Crime

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A taut, economical policier-cum-gang-hostage thriller.Read More »

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The Suburra quarter in ancient Rome was the quarter populated by taverns and brothels, where noble senators met with criminals in secret to do business and make money. Two thousand years later, not much seems to have changed in the Italian capital, politics and criminality continue to do business and the real world is governed by laws drawn up by corrupt politicians, through brokers without scruples in the shadow of an ambivalent Vatican. These were the findings of a recent judicial inquiry by the name of Mafia Capitale, which has now been brought to the big screen by Stefano Sollima’s new film, Suburra, at a time when Rome has just seen the resignation of its mayor, and is being plagued by ungovernability and the chaos of the upcoming Jubilee.Read More »

This action-filled police drama chronicles the difficult first year of a rookie cop. The trouble begins on his very first day on the beat when he has a conflict with the criminally connected owner of the local tavern. Against the more moderate advice of his experienced partner, the rookie insists on strictly enforcing every law on the books. His unbending toughness creates hard feelings with the neighborhood toughs and soon he becomes their target.Read More »

In New York, in a morning close to Christmas, an upper class father and mother go in their BMW to a private school to see the play of their daughter. Then they go shopping and later they return to their fancy apartment in Manhattan. In the night, they move to a simple apartment in a dangerous neighborhood, where they prepare drugs for distribution. On the Christmas Eve, while buying the Christmas gift for their daughter, the father is kidnapped, and his wife desperately tries to raise a high amount of money to pay the requested ransom.Read More »

“Before Michael Mann set the big screen alight with the brilliant, epic Heat, he rehearsed the story in this made-for-TV version. Heat was a tour de force, with the scuzzy, spacey metropolis of LA as backdrop to a titanic battle between charismatic cop (Pacino) and taciturn tough guy robber (Pacino. This dynamic is hardly replicated in this earlier TV version – and if LA Takedown shows anything, it’s that a compelling story and talented director really do require stellar talent to generate the requisite screen effect. Intended as the pilot for a TV series, this tough and energetic story went straight to video in the UK, but achieved minor cult status, and is well worth watching for the differences to the remake, as well as the similarities. The central cop character Vincent Hanna (Plank) is retained, and the emphasis is on him as he pursues the bank robber. What is lacking is the density of characterisation and the myriad subplots. Still, it would be unfair to dismiss the film. Judged as a TV movie, it has merit, it’s just that the other elements are more modest.” – Channel4Read More »

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A hot-shot reporter risks his life to land an interview with a notorious crook.

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Hot Summer Night is an out-of-the-ordinary crime yarn from the TV/radio production team of Morton Fine and David Friedkin. Unemployed journalist William Joel Pertain (Leslie Nielsen) hopes to reestablish himself by capitalizing on a recent wave of bank robberies. Pertain has a “lead” to the gang’s leader Tom Ellis (Robert Wilke), and intends to parlay this into a hot news story. Instead, he places the lives of himself and his wife Irene (Colleen Miller) in dire peril. Of interest is the fact that the villain is portrayed with a modicum of sympathy, while the reporter comes off as a bit of a jerk. — Hal EricksonRead More »

Phil Karlson (“The Phenix City Story”/”Kansas City Confidential”/”Scandal Sheet”) directs with verve this gripping caper thriller based on a Good Housekeeping serialized magazine story that was based on the novel by Jack Finney and is well-written by John Barnwell, William Bowers, Stirling Silliphant and Frank Tashlin.Read More »

“The Inside Storyo of a Great U.S. Criminal Investigation”
Frank Warren is a treasury agent assigned to put an end to the activities of a powerful mob crime boss. The agent struggles to put together a case but is frustrated when all he finds are terrified witnesses and corrupt police officers. Although most informants end up dead, Agent Warren gets critical information about the mob from an unlikely source.

The film was based on an article entitled “He Trapped Capone,” the first part of the autobiography Undercover Man by Federal Agent Frank J. Wilson, which was serialized in Collier’s in 1947. (Wikipedia)Read More »

Plot Outline: After a drug deal gone wrong, Bédé goes into hiding in the countryside at a reformative school for criminal youth. His location is found out, and he and the pupils have to protect themselves with whatever means they have.Read More »