![The King's Bed: Sex, Power and the Court of Charles II](/uploads/profile_image/84d/aeed1a8c-5bd1-46b5-8d7d-689be4ae984d.jpg?m=1522340597)
The King's Bed: Sex, Power and the Court of Charles II
Book
To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything...
![Vanity Fair](/uploads/profile_image/99e/078c6306-3c1e-43a5-b36f-6ff20b46999e.jpg?m=1522329658)
Vanity Fair
TV Show
A new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s, Vanity Fair, has been commissioned as a...
period drama
![The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us Better People](/uploads/profile_image/d27/d33e7ced-94d4-4b36-99d5-be0c78ee0d27.jpg?m=1601456580)
The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us Better People
Book
Bestselling author Michael Shermer's exploration of science and morality that demonstrates how the...
![Staying Power: A Year in My Life](/uploads/profile_image/1be/bb4a7b52-9bef-4af1-aef4-9422f08d21be.jpg?m=1522323494)
Staying Power: A Year in My Life
Book
Phil 'The Power' Taylor is the uncontested king of darts, his sixteen world championship titles...
![The Sound and the Fury: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism](/uploads/profile_image/665/edddd7cc-32a2-4f39-8331-c4fac8950665.jpg?m=1522333368)
The Sound and the Fury: An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism
William Faulkner and Michael Gorra
Book
William Faulkner's provocative and enigmatic 1929 novel, The Sound and the Fury, is widely...
Dictionary of Christian Biography: Key Figures in the Literature, Sects and Doctrines of the Early Church
Henry Wace, William Smith and Michael Ledger-Lomas
Book
Smith and Wace's magisterial A Dictionary of Christian Biography provides an account of the figures...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/301/84cdd57d-9e03-4ad0-ae27-f54d5e344301.jpg?m=1561027069)
Lucy Buglass (45 KP) rated King of Thieves (2018) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
For me, King of Thieves started off promising then rapidly declined into a bit of a mess. If it weren’t for a few redeeming features, I would’ve rated it even lower. One of the positives to come out of this film is the performances; it’s no surprise to any of you that these are actors at the top of their game, and I believe they worked as hard as they could with what they had. I don’t have a problem with any of the actors, my main problem lies with how utterly awful and cringe-worthy the screenplay was. They had an opportunity to work with some brilliant talent, but even they couldn’t save this film.
I appreciate the script was trying to encapsulate the ‘tough, working class London’ stereotype through these characters, but for me there was too much swearing and casual racism/homophobia than actual exposition. We learn barely anything about these characters, with the exception of Michael Caine’s, so all we see for almost two hours is a bunch of old men arguing and swearing constantly. We aren’t encouraged to connect or sympathise with any of them, none of them are particularly three dimensional, so you find yourself hating everyone on screen. Even a little emotional moment here and there would’ve been nice. With no chemistry between characters, the heist becomes very dull indeed.
If the weak script wasn’t bad enough, I wasn’t impressed with the cinematography either. The film seems confused throughout, not really sure what visual styles it wants to settle on so it jumps about here and there. As a result, this is very jarring and I found it hard to watch. The camera is all over the place, it doesn’t seem to have any fixed techniques, and it becomes a nuisance more than anything. That being said, the heist scenes themselves were very well-shot which is even more frustrating for me. How can you shoot certain things brilliantly, then mess up others? It doesn’t make any sense. If anything, it’s proven that the people involved did have the potential to create something great, but somehow managed to throw it all away.
King of Thieves feels a lot like a straight-to-DVD crime film that you might watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon when you’re a bit tired or hungover. It’s certainly not the kind of cinematic, high-quality film I would expect to see on the big screen. It’s mildly entertaining and delivered a few laughs, but ultimately it’s forgettable. My advice for this film would be: don’t let them rob you of a ticket, catch it on TV instead.
https://lucygoestohollywood.com/2018/09/08/king-of-thieves-a-surprisingly-disappointing-heist-film/
![Unbuilt Utopian Cities 1460 to 1900: Reconstructing Their Architecture and Political Philosophy](/uploads/profile_image/f33/05d56999-9347-4625-b2f3-b455245b0f33.jpg?m=1522341837)
Unbuilt Utopian Cities 1460 to 1900: Reconstructing Their Architecture and Political Philosophy
Book
Bringing together ten utopian works that mark important points in the history and an evolution in...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/bc8/b9768a12-e4b1-4d44-baef-2b4ef2be4bc8.jpg?m=1557634001)
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Sin City (2005) in Movies
Jan 7, 2021 (Updated Jan 11, 2021)
The main positives are of course the cast, and the style.
The cast is stacked - Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Michael Madsen, Clive Owen, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Powers Boothe, Devon Aoki, Rutger Hauer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Jaime King... that's a fair ensemble if you ask me.
The style is of course a huge part of Sin City. It's neo noir black and white with splashes of colour translate perfectly from page to screen. 15 years later, the effects still look pretty decent and the overall look of the film is practically watching the graphic novels come to life, a strength that is bolstered by the cast involved.
It has a cheesy yet engaging screenplay - the runtime clocks in at over two hours, but never gets boring (just about), and the constant growly voiceovers and on the nose script beats could have potentially been laughable in anyone else's hands, but Robert Rodriguez somehow gets away with it.
The comics ultraviolence is well realised - the movie doesn't shy away from the grimness of proceedings. Some of the content however feels a little problematic in this day and age. The whole thing is plagued by a steady stream of misogyny, which would have probably been toned down if released today, but in my opinion, it's never glamorised. 95% of the male characters are grim shitbags, and the audience know it well.
I understand why a fair few people have an issue with Sin City and it's content, but personally, I find it to be a unique film with plenty of positives, a project that respects it's source material, and just about manages to avoid falling inside of its own arse.
![Sin City (2005)](/uploads/profile_image/c52/cb1f8967-2dcd-45bc-92e0-25e1fee98c52.jpg?m=1522336110)
Sin City (2005)
Movie Watch
Sin City (also known as Frank Miller's Sin City)[3] is a 2005 American neo-noir crime anthology film...
Sin City Frank Miller Robert Rodriguez Comic book