Inspired by Peter Carey’s Man Booker Prize winning novel and starring George Mackay (1917), Essie Davis(The Babadook), Nicholas Hoult (Stan’s upcoming The Great, The Favourite), Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and Russell Crowe (Stan’s The Loudest Voice), Justin Kurzel’sTrue History of the Kelly Gang shatters the mythology of the notorious icon to reveal the essence behind the life of Ned Kelly and force a country to stare back into its brutal past.
Spanning the younger years of Ned’s life to the time leading up to his death, the film explores the blurred boundaries between what is bad and what is good, and the motivations for the demise of its hero. Youth and tragedy collide in the Kelly Gang, and at the beating heart of this tale is the fractured and powerful love story between a mother and a son.
Stan Original Film True History of the Kelly Gang premieres this Australia Day.
Summary: A British drug lord tries to sell off his highly profitable empire to a dynasty of Oklahoma billionaires.
Year: 2020
Australian Cinema Release Date: 1st January 2020
Thailand Cinema Release Date: 30th January 2020
Australian DVD Release Date: TBA
Country: United States
Director: Guy Ritchie
Screenwriter: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson (story), Marn Davies (story)
Cast: Childi Ajufo (Bunny), Brittany Ashworth (Ruby), George Asprey (Lord Snowball), Russell Balogh (Russell), Max Bennett (Brown), Bruce Chong (Npuc), Michelle Dockery (Rosalind Pearson), Gershwyn Eustache Jnr. (Roger), Christopher Evangelou (Primetime), Colin Farrell (Coach), Henry Golding (Dry Eye), Hugh Grant (Fletcher), Tom Rhys Harries (Power Noel), Charlie Hunnam (Ray),Togo Igawa (Wang Yong), Jack Jones (Nick), Eugenia Kuzmina (Misha), Matthew McConaughey (Mickey Pearson), Lyne Renee (Jackie), Jeremy Strong (Matthew), Eliot Sumner (Laura Pressfield), James Warren (Iron Chin), Samuel West (Lord Pressfield), Jason Wong (Phuc), Tom Wu (George), Jon Xue Zhang (Fat Tony)
Running Time: 113 mins
Classification: MA15+ (Australia) TBC (Thailand)
OUR THE GENTLEMEN REVIEWS & RATINGS:
Dave Griffiths Review:
Nobody quite does gangster film the way Guy Ritchie does. Ritchie basically made the genre his own after re-inventing it with modern day classics like Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrells and Snatch. And while cinema goers have enjoyed Ritichie’s take on Sherlock Holmes and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. nothing he has done in recent years has ever captured that true magic of his early films… that was until now. Yes The Gentlemen sees Ritchie return to the gangster genre but also sees him return to form with his creativity and stunning scriptwriting.
The film centres around Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club) a gangster who has built a budding marijuana business across England. However when Mickey is shot in a bar a private investigator turned wannaba screenwriter named Fletcher (Hugh Grant – Love Actually) is employed by a newspaper to investigate the case. Not happy with his fee though Fletcher decides to cash-in and try to blackmail Mickey’s right-hand man Ray (Charlie Hunnam – Pacific Rim) with a meandering tale that also involves other crime figures like Dry Eye (Henry Golding – Last Christmas) and Coach (Colin Farrell – The Lobster).
The Gentlemen screams creativity from the get go. Ritchie doesn’t make the film an easy watch for the audience. The story doesn’t play in order instead the audience is fed bits and pieces of information from a myriad of sources and at times it is up to them to work out what his truth or lie. Of course Ritchie also throws in the odd red herring to try and put you off the scent and the result is a heightened sense of suspense as you are never really sure what is true, right down to character’s deaths, until it is spelled out for you in actual black and white.
In true Ritchie style the way the plot is presented is also a stroke of genius. Having Fletcher recount the story for Ray not only gives the filmmaker a way to show the different variations of the truth in a creative way but also allows Grant and Hunnam to have an amazing screen presence that both actors seem to embrace with two hands. Grant is truly sensational and despite a long career to date this is easily his best ever role. While the film is not a comedy Grant uses his comedic timing to further enhance the character of Fletcher and make him someone truly memorable. Nearly all of the scenes that the two actors share together feel like an intense theatre production and there is no sign of weak acting anywhere to be seen.
Of course with the all the theatrics and creativity that Ritchie shows with this film he could probably be excused if it were being used to cover up a weak storyline but that certainly isn’t the case here. The story is an absolute gem, made up of unique characters who seem out to only aid their business dealings while not really caring what they do or who they have to crush to get what they want. And while there seems to be a never-ending amount of characters being included in the story you never seem to lose track of who is who and more importantly who works with who.
Anyone planning on going to see The Gentlemen should be warned though that while we have entered into a time of political correctness Ritchie seems to ignore that with this film. The language is perhaps the most extreme we have seen in cinema for awhile (but it does fit with the storyline) and of course this wouldn’t be a Ritchie gangster film if there wasn’t a couple of very violent on-screen deaths as well.
We mentioned earlier the brilliant performances of Grant and Hunnam but really there are a number of other actors who deserve credit for their work as well. Once again Matthew McConaughey shows why he is one of the best character actors going around at the moment while the big surprise here might be the performance of Henry Golding who breaks the shackles of his normal nice-guy persona by playing the very untrustworthy Dry Eye. Then of course there is Hollywood’s forgotten man Colin Farrell who seems to be having a ball playing the slimy Coach.
As far as gangster films go there are none better than The Gentlemen. This is a true cinema tour de force that delivers a headbutt to the face of its audience. It leaves in shock, it leaves you in awe but beyond all else this is a film that you will want to watch over and over again. Guy Ritchie is a true magician of a filmmaker and with The Gentlemen he delivers some good old-fashioned creative magic.
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Well Comic Con is over for another year and once again we have seen some amazing trailers released to fans at the con. Let’s take a look at the films that trailers premiered.
WONDER WOMAN
Summary: An Amazon princess leaves her island home to explore the world, and becomes the greatest of its heroes.
Director: Patty Jenkins
Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, David Thewlis
Release Date: 1st June, 2017 (Australia)
KONG: SKULL ISLAND
Summary: An action/adventure story centered on King Kong’s origins.
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Johnson
Release Date: 9th March, 2017 (Australia)
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
Summary: A spin-off of The Lego Movie centering on Batman.
Director: Chris McKay
Stars: Will Arnett, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, Michael Cera, Zach Galifianakis, Mariah Carey
Release Date: February 2017 (Australia)
DOCTOR STRANGE
Summary: After his career is destroyed, a brilliant but arrogant and conceited surgeon gets a new lease on life when a sorcerer takes him under her wing and trains him to defend the world against evil.
Director: Scott Derrickson
Cast:Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Tilda Swinton
Release Date: 27th October, 2016 (Australia)
KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
Summary: Feature film version of the classic King Arthur story.
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Eric Bana, Jude Law, Djimon Hounsou
Release Date: 23rd March 2017 (Australia)
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Summary: The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.
Director: David Yates
Cast: Ezra Miller, Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Ron Perlman, Jon Voight
Release Date: 17th November 2016 (Australia)
THE WOODS (BLAIR WITCH)
Summary: After discovering a video showing what he believes to be his sister’s experiences in the cursed woods of the Blair Witch, Blane and a group of friends head to the forest in search of his lost sibling.
Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: Corbin Reid, Wes Robinson, Valorie Curry
Release Date: September 2016 (Australia)
JUSTICE LEAGUE
Summary: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Gal Gadot, Henry Cavill, Amber Heard, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Ezra Miller, J.K. Simmons, Jeremy Irons, Willem Dafoe