crime | pinartarhan.com

City by the Sea starring Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand and James Franco

Posted on February 20, 2010 Written by ripitup

City by the Sea with Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand and James Franco. Gripping, emotional, intense. Just the way we like to get from De Niro. Plus, James Franco is really good too.

Police Dedective Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) has had walked out on his wife and eventually his son Joey (James Franco) and moved away from Long Beach. He is happy hanging with his girlfriend Michelle (Frances McDormand) and just doing his job.

Meanwhile, his estranged son has turned into a junkie and killed a drug dealer in a fight. With his son’s name as the head suspect, Vincent’s other past secrets will resurface and he will have to deal with everything he has run away from. Things are not what they seem and his girlfriend might just regret she ever wanted him to open up…

***

Need I say De Niro is great as the estranged father with a troubled past? His character Vincent has flaws he is not proud of but he has done a good job of avoiding them so far.

James Franco is really good as the bright-boy-turned-junkie. The movie is really good asking some troubling moral questions and dealing with the relationships between the characters.

City by the Sea is by no means a thriller. It is a slow-paced, strong drama with characters you care about. It makes you react to events and question motives and reasons. Expecting action sequences will only disappoint you. This is a fine drama which should especially be seen by Robert De Niro and James Franco fans.

6.1 on imdb. It deserves something over 7, at the very least. Hell, 10/10 for Robert’s acting and presence alone. Let me know what you think.

Pride and Glory with Edward Norton and Colin Farrell

Posted on February 18, 2010 Written by ripitup

Pride and Glory with Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight and Noah Emmerich. Raymond (Norton) has already lost his love to help protect other cops. He doesn’t want to do the same mistakes but how the hell do you do the right thing when the wrong involves your brother( Emmerich) and brother-in-law (Farrell) ?

When 4 NYPD cops die during an operation, it is especially devastating for Jimmy Eagen (Colin Farrell). It is not exactly an emotional trauma, though. Jimmy and his remaining corrupt group of cops have to clean up the mess before it is too late. However things are going to be much harder; since Jimmy’s father-in-law (Jon Voight) – unaware of his involvement- insists that his son Raymond takes the case. Though unwilling, Raymond (Edward Norton) starts looking into events, and it doesn’t take long before he realizes that there are cops involved behind the crimes and the cops might be too close to home. Is Ray’s brother, also a cop, Francis (Noah Emmerich) involved as well?

Forget about the movie’s name, plot summaries you might read and definitely stay away from the trailer. When I first saw the trailer, I thought: “Shit, another corrupt cop story with family issues thrown in”. Seemed to cliché, too overdone. But the fact is, the movie is much more than any of its promotional elements suggests. It is strong, grabbing and despite all the familiar themes, it stands on its two feet and ends up impresses you. Characters are complicated and they are all flawed.

Colin Farrell puts in a good performance. Edward Norton is in his usual element, although maybe playing Jimmy would have been more fun. Noah Emmerich is just outstanding as Francis- the brother who should have paid more attention to the cops under him, but was too busy taking care of his dying wife.

All in all, this is a good movie with solid performances. There is too much swearing that might distract you from time to time, but considering the characters, it suits them.

It doesn’t have one dull moment in it and the drama is just as exciting as the action.6.7 on imdb. Deserves a 7, at the very least.

All Movies with Edward Norton:

Leaves of Grass

Kingdom of Heaven

Down in the Valley

25th Hour

Fight Club

The Illusionist

The Painted Veil

American History X

Primal Fear

The Incredible Hulk

Death to Smoochy

All Movies Featuring Colin Farrell

Pride and Glory review – starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell

5 Movies to Watch on Fast Forward

Foolproof starring Ryan Reynolds

Posted on October 26, 2009 Written by ripitup

Foolproof starring Ryan Reynolds — Ryan Reynolds in Foolproof. This movie is just fun, fun, fun.

How do you feel about heist movies? I personally have a weakness for the good ones. I love all that planning and gadgets, the adrenaline and excitement. And if the movie has characters that we can relate to, even better.

Here we have Kevin (Ryan Reynolds), Sam (Kristin Booth) and Rob (Joris Jarsky); three buddies who have known each other since college. They are also a part of a secret society that theoretically plans and executes heists. They plan every single aspect: the timing, the chemical products needed, the athletic performance expected. It’s fun and harmless; until their robbery plan of a diamond store is captured by an actual bad guy (David Suchet). He is aware of the group’s genius. So he makes a plan of his own and delivers the perfect blackmail: Either the friends execute a 20- million- dollar-heist of bonds for him or he sends the plan to the cops and they go to jail.

Kevin and Sam seem to be taking it worse than Rob. Rob seems to like and respect Leo. And moreover he is getting more and more enthusiastic about his cut. Sam wishes Leo dead; she’s not the type to enjoy taking orders. Their nerves are pretty strained too. This time the heist is going to take more guts, more risks and it is a fun ride to watch the gang do all the tricky work.

I like Ryan Reynolds. I am not sure if he is a great actor, but he is no doubt good. I liked his comedic timing when he was one of the guys in the sitcom Two Guys and A Girl. He definitely has the built and charisma to play the action hero which he shows in Wolverine as Wade Wilson, Blade Trinity and many more. He has starred in some very interesting, not- so- easy- to- be- categorized films such as The Nines; which will in fact be my next review. He is cute and handsome enough to pull off romantic leads as well; such as The Proposal. He is one of my favorite Canadian actors. Speaking of Canadian actors, the other two leads are also fellow Canadians and so is the talented writer/director William Philips – the movie was shot in Canada as well.

My point? The movie has the perfect combination of action, comedy and friendly banter – leading to wonderful twists and suspicious behavior. It is fun and deserves a viewing. Go team Ryan!

for the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3qndVGGsM4

Recommended for heist/robbery story fans:

Inside Man starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster

Leverage TV Series starring Timothy Hutton

Other Posts on Ryan Reynolds

The Proposal starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock

The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis

20 Tall Actors from Hollywood

21 starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey: It’s Vegas, baby!!!

Posted on October 8, 2009 Written by ripitup

I am not comfortable with the notion of gambling yet I love Vegas. I have never been yet and if I have enjoyed a movie, I really feel th urge to visit the city where it was shot. The bright lights, casinos, hotels, the colors, the excitement. I know I said I am not comfortable because well, I have two good reasons. One, I have an addictive personality – my addictions include rock n’ roll, movies,writing,coffee,cocktails,chocolate,dancing -and I am guessing if I like gambling half as much as I like the stuff I listed above, boy I’m in big trouble. And second, I don’t have much money. So the notion of the possibly of losing what little I have is well, alarming. But I really want to go to Vegas and go crazy for a couple of nights…Oh,yeah: we have 21 to blame.

21poster

I don’t want to go all emotional here but some movies hit closer to home. Of course 21 is not exactly a emotional movie. It has some emotional moments about the lead character Ben. But overall, it is based on the real life story of five MIT students who regularly went to Vegas, counted the cards and made some serious cash. I don’t know how much the movie sticks to the real story,but the storyline goes something like this:

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is an excellent student.He is about to graduate from MIT with honors to continue to Harvard Medical School. Although his qualities are perfect, he has one gigantic problem: he doesn’t have the insane tuition amount. The fees add up to $300,000. His only chance to go to the school he has been accepted to is to get a scholarship.But the scholarship will only be granted to one student and it will all depend on the extraordinary essay he is going to write about his life- except there is nothing even remotely exciting about his life. All his life, he has worked hard and been the amazing student. But he makes one good impression on the one guy that he is going to change his life forever: his Professor Mickey (Kevin Spacey). Mickey is secretly managing a unique group of students from MIT. Together they practice on perfecting a team play. Mickey is reluctant to join them at first but ultimately he doesn’t have much choice. And then the time of his life begins. Luxurious hotel suits, pretending to be someone else every time they play, the thrill, the chemistry growing between him and his team player/his big crush Jill (Kate Bosworth), ludicrous shopping rounds, oh and a danger they are not noticing: the seasoned yet smart head of security Cole (Laurence Fisburne) .

Of course complications occur when he neglects his best friends, and he has a big fall out with his professor. The thing is Mickey doesn’t play nice when he thinks he is crossed…And yet that is exactly when the real adventure begins…

The movie has been directed by Robert Luketic who recently directed The Ugly Truth (2009). Despite having loved it, I have to stay this movie beats any other movie he has done. Rom-com is one of my favorite genres and Robert is good. But if you want to see him direct something more different and definitely more intriguing, watch 21.

We all need money to make our dreams come true. And I need a similar amount of money-at least- to start my own dream school program. The idea to try your hand in Vegas when all else fails makes sense. But then again, I am no math genius, I don’t go to MIT and I can’t count cards. Not to mention, I am not a fan of the Vegas’ casinos’ security systems and the measures taken when you get caught. Of course my knowledge on the subject is based on what Hollywood tells me, yet somehow I am not inspired to challenge that…

Watch 21. It is fun.It is exciting. It makes your fantasies come alive through a character you can easily identify yourself with. I might be neither able nor willing to cheat, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to play.

for the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRzZX2aN3I0

21-movie-interna;