Captain Phillips

If Tom Hanks joins Daniel Day Lewis as the only other man to have won 3 Academy Awards as a Best Actor then it would be primarily because of his performance in the last 5 minutes as Captain Phillips.  How would you play a scene where you have little or no bodily damage but are in shock / panic?  This is exactly the kind of material that is going to be used at cinema schools where acting is a course.

Now You See Me

The dictionary defines magic as the art of producing a desired effect or result through the use of incantation or various other techniques that presumably assure human control of supernatural agencies or the forces of nature. Now if that doesn’t confuse you then you have a tremendous command over the language.

Taken

I saw Taken for the first time only about 2 years after its release. It was before I started blogging. And my inputs were restricted to a facebook post that I don’t quite remember. What I do remember is an edge of the seat drama that kept me glued to the screen and made me wish that I had an HD connection – the ads just ruined the stunning pace that the movie gets into within 15 minutes of the start and stays there all the way to the last frame. Truly a Thriller fan’s delight.

And as I had the good fortune of watching Taken a few minutes back on Star Movies (this time on HD), I kind of managed to put a finger on what is it that I missed in Taken 2 that prompted me to slot a score of only 6 on 10 for the sequel. One word – INTENSITY. The complete commitment that one can see in Liam Neeson’s eyes as the father who is desperate to get his daughter back from the clutches of a ruthless bunch of Albanians who are driving a flesh trade operation through Paris.

Unfortunately for the Albanians led by Marko (Arben Bajraktaraj), Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) turns out to be an exceptionally well trained and equally ruthless ex-CIA operative. And as he says in as many words when his daughter is kidnapped, “I don’t know who you are. But if you do not let my daughter go right now, I will find you. And I will kill you”. The manner in which Neeson tells Marko can be best described in 2 words – SPINE CHILLING. And that my friends was the missing ingredient in Taken 2.

Within 72 hours, using some of the most obvious techniques and common sensical methods – backed with an ice cold calm, Bryan goes through the task of tracking down his daughter and getting her back home safe and sound. He is definitely helped with some movie luck – dodging bullets and the likes. But any such instances are fleeting in nature and well edited.

There are very few consistency errors (if any). All members of the cast do their best despite the ominous presence of Neeson and one has to accept that this was a lead character movie all the way through. But the composure of the cast goes a long way in the making of the end product.

Taken is also crisply edited. The entire movie is under 90 minutes but does not compromise on any aspect whatsoever. Taken must be screened to as many movie makers in this part of the world as possible. Just to prove a point that “Less is indeed more”. 7 on 10 and put it on your must watch list for certain.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3488219417/

Unstoppable

Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington) has lost his job. He is serving out is notice period with NWVR, a railroad company and is in his last 3 weeks now. All this after 28 years of committed work for the organization. He is an engine motorman. Several older personnel in the organization are being replaced with younger blood. Many of his close friends particularly Judd Stewart (David Warshofsky) have also been victim of this sudden move by the organization. Whats worse, they get only half the benefits that they are eligible for (Sometimes I feel it is so much better to work in India than anywhere else ). Frank has lost his wife about 4 years back to cancer. He has 2 daughters aged 18 and 19 - Maya (Meagan Tandy) and Nicole (Elizabeth Mathis). They are working their way through college by waiting tables @ Hooters – not the most respectable job one can have but not one that they keep their father in the dark about. All in all they seem to be one small happy family with the regular father daughter fights etc.


With the jobs being lost around, it is no surprise that when Will Colson (Chris Pine) joins the company as a conductor, he is given an ice cold welcome on the first day itself. But Chris has problems of his own and does his best to ignore the cold vibes. His wife, Darcy (Jessy Schram) has served a restraining order against him thanks to a very close cop friend. Story goes that Will suspected something fishy between Mrs. Colson and her cop friend and gets a little harsh with her – no beating up or physical abuse but just some pushing and shoving. To make matters worse, he leaves home that very instant and goes to the cop’s place to give him a piece of his mind and surprise surprise – pulls a gun on him – I mean what kind of a nit wit would pull a gun on a cop???? Not Mr. Colson’s proudest moment especially when he realizes that Darcy was only messaging her sister – the message was the core reason for the fight to start and then finish with a restraining order. What a waste!!!!

Nevertheless, fate provides both Frank and Will an opportunity to become heroes when Train 777 turns into what is termed in railroad parlance as a COASTER. A Coaster is a train that has an unmanned engine running on auto, usually at low speeds say under 10 miles per hour. Gileece (T J Lewis) and Dewey (Ethan Suplee) are 2 employees who are charged with the responsibility of pulling out a half a mile long goods train to make way for kids coming for a field trip. Since it’s a small job, they don’t put the air brakes on. Worse still, the not so slim Dewey gets off the train to manually switch tracks but slips in the bargain. The train picks up speed and Dewey is unable to get back onto it (must remember to start working out sooner than later or may land up like Dewey). And worse still, the throttle was @ the max level – so my friends we now have a super coaster. So fasten your seat belts and let the excitement begin.

Unstoppable is based on a true story it would seem. Not sure about the extent of the truth though. But one thing is for certain, it is far from famed director Tony Scott’s best to date. For a guy who has given us – hold on to your horses – Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, Days of Thunder, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, SPY GAME (what a movie!!!), Man on Fire, Déjà vu and Taking of Pelham 123 he seems to have kind of lost his edge. Maybe he got so carried away by Taking of Pelham that he decided to extend his love for trains and move onto creating Unstoppable. Not pointing fingers at direction out here. But just the content didn’t seem sufficient for it to seem like a Tony Scott movie. It starts off slowly but picks up pace and before you know it, it is done. But in that limited period of time, he does show that there is a huge action director talent who has given us some of the best movies that we grew up with. Its compact for certain. Editing is very slick. But the really edge of the seat moments are few and far between.

Denzel Washington seems to be the director’s favourite and does full justice to the role but is quite wasted. Chris Pine seems more constipated than troubled. The rest of the cast has only bit parts with the exception of Rosario Dawson who plays the role of Connie who co-ordinates the entire effort of train 1206 to successfully stop 777. Overall nothing great. Also nothing you would miss if u see it on DVD. I give it 5 on 10.