James Richardson Movies
- 2009
Palestinian Scandar Copti and Israeli Yaron Shani collaborated on this independent drama which examines how the troubled relationship between their countries colors everyday life in the Middle East. Nasri (Fouad Habash) is a teenager whose family is in crisis: his uncle got into an altercation with a local crime boss, and in reprisal his cousin has been murdered. The shooters intended to kill Nasri's younger brother Omar (Shahir Kabaha) instead, so Abu Elias ($Youssef Sahwani), a restaurateur and respected member of the community, steps in to negotiate. Omar agrees to make a cash payment to the gangsters to prevent further violence, but since he doesn't have the money, he raises it by dealing drugs. Abu has a daughter Hadir (Ranin Karim) who works at his restaurant; she's fallen in love with Omar, but since she's Christian and he's Muslim, they can't acknowledge their feelings in public. Also working at the restaurant is Malek (Ibrahim Frege), a sixteen-year-old illegal immigrant who is looking for any kind of job to help pay for his mother's medical treatments. And elsewhere, Dando (Eran Naim) is a policeman drawn into the chaotic life of Binj (Scandar Copti), a suspected drug dealer who has been arrested for attacking a Jewish neighbor; Dando is also preoccupied with the fate of his brother, who has suddenly gone missing. Ajami won a special distinction award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2009
A group of evil children terrorize a family while on a trip in this horror feature by writer/director Tom Shankland. Rachel Shelly, Stephen Campbell Moore and Jeremy Sheffield head up the cast. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachel Shelley, Stephen Campbell Moore, (more)
- 2009
Alan Clarke's 1989 movie about British soccer hooligans is ported to the early '80s in this loose remake. The film follows Dom (Callum McNab), a young man caught up in the enticing world of firms -- soccer gangs who make merry and spar with the supporters of rival teams. Bright and funny, Dom is easily welcomed into the ranks by the firm's leader, Bex (Paul Anderson). But as Dom is drawn into the escalating violence of his clique, he decides to back out. Doing that is easier said than done.
Written and directed by Nick Love, who made the similarly themed The Football Factory, The Firm's greatest departure from the original is following Dom -- a relatively minor character in the original -- rather than Bex (originally played by Gary Oldman). ~ All Movie Guide
Written and directed by Nick Love, who made the similarly themed The Football Factory, The Firm's greatest departure from the original is following Dom -- a relatively minor character in the original -- rather than Bex (originally played by Gary Oldman). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calum McNab, Paul Anderson, (more)
As directed by Brit Tom Shankland, this outing constitutes a chilling installment in the subgenre of horror films about evil children running amok. The tale unfolds in contemporary England during a snowy, late December, with a young married couple, Jonah (Stephen Campbell Moore) and Elaine (Eva Birthistle), journeying into the country to spend New Year's with immediate family -- Elaine's sister Chloe (Rachel Shelley) and brother-in-law Robbie (Jeremy Sheffield). Accompanying the adults are three children: Casey (Hannah Tointon), Elaine's adolescent daughter from a first marriage (who resents being dragged along), and youngsters Paulie (William Howes) and Miranda (Eva Sayer), her children with Jonah (who can't wait to see their cousins Nicky and Leah). Upon arrival at Robbie and Chloe's home, ominous and increasingly bizarre events begin to transpire: Paulie grows visibly ill, Leah and Nicky begin slipping into menacing and threatening behavior toward everyone, capped off by an ugly accident that they engineer involving Robbie -- an incident that pushes him to the brink of death and ends with a gruesome act of carnage committed by the children. Soon, Elaine realizes that Paulie is infected with a bizarre, zombie-like virus that he is systematically spreading to the other children, and promptly decides to ameliorate the situation by taking violence into her own hands and ending the boy's young life. Little does she realize, however, just how pervasive the virus has grown. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, (more)
- 2008
- R
The notorious life of the U.K.'s "most violent prisoner" serves as the subject of Pusher Trilogy director Nicolas Winding Refn's brutal biopic. Born Michael Peterson but later renamed by his fight promoter, Charles Bronson's sole ambition in life was to become famous. Surmising that the fastest means of accomplishing his goal with such limited opportunities was to cultivate a stylized persona as a hardened criminal, the ambitious do-badder embraced a desperate existence of extreme savagery. But who is the real man behind the warped persona? Seeing as how 28 of Bronson's 34 years behind bars were spent in solitary confinement, that's a difficult question to answer. The terror of the legend comes to vivid life, however, as director Refn explores the twisted alternate reality created by Bronson, and highlights precisely how the controversial criminal staged himself within that anarchistic world. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2008
A man who enjoys living in the past is having a hard time dealing with the present in this comedy from the UK. Richard (Eddie Marsan) spends his days dealing with cranky customers at a big-box home improvement store, but on weekends he becomes a fearsome Viking warrior with a local role-playing group called the Bloody Broadswords. Richard and his best friend Julian (Ewen Bremner) help the group recreate centuries-old battles with all the realism their limited finances can muster, but Richard's wife Cath (Jessica Hynes) has lost her patience with him spending so much time with the Broadswords and so little time around the house. Richard's son Martin (Joseph Hamilton) is also grown tired of being dragged along to mock battles that earn him the ridicule of his schoolmates, even if his almost girlfriend Emily (Chloe Hesar) approves. Eventually, Cath gives Richard his walking papers, and while he tries to win her back, the fact she soon starts dating Gary (Paul Nicholls), Martin's gym coach, suggests he has a tough battle ahead of him. Meanwhile, Julian is having better luck in his love life when his girlfriend Maggie (Bronagh Gallagher) asks him to move in with her, but Julian's mother isn't pleased to learn he's finally leaving home. Faintheart was directed by Vito Rocco and written by Rocco and David Lemon, who documented the production and sought input from film fans via the social networking internet site MySpace. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eddie Marsan, Ewen Bremner, (more)
MTV Films Europe and Vertigo Films partner to bring the Jackass-flavored MTV Europe series to the screen as director Jim Hickey follows a group of four daredevils who are challenged by the devil to discover and endure the seven deadly sins. A raunchy world tour of depravity and hilarity, Dirty Sanchez: The Movie combines the extreme stunts of Johnny Knoxville and company with a narrative structure by telling the tale of a stunt gone horribly awry. When an attempt to crash a car through a caravan results in the death of Dainton, Joycey, Pancho, and Pritchard, the fearless foursome are sent straight into deepest depths of hell. It seems that Satan wants to check their credentials before they are allowed to carry on with their reckless lifestyles, and now in order to return to their familiar plane of reality they must embark on a global tour of sin and debauchery. From confronting "anger" in Moscow to greeting "gluttony" in San Miguel and challenging "lust" in Bangkok, the boys all set out to greet and conquer the very sins that have mankind has struggled against since the beginning of time. If they win, their prize is immortality and global domination; if they lose, they must bend to the will of Satan himself. With such stomach turning stunts as beer enema shotguns and liposuction drinking games, Dirty Sanchez: The Movie is not for the faint of heart. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Dainton, Dan Joyce, (more)
A handful of men find themselves forced to deal with acts of brutal violence in an increasingly lawless Britain in this hard-hitting crime thriller from writer and director Nick Love. Sgt. Danny Bryant (Sean Bean) comes home injured from a tour of duty in Iraq to find things aren't what they once were -- a gang of thugs has moved into the neighborhood, and his wife is sleeping with another man. Angry Gene Dekker (Danny Dyer) is roughed up by toughs on the day he's to be married, and rather than head out to the church, he sets out to get revenge on the men who beat him. Terence Manning (Rob Fry), a gangster who has been one of the leaders of London's underworld, is currently on trial, with lawyer Cedric Munroe (Lennie James) heading the prosecution's legal team. Manning's men attack both Munroe and his wife, and persuade Munroe's bodyguard Walter (Bob Hoskins) not to intervene. In time, the men set out to even the score against those who wronged them, though their contempt for the law puts them outside the lines of conventional justice. Outlaw also stars Sean Harris and Rupert Friend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Bean, Bob Hoskins, (more)
A seasoned gangland detective who always plays by the rules finds his integrity put to the ultimate test after he and his partner are drawn into a sadistic game of death. Ask any officer on the force about Detective Eddie Argo (Stellan Skarsgard), and odds are good they'll tell you he's one of few honest cops left in this lawless city. But recently Detective Argo and his rookie partner Helen (Melissa George) have become entangled in a gruesome series of murders targeting the city's most notorious gang members. As a result, the city is in a panic and Detective Argo is forced to revisit an old case that still haunts him to this day. Through it all, the killer remains steely in their determination to make Detective Argo pay for a past misdeed, and see how he responds when forced to place his life on the line for the sake of someone he loves. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stellan Skarsgård, Melissa George, (more)
Testosterone and football combine to paint a violent portrait of middle-class England in director Nick Love's adrenaline-charged adaptation of John King's popular novel. Tommy is your typical twenty-something soccer fan; bored with life, in love with lager, and always looking for a little action from the ladies. Of course there's the fighting, too. When Tommy exchanges blows with a rival football fan and the situation quickly spins out of control, the thuggish sports fanatic is prompted to reconsider his brutal lifestyle and make a change for the better. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Dyer, Frank Harper, (more)
The rise, fall, and rebirth of a turntable master sets the stage for this comedy drama with elements of mockumentary. Frankie Wilde (Paul Kaye) is one of the world's leading dance music DJs; his sets in Ibiza are the stuff of legend, he commands a premium fee to spin in clubs around the world, he's in demand for his remixing skills, and he's launched a promising career as a recording artist. Frankie has a mansion, a beautiful wife, and a stepson, but there are a few other things that he also has -- a dangerous appetite for liquor and drugs, and a hearing problem that's getting worse. When Frankie's hearing begins to interfere with his work, his life and career go into a tailspin -- he becomes a sloppy, chemically imbalanced wreck, and his wife leaves him once the money begins to run out. Frankie is near the bottom of the barrel when he meets Penelope (Beatriz Batarda), a beautiful but hard-shelled woman who can stand up to Frankie's wild side while teaching him how to read lips and start life over again. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Kaye, Beatriz Batarda, (more)
- 2004
In the era when Britain's criminal elite fled for the safety of Spain in order to escape the long-arm of Margaret Thatcher, a young scoundrel from the tenements of South London finds the allure of money, women, and drugs leading him down a dangerous path of self-destruction. Assigned the task of delivering a large sum of money to an ex-con named Charlie (Tamer Hassan) in Puerto Banus, English lad Frankie (Danny Dyer) becomes hopelessly enamored with the laid back lifestyle enjoyed by the cheeky playboy and his loyal ensemble of British ex-pats. Though it isn't long before Frankie is named Charlie's second in command, the situation soon begins to heat up when loyalties start to shift and business takes a back seat to pleasure. There's no doubt that Frankie has a flair for the criminal lifestyle, though by the looks of things he's getting a little too comfortable with his newfound position of power. When Frankie succumbs to temptation and begins romancing Carly (Georgina Chapman), the flirtatious girlfriend of psycho gangster Sonny (Roland Manookian), it begins to look as if the lawless apprentice's whirlwind criminal career will soon end with a bang. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, (more)
