Tag: Robert Carlyle

TRAINSPOTTING Screens at The St. Louis Public Library June 25th

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“We called him Mother Superior on account of the length of his habit.”

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TRAINSPOTTING screens at The St. Louis Public Library Central Branch (1301 Olive Street St. Louis) Saturday, June 25th at 1pm. This is a FREE event. 

There’s a new film series in town! To celebrate the Summer Reading Program theme, “Worlds of Wonder,” Central Cinema at the St. Louis Library will be screening some of the most unique and fantastical films ever shown on the big screen. The series kicks off this Saturday with Danny Boyle’s  TRAINSPOTTING

Probably the most disgusting thing I can imagine doing is swimming through a dirty toilet, in search of a pill I had just put up my own butt. Good thing TRAINSPOTTING (1996) took care of showing me that on the silver screen. Despite how disgusting that scene is, TRAINSPOTTING is a master piece. TRAINSPOTTING balances brilliantly the duality between straight people, drug addicts, and alcoholics with a holier than thou attitude toward illegal addicts, touching in depth upon the stresses of a druggie lifestyle, while never falling too far away from the whimsical nature of the film to make a joke out of place.

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If you’ve ever had an angry moment, you’ll love Francis Begbie (Robert Carlyle). His raw, inappropriate rage is comical because you get to see it from the outside.

If you’ve ever had a moment of doubt, you’ll love Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor). He’s the perennial introspective psychologist, keenly aware of his condition, struggling with whether he wants his lifestyle, always laughingly dry about it.

If you’ve ever had a ‘bad’ friend, you’ll love Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller). He’s pushy, disloyal, always right, always wrong, but you can’t get away from him.

If you’ve ever had a naive friend, you’ll love Spud (Ewen Bremner). His weakness makes him ever funnier as the movie goes on, particularly in the speed addled job interview scene, which is a comedic gem. Everything Spud does in TRAINSPOTTING makes me laugh, even though I can’t understand a word he says.

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TRAINSPOTTING pushes you to new places, and you’ll beg to keep going. It’s raw, witty, and twenty years later, still undeniably compelling. See it when it screens this Sunday, June 24th at The St. Louis Library (1301 Olive Street St. Louis, Missouri 63103) There is free parking available on the parking lot at 15th & Olive through July 23.

Here’s the line-up for the rest of the summer. All films are screened Saturdays at 1pm and all are FREE

July 2: Edward Scissorhands, PG-13, 105 mins., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

July 9: Ghostbusters, PG, 105 mins., Columbia Pictures

July 23: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, PG-13, 136 mins., Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

August 6: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, NR, 179 mins., United Artists

August 13: Taxi Driver, R, 113 mins., Columbia Pictures

August 27: Blue Velvet, PG-13, 120 mins., De Laurentiis    

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IRONCLAD Trailers, Clip, Poster & Synopsis

Here are the first international trailers and clip for IRONCLAD aka BRAVEHEART 2. Guess Brian Cox has been pigeonholed seeing as this is pretty much the only kind of movie he does anymore. What he do, dig his BRAVEHEART costumes out of the closet? See for yourself.

Early Trailer

International Trailer

Clip

Synopsis:

IRONCLAD recounts one of the most violent, pivotal moments in English medieval history – when a few good men fought against insurmountable odds to defend their country from a megalomaniac, blood-drunk king. Torn from the pages of history, the devastating battle for the castle of Rochester is a true story of honour, action and excitement. There will be blood.

The year is 1215. King John (Paul Giamatti) has been forced to sign the Magna Carta, a document that will ensure the freedom of men and form the basis of common law in England. Furious at having been forced to sign it, King John raises a vicious mercenary army and begins a rampage across the country to regain total power. But as the King’s army is on the brink of reaching London and taking back control of the country, one last castle stands between him and inevitable victory: Rochester.

Gathered together by Baron Albany (Brian Cox), a small band of rebel warriors gather inside Rochester intent on holding off King John until reinforcements arrive: a Templar Knight (James Purefoy) whose soul is wracked with guilt over the atrocities he has committed during the crusades and his burgeoning feelings for Isabel (Kate Mara), the beautiful lady of the castle and lonely wife of the aging Reginald de Cornhill (Derek Jacobi); battle-hardened mercenaries such as Beckett (Jason Flemying), who fight not for God and country, but for money and bloodlust; and young soldiers like Guy (Aneurin Barnard), who’ll taste blood and battle for the first time – and perhaps the last.

IRONCLAD stars James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox, Robert Carlyle, Kate Mara, Jason Flemyng, Charles Dance, Derek Jacobi and Pete Postlethwaite. IRONCLAD opens in the U.K. on March 4th but has yet to find a U.S. distributor.

Visit the film on Facebook HERE.

Source: HeyUGuys

DVD Review: THE TOURNAMENT

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THE TOURNAMENT is one of those films where the premise is so corny and overplayed that it’s strengths have to come from it’s execution. Luckily The Tournament doesn’t disappoint and is actually something of a gem. In the world of films about televised or secret death matches between over the top badasses THE TOURNAMENT stands out for having a great cast and some of the better, bloodier and more interesting action moments ever.

The Tournament itself happens every seven years, when the world’s best assassins all gather together in one random small town to do battle until one is left standing and is declared the best assassin in the world. I think the winner gets a giant pile of money as well, but that’s never made clear. Each Assassin is outfitted with a tracking device so the other killing sociopaths know exactly where to go, keeping the insanity to a clean 24 hours. OH and the trackers are explosives, so if there are too many people left alive at the end of the day, BOOM!

This time around a civilian is brought into the mix when a Frenchman (played by one of the creators of parkour/free running, Sebastien Foucan) cuts out his tracker and places it in a coffee pot. This is when it’s swallowed by alcoholic priest Father Macavoy (played by Robert Carlyle). Now this washed up, hung over shambled priest has to figure out how to stay alive when the world’s best are trying to kill him. Luckily he has Kelly Hu playing a very sexy trained killer named Lai Lai Zhen. Hu seems exceptionally buxom in this role… but that’s got NOTHING to do with the story… just makes her that much more interesting to watch. Her fight scenes are top notch though, as are most in the film.

Also being a complete and total badass is Ving Rhames as Joshua Harlow, a man who was once retired at the top of his game, but is now pulled back in when the murderer of his wife is pulled into the competition. He’s out for revenge and looks damn cool while he’s there.

I can’t lie about somethings this film has that you’ll see coming a mile away and you’ll just have to suspend your disbelief for. Of course the entire small town is wired up with HD video cameras that are part of some safety network and of course two really smart computer hackers who live off red bull and talk like they’re from a Diablo Cody film have hacked into the system and are letting the gambling billionaires see who’s winning everything. Basically they have my dream job and are the nerds everyone like me (IT Majors) wants to be.

Where the movie falters is just that it’s a played out idea and the budget isn’t nearly big enough to make all the effects look as good as they probably should. Thank god most of the gore is practical effects and the movie relies on very little CGI. There is one scene that completely took me out of the experience involving a montage of murder done to a sweet song. It’s very over the top and comedic but doesn’t fit the rest of the film at all and doesn’t do anything to push the narrative forward.

I can’t help but wish this film was getting a very wide theatrical release here in the US because it’s worth it. Sure it doesn’t have any A-list stars, but the cast here is amazing and the characters are very memorable.

‘The Tournament’ Poster, Stills, Trailer, Bullets, and Smiles!

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High octane, blood-bathed British action thriller…

That’s how Mann Made Films is referring to their latest film, ‘The Tournament.’   The film stars Ving Rhames, Robert Carlyle, Ian Somerhalder, Kelly Hu, and Scott Adkins as just a few of the world’s most dangerous assassins.

Here is the official synopsis:

Every 7 years in an unsuspecting town, The Tournament takes place. A battle royale between 30 of the world’s deadliest assassins. The last man standing receiving the $10,000,000 cash prize and the title of Worlds No 1 (which itself carries the legendary million dollar a bullet price tag). The Tournament is set up by a group of sick high stake billionaires who watch the mayhem unfold via CCTV and bet on its outcome.

Here is the sweet yet simple poster:

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Here is the film’s action-packed trailer:

And last, but certainly not least, are a handful of movie stills straight from the film’s official website.   Check ’em out:

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While the premise down sound somewhat reminiscent of ‘Battle Royale,’ this looks like it’s going to be one helluva fun ride.   These insanse kind of action movies like ‘Crank’ and ‘Smokin’ Aces’ that come out every so often are always welcome.   With the cast involved here, this movie is moving its way up the most anticipated ladder.

No release date has been set for ‘The Tournament,’ though the film is currently working its way through the festival circuit.   It currently does not have a US distributor.