Hell or High Water (2016)
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Toby is a divorced father who's trying to make a better life for his son. His brother Tanner is an...
Twilight Zone---The Movie (1983)
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This tribute to the beloved supernatural TV show has four episodes. In the first, racist Bill Connor...
From Lysander to Lightning: Teddy Petter, Aircraft Designer
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The Lysander, Canberra, Lightning and Folland Gnat are massive names in the world of aviation. Only...
The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated Five Quarters Of The Orange in Books
Oct 5, 2020
Eclipse
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The first of John Banville's novels concerning father and daughter Alexander and Cass Cleave,...
Codename Baboushka: The Conclave of Death (Codename Baboushka #1)
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"What if the sexy Russian femme fatale was actually the main character?" Mysterious young heiress...
The Dinner Lady Detectives
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Margery and Clementine are enjoying a peaceful middle-age together in the small, idyllic town of...
Last Looks (2022)
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Charlie Waldo (Charlie Hunnam) is an ex-LAPD superstar who left the force and now lives a life of...
David McK (3372 KP) rated John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) in Movies
May 26, 2019 (Updated Mar 11, 2023)
Essentially a revenge movie (and following the events of the first movie), John Wick is forced out of retirement by a blood oath to carry out an assassination against a high profile target, with the individual doing so then putting out a hit against John - aka The Boogeyman - himself. This film, then, takes the opportunity to build the world in which John Wick inhabits, in particular the role of the chain of the Continental Hotels, in which no blood can be spilt under threat of becoming excommunicado (and thus setting up John Wick chapter 3)
Darren (1599 KP) rated Sexy Beast (2000) in Movies
Jul 25, 2019
Reluctantly taking the job, Gal returns to London and as most heist style movies, things don’t go to plan.
Thoughts on Sexy Beast
Characters – Gal was once the go to safecracker, now he is in retirement in Spain loving his life in the sun with his pool and friends, he has zero interest in returning to the game even after Don Logan pushes him. He stays relaxed through each scene because he knows his answer will always be no. he does reluctantly return for this last job mostly to get rid of Don. Don Logan is the brutal gangster, he knows who he wants for the jobs and this time it is Gal, he will not take ‘No’ as an answer, he will get violent and his outbursts will be the things you remember the most. Teddy is the man that the job is for, a fellow gangster that wants the best men for the job. DeeDee is the wife of Gal, she will stand by Gal in every decision even after the endless insults thrown their way.
Performances – Ray Winstone is great in this leading role, he is the perfect choice for a cockney criminal who knows there is a better life out there away from London. Ben Kingsley clearly steals every single scene in this movie with his performance that is filed with so much anger and aggression, you won’t be able to take your eyes off him. Ian McShane is great too where he brings us a calmer gangster who is also filled with anger. These three take most of the spotlight away from any other performers in the film.
Story – The story follows a retired criminal that gets forced to return to the game for one final job by an aggressive gangster, where this film does stand out from the other films in this genre, is that our hero Gal is 100% not interested in returning as most film give us the idea of ‘ok, I will do it’ on an easier formula. The story does have a nice twist on how things go and gives us the characters we could believe are from this world. if you are looking for a heist storyline, you will be disappointed though as this film focuses on the idea of getting the man to do the job.
Crime/Thriller – The crime world we enter giving us gangsters which will not take no for an answer, we don’t learn enough of their previous lives in the world though, only going on reputations.
Settings – The film uses Spain for the setting which gives us the retirement feel for a Brit to take, the sun increases the idea of the heat in the scenes.
Scene of the Movie – The heated argument.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The lack of heist action.
Final Thoughts – This is a true British crime film, it has great characters and a stunning performance from Ben Kingsley.
Overall: British Crime 101