This Week's Movie

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

A ridiculous comedy directed by Guy Ritchie. LSTB stars Jason Statham, before he broke out in The Transporter. The movie has a large cast that I do not feel like listing out here, but if you have scene Layer Cake you will notice that the gentleman that played Cody also stars in here as Soap. Another man from Layer Cake, Crazy Larry, also plays in this movie (anyone notice a pattern?). This movie sounds like an action movie and I actually looked for it in the action section of Blockbuster, but it is on the verge of slapstick. Some of the scenes run like something that would appear on the worlds dumbest criminals. Statham and his three friends decide it is there time to make it rich. They put their faith and a hundred grand in the hands of their friend, Eddie. Eddie is a great card player since birth, he would have won it all if not for foul play. He and his friends end up four hundred thousand in debt to Harry, the man who arranged the game. If they do not come up with the money in a week they lose their fingers and Eddie's dad loses his bar. The odds are stacked against them and you will have to watch and see if they make it out with all their digits and a pint in front of them.

Reasons to watch:

1. Gritty: The movie is shot almost without white balancing giving a hard look to it that almost makes you not want to watch it yet at the same time you can't look away because it is something that is not seen very often.

2. Hard Hitting: The camera angles used in the movie are very disorientating and almost give you a headache at times. Yet, at the same time pulls you in deeper into their world.

3. Soundtrack: Throughout the movie there is a constant bass line, almost jazz like. Every time 

this is heard something is about to happen, whether your about to be introduced to another story line or Eddie just lost all their money.

4. Award Winning: Guy Ritchie won "Best New Filmmaker" from the MTV Movie Awards back in '99. Since then Ritchie has gone on to direct six movies. He just wrapped up production on his version of Sherlock Holmes (Check out Pete's preview below).

5. Multiple Story Lines: The movie has at least two stories that occur simultaneously. They all come together and not as confusing at Tarantino movies do either.

6. Re-watch: I watched this movie twice before writing here. The first time was to get a handle on the movie, the second was enjoyment and to figure out what exactly happened. So before you judge this movie watch it again to make sure you are fully grasping what is going on.

This is a wrap. Tell me what you think and feel free to recommend a movie for me. Include your name and who knows you might be famous.

-Bob