Denzel's Dead On in Gangster

No merry men to be found in Ridley Scott's prequel to outlaw legend

(NEWSER) - Naturally Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe doen't skimp on fights or period color in their gritty take on Robin Hood, but they've both done better, say critics, than this downbeat tale some feel lacks a "beating heart."

• "it’s reassuring to see Russell Crowe back in fighting form, but the villains here chart new territory in one-dimensionality, the essential storyline is bereft of surprise and the picture ends where most Robin Hood tales—sensibly, as it turns out—begin," writes Todd McCarthy on IndieWire.

Actor indulges in wee-hours phone calls, prima donna behavior on set

(NEWSER) - With Russell Crowe's latest film on the horizon, a new book about DreamWorks is perfectly timed to take advantage of curiosity about the famously short-tempered actor. Some juicy details from Nicole LaPorte's The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company called DreamWorks, courtesy of Gawker :

• Crow began a 3am phone call with a Gladiator producer by barking: "You motherfucker. I will kill you with my bare hands."

Denzel Washington impressive in post-apocalyptic road fable

(NEWSER) - The Book of Eli is almost certainly the best post-apocalypic Christian action movie you'll see this year, say critics, although many were put off by the preaching.

• The directors scored with the casting—Denzel Washington as a grizzled gunslinger protecting the world's last Bible—the fight scenes and the explosions, Derek Malcolm of the Evening Standard writes in a spoiler-laden review. But the message is overkill. "The result is like The Road rewritten by Sarah Palin for the greater good of Alaska and mankind."

Even Hollywood can make movies for the non-'lily-livered:' Nile Gardiner

(NEWSER) - "Hollywood may well be a bastion of liberalism, but it does continue to occasionally produce major films that advance conservative principles," Nile Gardiner writes in the Telegraph . His best of the aughts:

1. Master and Commander, 2003: The Peter Weir flick starring Russell Crowe is "an epic tale of heroism and love for country in the face of incredible odds, and a glowing tribute to the grit and determination that forged the British Empire."
2. Black Hawk Down, 2001: Critics may have called it an "anti-war film," but Gardiner doesn't buy it. Instead, it's "an extraordinarily powerful and deeply patriotic tribute to the heroism and bravery of the US military."

Slick remake of '70s thriller has its pluses, but fans of the original should stay away

(NEWSER) - The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 is a slick and solid thriller, though most critics say it pales in comparison to the '70s original—even with the energy of Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

• Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: The New York subway heist movie is an "efficiently engineered piece of studio product, enjoyable enough at times, but with an unmistakable assembly-line quality."