{"id":244256,"date":"2011-04-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/movie-review-kings-queens-and-mob-pawns-liven-up-landmark-screens\/"},"modified":"2011-04-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-29T07:00:00","slug":"movie-review-kings-queens-and-mob-pawns-liven-up-landmark-screens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/movie-review-kings-queens-and-mob-pawns-liven-up-landmark-screens\/","title":{"rendered":"Rese\u00f1a de la pel\u00edcula: Reyes, reinas y peones de la mafia animan las pantallas de Landmark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Scott Marcas |<\/strong> Cr\u00edtico de cine SDUN<\/p>\n

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\"Movie<\/a><\/dt>\n
Ray Stevenson stars as unstoppable Cleveland gangster Danny Greene in “Kill the Irishman.” (Photo courtesy Anchor Bay Films)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

\u201cKill the Irishman\u201d (2011)<\/strong>
\nDirected by: <\/strong>Jonathan Hensleigh
\nWritten by:<\/strong> Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters based on Rick Porillo\u2019s book by the same name
\nProtagonizada por: <\/strong>Ray Stevenson, Vincent D\u2019Onofrio, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken and Robert Davi
\nTiempo de ejecuci\u00f3n: <\/strong>106 min.
\nClasificaci\u00f3n:<\/strong> 3 estrellas<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2018t already seen \u201cGoodfellas\u201d or \u201cCasino,\u201d don\u2019t worry: Writer\/director Jonathan Hensleigh has covered them for you in \u201cKill the Irishman,\u201d a hopelessly derivative yet compulsively watchable retread.<\/p>\n

The true story of an Irish gangster yearning to become part of the Italian mob is initially narrated in flashback from a child\u2019s perspective and follows its lead, a hood who survives a lethal car bomb explosion while oldie tunes boom from the stereo, as he becomes the self-appointed leader of the most powerful union in the Midwest.<\/p>\n

\u201cKill the Irishman\u201d stars Ray Stevenson as the unstoppable Danny Greene, a former longshoreman and future \u201cRobin Hood of Collingswood\u201d who butts heads with the Mafia and turns Cleveland into \u201cBomb City, USA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The devil\u2019s in the details, and that\u2019s where you\u2019re sure to find any new wrinkles the film has to add to a tried and true genre. There\u2019s a Tarantino-worthy exchange comparing a Scotsman\u2019s love of haggis to an Irishman\u2019s penchant for potatoes. (Who knew that every city in America plays home to what\u2019s known as a \u201cTheatrical Guild,\u201d a tavern where cops and criminals drink side by side?) And we at last learn the reason Italian hoods call each other by colorful appellations: Because they\u2019re too #%$&ing stupid to remember each other\u2019s names.<\/p>\n

The cast (all working in peak form) reads like a Who\u2019s Who of cinematic made men. There\u2019s Tony Lo Bianco (\u201cThe French Connection,\u201d \u201cBloodbrothers\u201d), Mike Star (\u201cMiller\u2019s Crossing,\u201d \u201cGoodfellas\u201d), Paul Sorvino (\u201cDick Tracy,\u201d \u201cGoodfellas\u201d) and loveable schlub Steve Schirripa (\u201cCasino,\u201d \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d). Also popping up in small roles are Christopher Walken, whose fractured and wholly original line readings make anything he\u2019s in worth a look; \u201cShowgirls\u201d tough, pockmarked Robert Davi; and for fans of British noir there\u2019s Vinnie Jones (\u201cSnatch,\u201d \u201cLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels\u201d).<\/p>\n

The one thing \u201cKill the Irishman\u201d has over Scorsese is its flair for mingling actual TV news pieces with gunplay, although this is relatively minimal. So much of the low budget film\u2019s special effects went into bombings that there were precious few pennies left to waste on bullets.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, I\u2019m a sucker for R-rated, profanity-laced mob movies, and while \u201cKill the Irishman\u201d will never become a top-shelf attraction, there are enough familiar faces and attempts to keep things fresh and moving at a clip fast enough to warrant a $10 ticket.<\/p>\n

\u201cKill the Irishman\u201d opens its exclusive run at Landmark\u2019s Ken Theatre on April 29.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueen to Play\u201d<\/strong>
\nWritten and Directed by: <\/strong>Caroline Bottaro from a novel by Bertina Henrichs
\nProtagonizada por:<\/strong> Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline, Francis Renaud and Jennifer Beals
\nTiempo de ejecuci\u00f3n: <\/strong>97 min.
\nClasificaci\u00f3n:<\/strong> 2.5<\/p>\n

Caution: Spoilers throughout<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fresh out of the gate writer\/director Caroline Bottaro can\u2019t resist buying into a formula. \u201cQueen to Play\u201d tells the story of H\u00e9l\u00e8ne (Sandrine Bonnaire), a middle-aged chambermaid working at a posh hotel on the isle of Corsica,who recognizes a previously untapped passion for chess while watching an American couple engage in a romantic game on their hotel balcony. It has as much to do with wooden Staunton chessmen as \u201cRaging Bull\u201d does the Marquess of Queensberry rules. What should have been a subtle portrait of a strong, but somewhat disenchanted middle-aged woman\u2019s sudden and unexpected rapture after a liberating brush with intellectual arousal, instead ends in a predictable sporting match.<\/p>\n

Behind a locked hotel door awaits a tonic for H\u00e9l\u00e8ne\u2019s humdrum soul. One look at the beautiful couple\u2019s (Dominic Gould and the ageless Jennifer Beals) sensual cross-table match is enough to send H\u00e9l\u00e8ne reeling headlong into the arms of her faithful (and somewhat flummoxed) husband Ange (Francis Renaud). After she presents him with an electronic chessboard, whispered sweet nothings in Ange\u2019s ear are soon replaced by sultry invitations to play pawn to her queen. Even a lacy negligee H\u00e9l\u00e8ne \u201cborrowed\u201d from Beals isn\u2019t enough of an enticement to engage the put-upon Ange either in or out of bed.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, everything she sees reminds H\u00e9l\u00e8ne of chess, and Bottaro skillfully milks just about every metaphor imaginable. Crumbs on a restaurant tablecloth become pint-sized pieces in a game of skill. Tiled floors morph into giant playing fields on which H\u00e9l\u00e8ne maps her strategies. She fantasizes about Ange and Beals engaged in casual play. Spotting a chess set collecting dust on the shelf of one of her regulars, H\u00e9l\u00e8ne offers to clean the rooms of agoraphobic Dr. Kr\u00f6ger (Kevin Kline) in exchange for lessons. At first the good doctor is hard pressed to recall his cleaning woman\u2019s name, but with chess as the great leveler, the two quickly become fast friends and no more. The crusty recluse might not set foot outside his suite, but one thing he does leave is a doomed X-ray in the trash for H\u00e9l\u00e8ne and the audience to soon discover. Credit Bottaro for showing restraint by reigning in the pathos and not consummating the relationship.<\/p>\n

Mastering the game is not enough to boost H\u00e9l\u00e8ne\u2019s confidence. In order for her to fully reclaim self-esteem she must first enter into a tournament. Not unlike the queen, H\u00e9l\u00e8ne is the only female at risk in the competition and the evil chess club president (Daniel Martin) does his best to keep her from cracking the boys\u2019 club. Not only does H\u00e9l\u00e8ne make it to the finals, the deciding game pits her against nemesis as chess is quickly reduced to a battle against good and evil. Tucked safely in his hotel room, Kline does his best Yoda by telepathically guiding his charge to near-certain victory.<\/p>\n

It was going so well: terrific performances by the leads, enticing location photography,a compelling relationship drama. Too bad it had to end in such a \u201cRocky\u201d manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cQueen to Play\u201d opens its exclusive run at Landmark\u2019s Ken Theatre on April 29.<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Marks | SDUN Film Critic Ray Stevenson stars as unstoppable Cleveland gangster Danny Greene in “Kill the Irishman.” (Photo courtesy Anchor Bay Films) \u201cKill the Irishman\u201d (2011) Directed by: Jonathan Hensleigh Written by: Jonathan Hensleigh and Jeremy Walters based on Rick Porillo\u2019s book by the same name Starring: Ray Stevenson, Vincent D\u2019Onofrio, Val […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1292,"featured_media":244257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Movie Review: Kings, Queens and mob pawns liven up Landmark screens","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}