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The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Gbenga Akinnagbe

(Sony; US theatrical: 12 Jun 2009 (General release); 2009)

Official Site

Fans are of two minds regarding this third attempt at bringing John Godey’s 1973 novel back to the big screen. A certain percentage believes the original 1974 film was flawless and doesn’t require a contemporary retelling. The rest never knew there was a movie made before the 1998 TV adaptation. This update does show promise—it offers Denzel Washington and John Travolta in front of the cameras, and Tony Scott, Brian Helgeland, and David Koepp behind it. Yet when the trailer appeared a few months back, there was an air of generic action and over-stylized license rendering everything sterile and uninvolving. Here’s hoping the film itself finds a way to mix modern sensibilities with old school thrills. Otherwise, the first group of miffed moviegoers will have even more material to fuss over.

Imagine That

Director: Karey Kirkpatrick

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Thomas Haden Church, Martin Sheen

(Paramount Pictures; US theatrical: 12 Jun 2009 (General release); 2009)

Official Site

• Review [12.Jun.2009]

The last time Eddie Murphy tried to tap into his flagging family film audience, the result was the repugnant Meet Dave. Even with a writer from Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the project, the movie reeked of stunted studio retooling. This time around, Ed’s a disgruntled dad who utilizes his daughter’s imaginary world as a means of solving his out of control career problems. The choice of Karey Kirkpatrick as a director is interesting, since he got his start in animation. Perhaps he can bring some of that cartoon magic to what is rapidly becoming this comedian’s second fall into commercial obsolescence.

Moon

Director: Duncan Jones

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Sam Rockwell, Kaya Scodelario, Matt Berry

(Sony Pictures Classics; US theatrical: 12 Jun 2009 (Limited release); 2009)

Official Site

• Review [9.Jul.2009]

Sam Rockwell stars in this intriguing sci-fi story about an astronaut at the tale end of a three year mission who experiences something quite profound—and early reviews from SXSW suggest it’s a riveting tour-de-force. Kevin Spacey is even on hand as the voice of GERTY, Rockwell’s companion computer. While serious speculative films rarely crack the box office this time of year (see Danny Boyle’s 2007 masterpiece Sunshine), this film from David Bowie’s son Duncan Jones has lots of promise.

Dead Snow

Director: Tommy Wirkola

Cast: Charlotte Frogner, Ørjan Gamst, Stig Frode Henriksen, Vegar Hoel, Jeppe Laursen

(IFC Films; US theatrical: 12 May 2009; 2009)

Official Site

When horror fans hear about the premise for this Norwegian terror treat, their macabre mind boggles. A group of medical students go on a skiing trip where they come face to face with…wait for it…wait…wait…OK, here it is. They come face to face with a group of Nazi Zombies! NAZI-FRIGGIN’-ZOMBIES! How cool is that? Well, according to already published reviews, not very. Yep—this might just be another case of a classic idea being badly mangled in the big screen translation. And that’s too bad. After all—NAZI ZOMBIES!