I’m loving these serious, dramatic actors kicking ass in action movies.  For Liam Neeson it was a new thing but Denzel’s a veteran with “Crimson Tide” and “Training Day” and “The Preacher’s Wife”.  But he’s taking it to a whole new level with “The Book of Eli” which should really just be called, “Denzel Washington Fucks Up Everyone,” The movie looks like it has a cool western-vibe to it except the protagonist has a clear mission from the start.  The trailer doesn’t really tell you anything about the movie beyond Denzel protects book, Gary Oldman wants book, Denzel fucks up everyone.  Works for me.

Check out the trailer after the jump.  “The Book of Eli” hits theatres on January 15^th, 2010.

Rosario Dawson has now joined the cast of Tony Scott’s latest film, “Unstoppable”. She will now be starring alongside Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. To find out more about this film which is amazingly inspired by a true story hit the jump.

The catalog flood of titles to Blu-ray is one of the best and worst things about getting the new toy that is Blu-ray. The good news is that a lot of great titles are coming out looking better than ever. The bad news is not only might you get double dipped, you’re more than likely to purchase something that will look great but always kind of sucked. My reviews of Air Force One and Glory after the jump.

Warner Bros. had like 29 movies at this year’s Comic-Con. Okay, I’m exaggerating by saying 29, but they had the most movies and the most actors and filmmakers of all the studios in attendance. And while some of the red carpets at this year’s Comic-Con were incredibly difficult to land any interview on, the WB carpet was the best. That’s because for almost two hours they had actors and filmmakers walking from left to right and right to left on the carpet, so you almost always had someone to talk with. Trust me, it’s never like that.

Anyway, since a few of the interviews didn’t go for too long, I’m going to post some together in one article. In this one I’ve got Denzel Washington talking about “The Book of Eli” and Jackie Earle Haley talking about “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. Both are after the jump:

Of the seven films Warner Bros. showcased this morning in Hall H, the one that with the least enthusiastic reception was The Hughes Brothers’ “The Book of Eli” starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, and Mila Kunis.  It’s not that it looks particularly bad, but the way they presented it wasn’t very strong.  However, the Q&A was incredibly entertaining.  I was sitting next to Aint It Cool News’ Mr. Beaks and he leaned over to me at one point and said, “I think they’ve been drinking.”  Please keep in mind that this presentation began at about 10:45.  In the morning.

Hit the jump to learn about what we saw and how entertaining (and potentially drunk) Oldman and Washington can be together.

In advance of Friday’s Comic-Con panel, Warner Brothers has unleashed the first trailer for the new Denzel Washington pic, “The Book of Eli”, onto the internet.  The film stars Washington as a survivor of the apocalypse (which apocalypse? THE apocalypse, duh!) who finds himself in possession of a certain book which may hold the key to mankind’s survival.  “Eli” was directed by The Hughes Brothers and makes good use of the washed-out color palette that the apocalypse seems to favor.  “Book of Eli” won’t hit theatres until January 10th, 2010 but you can get your doomsday thirst quenched right now by checking out the trailer after the jump…

Denzel Washington may be giving up on “Unstoppable”, the action drama that would have reunited the star with director Tony Scott for the fifth time.  Back in April we told you that Washington would be following Scott’s train-based drama “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3″ with the train-based drama “Unstoppable” - which probably seemed like a good idea until “Pelham” went off the rails with a measly $61 million domestic take.  Find out how “Unstoppable” got stopped after the jump…

I didn’t have much hope for Tony Scott’s remake* of the brilliant 1974 film “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (we don’t spell out words anymore because words are for queers) but I hoped that it would at least acknowledge the greatness of that movie and if it wanted to update the story (and I’ll admit there’s room for an update although the original still works perfectly), it would show a little love towards Joseph Sargent’s film.  Maybe they would remix David Shire’s unforgettable theme from the flick and use that to open the movie.

And then they open with Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” and you realize that this isn’t a remake you tolerate as much as you endure it.

Opening this Friday is director Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123″. The film stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta and it’s a remake of the 1974 film that starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. Here’s the synopsis:

Denzel Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train.  John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, 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.  But there’s one riddle Garber can’t solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape?

To help promote the film, I recently attended a press conference with director Tony Scott and Denzel Washington. They talked about all the usual subjects like what was it like to make the movie, filming in New York, how did Denzel create his character, what they have coming up, and a lot more.

If you’d like to read the transcript, it’s after the jump. But if you’d rather listen to the press conference, you can click here to download/listen to the audio. If you have the time, I’d recommend listening. Press conferences are always better that way.

Finally, here’s a link to some movie clips from “Taking of Pelham 123″.

If The Hollywood Reporter is to be believed, then director Tony Scott is about to get much better than he deserves.  The guy already has some sort of weird hold on Denzel Washington (my guess: explicit photos of Washington curbstomping infants which is really unfair because those photos lack context) and now it looks like he’s going to get Chris Pine onboard his terrible-looking train movie, “Unstoppable”.  According to THR, Pine would play a newbie train conductor (stay with me) whose brought onto replace the veteran train conductor played by Washington (stay with me) due to company cutbacks.  I don’t really understand how replacing one guy with another guy saves the company money but okay.  They find themselves in a race against time to stop an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train carrying enough combustible liquids and poisonous gas to wipe out a nearby city.

So…someone put all the combustible liquids AND the poisonous gases on the same half-mile train?  What was the alternate title for this movie, “3:10 to Are You Fucking Kidding Me?”  I don’t know where “Unstoppable” will fit in with scheduling for “Star Trek 2″ but at least Pine has that film in his back pocket and can afford to do what is, at best, a paycheck movie.  That or Scott had damning photos of Pine also curb-stomping infants.  Why would these celebrities do that if they know it’s so frowned upon?

Given the wealth of remakes, adaptations and updates on studio release schedules these days, movies made from original screenplays have become a rare commodity, at least for folks disinterested in Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Book of Eli was written by Gary Whitta, a newcomer with only one other credit to his IMDB resume - the forthcoming live-action version of Akira - and as directed by Allen and Albert Hughes, it promises to be more than the exception that proves the rule. Starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis and Gary Oldman, the film follows a lone warrior (Washington) as he navigates a dusty, violent, post-apocalyptic landscape, and Collider was recently invited to check out its fantastic, futuristic, and most of all dusty landscape.

The film was shot in New Mexico, the production location for several other recent blockbusters including Observe and Report and Terminator Salvation. The set we visited was a short distance from the Albuquerque airport, but by the time we arrived at the razed landfill where shooting was to take place, virtually all remnants of civilization were forgotten: tumbleweed (seriously) and dusty plains were the only sights for miles in every direction. Except, of course, for the set itself - a dilapidated house built especially for a big action set piece, some of which we hoped to watch as it was shot.

Opening on June 12th is director Tony Scott’s “The Taking of Pelham 123″. The film stars Denzel Washington and John Travolta and it’s a remake of the 1974 film that starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. Here’s the synopsis:

Denzel Washington stars as New York City subway dispatcher Walter Garber, whose ordinary day is thrown into chaos by an audacious crime: the hijacking of a subway train.  John Travolta stars as Ryder, the criminal mastermind who, as leader of a highly-armed gang of four, 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.  But there’s one riddle Garber can’t solve: even if the thieves get the money, how can they possibly escape?

To help promote the film, we’ve been provided with 6 clips and a featurette. They’re all after the jump so take a look:

If you’re up on your Apocalypse Movie News then you’ve probably heard about “The Book of Eli” - the new End of the World movie the Hughes Brothers are shooting out in New Mexico.  “Eli” stars a slimmed-down Denzel Washington as a man on a journey across a post-apocalypse USA with a book that could hold the key to man’s salvation.  I’m relatively sure that the book in question is not “The Secret” but I suppose I’ll have to wait until the movie comes out in January to be sure.

In the meantime, USA Today has just posted five new images (after the jump) from “The Book of Eli” which should give you a hint about the director’s vision of the film - if not the contents of that book.  Surprisingly, the Hughes Brothers have chosen to make the Apocalypse look kind of cold and depressing. So that book better be really, really inspirational or the end of the world is truly going to suck…