Archive for the 'Mob' Category

The Long Good Friday

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 24, 2009
in Crime, Drama, England, Mob, Mystery, Thriller and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Bob Hoskins is an actor I have noticed in recent films the past 10 years.  He’s obviously somebody that is respected in the acting world.  Today I think I found out why - The Long Good Friday.

If you’re a fan of Guy Ritchie and his cockney gangster films, you have to watch this.  In this Hoskins plays a big-time gangster who is trying to capitalize on some prime real estate, but everything seems to be going wrong.  His friends and family are being targeted along with his businesses.  This is not looking good to the investors and the American mobsters are re-thinking their investment options.

I knew the film had to be good from the start because it had a catchy tune.  Movies these days seem to lack the kind of openings like this.  Then I realized both P.H. Moriarty (Hatchet Harry fromLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) and Alan Ford (Brick Top from Snatch and Alan/Narrator from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) were in it.  Pretty soon I also started noticing phrases like, “This is like a bad night in Vietnam.” being very similar to “A minute ago this was the safest job in the world. Now it’s turning into a bad day in Bosnia.”  The similarities continue.  I would even suppose that both Moriarty and Ford took some inspiration for their parts in Ritchie’s films from Bob Hoskin’s portrayal of a gangster.

Seeing how great Guy Ritchie apparently thought of John Mackenzie, I’m now interested in seeing what else Mackenzie has directed.  Oh, and did I mention this is in the Criterion Collection? If you’re a fan of British film, you’re sure to recognize many actors from back in the day. Definitely worth renting!

Rating: ★★★★☆

Eastern Promises

Published
by
Chalupa
on March 27, 2008
in Crime, Drama, England, Graphic Violence, Investigation, Mob, Mystery, Russian, Thriller and Twist
. 0 Comments

Eastern Promises is a follow-up of sorts to A History of Violence. Both are directed by David Cronenberg, Viggo Mortensen stars in both, and they are both stories about somebody involved in the mob. While Cronenberg’s first mob film takes place in the US, Eastern Promises involves Russian mobsters and takes place in London.

Viggo’s character, Nikolai, works for a very notorious crime family. He’s the driver and he does more than just drive the car from point A to point B. One night he encounters Anna, played by Naomi Watts, as she is looking for somebody at the restaurant owned by the Nikolai’s employers. Anna works at a hospital and a girl died recently giving birth to her daughter. The young girl had a diary which contained a business card for said restaurant. Even though Anna speaks little Russian herself, it is part of her heritage and her uncle, who claims to be ex-KGB, warns her to stay away from the situation. Anna soon finds herself in the midst of a complicated situation as I’m sure you can guess.

One very interesting aspect of this movie is tattoos. In this crime society, tattoos are given as badges and marks of honor. They essentially tell the story of your life. The tattoos are also standardized so anybody can recognize your past glories and exploits merely by noticing the tattoos you have. In the same respect, having tattoos you did not earn can be quite detrimental to ones wellbeing.

Viggo Mortensen is AMAZING in this film. He’s a bit of a method actor in that he heavily researches roles he has and becomes the characters he plays. I know that most people only know him from his exploits in a little trilogy called Lord of the Rings, but seriously guys, Mortensen is a great actor that has been around for a while. I think the first film I remember seeing him in was Crimson Tide. I’ve since seen him in Witness, Carlito’s Way, The Prophecy, Young Guns II, G.I. Jane, and Psycho. The only movie I’ve seen him in that I wasn’t a big fan of was Hidalgo. If you’ve seen any of these and enjoyed Mortensen’s acting skills you should definitely check out some of his other films.

Other noteworthy performances came from Armin Mueller-Stahl, Seymon, who plays the head of the crime family. You’ll probably also recognize Vincent Cassel from Ocean’s 12 and Ocean’s 13. I always remember him as the creepy brother from Brotherhood of the Wolf and the one movie I always throw out there for “wow factor”, Irreversible.

I really enjoyed this film and hope you do too. Let me know if you have any thoughts or comments.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Eastern Promises

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).

A History of Violence

Published
by
Chalupa
on October 16, 2005
in Action, Based on a comic, Based on a graphic novel, Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Mob and Thriller
. 0 Comments

I saw this one a while ago with Liz, if you’re one of the regular readers I’m sure you’ve noticed I haven’t been keeping up on here.

I would like to start off by saying I really enjoyed this movie, but it’s definitely not for everyone. Like the title states, there’s some violent things in here. It also isn’t your normal type of action-shoot-em-up kind of violence. There are a couple scenes where people get shot and it actually looks like a real gunshot wound. There are some semi-prolonged close ups/shots of some of this stuff and I’m sure it has to bother some people. There are also a couple sex scenes that are a bit more than the norm. Granted these take place between a married couple, but it’s just intense. I think that’s a good word overall to describe this movie - intense.

Viggo Mortensen does great in this film. A lot of people weren’t very aware of this actor until his debut in the much awaited and acclaimed Lord of the Rings trilogy. I think the first movie I remember seeing him in was either Crimson Tide or G.I. Jane. It was cool to see him in a role that wasn’t LOTR or military based.

The basic plot of this movie is a small town diner owner gets held up by a couple of gunmen and saves the day. Out of nowhere he pretty much wipes the floor with a couple of professionals. This of course creates a lot of press and media hub-bub which then attracts the attention of some people associated with organized crime from back east. I’m not to go into the whole plot here, but things get interesting.

One thing that kind of caught me off guard here was how the movie ended. It was abrupt and kind of out of nowhere. However, it was appropriate and ended where it should have; I just wasn’t expecting it. Maybe this will be a new trend as I saw the same thing happen in Broken Flowers.