E-Mail
Print
Advertisement
You're in the
Entertainment section
New DVDs: 'Pelham' director turns up the tension
Published online on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009
tool name
close
tool goes here
Comments (0)
"The Taking of Pelham 123" Grade B+: A subway dispatcher (Denzel Washington) must deal with a man (John Travolta) who has taken hostages.
Director Tony Scott has manipulated the film's design to get the maximum interaction from his stars. That's one major reason "Pelham" is such a thrill ride.
Travolta is like a playful dog when he gets these kind of over-the-top characters. Washington, who added a few pounds to play the part, always seems comfortable in the everyguy role.
Toss in an inspired choice of "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini as the mayor of New York and John Turturro as an emotionless negotiator and there is not a weak performance in the bunch.
"I Love You, Beth Cooper" Grade D: A school geek played by Paul Rust declares his feelings for a cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere).
John Travolta stars in the action thriller "The Taking of Pelham 123."
Larry Doyle's script never commits to making this a sweet romance like "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" or an over-the-top sex romp like "American Pie." His idea of a funny plot twist is to have Beth and her babe buddies sneak into their old high school after dark to take showers.
This unclever script would like to be the next "Superbad," the raucous teen sex comedy. But it's just super bad.
Also new ...
Coming to DVD on Tuesday:
"Where God Left His Shoes": John Leguizamo stars as a washed up boxer struggling to survive.
"Lemon Tree": A lemon grove becomes the focus of Palestinian-Isreali tensions.
"Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs": Christopher Lee narrates this look at the secrets of mummies.
"Ruby-Spears Superman": The two-disc set includes episodes from the 1988 cartoon series.
"Thomas & Friends: Holiday Express": Thomas must clear snow from the tracks.
"Food, Inc.": Filmmaker Robert Kenner's look at the food industry.
"The Answer Man": The author of a book that shaped a generation faces changes in his life. Jeff Daniels stars.
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra": Dennis Quaid stars in this live-action film based on the popular action figure.
"Aliens in the Attic": Youngsters must fight off an attack by knee-high alien invaders. Ashley Tisdale stars.
"Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Complete Season One": Animated effort that continues the "Star Wars" saga.
"Spin City: The Complete Third Season": Michael J. Fox stars in this political TV comedy.
"Unmistaken Child": The film follows the search for the reincarnation of Lama Konchog.
"Who Is KK Downey?": Comedy from the Canadian group Kidnapper Films.
"Dark Mirror": A couple's new home reflects an evil world.
TV and movie critic Rick Bentley can be reached at rbentley@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6355. Read his blog at fresnobeehive.com.
A few rules are needed to help foster a feeling of community. We encourage a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect, but any post that violates someone's right to use and enjoy fresnobee.com is prohibited. Before you post, please read the terms of use and obey these simple guidelines.
Here are the ground rules:
- Be yourself. A nickname will be used for posts, but if an editor finds a user without a verifiable name, that user will be warned or banned.
- Keep it clean. Foul language (defined by prime-time standards) will not be tolerated. Neither will the intentional misspelling of foul language or the use of non-English curse words.
- Be truthful. Do not lie or link to sites that may be considered libelous, defamatory or false.
- Be nice. Don't harass anyone. Don't threaten anyone. Don't use racial slurs. Don't post anything sexually explicit.
- Be an individual. Do not advertise or solicit. Do not harvest any information for business use.
- Be original. Do not post copyrighted material.
- Follow the law. Don't do anything or post anything considered illegal by city, county, state or federal regulations and laws.
Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH
- From The Beehive
-
Another comedy show to look forward to ...
We gave you a nice rundown of upcoming comedy shows earlier in the week, and now we got another one. 'Tis the season to laugh, apparently. The guys at Cloud 9 Productions pass along word that they've booked a...read more »
Turning kids on to the cello
My faithful classical-music-in-schools-zealot correspondent, Robert Bullwinkel, dropped me a note today about cellist Zuill Bailey, the guest soloist for this weekend's Fresno Philharmonic concerts -- I have a story in this morning's 7 section about the program -- and...read more »
To-do Tonight: Joan Tanner at the Fresno Art Museum
From our 7 Things to Do list: It's a long-standing tradition for the Fresno Art Museum's Council of 100 to designate a female artist of the year. The honor this time around goes to Joan Tanner, whose "as is:...read more »
Complete Beehive → - Columnists
-
Rick Bentley Mum's the word on KBOS firings
There have been several changes to the KBOS (FM 94.9) on-air lineup with the abrupt firings of Danny Salas two weeks ago and Mo'nique on Friday. Read more →
- National entertainment
- More stories →
- Most Read Stories
-
- Most E-mailed
$(document).ready(function(){
$("dd:not(:first)").hide();
$("dt a").click(function(){
$("dd:visible").slideUp("fast");
$(this).parent().next().slideDown("fast");
return false;
});
});
@Nyx.CommentBody@