Pain & Gain

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(2013)

Genre: Action/Comedy

Director: Michael Bay

Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Pete Collins

Producers: Michael Bay, Ian Bryce, Matthew Cohan, Donald De Line, Scott Gardenhour, Wendy Japhet, Michael Kase, Alma Kuttruff

Synopsis: From acclaimed director Michael Bay comes "Pain and Gain," a new action comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie. Based on the unbelievable true story of a group of personal trainers in 1990s Miami who, in pursuit of the American Dream, get caught up in a criminal enterprise that goes horribly wrong. -- (Written by Paramount Pictures)

Cast:

• Mark Wahlberg
• Dwayne Johnson
• Anthony Mackie
• Tony Shalhoub
• Ed Harris
• Rebel Wilson
• Ken Jeong

IMDb - Pain & Gain

Glengarry Glen Ross

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(1992)

Genre: Drama

Director: James Foley

Writer: David Mamet

Producers: Joseph M. Caracciolo Jr., Nava Levin, Karen L. Oliver, Morris Ruskin, Jerry Tokofsky, Stanley R. Zupnik

Synopsis: David Mamet's award-winning play about a group of desperate real estate agents comes to the big screen from director James Foley. In a role created specifically for the movie, Alec Baldwin appears as a sales motivator, informing the group of hard-luck salesmen that they must compete in a sales contest where the losers will be fired. The agents work their same tired leads, until one hatches a scheme to burglarize the office, steal the leads, and sell them to a rival. Featuring a cast that includes Al Pacino as the office's sales leader, Jack Lemmon as an elderly loser, Alan Arkin and Ed Harris as frustrated salesmen, Kevin Spacey as the harassed office manager, and Jonathan Pryce as a client, Glengarry Glen Ross is, at its core, a character study about a group of men whose time has passed. -- (Written by Artisan Home Entertainment)

Cast:

• Al Pacino
• Jack Lemmon
• Alec Baldwin
• Alan Arkin
• Ed Harris
• Kevin Spacey
• Jonathan Pryce

IMDb - Glengarry Glen Ross

Swing Shift

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(1984)

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Director: Jonathan Demme

Writers: Nancy Dowd, Bo Goldman, Ron Nyswaner

Producers: Jerry Bick, Charles Mulvehill, Arlene Sellers, Alex Winitsky

Synopsis: A woman finds romance when she takes a job at an airport plant to help make ends meet after her husband goes off to war. -- (Written by IMDb Editors) 

Cast:

• Goldie Hawn
• Kurt Russell
• Christine Lahti
• Ed Harris
• Fred Ward
• Holly Hunter

**Unfortunately, the trailer for this film could not be found on YouTube.

IMDb - Swing Shift

The Way Back

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(2010)

Genre: Adventure/Drama

Director: Peter Weir

Writer: Peter Weir, Keith R. Clarke, Slavomir Rawicz

Producers: Jimmy Abounouom, Karim Abouobayd, Mohamed Khalaf Al-Mazrouei, Tobin Armbrust, Ed Borgerding, Alexander Yves Brunner, Keith R. Clarke, Guy East, Jake Eberts, Duncan Henderson, Robert Huberman, Adam Leipzig, Joni Levin, Marius A. Markevicius, R.J. Mino, Simon Oakes, John Ptak, Scott Rudin, Jonathan Schwartz, Roee Sharon, Nigel Sinclair, Dileep Singh Rathore, Peter Weir

Synopsis: Siberian gulag escapees walk 4000 miles overland to freedom in India. (Written by IMDb Editors)

Cast:

• Jim Sturgess
• Ed Harris
• Colin Farrell
• Saoirse Ronan
• Dragos Bucur
• Mark Strong

IMDb - The Way Back

Gone Baby Gone (jhunterfilmreview)

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(2007)

Genre: Crime/Drama

Director: Ben Affleck

Writer: Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard, Dennis Lehane

Synopsis: When 4 year old Amanda McCready disappears from her home and the police make little headway in solving the case, the girl's aunt Beatrice McCready hires two private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The detective freely admit that they have little experience with this type of case, but the family wants them for two reasons - they're not cops and they know the tough neighborhood in which they all live. As the case progresses, Kenzie and Gennaro face drug dealers, gangs and pedophiles. When they finally solve the case, they are faced with a moral dilemma that tears them apart. (Written by garykmcd)

Cast:

• Casey Affleck
• Ed Harris
• Michelle Monaghan
• Morgan Freeman

 

IMDb - Gone Baby Gone 

jhunterfilmreview: Before The Town, actor Ben Affleck’s directorial debut was Gone Baby Gone. A gritty drama/mystery centred around a child abduction and the countless number of lives it affects. The film has been adapted from the work of novelist and screenwriter Dennis Lehane, who is known for his famous pieces like Mystic River and Shutter Island, which have also been adapted into Academy Award-winning and nominated films, respectively. There are several aspects of the film that made me thoroughly enjoy it. Firstly, it’s an amazing thriller. Starts off slow, but still gripping, and as the story proceeds the thrills increase and viewers are left using their hands to block their ears (maybe just me) to somehow protect themselves from the tension that is on screen. Another aspect of the film, which is rarely achieved in modern cinema that i've seen, is how the thrills and tension is maintained throughout the film, without showing too much gory content. For example, when the main character finds a mutilated body of a child in a bathtub (not a spoiler), the shots are separated by suspense ‘thuds’ and a black screen.  I also find it interesting when a film’s title is used in the dialogue – which was achieved here with thug character, Cheese - as it explains and gives meaning to the title. On top of all this, the film has an all-star cast – Casey Affleck (yes, Ben Affleck’s brother), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye, Mission Impossible 3), Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind, The Rock) and Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, Se7en). Despite all these positive points, I did however have a negative one – I found that some of the dialogue was mumbled, so when I’d turn the volume up to try and hear, the loud sound effects would suddenly blast through my whole house, leaving me slightly irritated. This did not however, affect my overall opinion of the movie, and for this reason…

I give this film 8 stars.

The Hours

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 (2002)

Genre: Drama

Director: Stephen Daldry

Writer: Michael Cunningham, David Hare

Synopsis: In 1951, Laura Brown, a pregnant housewife, is planning a party for her husband, but she can't stop reading the novel 'Mrs. Dalloway'. Clarissa Vaughn, a modern woman living in present times is throwing a party for her friend Richard, a famous author dying of AIDS. These two stories are simultaneously linked to the work and life of Virginia Woolf, who's writing the novel mentioned before. (Written by Jonas Reinartz)

Cast:

• Nicole Kidman
• Meryl Streep
• Julianne Moore
• Toni Collette
• John C. Reilly
• Ed Harris
• Claire Danes

 

IMDb - The Hours