FilmNav – The website highway for British film-makers | FilmNav Summary The slick, glossy, gleaming, shiny streets of London are light years away from the grim, grey rundown look of the 70′s TV show, more in common with a Nolan Batman film than the Thames series. But the car chases, fist fights, gun shoot-outs, robbers and general all-round neanderthal bloke behaviour remain intact, with the unlikely pairing of Winstone and Drew as Regan & Carter as the main selling point to this tough, no-nonsense movie. The on-screen chemistry is clearly evident between the two characters, echoing what made the TV series so appealing. With a Michael Mann Heat inspired shoot-out at Trafalgar Square, and a pulsating car chase with the new Ford Focus ST and a Jag (a nod to the original 70′s show) this is a fine update to the classic cop series, which shows off London to its maximum potential as a cinematic city to rival anything seen from a Hollywood flick on a budget 10 times its size. The Sweeney is a 2012 British police drama, based on the 1970s television series of the same name.

It is directed by Nick Love and written by Love and John Hodge, based on the characters created by Ian Kennedy Martin. The film stars Ray Winstone as Jack Regan and Ben Drew as George Carter. The film also stars Damian Lewis, Hayley Atwell and Steven Mackintosh. The film premiered on 3 September at the Odeon Leicester Square, and was released on 12 September 2012. Synopsis Nailing villains is all that matters to Flying Squad officers Jack Regan (Ray Winstone) and his loyal partner George Carter (Ben Drew). They get results by ignoring the rulebook, much to the exasperation of the Guv (Damian Lewis). But when a bank heist takes place, they suspect an old adversary has returned. As the stakes are raised, hard-as-nails Regan will stop at nothing in pursuit of the wrong ‘un. Pre-production A film version of the television series was announced in 2008 to be produced by DNA Films and directed by Nick Love. Love was also to write the feature-length episode alongside Ian Kennedy Martin, the original creator.

Filming was originally planned for 2009 with Ray Winstone’s name confirmed for the role of Jack Regan, and Ewan McGregor and Daniel Craig being suggested as possibilities for the lead role of George Carter. Orlando Bloom and Tom Hardy were other names linked to the remake. It was not revealed whether the film would have been set in the 1970s or in the present day. Fox Searchlight withdrew support a few weeks before filming was due to start and the project looked to be on hold, until July 2010, when the budget on the project was confirmed at US$16-million. In April 2011, the participation of Winstone was confirmed for the role of Jack Regan, with Ben Drew, alias rapper Plan B, taking the role of George Carter. The remake’s present-day setting was confirmed when the BBC’s Top Gear filmed a car chase for the production in “Series 18, Episode 3″. Summary A brooding, depressing look at today’s society, with disturbing scenes of violence.

The villains are loathsome scumbags, who look as though they have just come from the Jeremy Kyle show, and act a little too real for comfort, such is the state of Britain’s estates today. Michael Caine’s performance is towering, carrying the baggage and weight of all the characters he’s played before (not too dissimilar to Eastwood’s Gran Torino in many respects). The film carries with it a sense of the modern day western, with Caine striding around the dark streets carrying his shotgun, out for revenge. We can’t help but cheer inwardly on seeing the sight of Caine ready to unleash his anger, provoking memories of a character he played back in 1971, who was also out to avenge. Yes, that’s right. Jack Carter rides again, nearly 40 years later, older and wiser, but still just as menacing as ever (highlighted during his final moment with a chillingly superb Sean Harris). Harry Brown is Jack Carter’s distant cousin, two sides of the same coin. Fittingly, this is probably Caine’s greatest film since Get Carter.

Harry Brown is a 2009 British action drama film directed by Daniel Barber and starring Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Jack O’Connell, and Liam Cunningham. The film also features actor and artist Ben Drew (Plan B) who, with Chase & Status, is also responsible for the film’s theme music track “End Credits.”[1][2] Harry Brown had its World Premiere as a “Special Presentation” at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival[3] and was released theatrically in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate on 11 November 2009; the film was released in the United States by Samuel Goldwyn Films on 30 April 2010. The story follows Harry Brown, a widowed Royal Marine veteran, who had served in Northern Ireland, living on an Elephant and Castle housing estate that is rapidly descending into youth crime. Harry fights fire with fire after a friend is murdered. Plot Shot with a mobile phone camera, the film opens with a gang initiation, where a boy, later identified as Marky, living on a council estate in South London is made to take drugs and hold a pistol.

As the scene cuts, the gang begins to “jump” him into the gang by beating him. Two teenage boys are then seen joyriding on a motorbike, harassing and shooting and killing a mother walking her child, and then fleeing only to be killed by an oncoming truck. The eponymous Harry Brown (Michael Caine), an elderly former Royal Marine and decorated veteran of Northern Ireland, tries to be indifferent about his violent neighbourhood. He often pays visits to his hospitalized and comatose wife, and spends his days drinking and playing chess with his best friend, Leonard (David Bradley), at a pub. The landlord Sid (Liam Cunningham) is an Irishman who takes kickbacks from a pair of black marketeers, Kenny (Joseph Gilgun) and Stretch (Sean Harris). Harry is informed in the night that his wife is dying, but in order to reach the hospital before she passes away he must go through a noisy public underpass, which is a gathering spot at all hours for a local gang; he is too scared to do so and arrives too late.

After the funeral, Leonard confides in Harry that he is being bullied by some youths and shows Harry an old bayonet he now carries to defend himself, citing that the police would not help him. Leonard later wakes in his flat to find someone had pushed burning dog excrement through his mail slot. The next day, Harry is visited by Detective Inspector Frampton (Emily Mortimer) and her tough D.S. Hicock (Charlie Creed-Miles), who tell him that Leonard had been murdered. Members of a local gang, including Noel Winters (Ben Drew), are arrested, but refuse to answer questions and are released. Harry gets drunk after Leonard’s funeral, and while walking home, one of Noel’s gang attempt to rob him with a knife; Harry’s military training suddenly reasserts itself and he turns the knife on his attacker, killing him. Frampton visits Harry again the following morning and informs him that because Leonard was killed with his own bayonet, any charges laid could be reduced to manslaughter on the basis of self-defence. Harry decides to take matters further into his own hands; he follows Kenny from Sid’s pub to a squalid den where he negotiates to buy a pistol.

Inside, the drugged-up dealers are growing copious amounts of cannabis and making pornography, and have one of the girls abused in these videos on their sofa, suffering from a drug overdose. Harry suggests that Stretch call an ambulance for her, to which Stretch threatens Harry. Harry kills both Stretch and Kenny, takes a bag containing handguns and money, burns down the den, and drives the girl to hospital, leaving her with £1,000. Harry’s surveillance of Noel’s gang leads Harry to kill a major drug-trafficker and to kidnap newest member Marky (Jack O’Connell), whom he tortures into revealing some cellphone camera footage of Leonard’s murder, proving the gang’s involvement. Harry uses Marky to bait Noel and another gang member into a gunfight, which ends with Noel escaping, Marky and the other member dead, and Harry having an emphysema attack, leaving him to be taken to hospital. Insisting that the recent violence is related to a gang war, Police Superintendent Childs (Iain Glen) orders a major arrest operation, unconvinced that Harry is the vigilante as D.I. Frampton suspects. The night raids on the neighbourhood result in a massive riot.

Harry walks out of the hospital, and Frampton convinces Hicock to help her stop him, but on the way the two are injured in a car crash by the rioters. Harry rescues them and takes them to Sid’s pub, where Frampton tells Harry that Sid is actually Noel’s uncle. Harry also discovers that Sid had been hiding Noel, but his guard drops due to his emphysema, allowing Sid to take the gun and reveal that he is just as bad as his nephew, planning to kill all three and dump them outside as riot victims. Frampton is calling for backup when Noel stops her. Sid expertly suffocates Hicock to death and instructs Noel to strangle Frampton, but Harry kills Noel with a hidden revolver. Sid quickly shoots and wounds Harry, but when he tries to finish him, Frampton’s backup arrives and Sid is gunned down. At a conference held after the riot, Superintendent Childs announces that Frampton and the late Hicock will be given medals for their work and sacrifice, and denies any evidence of vigilante involvement in the entire case, saying that any such suggestions are unhelpful.

The final scene is of a recovered Harry walking toward the underpass, which is now quiet and safe. Klariza Clayton – Sharon (unconscious girl) Reception Harry Brown was met with generally positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 66% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 113 reviews, with an average score of 6.1/10.[4] Critical Consensus is: “Its lurid violence may put off some viewers, but Harry Brown is a vigilante thriller that carries an emotional as well as a physical punch, thanks to a gripping performance from Michael Caine in the title role.”[5] Empire gave the film four stars out of five, The Sunday Times awarded it one; GQ magazine gave the film 5 stars out of 5, calling it “truly awesome”. Robbie Collin of the News Of The World gave the film 4/5, The Daily Mail said “finally a film that really matters…Brilliant” and Shortlist called it “the best British film of the year”. The Times gave the film three stars but considered it “morally and politically repugnant”.

The Sunday Times was less positive: “It’s too daft to pass muster as action-movie hokum, let alone as social commentary.” Perri Nemiroff of Cinema Blend raved the film, saying “Caine pours every ounce of himself into Harry, and the payoff is massive… There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing a compelling story brought to life by standout performances and then further enhanced by stellar directing.”[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, and called the film “…a revenge thriller poised somewhere between Death Wish and Gran Torino. Box office As of 20 December 2009 the film had earned $6,649,562 domestically, opening against 2012 and Disney’s A Christmas Carol.

As of 8 August 2010 total worldwide gross was nearly $10 million including $1,818,681 in the United States where it opened against A Nightmare on Elm Street.[7] Location The film was mainly filmed on and around the mostly abandoned Heygate Estate in Walworth, London;[8] which was due to be demolished in late 2010.[9] Summary A no-nonsense, well-crafted and well-paced heist movie, with solid performances all round, bolstered by a reliably decent script from Clement and La Frenais. The period and locations are so impressively done, you’d almost be forgiven for thinking it was a Sweeney episode you were watching. A bit of trivia – Statham’s character, Terry Leather was a character name given to a criminal hiding away in Spain in the second series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet, also written by Clement and La Frenais.

The Bank Job is a 2008 British crime film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, directed by Roger Donaldson, and starring Jason Statham, based on the 1971 Baker Street robbery in central London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered. The producers allege that the story was prevented from being told because of a D-Notice (now known as a DA-Notice) government gagging request, allegedly to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family.[5][6] According to the producers, this movie is intended to reveal the truth for the first time,[7] although it includes significant elements of fiction. The premiere was held in London on February 18, 2008, and the film was released in both the UK and USA on February 29, 2008. Plot Petty-criminal-gone-straight Terry Leather (Jason Statham) owns a struggling car-sales garage.

His friend, the photographer Kevin Swain’s (Stephen Campbell Moore) ex-girlfriend, a former model named Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) offers Terry a chance to earn enough money to never worry about debt again: a bank robbery in Baker Street, London, where she has critical details. Terry gathers his petty-criminal friends, including Kevin, a sometime pornographic actor Dave Shilling (Daniel Mays), a mechanic named Bambas (Alki David), and an elegant con-man “Major” Guy Singer (James Faulkner). While scouting the branch of Lloyds Bank, Terry and Martine inspect the vault while Kevin and Dave case the exterior. The Soho gangster Lew Vogel (David Suchet), who keeps records of his police payoffs at the same branch, happens upon Dave and Kevin. The newly-formed gang leases a leather accessories shop two lots away from the bank, and dig a tunnel under a fast-food restaurant to reach the underground bank vault. Terry employs Eddie Burton (Michael Jibson), one of his garage workers, as a watchman with awalkie-talkie on a nearby roof.

Martine, once caught smuggling heroin into Britain and wanting to avoid jail, has set up the gang for this job on behalf of MI5, which desires the contents of a certain safe deposit box, No. 118. This box contains compromising photos of a British Royal (in the film, Princess Margaret). Martine is having an affair with ambitious MI5 operative Tim Everett (Richard Lintern); the photos and box belong to a black militant gangster who calls himself Michael X (Peter de Jersey); he uses the photos to avoid trouble with the Metropolitan Police, and MI5 is charged with recovering the photos. As the gang digs, their radio chatter draws the attention of a local amateur radio operator, who realizes a robbery is in progress. He calls the police, who search their ten-mile radius and listen for concrete details to pin the robbery down. Terry’s crew enter and loot the vault, as Martine goes for the photo deposit-box. A suspicious Terry opens it with her and, upon seeing the pictures, wonders if Martine has a hidden agenda. Another box has many photos of high-ranking government officials, including a minister, in compromising positions in a local S&M brothel. The gang takes these with money and other valuables.

Terry arranges for alternate transportation “to be safe”, throwing off MI5 which had intended to intercept them. Guy and Bambas escape with their share and Terry confronts Martine over the photos; she explains the unfolding predicament. With the robbery discovered, the police -— corrupt ones receiving payoffs and honest ones —- began separate investigations while MI5 continues their search. Also joining the search for Terry’s crew is Vogel, an organized crime figure worried about the contents of his ledger, which lists payoffs he made to police, which was also stolen in the robbery. He informs Michael X that the Royal ‘portraits’ have gone missing, and Michael X becomes suspicious of Gale Benson (Hattie Morahan), an MI5 spy who loves his American colleague Black Power militant, Hakim Jamal (Colin Salmon), and has traveled with him and Jamal toTrinidad, with instructions to find the Royal portraits. Recalling the chance encounter with Dave outside the bank before the robbery, Vogel has him tortured for information. Dave breaks and Vogel’s associates go to Terry’s garage and kidnap Eddie, the lookout.

Meanwhile, a senior government minister, Lord Drysdale, is shown photos of himself in the brothel run by Sonia Bern (Sharon Maughan), given by Terry to Tim and then to MI5 Executive Director Miles Urquhart (Peter Bowles); Drysdale and Urquhart agree to cooperate in absolving the robbers and securing them safe passage, in exchange for covering up the mess. Meanwhile, MI5 issues a D-Notice forbidding press reports. Police simultaneously release recordings of the walkie-talkie conversations in the hope that someone will recognize the voices. These recordings are heard on the radio by Terry’s young daughters, who tell their mother; her worries over Terry’s absence increase. Vogel’s accomplice, corrupt Detective Gerald Pyke (Don Gallagher), shoots Dave and threatens to shoot Eddie unless Vogel gets his ledger back. Vogel agrees with Terry to meet him at Paddington Station in London. Meanwhile, Guy and Bambas are murdered by persons unknown, and Michael X has Gale killed in Trinidad by associates. Terry has Kevin give updates to Detective Sergeant Roy Given (Gerard Horan), the officer in charge of the investigation, citing knowledge of corrupt officers under Vogel’s control.

He convinces Vogel to go to Paddington Station at the same time, offering him the ledger in return for Eddie’s safe return. Terry heads to the rendezvous while Martine meets Tim, her original contact in MI5, overlooking the scene. Vogel and his corrupt police arrive with Eddie, but recognize the MI5 agents and run. The deputy head of MI5 (accompanied by Lord Mountbatten) exchanges the fresh passports Terry negotiated for the photos of the princess. Terry then chases Vogel and in a fight knocks out Vogel and his thugs, including corrupt Detective Nick Barton (Craig Fairbrass). Detective Given, officer in charge of the true investigation, arrives to see the robbers arrested. He speaks with the MI5 officers present, who direct police to let the bank robbers go. Terry gives the ledger to Given before he, Kevin, and Eddie leave the scene. Vogel and the corrupt officers are arrested instead. Everett personally supervises Michael X’s arrest in Trinidad, and has Gale’s remains exhumed for reburial in Britain.

The final scenes have Terry and Martine saying good-bye, and Terry and his reunited family enjoying a carefree life on their small motor yacht off a sunny beach. The epilogue states that the revelations about the brothel forced many government officials to resign. Scotland Yard investigates the corrupt officers named in the ledger. Michael X was hanged in 1975 for Benson’s murder and his personal files are kept hidden in the British National Archives until 2054. Vogel is imprisoned for eight years for crimes that were unrelated to the robbery. The murderers of Guy and Bambas have never been found. About ₤4 million worth of materials and money were stolen from the robbery. At least 100 safety-deposit box owners neither claim insurance nor identify the items in their boxes. Jason Statham as Terry Leather Saffron Burrows as Martine Love Richard Lintern as MI5′s Tim Everett Stephen Campbell Moore as Kevin Swain James Faulkner as Guy Arthur Singer Daniel Mays as Dave Shilling Alki David as Bambas Michael Jibson as Eddie Burton Georgia Taylor as Ingrid Burton Keeley Hawes as Wendy Leather Gerard Horan as Det. Sgt.

Roy Given Craig Fairbrass as Det. Nick Barton Don Gallagher as Det. Gerald Pyke Julian Lewis Jones as MI5 Agent Snow Andrew Brooke as MI5 Agent Quinn David Suchet as Lew Vogel Sharon Maughan as Sonia Bern Peter Bowles as MI5 Executive Director Miles Urquhart Alistair Petrie as Philip Lisle Peter de Jersey as Michael Abdul Malik a.k.a. Michael X Colin Salmon as Hakim Jamal Hattie Morahan as Gale Benson Angus Wright as Eric Addey, Ham Radio Operator Les Kenny-Green as Pinky Rupert Frazer as Lord Drysdale Christopher Owen as Lord Mountbatten of Burma Production The film is in part based on historical facts. A gang tunnelled into a branch of Lloyds Bank at the junction of Baker Street and Marylebone Road, in London, on the night of 11 September 1971 and robbed the safe deposit boxes there.

The robbers had rented a leather goods shop named Le Sac, two doors down from the bank, and tunnelled a distance of approximately 40 feet (12 metres), passing under the intervening Chicken Inn restaurant.[6] Robert Rowlands, a radio ham operator, overheard conversations between the robbers and their rooftop lookout. He contacted police and tape-recorded the conversations, which were subsequently made public. The film includes lines recorded by Rowlands, such as the lookout’s comment that “Money may be your god, but it’s not mine, and I’m fucking off.”[8] After four days of news coverage, the British authorities supposedly issued a D-Notice, requesting that news coverage be discontinued for reasons of national security, however The Times was still reporting the case over two months later.[6] Contrary to its portrayal in the film, a D-Notice cannot be legally enforced.

The film’s producers claim that they have an inside source, identified in press reports as George McIndoe, who served as an executive producer.[9] The film’s claims that the issuance of the D-Notice was because a safe deposit box held sex pictures of Princess Margaret, and the possible connection to Michael X (whose governmental file purportedly is secret until 2054), are apparently based on information provided by McIndoe, though the basis and extent of his information are unclear. The film-makers apparently have acknowledged that they made up the character Martine, and The New Yorker is apparently right to conclude that it is “impossible to say how much of the film’s story is true”.[10] The fictitious character of Lew Vogel may in part allude to pornographer and racketeer Bernie Silver,[11] a key figure in Soho in the 1960s and early 1970s, who was jailed in 1975 for the 1956 murder of Tommy “Scarface” Smithson; and also to later events surrounding his associate the real-life pornographer James Humphreys.

After an outcry in 1972 when the Sunday People published photographs of the head of the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad, Commander Kenneth Drury, spending a luxurious two-week holiday with their wives with Humphreys in Cyprus, a police raid on Humphreys’ house uncovered a wallsafe containing a diary cataloguing detailed itemised payments to seventeen different officers. Humphreys was jailed for eight years in 1974 for wounding his wife’s former lover. He then turned Queen’s Evidence, testifying against some of Scotland Yard’s most senior officers in two major corruption trials in 1977; for which he received a Royal Pardon and was released from prison.[12] In 1994 Humphreys was jailed for twelve months for living off the earnings of prostitutes.[13][14] The major political sex scandal of the period was the resignation of Lord Lambton in 1973. Again the circumstances were somewhat different to those shown in the film.

Lambton resigned after a photograph was circulated around Fleet Street by the husband of one of two prostitutes he was shown in bed with, smoking marijuana; along with more photographs of other “prominent people”.[15][16] The prostitute, Norma Levy, did specialise in sado-masochism as a dominatrix, but remembers Lambton as being “relatively straight”, and if anything more interested in the marijuana.[17] She had been introduced to Lambton in July 1972 by upmarket madame Jean Horn.[15] The affair was subsequently investigated by DCS Bert Wickstead of the Serious Crime Squad, who had also led the investigations into Silver and Humphreys.[18][19] A confusion led to the additional resignation of another minister, Lord Jellicoe, although he had not been directly connected with Levy. Part of the filming took place on location at the offices of Websters, 136 Baker Street where the rooftops were actually used for lookout purposes.

The majority of outside shots, namely shots including the bank and adjacent shops, were done on a specially constructed set of Baker Street, to retain an authentic feel of the period and to allow for greater control of visible elements. This partial set was extended using VFX by the Australian company Iloura.[20] Reception The film was well received by critics.

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 79% of the T-Meter critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 138 reviews.[21] Rotten Tomatoes also reports that 90% of the “Top Critics” gave the film positive reviews based on 29 reviews.[22] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.[23] Empire gave two stars out of five with the verdict being, “Despite a good premise, this is oddly uninvolving – culminating in a real disappointment.”[24] Box office performance The film grossed US$63,754,550.[25] The film opened at #4 in North America and grossed US$5,935,256 in 1,603 theaters, averaging to about $3,703 per theatre.[26] Released: 1 October 2004 (UK) Director: Matthew Vaughn Producer: Matthew Vaughn, Adam Bohling, Stephen Marks, David Reid Starring: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris,

 Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Marcel Iureş Screenwriters: J.J.

Connolly (screenplay), J.J. Connolly (novel) Running Time: 105 min Summary A slick, highly stylish British gangster thriller that moves along at a fairly rapid pace, highlighted by Daniel Craig in the main role, unaware this performance would be the successful auditioning for James Bond a couple of years later. Layer Cake (stylised as L4YER CAKƐ on, for example, promotional posters and DVD artwork) is a 2004 British crime thriller and directed by Matthew Vaughn, in his directorial debut. It is based on the novel Layer Cake by J. J. Connolly. The title refers to the human social strata, especially in the British criminal underworld, as well as the numerous plot layers in the film. Plot Mr. X (Daniel Craig)has established a successful business in London buying, cutting, and selling cocaine while avoiding the largesse and gangster behaviour associated with drug dealing. Having made his fortune, he plans to retire from the business for good.

X’s powerful supplier, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham) sends him to track down Charlie, the teenage daughter of Price’s associate, Eddie Temple (Michael Gambon), who has fled a rehabilitation centre with her drug-addicted boyfriend. In reality, but not yet known, X is being sent to kidnap Charlie to help Jimmy blackmail Temple over a bad investment. At the same time, Price instructs X to organize the purchase and distribution of one million ecstasy tablets from a gangster named The Duke (Jamie Foreman). Unbeknownst to X, the pills have been stolen from a gang of Serbian war criminals in Holland. Jimmy has found out about X’s plans to retire, and believes that either the Serbian gang or Eddie Temple’s mercenaries will kill X, allowing him to recover some of his losses. The accountant used by X has stolen his money, having been working for Price. Meanwhile, X encounters The Duke’s idiotic nephew, Sidney (Ben Whishaw) at a bar, and becomes attracted to Sidney’s bored girlfriend Tammy (Sienna Miller).

X’s world gradually unravels as he discovers Jimmy Price is informing for the police; X’s associate, Morty (George Harris) goes into hiding after brutally beating and scalding a former associate with boiling tea in a cafe; the Duke and his gang mysteriously disappear; and the ruthless Eddie Temple involves himself in the already bungled ecstasy deal. X devises an elaborate scam to play his various adversaries off against one another and ends up in the clear with most of his enemies dead, even after Temple steals the Ecstasy by withholding all payment other than a lifetime membership to the exclusive Stoke Park Club. Afterwards, Trevor and Shanks lead an armed assault on Temple’s associates, stealing the ecstasy and from them. X sticks to his original plan to retire, but as he and Tammy leave a celebratory lunch with his associates, he is shot on the front steps of the country house restaurant by Sidney in revenge for stealing his girlfriend. X lies bleeding on the steps, his fate unknown. Nick Thomas-Webster as Dragan’s henchman Nathalie Lunghi as Charlie Jason Flemyng as Crazy Larry The soundtrack from Layer Cake is composed of 14 tracks.

“Hayling” - FC Kahuna “Opening” - Ilan Eshkeri and Steve McLaughlin “She Sells Sanctuary” - The Cult “Can’t Get Blue Monday Out of My Head” (Original Radio Edit) - Kylie Minogue “You Got the Love” (Original bootleg radio mix) - The Source feat.

Candi Staton “Drive to the Boatyard” – Ilan Eshkeri “Junky Fight” - Lisa Gerrard “Making Plans for Nigel” - XTC “Ordinary World” - Duran Duran “Four to the Floor” (Soulsavers Mix) - Starsailor “Drive To The Warehouse” – Ilan Eshkeri and Lisa Gerrard “Aria” (Layer Cake Speech) – Lisa Gerrard with Michael Gambon “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” - Joe Cocker Reception Layer Cake received positive reviews, with an 81% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[1] The film has an average score of 73 based on 30 reviews on Metacritic.[2] Daniel Craig’s starring role in the film has been cited as the performance that led to his high-profile casting as James Bond.[3] Released: 12 January 2001 (UK) Director: Jonathan Glazer Starring: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane Screenwriters: Louis Mellis, David Scinto Running Time: 89 min Summary It is down to brilliant performances to witness the unbelievable feat of the man who played Gandhi so

 successfully, bullying and intimidating tough guy Ray Winstone to a withering, defenceless coward.

On paper this should never work, but with Kingsley and Winstone at the top of their game, this is a master-class in screen acting. Don Logan has to be one of the most repulsive, terrifying and downright nasty villains of all time. A gripping, chilling British gangster film, and probably the best one we’ve seen since The Long Good Friday. Sexy Beast is a 2000 British-Spanish film directed by Jonathan Glazer, starring Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley and Ian McShane. It was produced by Jeremy Thomas, and was Glazer’s debut feature film. He had previously been a director of music videos, such as Rabbit in Your Headlights for British electronica group UNKLE,[1] and commercials for companies such as Guinness and Levi. The film earned Kingsley an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.[2] In 2004 the magazine Total Film named Sexy Beast the 15th greatest British film of all time.[3] Plot Ex-con and expert safe-cracker Gary “Gal” Dove has served his time behind bars and blissfully retired to a Spanish villa with his beloved wife Deedee. He also has the company of longtime friend Aitch and his wife Jackie.

Their idyll is shattered, however, by the arrival of an old criminal associate, Don Logan, who is intent on enlisting Gal in a bank heist back in London. Dove politely but firmly refuses Logan’s many requests to join the heist, but Logan will not back down. After revealing a lingering infatuation with Jackie, he makes several unwelcome attempts at reconnecting with her. Logan eventually grows violent, hurling torrents of abuse at the group while at the same time spitefully painting himself as a victim of their infidelity. After finally storming away in a rage, Logan is kicked off his plane and returns to Dove’s home with the intention of murdering him. Instead, Deedee surprises him with a shotgun. The entire group combines their efforts to kill him, first beating and shooting him, and finally crushing his skull. With Logan dead, Dove is forced to return to London to perform the job as if nothing has happened. Teddy Bass, a powerful crime lord, has organised the heist after learning about the bank from Harry, a banker who had sex with him at an orgy. Dove feigns ignorance over Logan’s whereabouts, but Bass is immediately suspicious.

Dove now fears both getting arrested by the police and being murdered by Bass. Since Logan’s arrival, Dove’s anxiety has manifested in strange dreams where he is menaced by a humanoid rabbit, which echoes a disastrous hunting trip earlier in the film. During the heist, Bass’ gangsters use surface-supplied diving gear and drill into Harry’s bank vault from a pool in a neighbouring bath house. The water from the pool floods the vault and shorts its security system. While helping to empty the vault’s safe deposit boxes, Dove secretly pockets a pair of large ruby earrings encrusted with diamonds. After the job is successfully completed, Bass forces Dove to accompany him to kill Harry. Though Bass has realised the truth about Logan’s murder, he does not care enough to retaliate by killing Dove. Instead, he forces Dove to forfeit his share of the loot and banishes him from London. Dove returns safely home and his paradise is restored. Deedee wears the diamond earrings that he stole, and it is revealed that Logan is buried under the double-heart insignia at the bottom of their pool, which had been damaged by a falling boulder just prior to his arrival. Cast Ray Winstone as Gary “Gal” Dove.

A retired safe-cracker who used to be a prominent criminal and minor celebrity in the London underworld, loved by everyone and a popular figure. He was involved in a heist that went wrong and spent nine years of his life in prison, taking the full rap for the job. Once out, he married DeeDee, the love of his life, and moved to Spain, wanting never to have anything to do with crime again. Although there are strong hints that he used to be a “hard man” back in his old life, he is now a very private person and never shows much aggression, until the final confrontation with Don Logan. Ben Kingsley as Don Logan. A recruiter for the London underworld, who puts people together into teams to pull off various heists. A cunning, violent sociopath, he uses everything in his power — from subtle manipulation to outright violence — to convince Dove to return to London to do a final job. Kingsley, on the DVD commentary, calls Logan “The Unhappiest Man in the World” and in several interviews, has claimed that he based his performance largely on his grandmother, whom he called ” A vile and extremely unpleasant woman.” Ian McShane as Teddy Bass.

The head of a criminal empire in London. According to an interview with McShane, Bass controls a loose-knit underworld gang that commits a robbery about once every five to 10 years. He is a meticulous planner and frequently uses Logan’s services to put his teams together for jobs. Like Logan, Bass does not hesitate to use violence, and shoots Harry in the head in cold blood. Amanda Redman as Deedee. Dove’s beloved wife, a former porn star who is also trying to put her old life behind her. Logan later tells Dove that her old films are still very popular; it is also heavily implied that it was hard-core footage. According to Ben Kingsley’s DVD commentary, Logan is nearly as afraid of DeeDee as she is of him. James Fox as Harry. A bisexual banker who shows Bass the vault after having sex with him. Harry knows that Bass is after his vault, but believes that his bank is impregnable. Cavan Kendall as Aitch. Dove’s best friend. He and his wife Jackie are happily married, which incurs Logan’s envious wrath. Julianne White as Jackie.

Aitch’s wife, who had a brief fling with Logan three years before the film is set. Álvaro Monje as Enrique. A Spanish boy who helps Gal out around the house. Production Producer Jeremy Thomas later remembered his experience making the film: Sexy Beast was the beginning of a new phase for me of working with first time filmmakers. Jonathan Glazer was a television commercials director in the UK, and a wonderful talent. We were sent this script which he was attached to, and out came this wonderful film. It was very stimulating having a first time talent… The dialogue as you see in this film is exceptional. I had never read a script like it, and I thought, this has got to be made. It was very difficult to get insurance on the film actually. When the American studio bought the film, their legal department said: “You cannot make this.” It has something like 300 uses of the word “cunt”, and 400 “fucks”, but somehow it passed the censorship and got out there.[4] Reception The film has received very positive reviews.

The film has received an aggregate rating of 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 117 reviews.[5] Another aggregate review website,Metacritic, has given it a rating of 79 percent, a rating which classifies the film as receiving “Generally favorable reviews” by the website’s rating standards.[6] It received high praise from writers at the San Francisco Chronicle,[7] Entertainment Weekly,[8] Slate,[9] Rolling Stone[10] and the Los Angeles Times,[11] but was panned by Stephen Hunter of Washington Post who described some of the film’s moments as “Ben Kingsley spraying saliva-lubricated variants of the F-word into the atmosphere like anti-aircraft fire for 10 solid minutes.”[12] It was also described as “often enjoyable” but “massively uneven” by Variety.[13] Awards and nominations Ben Kingsley’s performance received a majority of the accolades given to Sexy Beast, winning Best Supporting Actor awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, Florida Film Critics Circle, San Diego Film Critics Society, Southeastern Film Critics Association and the Toronto Film Critics Association.

He also was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award (losing to Ian McKellen for his performance in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), a Golden Globe and anAcademy Award (losing both to Jim Broadbent for his performance in Iris). In addition, the film also won Best Director and Best Screenplay from the British Independent Film Awards and Special Recognition (“For excellence in filmmaking”) from the National Board of Review. Summary Although this offers more of the same from Guy Ritchie, it is actually superior to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in every way. The film accelerates at breakneck speed throughout, punctuated with mesmerising performances from Brad Pitt, Jason Statham, and most notably Alan Ford’s memorable Brick Top, who steals the show with every scene he is in (check out the hilarious Brick Vader parody on YouTube, above). Undoubtedly Guy Ritchie’s finest work to date. Snatch is a crime film written and directed by British filmmaker Guy Ritchie, featuring an ensemble cast.

Set in the London criminal underworld, the film contains two intertwined plots: one dealing with the search for a stolen diamond, the other with a small-time boxing promoter named Turkish (Jason Statham) who finds himself under the thumb of a ruthless gangster known as Brick Top (Alan Ford). The film features an assortment of colourful characters, including Irish Traveller Mickey O’Neil (Brad Pitt), Russian-Uzbek ex-KGB agent and arms-dealer Boris “the Blade” Yurinov (Rade Šerbedžija), professional thief and gambling addict Frankie “Four-Fingers” (Benicio del Toro), American gangster-jeweler “Cousin Avi” (Dennis Farina), and bounty hunter Bullet-Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones). It is also distinguished by a kinetic direction and editing style, a circular plot featuring numerous ironic twists of chance and causality, and a fast pace. The film shares themes, ideas and motifs with Ritchie’s first film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. It is also filmed in the same visual style and features many of the same actors, including Jones, Statham, and Ford.

Plot After stealing an 86-carat (17 g) diamond in a heist in Antwerp, Frankie “Four-Fingers” (Benicio del Toro) goes to London to deliver the gemstone to diamond dealer Doug “The Head” (Mike Reid) on behalf of New York jeweler “Cousin Avi” (Dennis Farina), who bankrolled the theft. One of the other robbers advises Frankie to first see his arms-dealing brother, ex-KGB agent Boris “The Blade” (Rade Šerbedžija), to obtain a gun. Unbeknownst to Frankie, the brothers plan to rob him of the diamond, using a third party to avoid implicating themselves. Meanwhile, unlicensed boxing promoter and casino owner Turkish (Jason Statham) convinces local gangster “Brick Top” (Alan Ford)—head of an unlicensed boxing and dog fighting circuit—to add the matches of his boxer “Gorgeous George” (Adam Fogerty) to the bets at his bookies.

However, when Turkish sends his partner Tommy (Stephen Graham) and Gorgeous George to purchase a caravan from a band of Irish gypsies, George gets into an impromptu boxing match with Mickey O’Neil (Brad Pitt), who turns out to be a bare-knuckle boxing champ and badly injures George with a single punch. With George injured, Turkish recruits Mickey to replace him in his upcoming match by agreeing to purchase a new caravan for Mickey’s mother (Sorcha Cusack). Brick Top agrees to the change on the condition that Mickey throws the fight in the fourth round. Boris gives Frankie a gun in exchange for a favour: Frankie is to place a bet on Boris’ behalf at Brick Top’s bookies, since Boris has an outstanding debt there and cannot go himself. Avi learns of this and, knowing that Frankie has a gambling problem, flies to London with his bodyguard “Rosebud” (Sam Douglas) in tow to claim the diamond. Boris hires Vinnie (Robbie Gee) and Sol (Lennie James), twopawnbrokers and small-time crooks, to rob Frankie of the diamond while he is at the bookies.

The robbery goes comically awry and Sol, Vinnie, and their driver Tyrone (Ade) are caught on-camera, but manage to kidnap Frankie. Instead of throwing the boxing match as instructed, Mickey knocks his opponent out with a single punch, causing Brick Top’s investors to lose their bets. Infuriated, Brick Top robs Turkish of his savings and demands that Mickey fight again, and lose this time. Meanwhile, Boris retrieves the diamond and executes Frankie, leaving Sol, Vinnie, and Tyrone to dispose of the body. As they and their accomplice “Bad Boy” Lincoln (Goldie) are puzzling over how to do this, Brick Top arrives to execute them for robbing his bookies. He details to them his preferred method of body disposal, which is to feed the corpses to ravenous pigs. Sol bargains for their lives by promising Brick Top the stolen diamond, and he gives them 48 hours to retrieve it. Avi and Doug hire the mercenary “Bullet-Tooth” Tony (Vinnie Jones) to help them find Frankie. When the trail leads to Boris, they kidnap him and retrieve the gemstone, closely pursued by Sol, Vinnie, and Tyrone.

As they are driving, Tommy carelessly throws Turkish’s carton of milk out the window of their car; it splashes over Tony’s windshield, causing him to crash. Rosebud is killed, and Boris escapes from the wreck only to be hit by Tyrone’s car. Tony and Avi regroup at a pub where they are confronted by Sol, Vinnie, and Tyrone. Tony quickly realizes that their pistols are replicas loaded with blanks, and intimidates them into leaving him alone. The wounded Boris arrives with an assault rifle and is killed by Tony, but Sol and Vinnie escape with the diamond, which Vinnie hides in his pants. When Tony catches up to them, they tell him that the diamond is back at their pawn shop. Once there, they run out of stall tactics and produce the diamond, but it is promptly swallowed by a dog that Vinnie got from the Irish gypsies. Avi fires wildly at the fleeing dog and accidentally kills Tony. He gives up his pursuit and returns to New York. Mickey refuses to fight again unless Turkish buys an even more lavish caravan for his mother, but Turkish has no money left.

Furious, Brick Top has his men vandalize Turkish’s casino and burn down Mickey’s mother’s caravan while she is asleep inside it. Mickey agrees to fight in order to avoid more carnage, but gets so drunk after his mother’s wake the night before that Turkish fears he won’t even make it to the fourth round. If he fails to go down as agreed, Brick Top’s men will execute Turkish, Tommy, Mickey, and the entire campsite of Irish gypsies. Mickey takes a heavy beating but makes it to the fourth round, when he makes a sudden recovery and knocks out his opponent with a powerful blow. As they flee the building, Brick Top is killed by the gypsies, who have turned the tables on him: Mickey had bet on himself to win, and waited until the fourth round to allow the other gypsies time to subdue Brick Top’s men. The next morning, Turkish and Tommy find the gypsy campsite deserted. They are confronted by the police and don’t know what to say, until Vinnie’s dog suddenly arrives and they claim to be walking it. They are released, while Sol and Vinnie are arrested when the police find the corpses of Frankie and Tony in their car.

Turkish and Tommy take the dog to a veterinarian to extract a squeaky toy that it had swallowed earlier, and discover the diamond in its stomach as well. They consult Doug about selling the diamond, and he calls Avi who returns to London. Reception Snatch was largely successful, both in critical acclaim and at the box office, and has gone on to develop a devoted cult following. From an estimated budget of $3,000,000 (according to the Director’s Commentary), the movie grossed a total of $30,093,107 in the United States and £12,137,698 in the United Kingdom.[2] Rotten Tomatoes lists Snatch as having 73% of the reviews (133 reviews listed in total) as being “fresh” (positive).[3] Snatch also appears in Empire magazine’s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time at number 466.[4] While the film received mostly positive reviews, several reviewers commented negatively on perceived similarities in plot, character, setting, theme and style between Snatch and Ritchie’s previous work, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

In his review, Roger Ebert, who gave the film two out of four stars, raised the question of “What am I to say of ‘Snatch’, Ritchie’s new film, which follows the ‘Lock, Stock’ formula so slavishly it could be like a new arrangement of the same song?”,[5] and writing in the New York Times Elvis Mitchell commented that “Mr. Ritchie seems to be stepping backward when he should be moving ahead”.[6] Critics also argued that the movie was lacking in depth and substance; many reviewers appeared to agree with Ebert’s comment that “the movie is not boring, but it doesn’t build and it doesn’t arrive anywhere”.[5] “Fuckin’ in the Bushes” - Oasis “Avi’s Declaration” - Dennis Farina “Don’t You Just Know It” - Huey “Piano” Smith & the Clowns DVD releases The film has been released in multiple incarnations on DVD. On July 3, 2001, a two-disc “Special Edition” was released, containing both a full screen and widescreen presentation of the feature. Also included was an audio commentary track with director Guy Ritchie and producer Matthew Vaughn.

The special features on the second disc included a “making of” featurette, deleted scenes, original theatrical trailer and TV spots, text/photo galleries, storyboard comparisons, and filmographies. On 17 September 2002, Sony released a “Deluxe Collection” set in the company’s superbit format. This release contained two discs, one being the special features disc of the original DVD release, and the other a superbit version of the feature. As is the case with superbit presentations, the disc was absent of the additional features included in the original standard DVD, such as the audio commentary. (The disc did still contain subtitles in eight different languages including a “pikey” track, which only showed subtitles for the character Mickey.) Nine months later, on June 3, 2003, a single disc setup was released, with new cover art, containing the feature disc of the special edition set. This version was simply a repackaging, not including the second disc. Deluxe edition error On January 3, 2006, yet another two-disc set was released.

This version was set to be a repackaging of the original two-disc special edition release, containing the same features and content, but with different menu setups and decor. The box set featured a new theme represented in the cover art and included were a custom deck of playing cards and dealer button in the same theme. Also included was a supplemental booklet revealing extended filmography information about the cast as well as theatrical press kit production notes. Soon after the set was released, it was discovered the feature disc that was supposed to contain the film in its original special edition incarnation (with audio commentary, etc.) was not included. Instead, the Superbit release, containing the higher quality version of the film, was in its place.[7] Released: 28 August 1998 (UK) Director: Guy Ritchie Starring: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Steven Mackintosh, Vinnie Jones, Sting Screenwriters: Guy Ritchie, Peter Cattaneo, John Rogers Running Time: 107 min Summary Ok, it’s no Get Carter or Long Good Friday, but is still highly watchable, funny and features the occasional clever twist.

Vinnie Jones is the surprise package in his acting debut, and this film would prove to be also the springboard to launch Jason Statham’s career. Entertaining, enjoyable, with a foot-tappingly decent soundtrack to boot. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a 1998 British crime film directed and written by Guy Ritchie. The story is a heist film involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three card brag. In order to pay off his debts, he and his friends decide to rob a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door. The film garnered Guy Ritchie international acclaim and introduced actors Vinnie Jones, a former Welsh international footballer; and Jason Statham to worldwide audiences. Plot Long-time friends Bacon, Soap, Tom and Eddy put together £100,000 to play in Harry “The Hatchet” Lonsdale’s high-stakes three card brag game. Harry learns from his bodyguard Barry “the Baptist” that Eddy is a genius at cards, and so fixes the game.

When Eddy loses, Harry demands the £500,000 now owed to be given to him within a week. Knowing that Eddy and the others have slim chances of raising half a million pounds within a week, he pulls Eddy’s father’s bar into the deal as an alternative, in an attempt to get his own revenge with Eddy’s father. Barry the Baptist tells Eddy that he will remove a finger from each of the four friends for every day the debt is overdue. After several days with no luck acquiring the funds, Eddy returns home and overhears his neighbours, a gang of thieves led by a man named Dog, planning a heist on some marijuana growers supposedly loaded with cash and drugs. Eddy relays this information to the group, intending for them to rob the neighbours as they come back from their heist. Tom acquires a pair of antique shotguns from an underground dealer, known as Nick “the Greek”, who also strikes a deal with Rory Breaker, a gangster and sociopath, to purchase the stolen drugs.

Nick had purchased the guns from a pair of bungling small-time criminals, Gary and Dean, who had stolen them from a bankrupt lord as part of a job for Harry Lonsdale, not realizing that of the entire stolen firearms collection, his only desire was the two antique shotguns. After learning the guns had been sold, an enraged Harry threatens the two into getting them back. The neighbours’ heist goes underway; despite a gang member being killed by his own Bren Gun, and having an incriminating encounter with a traffic warden, the job is a success. Upon returning to their flat, the gang is ambushed by the four friends, who take the loot and return later that night to stash the goods next door before celebrating with a wild night of drinking. Rory Breaker discovers that the drugs he was going to purchase were stolen from him, as the marijuana growers were in his employ. Rory interrogates Nick into revealing where the four friends live, and enlists one of the chemists to identify the robbers. Meanwhile, furious about their loss, Dog throws one of his men through the wall of their flat and discovers the taping equipment and eventually the stolen goods.

While he counts the money, his men prepare to ambush the four friends. Gary and Dean, trying to recover the antique shotguns, call Nick, who directs them to the same address, while Big Chris, Harry’s debt collector, departs with his son to the same destination, and the four friends drive home from the bar. Rory and his gang assault the flat and have a shootout with the neighbours, resulting in the deaths of all but Dog and the lone chemist, the latter taking off with the marijuana. Dog is mugged by Big Chris of the shotguns and money during his escape; Gary and Dean hastily follow Big Chris, while the four friends return to find their loot missing. Big Chris gives the guns and cash to Harry but on his return finds Dog threatening to kill his son if he doesn’t retrieve the loot. Desperate to get the guns, Gary and Dean attack Harry and Barry at their office, realizing their mistake, as they kill each other. The four friends arrive, finding everyone dead, and take the cash back. Big Chris suddenly crashes into their car to disable Dog, then brutally bludgeons him to death with his car door.

He takes the debt money back from the unconscious friends but allows Tom to leave with the antique shotguns. The friends are arrested, but declared innocent after the traffic warden identified Dog’s dead gang as the prime suspects. The four reunite at Eddy’s father’s bar, and decide that Tom should dispose of the shotguns, which link them to the crimes. After Tom leaves, Big Chris arrives to admit he is keeping the debt money for himself and his son, but instead gives them an antique guns catalogue, which reveals that the antique shotguns were each worth a fortune. They quickly call Tom, and the film ends in a both literal and figurative cliffhanger when Tom’s mobile phone starts ringing as he hangs over the side of a bridge, preparing to drop the shotguns into the River Thames deciding as to whether to answer the phone or drop the guns into the river. Vinnie Jones as Big Chris Lenny McLean as Barry “the Baptist” Steve Sweeney as Plank Peter McNicholl as Little Chris Suzy Ratner as Gloria P. H.

Moriarty as “Hatchet” Harry Lonsdale Stephen Marcus as Nick “the Greek” Vas Blackwood as Rory Breaker Frank Harper as Diamond Dog Alan Ford as Alan / Narrator Victor McGuire as Gary Rob Brydon as Traffic Warden Danny John-Jules as the barman Cast notes The film originally starred Laura Bailey as Eddy’s love interest. This major plotline was only removed after filming had been completed. The role of JD, Eddy’s father, is played by the English musician Sting. Sting’s wife Trudie Styler was an executive producer on the film, and the two later introduced director Ritchie to Madonna, whom he later married. The role of Barry “the Baptist” was played by hardman Lenny McLean also known as “The Guv’nor” after becoming the country’s top bare-knuckle fighter. McLean became ill during filming, but believed he was only suffering from a lingering case of the flu. McLean died of brain and lung cancer on 28 July 1998, just before the film was released. Producers quickly changed billboards and posters to feature Lenny McLean as a tribute, even though Barry was only a supporting character.

Ross Boatman turned down a starring role in the film, as he did not wish to be typecast following his appearance in Hard Men. The film uses Dexter Fletcher, P.H. Moriarty and Alan Ford in a tribute to the classic London gangster film The Long Good Friday. This is the second film P.H. Moriarty and Sting both appeared in – the other being the film version of Quadrophenia. Release and reception The film was released on 28 August 1998 in the UK, and on 5 March 1999 in the U.S. in 161 theaters. Its total gross in the U.S. was $3,753,929.[2] The film has received positive reviews from critics, and received acclaim from audiences everywhere, thus giving it cult film status. John Ferguson, writing for the Radio Times, called the film “the best British crime movie since The Long Good Friday”.[3] The film has ratings of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and 66 on Metacritic. The film was nominated for a British Academy Film Award in 1998 for the outstanding British Film of the Year.

In 2000, Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. In 2004, the magazine Total Film named Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the 38th greatest British film of all time. Soundtrack The soundtrack to the film was released in 1998 in the United Kingdom by Island Records. Madonna’s Maverick Records label released the soundtrack in the United States in 1999 but omitted nine tracks from the UK release.

“Hundred Mile High City” by Ocean Colour Scene “It’s a Deal, It’s a Steal” by Tom, Nick & Ed* “The Boss” by James Brown “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Skanga* “Hortifuckinculturalist” – Winston “Police and Thieves” by Junior Murvin “18 With a Bullet” by Lewis Taylor & Carleen Anderson* “Spooky” by Dusty Springfield “The Game” by John Murphy & David Hughes* “Muppets” by Harry, Barry & Gary “Man Machine” by Robbie Williams* “Walk This Land” by E-Z Rollers “Blaspheming Barry” by Barry “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges “It’s Kosher” by Tom & Nick “Liar Liar” by The Castaways* “I’ve Been Shot” by Plank & Dog “Why Did You Do It” by Stretch “Guns 4 show, knives for a pro” by Ed & Soap “Oh Girl” by Evil Superstars “If the Milk Turns Sour” by John Murphy & David Hughes (with Rory)* “Zorba the Greek” by John Murphy & David Hughes “I’ll Kill Ya

” by John Murphy & David Hughes (with Rory)* “The Payback” by James Brown “Fool’s Gold” by The Stone Roses* “It’s Been Emotional” by Big Chris “18 With a Bullet” by Pete Wingfield * Track omitted from 1999 U.S.

release. Further reading Catterall, Ali; Wells, Simon (2001). Your Face Here: British Cult Movies Since The Sixties. Fourth Estate. ISBN 0007145543 Summary A fairly engaging account of the infamous twin gangsters, played with suitable menace by brothers Kemp, successfully emphasising the celebrity glamour side of the pair. The film feels sketchy in parts, with not enough conviction to give a fully graphic, chilling account, and relies too much on symbolism to communicate with the audience, rather than delivering hard-hitting realistic scenes. Despite that, there is just enough nastiness, violence and gore on offer to prevent the film from straying too soft on its subject matter. Perhaps this story does deserve something more epic in scale though, like a British version of Goodfellas, spanning a longer running time than the two hours offered here.

The Krays is a 1990 film based on the lives and crimes of the British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays.[1] The film was written by Philip Ridley and directed by Peter Medak.[2] Plot Summary The film begins with a shot of a swan in flight over the caption “Shall I tell you my dream?” and charts Ronnie and Reggie Kray’s lives from their humble beginnings in the East End of London, where they were born in 1933, to their rise in the 1960s to become the most infamous and notorious gangland leaders in London’s criminal underworld.[3] They were subsequently convicted of murder and were incarcerated for over 30 years. Ron died in Broadmoor Hospital, a high security psychiatric hospital, in 1995. Reg however was released on 1 October 2000 on health grounds. He died 3 weeks later of cancer.

They were played by real-life brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, who at the time of the film were more famous for their pop group Spandau Ballet.[4] The film charts the lives of the Krays from childhood, paying particular attention to how they were very close to their doting mother (played by Billie Whitelaw) and also the relationship between the twins, with Ronald (Gary Kemp) the more dominant and violent twin and Reginald (Martin Kemp) carrying out acts of violence primarily at the behest of his brother. The real-life Ronnie was diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.[5] The film contains a notoriously gruesome scene in which Ronald gives someone a so-called ‘Chelsea smile’, which involves holding a knife horizontally over the victim’s mouth and applying pressure, the blade carving through the victim’s cheeks and the resulting injuries giving the impression they are smiling “from ear to ear”.[6] On a lighter note the film also contains a memorable scene where the Krays hold a meeting at their parents’ house. Halfway through the meeting the Krays’ mother cheerfully brings up cups of tea for everyone and fusses over all the heavily built men who are crammed into one tiny room.

Their mother was supposedly unaware that her sons’ business activities were illegal. The other gangsters know how devoted the Krays are to their mother and they treat her with fawning respect. Availability Sometime after the film’s theatrical run, the movie was released on videocassette by RCA/Columbia. The movie has never been released on Region 1 DVD, and as of 3 January 2010 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has yet to announce any plans for a DVD release. However, a special edition region 2 DVD has been released in the UK. This UK DVD release also contains a 53-minute documentary about the Krays, featuring interviews from the press and the police about their activities and eventual arrest, as well as from a former member of their gang. The film is rated R18 in New Zealand and it contains violence.

Released: 14 October 1988 (UK) Director: Charles Crichton, John Cleese Producer: Michael Shamberg Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin Screenwriters: John Cleese (story), Charles Crichton (story) Running Time: 108 min Summary In this comedy classic, Cleese has perfected his comic timing to perfection, Curtis has never been sexier and funnier, and Kline steals the show with a surprise Oscar winning performance. The plot occasionally swims into both Basil Fawlty and Monty Python territory (highlighted by a hilarious Michael Palin). This wandering fish hits all the right notes to appeal to both UK and US audiences. Wacky and outrageously funny. A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 crime-comedy film written by John Cleese and Charles Crichton. It was directed by Crichton and an uncredited Cleese, and stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin. The film is about a jewel heist and its aftermath. Kline won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Otto.

Plot London-based gangster George Thomason (Tom Georgeson) and his right-hand man, Ken Pile (Michael Palin), a beleaguered animal lover with a bad stutter, plan a jewel heist. They bring in two Americans to help: an alluring con artist, Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis) and their “weapons man” Otto West (Kevin Kline), an Anglophobe who fancies himself as an intellectual. Wanda and Otto are lovers, but hide this fact from George and Ken so Wanda can work her charms on them. The robbery goes well, with the thieves getting away with a large sum in diamonds. The only problem is that they are briefly spotted during their getaway by an old lady walking her dogs. The group then hide the loot in a safe in an old warehouse. Soon after, Wanda and Otto betray George to the police and he is arrested. They return to collect the loot, only to find that George and Ken have moved it to an unknown location. Wanda, who was planning to double-cross Otto as well, decides to seduce George’s unhappily married lawyer, Archie Leach (John Cleese) to find out where the diamonds are.

Otto becomes insanely jealous, and his interference, combined with incidences of bad luck, lead Wanda and Archie’s liaisons to go disastrously wrong. Archie eventually calls off their attempted affair. Meanwhile, George gives Ken the task of killing the old lady, the Crown’s only eye witness. During his various attempts to kill her, the animal-loving Ken accidentally kills off her three Yorkshire Terriers one by one. This causes him grief, as well as grave bodily harm as each attempt goes wrong. However, the witness suffers a fatal heart attack when her last Terrier is killed, and Ken is ultimately successful in his mission. Wanda and Otto want George to remain in jail, but with no witness he may get off. During the course of George’s trial, Wanda gives evidence that will lead to a conviction rather than an acquittal. Archie, stunned by the unexpected turn in her evidence, flubs his cross-examination and inadvertently calls her “darling.” Enraged, George starts a brawl that leads to everyone fleeing the courtroom. Archie’s wife Wendy (Maria Aitken) is sitting in the observer’s area, and Archie’s antics confirm her suspicions of his affair (though it has never been consummated).

After George is taken into custody, she confronts Archie and states that she plans to divorce him. With his career ruined and his marriage about to end, Archie resolves to cut his losses, find the loot, and flee with Wanda to South America. Promised less jail time, George tells Archie that Ken knows the location of the diamonds. As he is leaving to question Ken, Archie picks up Wanda while she attempts to flee the courthouse. Archie tells her he knows that Ken is aware of the hiding spot, and Wanda counters by noting she has the key to the safe deposit box. While the courtroom drama was unfolding, Otto has also been trying to get Ken to reveal the location of the diamonds. He tortures Ken by eating the fish in his aquarium one-by-one, leaving the fish called Wanda until the end. In the process, Ken accidentally mentions the location of the diamonds at a hotel near Heathrow Airport. Otto is leaving just as Archie runs into the building; Otto steals Archie’s car, taking Wanda with him. Ken tells Archie, as quickly as he can given his stutter, where they are going. The two give chase. The protagonists all end up in Heathrow.

Otto and Wanda recover the diamonds, but Wanda quickly double-crosses Otto and locks him up. Otto escapes and is briefly captured by Archie, only to turn the tables. He is about to kill Archie when he is run over by asteamroller being driven by Ken, vowing revenge. Archie boards the plane with Wanda, flying off while Otto curses them. John Cleese as Archie Leach Jamie Lee Curtis as Wanda Gershwitz Kevin Kline as Otto West Michael Palin as Ken Pile Maria Aitken as Wendy Leach Tom Georgeson as George Thomason Patricia Hayes as Mrs Cody Geoffrey Palmer as Judge Stephen Fry as Man at airport Reception The film was an enormous critical and commercial success. Kline received wide acclaim and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work.[2] Cleese and Crichton received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Crichton was also nominated for Best Director, and Curtis received nominations for Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes and BAFTA awards. Michael Palin won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Role. In 2000, the readers of Total Film magazine voted A Fish Called Wanda the 37th greatest comedy film of all time.

In 2004 the same magazine named it the 41st greatest British film of all time. In 2000, the American Film Institute ranked the film 21st on its list of the 100 funniest movies ever made. This film is number 27 on Bravo’s “100 Funniest Movies”. It is also included in the Reader’s Digest ”100 Funniest Films” list.[3] The movie currently holds a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A Fish Called Wanda is also reported to have caused a case of death from laughter in 1989. Sequels and adaptations The principal cast reunited in 1997 for Fierce Creatures (dubbed an “equal” rather than a sequel or prequel, by Kline), playing different roles and meeting less success. In 2008, it was reported that John Cleese and his daughter, Cynthia (who played his screen daughter, Portia), had started to work on a stage musical version of the film.[4] Summary A highly enjoyable, and criminally underrated film, though the direction from David Green tends to be slightly mechanical and too evenly edited for most part.

Phil Collins plays Buster with enough charm for audiences to warm to him, although Julie Walters character tends to come across more annoying than anything else. With a great soundtrack, both in terms of score and Phil Collins numbers, this is a nicely entertaining movie. Buster is a 1988 comedy-drama film starring musician Phil Collins, Julie Walters, Larry Lamb and Sheila Hancock. The soundtrack featured two Phil Collins singles which eventually topped the Billboard 100 singles chart. Plot Buster Edwards (Phil Collins) is a petty criminal from the East End of 1960s London. His long-suffering wife June (Julie Walters) thinks of him as a loveable rogue and cannot believe it when she learns of his involvement in the Great Train Robbery. For several months after the robbery, Buster and June are in hiding with their young daughter Nicky (Ellie Beaven) until they are turned in to the police by a suspicious neighbour. Buster flees to Acapulco where he is met by fellow Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds (Larry Lamb) and his girlfriend Franny Reynolds (Stephanie Lawrence) who are also on the run and living it up in the sun with the profits of their crime.

June and Nicky arrive despite the disapproval of her mother (Sheila Hancock) and although Nicky seems to love her new life in the sun, June is immediately not keen on their new way of life, resolving to return to England, despite knowing that if Buster is to return with them, then this will mean imprisonment for him. Buster remains in Acapulco for some time after June leaves, until realising (while celebrating England’s 1966 World Cup triumph) that despite him having money and the sun, it means nothing if he doesn’t have his family and returns to England to accept his punishment. The film closes, 12 years after Buster’s release from jail, seemingly content and running a flower stall near Waterloo Bridge on the Thames. The real Buster Edwards had a less happy ending in real life, as he committed suicide in 1994. Stage Version A stage production of Buster was produced between 2000 – 2004 at various locations across the UK starring (amongst others) Ray Quinn in the main cast. The production was an adaptation by Kieran Woodbury of the original screenplay penned by Colin Shindler.

Phil Collins as Buster Edwards Julie Walters as June Edwards Larry Lamb as Bruce Reynolds Stephanie Lawrence as Franny Reynolds Ellie Beaven as Nicky Edwards Ralph Brown as Ronald Biggs Christopher Ellison as George Sheila Hancock as Mrs. Rothery Martin Jarvis as Inspector Jack Mitchell Soundtrack Several Phil Collins singles were released from the soundtrack, including “A Groovy Kind of Love” and “Two Hearts”, which reached #1 and #6 on the UK Singles Chart, respectively. Both songs were Number One singles in the US.[1] Phil Collins also co-wrote “Loco in Acapulco”, performed by The Four Tops for the soundtrack. Two Hearts received an Oscar nomination for Best song in 1988. Filming locations The opening sequence was filmed in Broadway Market, Hackney. The robbery scenes were filmed on the Great Central Railway, using British Rail Class 40, D306, as a stand-in for D326 which was actually involved. Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N’ Roll Gold Rush. Algora. pp. 160. ISBN 0-87586-207-1 .

Question: What was the name of the character played by Michael Caine in a 2009 film, an elderly former Royal Marine and Northern Ireland veteran who tries to be indifferent about his violent neighbourhood on an Elephant and Castle housing estate?
Answer: Harry Brown