Australian filmmakers Nic Champeaux and Daniel Cordery have just released their new film Lieutenant Jangles and this week they spoke to David Griffiths about the film.
Take a listen to the full interview right here:
Category: Crime
Film director Josh Conn has just released a brand new film called Crow Valley and this week we caught up with him to chat about it.
Take a listen to the interview below:
Summary: Down on her luck and saddled with debt, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles, ultimately leading to deadly consequences.
Year: 2022
Cinema Release Dates: 12th August 2022 (USA)
VOD Release Dates: TBA
Country: USA
Director: John Patton Ford
Screenwriter: John Patton Ford
Cast: Jonathan Avigdori (Khalil), Bernardo Badillo (Javier), Megalyn Echikunwoke (Liz), Amje Elharden (Robert), Ricarlo Flanagan (Mike), Gina Gershon (Alice), Wesley Han (Mike), Sheila Korsi (Luna), Janice Sonia Lee (Becca), Roman Mitchyan (Armen), Tomas Pais (Taylor), Aubrey Plaza (Emily), Ben Rodgers (Jason), Theo Rossi (Youcef), Kimiko Singer (Sarah), Brandon Sklenar (Brent), Jack Topalian (Vaz), Lamar Usher (Lamar)
Running Time: 97 mins
Classification: M (Australia), 15 (UK), R (USA)
OUR EMILY THE CRIMINAL REVIEWS
Kyle McGrath’s Emily The Criminal Review:
I’ve always loved crime films regardless of what level of crime or what country these films come from. With The Godfather, Once Upon a Time in America, Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction being considered some of the greatest movies ever made it’s undeniable that many filmgoers feel the same way that I do. While not always realistic the genre can be approached from all sorts of angles not simply being about the crime itself but often as interesting character studies on people and what it is in their lives which drives them to the wrong side of the law.
Emily the Criminal is a drama thriller which acts as the debut feature film from writer director John Patton Ford. It follows Emily (Aubrey Plaza) a former artist with a past criminal assault record weighing her down. She struggles to make ends meet and pay her student debt with her low paying job, by chance one day a co-worker gives her the opportunity to make some quick cash via a credit card fraud ring operated by Youcef (Theo Rossi) and his cousin Kahlil (Jonathan Avigdori). Quickly Emily becomes seduced by the allure of making fast money and developing a relationship with Youcef however this new life of crime she has adopted begins leading her down an increasingly dark path she may not be ready for.
Along this entire journey is a distinct feeling of intensity which never let’s up. Although there is definitely a sudden change at some point I felt the film hadn’t earned up until then Emily feels like someone who doesn’t quite gather just how deep she’s digging this hole for herself and around this John Patton Ford crafts some nail biting sequences for sure.
What I found interesting about this movie is how it only really scrapes the surface of the crime world Emily becomes involved in. Some might find this disappointing however as there isn’t a lot to this story that we haven’t seen before in other films. We never go too far into the organisation or branch out into different areas it largely stuck with simple credit card fraud in action coupled with the bond which grows between Emily and Youcef.
I admit I have not seen all of Aubrey Plaza’s recent work however she always struck me as an actress with a particular charisma and she puts her all into this movie. As the stakes get higher and Emily goes from someone who is simply a cog in the machine to the person calling the shots it was great seeing that when pushed she can definitely take care of herself, all the while still there are hints that she is still a good person underneath.
The relationship which grows between Emily and Youcef leads to us seeing Youcef in a completely new light as time goes on. It never really struck me as a cliched ‘thief with a heart of gold’ character arc rather it was a role reversal I enjoy seeing done well in films. Through Theo Rossi’s great performance over the course of the film there is almost a switch as he becomes the out of his depth character while Emily is the one willing to get dirty and hurt people for a big pay day.
Something I disliked was how the film seemed to have the same issues a lot of others have in where to go with this type of story. This isn’t at all a good vs evil Robin Hood-type storyline and while I don’t wish for any morale grandstanding Emily’s ambitions are quite shallow and her capabilities and competency as a master criminal is debatable. As such I think the final act definitely needed work to create something with more significance all things considered.
Ford has does an excellent job creating a thrilling crime flick beginning to end with Aubrey Plaza & Theo Rossi nailing it showing off their respective talent. Unfortunately the film strikes me as not building towards an ultimate goal and I felt myself disappointed when the ending credits rolled on.
Other Subculture Emily The Criminal Reviews:
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Trailer:
Stan today confirmed the highly anticipated second season of the critically acclaimed criminal drama series Gangs of London will premiere 20 October, same day as the U.K. and only on Stan.
To watch and share the trailer, click here: https://youtu.be/XSZ8Wtbw6H4
One year after the death of Sean Wallace and the violent reckonings of the first season, the map and soul of London has been redrawn. The surviving Wallaces are scattered, the Dumanis broken and estranged, and ex-undercover cop Elliot is now being forced to work for the investors. To restore order, the investors have aligned behind heroin baron Asif Afridi and together they have installed a new ruling force in London in the form of brutal gang leader – Koba. His vision for the criminal landscape is a dictatorship, a world in which old school gangster codes don’t exist and in which he holds a complete monopoly over London’s drug trade. But this monopoly can’t last forever. The gangs are fighting back – who will win the battle for the soul of London?
The brand new season of Gangs of London will see our old favourites and new players fight back against the new order, forcing sworn enemies to work together and family members to betray each other. Full of twists, turns and exhilarating, cinematic action sequences, the series will introduce us to new characters and unexpected leaders will emerge.
Season two will see the return of Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù (Humans), Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You), Lucian Msamati (The Good Liar), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones), Orli Shuka (EastEnders), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Chloe), Brian Vernel (The Tunnel), Narges Rashidi (The Allegation), Asif Raza (Khalish) and Valene Kane (The Fall) reprising their roles.
Joining the ensemble cast include Waleed Zuaiter (Baghdad Central, The Spy) as Koba, French rapper Jasmine Armando in her first TV role as Saba, Fady El-Sayed (Baghdad Central, A Private War) as Faz, Salem Kali (Un Prophete, Dealer) as Basem and Aymen Hamdouchi (SAS: Red Notice, Criminal: UK) as Hakim.
The award-winning series is created by Gareth Evans and his creative partner Matt Flannery. Gangs of London is a Pulse Films production in association with SISTER for Sky Studios and AMC.
Executive Producers are Thomas Benski, Jane Featherstone, Tom Butterworth, Corin Hardy, Helen Gregory, Gareth Evans, and Matt Flannery. Series Executive Producer is Hugh Warren. Season 2 is directed by Corin Hardy, Marcela Said and Nima Nourizadeh. The series is written by Tom Butterworth, Lauren Sequeira, Danusia Samal, Rowan Athale, Meg Salter and co-written by Steve Searle.
Gangs of London Season 2 will premiere 20 October, same day as the U.K. and only on Stan.
Stan today announced the brand new season of the smash-hit series Your Honor, starring Oscar® nominee and Emmy, Screen Actors Guild® and Tony Award-winner Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) will premiere 10 December, same day as the U.S. and only on Stan.
The acclaimed series broke network viewership records in the U.S. with its debut season and stars Cranston as Michael Desiato, a respected New Orleans judge whose upstanding life is derailed when his teenage son’s accidental hit-and-run killing of the son of notorious crime boss Jimmy Baxter (SAG Award winner Michael Stuhlbarg) led to a high-stakes game of lies, deceit and impossible choices. Emmy nominee Hope Davis (Love Life, American Crime) stars as Jimmy’s wife, Gina, who is at times more dangerous and driven than her husband, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (The Wire) stars as Charlie, a local politician and Michael’s best friend.
Along with Oscar- and Emmy-nominated guest star Rosie Perez (The Flight Attendant), Emmy winner Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Amy Landecker (Transparent) will return to guest star. Martindale returns as Senator Elizabeth Guthrie, the mother of Desiato’s deceased wife and one of the last links to his previous life. Landecker plays Detective Nancy Costello, who has been betrayed by her friendship with Desiato and will not let go until she uncovers the truth. Perez is playing Olivia Delmont, a charismatic assistant U.S. Attorney who must manipulate and motivate an unwilling asset in order to bring down a crime organization in New Orleans.
Lilli Kay (Chambers), Keith Machekanyanga (The Rookie), Andrene Ward-Hammond (61st Street), Jimi Stanton (Blue Bloods) and Benjamin Flores Jr. (The Haunted Hathaways) will return as season regulars. This season, Big Mo (Ward-Hammond), the formidable leader of the Desire Gang, demands fierce loyalty as she pushes to expand her empire throughout New Orleans with help from Little Mo (Machekanyanga). Fia Baxter (Kay) is forced to reckon with the true nature of her family as she deals with the aftermath of her boyfriend’s shooting (by a bullet that was intended for her brother). As the only surviving son of Jimmy Baxter, Carlo (Stanton) is now more determined than ever to follow in his father’s criminal footsteps, while Eugene Jones’ (Flores Jr.) attempt to avenge his brother’s death has created a new chain of events that threaten to create a war on the streets of New Orleans.
The series is executive produced by Emmy nominees Robert and Michelle King (The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Evil) and Liz Glotzer (Evil, The Good Fight), with Joey Hartstone (The Good Fight) serving as showrunner and executive producer for season two. Emmy-winning producer Cranston and Emmy-nominated producer James Degus (All the Way) executive produce the series for Moonshot Entertainment.
Your Honor, produced by CBS Studios in association with KingSize Productions, is based on the Israeli series Kvodo created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach. Rob Golenberg, Alon Aranya, Ninio, Mashiach, Ram Landes, Ron Eilon and Danna Stern also serve as executive producers.
The brand new season of Your Honor premieres 10 December, same day as the U.S. and only on Stan. Every episode of Your Honor Season 1 is now streaming, only on Stan.
Brand new Australian film The Curious Case Of Dolphin Bay is released in cinemas this week and this week we spoke to the film’s director Christine Luby.
You can take a listen to the full interview below:
MONSTER PICTURES in pleased to reveal both the Poster Artwork and list of Australian Cinemas that HUNT will open in from September 22.
Lee Jung-jae made history earlier this week for becoming the first actor of Asian ethnicity to win an Emmy award for Best Male Actor in a Drama, for his role as Seong Gi-hun in the hit Netflix series SQUID GAME.
In addition to starring, Jung-Jae also makes his directorial debut with HUNT and it has already proven a box office juggernaut, taking over $45 million at the Korean box office to date, earning more than BULLET TRAIN and NOPE combined in the territory.
After a high-ranking North Korean official requests asylum, KCIA Foreign Unit Chief Park Pyong-ho (Jung-jae) and Domestic Unit Chief Kim Jung-do (Jung Woo-sung, STEEL RAIN) are tasked with uncovering a North Korean spy, known as Donglim, who is deeply embedded within their agency.
When the spy begins leaking top secret intel that could jeopardize national security, the two units are each assigned to investigate each other. In this tense situation where if they cannot find the mole, they may be accused themselves, Pyong-ho and Jung-do slowly start to uncover the truth. In the end, they must deal with an unthinkable plot to assassinate the South Korean president.
Actress Francesca De Luca chats to Subculture about her brand new film Storage.
Take a listen to the interview below:
Actor, Eric Bana and Director, Robert Connolly, have reunited for Force of Nature, the sequel to the 2021 Australian box office hit The Dry. The film is based on the bestselling series by Jane Harper and sees Bana reprise his character, Aaron Falk.
Bana will be joined by cast members Anna Torv (Mindhunter) as Alice Russell, Deborra-lee Furness (Jindabyne) as Jill Bailey, Robin McLeavy (Homeland) as Lauren, Sisi Stringer (Mortal Kombat) as Beth, Lucy Ansell (Utopia) as Bree and Jacqueline McKenzie (Romper Stomper) as Federal Agent Carmen Cooper.
Jeremy Lindsay-Taylor is back in the role of Erik Falk, alongside Richard Roxburgh as Daniel Bailey, Tony Briggs as Ian Chase and Kenneth Radley as Sergeant King.
Produced by Bruna Papandrea, Jodi Matterson and Steve Hutensky of Made Up Stories, alongside Eric Bana for Pick Up Truck Pictures and Robert Connolly for Arenamedia. Ricci Swart, Meryl Metni, Andrew Myer, Robert Patterson, Andrew Bassat, Joanna Baevski, Hayley Baillie, James Baillie, and Roadshow Films’ Joel Pearlman and Edwina Waddy are executive producing.
In Force of Nature, when five women take part in a corporate hiking retreat and only four come out on the other side, Federal Agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper head deep into the Victorian mountain ranges to investigate in the hopes of finding their whistle-blowing informant, Alice Russell, alive.
Released in 2021, The Dry became on of the top highest grossing Australian films of all time, taking in over $20 million at the box office.
Force of Nature received major production investment from Screen Australia in association with VicScreen.
Force of Nature will be in Australian cinemas in 2023.
It is a stellar evening as the 46th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF46) showcases sci-fi blockbuster Warriors of Future, one of the two major local productions to open this year’s extravaganza tonight.
Joining actor/producer Louis KOO and first-time director NG Yuen-fai on the red carpet at Emperor Cinemas iSQUARE is member of the mega-budget sci-fi blockbuster’s cast Philip KEUNG.
Speaking to a packed audience before Warriors of Future‘s screening, KOO likens the production of the epic thriller – featuring state-of-the-art CGI and Hong Kong-styled action choreography – to taking the first step of an adventure.
“The production process was arduous and challenging,” KOO said. “Yet, I believe someone has to take forward the Chinese-language sci-fi genre. Hopefully, this would open more doors for Hong Kong cinema in the future. I stand firm on involving mostly local SFX professionals on the project. We hope you like this film, and enjoy the meticulous detail we strive to deliver.”
HKIFF46 is going hybrid again with screenings and audience-engagement events in theatres and online for 17 days until 31 August. The complete programme and screening schedule are available at HKIFF’s official website (www.hkiff.org.hk). Tickets can still be purchased through URBTIX.