Category Archives: British

2000, Boxing, British, Complicated, Crime, Dog Story, Frenetic, Gangs, Mayhem, Satirical ultra-violence, Violent, Vulgar

Snatch (2000)

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From NetFlix:

An Irish gypsy gets involved in a match-fixing boxing racket, a vast diamond heist is about to go down and London’s gangster underworld is blown open in this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, twisty crime caper featuring a motley cluster of characters. Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) writes and directs; Stephen Graham, Dennis Farina, Rade Serbedzija, Jason Statham, Benicio Del Toro and Brad Pitt star.

“Snatch” is yet another example of what I call “satirical ultra-violence”. Think “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”. Or just think “Jason Statham”. Probably an early example of this type of film was “Pulp Fiction”.

However, in this case Jason Statham is not an action doll. Instead he is the sarcastic well-spoken narrator with a really stupid sidekick Tommy. In fact, despite the many sometimes difficult-to-understand British dialects, the dialog is often very polite understated English spoken in moments of complete destruction or mayhem. There are many wonderful sight gags that made me laugh out loud. And of course there is a lot of VIOLENCE, although I have trouble remembering any visible gore. The idea is to laugh at violence that seems too improbable to be possible. What have we come to ?

As usual there are many characters and many subgroups all interacting. If you don’t mind the violence, than just enjoy the nonsense and mayhem. You will love the dog!

2010, British, Car Chase, Crime, Dark, Drugs, Gay theme, Grim, Love Story, Police Story, Revenge, Serial Killer, Suspense, Violent

Blitz (2010)

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From NetFlix:

With an insidious serial killer known as “the Blitz” on the loose in London, Detective Brant (Jason Statham) takes to the case while working out his own aggression issues with a police-appointed psychiatrist. But when he and his partner (Paddy Considine) eventually corner a suspect, they don’t have enough evidence to apprehend him. Elliott Lester directs this frenetic crime thriller based on a novel by Ken Bruen.

“Blitz” offers the usual Jason Statham, take it or leave it. Of course he takes the law into his own violent hands despite being a British policeman, that goes without saying. Perhaps there is some novelty in the fact that:

  • His police division is noted for rough irregularities. That division gets a new boss (Porter Nash is the character’s name) who is both highly qualified and gay. Whereas the other policemen dislike and deride Nash, Detective Brant (Statham) respects and works well with him. In fact …
  • Brant confides in Nash that he, Brant, suffers from blackouts which Nash correctly attributes to burnout.

Cat and mouse with the serial killer is intelligently written. Eventually the killer gets his due. So does the amoral journalist who seeks glory in cooperating with the killer.

But in the end, it is the usual Statham.

2009, 2010, 2011, British, Child Molestation, Complicated, Crime, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Lawyers, Made For TV, Rape, Suspense, Wonderful acting

Law and Order: UK (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Dick Wolf’s long-running “Law & Order” franchise expands across the pond in the first season of this gritty police procedural that’s set on the streets of London and based on scripts from the American series. The first case finds detectives Ronnie Brooks (Bradley Walsh) and Matt Devlin (Jamie Bamber) teaming up with prosecutors James Steel (Ben Daniels) and Alesha Phillips (Freema Agyeman) to get to the bottom of a baby’s untimely death.

Don’t get me wrong, Kathy and I love all the American “Law & Order” shows. But I find that this British version is better, more intense, and offers more courtroom drama. Beginning in 2009 the series ran into 2011. And then one of the lawyers, James Steel, used some plot excuse to leave the show and as far as I know the series ended at that point.

If you like “Law and Order”, DO NOT MISS THIS TV SERIES!

2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, British, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Cynical, DO NOT MISS, Flirting, Love Story, Made For TV, Political Suspense, Suspense, Terrorist Attack, Torture, TV Series, Wonderful acting

MI-5

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From NetFlix:

This award-winning series dramatizes the professional exploits and personal lives of the “spooks” of MI-5, the British equivalent of the FBI. No-nonsense head officer Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) guides a band of dedicated spies who risk their lives every day. The team includes expert and junior members who must balance real life with the job’s requirement for complete secrecy, no matter the cost. Matthew Macfadyen and Richard Armitage co-star.

Beginning in 2002 and continuing at least to 2010, this British TV-series is “utterly smashing”. Intense, sometimes hard to watch, but incredibly exciting in just about every episode. What makes some episodes difficult to watch is that the members of MI-5 are forced at times to make hard decisions that involve “collateral damage” (meaning some poor soul dies), so much so that those members are often damaged themselves and actually leave MI-5 (i.e. leave the show). In fact, be prepared for many, sometimes disappointing cast changes. For example Rupert William Penry-Jones (the character Adam Carter) started the show and then disappeared for awhile to be replaced by Matthew Macfadyen (the character Tom Quinn) who then leaves the show and is replaced by Rupert William Penry-Jones.

There are too many wonderful characters to even mention them. You can find them all listed in IMDB.

In addition to spook plots, there are also many romances. But any romance for a member of MI-5 is next to impossible because even their significant others cannot know what these spooks do for a living.