Harry Brown | advancescreenings.com

Posts Tagged ‘Harry Brown’

REVIEW: Harry Brown

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Sir Michael Caine is Harry Brown. You don’t want to mess with Harry Brown. At first glance, he’s your typical old Englishmen trying to live the rest of his life in the area he knows. However, his community is being overrun by gangs and young kids doing drugs and up to no good. The police don’t have much presence and most of them would rather just leave the area alone rather than do something about the crime. Initially, Harry Brown is the same way…he turns the other cheek until his best friend has enough and decides to take matters into his own hands. His friend didn’t have much luck…but he’s not Harry Brown….and Harry Brown is a badass.

This is a dark drama. The action is really just violence and it’s pretty realistic. Harry Brown is an ex-serviceman so he has the set of skills needed to kick some ass and take names (sound familiar?). He has one goal in mind: to get revenge for his old friend and clean up his community while he’s at it. He’s had enough and if the police aren’t going to do anything about it, well, he is.

The story is pretty basic and the sequence is pretty similar to movies like Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino and Taken. However, this is Sir Michael Caine, one of the greatest actors of our time and he does an amazing job acting in this movie. As Harry Brown becomes a vigilante and goes on his mission to get retribution for his friend, he runs into a couple of interesting story lines and characters. There is one cop, played by Emily Mortimer, who wants to do the right thing and she and Caine keep crossing paths for better or worse. With these extra twists, the movie doesn’t get confusing and doesn’t go in depth into any of the side stories which is good as it does keep the audience engaged in the story until the final scenes which actually climax in a mini bedlam. Unlike other films, the action in this one isn’t over the top…maybe because the UK doesn’t allow guns and so people with guns is over the top for them. I really like this fact about the film though; it keeps it more realistic. It’s as if this can be anywhere and happen to anyone.

Harry Brown

I’m having a little difficulty writing this review because I’m not too sure what to say. I did enjoy the movie and think others will be entertained…but it’s not your typical “have to see” action film. It’s not going to break any blockbuster records or have you running to the theater to see the movie, but while you’re watching the movie, you get pulled in to this not so fictitious world and you try to stop yourself from blinking so you don’t miss the next scene. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t picked up by a major studio but still will be shown in limited theaters in the US…but if it’s playing by you, you should definitely check it out.

This post is part of our SXSW Film Festival coverage
The South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conferences & Festivals offer the unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies. Fostering creative and professional growth alike, SXSW® is the premier destination for discovery. The internationally acclaimed, nine-day Film Festival celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent, with a truly diverse program ranging from provocative documentaries to subversive Hollywood comedies.Visit South by Southwest’s Official Website

Tags: Charlie Creed-Miles, Emily Mortimer, Harry Brown, Liam Cunningham, Michael Caine, South By Southwest, SXSW
Posted in Film Festivals and Conventions, Reviews, South By Southwest 2010 | No Comments »

South By Southwest: Halfway Through!

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I apologize for not updating more but the South By Southwest Conference and Film Festival is hectic! There’s so much to do, I don’t know how anybody can get it all done. I flew in Friday night and today is Wednesday, I’ve seen over a dozen films in the past 4 days and almost all of them have been great. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to. I’ll be writing more in depth reviews when the festival is over.

Day 2: Saturday, March 13th.
After picking up my badge and finding my way around a bit, I sat down for my first movie, a movie I wasn’t even planning to see: Marwencol. It was a great and tragic story about a man who was almost beaten to death regaining his life through an alter life in the form of action figures and dolls. I tried to get in to a film called Mars at the Ritz but I have still yet to be able to make it into a screening at this theater…it has been packed! Instead, I got some food and then headed over to the Paramount where most of the big premieres were taking place and saw the French film Micmacs and then Cyrus starring John C. Reily and Jonah Hill…they were in attendance for a Q&A afterwards.

Day 3: Sunday, March 14th.
I tried to get a few interactive events in today so I didn’t start watching movies till later. I was back at the Paramount for Mr. Nice and Elektra Luxx. Mr. Nice was the true story of Howard Marks, a British drug smuggler. Elektra Luxx is the sequel to Sebastian Gutierrez’s Women in Trouble starring Carla Gugino, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Malin Akerman, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and many more…most of them were in attendance which kind of saved the night because the projector stopped working before the end of the film.

Day 4: Monday, March 15th.
To make up for the day before, I watched 6 movies today, yes 6. I started off with a film I really wanted to see, Pelada…and it was amazing! 2 Americans travel the world playing pick up soccer games. I sat next to the 2 player-travellers in the film. It’s my favorite film of the festival so far. I tried to get into Tiny Furniture at the Ritz, but again it was full, so I saw Beijing Taxi followed by American: The Bill Hicks Story. Beijing Taxi was a stale documentary about a couple taxi drivers in Beijing before and during the Winter Olympics. American: The Bill Hicks Story is the story of comedian Bill Hicks who became more of an activist as his career progressed. I went to a smaller venue, The Hideout, to watch a Finnish film called Living Room of the Nation which put cameras in a few Finnish homes to see how stories unravelled through everyday life. Then I went back to the Paramount for the world premiere of MacGruber, the SNL skit starring Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ryan Phillippe, and Val Kilmer. It was actually hilarious, I’ll write a full review soon. Elektra Luxx was played again tonight since it broke down the night before, so I caught the ending of that.

Day 5: Tuesday, March 16th.
This was the ending of the interactive and film conference so I watched some internet related films. I started off the morning with Erasing David, a British filmmaker sets off to disappear for a month and hires 2 private investigators to try and find him using only publicly available data. It’s about the state of our privacy in society today. Then I set up shop at the Paramount again and watched 3 films back to back. I couldn’t handle the last one (Skateland) and will have to catch it later. I heard good things about it so I’m sure it’ll get picked up. I started off with Hood to Coast, a film documenting a few teams during this epic marathon from Mt. Hood to the coast of Oregon. Followed by The People vs. George Lucas, another documentary about the angry fans of Star Wars. And finished the night with Harry Brown, a great in your face thriller starring Michael Caine.

So that was 14 films and 1 twice. There’s hardly any time in between to eat! I still have 4 more days but I’m probably going to see less and less movies. I took most of today off to try and get some work done in the middle of the week and I’m planning on catching the other side of the South By Southwest festival, the music. Tonight, I plan on seeing Get Low, Cargo, and maybe another film. For the next couple days I will try and see The Runaways, Monsters, Higanjima, World’s Largest, The Red Chapel, and maybe Canal Street Madam, The Parking Lot Movie, and Mars.

Are you guys interested in any of the movies I’ve seen, am trying to see, or other films of the South By Southwest festival? Let us know!

Tags: Adrianne Palicki, American: The Bill Hicks Story, Beijing Taxi, Canal Street Madam, Cargo, Carla Gugino, Cyrus, Elektra Luxx, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Erasing David, Get Low, Harry Brown, Higanjima, Hood to Coast, John C. Reily, Jonah Hill, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Kristen Wiig, Living Room of the Nation, MacGruber, Malin Akerman, Mars, Marwencol, Maya Rudolph, Michael Caine, Micmacs, Monsters, Mr. Nice, Pelada, Ryan Phillippe, Sebastian Gutierrez, Skateland, South By Southwest, The Parking Lot movie, The People vs. George Lucas, The Red Chapel, The Runaways, Tiny Furniture, Val Kilmer, Will Forte, Women in Trouble, World's Largest
Posted in Film Festivals and Conventions, South By Southwest 2010 | 2 Comments »

My South By Southwest Film Plan

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Right now I’m on my flight from San Francisco to Austin, TX. It was delayed an hour which gave me even more time to finally read through the films that will be screened at South By Southwest and try to plot a plan of which films I’ll be watching. I love film festivals, you can jump from film to film and see a month’s worth of movies in a week (sometimes even 2 months!). I love figuring out the logistics of which movies are must see, which ones are only being shown once or twice, and which films I should skip to catch up with old friends or catch some of the music shows at this festival. Needless to say, it’ll be intense!

Day 1
Totally missed. I flew into Austin on the first day of the festival so I’ll be missing the opening film which was my most anticipated film…Kick-Ass. I’ll just have to catch it with everyone else or hopefully catch an advance screening in San Francisco (wink wink Lionsgate Films).

Day 2
If I wake up early enough, I’ll try and catch The Freebie, a film about a young couple who gives each other a free night with someone else.

Mars – an animated romantic comedy about astronauts and robots travelling towards the red planet. I want to know if the astronauts and robots fall in love with each other or stick to their own.

Cyrus The Duplass brothers comedy starring John C. Reily, Marisa Tomei, and Jonah Hill. John C. Reily’s character hooks up with the ridiculously hot Molly (Marisa Tomei) who has an adult son (Johnah Hill). Kind of sounds like a sequel to Stepbrothers..we’ll see.

There’s also a Super Secret screening…we’ll see if it’s worth going to.

Day 3
I think I’ll take the beginning of the day to attend panels and hang out with my interactive festival friends (I am a developer at heart). Also, Facebook is having a developer’s garage so I’ll attend that and hopefully code some great stuff for the facebook users of advancescreenings.com.

The movies of the day will either be Mr. Nice, a true story about Britain’s most wanted man, or Pelada, the other side of soccer and either Futurestates, which seems to be a collection of short stories about different economic scenarios, or The Parking Lot Movie – the title is exactly what it sounds like. So many options!

Day 4
If I didn’t get to catch Pelada (the soccer movie) I could catch it this morning. Followed by Tiny Furniture and Canal Street Madam or American: Bill Hicks. Tiny Furniture is a tragicomedy about a 22-year-old who comes home from college just as she went in – with no skills, no love life, and a lot of free time. Canal Street Madam is about Jeanette Maier trying to re-invent herself after her infamous family-run brothel is raided by the FBI. American: Bill Hicks is an animated film about the true life story of the outlaw comic who tried to save the world. The highlight of this night is MacGruber, yes a full length movie of the SNL sketch staring Will Forte.

Day 5
One of the movies that I missed on the first day is showing again today. It’s called Erasing David and sounds very interesting and very fitting for this interactive/film festival. Filmmaker David Bond disappears for a month and hires two of the world’s top private investigators to track him down using only publicly available data. Sad to say, it conflicts with a film called Like a Pascha about the largest brothel in Europe…Canal Street Madam is playing again and then the highlight is Harry Brown starring Michael Caine.

Day 6
I’ll start off this film with another one I missed on the first day, World’s Largest. It’s about all those weird roadside attractions you see in tiny towns while driving cross country. If I can squeeze it in, I’ll see Cherry, a film about a virgin who drops out of college and encounters an older woman and her underage daughter, before the film of the night, Get Low starring Robert Duvall and Bill Murray.

Day 7
To be honest, I’m excited to check out Austin Carniville which is March 18, 19, and 20 (Day 7, 8, and 9). Luckily, the films during the day don’t intrigue me too much. The movie of the night is The Runaways starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, I’ll either catch that or Mars and Like a Pascha.

Day 8
I can catch a bunch of films today in case I missed them earlier in the week including Canal Street Madam, The Parking Lot Movie, Pelada, and Mars…or go to the Carniville again .

Day 9
THE FINAL DAY!, World’s Largest plays again as well as Hood to Coast, Tiny Furniture, and American Bill Hicks.

That’s the plan…let’s see what actually happens!