Archive for the 'Crime' Category

No Country for Old Men

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 5, 2008
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Graphic Violence, Neo Noir and Thriller
. 2 Comments

First off, I must apologize for not having a review of the latest Coen Brother film. We talked about this so much on the Lebowski Podcast, I just plain forgot to put anything over here. Secondly, if you haven’t seen it already I highly suggest you do. I thought it was going to be my favorite movie for 2007, but then I saw There Will Be Blood, which is probably bumping No Country to #2.

If you’re not already familiar with the Coens, they are a force of nature in the world of writing and directing. Ethan and Joel are brothers who have been working together since the 80s. They write their own scripts, storyboard every scene beforehand, make heavy use of wide-angle lenses and shots, favor melding Film Noir with other genres, reuse many actors in their films, often edit their own films under the fake name Roderick Jaynes, and happen to be my favorite directors.

The Coens usually only make movies from their own scripts. This is true in this film, but it is heavily based of the novel of same name by Cormac McCarthy. This film has both Noir and Western elements and is set in the state of Texas. It starts off with Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finding the gruesome remains of a drug deal gone wrong and takes off with a briefcase full of money. Naturally, somebody notices $2 million is missing and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a psychopathic killer with a strange sense of morals and a strong commitment to standing by his word, is sent after Moss to retrieve the cash.

Trying to understand and discern all this is the local sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), along with his motor-mouthed and somewhat dimwitted Deputy, Wendell (Garret Dillahunt). Llewelyn’s wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), and other innocent and not-so-innocent people are also caught in the middle of all this as the story unfolds.

The character of Anton Chigurh is particularly interesting. He’s pretty much the ultimate badass. In fact, at one point two other characters are talking about him and one asks, “just how bad is this guy?” The other responds with, “Compared to what? The bubonic plague?” Anton pretty much kills everybody that bothers him or does something he considers worthy of death. We even find out he plans to kill Llewelyn no matter what. Even if the money is returned, Llewelyn wasted Anton’s time and that’s an offense that warrants death in Chigurh’s mind.

A buddy of mine sent me this link to a blog of sorts in which a couple of friends are discussing the movie. These two guys happen to be big Coen fans and they compare the movie to both The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona. One of them compares Anton to The Dude saying they are the exact opposites of each other. Something really interesting to think about.

I know I’ve been desensitized big time with all the movies I’ve seen. Yes, there is violence in the film, and no I didn’t find it in any way excessive. This may not be the case for some of you though. Something to keep in mind. I would say the swearing is minimal compared to some of the Coens’ other works and even though the story is quite dark, I still enjoyed it….excessively. This is a must-see for any Coen fan.

Rating: ★★★★★

Balls of Fury

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 15, 2008
in Action, Comedy, Crime, Martial Arts, Ping Pong and Sport
. 1 Comment

I remember first seeing a preview for Balls of Fury before Transformers. At first glance I knew it didn’t look that great, but I wanted to give it a chance because of the one and only Christopher Walken being in it. Jeremy, one of my buddies that was there, tried to tell me this movie would suck and not be worth my time. I kinda didn’t listen to him at the time, but maybe I should have.

Well, co-worker Steve picked it up to play on the big-screen here at work last Friday. I can’t say I’m sorry I saw a good chunk of the film, but I’m not necessarily better for it either. The basic plot is Randy Daytona, played by Dan Fogler, was a child ping pong prodigy and is recruited later on in life to compete at a secret world competition in an effort to save some friends of his. Have we seen this plot before? How about Beerfest or even Enter the Dragon? I know these aren’t both literal translations in the sense of Yojimbo, Last Man Standing and A Fistful of Dollars, but I’m sure you can see some similarities. This has basically been done before.

Christopher Walken wasn’t a disappointment, but I think the rest of the movie was. There were some funny bits here and there but not enough to really redeem the movie. I can’t say I’ve seen Fogler in anything else. I checked his IMDB listings and saw Good Luck Chuck and School for Scoundrels - both movies that I heard kind of tanked. I don’t want to say Fogler is trying to emulate some of the great, fat comedians…but I kind of got that impression. Co-worker Steve said the movie would have been much better with Jack Black in the starring role. I agreed, but also knew that Black would never have accepted this role. It would have been totally below him. Yeah, his band played in Bio-Dome and he’s had some minor roles in movies like Demolition Man, The NeverEnding Story III, The Jackal and Waterworld. I’m sure a lot of you are even better familiar with his more recent jobs since his breakout role, totally my opinion, as Barry in High Fidelity. I’m kinda going off track here, but the point is that Jack Black has way more class than Balls of Fury. In fact, after writing this I was browsing Pajiba and saw that it won a Golden Pajiba, and I quote, “To say he’s a low-rent Jack Black would be a disservice to cockroach infested, crime-ridden Section 8 housing.”

I’m going to have to say I don’t suggest this one. It was pretty lame all around.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Published
by
Chalupa
on December 24, 2007
in Based on a play, Crime, Drama, Musical and Thriller
. 0 Comments

The first time I was ever made aware of the Broadway play, I was sitting in a theater in Marion, IN, with my good friend Toll, watching Kevin Smith’s latest creation - Jersey Girl. In that movie a little girl is given the assignment to re-enact a play for the school talent show. Everybody chose Cats….except for this one particular girl. So all I knew was that there was this barber that killed people, the barber chair flipped down to allow the deceased to slide down, and there was a restaurant down below that cooked the victims and sold them in meat pies.

I was immediately interested in Sweeney Todd because Johnny Depp was on-board and Tim Burton was directing. Also acting was Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and the ever-funny Sacha Baron Cohen. I can’t really think of a single performance from Depp where I’ve been disappointed. He always finds new roles to push himself as an actor and do something new. I think it’s fair to say he’s never phoned-in a performance.

I was reading somewhere that this is one of the best Broadway plays adapted to the silver screen. I was pretty impressed with it. In some ways I think it resembled Edward Scissorhands, only darker and more menacing. Oh yeah, and lots of people were killed. Personally, I wasn’t bothered by any of it, but I’m sure the graphic nature of the throats being slit and bodies being dumped down a chute will bother some.

Afterwards we were all discussing parts of the movie and I said I thought Cohen’s pants were “interesting,” kind of like Bowie’s in Labyrinth. Rajeev, my brother-in-law, quickly stated anyone who’s seen Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan should know if that was fake or not.

I really enjoyed this movie and would suggest checking it out. Definitely not for kids though, or for people who can’t handle the content.

Hustle and Flow

Published
by
Chalupa
on December 15, 2007
in Crime, Drama, Music, Rags to Riches and Tragedy
. 2 Comments

I have to admit that I kind of wrote this movie off at first. I don’t even know why. I think it’s because I have an aversion to hip hop music and its culture. I would like to say in my defense though that Dave Chappelle has helped to open my eyes to worthwhile things in this area of my life. I’ve also made some buddies on the web like Reel Fanatic who have assured me this movie was worth checking out. So I put it on my Netflix list.

I just finished watching this film and I was most definitely surprised. This was a good movie about the struggle of trying to work your way up in life. Written and directed by Craig Brewer, who also wrote and directed Black Snake Moan, Hustle & Flow tries to give us a peak into the life of someone who’s not privileged; someone who has a dream. Terrence Howard, who has done an amazing job in everything I’ve seen him in, really sells the character of DJay, a pimp who has a dream to rap. Here’s a man having a mid-life crisis that decides he needs to do something with his life.

Rounding out the cast are DJ Qualls (Road Trip), Anthony Anderson (Romeo Must Die, and The Departed), Taraji P. Henson (Smokin Aces) and Taryn Manning (Cold Mountain). Ludacris played “Skinny Black”, the rapper that has already made it big, and Isaac Hayes plays a club owner.

I’ve been gaining more and more respect for Qualls and Anderson. At one point in the movie Qualls comments on a chain worn by the character DJay. I thought it was kind of funny since they pretty much have the same name. I don’t know if I’ll ever see Delta Farce, but he’s definitely not been typecast after his role in Road Trip. Anderson has also proved himself not to be just a loud, bumbling fool that I saw in Romeo Must Die. I’m also starting to like Ludacris. Can’t say I like his movie, but after Crash and this role, I’d say he has something going.

The music is also not that bad. I wouldn’t say I was disappointed when this won an Oscar for Original Song, I was just surprised. I think mostly because of my aforementioned general distaste for the genre, however, none of that ever really occurred to me while watching.

So I say give this movie a chance film lovers. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.

American Gangster

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 13, 2007
in Based on a true story, Corruption, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Dysfunctional, Family, Investigation, Mob, Racism and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, a real-life American gangster, I feeling like I was watching Training Day, only this movie was much cooler, much classier, and just better all around. According to the film, which was based on claims by Frank Lucas, Frank Lucas was the driver/bodyguard that stepped in after his boss died of a heart attack. What’s different about this mob story is that Frank Lucas is black; he’s not Italian, Sicilian or Russian. He brings in his brothers to help run the business and runs shop like the Italians. He makes sure the public and everyone around him loves him. People even love him when Frank beats the crap out of them for making mistakes.

On one hand, Lucas was kind of like Robin Hood. He took from the rich and gave to the poor. Frank also cut out all the middle-men and worked for himself. He dealt in narcotics and got his good directly from Southeast Asia. He bribed a lot of people to make his operations work and brought a lot of them down with him.

This movie is definite Oscar material. Denzel has been nominated several times for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He has won two Oscars already and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won again for this film. Some other talented performances would include Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jon Polito.

I really enjoyed the cinematography. Lately in films we’ve been seeing the wild camera shots and angles. The Bourne series would be an example of this, even though I like it there, and it just wouldn’t work in this film. I didn’t really pay attention to the ASL (average shot length), but it was very easy to follow and the timing and flow of the film went very well.

I think Ridley Scott did quite well directing. You might recognize that name from his previous works such as Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men and who could forget Blade Runner? He’s also produced a long list of movies. One that I’ve been wanting to see in particular would be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Even though this is a mob/gangster movie, it also shows a peek into the lives of these people. It’s not just extortion, lies, decent and people getting knocked off in casinos and dark alleys. Definitely a good drama as well as a crime and thriller. I highly recommend this one.

Eastern Promises

Published
by
Neville
on November 6, 2007
in Crime, Drama, England, Graphic Violence, Investigation, Mob, Murder, Mystery, Russian, Thriller and Twist
. 1 Comment

I have a confession to make: director David Cronenburg is one of those critically acclaimed directors I just don’t get.

However, his last film “A History of Violence” was the first one I watched and felt its power. I felt there was something there, even if I wasn’t fully understanding just how complex it was.

Similar to “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises” stars the talented Viggo Mortensen and the underrated Naomi Watts in a crime drama revolving around babies, body parts and a sect of the Russian Mafia in London. Written by Stephen Knight, the screenwriter that gave us “Dirty Pretty Things,” another story more specifically about black market body parts, “Eastern Promises” begins with a jolt. True to Cronenburg’s form it seems, the violence in his films is often drawn out–shot without music or edited with stylized style–and it’s also visceral. So are the scenes in “Eastern Promises.” They touch on delicate subjects (underage prostitutes, abortion, homosexuality, pure human deception) and everything seems to be marked by the sins of these Mafia characters (similar to their iconic-like tatoos). The tagline for the film reads: “every sin leaves a mark.” And this is really what the movie is all about. It unpacks this idea through its visuals and asks its audience to be subjected to its darkness (make no mistake about it, it is dark). But can we bear it? Can we endure through it?

I think the film could’ve been more effective (or at least more accessible to mass audiences) if more music was in the film, but I’m quickly learning that this is not Cronenburg’s style. He seems to like revealing things, not as if it’s cinema but as if it’s real life, and this tension is felt continually throughout the film. Do I believe things like this go on? Absolutely. But can I ever see myself as one of them? Probably not.

It wasn’t until the film’s end until I sensed any kind of humanity in the “villian” characters of the film. What distinquishes people as people and people as monsters? This is another question the film asks.

Mortensen and Watts are both strong here and both give convincing performances with convincing accents. But so much darkness is here I wonder if Cronenburg would’ve been wise to have let a little more light in (into the scenes, into the colors, in the images/icons of the film). I know this is neo-film noir from a very experienced and artistic filmmaker but I still can wonder, right?

All in all, worth a rental, not quite worth the $10 cinema ticket price (unless you want to really really feel the violence–then maybe you should go to the cinema and watch it).

3:10 to Yuma

Published
by
Chalupa
on September 24, 2007
in Crime, Drama, Remake and Western
. 0 Comments

If you’re into Westerns I think you’ll like this movie. If you’re not into Westerns, you might still like this movie. I’ve always thought of myself as a big fan of the Western genre. I think when push comes to shove I’m really just a big fan of Clint Eastwood. It’s always fun to see good vs bad…and even the ugly sometimes.

One of my fellow co-workers is considered an expert on the Western genre. He even has a book titled Westerns and American Culture, 1930-1955. This guy knows his stuff. One day I was talking to him about movies and to my horror the man hates Spaghetti Westerns and he HATES Clint Eastwood. The guy loves John Wayne. To me, John Wayne is the Jackie Chan of Kung Fu movies. If you couldn’t tell, I’m more partial to the likes of Jet Li and Bruce Lee. Anyways, I’ve kind of guessed that my co-worker isn’t a fan of the bad guys winning, little character development and little morality. Well, I think he just might like this movie because it’s not lacking in those areas.

I haven’t seen the original, but I read that it has a different ending. I’ll have to Netflix-it and see what I think. If you’re not familiar with the plot, it’s about a man who lost most of one leg in the Civil War and is trying to earn some money so his family doesn’t lose their land to the railroad. In order to earn $200, he volunteers to help escort a hardened criminal to a train station to put that man on the 3:10pm train to Yuma Prison.

I’m sure you can guess that everything doesn’t really just run smoothly. What kind of movies do? This terrible menace to society starts off by being all nice and polite. He even tries to befriend almost everybody. Don’t let him fool you though, he’s still a cold-blooded murderer. However, he doesn’t just kill on a whim. He does things for a reason. On the way to the train, the first man we see Ben Wade kill pretty much deserved it. In fact, before this little trip, he had recently burned down Dan Evans, the volunteer’s, barn. It was still a smoking pile of timbers when the group left town. Ben figured this guy deserved it, and he did. As the group treks across the open country, more and more of them don’t make it to the end, but you see a friendship growing between Ben and Dan.

This is where the character development happens. Dan is a good man, plain and simple. Dan does the right things for the right reasons. Ben notices he doesn’t belong on this trip. Dan has a family to take care of and not much to take care of them with. Ben knows that Dan is just doing what he can to take care of his wife and kids. I think that’s why you start to see a deep respect grow between them. I’m not going to tell much more about what happens because I can’t give too much away.

So you may be wondering who’s in this. Ben is played by Russell Crowe. Personally, I can’t think of a single movie this man has been in that I didn’t like. Dan is played by Christian Bale. Some other highlights are Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk, and Peter Fonda and Luke Wilson. Definitely a great group of actors. I’m continually impressed by Crowe, Bale and Foster in just about everything they do.

I’m so glad I saw this in the theater. It was an experience worth every dollar I paid to see it. This will be making its way into my top 10 for the year. I highly suggest you give it a chance if you are able.

Animal Factory

Published
by
Chalupa
on June 28, 2007
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Independent and Racism
. 1 Comment

This is a movie I’ve seen at Best Buy, Blockbuster, etc for a long time and I’ve always wondered what it’s like. The cover just makes it look so good. I wouldn’t say this was amazing, but I really liked it.

Directed by Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong are both inmates in a prison. Dafoe is the head of a faction in the prison and Furlong has just been incarcerated. Like most prison shows, movies and stories, Furlong needs to find some friends fast or he’ll turn into what they call “fresh fish”. This is where Dafoe and his gang of thugs step in.

Dafoe has never seemed like a big and scary person, but he pulled off being tough and formidable here. I wouldn’t want to mess with him. It’s no wonder so many stand up for him in this prison. For some weird reason, he latches onto Furlong and looks out for him; being genuinely friendly in the process. Dafoe sees something in this young man that he doesn’t have with his fellow inmates: intelligence, wit and somewhat of a striving to better oneself. The dynamic duo makes plans to escape. In the end only one of them makes it out, but that’s ok. We’re left feeling like this is how things were meant to be.

This left me wanting to finish watching all of Oz, a TV show about a hard-core prison. I was also left wondering why Dafoe took the time and effort to even look out for Furlong. Maybe this was a peek into the humanity of his character. I’d say this was also some good directing by Buscemi. Interestingly enough, he directed a couple episodes of Oz after making his prison movie. So I guess the real question is does Animal Factory remind me of Oz, or does Oz remind me of Animal Factory?

Hot Fuzz

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 7, 2007
in Action, Comedy, Conspiracy, Crime, Mystery and Parody
. 0 Comments

If you were fan of Shaun of the Dead, I think you’ll definitely like this one. I enjoyed SOTD, but thought Hot Fuzz was a lot more funny. You’ll recognize a lot of faces in here like Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Simon Pegg, Timothy Dalton, Paddy Considine, Jim Broadbent, and maybe even Peter Jackson. Well, maybe not Peter Jackson. He is in there though.

The story goes something like this - there’s this really good cop, Nicholas Angel, who gets sent to a sleepy village in the middle of nowhere because he’s making everybody look bad in London. His arrest rate is 400% higher than anybody else. Our super-cop is then paired up with the police chief’s son of this sleep town, who happens to be obsessed with action and police movies. Even though this town has the lowest crime rate in the country, Nicholas starts to realize a lot of “accidents” seem to happen. Turns out there’s a huge conspiracy going on and he intends to solve it.

Right now I’m sure the movie doesn’t sound too exciting. What I’ve failed to mention is the hilarity that ensues in the dialog, the acting, the different cops interacting, etc, etc. I would have to say this is, hands down, the funniest movie I’ve seen so far this year. If there’s something better out there I’d love to see it. I haven’t laughed this hard in a theater since Borat. I think some of the hilarity comes from Simon Pegg. If you didn’t know, he was a writer for both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Sorta reminds me of how Wes Anderson’s movies are so funny, yet the Wilsons are usually involved in the script. If you are a fan of Pegg, you might want to check out a couple of his upcoming movies - Run, Fat Boy, Run (directed by David Schwimmer), How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, and “La Triviata” (co-writen and co-directed by Pegg and Nick Frost).

The Departed

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 5, 2007
in Conspiracy, Corruption, Crime, Drama, Remake and Thriller
. 0 Comments

I think Scorsese might finally have something to win him that Oscar he’s been after. The man has had some really great films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York and The Aviator. The guy is good. However, there’s always something else that seems to win. I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed and loved this one.

The story is great. It’s about the Irish mob in Boston and the state police who are dedicated to keeping things kosher. You have people playing both sides and some crazy people at the top. Throw in performances from Martin Sheen, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg and Vera Farmiga and you have a wonderful film.

As always with Scorsese, this one is long. It clocks in at 151 minutes, but I wasn’t left with that feeling like I’ve been there forever and am bored to death. I wasn’t ever on the edge of my seat, but attention was kept the whole time. The story starts out with the lives of two boys growing up in Boston. Then we see them as adults and what they’re currently doing. They’re both involved with the police and they’re both involved with the mob.

I’m always a sucker for mob movies. I don’t know why. I guess secretly inside I wish I was tough and people respected me. Scorsese definitely proved himself with Goodfellas, but I think this might be even better. The stories have a much different feel to them and they are in no way the same movie. I really love how you get to know the characters involved and see what happens as their lives unfold. You see bad guys doing good things and good guys doing bad things. Are the bad guys really bad? Are the good guys really good? Ok, maybe I’m taking it a little too far. This isn’t a western.

One thing I noticed right away was the music. There’s a lot of Rolling Stones and some Pink Floyd thrown in there. I really enjoyed it. It’s amazing how much the music can make or break a movie. When it’s good, you usually don’t notice it, but if it’s bad, it can stick out like a sore thumb.

I don’t know what more to say without divulging too much of the plot. I loved this and plan on buying it. I hope you like it too.