Short Film (Live Action), Sound Editing, or Sound Mixing.

And for what it's worth, next to Billy Crystal, Steve Martin is my favorite Oscar host and he will be co-hosting with Alec Baldwin on Sunday, March 7th (my birthday!). Check back here later for my reaction to the broadcast.

Precious - I thought this was gonna drain me emotionally but several people said I should really see it. And I'm really glad I did. It wasn't the Holocaust movie style drag you through the mud kind of emotional trainwreck I expected it to be. It was actually... entertaining. Entertaining the way "Requiem For A Dream" is wholly reprehensible yet still entertaining. So "Precious" isn't as monumental as RFaD, but it certainly has its parallels, particularly in the fact that they both share imaginative dream sequences that by their sheer exuberance shows how deep their delusions are. What I love most is the directing and the acting. Lee Daniels takes your typical black-girl-down-on-her-luck story and makes it imaginative and original (by mainstream standards) as well as intense and entertaining. The acting is stellar. This year's "Doubt" (though again, maybe not to the exact same caliber). I hate to say it, but i think Mo'nique deserves an Oscar for her performance as Precious' mother. I also was surprised to enjoy Mariah Carey's solemn performance (and there's one line in particular that sheds light on why she got the role). Precious wants to know what race Mariah Carey's character is but can't pinpoint it. "What are you? Black? Mexican? What?" Carey never gives her an answer, "What color do you think I am?" It hits Precious pretty hard in context. Best Pic shoo-in? With ten slots open, of course. But I say it deserves it on an indie-level sort of little-movie-that-could. Expect to see some acting noms somewhere. The leading 4 characters deserve recognition. I expect to see a nom for Best Adapted Screenplay as well. I would argue not much happens in the story, but the emotional story being told is phenomenal. Also, the original material makes it particularly difficult to adapt, so congrats to the screenwriter (and director) who pulled it off so well.

500 Days of Summer - This year's "Juno" or "Once". My 2nd favorite movie of the year (seriously, I had a LOT of fun watching "Avatar"). 500DoS is an indie film of my favorite kind in that it's fun and takes different approaches to typical boy-meets-girl fare. It has several stand-out, original pieces including a musical number and some other moments I dare not spoil. This is the movie that I watch a dozen mediocre to bad to highly-acclaimed-but-I-don't-get-it movies for. To find hidden gems such as this. It was so bittersweet when it was over because I know it'll be awhile till I find a movie I like this much again. Complaints against it I can see are maybe, like "Juno", it tries pretty hard to be inventive/original/hip. But I loved "Juno" and I don't think either of these movies reach beyond their grasp.

Paranormal Activity - "Blair Witch" does the same thing only better (btw, I love BWP so take that for what it's worth). Too much set-up, and there's a ripped-from-The-Exorcist moment that had my eyes rolling. However, the bump-in-the-night moments (the scenes where the couple lay in bed each night) really had me peeking through my fingers. I literally had to shut my eyes for the whole last 5-10mins. When it was over, I rewound it and watched the ending without sound just to see what I missed. I have never come close to ever doing that at a movie. Scariest movie of all time? Not hardly. "The Descent" left me unsettled for days. "Blair Witch" had better acting (now what does that tell you). But I'll admit, I wasn't happy lying down to sleep that night because my mind kept wandering back to the movie. ::shudder:: (I should note also that I'm not a fan of horror movies).

A Movie-Goers' Open Mind

This is a brilliantly succinct NPR article about (I think) snobbery:

Let's Resolve Together To Make 2010 The Year We Leave The Window Open
by Linda Holmes

"Familiarity breeds contempt."

Perhaps it is this little saying, or some variation of it, that convinces people that disdain and discernment are the same thing: that the more things you roll your eyes at, the smarter you must be. After all, you have the most contempt, so you must have the most familiarity. Under this model, to enjoy art or entertainment is to be conquered, but to dismiss it is to defeat it. And the more other people have been conquered by something, the more it distinguishes you to dismiss it.

After all, when you enjoy or respect or are affected by a movie, you are usually responding to it at least in part as its creators intended. In a sense, you've been, for that period of time, obedient. The director and the screenwriters and the actors and the crew, they led you, and you followed. They set a trap -- of suspense, or romantic tension, or comedic payoff -- and you fell right into it. The director said, "Hey, that's a mighty nice henway," and you said, "What's a henway?" and the director said, "About three pounds." Sucker.

The problem is that if you watch something and you don't enjoy it, then you may still have been taken. They got you to go, to watch, to read -- they got you to try it, because you didn't know enough not to.

Sucker.

The only way, under this rather bizarre up-is-down model of critical thinking, to defeat something is to proclaim that not only are you not enough of a sucker to enjoy it; you are not enough of a sucker to even watch it -- or to listen to it, or to read it. "I wouldn't waste my money." "I wouldn't waste my time." "I wouldn't waste the effort." And, of course, the natural follow-up: "And I don't think much of people who would."

Toward a different way, after the jump.

For those with this approach, it is literally the very fact that they have no direct knowledge of the topic at hand that makes their reactions a sign of especially discerning tastes. They have proved their independence, in short, by being too clever to be fooled into obtaining any independent knowledge. As to things they expect not to like, they have removed the part of the critical process where you experience the thing, moving directly from preconception to evaluation, so the only things they even experience are the things they already think they're going to like.

Suckers.

People who have written off all Hollywood movies, or all television, or all popular music (or all rap, or all thrillers, or all romantic comedies), on the basis of a presupposition about quality that blankets an entire medium or genre are regrettable for their corrosive attitudes, yes. But they're even more regrettable for what they're missing. Rare indeed is the enormous vat of nothing but bathwater; there's almost always a baby in there somewhere.

Most of all, however, they are regrettable for their contributions to a giant cultural conversation increasingly polluted by detached, uninformed disdain. If familiarity breeds your contempt, that's fine. That's essential. If you saw the movie and you hated it, or you read the book and you hated it, or you watched the show and you hated it, get out there and holler. Holler. Argue vigorously, refuse to settle. That's part of how vibrant cultures are built. But if unfamiliarity breeds your contempt, then it contributes little to the discussion.

In short, this year, let's not do this. Let's not prize the things we don't know anything about and show them off like a bottle-cap collection. "I can't believe anyone reads John Grusham or whatever his name is." "I can't believe you're talking about Britney Spears, whose music I have never heard." "I haven't watched anything on television in 20 years, and everything I haven't seen has been absolutely worthless."

That's my resolution for 2010: Let's hope everything is good, even though we know much of it won't be. Let's hope to be pleasantly surprised instead of making sure we're never disappointed. Let's leave the window open, just in case there's a breeze.

[[Original article can be found here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/12/lets_resolve_together_to_make_1.html]]