City of God (2002)

City of God (2002)

City of God (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) is a 2002 Brazilian crime drama film co-directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, released in its home country in 2002 and worldwide in 2003. The story was adapted by Bráulio Mantovani from the 1997 novel of the same name written by Paulo Lins, but the plot is loosely based on real events. It depicts the growth of organized crime in the Cidade de Deus suburb of Rio de Janeiro, between the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, with the closure of the film depicting the war between the drug dealer Li'l Zé and vigilante-turned-criminal Knockout Ned. The tagline is "If you run, the beast catches you; if you stay, the beast eats you", a proverb analogous to the English "Damned if you do, damned if you don't".

The cast includes Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino da Hora, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Alice Braga and Seu Jorge. Most of the actors were, in fact, residents of favelas such as Vidigal and the Cidade de Deus itself.

The film received worldwide critical acclaim, receiving four Academy Award nominations in 2004: Best Cinematography (César Charlone), Best Directing (Meirelles), Best Editing (Daniel Rezende) and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) (Mantovani). Before that, in 2003 it had been chosen to be Brazil's runner for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated to be one of the five finalists. If it had been nominated, it would have been ineligible the next year for any other category. The film continued to be praised.

Meirelles and Lund went on to create the City of Men TV series and film City of Men, which share some of the actors (notably leads Douglas Silva and Darlan Cunha) and their setting with City of God.

Storyline

Brazil, 1960's, City of God. The Tender Trio robs motels and gas trucks. Younger kids watch and learn well...too well. 1970's: Li'l Zé has prospered very well and owns the city. He causes violence and fear as he wipes out rival gangs without mercy. His best friend Bené is the only one to keep him on the good side of sanity. Rocket has watched these two gain power for years, and he wants no part of it. Yet he keeps getting swept up in the madness. All he wants to do is take pictures. 1980's: Things are out of control between the last two remaining gangs...will it ever end? Welcome to the City of God.

Plot

In the opening scene, chickens are being prepared for a meal when a chicken escapes and an armed gang chases after it in a favela called the Cidade de Deus ("City of God"). The chicken stops between the gang and a young man named Rocket (Buscapé), who believes that the gang wants to kill him. A flashback traces Rocket, the narrator, back to the late 1960s. He lived incredibly poor in this slum of Rio.

Three impoverished, amateur thieves known as the "Tender Trio" – Shaggy, Clipper, and Goose – rob and loot business owners; Goose is Rocket's brother. The thieves split part of the loot with the citizens of the City, and are protected by them in return. Several younger boys idolize the trio and one, Li'l Dice (Dadinho), convinces them to hold up a motel and rob its occupants. The gang agrees, resolving not to kill anyone, and tell Li'l Dice to serve as lookout. They give him a gun and tell him to fire a warning shot if the police arrive but an unsatisfied Li'l Dice fires a warning shot mid-robbery and guns down the motel inhabitants once the gang have run off. The massacre brings the attention of the police, forcing the trio to split up: Clipper joins the church, Shaggy is shot by the police while trying to escape the favela, and Goose is shot by Li'l Dice after taking the thieving boy's money while his friend Benny (Bené) watches.

The film then skips forward some years later in the 1970s. Rocket has joined a group of young hippies. He enjoys photography, and likes one girl, but his attempts to get close to her are ruined by a gang of petty criminal kids known as "The Runts". Li'l Dice now calls himself "Li'l Zé" ("Zé Pequeno"), and along with Benny has established a drug empire by eliminating all of the competition, except for one dealer named Carrot, and forcing Carrot's manager Blackie (Neguinho) to work for him instead.

A relative peace has come over the City of God under the reign of Li'l Zé, who avoids police attention by having an initiate kill a Runt. Zé plans to kill Carrot, but Benny talks him out of it.

Eventually, Benny and his girlfriend decide to leave the City, but during the farewell party Zé is distracted, and Blackie accidentally kills Benny while trying to shoot Li'l Zé. As Benny was the only man holding Zé back from taking over Carrot's business, his death leaves Zé unchecked and Carrot kills Blackie for endangering his life.

Following Benny's death, Zé beats up a peaceful man named Knockout Ned and rapes Ned's girlfriend. After Ned's brother stabs Zé, his gang retaliates by killing his brother and firing on Ned's house and killing his uncle. Ned, looking for revenge, sides with Carrot and eventually a war breaks out between Carrot and Zé.

Skipping forward again to the early 1980s, both sides enlist more "soldiers", with Zé providing weapons for the Runts and eventually the reason for the war is forgotten. One day, Zé has Rocket take photos of him and his gang. After Rocket leaves his film with a friend who works at a newspaper office downtown, a female reporter publishes one of the prints, since nobody can get into the City of God anymore. Rocket takes a romantic interest in the reporter, eventually losing his virginity to her.

Rocket thinks his life is endangered but agrees to continue taking photographs, not realizing Zé is very pleased with increased notoriety. Rocket then returns to the City for more photographs, bringing the film to its beginning. Confronted by the gang, Rocket is surprised that Zé is asking him to take pictures, but as he prepares to take the photo after forgetting the chicken, the police arrive, who drive off when Carrot arrives. In the gunfight, Ned is killed by a boy who has infiltrated his gang to avenge his father: a security guard who was killed by Ned during a bank robbery. The police capture Li'l Zé and Carrot, planning to give the media Carrot, whose gang never paid off the police, while they steal Zé's money and let him go. He is then murdered by the Runts who intend to run the criminal enterprise themselves. Rocket secretly takes pictures of both scenes, as well as Zé's dead body, and brings them back to the newspaper.

Rocket is in the newspaper office looking at all of his photographs through a magnifying glass, and deciding whether to publish the photo of corrupt cops and become famous or the photo of Li'l Zé's body and get an internship at the newspaper. He decides on the latter and the film ends with the Runts walking around the City of God, making a hit list of the dealers they plan to kill in order to take over the drug business. They mention that a Comando Vermelho ("Red Command") is coming.

User Review

The film revolves around the, 'City of God,' a favela (or ghetto) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a horrifying area where drug dealers run the community, and where children killing children is not an uncommon occurrence.

The story begins with the early stages of the City of God (in the 1960's) showing where many of the problems stem from- the extreme poverty, overcrowding etc. Here, in the early stages of the favela, we meet our main characters, along with the supporting cast. The story revolves mainly around two characters living in the favela, Rocket and Lil Ze, and how they take two different paths through life. Rocket's dream is to become a photographer and to escape the City of God while Lil Ze becomes a powerful gang leader and drug dealer.

The film offers an unflinching look at gang life in the City of God, as it follows the favela through three decades; the 60's, 70's and 80's, and shows how violence just spirals into more violence with the disturbingly high amounts of violence in the favela, most involving teenagers and children.

The direction, cinematography, and editing are all Oscar-worthy. The cinematography is some of the best I have ever seen- with a very visceral, jerky feel, very reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan. The editing is very frantic, which makes you feel like you are on the streets of the City of God, and the direction is flawless, seamlessly blending the many elements of the story.

The film was definitely one of the best films I have ever seen. The story, the direction, the cinematography, the editing and the acting all add up to make a excellent movie that I would recommend to all.

Goodfellas (1990)

Goodfellas (1990)

Goodfellas (or GoodFellas) is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese. The film narrates the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associate Henry Hill (the first-person narrator in the film) and his friends over a period from 1955 to 1980.

Scorsese initially named the film Wise Guy and postponed making it; later, he and Pileggi changed the name to Goodfellas. To prepare for their roles in the film, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta often spoke with Pileggi, who shared research material left over from writing the book. According to Pesci, improvisation and ad-libbing came out of rehearsals wherein Scorsese gave the actors freedom to do whatever they wanted. The director made transcripts of these sessions, took the lines he liked best, and put them into a revised script the cast worked from during principal photography.

Made on a budget of $25 million, Goodfellas grossed $46.8 million domestically. It received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and it won for Pesci in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category. Scorsese's film won five awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, including Best Film and Best Director. Additionally, Goodfellas was named Best Film of the year by various film critics groups.

Goodfellas is often regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, both in the crime genre and in general. In 2000, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress. Its content and style have been emulated in numerous other films and television shows. Scorsese followed up making this film with two more about organized crime: Casino (1995) and The Departed (2006).

Storyline

Henry Hill is a small time gangster, who takes part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to climb up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, is badly affected by his partners' success, but will he stoop low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?

Plot

Henry Hill says, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster", referring to his idolizing the Lucchese crime family gangsters in his blue-collar, predominantly Italian-American neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn. Wanting to be part of something significant, Henry quits school and goes to work for them. He is able to make a living for himself and learns the two most important lessons in life: "Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut", the advice given to him after being acquitted of criminal charges early in his career.

Henry is taken under the wing of the local mob capo, Paul "Paulie" Cicero and his associates: James "Jimmy the Gent" Conway, who loves hijacking trucks; and Tommy DeVito, an aggressive armed robber with a temper. In late 1967, they commit the Air France Robbery. Enjoying the perks of their criminal life, they spend most of their nights at the Copacabana carousing with women. Henry meets and later marries Karen, a Jewish woman from the Five Towns. Karen is initially troubled by Henry's criminal activities but is soon seduced by his glamorous lifestyle.

On June 11, 1970, Billy Batts, a mobster with the Gambino crime family, insults Tommy about being a shoeshine boy in his younger days. Enraged, Tommy and Jimmy attack and kill him. Realizing their murder of a made man would mean retribution from the Gambino family, Jimmy, Henry, and Tommy cover up the murder. They transport the body in the trunk of Henry's car and bury it upstate. Six months later, Jimmy learns the burial site will be developed, forcing them to exhume the decomposing corpse and move it.

Henry sets up his mistress, Janice Rossi, in an apartment. When Karen finds out about their relationship, she tries to confront Janice at the apartment building and then threatens Henry at gunpoint at home. Henry goes to live in the apartment with Janice, but Paulie soon directs him to return to Karen after completing a job for him; Henry and Jimmy are sent to collect from an indebted gambler in Florida, which they succeed at after beating him. However, they are arrested after being turned in by the gambler's sister, a typist for the FBI. Jimmy and Henry receive 10-year prison sentences.

In prison, Henry sells drugs to support his family on the outside. After his early release in 1978, Henry further establishes himself in the drug trade, ignoring Paulie's warnings, and convincing Tommy and Jimmy to join him. The crew commits the Lufthansa heist at John F. Kennedy International Airport, stealing $6 million. However, after many of the participants ignore Jimmy's command not to buy expensive luxuries with their share for fear of attracting police attention, he has them killed. Tommy is killed in retribution for Batts' murder, having been fooled into thinking he would become a made man.

By May 11, 1980, Henry is a nervous wreck from cocaine use and insomnia, as he tries to organize a drug deal with his associates in Pittsburgh. However, he is arrested by narcotics agents and jailed. On his release, Karen tells him she flushed $60,000 worth of cocaine down the toilet to prevent FBI agents from finding it during their raid, leaving the family virtually penniless. Feeling betrayed by Henry's dealing drugs, Paulie gives him $3,200 and ends his association with him. Facing federal charges, Henry decides to enroll in the Witness Protection Program after realizing Jimmy intends to have him killed. Forced out of his gangster life, he now has to face living in the real world. He narrates: "I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook".

Subtitles explain that Henry was subsequently arrested on drug charges in Seattle, Washington but has been clean since 1987. He and Karen separated in 1989 after 25 years of marriage. Paul Cicero died in Fort Worth Federal Prison of respiratory illness in 1988 at age 73. Jimmy, in 1990, was serving a 20-year-to-life sentence in a New York State prison.

Cast

• Robert De Niro as James "Jimmy the Gent" Conway
• Ray Liotta as Henry Hill
• Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito
• Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill
• Paul Sorvino as Paul "Paulie" Cicero
• Frank Sivero as Frankie Carbone
• Frank Vincent as Billy Batts
• Tony Darrow as Sonny Bunz
• Mike Starr as Frenchy
• Chuck Low as Morrie Kessler
• Frank DiLeo as Tuddy Cicero
• Johnny Williams as Johnny Roastbeef
• Samuel L. Jackson as Parnell "Stacks" Edwards
• Frank Adonis as Anthony Stabile
• Catherine Scorsese as Tommy DeVito's mother
• Gina Mastrogiacomo as Janice Rossi
• Debi Mazar as Sandy
• Margo Winkler as Belle Kessler
• Welker White as Lois Byrd
• Julie Garfield as Mickey Conway
• Paul Herman as Dealer
• Detective Ed Deacy as himself
• Christopher Serrone as young Henry Hill
• Charles Scorsese as Vinnie
• Michael Vivalo as Nicky Eyes
• Michael Imperioli as "Spider"
• Tony Sirico as Tony Stacks
• Frank Pellegrino as Johnny Dio
• Tony Ellis as bridal shop owner
• Elizabeth Whitcraft as Tommy's girlfriend
• Illeana Douglas as Tommy's other girlfriend
• Anthony Powers as Jimmy Two-Times
• Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed McDonald as himself
• Tony Lip as Frankie "the wop"
• Joseph Bono as Mikey Franzese
• Kevin Corrigan as Michael Hill
• Tobin Bell as parole officer
• Henny Youngman as himself
• Vito Picone as "Vito"

User Review

Amazing is the one and only word to say for this film. I have always thought that Goodfellas was one of the greatest films ever made and set a landmark in the 90's or even in movie history. I bought Goodfellas last week and I got to watch the film a couple days ago. I really just couldn't lay my eyes off the film and everything about it was just simply worth watching. The acting was excellent, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and other actors did great and almost all of the characters they portrayed were 100% accurate. The camera-work also was brilliant and Martin Scorsese does a beautiful job by putting excellent camera shots in his films and I give him high credit for that. The soundtrack too is one of the best soundtracks ever made and the song "Layla," put chills down my spine of how great this song fitted the film. Overall, Martin Scorsese made his best film in my opinion and him and Nicholas Pileggi made an excellent and sharp script that made this, the greatest mob film still today.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy crime film, directed by Martin Scorsese. The screenplay by Terence Winter is adapted from the memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort and recounts from Belfort's perspective his career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm Stratton Oakmont engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that ultimately led to his downfall. Leonardo DiCaprio (who also co-produced the film) stars as Belfort, with Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as his second wife Naomi Lapaglia, and Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham, the FBI agent who tries to bring him down. Matthew McConaughey, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, and Jean Dujardin are also featured. The film marks the director's fifth collaboration with DiCaprio, after Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006), and Shutter Island (2010), as well as his second collaboration with Winter after the television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14).

The Wolf of Wall Street premiered in New York City on December 17, 2013, and was released theatrically on December 25, 2013, in the United States, distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was the first to have been released entirely through digital distribution. It was a major commercial success, grossing more than $392 million worldwide during its original theatrical run to become Scorsese's highest-grossing movie to date and the 17th-highest-grossing film of 2013. The film was controversial for its morally ambiguous depiction of events, explicit sexual content, profanity, depiction of hard drug use, and the use of animals during production.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, with praise for Scorsese's direction and the performances of DiCaprio and Hill, and was nominated for several awards, including five nominations at the 86th Academy Awards ceremony: Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for Winter, and Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations for DiCaprio and Hill, respectively. The film did not win in any category, although DiCaprio did win Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, where the film was also nominated for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy. It was also recognized by numerous other awards ceremonies, as well as guilds and critics' associations.

Storyline

Jordan Belfort is a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 22 months in prison for defrauding investors in a massive 1990s securities scam that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including shoe designer Steve Madden.

Plot

In 1987, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) loses his job as a Wall Street stockbroker for L.F. Rothschild, employed under Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) due to Black Monday. He takes a job at a boiler room brokerage firm on Long Island that specializes in penny stocks. Thanks to his aggressive pitching style and the high commissions, Belfort makes a small fortune.

Jordan befriends his apartment neighbor Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), and the two found their own company. They recruit Jordan's accountant parents as well as several of Jordan's friends, whom Jordan trains in the art of the "hard sell". The basic method of the firm is a pump and dump scam. To cloak this, Belfort gives the firm the respectable name of "Stratton Oakmont". After an exposé in Forbes, hundreds of ambitious young financiers flock to his company.

As Jordan becomes immensely successful, he slides into a decadent lifestyle of prostitutes and Quaaludes. He has an affair with a woman named Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie). When his wife Teresa finds out, they divorce and he marries Naomi, soon having a daughter. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the FBI begin investigating Stratton Oakmont.

Jordan illegally makes $22 million in three hours upon securing the IPO of Steve Madden. This brings him and his firm to the attention of the FBI, mainly agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler). To hide his illegitimate money, Jordan opens a Swiss bank account with corrupt banker Jean-Jacques Saurel (Jean Dujardin) in the name of Naomi's aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley), who is a British citizen and thus outside the reach of American authorities. He uses the wife and in-laws of his friend Brad Bodnick (Jon Bernthal), who have European passports, to smuggle cash into Switzerland.

Donnie gets into a public fight with Brad, and while Donnie escapes, Brad is arrested. Jordan also learns from his private investigator that the FBI is wiretapping his phones. Fearing for his son, Jordan's father pressures him to leave Stratton Oakmont and lie low while Jordan's lawyer orchestrates a deal to keep him out of prison. Jordan, however, does not want to quit, and talks himself into staying in the middle of his farewell speech.

Jordan, Donnie and their wives are on a yacht trip to Italy when they learn that Aunt Emma has died of a heart attack. Over the objections of his grieving wife and his yacht captain, Jordan decides to sail to Monaco so they can drive to Switzerland without getting their passports stamped at the border and settle the bank account, but a violent storm capsizes their yacht. After their rescue by Italians, the plane sent to take them to Geneva is destroyed when a seagull flies into the engine. Jordan considers this a sign from God and decides to sober up.

Two years later, the FBI arrests Jordan because Saurel, arrested in Florida on an unrelated charge, has told the FBI about Jordan's criminal activities. Since the evidence against him is overwhelming, Jordan agrees to gather evidence on his colleagues in exchange for leniency.

Fed up with Jordan's lifestyle, Naomi tells Jordan she is divorcing him and wants full custody of their children. After their argument turns violent, Jordan relapses on cocaine and attempts to kidnap their daughter Skylar before crashing his car into a fence. Naomi and the Belforts' housekeeper rescue Skylar from the vehicle and leave Jordan, bleeding and defeated, in the car.

The next morning, Jordan wears a wire to work. Jordan slips Donnie a note warning him about the wire. Feeling disappointed and betrayed, Donnie gives the note to the FBI, and Jordan is arrested for breaching his cooperation deal. The FBI raids and shuts down Stratton Oakmont.

Despite this one breach, Jordan receives a reduced sentence for his testimony and is sentenced to 36 months in a minimum security prison in Nevada. After his 2006 release, Jordan makes a living hosting seminars on sales technique.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort
• Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff (based on Danny Porush)
• Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia (based on Nadine Caridi)
• Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna
• Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham, FBI agent who is lead of the investigation
• Rob Reiner as Max "Mad Max" Belfort
• Jon Bernthal as Brad Bodnick
• Jon Favreau as Manny Riskin
• Jean Dujardin as Jean-Jacques Saurel
• Joanna Lumley as Aunt Emma
• Cristin Milioti as Teresa Petrillo
• Christine Ebersole as Leah Belfort
• Shea Whigham as Captain Ted Beecham
• Katarina Čas as Chantalle Bodnick
• P. J. Byrne as Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff
• Kenneth Choi as Chester Ming
• Brian Sacca as Robbie "Pinhead" Feinberg
• Henry Zebrowski as Alden "Sea Otter" Kupferberg
• Ethan Suplee as Toby Welch
• Barry Rothbart as Peter Diblasio
• Jake Hoffman as Steve Madden
• Mackenzie Meehan as Hildy Azoff
• Spike Jonze as Dwayne
• Bo Dietl as Bo Dietl
• Jon Spinogatti as Nicholas
• Madison McKinley Garton as Heidi
• Aya Cash as Janet
• Thomas Middleditch as Stratton Broker in a Bowtie
• Shea Coleman as Skylar Belfort (14 months old)
• Giselle Eisenberg as Skylar Belfort (4 years old)
• Johnnie Mae as Violet
• Jordan Belfort as Auckland Straight Line Host

User Review

"The Wolf of Wall Street" is infectiously entertaining. It is probably the funniest movie I have seen all year with witty dialogue, over the top characters, and filled with energy that bleeds off the screen. Between all the fun however, there is also a story about addiction and how it can cause a downward spiral in your life whether it be drugs, money, or power.

Acclaimed director Martin Scorsese does a wonderful job keeping this movie at a high at all times. Never once does this movie lose it's energy or sense of humor much like the drug induced characters. There are a lot of quick cuts and edits to keep the movie feeling as If you are on drugs as well as playing high energy music in some of the more serious situations.

The cast brings their "A" game. The stand out is obviously Leonardo DiCaprio, who pretty much owns and excels any scene he is in. This film really showcases his diverse range.

Overall "The Wolf of Wall Street" is a full on adrenaline ride that never loses momentum. It's directed with a lot of flair and energy and has an incredibly well written script that gives it depth and a ton of laughs. The cast is fantastic and DiCaprio gives his best and most fun filled performance to date. I really enjoyed this movie and think it's the funniest movie of the year 4.5/5

Focus (2015)

Focus (2015)

Focus is a 2015 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and Rodrigo Santoro.

Storyline

Nicky Spurgeon is an extremely accomplished con man who takes an amateur con artist, Jess, under his wing. Nicky and Jess become romantically involved, and with Nicky's profession of being a liar and a cheater for a living, he realizes that deception and love are things that don't go together. They split, only to see each other three years later... And things get messy.

Plot

Seasoned con-man Nicky Spurgeon (Will Smith) goes to a nightclub, where an inexperienced grifter, Jess Barrett (Margot Robbie), seduces him, and then pretends they've been caught by her jealous husband. When the deception fails, Nicky advises them never to lose focus when faced with unexpected situations. Jess finds him in another nightclub a few days later and convinces Nicky to become her mentor. Nicky tells her about how his father, a con man named Bucky Spurgeon, was forced to shoot his grandfather when a con went wrong, a maneuver he calls "the Toledo Panic Button".

Jess follows Nick to New Orleans, where she is introduced to Nicky's crew, including the obese and profane Farhad (Adrian Martinez). She picks a few pockets as a test, and soon Nicky and Jess develop a romantic relationship, upsetting Nicky, who was taught by his father to never become emotionally involved with anyone in their line of business. At the 17th Associated Football Franchise of America Championship Game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Nicky gets into a round of increasingly extravagant bets with gambler Liyuan Tse (B.D. Wong), eventually losing all of the money the crew has earned. To win it back, Nicky asks Tse to pick any player off the field and says that Jess will guess the number picked. A distraught Jess scans the field and notices Farhad wearing jersey number 55 and realizes it is another con. They take Tse for millions of dollars, but Nicky, wary of his growing emotional involvement, leaves Jess by the side of the road with her cut.

Three years later, Nicky is in Buenos Aires, working for billionaire motorsport team owner Rafael Garriga (Rodrigo Santoro). Garriga needs to beat a team headed by Australian businessman McEwen (Robert Taylor) to win the championship. Nicky will pretend to be a disgruntled technician on Garriga's team willing to sell Garriga's custom fuel use algorithm EXR. Instead he will sell McEwen a bogus version which will slow their car down during the race. At a pre-race party, Nicky runs into Jess, who is now Garriga's girlfriend. Nicky has a convincing fight with Garriga in public and is recruited by McEwen to provide the component.

Nicky begins pursuing Jess again, and they eventually rekindle their relationship. The head of Garriga's security entourage, Owens (Gerald McRaney), is suspicious and narrowly misses catching the two together. Nicky delivers the component to McEwen for three million euros but also sells it to the other teams for similar amounts.

Nicky and Jess attempt to return to the United States together. However, they are caught by Garriga's men and taken to Garriga's garage. Nicky has actually sold the real EXR to all of the various teams. Nicky explains that he gained access to EXR through a necklace he had given to Jess, which secretly recorded Garriga's password and login information, and that Jess knew nothing about this. However, Jess then reveals that she was only trying to seduce Garriga in order to steal his valuable watch. Nicky promises to come clean in order to spare Jess's life but Owens shoots him in the chest, causing a horrified Garriga to leave. Owens then reveals himself to be Nicky's father, Bucky, and assures Jess that he avoided any major arteries. He simply employed the "Toledo Panic Button." Bucky then tapes up Nicky's wounds and draws excess blood out of his son's chest with a metal plunger so that he can breathe again. They flee the garage in Garriga's vehicle.

Bucky drives Nicky and Jess to the hospital to treat Nicky's punctured lung and departs with Nicky's money as a reminder of the consequences of losing focus. After he leaves, Jess reveals that she snatched Garriga's watch before he left the warehouse, and a smiling Nicky and Jess then go into the hospital together.

Cast

• Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon
• Margot Robbie as Jess Barrett
• Rodrigo Santoro as Garriga
• Gerald McRaney as Bucky Spurgeon/Owens
• B. D. Wong as Liyuan Tse
• Robert Taylor as McEwen
• Dominic Fumusa as Jared
• Brennan Brown as Horst
• Griff Furst as Gareth
• Adrian Martinez as Farhad
• Alfred Tumbley as Dogs
• Billy Slaughter as Passing Thief

User Reviews

"Focus" blends two different movies in roughly equal measure. One is a movie about con men, scam artists and hustlers, in the tradition of "The Sting," "Ocean's Eleven," "House of Games" and "Shade." The second movie is a romantic comedy between two people who are strongly attracted to one another, but who cannot and do not trust each other.

The movie about con men is brilliant. The hustles and scams are clever and cleverly executed with excellent skill and tradecraft. Dramatically, the double-blinds and double- crosses are well executed. The players con their marks, one another and the audience with finesse and aplomb. The cinematography, choreography and editing are crisp. The reveals are plausible within the film's cosmos of reality.

The romantic comedy is not bad. One can understand and believe the attraction between the two characters. Will Smith's character is hunky, clever, confident, successful and wealthy. Margot Robbie's character is gorgeous, sexy, vulnerable, clever and charming. But the major plot points in this boy finds girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back subplot seem contrived, while the intriguing aspect of their relationship (How can two con artists with a history of deceiving one another learn to trust one another?) isn't explored in a satisfactory manner. Instead we get a breakup for reasons that are never explained, a repeated gag involving a wallet, and a massive coincidence that leads the audience to believe one of them has a hidden agenda involving the other. The relationship between them works best when they are conning one another, but it needs resolution.

Technically, the film is beautifully done. Cinematography, locations, wardrobe, make-up, editing, audio -- everything is polished. It's a movie that merits a second or third viewing, not only to see the cons played out, but also to appreciate some of the subtle foreshadowing.

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Gillian Flynn was based on her 2012 novel of the same name. The film stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike. Set in Southeast Missouri the story begins as a mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (Affleck), who becomes the primary suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (Pike).

The film had its world premiere on opening night of the 52nd New York Film Festival on September 26, 2014, before a nationwide theatrical release on October 3, and was received well critically with a commercial success of over $368 million, making it the highest grossing film by David Fincher. Rosamund Pike's performance was particularly praised, and she received nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. Further nominations included a Golden Globe Award for Best Director for Fincher and Golden Globe Award, BAFTA Award and Critics' Choice Award nominations for Flynn's adapted screenplay, receiving the award for the latter.

Storyline

On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

Plot

The day of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne returns home to find that his wife Amy is missing. Her disappearance receives heavy press coverage, as Amy was the inspiration for her parents' popular "Amazing Amy" children's books. Detective Rhonda Boney does a walkthrough of their house and finds poorly concealed evidence of a struggle. The police conduct a forensic analysis and uncover the remnants of cleaned blood stains, leading to the conclusion that Amy was murdered. Suspicions arise that Nick is responsible, and his awkward behavior is interpreted by the media as characteristic of a sociopath.

Flashbacks reveal that Nick and Amy's marriage had disintegrated; both lost their jobs in the recession and moved from New York City to North Carthage, Missouri. Nick has become lazy, distant, uninterested and unfaithful. Detective Boney unearths evidence of financial troubles and domestic disputes, and a witness states that Amy wanted to purchase a gun. She also finds a medical report indicating that Amy is pregnant, of which Nick denies knowledge.

Amy is revealed to be alive and well, having changed her appearance and gone into hiding in a distant campground. She despises Nick for the erosion of their marital bliss, her isolation after they moved to be closer to Nick's family, and his infidelity. Amy plans the framing in great detail: she befriends a pregnant neighbor to steal her urine for the pregnancy test, drains her own blood to leave trace evidence of murder and fabricates a diary describing her fear of Nick. By using the clues in a "treasure hunt" game she and Nick play on their anniversary, she ensures he visits places where she has planted the corroborating evidence of Nick's guilt for the police to discover. She anticipates Nick will be convicted and executed for her murder, and contemplates committing suicide after his conviction.

Nick hires Tanner Bolt, a lawyer who specializes in defending men accused of killing their wives. Nick meets Amy's ex-boyfriend Tommy O'Hara, who claims Amy framed him for rape. He also approaches another ex-boyfriend, the wealthy Desi Collings—against whom Amy previously filed a restraining order—but Desi refuses to share any details. When Amy's neighbors at the campground rob her of her remaining money, she calls Desi: she convinces him that she ran away from Nick because she feared for her life. He agrees to hide her in his lake house, which is equipped with surveillance cameras.

Nick convinces his sister, Margo, of his innocence. After Nick's mistress, his student, reveals their affair at a press conference, Nick appears on a talk show to profess his innocence and apologize for his failures as a husband in the hope of luring Amy. His performance rekindles Amy's feelings for him, even as Boney formally charges him with murder. Amy inflicts injuries on herself and uses the surveillance cameras to her advantage, making it appear that Desi kidnapped and abused her. She seduces Desi and kills him during sex by slitting his throat, then returns home covered in blood, naming Desi as her captor and rapist and clearing Nick of suspicion.

When Boney questions Amy about the holes in her story, she sharply responds that Nick would have ended up on Missouri's death row and she would have remained Desi's victim because of Boney's incompetence. The FBI sides with Amy, forcing Boney to back down.

Amy tells Nick the truth, saying that the man she watched pleading for her return on TV is the man she wants him to become again. Nick shares this with Boney, Bolt, and Margo, but they have no way to prove Amy's guilt. Nick intends to leave Amy and expose her lies, but Amy reveals she is pregnant, having artificially inseminated herself with Nick's sperm stored at a fertility clinic. Nick doubts the child is his and says he will undertake a paternity test.

Nick reacts violently to Amy's insistence that they remain married, but feels responsible for the child. Despite Margo's objections, he reluctantly decides to stay with Amy. The "happy" couple announces on television that they are expecting a baby.

Cast

• Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne
• Rosamund Pike as Amy Elliott Dunne, Nick's missing wife
• Neil Patrick Harris as Desi Collings, Amy's ex-boyfriend
• Tyler Perry as Tanner Bolt, Nick's attorney
• Carrie Coon as Margo "Go" Dunne, Nick's twin sister
• Kim Dickens as Detective Rhonda Boney, the lead investigator on Amy's disappearance
• Patrick Fugit as Officer James Gilpin, Boney's partner
• Missi Pyle as Ellen Abbott, a cable TV host based on Nancy Grace
• Emily Ratajkowski as Andie Fitzgerald, Nick's mistress and student
• Casey Wilson as Noelle Hawthorne, Nick and Amy's neighbor
• Lola Kirke as Greta, a young woman Amy meets at a motel
• Boyd Holbrook as Jeff, a flirtatious man Amy meets at a motel
• Lisa Banes as Marybeth Elliott, Amy's mother
• Sela Ward as Sharon Schieber, a network TV host
• Scoot McNairy as Tommy O'Hara, a former boyfriend of Amy's
• Scott Takeda as TV Producer
• David Clennon as Rand Elliott, Amy's father

User Reviews

Gone Girl marks Fincher's tenth feature film and his most mature work since Fight Club. Centering on Nick Dunne, a husband desperately trying to find his wife all while having police and media accuse him of murder. The story sounds straight out of the Scott Peterson case and the film looks unlike any film I've seen in recent years. Lead by an all star cast featuring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris, Gone Girl rises above the pack with smart storytelling, phenomenal pacing and perfect performances. What Gone Girl does so brilliantly is taps into the audience's psyche regarding marriage and the ideology behind a sanctioned union that is corrupt. It is really heavy stuff when the story really gets to the meat and bones of it all. With plenty of twists and turns, Gone Girl keeps you, not only second guessing the whole idea of marriage, but the intentions of every character in the film. It is truly one of the most twisted films adapted from an even sicker and twisted book that's out there right now. Gillian Flynn does wonders with her adaption from her own novel. The dialog is crisp, the characters are multi-layered, it truly is a pitch perfect script that doesn't have one false moment in it. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike are EXCELLENT in this film. This is a different Affleck, a very human and realized Affleck. Nick Dunne is a wonderful role for him and captivates just how good he can be with a terrific director. Harris and Perry give well rounded performances as well but are nothing compared to Affleck and Pike. David Fincher and his long time collaborator and cinematographer, Jeff Cronenweth create a dreary, horrific tone for Gone Girl that makes every twist and turn that much more gut wrenching. Every shot is meticulously planned, showing each shot as if it were a still frame that spoke a thousand words. It is truly gorgeous filmmaking. And now for the score...Trent Reznor and Atticus Finch deliver a perfect score, besting their Social Network and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo score. If Reznor won for Social Network, I fully expect not only a nomination but a win for this film. Overall, this is a mesmerizing film that demands multiple viewings to truly get the full experience. It is impeccably made, beautifully acted and an all around near perfect film.

Tower Heist (2011)

Tower Heist (2011)

Storyline

Josh Kovaks is the manager of a high-rise condominium in New York. He is close to all the tenants, especially financier Arthur Shaw. One day Shaw is arrested by the FBI for fraud. Josh thinks it's a misunderstanding that can be resolved, but later he learns that the employees' pension fund - which he asked Shaw to handle - is gone. When one of the employees tries to kill himself, Josh's views of Shaw change. He goes to see him and loses his temper, and his job. The FBI agent in charge tells him that Shaw might walk, and recovering the pension fund is unlikely. She tells him that it's been rumored that Shaw has $20 million lying around if he needs it in a hurry. Josh thinks he knows where it is, so with two other fired employees and an evicted tenant, they set out to get into Shaw's penthouse to get the money. But they realize they need the assistance of someone who knows how to steal, so Josh asks an old acquaintance named Slide who he knows is a thief to help them.

Plot

Josh Kovaks is the building manager of The Tower, a luxury apartment complex on Central Park West in New York City whose employees include concierge Charlie, who is expecting a child with Josh's sister; Enrique, a newly hired elevator operator; Lester, the doorman nearing retirement; Odessa, an immigrant maid from Jamaica; and receptionist Miss Iovenko, who is studying to become a lawyer.

One morning Josh sees Arthur Shaw, a wealthy businessman and Tower resident, being kidnapped. Josh gives chase, but is tackled by FBI agent Claire Denham, who explains that Shaw was not being kidnapped, but that he was attempting to flee the United States and escape arrest for running a Ponzi scheme, embezzling billions of dollars. Informing the Tower staff of Shaw's arrest, Josh confesses that he entrusted their pensions to Shaw to invest, and their money is now gone; having lost everything, Lester attempts to commit suicide by walking in front of a moving train, but survives and at a hospital, he laments to Josh about his blunder of entrusting Shaw with his cash. Josh, Charlie, and Enrique visit Shaw, who is under house arrest in his penthouse apartment, to inform him of Lester's actions. Shaw expresses condolences, but is insincere, and out of anger Josh smashes the windows of Shaw's 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso displayed in his apartment. The building's General Manager, Mr Simon, fires Josh for his actions, as well as Charlie and Enrique.

Josh meets Denham at a bar and she invites him to drink with her. Denham suggests that Shaw must have concealed some of the money as a safety net, and jokingly suggests that Josh steals it. Josh gathers Charlie, Enrique, and evicted Tower tenant Mr. Fitzhugh to draw up a plan to steal Shaw's money. When Charlie brings up the fact that they are not thieves, Josh enlists his neighbor and former childhood friend Slide, a petty criminal, to help. Slide trains the team but realizes he cannot complete the robbery because he does not know how to crack the safe in Shaw's apartment. They bring in Odessa, whose family ran a locksmith business. Later on, Charlie tells Josh he has been rehired as the Tower's new manager, and warns Josh to stay away or he will have him arrested. Denham then tells Josh that a hearing for Shaw has been scheduled for Thanksgiving during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to avoid publicity, and Shaw will go free. Josh and his team decide to break into Shaw's apartment during the parade.

Slide attempts to betray the team by reaching the safe first, having tricked Odessa into giving him lessons. However, the team manages to intercept him at Shaw's apartment, breaks down a false wall and finds Shaw's safe behind it; Odessa opens the safe but finds it empty. Slide and Fitzhugh struggle for Slide's gun; the gun goes off and a bullet hits the car, revealing gold underneath the Ferrari's paint. They realize Shaw invested his cash in gold, had the gold melted down and cast into car parts, and then assembled the car in his apartment where the gold would be hidden in plain sight. Josh finds a ledger of Shaw's illegal finances in the car's glove box. They use a window-washing platform to lower the car out of the window into Fitzhugh's old apartment six floors below, and then take it down to the lobby on top of an elevator. Just as they reach the lobby Agent Denham and Shaw return, the Thanksgiving court date being a ruse as part of the plan, and take the same elevator back up. Denham sees Shaw's safe and informs him that he did not declare the safe on an inventory of items taken when he was arrested, which is a violation of the conditions of his bail. She has him remanded back into custody.

Denham sees Lester using a stolen truck to try to escape from the building. She catches up to him, assuming he is fleeing with the Ferrari, but finds the truck empty. The FBI arrest him. A few moments later Josh and his crew (except Slide) is walking outside the Tower and are immediately arrested by the FBI. Claire personally handcuffs Josh and privately congratulates him. As Josh is being questioned by the FBI, Miss Iovenko arrives, telling the FBI that she passed her bar exam three days ago and is acting as Josh's attorney. She shows them Shaw's ledger and tells them she will turn it over in exchange for everyone's freedom. The FBI accepts on the condition that Josh, being the primary conspirator, must serve a minimal two-year sentence. Shaw is convicted and sentenced to time in prison.

The team retrieves the car from its hiding place in Shaw's rooftop pool and send various parts of the car to Tower employees to compensate for their lost pensions. As the movie ends Shaw begins his life sentence and Josh is booked into jail, a satisfied smile slowly forming on his face.

Cast

• Ben Stiller as Josh Kovaks
• The building manager. Stiller was paid $15 million for the role.
• Eddie Murphy as Slide
• A petty crook to whom Josh turns for help. Murphy joined the cast on October 13, 2010, and also became a producer on the film.[10] He was paid $7.5 million for his work.
• Casey Affleck as Charlie Gibbs
• The building concierge and Josh's brother-in-law. Affleck wanted to participate in the film as he was interested in playing a comedy role, saying "it sounded like a fun film to do. I wanted to do a comedy, and I thought this was an opportunity to try and be funny."Grazer felt that Affleck would be perfect for the role because of his deadpan timing.
• Alan Alda as Arthur Shaw
• A Wall Street billionaire placed under house arrest for stealing $2 billion. On his character, Alda said "Shaw is sometimes described as a Bernie Madoff-like character. I'm not sure. I don't think anyone has ever operated on the scale that Madoff did. And I don't know if what Shaw did technically qualifies as a Ponzi scheme. But in that Shaw was willing to steal money from people who really needed it – who really couldn't afford to lose it – and willing to take everything they had…yes, he's in Bernie territory, with both feet."Ratner initially approached Robert Redford to play the role, being a fan of his work in the heist film The Hot Rock, but Redford turned him down.
• Matthew Broderick as Mr. Fitzhugh
• A former Wall Street investor made bankrupt. Broderick joined the cast on October 26, 2010.
• Téa Leoni as Claire Denham
• An FBI special agent assigned to Shaw's case. Leoni joined the cast on October 21, 2010. Leoni worked with FBI technical advisor Anne C. Beagan to prepare for her role. On her character and work with Beagan, Leoni said: "Agent Denham is your standard-issue, ball-breaking FBI agent. She's certainly a very tough lady, and it's not my first waltz with this type of character. However, I was able to spend some time with Anne, a great technical advisor we had on set. She's got this steely gaze that is terrifying, but what's underneath that is a very interesting lady. Beyond the technical aspects of the job, she provided so much more for me to use."
• Michael Peña as Enrique Dev'reaux
• The elevator operator and the newest employee of the building staff. Peña was cast on October 19, 2010.
• Gabourey Sidibe as Odessa Montero
• A Jamaican-born maid threatened with deportation by Shaw's theft. To perform her character's Jamaican accent, Sidibe had three dialect coaches help her prepare and practiced with a friend of Jamaican heritage. Additionally, Sidibe worked with an actual safecracker to accurately portray breaking into locks.Sidibe was cast on October 19, 2010.

User Review

I was able to see one of the first screenings of Tower Heist last night. I went in just happy to see a free movie two weeks before its release, but at the same time I was not expecting this movie to be that funny. With that said, it was a lot better than I expected.

Eddie Murphy's character was an over-the-top funny type of guy and Ben Stiller had his moments of over-the-top humor too. The plot itself is obviously not that believable, but let's be honest, if you go into this movie expecting an "Italian Job-like" heist plot then you might as well not even go.

The supporting roles in this movie were really good and the film is filled with great one liners. There were a couple of lines that didn't really turn out as funny as the writer probably thought, but all that said it is worth the watch.

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy from a screenplay by Mario Puzo and Coppola. Starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of the fictional Corleone New York crime family, the story spans the years 1945-55, concentrating on the transformation of Michael Corleone from reluctant family outsider to ruthless Mafia boss while chronicling the family under the patriarch Vito.

Based on Puzo's best-selling novel of the same name, The Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and as one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. Ranked second to Citizen Kane by the American Film Institute in 2007, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 1990 as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The film was the box office leader for 1972 and was, for a time, the highest-grossing picture ever made. It won three Academy Awards for that year: Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando) and in the category Best Adapted Screenplay for Puzo and Coppola. Its nominations in seven other categories included Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director.

Cast

• Marlon Brando, in the title role, is Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini), the Don of the Corleone crime family. A native Sicilian, he is married to Carmela Corleone and the father of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie.
• Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, the Don's third son, recently returned from World War II. The only college-educated family member, he is initially steered from the family business. His evolution from the family's last-born son to its ruthless boss is the main subject matter of the film.
• James Caan as Santino "Sonny" Corleone, Don Corleone's hot-headed eldest son. As underboss, he is the heir apparent to succeed his father as head of the Corleone family.
• Richard S. Castellano as Peter Clemenza, a caporegime for the Corleone family. He is an old friend of Vito Corleone and Salvatore Tessio.
• Robert Duvall as Tom Hagen, Don Corleone's informally adopted son, he is the family lawyer and consigliere (counselor). Unlike the Corleones, he is of German-Irish descent, not Sicilian.
• Diane Keaton as Kay Adams-Corleone, initially Michael's non-Italian girlfriend and then his second wife and the mother of his two children.
• John Cazale as Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, the middle son of the Corleone family. Deeply insecure and not very bright, he is considered the weakest Corleone brother.
• Talia Shire as Constanzia "Connie" Corleone, the youngest child and only daughter of the Corleone family. Her wedding reception begins the film.
• Gianni Russo as Carlo Rizzi, Connie's husband. Introduced to the Corleone family by Sonny, whom he ultimately betrays to the Barzini family.
• Abe Vigoda as Salvatore Tessio, a caporegime for the Corleone family. He is an old friend of Vito Corleone and Peter Clemenza.
• Al Lettieri as Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, a heroin dealer associated with the Tattaglia family. He seeks both financial investment and the protection of the Tattaglia family's narcotics business through Don Corleone's political connections.
• Sterling Hayden as Captain Marc McCluskey, a corrupt NYPD police captain on Sollozzo's payroll.
• Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi, Vito Corleone's enforcer.
• Richard Conte as Emilio Barzini, Don of the Barzini family.
• Al Martino as Johnny Fontane, a world-famous singer and Vito's godson. The character is loosely based on Frank Sinatra.
• John Marley as Jack Woltz, a powerful Hollywood producer.
• Alex Rocco as Moe Greene, a longtime associate of the Corleone family who owns a Las Vegas hotel. The character is based on Bugsy Siegel.
• Morgana King as Carmela Corleone, Vito's wife and mother of Sonny, Fredo, Michael, and Connie, and adoptive mother to Tom Hagen.
• Salvatore Corsitto as Amerigo Bonasera, a mortician who, in the opening scene, asks Don Corleone for revenge against the men who attempted to rape his daughter.
• Corrado Gaipa as Don Tommasino, an old friend of Vito Corleone, who shelters Michael during his exile in Sicily.
• Franco Citti as Calò, Michael's bodyguard in Sicily.
• Angelo Infanti as Fabrizio, Michael's bodyguard in Sicily. He helped set-up the assassination attempt on Michael that kills Apollonia.
• Johnny Martino as Paulie Gatto, a soldier under Peter Clemenza and Vito's driver. He is executed for his part in the assassination attempt on Vito.
• Victor Rendina as Philip Tattaglia, Don of the Tattaglia family.
• Tony Giorgio as Bruno Tattaglia, Philip Tattaglia's son and underboss of the Tattaglia family. Sonny Corleone has him assassinated in retaliation for the shooting of Vito Corleone.
• Simonetta Stefanelli as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone, a young woman Michael meets and marries while in Sicily. She is killed a few months later in an assassination attempt on Michael.
• Louis Guss as Don Zaluchi, Don of the Zaluchi family of Detroit.
• Tom Rosqui as Rocco Lampone, a soldier under Clemenza who eventually becomes a caporegime in the Corleone family.
• Joe Spinell as Willi Cicci, a soldier in the Corleone family.
• Richard Bright as Al Neri, Michael Corleone's personal bodyguard and hitman who eventually becomes a caporegime.
• Julie Gregg as Sandra Corleone, the wife and, later, widow of Sonny.
• Jeannie Linero as Lucy Mancini, Sonny's mistress.
• Sofia Coppola (uncredited) as infant Michael Francis Rizzi, the nephew and godson of Michael Corleone.

Taken 2 (2012)

Taken 2 (2012)

I suppose the second kidnapping was necessary in "Taken 2," which stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen in a pumped-up sequel to "Taken" (2008). They say that the family that's kidnapped together, stays together and a whole lotta bonding will go on after this one. You don't need to have seen the first film to follow this one, which opens with touching scenes between ex-CIA man Bryan Mills (Neeson) and his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen, who is seriously beautiful here). Lenore's new husband has proven to be a no-good rat, and some energy flows between her and Bryan, the father of their daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Mills has been hired to be a sheik's bodyguard in Istanbul; when he wraps the job, he invites Kim and Lenore to join him for some R&R in Istanbul.

Bad idea. He's only a stone's throw from Albania, where the film opens with a funeral of Mills' victims from the first "Taken." I have long complained that action pictures leave dozens of dead bodies behind and unaccounted for. Now we see that Mills killed so many bad guys in the first film that a transport plane is needed to airlift their bodies home, and a mass burial is required to dispose of them.

The chief mourner is Murad Krasniqi (the dependably evil Rade Sherbedgia), whose son was among the victims. Never mind that the lad specialized in kidnapping young tourists and making them sex slaves. Never mind that Bryan Mills' daughter was one of the kidnappees. Krasniqi vows revenge.

This time Mills and Lenore are kidnapped, when Kim pulls out of a family outing. This leads to Lenore being left hanging by chains, upside down in a warehouse, while Mills is chained to a pipe in the same room. Krasniqi, having made a precise slit in Leonore's throat, kindly explains that because the blood will flow to her head, she won't bleed to death right away. (Not to worry; this is only PG-13-rated hanging upside down and bleeding to death.)

So OK. Put yourself in Lenore's place. You're hanging upside down and bleeding, with a black hood over your head, and you hear your ex-husband's reassuring voice: It's all gonna be OK. And it is. This is because Mills, apparently the most brilliant graduate in CIA history, manages to call his daughter for help and lead her through a complex process of using a shoestring and a map to figure out where he and Lenore are being held. What Kim does to save them may inspire some disbelieving laughter from the audience, but man, oh, man, that girl has pluck, and can outrun the terrorists and the Turkish cops, despite having failed two driver's license exams.

"Taken 2" is slick, professional action, directed by Olivier Megaton. Let that name roll off your tongue (Olivier, not Oliver). It was produced and co-written by Luc Besson, the French master of thrillers, and Robert Mark Kamen, his writing partner on many films. The first "Taken" was made for $22 million and grossed 10 times that much, establishing Liam Neeson as an action star after a career spent in heavyweight roles. The cast is uniformly capable and dead serious, and if you're buying what Luc Besson is selling, he's not short-changing you.

21 Jump Street (2012)

21 Jump Street (2012)

21 Jump Street sounds like a terrible idea on paper: a big screen adaptation of an ABC TV series from the 80s. Was anyone really clamoring for that? Was there any reason to adapt that into a feature film in 2012? It sounds like just another example of Hollywood cashing in on an established franchise, akin to the decision to make a movie based on the board game Battleship. As it turns out 21 Jump Street is barely an adaptation, and it isn't just an excuse to capitalize on an old concept. Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the team behind the brilliant and absurd Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, use the fact that nobody is too invested in the source material to their advantage, subverting all expectations for what a movie like this would be. The result is a smart, exciting and often hilarious action-comedy with real stakes and a surprising amount of heart.

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum star as Schmidt and Jenko respectively, two rookie cops who went to high school together, though belonging to different social circles. Jenko was the popular jock while Schmidt was the unpopular nerd. When they realize each has something the other one needs, a friendship sparks and they become partners. After a failed drug bust, they're reassigned to a special division when their police station decides to "revive a cancelled program from the 80s" (get it?). They're sent to a local high school undercover as students to investigate and bring down a drug ring. Despite identical titles, I don't know if we can even call this an adaptation of the show. While the TV show was primarily a drama, the film is essentially a satire of movies and shows like 21 Jump Street, fully aware of all of the clichés of its genre.

Writer Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) seems to have realized nobody really cared about a 21 Jump Street movie and instead decided to make something totally different. Early on, in a scene of dialogue that may as well have been delivered directly into the camera, a character explains that there aren't any original ideas these days and so we're stuck rehashing old concepts from the 80s to make a quick buck. In this way and many others, the movie is all about subverting your expectations, which based on this premise are probably very low. It's anything but a lazy cash grab, taking everything you know about buddy cop films and turning it on its head. It embraces the stupidity of its concept too, by constantly acknowledging that Hill and Tatum are way too old to be posing as high school kids, or by having Ice Cube play the stereotypical black police captain from every 80s movie ever, and then outright acknowledging that. In a hilarious early scene Schmidt and Jenko's roles are reversed, with the jock forced to pose as the nerd and the nerd posing as the jock. 21 Jump Street thrives on the unexpected.

Many were initially unsure how Channing Tatum would perform, as he is an actor who has never headlined in any major comedies before. While Jonah Hill is without a doubt the star, having had tons of experience in films like Superbad and Knocked Up, Tatum does a fine job as well and the two actors have great chemistry together. In movies like this with two main leads, the rapport between them can make or break the film. With 21 Jump Street, it absolutely makes it.

That's ultimately why the movie works as well as it does. Any successful comedy needs real stakes. Otherwise, it just feels like a series of Saturday Night Live sketches with no real purpose. A few years ago, Superbad was extremely successful not just for being a goofy and raunchy comedy, but also for having a believable high school friendship at its core. Similarly, 21 Jump Street works because the friendship between its protagonists feels real, and as a result there are real emotional stakes to go along with the satire. Driving this silly, raunchy comedy is a truly interesting story about popularity and friendship in high school, and about how you might act differently if you could go back as an adult. It's easily the funniest comedy in well over a year, but it's not just a vehicle for jokes: 21 Jump Street tells a great story, too.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller seem to love surprising us. As with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 21 Jump Street is a movie nobody expected to be great. Its brilliance lies in the fact that it knows all of your complaints ahead of time. Think it sounds like a cheap cash crab based on an 80s property? They make a joke about that. Think Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are too old to play high school kids? They make a joke about that too. It's extremely clever and always two steps ahead of the audience. But what really stands out about 21 Jump Street is that it's not just an enjoyable and hilarious time at the theater, it also tells a genuinely interesting and emotionally compelling story, developing its characters in a way you probably wouldn't anticipate from a raunchy high school comedy.

The Heat (2013)

The Heat (2013)

"The Heat" is hysterical. Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are awesome! "The Heat" is the funniest movie of the year. I laughed out loud a lot. Yes, Sandra and Melissa reliably play in position. Bullock is Sarah Ashburn, the rigid; know it all, FBI agent booking for an Agency promotion. But as current boss Hale (patient and dashing Demian Bichir) explains her downside, "Nobody likes you." Melissa McCarthy is abrasive, no nonsense Boston Cop Mullins, who can beat the crap out of any man. She torments her Captain Woods (prematurely aged funny Tom Wilson), looking for his "lady balls" in his office.

While wallowing in their sorrows at Mullin's favorite bar, Ashburn (Bullock) confesses to Mullins (McCarthy) that not a lot of people know that she was married. With Scotch in hand, Mullins asks, "Was he a hearing man?" Director Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids") is genius with niche R-rated comedy starring women, and is blessed with Bullock and McCarthy's A-Games. Writer Katie Dippold (of "Parks and Recreation") is brilliant given a very predictable movie scenario. Will Ashburn and Mullins become BFFs? Of course. Dippold's comic Zen lies in the journey. "The Heat" is more than just "Lethal Weapon" meets "The Hangover". There is a signature moment in diner where Bullock attempts to save a choking man. Feig is comically ruthless. Bullock and McCarthy never waver out of character as their partnership naturally evolves—they are amazing.

I don't know if Feig and Dippold transform the cop buddy genera, regardless it is hilarious. The coarse language works. Seeing Bullock's Ashburn struggle to say the f-word is anal retentive priceless. Smartly "The Heat" is more comedy and relationship focused, than action. Although, the knife scene with Ashburn and Mullins held hostage is absolutely hysterical. The rangy odd couple joins forces in Boston to uncover the identity of mysterious Drug Lord, Lassen. For the first hour of the movie, Bullock may be trying too hard to be unlikable as Ashburn. She did it better in "The Proposal". On the other hand, McCarthy is like a comfortable catcher's mitt as Mullins. It turns out that Mullins is estranged from her family, because she put her brother Jason (hilarious Michael Rapaport) in jail. Jane Curtain is classic funny as disapproving Mom. Jason may have ties to the mysterious Lassen.

Sandra Bullock looks stunning, lean and strong. Granted she does her frumpy best as Ashburn, "straight man" to McCarthy's Mullins. Pants suits can do only so much. The one thing that is odd about the story is that Bullock comes off so stiff, that we forget that she is extremely competent at what she does. Like McCarthy's Mullins, she is smart, but the story finally circles back and reminds that both can kick some ass as well. McCarthy is brilliant balancing authentic compassion in the midst of what could have been a broad strokes caricature. She is hysterical and whimsically grounded. Together Bullock and McCarthy are on fire chemistry. Too bad Marlon Wayans is not leveraged more as Levy, Ashburn's "awkward" and endearing love interest. He is very cool. Perhaps, next time. Let's see Bullock and McCarthy together again. Bring on "The Heat 2". In the meantime, see "The Heat". You'll laugh a whole lot.

Now You See Me (2013)

Now You See Me (2013)

Imagine Now You See Me as Ocean's Eleven meets The Prestige and you sort of get what director Louis Leterrier was going for with this film. Is Now You See Me as successful as the aforementioned films? Not necessarily, but it's a fun movie that deconstructs the acts of modern magicians.

The story follows four Vegas magicians, known as the Four Horsemen, who rob a bank in the middle of one of their shows. What follows is a cat-and-mouse thriller where the FBI chases after these magicians, always one step behind, trying to figure out how they did it.

Where Now You See Me works best is when Leterrier creates cinematic sequences showing us how these magicians used real-life magic tricks to befuddle and dupe both their victims and the FBI. As well, if you want a film with twists and turns, this one will not disappoint. While most of the major twists can be found out before revealed, there is still a joy in watching those twists unfold, thanks to Leterrier's Sherlock Holmes' style of visual deduction. However, the script often falters in one of the most crucial areas, that of character.

Leterrier and company are constantly trying to balance the breakneck pace with the large cast of characters, and it just leaves the characters hanging out to dry. Character development is sorely lacking in Now You See Me, to where I never really cared about any of the characters. Part of this is because the film is constantly shifting points of view. The first thirty minutes follow our Robin Hood-like magicians, and then it switches to the FBI agents tracking them down, but then the film has the magicians constantly one step in front of the FBI to the point that it makes the FBI often come across as buffoons, and I find it hard to care for characters who are so easily fooled. Ultimately, I feel that had the film focused entirely on one set of characters, like the magicians or the FBI, the film would have been stronger and been easier to find a focal point, but as it is the film's core is often muddled.

While Now You See Me may not be a grand slam, it's still entertaining, thanks to the thrills and visual style of the film. Bottom line, if you're a fan of the heist genre, you'll like this movie. For me though, it just lacks a further script rewrite to have become one of the best examples of the genre.

I Spit on Your Grave (2010)

I Spit on Your Grave (2010)

Back in 1978, the film I Spit on Your Grave (also known as Day of the Woman) provoked controversy due to its violence, gore and for daring to show a woman taking revenge on her own hands against the louts who raped her. As the time went by, the film became into a cult classic, not so much due to its intrinsic merits, but for having been censored (or forbidden) in many countries, something which helped to make it more popular. Personally, I respect its influence on horror cinema, but into the sub-genus of "female revenge", I prefer movies like Thriller: A Cruel Picture and Ms. 45, because I found them to be better written, acted and directed.

However, I Spit on Your Grave (1978) is definitely an intense and visceral experience thanks to its semi-amateur manufacture, rural locations and realistic style. Besides, the revenge methods from the main character seemed like a direct answer to the then rising slasher cinema, something which brought an additional level to the narrative. So, with all that "cultural baggage" carried by I Spit on Your Grave, how would a modern remake work? Considering the standards of the contemporary horror cinema, we can be sure that it will be more brutal and cruel; but would it reach the same historical and emotional impact from the original film? Even though the answer ended up being "no", I have to admit that on its own merit, I Spit on Your Grave (2010) is a disturbing, satisfactory and very competent horror film.

As I expected, I Spit on Your Grave (2010) adds more blood and some new narrative elements. Some of them feel a bit irrelevant (for example, the destiny of the camera with which the rape is filmed), but other ones deepen into the private life from the villains, revealing the hypocrisy of monsters who disguise their evilness with a facade of respectable civilization. However, the biggest change is made on the main character's revenge, which adds a very interesting psychological component to the movie. Fortunately, I Spit on Your Grave (2010) remains within a plausible field, and even though it follows the torture-porn formula, the cruelty and grotesque violence feel justified and organic in the story. I truly appreciate the fact that screenwriter Stuart Morse found an appropriate variation which respects the original formula, at the same time he added a new subtext which avoids the film from being another hollow torture film.

So, despite not being a great horror film and having some fails, I Spit on Your Grave (2010) is a very interesting horror film which ended up being better than I expected. The first half of the film is very disturbing and impossible to "enjoy" in the conventional sense of the word; however, the second half is cathartic and very satisfactory, compensating the suffering we had to go through previously. In conclusion, I recommend it unless you are a sensible person.