Welshrogue

In the murky world that is populated by people with questionable backgrounds, a group of professionals is put together to attain a case, which it seems, is wanted by various groups. It appears that not everyone is working to the same game plan.

Ronin is a very stylish thriller that creates a dark network below the every day world that most people see. Ex- agents from various intelligent agencies are thrown together and have to chase down the mysterious case that is in the hands of some ex- KGB folk. One of the highlights of this movie is the car chases which are ultra realistic, with the actors in the car driving as the cars screech around corners.

Ronin is a movie that wouldn’t have worked if the actors had been the usual handsome shiny Hollywood actors, so luckily, the cast is made up of real actors. Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce all bring their A game to the show adding to the already realistic feel.

This is a great movie, dark and stylish but with a lot of content and some great action scenes.

A quadriplegic criminalist teams up with a street cop to track down a killer who is creating horrific murders. Each murder is more bizzare than the last and more gruesome, as the pair work each scene looking for clues that might identify the killer.

Based on the book of the same name by Jeffery Deaver, The Bone Collector is a different take on the usual ‘hunt the murderer’ movie. While it is gruesome and at times, disturbing, it also gives the viewer a different take on the forensic work other than the CSI take.

The Bone Collector stars Denzil Washington as Lincoln Rhymes and Angelina Jolie as Amelia Donaghy (changed from Sachs in the book). Washington is excellent as the brilliant yet sarcastic and grumpy bed ridden Rhymes, so much so that with every book I read, it is his face that I see, rather than the original written description.

The Bone Collector is a good movie but perhaps a little too gruesome for some.

A freshly released convict puts together a gang to rob three Las Vegas casinos. All three casinos are owned by the same man, the same man who is now with the convicts ex wife.

A remake of the 1960 rat pack movie, this version stars many big names including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, and Don Cheedle. While not sticking too closely to the original, it still has the attitude and most importantly the style needed to make this movie work. Infact style is the main part of this movie, style in the way the characters look and dress, style as in the locations and scenes, style as in the way the plot combines the criminal aspects alongside the more humorous moments.

The obvious chemistry between Pitt and Clooney gives some extra zip to the dialog and Garcia makes the main villain dislikable without there being any obvious reason for it. Julia Roberts main talent apparently is the way she looks as her part is a little predictable and if you don’t find Roberts to be that attractive, which I don’t, then she is generally annoying, especially the one scene when she is walking past the camera and it looks like she only just learnt to walk in heels.

This is a fun movie, doesn’t take itself too seriously but is still very enjoyable.

Two brothers and a friend find a crashed plan and a large amount of money. They decide the keep it but not touch it until any search for the money fades. Its a simple plan that doesn’t last long as things happen.

Bill Paxton & Billy Bob Thornton play the brothers who along with Brent Briscoe as their friend find the money. Bridget Fonda plays the scheming wife of Paxton who pushes him.

This movie is very much like its plot, it starts off very simply and then changes and becomes something unexpected. The twists and turns of this movie keeps the viewer off balance as the plot goes one way, and then double backs and goes another. The ending is such not a hollywood ending as to be a surprise when it happens.

This is a really good movie for anyone who wants to sit back after watching it and thinking about it for some time.

In order to save his brother from being killed by a crime lord, a retired master car thief must steal 50 exotic cars. He must gather his old gang and do the impossible.

Another Jerry Bruckheimer movie, filled with big names such as Nicolas Cage as the retired thief, Angelina Jolie as the romantic interest, Giovanni Ribisi as the brother, Delroy Lindo as the cop trying to stop it, Robert Duvall as the old master, Vinne Jones as a car thief who doesn’t speak and Dr. Who himself, Christopher Eccleston as bad guy, Raymond Vincent Calitri.

This isn’t a movie with a great plot, it has just enough to give the movie reason to be made, the reason being a one night heist of 50 beautiful cars by a gang. It is the usual Bruckheimer fare, lots of action, looks great, and has big names. It perhaps doesn’t require a PhD to understand it but its still very enjoyable. A good soundtrack is bolstered by the engine sounds of some of the great cars that they steal.

This is a fun movie that is especially fun if you appreciate beautiful cars.

A taxi driver in LA picks up a fare one night who turns out to be an assassin who has to kill several people in one night. The taxi driver gets caught up in the nights work of the assassin and may be the only person able to stop him.

A Michael Mann movie starring Jamie Foxx as Max the cab driver, and Tom Cruise as the assassin Vincent, Collateral is simply stunning. Shot at night, it captures the feeling of a big city at night and looks brilliant. With a great supporting crew, the two main actors are very convincing, even Cruise playing a character that is so different to anything else he has ever played.

There are moments in this movie that gave me shivers, the ending is better than the ending of Heat, the moment with the coyotes defies description. There are some movies you watch and it has no effect on you, and then there are movies like Collateral which are so good that it should be compulsory viewing for anyone who enjoys movies.

A due to retire detective is assigned a suicidal younger partner to investigate the suicide of a prostitute and discovers a major drug smuggling operation, which places them in danger.

Another movie set at Christmas, Lethal Weapon is a buddy movie that works extrodinarily well. The odd partnership of Danny Glover & Mel Gibson works very well with Glover the grizzled older partner and Gibson the suicidal cop with more issues than Time magazine.

Gibson, primarily known as Mad Max before this, with his wild hair plays the madman to perfection. He brings an edge that makes the movie stand out from other similar ones. The plot is slightly convaluted but enjoyable and with memorable scenes, is a good movie to watch.

A movie good enough, or at least bankable enough to spawn three sequels, Lethal Weapon is a great movie that hits the spot for an action movie

A New York cop finds himself in an L.A. building on Christmas Eve just as its taken over by a group of German terrorists. Bad things ensure.

This is the movie that made Bruce Willis into the leading man. A grizzly NY cop visiting his estranged wife in LA and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Willis is brilliant as John McClane but is overshadowed by the over the top performance by Alan Rickman as bad guy Hans. Rickman is overly dramatic and so evil that its a joy to watch.

Die Hard is an explosive (in all senses of the word) action packed movie that is a real good time to watch. With a plot that seems to leave room for Willis to put his own touch on his character, it has some classic moments as well as one of the most popular lines in recent movie history.

Die Hard is one of those movies that you need to watch, its that good and a great way for Willis to make his big break into the world of the leading man.

A bank robbery that isn’t what it seems. A cop who is trying to find the truth. A fixer working for someone with something to hide, and a bank robber who has planned everything.

A Spike Lee heist with a twist movie. Inside Man features Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer and Chiwetel Ejifor. It is a tense standoff between the main robber, Owen, and the cop in charge, Washington. Its a well paced plot that doesn’t seem to lag at any time and yet doesn’t seem to be rushing either. Well written with a good twist, half of the movie is spent at the bank, intersperced with interviews with the hostages afterwards as Washington tries to piece it all together.

This is a great movie, clever, funny at times and tense most of the time. A good heist movie.

Two Miami cops have to protect the only witness to a murder by a French drug lord while trying to recover the large amount of drugs stolen from the police by the aforementioned drug lord from France.

Yet another Jerry Bruckheimer movie, this time directed by Michael Bay, this one set in the sunny city of Miami. Starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as the cops with Tea Leoni as the scared witness and Tcheky Karyo as the drug lord, Bad Boys was a huge hit in the summer of 1995. The mixture of dance music along with the action and the ripping dialog from the two leads make this a fun movie to watch. Karyo is wonderfully menacing as the drug lord, Fouchet, while Tea Leoni’s role is pretty much look pretty.

The car chases, as with most Michael Bay movies, are excellent, and along with the shoot outs and clever plot make this an enjoyable movie to watch.