doa Tagged Articles at Cinematical

3 - 2 - 1 ... There's nothing like a ticking time bomb to give any movie a sense of urgency. Whether it's a literal set of explosives (as in Speed), a new ice age (The Day After Tomorrow), alien attack (Independence Day), hostage execution (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three), fatal poison (Crank), or the threat of loved ones being killed (Nick of Time), it's an honorable tradition to ratchet up the tension by pitting heroic characters in a relentless race against the clock.

This week marks the home video release of Alex Proyas' Knowing, a somewhat insane thriller in which astrophysicist Nicolas Cage comes to believe that future disasters can be predicted -- and races against time to stop the next one. You have to see it to believe (or mock) it. If you're in a countdown frame of mind, here are seven more entertaining thrillers that feature seriously motivated heroes trying to avert disaster. Consider this a starter list; see if you can be the first one to list your favorite(s) in the comments section. Go!

7. Back to the Future (1985)

Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is just an ordinary high school student, doing a favor for good old Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) when he finds himself transported back in time 30 years. Before he knows what's happening, he's dodging Oedipal issues and trying to make sure his parents fall in love before he is gone, baby, gone. He is highly-motivated, to say the least, resulting in a pulse-quickening race in which a literal clock plays a major role.

Hoo boy. You'd have to search really far and pretty wide to find an action movie as unapologetically stupid as DOA: Dead or Alive. Then again, when a movie aspires to be nothing more than an unofficial Charlie's Angels sequel, it's best not to walk in expecting Merchant Ivory ... or even Michael Bay. But after sitting through the plotless, mindless and broadly colorful piece of brain candy known as DOA: Dead or Alive, I came to the conclusion that the flick is so stupid it makes Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle look like The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2 by comparison. And that's a whole lotta stupid.

The plot can be summed up in three simple words: Hot chicks fight. That's it: Very attractive women (none of whom could fight off a pushy butterfly in real life) are gathered together for a super-secret mega-battle tournament known as "Dead or Alive" -- which is kinda weird considering the flick's rated PG-13 and for all its comic book style violence, very few characters actually die. Come to think of it, the combatants are so skilled and so powerful I suspect they could beat up Zeus, Rocky and Superman without breaking a sweat. Not bad for a quartet of cuties who'd look more at home at a swanky pool party than soaring through a series of goofy fight scenes.

It looks like the casting process is moving fast and furious for Luc Besson's latest production, Taken. Moviehole reported that Australian actress Holly Valance is the latest addition to the thriller. It was only yesterday that Monika had the news that Lost's Maggie Grace had signed on for the film, so it would appear that Besson isn't wasting any time moving the movie closer toward production.

Pierre Morel is directing, and the film centers on a father (Liam Neeson) trying to find his daughter after she has been sold into slavery somewhere in Europe. Grace will star as the daughter, but there is no word on who Valance is going to play. You probably know Valance mainly for her TV work; she was on the Aussie soap Neighbours and also had a recurring role on Fox's Prison Break. So far Valance has a pretty short film resume that includes the Paris Hilton comedy Pledge This! and the jiggle-fest that was DOA ... which at least had some creative uses for lingerie. Both movies never really saw the light of day, and probably for good reason. So, even though the premise for Taken might seem a little corny, compared to some of her other films, it's a definite improvement.