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Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
'Premium Rush' delivers action, no whistles
Joseph Gordon-Levitt races through the streets of Manhattan as Wilee in "Premium Rush.""Premium Rush" is centered around a group of New York bike messengersJoseph Gordon-Levit's character, Wilee, appears to have a bit of a death wishThere is also a romantic subplot involving Wilee and another of the bikersEditor's note: This review may contain spoilers.(CNN) -- For some reason, moviemakers haven't been falling over themselves to glorify the exciting and heroic lives of bike messengers -- which at least leaves director David Koepp with a clear field.
And if it's a two-wheeled, pedal-powered adrenaline charge you're after, this is definitely the movie to watch. Yes, the plot is contrived and stretched much too thin. Yes, the characters are strictly off the peg. And yes, this flick is essentially a one-trick pony.But at least it's something different. "Premium Rush" is loaded with on-road action, scarcely pausing for breath as courier Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) criss-crosses Manhattan on his austere steel-frame, fixed-gear, no-brakes bone-rattler.Wilee takes his handle from the Coyote, but he's got more in common with Road Runner, zipping through the city's canyons, slaloming around cabs and pedestrians, oblivious to red lights and traffic regulations. Gordon-Levitt's an attractive and engaging actor, but motorists may find it challenging to overlook this guy's reckless and self-centered road sense, which is dressed up here as your typical Zen-existential-death-wish trip.The Coyote role -- one Robert Monday -- falls to Hollywood's current go-to crazy, Michael Shannon ("Take Shelter," "Boardwalk Empire"), who sucks up all the juiciest dialogue as a guy with impulse control issues. He's after an envelope that Wilee is delivering downtown -- it really doesn't matter why -- and he's not going to take no for an answer. Frankly, I'd have liked to have spent more time with this unhinged brother to the "Bad Lieutenant." I mean, who didn't wish the Coyote got his bird just once?Koepp, who also wrote the screenplay with John Kamps, ramps up the velocity with low camera angles, speeded-up photography and a rag-bag of digital add-ons. Wilee plots intersections with a kind of mental Streetview, calculating potential wipeouts and collisions like Sherlock Holmes armed with a GPS.This souped-up visual gimmickry is eye-catching but as empty and artificial as Koepp's story, which skates over several glaring coincidences and absurdities on what must be the unluckiest day in Wilee's life. It doesn't have to be "Bicycle Thieves," but a more nuts and bolts approach to physical reality wouldn't have hurt: fewer impossible jumps, more hard landings.I can readily believe that a cyclist could stay a step ahead of a car on Manhattan's crowded streets -- just as well, as the movie is essentially a series of long chase scenes stuck end to end - but a modicum of consistency would be nice. One minute, Wilee is racing hell for leather to evade a bike cop; the next, he's parking outside a police station to report the bug-eyed motorist trying to turn him into roadkill.Probably to satisfy the moneymen, and maybe to spin out his slim 75-minute story to an hour and a half, Koepp also throws in a romantic subplot. It's an unnecessary distraction from the business at hand. Koepp shifts backward and forward in time when it suits him, but altogether too much of the romantic sparring takes place on the hands-free as Wilee and Vanessa (Dania Ramirez) hurtle in different directions. Trust me: That heavy breathing you hear has nothing to do with sex.An unpretentious throwback to the kind of action movie that had no need of superheroes, "Premium Rush" is hardly a classic but fun up to a point, and it's a B movie for gearheads with no bells and whistles.Thursday, March 1, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Fed lowers GDP forecast, mulls more action (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed its forecast for growth, raised projections for unemployment and said it was mulling the possibility of buying more mortgage debt to spur a struggling recovery.
While members of the central bank's policy-setting panel voted 9-1 to hold a steady course, one official urged more stimulative action now and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Europe's debt crisis posed big economic risks.
At a news conference after a two-day meeting, Bernanke said buying more mortgage-backed securities was an option to help the economy and added that the U.S. central bank was still looking for ways to give clearer guidance on its policy path.
"While we still expect that economic activity and labor market conditions will improve gradually over time, the pace of progress is likely to be frustratingly slow," he said.
"Moreover, there are significant downside risks to the economic outlook," Bernanke said. "Most notably, concerns about European fiscal and banking issues have contributed to strains in global financial markets, which have likely had adverse effects on confidence and growth."
He said the central bank was "closely" monitoring developments in Europe. Group of 20 political leaders are meeting in Cannes, France, on Thursday and Friday, with the euro zone debt crisis expected to dominate talks.
One analyst speculated that concern about potential instability in Europe -- especially after a shock decision by Greece to hold a referendum on a bailout package that had been agreed to -- likely played into the Fed's decision.
"The Fed probably wanted to preserve its ammo until there was more clarity on how the European sovereign debt crisis unfolds," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist for The Economic Outlook Group, in Princeton, New Jersey.
The Fed's decision had little impact on financial markets. U.S. stocks held early gains, prices of 10-year Treasury notes were little changed on the day and prices for MBS tracked the larger debt market.
WEAK SIGNALS
In fresh quarterly projections, the Fed lowered forecasts for growth and raised forecasts for unemployment for this year, 2012 and 2013. Policymakers do not see the jobless rate, now at 9.1 percent, falling to a level they consider consistent with full employment even by the outer edge of their forecasting horizon, the final quarter of 2014.
Officials now expect the world's largest economy to grow by a tepid 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent next year, down from the rosier 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent they were expecting in June, with inflation muted over the forecast horizon.
They see the unemployment rate going no lower than 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent by the end of 2012, up from the more sanguine 7.8 percent to 8.2 percent range envisioned in June.
Fed officials believe the economy will have reached full employment when the jobless rate drops to between 5.2 percent and 6 percent, with a growing number seeing it at the top of that range. In their forecast, the unemployment rate would still be at 6.8 percent to 7.7 percent at the end of 2014.
Bernanke has called the lofty level of U.S. unemployment a national crisis and some officials at the central bank have urged new steps to foster stronger growth.
Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, dissented on Wednesday because he wanted to ease policy at this meeting, while three officials who had voted against an easing in September supported the consensus.
DEBATE CONTINUES
Evans has suggested the Fed keep interest rates near zero until the unemployment rate reaches 7 percent, unless inflation threatens to rise above 3 percent.
Bernanke indicated that there was a range of different approaches to the Fed's policy framework that were under debate, including the idea put forward by Evans. However, he was dismissive of an approach recommended by several economists -- targeting nominal GDP -- and said the Fed would continue to keeps its focus on inflation and employment.
"We are not contemplating at this time any radical change in framework," he said.
The U.S. central bank's debate over the course of policy comes against a troubled global backdrop and with the U.S. economy far from full health.
Greece's call for a referendum on the latest euro zone debt deal dashed hopes Europe had finally come to grips with its debt crisis, sending global equity markets into a tailspin.
The U.S. recovery remains anemic and could be knocked off course if Europe fails to quell its crisis. The economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter, a significant improvement over the second quarter but still too soft to put a dent in unemployment.
Faced with a still-weak recovery, the Fed in September embarked on a program to sell $400 billion in short-term Treasuries and invest the money in longer-dated bonds, an effort to keep long-term rates down.
It also dipped back into the mortgage market by reinvesting proceeds of its real estate bond holdings back into MBS.
While Bernanke left open the possibility that the Fed could expand its holdings of mortgage debt, he stopped short of pledging action.
"I do think that purchases of mortgage-backed securities is a viable option. Certainly, something we would consider if the condition were appropriate," Bernanke said.
(Writing by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa, Mark Felsenthal and Glenn Somerville; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Tim Ahmann and Dan Grebler)
Friday, November 4, 2011
Fed lowers GDP forecast, mulls more action (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed its forecast for growth, raised projections for unemployment and said it was mulling the possibility of buying more mortgage debt to spur a struggling recovery.
While members of the central bank's policy-setting panel voted 9-1 to hold a steady course, one official urged more stimulative action now and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Europe's debt crisis posed big economic risks.
At a news conference after a two-day meeting, Bernanke said buying more mortgage-backed securities was an option to help the economy and added that the U.S. central bank was still looking for ways to give clearer guidance on its policy path.
"While we still expect that economic activity and labor market conditions will improve gradually over time, the pace of progress is likely to be frustratingly slow," he said.
"Moreover, there are significant downside risks to the economic outlook," Bernanke said. "Most notably, concerns about European fiscal and banking issues have contributed to strains in global financial markets, which have likely had adverse effects on confidence and growth."
He said the central bank was "closely" monitoring developments in Europe. Group of 20 political leaders are meeting in Cannes, France, on Thursday and Friday, with the euro zone debt crisis expected to dominate talks.
One analyst speculated that concern about potential instability in Europe -- especially after a shock decision by Greece to hold a referendum on a bailout package that had been agreed to -- likely played into the Fed's decision.
"The Fed probably wanted to preserve its ammo until there was more clarity on how the European sovereign debt crisis unfolds," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist for The Economic Outlook Group, in Princeton, New Jersey.
The Fed's decision had little impact on financial markets. U.S. stocks held early gains, prices of 10-year Treasury notes were little changed on the day and prices for MBS tracked the larger debt market.
WEAK SIGNALS
In fresh quarterly projections, the Fed lowered forecasts for growth and raised forecasts for unemployment for this year, 2012 and 2013. Policymakers do not see the jobless rate, now at 9.1 percent, falling to a level they consider consistent with full employment even by the outer edge of their forecasting horizon, the final quarter of 2014.
Officials now expect the world's largest economy to grow by a tepid 2.5 percent to 2.9 percent next year, down from the rosier 3.3 percent to 3.7 percent they were expecting in June, with inflation muted over the forecast horizon.
They see the unemployment rate going no lower than 8.5 percent to 8.7 percent by the end of 2012, up from the more sanguine 7.8 percent to 8.2 percent range envisioned in June.
Fed officials believe the economy will have reached full employment when the jobless rate drops to between 5.2 percent and 6 percent, with a growing number seeing it at the top of that range. In their forecast, the unemployment rate would still be at 6.8 percent to 7.7 percent at the end of 2014.
Bernanke has called the lofty level of U.S. unemployment a national crisis and some officials at the central bank have urged new steps to foster stronger growth.
Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, dissented on Wednesday because he wanted to ease policy at this meeting, while three officials who had voted against an easing in September supported the consensus.
DEBATE CONTINUES
Evans has suggested the Fed keep interest rates near zero until the unemployment rate reaches 7 percent, unless inflation threatens to rise above 3 percent.
Bernanke indicated that there was a range of different approaches to the Fed's policy framework that were under debate, including the idea put forward by Evans. However, he was dismissive of an approach recommended by several economists -- targeting nominal GDP -- and said the Fed would continue to keeps its focus on inflation and employment.
"We are not contemplating at this time any radical change in framework," he said.
The U.S. central bank's debate over the course of policy comes against a troubled global backdrop and with the U.S. economy far from full health.
Greece's call for a referendum on the latest euro zone debt deal dashed hopes Europe had finally come to grips with its debt crisis, sending global equity markets into a tailspin.
The U.S. recovery remains anemic and could be knocked off course if Europe fails to quell its crisis. The economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter, a significant improvement over the second quarter but still too soft to put a dent in unemployment.
Faced with a still-weak recovery, the Fed in September embarked on a program to sell $400 billion in short-term Treasuries and invest the money in longer-dated bonds, an effort to keep long-term rates down.
It also dipped back into the mortgage market by reinvesting proceeds of its real estate bond holdings back into MBS.
While Bernanke left open the possibility that the Fed could expand its holdings of mortgage debt, he stopped short of pledging action.
"I do think that purchases of mortgage-backed securities is a viable option. Certainly, something we would consider if the condition were appropriate," Bernanke said.
(Writing by Pedro Nicolaci da Costa, Mark Felsenthal and Glenn Somerville; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Tim Ahmann and Dan Grebler)
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