Day 334: Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

lockAfter today’s film, there are only 32 days left in the year which means the finish line isn’t too far away and I’ve begun my quest to watch films people recommend. The film I chose for today is a film that a friend of mine suggested since I expressed my love for the film Snatch. Snatch was directed by Guy Ritchie who also directed today’s film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. Eddy (Nick Moran) fancies himself to be a really good card player, but that changes when he plays the game with the wrong people. You see Eddy and his friends now owe Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriarty) 500,000 lbs (which in today’s money is over 6 million US dollars). He has one week to get Harry his money or their fingers will be chopped off which in turn sends groups of all different thugs on one heck of a collision course. The film also stars Jason Flemyng (Snatch) as Tom, Dexter Fletcher (The Elephant Man) as Soap, Jason Statham (Crank) as Bacon, Vinnie Jones (Swordfish) as Big Chris, Lenny McLean (The Fifth Element) as Barry The Baptist, Frank Harper (Bend It Like Beckham) as Dog, Steven Mackintosh (Underworld: Evolution) as Winston, Sting as JD, Vas Blackwood (Mean Machine) as Rory Breaker, and Alan Ford (Snatch) as the Narrator.

lock-2I love the style of Guy Ritchie who kind of mixes the world of music videos with his films in where the music is almost an integral part of the film. The music at times can set up the moods of scenes or tell you what kind of characters have shown up on screen. There is one scene where the music is normal until it changes to something crazier when shady characters show up all of a sudden. The soundtrack itself is absolutely brilliant and a must have for any fan of music. The film itself is well written and absolutely brilliant. I loved every moment of the film including the setup of what was going down to the mystery of what in the heck is going to happen next. The acting was also superb from every angle as we get some memorable characters in this film. Two of my favorite characters from the film are these lowlifes by the name of Gary (Victor McGuire) and Dean (Jake Abraham) who are tasked to steal some guns, but in fact set up a giant sh** show that goes down in the last half of the film. I also loved the tones of the film because it has that British feel to it where it’s cloudy and gloomy looking like the weather outside in England. I definitely loved the film and I can see why it was recommended to me in the first place. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade. 

Day 79: The Jacket (2005)

1876For today’s film, I felt like I need a little mystery and drama in my life and I found today’s film laying around. The film is called The Jacket and it stars Adrien Brody (Predators) as Jack Stark, an injured gulf war veteran. Jack Stark was injured in the line of combat and sent home to Vermont suffering from acute Amnesia. After a mishap, he is accused of murdering a police officer, but because of his condition they believe he has no memory of it and he is sent to a hospital for the criminally insane. While he is there, he is put through some torturous acts by Doctor Becker (Kris Kristofferson) who puts him in a morgue drawer. While in the drawer, Jack has some revelations about the future and he tries to solve it before he meets his untimely death. The film also stars Keira Knightley (Domino) as Jackie Price, Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Breakfast Club) as Dr. Lorenson, Kelly Lynch (Road House) as Jean Price, Daniel Craig (Sky Fall) as Rudy Mackenzie, Steven Mackintosh (Kick-Ass 2) as Dr. Hopkins, Brendan Coyle (The Raven) as Damon, Mackenzie Phillips (One Day At A Time) as Nurse Harding, and the film was directed by John Maybury (The Edge Of Love).

2004_the_jacket_004The best way that I can describe this film to you is to think of The Butterfly Effect, but in a mental hospital and without the bad repercussions and distorted realities. By going inside this morgue drawer, he is able to go into what some would call hallucinations, but he is actually in the future. The only thing is that at first they don’t really explain that he is in the future very well as you think it’s a memory that he is having until he finds one key object that you’ll have to watch for yourself to find out what I am talking about. I do however want to say that truly believe that this film had to be Adrien Brodys best role that he had ever done in his career. He was absolutely brilliant in the film and I have to give it to Daniel Craig as well. Craig is really convincing as a crazy guy who believes that he isn’t that crazy. Keira Knightley is smoking hot and we get to see a little more of her than I expected in the film, but she does great as well. I am surprised I haven’t seen more of this film on Television or anything else. I stumbled upon it not realizing that I had the movie and I never watched it (believe me for some strange reason I have a lot of those). Anyhow, I was very impressed with the film and enjoyed it a lot. They list it on IMDB as a horror film, but more suspense in my opinion. I mean the tones of the film are very dark and bleak like a horror film, but it’s more of a mystery story. So, I am going to give the film an B+/A- for a final grade because it borders on both of those grades.