The first time we see Cillian Murphy’s gangster Tommy Shelby he’s riding a white horse through a small neighborhood in Birmingham England. It’s seemingly deserted, with most of its citizens hiding from him, from his reputation. It is one heck of an entrance, not just for the characters but for the show. More than any other series, Peaky Blinders is helping Netflix define itself as a wholly original network.
Noomi Rapace gracefully, viciously owns her role as the ambitious Isabelle;, ascending a multinational company ladder one rung below the sociopathic succubus Christine (a sinisterly focused McAdams, as though Mean Girls grew up). Professional power plays of catty words and sexual possession are maneuvered, and soon love, humiliation, hallucination and murder are on the table.
The Sweeney Written by Nick Love and John Hodge Directed by Nick Love UK, 2012 Consisting of four series and two feature film spin-offs during the 1970s, police drama The Sweeney was significantly influential in British media, popularising elements of gritty realism and morally dubious protagonists that television hadn’t been quite so prone to including …
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Written by Michele and Kieran Mulroney Directed by Guy Ritchie USA, 2011 Guy Ritchie’s previous Sherlock Holmes film was marred, especially, by irritating aesthetic choices and an over-reliance on the banter between its leading men. Rather than charming, Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law’s exchanges were instead annoyingly smug, …
Universal is being slow on giving the go ahead for the next Paul Anderson movie. The director of “There will be blood” has chosen Philip Seymour Hoffman to be part of his next, unnamed movie endeavor. Hoffman would be the lead in an untitled period drama as a “Master”, according to http://weblogs.variety.com/. The Master hatches …