Director: Andrew Jarecki (his first movie, he co-founded Moviefone)
Stars: Arnold Friedman (a real person, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2
Much in the style of Soupcons, Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary about a court case in which the details of a heinous crime are never really very clear. Jarecki wanted to make a documentary about David Friedman, the most sought after party clown in New York City, but instead found the court case revolving around David's father and brother, Arnold and Jesse respectively, the more interesting subject. The ups and downs, twists and turns of Capturing the Friedmans are so good and so profound that I would be remiss to include even the slightest hint to its subject matter. Just go see it and prepare for a wild, though admittedly depressing, ride.
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Showing posts with label Crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crime. Show all posts
6/28/10
Sexy Beast (2000)
Director: Jonathon Glazer (this was his first film, he has since directed something called Birth, which I haven't seen)
Stars: Ray Winstone (The Departed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Ben Kingsley (The Wackness, The Love Guru)
YesNoSoso: 1
This movie was entirely different than I was expecting. I suppose its a lack of sample size or plain old American naivity, but when I hear English gangster movie I think quick cuts, non-linear storylines and comic book like characters. Sexy Beast contains some amazingly in depth characters (Ben Kingsley was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) but they are developed through good old fashion conflict and dialogue (mind you, I have NOTHING against the gimmicky style of, say, Guy Ritchie). Ray Winstone plays Gal, a former safe-cracker retired with his wife in Spain. Ben Kingsley plays a recruiter from the London underworld come to sign Gal up for one last job. A surprising amount of the movie centers around Kingsley's character trying to recruit Gal. Some of the best dialogue and scenes in the movie take place just as Kingsley asks him to do the job and Gal refusing.
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Wikipedia
Stars: Ray Winstone (The Departed, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)
Ben Kingsley (The Wackness, The Love Guru)
YesNoSoso: 1
This movie was entirely different than I was expecting. I suppose its a lack of sample size or plain old American naivity, but when I hear English gangster movie I think quick cuts, non-linear storylines and comic book like characters. Sexy Beast contains some amazingly in depth characters (Ben Kingsley was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) but they are developed through good old fashion conflict and dialogue (mind you, I have NOTHING against the gimmicky style of, say, Guy Ritchie). Ray Winstone plays Gal, a former safe-cracker retired with his wife in Spain. Ben Kingsley plays a recruiter from the London underworld come to sign Gal up for one last job. A surprising amount of the movie centers around Kingsley's character trying to recruit Gal. Some of the best dialogue and scenes in the movie take place just as Kingsley asks him to do the job and Gal refusing.
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Wikipedia
12/28/09
Street Kings (2008)
Director: David Ayer (the only other thing he's directed is something called Harsh Times)
Stars: Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, The Lake House)
Forrest Whittaker (Blown Away, First Daughter)
YesNoSoso: 0
I never in a million years would've thought I'd hate a movie based on a James Ellroy book as much as I hated Street Kings. I guess Keanu Reeves can do that to a movie where's he's not there to act like a shocked idiot. There are things constantly happening in this movie and yet its still boring as sh!t. The entire premise is stupid as hell, Keanu plays a reformed dirty cop who witnesses the murder of another cop. We all know how it ends and who did it and yet we have to wait 2 f@cking hours for Theodore Logan to figure it out. Dear G-d skip this crap.
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Stars: Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, The Lake House)
Forrest Whittaker (Blown Away, First Daughter)
YesNoSoso: 0
I never in a million years would've thought I'd hate a movie based on a James Ellroy book as much as I hated Street Kings. I guess Keanu Reeves can do that to a movie where's he's not there to act like a shocked idiot. There are things constantly happening in this movie and yet its still boring as sh!t. The entire premise is stupid as hell, Keanu plays a reformed dirty cop who witnesses the murder of another cop. We all know how it ends and who did it and yet we have to wait 2 f@cking hours for Theodore Logan to figure it out. Dear G-d skip this crap.
IMDB
Wikipedia
10/5/09
Hot Fuzz (2007)
Director: Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, some other British crap I've never heard of)
Stars: Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Run Fatboy Run)
Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, nothing else I've ever heard of)
YesNoSoso: 1
Not as good as Shaun of the Dead. I realize movies should stand alone when being critiqued, but you, myself and everybody else who saw this movie was likely hoping to see Shaun of the Dead II. Maybe not as a plot extension but as a vehicle of similar humor and wit. Hot Fuzz isn't that movie. Don't get me wrong: its not bad and I did enjoy my 2 hours, but its simply not that funny and/or clever. See it, but don't go out of your way to rent it.
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Stars: Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Run Fatboy Run)
Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, nothing else I've ever heard of)
YesNoSoso: 1
Not as good as Shaun of the Dead. I realize movies should stand alone when being critiqued, but you, myself and everybody else who saw this movie was likely hoping to see Shaun of the Dead II. Maybe not as a plot extension but as a vehicle of similar humor and wit. Hot Fuzz isn't that movie. Don't get me wrong: its not bad and I did enjoy my 2 hours, but its simply not that funny and/or clever. See it, but don't go out of your way to rent it.
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Wikipedia
4/6/09
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)
Director: Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke, The Amityville Horror [both pretty good, but I haven't seen or heard of any of his other movies])
Stars: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Double Team)
Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Phat Girlz)
YesNoSoso: 1
I received so many ringing endorsements of this movie I was surprised to be spending a majority of the movie figuring out whether it was YesNoSoso 1 or 0. Perhaps my dislike had to do with this being one of the original modern gangster movies, and since filmmakers have spent the last 25 years building on the genre, it seemed hackneyed. Who knows? But I was bored. Plus it ends rather anti-climatically and unresolved. Geraldine Page's speech to the police investigating her son's murder is one of the few shining lights making this movie barely worth the time to view it.
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Wikipedia
Stars: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler, Double Team)
Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, Phat Girlz)
YesNoSoso: 1
I received so many ringing endorsements of this movie I was surprised to be spending a majority of the movie figuring out whether it was YesNoSoso 1 or 0. Perhaps my dislike had to do with this being one of the original modern gangster movies, and since filmmakers have spent the last 25 years building on the genre, it seemed hackneyed. Who knows? But I was bored. Plus it ends rather anti-climatically and unresolved. Geraldine Page's speech to the police investigating her son's murder is one of the few shining lights making this movie barely worth the time to view it.
IMDB
Wikipedia
2/5/09
Burn After Reading (2008)
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski, Fargo [both incredible, I refuse to badmouth the Coen brothers])
Stars: George Clooney (The Good German, Leatherheads)
Frances McDormand (Short Cuts, Something's Gotta Give)
YesNoSoso: 2
I know there are those that will disagree with me, but I've at least enjoyed every single Coen brothers movie (Yes, even Ladykillers) and loved most of them. Burn After Reading wasn't hilarious like The Big Lebowski and I would be supremely surprised if it garnered the same cult following, but it is definitely made in the same style and is definitely worth checking out. Burn After Reading is relatively complex comedic crime caper (how bout that alliteration) with a kick-ass ensemble cast that includes John Malkovitch, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, with the ridiculously underrated J.K. Simmons and Richard Jenkins.
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Stars: George Clooney (The Good German, Leatherheads)
Frances McDormand (Short Cuts, Something's Gotta Give)
YesNoSoso: 2
I know there are those that will disagree with me, but I've at least enjoyed every single Coen brothers movie (Yes, even Ladykillers) and loved most of them. Burn After Reading wasn't hilarious like The Big Lebowski and I would be supremely surprised if it garnered the same cult following, but it is definitely made in the same style and is definitely worth checking out. Burn After Reading is relatively complex comedic crime caper (how bout that alliteration) with a kick-ass ensemble cast that includes John Malkovitch, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, with the ridiculously underrated J.K. Simmons and Richard Jenkins.
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1/7/09
In Bruges (2008)
Director: Martin McDonagh (Only directed something called Six Shooter that I've never heard of)
Stars: Colin Farrell (Minority Report, S.W.A.T.)
Brian Gleeson (Gangs of New York, Lake Placid)
YesNoSoso: 2
An entirely original English gangster movie. Not as highly stylized as Snatch, but with an extremely inventive storyline. Colin Farrell and Brian Gleeson play hitmen hiding out in the Belgium city of Bruges. After a hit Farrell was ordered to commit goes wrong both characters have to deal with their hyperactive boss, Ralph Fiennes, and their inner demons. I know that sounds relatively standard, but you're just going to have to trust that I left things out to keep it fresh. I'm just sweet like that.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Colin Farrell (Minority Report, S.W.A.T.)
Brian Gleeson (Gangs of New York, Lake Placid)
YesNoSoso: 2
An entirely original English gangster movie. Not as highly stylized as Snatch, but with an extremely inventive storyline. Colin Farrell and Brian Gleeson play hitmen hiding out in the Belgium city of Bruges. After a hit Farrell was ordered to commit goes wrong both characters have to deal with their hyperactive boss, Ralph Fiennes, and their inner demons. I know that sounds relatively standard, but you're just going to have to trust that I left things out to keep it fresh. I'm just sweet like that.
IMDB
Wikipedia
10/30/08
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Director: Paul McGuigen (Wicker Park [sucked], haven't seen anything else by him)
Stars: Josh Hartnett (Sin City, Here on Earth)
Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense, The Whole Ten Yards)
YesNoSoso: 1
Actually a pretty solid flick, barely missing a YesNoSoso 2 because it is TOO convoluted. I like confusing movies because, and call me crazy, I'm not entertained by the 10 regurgitated Hollywood bullshit storylines that get churned out year in year out. Hartnett and Willis are joined by a pretty solid cast of Morgan Freeman, Stanley Tucci, Ben Kingsley and Lucy Liu. Check it out, but don't watch it twice. The Classic YesNoSoso 1.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Josh Hartnett (Sin City, Here on Earth)
Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense, The Whole Ten Yards)
YesNoSoso: 1
Actually a pretty solid flick, barely missing a YesNoSoso 2 because it is TOO convoluted. I like confusing movies because, and call me crazy, I'm not entertained by the 10 regurgitated Hollywood bullshit storylines that get churned out year in year out. Hartnett and Willis are joined by a pretty solid cast of Morgan Freeman, Stanley Tucci, Ben Kingsley and Lucy Liu. Check it out, but don't watch it twice. The Classic YesNoSoso 1.
IMDB
Wikipedia
9/8/08
American Gangster (2007)
Director: Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, White Squall)
Stars: Denzel Washington (Training Day, Virtuosity)
Russel Crowe (3:10 to Yuma, Fightin 'Round the World)
YesNoSoso: 2
Solid movie driven by solid performances by Denzel and Crowe. Further helped by an incredible supporting cast that included great work by RZA, Common, Josh Brolin, TI and Ruby Dee. Plus Russel Crowe plays a jew.
IMDB
Wikipedia
Stars: Denzel Washington (Training Day, Virtuosity)
Russel Crowe (3:10 to Yuma, Fightin 'Round the World)
YesNoSoso: 2
Solid movie driven by solid performances by Denzel and Crowe. Further helped by an incredible supporting cast that included great work by RZA, Common, Josh Brolin, TI and Ruby Dee. Plus Russel Crowe plays a jew.
IMDB
Wikipedia
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