Posts Tagged ‘James Gandolfini’

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!

The 60th Emmy Awards this past September turned up some first time winners and nominees like Bryan Cranston, Gabriel Byrne, Lee Pace and others. The 2008 Oscars also introduced first time nominees and winners such as: Tony Gilroy, Marion Cotillard and Tilda Swinton, just to name a few. But does adding “Award Winner” or “Nominee” to a resume help a career? Let’s take a look at winners and nominees from the 2000 awards season to see if Oscar or Emmy has helped them climb the Hollywood ladder.

The 2000 Academy Awards gave Russell Crowe his first nomination for “The Insider.” Since then, he’s seen his most notable role yet as Maximus in “Gladiator,” which lead to an Oscar win. He also received another nomination for “A Beautiful Mind.” Just an Oscar nomination has lead this actor into stardom.  

Hilary Swank had her first nomination and win for “Boys Don’t Cry.” She has since gained an Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby” where she worked with acclainmed director Clint Eastwood. Julianne Moore received her second nomination for “The End of the Affair” which has lead to staring in movies with Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep, Clive Owen and others. On the flip side, Janet McTeer collected her first and only Oscar nomination.  She has done other projects, but nothing to the magnitude of “Tumbleweeds.”

The Best Actor in a Supporting Role category introduced newcomers Michael Clarke Duncan, Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law. All three have had hugely successful careers since their nominations. Duncan had a reccuring role in the “The Whole Nine Yards” series and has costared with Will Ferrell, John C. Rielly, and Clive Owen. Osment received nominations for “Pay it Forward” and “Artificial Intelligence: A.I.” Jude Law has had staring roles in “Enemy at the Gate,” “Road to Perdition,” and “Cold Mountain.”

The Best Director category brought the first win for Sam Mendes director of “American Beauty.” Mendes later heads up films such as “Road to Perdition” and “Jarheads.”  This category also saw the first (and only) nomination for Spike Jonze director of “Being John Malkovich.” He will later direct “Adaptation.”

Switching to the Emmy’s and their effect on the crew that works for the small screen.

In the Outstanding Drama Series category, the winner was new TV drama “The West Wing.” This was the first nomination and win for the series, which continued gaining momentum in 2002 and 2003 by winning the same award and picking up Emmy’s in multiple categories each year it was on the air. Viewership topped out at 15 million per week on average! Emmy worked her magic on this beloved television show.

The Outstanding Lead Actor for a Drama showcased James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano. His second nomination, but first win (he will also win in 2001 and 2003) encouraged a proserous career completing nine films so far. On the other hand, Jerry Orbach’s first and only nomination for his work on “NYPD Blue” never landed him a statue or another Emmy nomination.

Leading Actress in a Comedy Series went to Debra Barone aka Patricia Heaton.  She will also win in 2001, but only receive nominations after that.  She recently stared in a show with fellow 2000 nominee Kelsey Grammer, but it was canceled. Two of the other four nominees have shows currently on television, Jane Kaczmarek and Debra Messing, proving that awards don’t necessarily improve a resume.

2000’s Emmy’s brought Thomas Schlamme a directing award for “The West Wing.” He would eventually win one more for directing. He would later direct the short lived “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” Allen Coulter, another 2000 directing nominee, directed or has worked on multiple highly accredited TV shows such as “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City”, “Rome” and others, but no Emmy wins so far.

The 2000’s Emmy’s brought a win (and two nominations for two episodes) to writer and creator Aaron Sorkin for “The West Wing” during its second year on the air. After “West Wing’s” end, Sorkin worked on a similar style show “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” which ran for a year. He switched to film, working on critically acclaimed “Charlie Wilson’s War” in which he received a Golden Globe nomination. He’s currently working on two films as a writer making those Emmy statuettes work for his credibility.  For writer Linwood Boomer, it’s a different story.  2000 would be the only Emmy for this writer for his work on “Malcolm in the Middle” even though he received one other nomination the following year. To date, “Malcolm in the Middle” was the last show he worked on, which ended in 2006.

It seems that being handed a statue with your name on it has a 50/50 chance of bettering your career in the compeititve entertainment world. You’re either a Jude Law or a Linwood Boomer.

The 81st Academy Awards will occur on February 22, 2009.

Three-time Emmy winner, James Gandolfini, best known as “He’s-not-all-that-bad-a-killer” Tony Soprano, married his fiancé, Deborah Lin, in Hawaii over the weekend.

Sources say the bride wore a white, Italian lace gown as she strolled down the aisle accompanied by harp. Gandolfini’s 8-year-old son, Michael, a child by his first wife, was the best man.