Around Christmas time last year I saw the John Travolta version of the Taking Of Pelham 123. Let’s just say it wasn’t very good, but then I heard it was based on a Walter Matthau movie of the same name from 1974. So when I found it on Netflix Instant I decided to give it a try. I keep a running tally of every movie that I first watched in 2011 and so far this is my ninth favorite movie of the year. Why does this version work better then a remake?

The movie if you are unaware is about a group of thieves who hijack a subway car and hold the people hostage as they demand money for their safe return. This movie is perfect for 1974 as the technology makes hijacking a subway car something exciting and doable. The 2009 version is set in 2009 and with the advances of modern technology it just isn’t believable.

But there is more then just the believability. Walter Matthau plays the station manager and he speaks with the main hijacker who plays the role very cold, distant and cunning. In the 09 version Denzel Washington plays the part Matthau plays with some believability but Travolta plays the hijacker and he plays it a lot goofier, more crazy and zany a villain, not one you would believe could pull off a heist like this. It’s like in the 74 version they looked at real life criminals and Travolta took his source from Dick Dastardly.

The 74 version of this movie is fantastic, an absolute treat and one in which I was glued to my seat. If you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it as it’s just as good today as it was in 74. I rated it 5 out of 5 on Netflix.

I’m very excited about this movie. I’ve made no secret of that. This last trailer only proves that, if nothing else, it will be incredible to look at.

It really did give me the chills, though.

I can’t wait.

Red Tails tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and comes out January 20th. You can watch the trailer in full-res on Apple’s website.

I never thought I’d say that Brett Ratner getting kicked off a project would be bad news for film fans, but that’s exactly what’s going on here.

Ratner was producing the Oscars telecast for 2012’s ceremony (only a few months away) and while out promoting Tower Heist made some pretty idiotic statements as idiots are apt to do. So he was forced to resign from the producers slot. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that the announced Oscar host, Eddie Murphy, decided he didn’t want to do the show if Brett Ratner weren’t involved.

That’s not cool.

Eddie Murphy hasn’t done anything close to being on a stage and being funny in a long, long time.

Pinch hitting for Brett Ratner is Brian Grazer. Making the safe and easy bet, he’s brought in Billy Crystal to host the ceremony.

The world just let out a deep and resounding, “meh.”

I mean, Billy Crystal is a funny guy, but this will be his ninth time hosting. We’ve seen his bag of tricks. We’ve seen what he can do. It’ll feel so dated. Or maybe it won’t. Who knows?

We’ll just have to see.

I really want to see them bring Jon Stewart back. I think he was the best host in recent memory, hands down. (Though Hugh Jackman did do a pretty great job.)

Club Jade directed me to this little gem for fans of the Hunger Games:

It seems as though the new trailer will be attached to prints of the new Twilight movie.

Which is fine for me for two reasons: I have no specific love or knowledge of The Hunger Games that would cause this to piss me off, and I’m planning on seeing the new Twilight movie anyway.

A Hunger Games fansite has posted up a picture of a letter to projectionists instructing them to attach the trailer to prints of Twilight by hand. It makes a lot of sense and looks a lot like the sorts of letters I got in my years as a projectionist.

My guess is that it’s legit.

Will this get Hunger Games fans in the theatres to see Twilight?

Takashi Miike, director of Ichi the Killer, Audition, and Visitor Q, is now working on a film adaptation of the popular game series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. The film, set to release this February in Japan, now has a trailer that surfaced recently and gives us a brief glimpse into Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney). Luckily, Miike seemed to have left incest and torture out of this one….

I am a huge fan of the games, having played and beaten every single one of them and for a while, I have been secretly wishing for something like this to happen. I’m glad Phoenix got representation in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and now I’m ecstatic there is a movie chronicling his adventures. Most of the characters seem to be faithfully represented here, everyone from The Judge and Larry Butz to Manfred Von Karma looking a lot like their video game counterparts. Briefly, you can even see an appearance by the police station mascot. (1:01) Awesome. My only little gripes so far is that Maya looks a little older than I remember and where the hell is Detective Gumshoe?! There must be at least a couple Japanese gentlemen of larger stature out there that could fit the role, right? Regardless, I can’t wait to see this movie…

It was an easy choice to pick this week’s Blu-ray when I discovered that Amazon was having a fantastic sale on The Incredible Hulk.

For $10, you can snag the Blu-ray of this underrated Marvel Studios picture and add it into your queue of movies to watch as you gear up for The Avengers next year.

Marvel has done a pretty incredible thing by stringing these movies together and this movie was no less fine than the others, but seemed to receive the least amount of attention.

It also had one of the best Stan Lee cameos in recent memory.

As Bruce Banner, I think Edward Norton worked really well in the part and I’m still confused about exactly why he wasn’t asked to come back for the Avengers. There were rumours that he was in the editing room on this film, working on it until the end. Some might find that annoying, but I think it’s a dedication to craft. The man is a wonderful actor. I’m not upset they replaced him with Mark Ruffalo, though. He is equally fantastic and I can’t wait to see what he does in the Avengers movie.

If you’re going to pick this film up, I would recommend revisiting Ang Lee’s Hulk as well. On Blu-ray it’s even cheaper, coming in at $7.99. I think this film is twice as underrated. It’s a long, slow burn to the action, but it’s such a compelling drama that I can’t help but just love it. It’s also one of the most comic-booky of the comic-book movies, both in editing, visuals and tone. I think with the proper distance people can do a better job of appreciating it. Between the fight sequence with the hulked out dogs and the desert fight, there should be more than enough action, too.

And to anyone who found the story stupid, I think if you’d read the EXACT same story in a comic book, you’d have been on board. For some reason it just didn’t seem palatable to a movie-going audience and I don’t get it.

I stumbled across a little piece of info on ComingSoon.net this morning:  Walden Media (the production company that gave us The Chronicles of Narnia) has acquired the rights to “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”

The elusive world-traveling criminal, often seen wearing her trademark red hat and trench coat, appeared in multiple computer games, a game show, and a the cartoon Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? that originally aired in the 90’s.

The website gives the following description of the plot:

When the ACME agency’s greatest detective Carmen Sandiego becomes the world’s greatest thief, it’s up to her former partner to follow her clues and track her down. Their cat-and-mouse game leads the partner to confront a greater mystery: Is Carmen really a thief or a hero?

They also mention that Jennifer Lopez will be producing and starring in the film.  My best guess is that she will likely be portraying Carmen, and I don’t know how I feel about that.  I think I’d prefer an unknown in the role.

Also, part of the fun of Carmen is her mystique.  You only catch glimpses of her in the games and even the cartoon.   Reveal too much about her, and she loses that.  I have a feeling a feature film about her will destroy the mystery, much the way Attack of the Clones took away the mystery of Boba Fett for Star Wars fans.  (and let’s not forget to mention that it also changed his accent in the Original Trilogy, and while I have no issues with Temuera Morrison’s voice, I still find the change jarring.  I liked the raspy Boba Fett voice better).

But I admit to being a little too emotionally involved in the material.  To this day, much of what I know about geography I owe to the original game.  My Apple computer game came with an almanac that aided me when searching for clues, and I searched for Carmen (usually as Detective Drew or some other Nancy Drew-inspired alias) from one side of the globe to the other.  I also have watched the cartoon recently as it’s aired on the Hub network, and it’s excellent for learning about history and geography.  (yeah, I’m a big nerd.  I like educational programming).

We’ll wait and see if this film actually gets produced, and I’m certainly interested to see what direction the producers go with it.

Some of you may have missed this little gem when it came out in mid-July. It’s newly out on Blu-ray and it has lost none of its charm.

I reviewed it back when it came out, and here’s the gist of what the film is about and what I liked from that review:

The story is very, very straight forward. Eeyore (played here quite capably by Bud Luckey, from “Boundin’” fame) has lost his tail and there’s a contest to find him a new one. The prize? A pot of honey that Pooh just needs because he can’t even remember the last time he’s eaten. Owl (played hilariously by Craig Ferguson) steals every scene he’s in, at one point attaching a chalkboard to Eeyore’s backside as a replacement for his tail and then illustrating an entire story on it, still attached to Eeyore. The animation delves into the chalk and
provides a great sequence in the old mold of “Heffalumps and Woozels” or “Pink Elephants on Parade.” It worked stupendously.

More than anything, this film is fun and funny for people of all ages. I saw it with my 8 and 9 year old and we three were all laughing hysterically throughout. They came up with a perfect mix of humour and charm that appealed to everyone in rapid fire succession.

Again, the animation was gorgeous, the film was funny and beautifully rendered, the voices were top notch, and it was just a great, easy way to spend an hour and a half in the theatre.

And the film has only grown in its fun. There’s something to be said about seeing this film on home video instead of the theatre, going a long way to recreate much more of the nostalgia I had with Winnie the Pooh in my youth. The weekend the Blu-ray came in, I curled up on the couch on a Saturday morning, huddled under a blanket with my kids, and we watched it all over again. We laughed even harder and being at home somehow made it even more charming.

On Blu-ray, it looks better than Winnie the Pooh ever has before and makes me want to revisit the classic feature as well.

If you have kids, you owe it to yourself to pick this movie up. If you don’t, and you’re just a fan of Winnie the Pooh who was wary about this new version, I assure you, there is nothing to worry about.

TTFN…

Press Release: 11/1/2011

VIZ MEDIA TO RELEASE ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE ETERNAL DIVA

Based On The Popular Nintendo Video Game, Tea-Loving Archaeologist And Polymath Sets Out To Solve His Toughest Puzzle Yet!

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, will release a new anime feature-length film, PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE ETRENAL DIVA, on DVD November 8^th. The movie is based on the highly popular PROFESSOR LAYTON series of video games for the Nintendo DS and will be suitable for All Ages. The DVD features both subtitled and dubbed English dialogue options, and will carry an MSRP of $19.97 U.S. / $19.98 CAN.

Professor Layton, a true English gentleman, renowned archaeologist, and the world’s greatest amateur super sleuth, embarks on his most daring adventure yet when he receives a letter from his old student, the famous opera diva Janice Quatlane. She is set to perform at the legendary Crown Petone Opera House and invites him to attend as her special guest. Meanwhile, a spate of disappearances hits London. Two young school girls are the latest victims and the Professor suspects it’s related to the mysterious occurrences at the theatre. The Professor and his loyal assistant Luke travel to the Opera House to solve their toughest puzzle yet, the mystery of Eternal Life!

“PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE ETERNAL DIVA combines plenty of action and mystery with intriguing puzzles and a healthy dose of fun English wit to make for an inviting whodunit sure to captivate a wide audience,” says Brian Ige, Vice President, Animation. “The many puzzles that made the original Nintendo DS video game a hit are also present throughout the new feature film, and viewers are allowed time to formulate their own solutions to the riddles and brainteasers before Professor Layton provides the final answer. We invite new and established fans alike to join the fun as the Professor searches to solve the mysteries of Eternal Life hidden at the Crown Petone Opera House!”

The PROFESSOR LAYTON video game series is one of the most successful Nintendo DS exclusive titles. In addition to the popular movie, which was released in Japan in 2009, the property features five games developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo DS as well as two more game titles for the Nintendo 3DS. The games each feature various puzzles and mysteries that must be solved in order to advance to the next level.

For more information on PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE ETRENAL DIVA, please visit: www.VIZ.com.

We’re giving away a complete Blu-ray collection of the Jurassic Park Trilogy!

The first Jurassic Park film is easily one of Spielberg’s best and holds up so well as a masterpiece of the cinema. The second one, not so much. I quite liked the third one though, it’s an unabashed monster movie. (I saw it mere hours after getting to talk to Stan Winston at San Diego Comic-Con in 2001. Quint from Aintitcool wrote that conversation up in 2001. He was there, I was there, and another totally obnoxious guy was there.) That was the best possible way to see it.

The contest will be open until Friday, November 4th. Winners will be announced on Monday, November 7th.

To enter, all you need to do is shoot us an email at editor (at) bigshinyrobot.com. Make the subject “SHOOT HER!” (which might be one of the best episodes of the entire series. For an extra chance to win, post on your Facebook wall asking all of your friends to like our Facebook page. Or you can ask your followers on twitter to follow us @BigShinyRobot. Or both.

Just be sure to mention in your email that you’ve done it.

If you can’t wait, you can get it on Amazon now for less than $50.

Good luck.