Though maybe I’m biased having ~lived the film IRL as a Harvard grad having gone to Medical School & made big money on blackjack in Vegas, 21: paean to city lights, wild ecstasy, atmospheric luxe of Sin City, doubled down by split-cast aces. 7.6/10.
[category:drama/crime-films/coming-of-age/actionadventure,date:2007-12-30,rate:7.6,type:movies]
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Category: Crime Films
Tenet (2020)
A cerebral evolution of the spy-thriller from the Da Vincian-imagination of Nolan, TENET is a time-distortion of remarkable metaphysical aspiration – w/a proficient JDW performance, chef d’oeuvre Zimmer-Göransson score, aciculate reparté. 9/10.
[category:drama/actionadventure/time-travel/spy-futurism/cyberpunk/film-noir/crime-films/experimental/mystery/science-fiction,date:2020-03-01,rate:9,type:movies]
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The Irishman (2019)
The culmination of a legendary filmmaker’s career building a genre to surgically deconstruct it over 3.5 glorious hours – with a craftsman, emotionally-powerful allegory on growing old & life’s consequences. Mafia showpiece for the ages. 9.4/10.
[category:drama/crime-films,date:2019-12-20,rate:9.4,type:movies]
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Ash is Purest White (2019)
An elegant mandarin romantic masterpiece juxtaposing industrialism-and-free-spiritness, random violence-&-sacrifice with classical noir-isms, cinematographical bilateralism, Eastern-cultural majesty, & breakout Zhao Tao performance. 8.5/10.
[category:drama/crime-films/internationale,date:2019-03-20,rate:8.5,type:movies]
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Los Tigres Non Tienen Miedo (2019)
A dark, twisted fantasy adventure in the concrete jungle of Mexico City, blending narcotics crime drama, horror, & children’s fairy tales with phantasmagoria, cartel violence, & social consciousness latinx themes, reframing childhood trauma. 9/10.
[category:drama/horror/fantasy/crime-films/coming-of-age/internationale,date:2019-02-20,rate:9,type:movies]
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Uncut Gems (2019)
A white-knuckle crime thriller by the Safdie Brothers x A24 that kaleidoscopically takes a jeweler’s lens to sports gambling, race, masculinity, capitalism, & Biblical sin with coup-de-maître Oneohtrix score & Academy-lvl Sandler performance. 8.2/10.
[category:drama/crime-films/comedyromance/sports,date:2019-02-27,rate:8.7,type:movies]
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A Clockwork Orange (1971)
One of the most stylized depictions of violence & teenage spirit ever filmed with a cleverly-meta juxtaposition of insouciant classical waltzes & sadistic thrills by its psychologically-twisted protagonist, A.C.O.’s striking dystopian mastercraft. 9.4/10.
[category:classics/drama/crime-films/dystopian/experimental/psychological/revengethriller/coming-of-age/science-fiction/political-drama,date:1971-09-07,rate:9.4,type:movies]
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Knives Out (2019)
A twisty whodunit that finally finds use for Rian Johnson’s compulsive need for subversion – with classism undertones, (suspiciously)-storied yet uncapitalized Evans & de Armas-led cast, & sharp violin score. A mixed mystery-thriller. 4/10.
[category:drama/mystery/crime-films/political-drama,date:2019-08-20,rate:4,type:movies]
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M (1931)
A skin-crawling crime film with noir/arthouse elements, a legendary Lorre performance, terrific Fritz Lang direction laden with mystery, and stark ponderances on society and criminality decades ahead of its time. 8.8/10.
[category:classics/crime-films/film-noir,date:1931-04-07,rate:8.8,type:movies]
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Dial M For Murder (1954)
Another mantle piece for the definitive suspense master, Dial M For Murder boasts an unbelievably-intelligent ‘perfect-murder’ concoction screenplay, twisty tale of jealousy/blackmail in classic-Hitchcockian auterism, elegant performances. 8.7/10.
[category:classics/crime-films/film-noir/revengethriller,date:1954-12-07,rate:8.7,type:movies]
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