Tony Scott is one of those directors where you have no idea if he’s going to deliver a modestly successful studio film, or something out of its mind. Top Gun, Enemy of the State, Spy Game suggests a director who knows how to deliver what studios want.  Butt then sometimes, like with True Romance, or Domino he takes a chance and goes for broke in ways that either work great or are nigh unwatchable. Then you have a film like Man on Fire that’s both a studio picture, and a borderline experimental movie. Unstoppable is Scott in studio picture mode, but it’s unmistakably a Tony Scott film. Such is his filmmaking. Denzel Washington stars as Frank, an older guy in the train business who’s been recently partnered with Will (Chris Pine), a rookie with the right last name to get ahead. They start a gruff working relationship, but they’re forced to get along and do their jobs when they have to stop a runaway train with the destructive force of a missile the size of the Chrysler building… or at least that’s what controller Connie (Rosario Dawson) says. My review of the Blu-ray of Unstoppable follows after jump.

For the second weekend in a row Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 heads the weekend box office, taking in an estimated $76.3 million over five days and bringing its ten day domestic total to $220.4 million.  Potter was not the only family film that enchanted over the Thanksgiving holiday: Disney’s Tangled pulled in an estimated $69 million in its five day start, besting many predictions.  Meanwhile, debuts aimed at the adult audience gave new meaning to the term ‘turkey trot.’ Burlesque, Love & Other Drugs and Faster all failed to pass $20 million after five days. Nevertheless, this was the second-highest grossing Thanksgiving on record after Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Blind Side took 2009.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1 is the Hagrid-sized hit everyone expected it to be; although its three day estimate – at this point – won’t put it into the top five All-Time releases as was previously projected. They really missed the mark and came in sixth instead. Warner Brothers will have to be content in the knowledge that they have topped their previous Harry Potter record and bide their time until Part 2 comes out in July.

After narrowly beating Megamind for first place on Friday, Unstoppable lost some momentum as it rolled through the weekend. The thriller placed second with an estimated $23.5 million while Dreamworks’ 3D animated Megamind enjoyed a second week at number one and a new estimated domestic gross of nearly $90 million.

Unstoppable opened to $8.1 million on Friday which was good enough for first place – barely. The PG-13 thriller is the fifth film pairing of Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott, and the second in a row to feature a runaway train as its dramatic centerpiece. Though projections indicate that Unstoppable will be anything but a runaway hit, the film should at least match the $23.4 million opening weekend of Denzel and Scott’s last train thriller, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. Too bad that won’t be enough to outsmart Megamind. The 3D comedy came in second on Friday with $7.9 million and is poised for its second weekend at number one thanks to higher ticket prices and a general lack of interest in this weekend’s other new titles. That includes Universal’s Skyline which debuted in fourth on Friday with $4.7 million on its way to a weekend in the $14 million range – a far cry from this week last year when 2012 earned $23.4 million on its first day alone. Finally, Morning Glory opened early to get out of the way of all that testosterone. It didn’t help. The romantic comedy’s Wednesday-Thursday gross stands at just $2.6 million and its Friday take of $3.1 million was only good enough for fifth place.

Ever since Man on Fire, Tony Scott has shown little regard for his audience’s senses.  He assaults them on a regular basis by throwing out every abrasive edit possible.  My personal favorite was when he decided to change fonts on the subtitles while a character was reciting a phone number.  Clearly, that moment needed an extra emotional punch.  After taking the same kind of approach with Domino, Deja Vu, and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, I held out little hope for his latest film, Unstoppable.  However, I must bestow upon him higher praise than I ever thought I would: Unstoppable is surprisingly tolerable.  It’s not a smart movie, or even a particularly exciting one, but it at least doesn’t over-saturate every color and will hold a shot for more than half-a-second.  Throw in strong chemistry between leads Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, and you have a film that is better than it should be, especially when that film is by Tony Scott.

With director Tony Scott’s new action thriller Unstoppable getting released tomorrow, it’s time for my final video interview and it’s with Denzel Washington.  While I rarely get nervous before doing an interview, I’ll admit that I was a bit apprehensive before sitting down in the chair.  Perhaps it’s because all of all the tough characters he’s played on screen.  Or maybe it’s because I respect his talent so much that I didn’t want to screw up my first on camera interview with him.

Thankfully, Washington was extremely friendly and we spent our time talking about everything from working with Tony Scott for the 5th time, to what he wants to do the next time he goes to Comic-Con.  Finally, towards the end of the interview, he told me the only project that’s on his plate is Safe House and they’re shooting it in South Africa next year.  Hit the jump to watch the interview:

With director Tony Scott’s new action thriller Unstoppable getting released this weekend, I recently sat down with Chris Pine to talk about his involvement in the movie.  Of course we didn’t just talk about how intimidating it was to work alongside Denzel Washington, as we also covered things like what did he buy himself since he just turned 30, what was it like to work for Tony Scott and his fast moving camera, did he have friends that wanted to visit him on set, and what’s up with the Star Trek sequel and other possible future projects.  Hit the jump to check out what Pine had to say and make sure to see Unstoppable this weekend.  It’s a fun ride.

For better or worse, Denzel Washington and Tony Scott have brought their creative minds together on numerous occasions. Over the span of 15 years they’ve tackled revenge, terrorism, time travel and, in a sense, nuclear war. This week’s Unstoppable marks their fifth collaboration together, and so we thought it’d be fun to have a look back at the duo’s track record, covering the highs and lows of their lucrative, sometimes even sensational partnership. Hit the jump to revisit their previous films.

When I sat down last week with Rosario Dawson to talk about her new action thriller Unstoppable (which also stars Chris Pine and Denzel Washington), I had no idea it was going to turn into a conversation about Star Trek.  But it did.  If you didn’t know, Dawson is a huge Trekkie and we spent a bunch of the time talking about how she wants to be in the Star Trek sequel.  She even spoke some Klingon.  Of course we also talked about making Unstoppable, dressing for premieres and the double standard between men and women,  and she talked about her next project called Girl Walks Into a Bar.  Hit the jump to watch the interview:

Tony Scott’s latest action flick Unstoppable was inspired by the actual events that placed two railway workers – a veteran engineer and a young conductor – in extraordinary and heroic circumstances. When Will Colson (Chris Pine), who was hired as a result of nepotism, gets paired with Frank Barnes (Denzel Washington), who has 28 years on the job, both realize that the less than ideal situation could make for one very long day. Little do they know, when they leave the rail yard, that an unmanned runaway train will lead to a terrorizing ordeal that will test everyone involved.

A combination of Scott’s filmmaking style and the lack of CGI, in favor of practical sets and real action, contributes to the urgency of the situation from start to finish, taking the audience on an intense, gripping ride. During the film’s press day, co-stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pine and Rosario Dawson, along with Tony Scott, talked about the challenges of making a film like Unstoppable, doing many of their own stunts while on a train going 50 or 60 mph, and getting to meet their real-life heroic counterparts. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Just a few hours ago I attended the press junket for Tony Scott’s new movie Unstoppable.  Starring Chris Pine and Denzel Washington as a train conductor and engineer, the two have to race the clock to stop an unmanned runaway train – effectively a missile the size of a skyscraper – and prevent disaster in a heavily populated area.  You can watch some clips and read a better synopsis here.

With the movie getting released November 12, I’ll be posting exclusive video interviews with Pine, Washington and Rosario Dawson that week.  However, towards the end of my interview with Pine, I managed to get some updates on the Star Trek sequel, Alex Kurtzman’s Welcome to People, and I asked him if he was going to star in George Clooney’s Farragut North.  Hit the jump for what he said:

Opening on November 12 is director Tony Scott’s (True Romance, Top Gun, Man on Fire) new movie Unstoppable.  Starring Chris Pine and Denzel Washington as a train conductor and engineer, the two have to race the clock to stop an unmanned runaway train – effectively a missile the size of a skyscraper – and prevent disaster in a heavily populated area.

I saw a screening the other day and am happy to report Tony Scott has relaxed a bit behind the camera.  Instead of the crazy camera work that distracts you from the story (Deja Vu, Domino, The Taking of Pelham 123) , it’s like he took a valium before filming.  Of course there are still moments that make you remember you’re watching a Tony Scott film, but it’s far less intrusive.  Also, even though he might have relaxed a bit, he still knows how to frame action.  All the action with the train was very well done, and I was definitely on edge watching Pine and Washington try to stop a moving missile.  Hit the jump for the full synopsis, 5 clips from the film, and a bunch of new images.

If you follow Simon Pegg on Twitter, you already know the international teaser trailer for Paul will premiere in UK theaters tomorrow on The Social Network (only at Odeon and Vue cinemas). This will be the first official footage from Greg Mottola’s movie to be released.  When a studio releases a teaser trailer in theaters on a Friday, it usually means it’ll be online soon after.  We’ll obviously post it as soon as possible.

The other bit of trailer news is about a movie I’m really looking forward to:  director Jonathan Liebesman’s Battle: Los Angeles. With his alien invasion movie getting released March 11, 2011, you knew a teaser would be getting released soon. It is.  I’ve confirmed the Battle: L.A. teaser is scheduled to play in front of 20th Century Fox’s Unstoppable on November 12.  No word on when it’ll be online, but I’d wager around that date.

For more information on either Paul or Battle: Los Angeles, click the links.  They’re both movies you should be looking forward to.

The movie poster for Tony Scott’s action film Unstoppable has gone online.  The film stars Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as an engineer and an conductor who must stop a runaway train packed with hazardous chemicals from destroying a small town.  The film co-stars Rosario Dawson.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  Unstoppable opens on November 12th.