The Bank Job: although the actual Bank job is finished within the hour, after that everything goes ‘Pete Tong’ and the 20-odd main, and shallow, characters all come together in a poor Lock-Stock fashion. It’s also the classic Hollywood version of Britain, where every man’s a wheelin’ & dealin’ geezer and everyone , including the royal family, are sex’d up to the maxxx – tits are pretty much the first thing you see. Jason Statham, as always, is grittier than a pocked of sand, but not superhuman for a change. Didn’t once feeling anything for any of the characters, but neither did the cast as they threw a party at the end; despite 1/2 of their crew getting killed! There’s also a cracking Ronnie Barker look-a-like. It’s a watchable stereotypical vapid Brit-flick but really only stuck it out because it’s all based on real rumours.

Score: 4/10

of course we're robbing the bank...when a hot woman asks you to do something, you do it!

R

Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows

Dave: I’ve got a question.  What do we do with all the dirt we’re gonna dig out of the hole?
Kevin: It’s all been worked out, Dave.  We’ll dig another hole in that corner over there and put it in that.

Martine (Burrows) is coerced by the British government into recruiting a team of thieves, led by Terry (Statham), to break into a bank and steal incriminating pictures of a British royal.  Terry’s team thinks it’s just a bank robbery and go along with it, unaware of the seriousness of the situation.

Apparently this is based on a true story which took place in 1971.  I’m sure it’s amped up a little bit to make it more exciting, but it plays out in a fairly believable way, at least compared to the over-dramatics of most heist movies.  That’s not to say it’s particularly original though.  In fact, the first half of it is a by the numbers bank robbery movie.  There’s typical editing, typical music, standard scenes of the team being recruited, and the usual brushes with police while they tunnel their way towards the bank.

The movie improves in the second half when the proverbial s*** hits the fan.  The robbery is successful, but then the team is pursued by various people with a vested interest in finding the robbers and getting their stolen possessions back.  While somewhat confusing at times, I found this portion of the film to be much more interesting than the standard bank robbery set up in the first half.

Statham is playing the same role as always, of course.  Though, this time he has a wife and kids to worry about.  Burrows is a little bit dull and mostly just there to be the temptress that gets the plot rolling.  The rest of the actors and characters are fine, but as usual in these kinds of movies, there’s just so many of them that you never really feel very attached to anybody.  The movie jumps from scene to scene so often, it’s hard to get any real character development going.

Even though I felt like I’d seen most of this movie’s elements before, the more intriguing second half put it a notch above similar movies, but it’s still not one of my favorite film genres.  There’s only so many ways you can make a bank robbery and its aftermath interesting, and this movie only succeeds partially.

If you’re gonna commit a crime, be careful about using walkie-talkies to communicate.  You never know who’s listening in.

10 – 1.5 because the genre just doesn’t interest me that much – 1.3 for a slow first half – .7 for a general lack of character development – .2 for a couple confusing moments = 6.3

Alright, let’s make some money!

– Kevin Swain

This movie flew way under the radar that it was barely a blip when hearing some moderately positive about The Bank Job after it was released in early 2008. I wanted to check out this movie. I’m glad I did, because it is a fantastic thrill ride.

It recounts the true story about bank robbery in 1971 when a car dealer, Terry (Jason Statham) that owes money from a sleazy smut peddler, Lew Vogel (David Suchet) is recruited by his friend, Martine Love (Saffron Burrows) to help rob a bank, Lloyds Bank United, that was upgrading their security system, which would leave them vulnerable.

Terry recruits his best friends, Dave and Kevin (Daniel Mays, Stephen Campbell Moore) to help him carry out the heist with the help of Guy Singer (James Faulkner), Bambas (Alki David) and Eddie (Michael Jibson) as a lookout.

The group doesn’t know that Martine is a secret informant for the government with Tim (Michael Lintern) as her liaison. The real reason for the robbery is to recover some incriminating photographs of Princess Margaret (Louise Chambers), and other top officials in compromising positions by shady character named Michael X (Peter de Jersey).

They think that everything will go according to plan, but everything that would go wrong, does to their benefit. It made them think that they were real professional bank robbers instead of a bunch of amateurs. After they pull of the bank heist, the shit hits the fan. Interpol, MI-5, corrupt cops and villains are after the group for various reasons.

This intense movie had me on the edge my seat at every twist and turn. The movie is not perfect. I had a problem about what happened to some of the characters at the end of the movie that were forgotten.

Some of the names of the real people were changed to protect them from any exposure. How could this movie be “based on a true story” when the people’s names have been changed, and possibly the situations for dramatic effects?

Judgment: An awesome, slick action movie that should be seen.

Rating: ****1/2

Once again, this is a case of tagging a name on something we’ve known for a long time. Martial arts can also be categorized here. Both are part-intuition, and those that study their own movements enough will be able to discover the basics of Martial Arts and Parkour.

What is Parkour? It’s “l’art du deplacement“, or “the art of movement“. In layman’s terms, that means : It’s how you monkey-dash across a city whilst being pursued by Yakuza organ collectors. Wikipedia has a nice list of basic Parkour techniques, just in case you want to get started yourself. 

Parkour – Jason Statham performs certain Parkour moves in several movies. Jacky Chan also does, in movies like “The Accidental Spy”. Then again, he’s a ninja in just about all of his movies. Jacky Chen (My former science teacher), probably isn’t too active these days. Jaki Liu, a homosexual tall kid… I doubt that foo’s going to go over any obstacles gracefully, what with his clunky poser-skater shoes.

You may have noticed that I referenced Parkour in LMS #2. In actuality… it’s not that hard. Just go with intuition. As a sport, Parkour just may be one of the coolest sports around. Except for one small problem..

A lot of the movements fall under the category of “Common Sense”. Take vaulting over a guardrail, for instance. It’s almost… redundant to call it a “Passement”, when all you’re doing is jumping over a 3′ tall rail. I guess the “showboating” factor also applies here. For instance :

1. You could declare yourself a “Traceur”

2. You get to call certain moves by fancy French names that should astonish the ignorant.

3. Like other people call themselves “Rockers”, or “Skaters”, you could be in a “Traceur” niche.

Douchefaggery takes its role on-stage now. I believe there truly is no need to treat Parkour as something completely foreign and new. It’s not. I consider it as a set of guidelines to help maximize speed, when running from Yakuza organ collectors.

by SolitaryJohn, who has just recently become an Organ Donor.

Ali Jaafar – Variety

Jason Statham is in final negotiations to star in “Blitz,” a London-set thriller about a serial killer targeting police officers.

Lionsgate U.K. is fully financing the project, which is an adaptation of Ken Bruen’s bestseller of the same name. Mandate Intl. will handle international sales.

“Blitz” will be Lionsgate U.K.’s first British project since it announced its plans to beef up its local production last year. It will also mark the first collaboration between Statham and Lionsgate U.K. since last year’s “The Bank Job,” which was a hit at the Blighty box office.

Statham will play a tough, uncompromising cop assigned the task of tracking down the killer. Paddy Considine will play his partner.

Nathan Parker wrote the script; Elliott Lester is directing.

X-Men Origins Wolverine on Blu Ray DVD

Lionsgate U.K. topper Zygi Kamasa, Steve Chasman, Brad Wyman and Donald Kushner are producing.

Project begins lensing Aug. 10 in London.

“Jason and I are excited about the opportunity to be working here again as we are keen to continue supporting British films,” Chasman said.

While its U.S.-based parent company has been the subject of boardroom unrest with speculation over the intentions of shareholder and corporate raider Carl Icahn, Lionsgate U.K. has been gradually ramping up its production activities.

Lionsgate U.K. projects in the hopper include the $15 million contemporary sci-fi thriller “83,” which Noel Clarke will write, direct and star in; and laffer “Stiff,” from “Borat” writer Dan Mazer and producer Andrea Calderwood about a 1980s rock star who falls into a coma on stage and wakes up 20 years later.

Check out the Best Selling DVD's!

Jason Statham (The Transporter, Snatch, The Bank Job), has joined the film “Blitz”.  Statham will play sociopathic violent cop.  Paddy Considine will also star in the movie, playing an openenly gay cop who works with Statham.  The script is written by Nathan Parker (Moon) and Elliot Lester (Love is a Drug) is directing.

Lukas Eggen

카 딜러, 모델, 사진 작가.
은행 비밀 금고를 노린 7인의 아마추어 일당
런던에서 중고차 대리점을 운영하는 ‘테리’, 어느날 옛 애인 ‘마틴’ 으로부터 경보장치가 24시간 동안 해제되는 로이드 은행을 털자는 제안을 받는다. 마침 사채 업자로부터 협박을 받던 ‘테리’는 일생 일대의 기회라 판단, 함께 은행을 털 동료들을 불러모은다. 포르노 배우 ‘데이브’, 사진 작가 ‘케빈’, 콘크리트 전문가 ‘밤바스’, 양복 전단사 ‘가이’, 새 신랑 ‘에디’ 이렇게 생활 전선에서 평범하게 살아가던 아마추어 7인의 일당이 모이게 되는데…

경찰, MI5, 범죄 조직의 숨막히는 추격전
금고 안, 판도라 상자가 열렸다!
13m의 지하 터널을 뚫고 마침내 은행 금고에 도착한 7인의 일당. 전문가 못지 않은 실력으로 수백개의 금고에 보관 중이던 돈과 보석을 챙기고는 유유히 사라진다. 그 가치는 무려 400억원! 그러나!! 화끈하게 한탕 했다고 생각하는 일행의 뒤를 쫓는 것은 경찰만이 아니었다. MI5와 범죄 조직까지 이들을 먼저 찾기 위해 혈안이 되면서 그들이 훔친 것 중에는 400억 외에도 무언가가 더 있다는 사실을 알게 된다. 설상가상으로 ‘데이브’가 범죄 조직에 잡히면서 일당은 궁지에 몰리게 되는데..

과연, 은행에 있던 수백 개의 금고 중에서 그들이 연 판도라의 상자는 무엇일까? 그리고 경찰, MI5, 범죄 조직의 숨막히는 추격 속에서 아마추어 일당의 완전 범죄는 성공할 수 있을까?

잘 만들어진 영화다.

짜임새 있는 줄거리와 성공하는 영화에서 필요한 모든 요소가 있다고 할까?

그냥 뭔가 잊어보기 위해 무작위로 받아서 보는중이라 … 영화에 대한건 이정도 하고 다음에 올라온 줄거리로 대신한다.

The Daily Campus, a college website has listed their most underrated films of 2008 and ‘The Bank Job’ was on that list.  No surprise to any of us.  We said that a long time ago.  And Jason knew it too when he said:

I’m very fond of that film. It’s one of my favorite films, apart from the Guy Ritchie stuff. Again, it’s me playing something that I don’t normally get a chance to do: a family man, a father, a husband. There’s a lot more depth to those kind of characters than some of the others I have to play. Loved The Bank Job.”

Entertainment Weekly.com has complied a list of eleven Jason films and what he has said about them in the past.  I’ve seen some of these quotes before so I think they came from bits and pieces of old interviews.  It’s pretty cool how they put it together though.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Starring: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner 
Release year: 2008
Language: English

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Turner Broadcasting knows a good thing when they see it.  TBS has picked up rights to air ‘The Bank Job’, ‘Transporter 3′ and ‘Crank: High Voltage’ according to SmartBrief.com.  Our boy is getting so huge that writers just need to say ‘Statham’ and everybody knows who they’re talking about.

Ett par relativt lättsmälta tips nu som förhoppningsvis kan lysa upp en smula då vintern inte riktigt verkar försvinna som den ska (även om det börjar regna nu i skrivande stund).

Flera andra har skrivit om det, men jag kan inte låta bli att också göra det; nu har en av de absolut mest fascinerande svenska kulturpersonligheterna börjat komma ut med sitt samlade verk. I ett nyskrivet förord beskriver sig Jan Lööf som en “misslyckad jazzmusiker som försörjer sig på att skriva barnböcker”. Men denne författare började sin karriär något annorlunda med att producera några av den svenska seriehistoriens höjdpunkter, den vildartade Ville (först publicerad 1975-76), med en urcool kung Karl XVI Gustaf och en sjövild Olof Palme i stora roller tampandes med flygande tefat, samt den unge Felix första äventyr, vilka nu har blivit samlade tillsammans i en bok. Då man i yngre år mest gillade de spännande äventyren i dessa serier, kan man idag mer njuta av de elegant finurliga teckningarna och de roligt skruvade hjältarna. Felix är en värdig svensk variant av Tintin, men en härligt egensinnig sådan.

En av de orättvist bortglömda filmerna från förra året är The Bank Job. I utgångspunkten en så kallad heistfilm, det vill säga en film om en tjuv som samlar ihop några kollegor från olika ställen för att göra den perfekta kuppen, den mest kända filmen i samma genre är Ocean’s eleven. Men The Bank Job är en lite smutsigare variant, med fler men ändå rimliga twistar där korrupta politiker, underättelseverksamhet och mord betas av i en rasande takt. Jason Statham spelar huvudrollen och skänker det hela viss stjärnglans, men det är tempot, spänningen och oförutsägbarheten som gör filmen till ett av förra årets höjdpunkter.

A group of small time hoods are secretly conned into robbing a bank so that MI6 can get their hands on some incriminating photos of some royalty. Along the way the crooks manage to get their hands on some more photos that can prove just as damaging.

Directed by – Roger Donaldson

Written by – Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais

Starring – Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel Mays, James Faulkner, Alki David, Michael Jibson, Georgia Taylor, Richard Lintern, Peter Bowles, Alistair Petrie, Hattie Morahan, Julian Lewis Jones, Andrew Brooke, Rupert Frazer

Ah yes, my unhealthy man crush on Jason Statham continues. He’d really have to make a terrible, terrible movie for me to hate it. This plays out like a poor mans Oceans Eleven. Obviously the bank heist itself plays a major part but there’s so many other little stories going on that intertwine together so well. It’s a clever and well constructed script that had me wondering how they would get themselves out of each new situation that turned up.

The characters are all distinct and entertaining to watch and everyone plays well off each other. You really get the sense that they’ve all been friends for a long time. There’s a good balance of humour that doesn’t go over the top and enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat. What was the most interesting part is that it’s based on a true story and one of the special features of the DVD is a little history on the events. Obviously there’s some embellishment on the part of the screenwriters to make an entertaining story but just knowing that a group of guys actually pulled off this heist was intriguing.

The funny part is that they end up stealing from safety deposit boxes that nobody really wound up claiming. Apparently people like to store some things in deposit boxes that they’d rather not have anyone else know about and were reluctant to come forward to get what was rightfully theirs. It’s a well put together heist flick but it’s the acting that puts it ahead of all the rest and is a strong recommendation on my part.

Under the marquee – Will

Thanks to Hybridstaind for sending me these candid photos with Jason from people’s MySpace sites!  A couple were taken from the set of ‘Crank: High Voltage’ and another from a co-star on ‘The Bank Job’.  Good hunting and great finds!  Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

Esquire has their own version of how the Oscars should be.  Here’s their alternative 2009 Oscar picks for Hollywood’s most overlooked.  Guess who made the list? (Go to the 10th picture on the list.)

Best Man in a Suit: Jason Statham in The Bank Job When Jason Statham puts on a suit, mere cloth becomes soft armor and a shortish British thug becomes somebody you aspire to be. Part of the attraction may be due to his particular technique of masculine dishabille: the collar slightly too large, the cuffs a bit too extended, the necktie skewed just so. The rest is a mysterious communion of man and clothing. It’s not a statement to be made lightly, but the guy looks better in a suit than Robert De Niro.

This is Brilliant, from Ariana Huffington:

Awards Round Up 2008 - When Politics Grate Crashes The Oscars - Brills!

2008 featured the most dramatic election in memory, and some of the most compelling figures ever seen on the political stage — characters not even the best screenwriters could top.

Despite or, perhaps, because of this, this year’s politically themed movies — Frost/Nixon, Milk, W., Swing Vote — struggled at the box office. Hollywood just couldn’t match the drama being played out on the campaign trail.

So, with the Oscars coming up on Sunday, I thought it would be a good time to salute — and mashup — some of the year’s noteworthy achievements in the worlds of politics and entertainment… which, these days, aren’t always easy to tell apart.

The envelopes please…

Sex Scene:
Best: Kate Winslet and David Kross in The Reader
Worst: Eliot Spitzer and Ashley Dupré in Client #9

Rip Off:
Best: the compromising photo stolen in The Bank Job
Worst: the $50 billion Bernie Madoff stole from his hapless clients

Return on Investment:
Best: Slumdog Millionaire, which cost $15 million to make and has grossed over $130 million worldwide.
Worst: the $350 billion we gave to Wall Street banks — with nothing to show for it.

Sequel:
Best: The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan’s brooding follow up to Batman Begins
Worst: TARP II, Tim Geithner’s vague follow up to Hank Paulson’s Bailout Begins

Performance in a Drama:
Best: Mickey Rourke’s soulful comeback in The Wrestler
Worst: the banking CEOs trying to act contrite in front of Congress

Performance by a Rodent:
Best: Matthew Broderick as the fearless mouse in The Tale of Despereaux
Worst: Rod Blogojevich as the Senate seat-selling rat in A Tale of Desperation

Short Subject:
Best: Auf Der Strecke (On the Line)
Worst: Fred Thompson’s blink-and-you-missed-it presidential run

Mega-Buck Action Fantasy:
Best: Iron Man
Worst: Self-Regulation on Wall Street

Performance by a Grizzled Veteran:
Best: Clint Eastwood tosses aside his prejudices and finds redemption in Gran Torino
Worst: John McCain tosses aside his principles and loses an election in Maverick No More

Scary Performance:
Best: Heath Ledger as The Joker
Worst: Stew Parnell as The Jerk who shipped out peanut butter he knew contained deadly salmonella

Funny Performance:
Jim Carrey says “Yes” to everything in Yes Man
Unfunny: Republicans say “No” to everything in Congress

She’s not bad!

  1. A Man Apart  

2. The Bank Job

   3. Entangled พยัคฆ์ดุกระสุนเดือด

  4. We own the night เฉือนคมคนพันธ์โหด

5. BulletproofMonk  คัมภีร์หยุดกระสุน 

     6. DOOMSDAY

  7. The rising sun

  8.  Chain Reaction

  9. Training Day

 10. The fugitive

As I mentioned earlier when I started this blogsite, I was a fairly new Jason fan.  It’s been over four years since I first saw ‘Transporter’ and followed his rising career.  (Just saw it again on t.v. last night!)   I believe veteran fans as well as newbies have visited my humble blog.  It’s so gratifying to see Jason’s popularity grow and that he’s getting the recognition he deserves.  Judging by the growing visitor count, I can tell that Jason’s creating new fans everyday.  I wonder what new blog friends we will make since the release of ‘Death Race’ and ‘T3′?  Last year was surely a Statham year to remember, and it ain’t over yet!  We have the release of the ‘Transporter 3′ DVD to look forward to on March 10th and ‘Crank 2: High Voltage’ in theaters April 17th.  Hopefully Jay will be very busy in 2009, as well, filming tons of movies.   That will keep me busy too, which is great!   Hope you keep visiting and take this incredible journey with me!

[Note to new Jason fans:  I started my blog in March of 2007.  There are many posts with articles, links and videos that have already been shared.  Sometimes the search feature on my blog at the upper right-hand of the page can help you see if I've already done a post or not about your find.  If you can't find it, then I'll be happy to share it with everyone.  Just email me your find, but please search first to see.  Thanks!]

By Calvin Palmer

A thief’s plan to break into a bank was not as meticulously planned as it should have been.

A 21-year-old Belgian man broke into a building adjoining a branch of Banque Populaire in Marseille, France, at the weekend, with the idea of drilling through into the room housing the safe deposit boxes.

The idea is not original.  On September 13, 1971, it was discovered that thieves had tunneled into the vault of Lloyds Bank on Baker Street, in London, and ransacked the safety deposit boxes, making off with a haul in excess of £3million ($4,280,000), which, in 1971, made it the largest ever bank robbery in Britain.

This crime featured in The Bank Job directed by Roger Donaldson. The film, starring Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows, received critical acclaim after its release in 2008 and grossed nearly $64 million worldwide.

Could the Belgian thief have used it as a blueprint for his heist?  If he did, he got it terribly wrong.

The man drilled through into the bank but ended up in the toilets instead of the vault housing untold millions.

Since the Baker Street job, it would appear that banks have installed alarms that are triggered when walls are breached.

The hapless Belgian’s drilling did just that and he was apprehended by police.

There are no reports of the thief’s comments as the police turned up.

“Merde!” seems a likely response.

[Based on a report by Reuters.]