Catching up on Reviews (August Edition)

Three more movie reviews:

Gangster No. 1 and I had though Essex Boys was brutal. Another British gangster film, showing the rise to power of gangster (played by Malcolm McDowell in the modern era and Paul Bettany as his younger self) in the 1960s over the bodies of his rivals and friends. The sequences set in the 60s are brilliant and David Thewlis is superb as Freddie Mays, the gangster our main character respects and ultimately betrays. This movie is not for the squeemish, it has one of the most brutal murder sequence I have ever seen on film, which is impressive as it shows you almost nothing of the direct violence itself but still so amazingly brutal. Not a happy movie but oddly fascinating. My Grade: C+/B-

Night at the Museum, a silly but well done Ben Stiller vehicle about a divorced dad who need to find a job to stay near to his son and ends up as a security guard in a museum where everything comes to life at night. Yes, it is a silly as it sounds. But fun and as a comedy I can ignore the logical inconsistencies in the plot. Excellent supporting cast as well. My Grade: B-

Breakfast at Tiffany's which I thought I had seen before but I had not. Every bit as good as its reputation, Audrey Hepburn is delightfully insane as Holly Golightly and George Peppard is stoic and thoughtful. This movie is pretty much everything it is said to be, charming, witty, heartbreaking. Well worth watching. My Grade: B+/A-