Showing posts with label Gangster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gangster. Show all posts

19 July, 2014

Bruce Willis vs Jason Patric in "The Prince" trailer

This is genuinely the first I am hearing about this movie, and to be honest I am disappointed in myself I'm usually a huge follower of Bruce Willis' work. This just seems to have slipped by me, the movie seems to be a mix of Action/Crime/Thriller with a story we've seen before. However, that is not to say we don't enjoy a nice revenge movie.

"A retired assassin (Patric) is drawn back into the life he gave up when his daughter (Lowndes) is kidnapped. To rescue her, he must confront his former rival (Willis)." IMDB

20 February, 2014

"Angels With Dirty Faces" 1938 review! Whaddya hear, whaddya say?

Genre: Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Gangster
Starring: James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan, Leo Gorcey, Frankie Burke, William Tracy, Gabriel Dell, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsly.
Year Of Release: 1938
Certificate: PG (UK)
Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: Michael Curtiz
Synopsis: A priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids. IMDB

I remember the first time I seen this film, I was 13 and my Religious Education teacher in school made up watch it, well we ended up watching the first 40 minutes then he never mentioned it again. I still to this day do not have a single clue as to why he made us watch it, he was an odd fellow to say the least. After he never put it back on for us I decided to rent it to finally watch the whole thing this was when I was about 16/17, and it is safe to say this is one of the movies that made me fall in love with movies to this day!

Gangster films flew to the top of the watch lists during the great depression era in America, there was so many released during the 1930's it was obvious that they would be the more favoured films. James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson paved the for gangsters on the big screen. Cagney was a perfect choice to play Rocky Sullivan, he had the swagger of a gangster, the fast talking of a con man, had unbelievable comic timing along with these great traits he was also an intense actor with real raw talent.

In my honest opinion this is one of the greatest Gangster flicks of all time, and I genuinely think people will be saying that in another three quarters of a century!

Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly played by Frankie Burke and William Tracy respectively are a pair of New Yorker youths who grew up on the very poor Lower East Side end up caught up in the robbery on a railroad car (a railway carriage to us Brits ha). Jerry escapes without any difficulty I mean boom this kid is gone, Rocky on the other hand is not as lucky. Staying true to his tough upbringing Rocky upholds his "code of silence", refusing to snitch on the identity of his accomplice which leaves Rocky stuck in a reformatory before he will be bumped into a full prison.

After realising how bad Rockys fate actually is, Jerry turns his life around and becomes a man of the cloth. After many years pass, Rocky returns to his old neighbourhood now being played by Cagney he looks up his old friend Jerry to find out he is no Father Jerry (Pat O'Brien) whom has taken in on himself to look after a rag tag bunch of boys played by Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell who would all go to become The Dead End Kids. The boys are overjoyed that they get to meet a big-time gangster like Rocky, they pretty much worship the ground he walks on, much to the disappointment of Father Jerry who is trying to guard the boys from a life of crime.

Cagney pays a call to his Lawyer, played by Humphrey Bogart who has been keeping $100,000 (which according to DollarTimes is roughly $1.6 million today) stashed away for him. He meets racketeering boss Mac Keefer (George Bancroft), both of whom promise to cut Rocky in on a highly lucrative operations, however this is where we hit a twist they are plotting to have him whacked (MY WHOLE LIFE have I wanted to use that phrase and it too actually work, and now I think it fits! ha) Father Jerry runs a campaign over the radio and newspaper against Rocky and his partners, with Rockys blessing that is. Laury by now played by the beautiful Ann Sheridan has fallen in love with Rocky.

When Rocky learns of the plot to kill Father Jerry due to his smear campaign, Rocky kills both men which results in him being caught in a shoot-out with the police in a warehouse. His trial is quick and he is sentenced to death, before Rocky is about to be executed Father Jerry turns up asking for possibly the BIGGEST favour in movie history. He wants Rocky to die like a coward so the boys will go on the straight and narrow, Rocky refuses, however as he is being put to death Rocky suddenly breaks down an loses it crying and pleading for his life!

The paper the next runs the story "ROCKY DIES YELLOW!" to help the boys cement the belief that he well and truly is coward.

So overall this movie is action filled, full of laughs, full of great performances all across the board giving us viewers an unbelievable movie experience! A little fact I learnt while writing this review is that during the warehouse scene, LIVE AMMO was used, how on earth did they get away with that ha. All these parts come together cultivating in what is one of the greatest movies of all time! This will be one of the easiest ratings that I will give to a film, if I could go any higher than 10 I would! "Whaddya hear, whaddya say?"


10/10

09 August, 2013

18 June, 2013

"The Family" trailer

Looks like Robert De Niro is back to his gangster ways in "The Family", the films tell the story of mafia boss Fred Blake (De Niro) who is in witness protection after snitching on the mob.
"The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard." IMDB

06 March, 2013

100 Movie Challenge - 01 - "Lawless"

Before I start, I would like to apologise or say you're welcome, depending on your outcome after reading this. This is my first ever attempt at a movie review and I don't really know what to do or how to do it, so I'm just going to go with the flow and hope it all works out in the end. Would love to know what you think either on Twitter @CrisMovieCorner or email us at ChrisMovieCorner@gmail.com thank you. 
So last night I started my 100 Movie Challenge, an decided to go with a film I missed last year "Lawless". I went into the film a little skeptical at the time LaBeouf wasn't my favourite actor, same goes for Jason Clarke not that I had ever seen him before I was just sceptical over their performances.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Action
Director: John Hillcoat
Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan.
Production Year: 2012
Country: United States
Certificate: 18 (UK)








John Hillcoat's latest venture into the feature film world came in the form of the Crime/Drama "Lawless", based on the novel "The Wettest County In The World" by author Matt Bondurant which is based on true events that occurred in the great depression era of America.

The film is a beautiful looking period drama with an equally beautiful lead performance from Shia LaBeouf, with brilliant performances from Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman for his few minutes of screen time.

Tom Hardy plays the overly violent and apathetic Forest Bondurant, while Jason Clarke plays the more stereotypical crazy hillbilly Howard, however LaBeouf plays the clever and quick witted Jack who is eager to prove to his brothers that he isn't the silly little brother anymore. Their new riches bring them into the eye line of crooked federal agent Charlie Rakes played by the appalling Guy Pearce who is pretty much a pantomime villain with a ridiculous look. Unfortunately for the viewers the beautiful Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska don't get enough screen time, they are the snippets of eye candy we get every so often.

The film is full of gruesome violence, however that is not to say that the violence over shadows the excellence of the script which was adapted by Nick Cave whose previous screenplays include "The Proposition" & "Ghost... Of The Civil Dead" both of which were also directed by John Hillcoat.

So my overall opinion on the film was that it was pretty great, easily one of my favourite films of the past few years. It was definitely one of the better films of 2012, all be it overshadowed by the big block busters like "The Avengers" or "The Dark Knight Rises". Even though I haven't decided on what system I have decided i will use for rating films, I will just give the films a numerical rating out of 10.
9/10