9

Saw this less hyped animated movie 9 and was pleasantly surprised worth a friday evening for sure :)
Shane Acker's new post-apocalyptic animated adventure 9 began its life as the young director's thesis project during his grad school days in UCLA's animation department. In that original incarnation, the film was an 11-minute silent short that plunged viewers into a desolate, destroyed world inhabited only by diminutive rag dolls loosely stitched together out of whatever odds and ends survived the unseen cataclysm. The short's striking visuals more than made up for its slender some might say, inscrutable plot. Synthesizing elements from Eastern European animation, Japanese animation and such live-action visions of the apocalypse as James Cameron's Terminator films, Acker created his own distinct futurescape that won the applause of audiences, several awards (including a 2005 Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short) and, best of all, the attention of A-list movers-and-shakers like Tim Burton, who set him up with the funds to turn his short into a full-length feature. Wisely adhering to that old maxim If it ain't broke, don't fix it, Acker uses this opportunity to expand the scope of the original short without fundamentally altering his vision to appeal to a broad mainstream audience. His only major marketplace concession was giving his characters voices, a decision that, while understandable, also turns out to be the film's most significant creative misstep. Clocking in at a swift 80 minutes, 9 unfolds almost in real time at a breakneck pace. As in the short, viewers experience events through the eyes of the title character (voiced by Elijah Wood), one of nine dolls whose origins are shrouded in mystery. The movie begins with 9 gaining consciousness in a dilapidated room in a bombed-out building inhabited only by a long-dead body. Venturing outdoors, he crosses paths with another one of his kind, who escorts him to a carefully hidden bunker where the surviving dolls live, making sure to avoid the mechanical creatures that roam the ruins hunting down any remaining signs of life.

A really interesting very well handled....worth a watch indeed :)

The Taking Of Pelham 123

Tony Scott directs this remake of the original Palomar Production/Walter Matthau-starring thriller from 1974 with this Columbia Pictures production that pits Denzel Washington and John Turtorro against a group of hijackers, lead by John Travolta, who take over a subway train in order to rake in a hefty ransom. David Koepp (War of the Worlds) is adapting the book by author John Godey.

This version of The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 splits the Walther Matthau character of Walter Garber into two persons (Denzel Washington as MTA Dispatcher Walter Garber, and John Tutorro as NYPD Hostage Negotiator Detective Camonetti), both of whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train that is in Garbers charge. John Turtorro plays the chief Hostage Negotiator who finds he is a fish out of water without Garber.

John Travolta co-stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, including a subway-knowledgeable henchman, (played by Luis Guzman), threatens to execute the train's passengers unless a large ransom is paid within one hour. As the tension mounts beneath his feet, Garber employs his vast knowledge of the subway system in a battle to outwit Ryder and save the hostages.

Camonetti starts the movie taking charge of the situation, suspecting Garbers complicity, but realizes his mistake when his actions cause the death of a hostage. Realizing that only Garber can solve the problem, he spends the rest of the movie making Garbers job easier by becoming the Liaison between his SWAT Team and Garber. In the end, it is Garber who solves the riddle of how the criminals intend to get away with the money.

All in all a good movie to watch..