Nov
19
2008
Dir: John Moore
Writ: Beau Thorne, based on Video Game by Sam Lake
- Mark Wahlberg … Max Payne
- Mila Kunis … Mona Sax
- Beau Bridges … BB Hensley
- Amaury Nolasco … Jack Lupino
- Ludacris … Jim Bravura
- Chris O’Donnell … Jason Colvin
- Olga Kurylenko … Natasha
I knew going to see this film that I’d be disappointed. Was a big fan of the game but I’d heard negative things about this film. Often when that happens you go to the cinema with your bucket of popcorn and are pleasantly surprised that the film isn’t as dreadful as you’d feared. Unfortunately that just isn’t the case with Max Payne.
the basic plot invovles detective Max Payne who is trying to find the 3rd man of a gang that killed his wife and child. To that end he has moved to the cold case department, where he sits, pretty much alone and doing the whole brooding thing. Then another murder might provide a clue as to the identity of the killer.
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Tags:
2 Stars,
Amaury Nolasco,
based on game,
Beau Bridges,
Beau Thorne,
Chris O'Donnell,
detective,
disappointing,
John Moore,
looks cool,
Ludacris,
Mark Wahlberg,
Max Payne,
Mila Kunis,
no characters,
no plot,
noir,
Olga Kurylenko,
pity,
police,
R15A,
Sam Lake,
style over substance
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Jun
10
2008
Dir: Ben Affleck
Writ: Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard. Based on book by Dennis Lehane
- Casey Affleck … Patrick Kenzie
- Michelle Monaghan … Angie Gennaro
- Morgan Freeman … Capt. Jack Doyle
- Ed Harris … Det. Remy Bressant
- John Ashton … Det. Nick Poole
- Amy Ryan … Helene McCready
- Amy Madigan … Beatrice ‘Bea’ McCready
- Titus Welliver … Lionel McCready
IMDb ; More Reviews
This film’s release here and in Britain was delayed for a considerable time due to the supposed similarities between the plot and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. I can see what it happened, but in reality there aren’t that many similarities. The film is about Patrick Kenzie and his “associate” Angie Gennaro who have been hired to track down a missing child, Amanda McCready. Almost at once they find out that the media story isn’t quite the truth.
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Tags:
9 Stars,
Aaron Stockard,
abduction,
Amy Madigan,
Amy Ryan,
based on book,
Ben Affleck,
Casey Affleck,
child abuse,
crime,
Dennis Lehane,
Ed Harris,
Gone Baby Gone,
John Ashton,
kidnapping,
Michelle Monaghan,
Morgan Freeman,
murder,
police,
R16,
Titus Welliver
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Dec
18
2007
Writ & Dir: James Grey
- Joaquin Phoenix … Robert ‘Bobby’ Green
- Eva Mendes … Amada Juarez
- Mark Wahlberg … Capt. Joseph ‘Joe’ Grusinsky
- Robert Duvall … Deputy Chief Albert ‘Bert’ Grusinsky
- Alex Veadov … Vadim Nezhinski
- Danny Hoch … Jumbo Falsetti
Bobby is a night club manager. It is the 1980’s, New York. Life is good. Until the day his brother comes calling. Bobby’s brother, Joe, you see, is a cop. A drugs cop and he arrives in full on SWAT-mode at the club. This is not a way to ensure peaceful family get togethers. Especially considering that we already know there is tension in the family. You can just guess at the resulting tensions. But then the Russian bad-guys organise a hit on Joe. Bobby is stung into action and swears revenge. In this life or the next.[1]
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Linknotes:
- yeah yeah, that is vengeance, but whatever ↩
Tags:
1988,
5 Stars,
Alex Veadov,
clichéd,
crime,
Danny Hoch,
drugs,
Eva Mendes,
James Grey,
Joaquin Phoenix,
looks cool,
Mark Wahlberg,
New York,
police,
predictable,
R15A,
Robert Duvall,
USA - 1980s
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Oct
23
2007
Author: Michael Collins
ISBN: 0753817853 DDC: 823.914
Read for the RIP Challenge
See also: Allan Guthrie’s Noir Originals ; Telegraph review ; The Little Bird ; Reading Matters
It was past midnight when I got home Halloween night. The car lights swept across the yard. The house had been toilet-papered.
This wasn’t originally on my RIP list, but I decided to take off the John Connolly one and replace it with this. It isn’t exactly a horror, but it does fit under the category of mystery, and it starts on a Halloween night, so I reckon it fits the challenge.
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Tags:
8 Stars,
823.914,
crime,
Halloween,
hit and run,
Lost Souls,
Michael Collins (author),
midwest America,
murder,
mystery,
police,
RIP Challenge,
small town America,
suspense
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Oct
08
2007
Dir: Philip G. Atwell
Writ: Lee Anthony Smith & Gregory J. Bradley
- Jet Li … Rogue
- Jason Statham … Jack Crawford
- Devon Aoki … Kira
- Luis Guzmán … Benny
Supposedly this is a martial-arts action film about an FBI agent hunting down an assassin because he killed the cop’s partner. But in reality there isn’t enough plot for that. Which is very surprising because there is a LOT of story and very little martial arts. There is a fair amount of action, but it is all things we’ve seen before.
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Tags:
2 Stars,
action,
assassin,
Chinese Triads,
corrupt police,
crap,
crime,
Devon Aoki,
FBI,
Gregory J. Bradley,
Japanese mafia,
Jason Statham,
Jet Li,
Lee Anthony Smith,
Luis Guzmán,
martial arts,
Philip G. Atwell,
plotless,
police,
War
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Aug
03
2007
Creator: David Simon
Dir.s: Edward Bianchi, Elodie Keene, Steve Shill, Thomas J. Wright, Daniel Attias, Timothy Van Patten, Rob Bailey, Ernest R. Dickerson, Robert F. Colesberry
Writ.s: David Simon, Ed Burns, Joy Kecken, Rafael Ã?lvarez, George P. Pelecanos
- Dominic West … Det. Jimmy McNulty
- Sonja Sohn … Det. Kima Greggs
- Domenick Lombardozzi … Det. Herc Hauk
- Lance Reddick … Lt. Cedric Daniels
- Seth Gilliam … Sgt. Ellis Carver
- John Doman … Deputy Commissioner Rawls
- Idris Elba … Stringer Bell
- Michael K. Williams … Omar Little
- Andre Royo … Bubbles
- Chris Bauer … Frank Sobotka
- Paul Ben-Victor … Vondas Vondopoulos
- James Ransone … Ziggy Sobotka
- Pablo Schreiber … Nick Sobotka
The first season of The Wire dealt with drug dealers run by the Barksdale family. At the end the detail got reassigned with McNulty working for the marine unit. While out he comes across a floater. And later the bodies of 13 more women are found in a container in the city port. At first there is considerable debate over who has to take these cases; there is even doubt over whether it is murder. But eventually McNulty works out exactly where the deaths must have happened, and the it is his old homicide colleagues who must take the case. Spite and revenge really do get results.
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Tags:
10 Stars,
Andre Royo,
Baltimore,
Chris Bauer,
Daniel Attias,
David Simon,
Domenick Lombardozzi,
Dominic West,
drugs,
Ed Burns,
Edward Bianchi,
Elodie Keene,
Ernest R. Dickerson,
George P. Pelecanos,
human trafficing,
Idris Elba,
James Ransone,
John Doman,
Joy Kecken,
Lance Reddick,
Michael K. Williams,
Pablo Schreiber,
Paul Ben-Victor,
police,
Rafael Ã?lvarez,
Rob Bailey,
Robert F. Colesberry,
Seth Gilliam,
Sonja Sohn,
Steve Shill,
The Wire,
Thomas J. Wright,
Timothy Van Patten,
war on drugs
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Jun
17
2007
Dir: David Fincher
Writ: James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith
- Jake Gyllenhaal … Robert Graysmith
- Mark Ruffalo … Inspector David Toschi
- Anthony Edwards … Inspector William Armstrong
- Robert Downey Jr. … Paul Avery
- Brian Cox … Melvin Belli
This is based on the true story of a serial killer in the 1970’s in California who highlighted his murders with cryptic letters to newspapers. He killed at random, and called himself The Zodiac, and wrote his letters in a code. He also often sent bloodstained items of clothes along with these letters as a sort of proof. He was never caught. Robert Graysmith was working as a cartoonist at one of the newspapers where the letters arrived, and became caught up in the case. The film is based on his book of the events of the time.
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Tags:
1970s,
Anthony Edwards,
based on book,
Brian Cox,
California,
crime,
David Fincher,
Jake Gyllenhaal,
Mark Ruffalo,
murde,
police,
Robert Downey Jr.,
Robert Graysmith,
serial killer,
true crime,
Zodiac
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