Miss Bala (2011)
Actors:
Jose Yenque (actor),
Emilio Kauderer (composer),
James Russo (actor),
Miguel Couturier (actor),
Javier Zaragoza (actor),
Juan Carlos Galván (actor),
Florence Larsonneur (miscellaneous crew),
Gerardo Naranjo (director),
Gerardo Naranjo (editor),
Pablo Cruz (producer),
Gerardo Naranjo (writer),
Horacio Sandoval (miscellaneous crew),
Noé Hernández (actor),
Irene Azuela (actress),
Geminiano Pineda (producer),
Plot: At 23, Laura Guerro and her friend Suzu enter the Miss Baja pageant. Both qualify, and while Laura waits at a nightclub for Suzu to break away so they can go shopping, a heavily-armed drug gang murders drug enforcement officials there. Laura escapes unharmed but can't find Suzu, so the next day she looks for her; her dogged behavior brings her to the cartel's attention, and they force her to assist them as they menace her father and younger brother. Lino, the gang's leader, decides Laura should finish the pageant although her only interest is escape. Every day drags her deeper and corruption is pervasive. What alternative is there to death or prison?
Keywords: airplane, audition, beauty-pageant, beauty-queen, cell-phone, corrupt-cop, dress, drug-cartel, drug-war, father-daughter-relationship
Genres:
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller,
Last Man Standing (1996)
Actors:
Lin Shaye (actress),
Michael De Luca (producer),
Patrick Kilpatrick (actor),
Christopher Walken (actor),
Raynor Scheine (actor),
Bruce Willis (actor),
Ted Markland (actor),
Allan Graf (actor),
Bruce Dern (actor),
Michael Imperioli (actor),
William Sanderson (actor),
Ken Jenkins (actor),
Thomas Rosales Jr. (actor),
Walter Hill (writer),
Walter Hill (producer),
Plot: John Smith is an amoral gunslinger in the days of Prohibition. On the lam from his latest (unspecified) exploits, he happens upon the town of Jericho, Texas. Actually, calling Jericho a town would be too generous--it has become more like a ghost town, since two warring gangs have 'driven off all the decent folk.' Smith sees this as an opportunity to play both sides off against each other, earning himself a nice piece of change as a hired gun. Despite his strictly avowed mercenary intentions, he finds himself risking his life for his, albeit skewed, sense of honor....
Keywords: .45-calibre-pistol, 1920s, 1930s, action-hero, alcoholic, ambush, apple, arson, bar, bar-shootout
Genres:
Action,
Crime,
Drama,
Thriller,
Western,
Taglines: There are two sides to every war. And John Smith is on both of them. In a town with no justice, there is only one law... Every man for himself. If you lived in this town, you'd be dead by now.
Quotes:
John Smith: It's not your fault Giorgio's a halfwit Strozzi. You wanna die for a halfwit?
Felina: My fear is my curse. What's yours?::John Smith: I was born without a conscience.
John Smith: Does your boss have a first name?::Lucy Kolinski: Only in the bedroom.
Finn: I guess you'll just have to kill me.::John Smith: It'll hurt if I do.
Hickey: I heard you got Finn. That was Doyle's best shooter.::John Smith: I thought you were the best.::Hickey: Nah, just the best lookin'.
Joe Monday: Last I heard you were gonna have a talk with some fellas. Next thing I hear one of them's dead.::John Smith: The conversation kind of went downhill...
Hickey: [Final scene, speaking to Smith] I don't want to die in Texas. Chicago, maybe... but not Texas. You can meet me there if you like.
John Smith: [narrating] Strozzi said he had brought the girl along to keep up his "morale". That's the first time I had ever heard it called *that*.
John Smith: What about Prohibition?::Joe Monday: We don't pay too much attention to it here.
Capt. Tom Pickett: I'm here about a murdered policeman, got himself killed the other side of the river in some crummy little Mexican town. A few locals killed, too, and a double-dealing Commandant named Ramirez. But the man I'm concerned about was an American on the border patrol. He had a family. Well liked by his brother officers. I guess he strayed a little bit in some departments, but he was an officer of the law, just the same.