86m; Mexico
Director: Luis Buñuel
Cast: Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo and Estela Inda
Synopsis: A group of juvenile delinquents live a violent and crime-filled life in the festering slums of Mexico City.
Category Archives: Crime-Action
Louise-Michel (2008)
94m; France
Director: Gustave de Kervern, Benoît Delépine
Cast: Yolande Moreau, Bouli Lanners and Benoît Poelvoorde
Synopsis: Black comedy about an unemployed French plant worker’s decision to hire a hitman to exact working-class vengeance on the rich and powerful.
Mad Money (2008)
104m; U.S.
Director: Callie Khouri
Cast: Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes
Synopsis: Three female employees of the Federal Reserve plot to steal money that is about to be destroyed.
Marked Woman (1937)
96m; U.S.
Director: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Lola Lane
Synopsis: Mary Dwight works as a hostess at the Club Intime run by ruthless gangster Johnny Vanning. When one of her “clients” is murdered prosecutor David Graham questions Mary but she won’t cooperate and Vanning is acquitted. When Mary’s sister Betty is killed by one of Vanning’s thugs she decides to spill the beans and is beaten into disfigurement. At her bedside all the hostesses agree to testify.
Gamblers (Les Mauvais joueurs) [2005]
85m; France
Director: Frédéric Balekdjian
Cast: Pascal Elbé, Simon Abkarian and Isaac Sharry
Synopsis (IMDB): Vahé, Sahak, and Toros run a bonneteau game on the streets of Paris. They’re Lebanese French of Armenian descent. Vahé also works with his father, a cloth merchant, and is in love with Lu Ann, Chinese French, who’s broken off their affair. Vahé wants to make things right: with Lu Ann, with his father’s business, and with Yuen, Lu Ann’s younger brother, who’s on the edge of delinquency and owes money to the gang who arranged his passage from China. Vahé tries to be like a father to Yuen, teaching him a work ethic. When Yuen impetuosity puts his own life in jeopardy, Vahé tries to save him. Will Vahé’s impulses and hopes die on the streets of Paris?
Moi et mon Blanc (2003)
90m; Burkina Faso/France
Director: S. Pierre Yameogo
Cast: Serge Bayala, Pierre-Loup Rajot and Anne Roussel
Synopsis (IMDB): Mamadi is struggling to complete a doctorate at a Parisian university after the government of his country has stopped paying his scholarship. Thanks to his acquaintances in the African community, he finds a job as night watchman in an underground car park. There, a French colleague, Franck, helps the friendly African academic getting around. However, the car park is also a meeting point for dubious characters, and when Mamadi accidentally wrecks a drug trafficking operation, Franck is really hard-pressed to put his pal and himself out of harm’s way. Wouldn’t Mamadi’s home country be the ideal place to escape the gangsters’ wrath
Outland (1981)
112m; U.S.
Director: Peter Hyams
Cast: Sean Connery, Frances Sternhagen and Peter Boyle
Synopsis (IMDB): Marshal W.T. O’Niel is assigned to a mining colony on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons. During his tenure miners are dying – usually violently. When the marshal investigates he discovers the one thing all the deaths have in common is a lethal amphetamine-type drug, which allows the miners to work continuously for days at a time until they become “burned out” and expire. O’Niel follows the trail of the dealers, which leads to the man overseeing the colony. Now O’Niel must watch his back at every turn, as those who seek to protect their income begin targeting him.
Pickpocket (1959)
75m; France
Director: Robert Bresson
Cast: Martin LaSalle, Marika Green and Jean Pélégri
Synopsis: Michel is released from jail after serving a sentence for thievery. His mother dies and he resorts to pickpocketing as a means of survival.
Poor Cow (1967)
101m; U.K.
Director: Ken Loach
Cast: Terence Stamp, Carol White and John Bindon
Synopsis (IMDB): A young woman lives a life filled with bad choices. She marries and has a child with an abusive thief at a young age who quickly ends up in prison. Left alone she takes up with his mate (another thief) who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up in the nick. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure. Her son goes missing and she briefly comes to grips with what is most important to her.
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