June 30th, 2009

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past couple days, you most likely know about Michael Jackson’s untimely death Thursday at the age of 50. I thought it would be an appropriate time to pay the superstar his due reverence with a top 10 favorite song list, but any list wouldn’t be complete without a Jackson joke; after all, its become a pop culture necessity for several years – well before he named his youngest child, Blanket.

So here’s one courtesy of Late Night host Jimmy Kimmel: “He was an extremely powerful symbol: a black performer whites could relate to and then later in life, a white performer who blacks could relate to.” Well done, Jimmy. And on that note I bring to you my top 10 Michael Jackson playlist.

10) Remember the Time

9) Rock With You

Who Is It?

7) Black or White

6) Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

5) The Way You Make Me Feel

4) Beat It

3) Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

2) Man in the Mirror

1) Billie Jean (Quite simply the most timeless, brilliant pop song ever recorded. Pretty cool video too.)

As you probably noticed, Thriller is conspicuously missing from my list. The reason being that I always considered it a far better video than song. But that’s just me and everyone’s got their own personal Jackson faves.

R.I.P. Michael

Life derails for Walter Garber, a NYC transit worker, when a former prisoner hijacks a subway train, takes hostages, demands money and demands only to talk with Garber. Tony Scott’s version of the 1974 film with the same title, “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” is full of action and passionate performances.

Both Denzel Washington (Garber) and John Travolta (Ryder) are full of energy throughout the film. The movie also stars Luis Guzmán, John Turturro, James Gandolfini, Alex Kaluzhsky, and Gbenga Akinnagbe. “Pelham” won’t be nominated for any awards, but it’s a captivating movie and a terrific opportunity to finally see these veteran actors, Washington and Travolta, acting together.

 The Good: - Denzel Washington – Going from playing an obnoxious crime boss to an inspirational debate teacher – Washington’s “Garber” adds “everyday man” to his recent resume. But Garber isn’t perfect, which makes the character even more appealing. Only Washington could give this character the sincerity needed to not come off as hammy. Would we expect anything else from the classy actor?   - John Travolta – I think the last time Travolta was this fuming in a movie was in “Face/Off” (or was that Nicholas Cage?). Covered in tattoos as “Ryder,” Travolta plays the wisecracking, angry-at-the-world subway hijacker impressively. It’s great to see Travolta and his acting talents back on movie screens (only this time without a dress).

- The Movie’s Pace – The story’s timing is well done – it’s not too long or too short. The plot progresses steadily and doesn’t get caught up with irrelevant details. “Pelham” gets to the point, and sticks to the point – and I like that in a movie.

- It’s An Action Movie Too – “Pelham” isn’t all talk – it’s not continuous negotiations or argument with Ryder, it’s not solely “what can they say next to make him stop.” Those theatrical elements are covered, but Scott has also offered audiences great action sequences complete with flipping cars, cop shoot outs, and a standoff!

The Bad: - Background Characters – Roger Ebert makes a great point, “This version occupies a denatured action-movie landscape, with no time for local color and a transit system control room that humbles Mission Control. That also may explain the film’s lack of time to establish the supporting characters, even Travolta’s partners.” I agree because, the lack of focus on the secondary characters establishes a lack of caring for them. However, putting more emphasis on them may have interrupted the film’s pacing and if that’s the case then I’ll pass – keep the movie the way it is.

- Slightly Over the Top – The cars flipping during collisions are a little dramatic, but it sure does make for an entertaining movie.   In The End: “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3” will definitely keep audiences’ attention. But now that it’s competing with “Transformers 2” I think we’ll see it disappearing from theaters soon. However, make sure to catch it on DVD because Washington and Travolta’s performances shouldn’t be missed!

“Blindness” is kind of a scary movie depicting the outbreak of a seemingly contagious illness that renders people blind. Understandably, the worst of humanity comes out. Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Danny Glover, Alice Braga, and Gael García Bernal are some of the actors that make up a group of quarantined individuals living in a vacant mental institution where, literally, the blind are leading the blind, with one exception, a Doctor’s wife who lies about being sick in order to stay with her husband (who is sick). 

“Blindness” is a unique epidemic film that can be admired for its take on the genre, the acting, as well as its views of humanity during such desperate times.   The Good: – Terrific Acting – One sign of a great actor is when they can make audiences hate them, love them, sympathize with them, etc.  “Blindness” features actors capable of bringing viewers into their world so much so that it’s impossible to sit back and submissively watch this movie.

- A Different Take on the “Disease” Film Genre – Within the portfolio of “disease contaminating society” films out there “Blindness” is special. The characters don’t actually die from the “white blindness” disease.  The illness in this movie doesn’t mean death, life as a zombie or other tragic fate – the illness isn’t necessarily the “bad guy.”

- The Tempo – “Blindness’” plot progresses at a nice pace. The audience learns about the disease and how the world is dealing with it at the same pace as the characters in the movie. The pacing is so that the deterioration of society and desperation are sincere – viewers aren’t thrown into chaos and expected to buy into it.

The Bad: - Not a Happy Movie – About 15 minutes of “Blindness” are happy and worthy of a smile, I could have used a little more.

- It’s Pretty Darn Realistic! – Unlike zombie or alien attack movies, “Blindness” is slightly more plausible, making it that much scarier. Seeing how people change and the terrible things they do in the movie makes me cross my fingers that something like this will never happen.

In The End: “Blindness” is a quality film in regards to the acting and plot, but won’t leave audiences with a warm and tingly feeling once it’s over.