At The Movies With Peter Travers: The Taking of Pelham 123, Moon and Imagine That

Rolling Stones Peter Travers has a load of praise for a pair of new films At the Movies this weekend, starting with the popcorn action flick The Taking of Pelham 123, a supped-up reboot of the 1974 original. The film casts Denzel Washington and John Travolta in the roles of hero and villain in a story about an ex-con who holds a New York City subway car and its passengers hostage. Unlike other remakes, Pelham 123 pays homage to its roots, renaming Washingtons character Walter Garber in honor of the original actor to occupy the role, Walter Matthau. They know what theyre following, and theyre showing respect, Travers says of the electrifying film.

Also hitting theaters this weekend is Moon, a sci-fi masterpiece shot on a shoestring budget starring actor Sam Rockwell as a man stationed alone on the moon for three years who, just before hes set to go home, meets another astronaut, played in true science fiction fashion by Sam Rockwell. Yes, Rockwell plays both characters in this complex mind-bender of a summer film. If it sounds both confusing and mesmerizing, maybe the director Duncan Jones upbringing has something to do with it: Jones is the son of Ziggy Stardust himself, David Bowie. Moon is a small movie that has imagination to spare, Travers says.

Lastly, in the Scum Bucket, theres a movie out this week that you shouldnt even see if someone dared you for a hundred dollars. Its called Imagine That and it stars formerly funny actor Eddie Murphy as a divorced father for the countless time. Murphy is too busy working to pay attention to his daughter, but when she magically begins predicting stock tips thanks to her imaginary friends, Murphy is thrust into a world where being a good, attentive father pays off both financially and in the heart. That sentence hurt our fingers to type, so we cant imagine how much pain youll be in if you actually see this debacle. Travers didnt, he just saw the trailer, but that was enough for him to imagine putting Imagine That in the Scum Bucket.

Read this weeks reviews:The Taking of Pelham 123
Moon
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