Tag Archives: Crime

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Armored (2009)

Armored is a movie which I knew nothing about. The IMDB scores weren’t very high, so I decided to watch the trailer to check out if it might be worth watching. The trailer starts with a spectacular robbery of a money transport truck which has been filmed very well. So I stopped the trailer and decided to watch the movie. It looked like the perfect movie for a friday night. There are quite a few famous actors in it (Matt Dillon, Jean Reno, Laurence Fishburn), so surely it’s must be an ok movie? Continue reading →

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Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter island is the next collaboration between Scorsese en DiCaprio, after previous films like the Aviator, the Departed and Gangs of New York.  I watched the movie in the cinema, but because of a game of squash (which I hadn’t played in months) I was so exhausted that I didn’t manage to stay awake the whole movie. I saw most of it, but dozed off a couple of times. Because of this  I can’t write my review the way I would like to as I have not seen it all in the state I should have seen it. It’s a shame, but sometimes the power of sleep if stronger than the will to watch a movie. Despite this I do want to write down my opinion of the movie.

DiCaprio plays a marshall who tries to solve a case on Shutter Island. It seems that not too many people are willing to cooperate. Despite me being so tired i already had an idea what the result would be of the investigation. The story didn’t  move along quickly, which actually wasn’t a bad thing. Nice to see that De Niro (with whom Scorsese has made many movies before). I would like to see the movie again to pay attention to all the clues. I expected more of this movie though, so I left the theatre slightly disappointed (and very tired).

Provisional score: 7 (whenever I watch it again I will see if I can change the score)

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Un prophète (2009)

This French movie tells the story about a criminal called Malik. He has to go to jail where he experiences the tensions between the various groups (Corsicans/Muslims). Very soon he gets mixed up in the politics of it all.

The movie reminded me a lot of Scarface. Not that there are many similarities with it (although this movie also contains it’s fair share of crime and violence), but this story is also about a nobody who slowly grows in the environment he ends up in. In this movie you feel like you are under the skin of Malik. You feel the effects of prison life on him (pay attention on the airport scene, where it’s clear how much the prison system has had an effect on him). You are there when he has to struggle with some dilemmas. The length of the movie is 2 and half hours, but doesn’t feel too long at all. It’s a movie which I could immediately watch a second time. The last scene of the movie seems to be a tribute to a scene from the Godfather. You’ll have to watch it to see if you recognise it.

Score: 9

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Smokin’ aces 2: Assasins’ ball (2010)

This movie should be a prequel to the original Smokin Aces. There really aren’t any connections to that movie, except that someone needs to be killed. It’s better to skip this straight to dvd release. The acting and story are both very weak. At the end the movie tries it’s hand at a “Usual Suspects” type twist, but by the time this happens you already will have lost interest. You simply don’t care anymore what happens to any of the characters. Part 1 was interesting because of the various assassins and tension during the attack. That movie received a 6 when i saw it. This movie doesn’t even come close to that score, not even with Vinnie Jones. Simply put, it’s a disappointment.

Score: 3

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Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)

Brooklyn’s Finest tells the story about a couple of police officers that all have their own issues (money, working undercover, getting older). The number of well-known actors is high. Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes all play their roles very well.

What i also noticed about this movie is that a big number of actors from the HBO series “The Wire” are in this movie. Examples are Michael K. Williams (who played Omar) and Isiah Whitlock (Clay “SHIIIIIIIIIIIT” Davis). If you don’t know the Wire, you owe it to yourself to buy it immediately without reading anything about the shows. It’s one of TV’s best shows ever.

The various stories in Brooklyn’s Finest have been fleshed out well and are all interesting (although the Richard Gere one disappointed slightly). Every character needs to make important decisions that can possibly have unwanted consequences. This movie is highly recommended.

Score: 8