Maggie Grace, formerly known as Shannon Rutherford on Lost, is taking another step in her film career. The actress is set to star in the action movie Taken with Liam Neeson. Grace will be playing a character who is kidnapped and forced into slavery. Neeson's character, a former spy, is charged with saving her. French writer-director Luc Besson (The Transporter) is both writing and producing the film, and French cinematographer Pierre Morel will direct.
Grace lately appeared in a poorly-received remake of The Fog, and will star in two upcoming films: Suburban Girl, with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin; and The Jane Austen Book Club, with Emily Blunt and Maria Bello. Several other Lost cast members have parlayed the television drama's success into film careers. Matthew Fox recently starred in We Are Marshall and Smokin' Aces, and Ian Somerhalder was seen in the 2006 horror movie Pulse.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-20-2007 @ 6:15PM
Akbar Fazil said...
Morel and Besson together are a winning combo.
Banileue 13 was a very pleasant suprise. The man knows how to direct action flicks. This should be good.
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2-20-2007 @ 6:32PM
bgdc said...
I saw this already - David Mamet wrote it and it starred Val Kilmer - Spartan. Killer flick. http://imdb.com/title/tt0360009/
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2-20-2007 @ 7:09PM
Brett said...
That one took me a second Akbar. I saw it on DVD as District 13. You're right though. For a movie that got almost no press, there was a lot to like there.
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2-20-2007 @ 8:06PM
bgdc said...
District B13 had one thing great going for it: parkour. Beyond that, the story was silly, cliche and a rehash of a dozen other flicks.
Parkour's fun to watch though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour
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2-20-2007 @ 9:19PM
Akbar Fazil said...
bgdc, it was a action film. It didn't try to sell it self as anything but that. Story was just there to link the fight scenes. However, I didn't feel all of the plot was silly or cliche. There were many aspects of social commentary that were a major part of the whole. Interesting that you linked to the wiki entry on Parkour, did you know/realize that the main character of the film is the man who founded the parkour discipline?
Brett, yah thats a nasty habit I have. I always refer to foreign films in the original language name. Pisses my friends off when they have no idea what I am talking about ;)
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2-21-2007 @ 12:19AM
bgdc said...
Akbar, yes I knew Parkour before watching B13. I watched the film in French too - can't stand dubbing.
I don't for one second believe that an action film should be given a pass on dialog, acting, story, motivations, characters because it's an action film. A good film is a good film, regardless of the genre it's pigeonholed into. Die Hard is an action film yet it succeeds because the characters, the motivations, etc all create a solid story.
Besson is capable of far better - La Femme Nikita, Leon, hell even the Fifth Element. Action films don't have to insult the viewer's intelligence. Crap, Leo Dicaprio has an oscar nomination this year for an action flick.
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2-21-2007 @ 1:05AM
Akbar Fazil said...
bgdc, I think you may have missed my point.
My point was that there are many levels of action flicks. Some more serious, some less. Some have a hard biting story, some allow you to leave your mind at the door and enjoy the ride. To me Balineue 13 was just that a fun ride.
Of the 5 "criteria" you listed, I see the film have acceptable terms on all levels except for perhaps the dialog. But insult the audience? Hardly. Could it have used a little polishing in that department? Sure, but not every script has to be oscar material.
What praytell was missing cohesion in this film?
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2-21-2007 @ 10:39AM
Tim UF said...
I hope Neeson isnt expecting to be able to do any action sequences similar to the stuff Statham did in the transporter movies...
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