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"When you dance with the devil, you wait for the song to stop."
Audiences have been flocking to theaters to watch gangster movies since before the introduction of "talkies," enticed by the opportunity to be a tourist in the violent world of career criminals without any of the risk associated with the reality of the lifestyle. The genre has been dominated by the stories of desperate Italian immigrants struggling to make it in America and Italian-American mafiosos who temper their ruthlessnes with strict codes of conduct, such as in The Godfather, considered the second greatest film in American cinema by the American Film Institute.
But, the "face" of gangster movies has become less defined in the past two decades as America has become more diverse and moviegoers more accepting of foreign imports. Modern masters like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma continue to elevate the genre by perfecting it, while innovative filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and Takashi Miike have helped to broaden the genre by refusing to be slaves to gangster movie tropes. Hide your stash, check your clip, and help us choose the latest, greatest gangster movies.
Top 10 Best Gangster Movies of the Past 20 Years >>
Posted 11.08.12 by BrentJS -
Critics votes are rolling in for the upcoming sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and they seem slightly favorable. Mostly noted is the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, which may be just the thing to keep audiences interested.
"Ritchie's franchise — 7% classic formula, 93% adrenaline — is smart in a showoffy way that flatters its star as well as its audience."
— Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News"In an act of criminal negligence, Richie has wasted Robert Downey Jr in a sequel that eliminates smarts in favor of relentless headbanging"
— Peter Travers, Rolling Stone"This movie wants to be a horse but, even measured in box-office millions, it's just another nag."
— Rick Groen, Globe and Mail"Downey may think this interpretation is an insight, or funny, but it pushes what was already a rude rewriting of the classic characters into eye-rolling camp. And it throws everything off balance."
— Stephen Whitty , Newark Star-Ledger"I was let down by this loud and flashy but utterly empty sequel."
— Richard Roeper, Richard Roper.com"It doesn't take a master of deduction to see that Ritchie has decided to play it too safe with this sequel."
— Bruce Demara , Toronto Star -
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law acquitted themselves nicely as Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, respectively, in 2009's Sherlock Holmes, thwarting the diabolical plans of Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). In the upcoming Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, however, the stakes will be raised, as the pair will face off against their oldest and greatest nemesis: Professor James Moriarty.
Though Moriarty only appeared in two of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories — 1883's The Final Problem (which ended with Holmes and Moriarty falling to their deaths) and 1915's The Valley of Fear, Doyle's final Sherlock Holmes novel — Moriarty is as iconic and as expected character in any Sherlock Holmes franchise as Holmes and Watson. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, Game of Shadows director Guy Ritchie called the character "the most famous villain in literature."
I can't think of a super-villain in a sort of obvious commercial sense before Moriarty in literature. He really has become the most famous villain in literature, for not doing a great deal, either, by the way. But it is interesting how he's carried so much momentum. He's an elusive character, really, and he gained his equity as much by being elusive as for being potent.
more moriarty >> Posted 12.16.11 by Ryan -
If you've paid any attention to the vast amount of preview clips and trailers for the upcoming sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, you probably noticed that the movie will feature Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) occasionally dressed in drag and also shirtless. However, the latest preview clip combines a shirtless, cross-dressing Holmes with danger as he hangs from the side of a moving train alongside his friend and colleague Dr. Watson (Jude Law). Nothing like action mixed with a compromising situation.
How Holmes and Watson ended up on the train isn't explained, though we can presume it's because of the duo's pursuit of the unique criminal mind of Holmes' most infamous nemesis: Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris). That, and director Guy Ritchie's intent of making the sequel to 2009's Sherlock Holmes "bigger and better."
"I'm too close to be objective about this now, but originally when we were constructing this conceptually, we just wanted to make it bigger," Ritchie told MTV. "We wanted to make it bigger and better, and I'm not sure if you can be more eloquent than that."
watch the clip >> Posted 12.12.11 by Ryan -
Director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) had been working with Contagion screenwriter Scott Z. Burns on a movie version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. for a couple years, until he decided to step down from the project in November after he and Warner Bros. couldn't agree on casting and budget. Warners isn't giving up on the adaptation, based on the 1960s TV show that followed two agents of a fictitious espionage agency called the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (or U.N.C.L.E.), with The Wrap reporting last month that the studio thinks the movie can become a franchise and have a script "they're very happy with." All they had to do is find a new director and it didn't take long.
Deadline reports that director Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) has come aboard the project, replacing Soderbergh. Lionel Wigram, who produced Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes movies as well as several Harry Potter sequels, will produce the movie, which looks like it will retain the script from Burns.
Spderbergh had planned The Man from U.N.C.L.E. to be his follow up to the indie stripper comedy Magic Mike, and will instead direct the thriller The Bitter Pill, also written by Burns. After Pill and a Liberace biopic entitled Behind the Candleabra, Soderbergh is planning a "sabbatical" from making movies.
Posted 12.12.11 by Ryan -
Director Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opens nationwide next Friday and Warner Bros. (WB) is doing everything it can to make sure you know about it. Multiple TV spots are airing in heavy rotation and WB recently released new still images, posters and a featurette that offers a sneak peek behind the scenes of the movie. Now, eight new preview clips have been released, offering an early look at more than eight minutes of footage from the sequel to 2009's Sherlock Holmes.
Set in 1891, one year after the events depicted in the first movie, A Game of Shadows finds Holmes in pursuit of the world's first supervillain, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), a twisted genius who aims to change the course of history. Even with the aid of Dr. Watson (Jude Law), his intelligent-but-unmotivated brother, Mycroft (Stephen Fry), and a gypsy fortuneteller named Sim (Noomi Rapace), Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) will need to employ all of his pugilistic, observational and deductive reasoning skills if he hopes to thwart Moriarty's machinations.
watch the preview clips >> Posted 12.04.11 by BrentJS -
This December will see the second installment of Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, respectively, and there's a good reason why the two actors were so quick to reunite for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the sequel to 2009's Sherlock Holmes: they actually like each other. "I’m an admirer," Law said of Downey Jr. to Total Film. "When you’ve had a working relationship that’s both challenging and inspiring — and when it’s also easy to spend time with that person — then you do miss it, if I’m honest."
"And I’ve realized more this time around that there’s something about when you and I are clicking and [director] Guy [Ritchie]’s setting us up to win that I don’t know that I’d necessarily want to repeat that with somebody else," said Downey Jr. of his bromance with Law.
Ritchie concurs. "I think the bread and butter of this movie is always going to be the relationship between Sherlock and Watson and you can’t really have enough of those two and their camp banter."
See if you agree in three recently released TV spots.
watch the spots >> Posted 10.30.11 by Ryan -
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is facing his biggest threat yet in the upcoming sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, but the latest trailer only gives a few more glimpses of what's in store.
It's no secret that Holmes' arch-nemesis Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris) is the cause of trouble in A Game of Shadows, but the first action-packed trailer released three months ago only briefly showed Moriarty. While the latest trailer has plenty of new footage to reveal — including an official look at Rachel McAdams reprising her Sherlock Holmes role of Irene Adler, "spy" videos unofficially revealed McAdams in February. The new trailer has only a few new shots of Harris as Moriarty, mostly featuring looks at Holmes, Watson (Jude Law), and the gypsy Sim (Noomi Rapace) running past cannon fire and dodging bullets and other various explosions — there's only a few new shots of Harris as Moriarty.
watch the trailer >> Posted 10.20.11 by Ryan -
The upcoming sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows has a few months before its December release, which perhaps explains why the movie's promotional materials are being released at such a slow trickle. Last month, Warner Bros. revealed three photos from the movie that showed Sherlock (Robert Downey Jr.) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) in various states of repose, while a month earlier, the first trailer showed off a great deal of action.
Working on the sequel was easy, according to Law, and not because there was no shortage of sitting. "Literally, it felt like there was no gap," Law recently told Philly.com. "We went into [the sequel] with a little more confidence and swagger. We were very proud of the last one, but when you pick up a canon like that, it's hard to know how the world will respond. And [audiences] were really enthusiastic, and appreciative."
While Law and Downey Jr. have returned to work with director Guy Ritchie, the new cast additions include Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) as a Gypsy named Sim and Jared Harris as Holmes' arch-nemesis Moriarty. Harris only briefly appeared in the trailer, but, while talking to MTV revealed that more about the infamous villain is on the way.
Moriarty is like "a monster movie," says Harris >> Posted 09.09.11 by Ryan -
Warner Bros. released the first trailer for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows last month, which revealed that director Guy Ritchie had delivered another action-packed adventure for the world's most famous detective. The sequel has landed on the cover of Empire, and three new stills have been released which show that the movie also features a great deal of exciting sitting as well.
more about Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows >> Posted 08.26.11 by Ryan