The Town: robberies, guns, and Boston, Massachusetts

You know, I’ve got to admit, it always amazes me, sometimes, what people will do to get a hat, it really does.

Well …

Let me rephrase that.

It’s amazing what some local newspaper editors will do to get free publicity, it really is.

After all, getting Movie Night Adrian to stand sill, for long enough to show off the rather fetching Brentwood Gazette pop-out rain hat … ?

Is — or possibly isn’t — that hard.

Especially when Adrian, bless him, says I’m the Drama Queen …

Yeah …

Lets get moving on, shall we … ?

Yeah … … !

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23/2/2011

Yeah …

Moving … !

Something I know I meant to do, earlier today.

Until I got interrupted by the rather sad news that Nicholas Courtney had died.

Definitely a bit sad, that …

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Lets definitely moving on, shall we … ?

Last night was one of those quiet Tuesday movie nights: one which saw myself and Movie Night Adrian — complete with … the hat! — got ourselves together to catch a film.

Adrian, bless him, had managed to actually managed to corner something from Brentwood Library’s DVD collection.

The 2010, Ben Affleck film, The Town.

Which — at the time of it’s initial release — seems to have caused something of a stink, by claiming that Charlestown — a small, mostly Irish-American suburb of Boston, Massachusetts — had the highest number of bank-robbers, per head of population, of any town in the US.

Hmmm …

Yes …

That’s an attention grabber …

At any rate, the Ben Affleck directed, co-written and starring film sees Affleck as Doug MacRay, part of a group of old friends who specialise in robbing banks and holding-up bank vans.

And — after a job that goes a touch lopsided — manages to get himself involved with Claire Keesey: played by Rebecca Hall.

The problem there, of course, is that Miss Keesey … ?

Had been taken hostage in that self-same bank-raid …

That’s only the start of his problems …

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Now, I’ll be honest, here, if I may … ?

The Town isn’t the most stunning of films that I’ve seen, recently.

But it did manage to fill in a quiet evening, with a nice set of thrills and spills.

And does show us what has to be one of Pete Postlethwaite’s last performances, as Fergie the Florist, Charlestown’s menacing Irish mob boss: The Town is worth catching for that.

The Town

• Ben Affleck Doug MacRay
• Jon Hamm Special Agent Adam Frawley
• Rebecca Hall Claire Keesey
• Jeremy Renner James “Jem” Coughlin
• Pete Postlethwaite Fergus “Fergie” Colm

Nice: but mostly forgettable★½☆☆☆

From Paris With Love: Boom Bang a Bang … With cheese …

Well, there’s a thing …

I think we’ve actually managed to generate a Blogger label that mentions Movie Night Adrian.

Or at least, mentions Movie Night Adrian’s hat.

The one he’s oh-so-politely indicating in the photo … ?

Yes, that hat …

Which is relevant, of course, because the pair of us were both at my place, tonight, with a copy of the Pierre Morel directed, Luc Besson/Adi Hasak co-written film, From Paris With Love.

Well …

The fact Adrian was over was relevant.

Not necessarily the hat.

The hat’s not relevant.

Seriously …

Forget about the hat …

… … …

I’m in burble territory, aren’t I … ?

I can just see Kevin D, Trevor, Kaiju and @MamaAlfy giving me meaningful looks …

At any rate …

Tonight saw both Movie Night Adrian and I at something of a loose end, with only a copy of From Paris, With Love as entertainment.

There certainly wasn’t anything on TV, I know that much.

And I’ve got to admit, From Paris, With Love is definitely entertaining.

It sees Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reese, an aide to the US ambassador to France, doing the occasional … ah … side-job for one of the shadier sections of the Central Intelligence Agency.

And getting a last minute job at an awkward moment; not long after his girlfriend, Caroline*, played by Kasia Smutniak, proposes, he get’s a call from his CIA handler, to fish one of their senior operatives — Charlie Wax, flamboyantly played by John Travolta — out of a French Customs office.

Which is where it starts to get … hairy …

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Now, I’ve got to admit, this is one very over-the-top little action adventure film.

And one that makes no bones about being a touch OTT, or a touch … ahhh … light hearted, when it comes to things like realism or the consequences of its lead characters actions.

Were that much running around and shooting thing’s to happen in real-world Paris, I suspect at least one gendarme — in a very French, very stylish, romantic, deeply philosophical mannerº — would start to ask snotty questions.

Especially about things like jurisdiction, gun licenses and (possibly) evidence.

But, aside from all that … ?

I’ve got no problem in recommending From Paris With Love to you.

Just make sure you leave your disbelief — and any lingering questions about the HATª — in the bucket provided by your local DVD rental store.

* Pronounced ca-ro-LEAN, rather than ca-ro-LINE, as in English.

º And possibly involving a baguette or a packet of Gitanes. Maybe a Gallic shrug, somewhere …

ª No, let’s just leave the hat, right there, shall we … ? Goody Gum Drops … !