• The Drop (2014)

    From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to All on Sat Jun 26 01:19:00 2021
    Hello, true cinephiles! Welcome back to another review from  relor, Lord of Rage and Revenge, who will smite any bad film He find in His path with a +3 Broadsword of Holy Fire!

    Shall The Drop, with Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini, suffer His punishment?

    The Drop is a crime film. It follows the story of Bob Saginowski and his cousin, who run a bar owned by the Eastern Europe Mafia. The bar is one of many in a network of business the Mafia uses for storing and moving dirty money which cannot be deposited in the bank. The arrangement works fine for the barmen until somebody sets a plan in motion to steal the Mob's money the bar is storing, and Bob, whose only ambition in life is tending the bar and avoiding trouble, sees himself pressured by his crime lords to get the issue fixed.

    Meanwhile, Bob adopts a Pit Bull puppy he finds abbandoned in a trashcan, but this eventually only plunges him in a world of problems, because the local tough guy, a psychotic thug known for some high profile killings in the neighbourhood, starts extorting Bob, threatening him to kill the puppy should he not be paid.

    Somehow, the writers manage to connect both plots in such a way that they just flow with the movie and reach joint closure by the end of the film. I think this is a meaningful feat. The Mafia plot and the Puppy plot both happen in parallel but you don't ever feel like you are watching two plots unfold.

     relor's might usually strikes films that attempt to glorify the neighbourhood ganstah' lifestyle, because they are usually very cheesy and very bad at it. The Drop, however, sets atmosphere the right way. You can tell the bar is one in a working neighbourhood. They really manage to convey the idea that the bar it is the sort of corner business stevedors and football fans visit. It has a very down to Earth feeling, and the bar comes across as a realistic protrayal of a property of an organized criminal gang without the need of having black ganstah's playing basketball and listening to hip-hop in front of it.

    At that, I must commend Michael Aronov for his portrayal of Chovka, the Mafia's visible face in the movie. He plays the role of a laid back business man who is tending his family's business in a dispassionate way. However, every time he shows up in screen, you cannot but feel that behind his easy going personality and his charming manners there's a monster, waiting for his turn to pop up and sink some sucker in the bay.

    In fact, performances are A grade in general. Matthias Schoenaerts delivers a down to Earth sense of danger as a mentally ill thug who is obsessed with Bob's puppy. Gandolfiny, as Bob's cousin, made of this film his last role ever before his premature demise, and plays a bitter man who hates the fact he is a pawn for the Mafia. Still, he is a scumbag himself and the audience gets to love to hate him.

    The big prize, however, goes to Tom Hardy. His role as Bob is just golden, but the audience will only realize how much of an acting genius Tom is when they watch the movie whole, see the pieces of the puzzle fall in place, and realize just how our hero's mind actually works inside. If Oscar prizes were worth for anything other than wipping your ass with them nowadays, I'd say this guy deserved one for this movie alone. He plays his character as if he was a
    highly functional autist. You can tell he is not "right" despite the fact he does not do anything that may not become a normal person. He just feels "off" for some reason. I love that effect, but you get only to appreciate it in full at the movie's climax.

    In clonclusion, a likable cast with awesome performances rooted on realistic, human street life, with characters you care about - even if you are like
     relor and hate humans, you will love the puppy! - makes for a film worth watching.

    And thus,  relor shall keep searching for bad films whose heart to burn in the eternal fires of His Hell, because The Drop is, sadly, quite a good film.



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  • From HusTler@VERT/HAVENS to Arelor on Sun Jun 27 03:59:00 2021
    Re: The Drop (2014)
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Jun 26 2021 05:19 am

    The Drop is a crime film. It follows the story of Bob Saginowski and his cousin, who run a bar owned by the Eastern Europe Mafia. The bar is one of many in a network of business the Mafia uses for storing and moving dirty

    Thanks for your review. I wouldn't have watched this but was glad I did. I really enjoyed it.

    ... For certain people, after fifty, litigation takes the place of sex.

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  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to HusTler on Sun Jun 27 13:33:00 2021
    Re: The Drop (2014)
    By: HusTler to Arelor on Sun Jun 27 2021 07:59 am

    Re: The Drop (2014)
    By: Arelor to All on Sat Jun 26 2021 05:19 am

    The Drop is a crime film. It follows the story of Bob Saginowski and hi cousin, who run a bar owned by the Eastern Europe Mafia. The bar is one many in a network of business the Mafia uses for storing and moving dir

    Thanks for your review. I wouldn't have watched this but was glad I did. I really enjoyed it.

    ... For certain people, after fifty, litigation takes the place of sex.


    I am happy you liked it.

    My favourite part was

    ROT13 SPOILER

    "V xvyyrq Evpuvr Juryna"
    "Fher lbh qvq"
    ONAT ONAT

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  • From Ogg@VERT/CAPCITY2 to Arelor on Tue Jun 29 17:28:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Saturday 26.06.21 - 05:19, Arelor wrote to All:

    The Drop is a crime film. It follows the story of Bob
    Saginowski and his cousin, who run a bar owned by the
    Eastern Europe Mafia.

    I would say that the film's story is based in USA, NY or
    thereabouts.

    [...]

    In clonclusion, a likable cast with awesome performances
    rooted on realistic, human street life, with characters you
    care about - even if you are like  relor and hate humans,
    you will love the puppy! - makes for a film worth watching.

    Yes.. it was quite "OK". I liked the dark mood, and the simple
    story line. No high-speed car chases required. The menacing
    tension emoted by the crime-lord characters was effective.

    The mafia tensions/interrogation reminded me of similar effect
    in Ozark.

    The only weak point was Bob's explanation of his first killing
    and what drove him to do it - him being otherwise, a calm,
    meek, and nonthreatening individual.

    I liked the funny bits about Irish not begin called
    Irelandians, or Chechens don't speak Chechen.

    Marv's killing seemed a bit weak. He squints just before the
    fatal shot. A look of shock or horror might have worked better.

    Loved your review. Once again, top-notch and funny.

    The credits at the end indicated that the film is based on a
    story by Dennis Lehane:

    The Drop | Paperback
    Dennis Lehane
    HarperCollins | William Morrow Paperbacks
    Fiction / Crime / Thrillers - Crime / Mystery & Detective - Hard-Boiled
    Release date Dec 14, 2021
    $16.99 US / $21.00 CA list price

    Publishers are rereleasing many of Lehane's stories with new
    covers this year and the next.


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  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Wed Jun 30 09:47:00 2021
    Re: The Drop (2014)
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Tue Jun 29 2021 09:28 pm

    The only weak point was Bob's explanation of his first killing
    and what drove him to do it - him being otherwise, a calm,
    meek, and nonthreatening individual.


    You should be much more careful when dropping spoilers all around.

    I think precisely that part is what rounds Bob's character up. He is a calm, meek nonthreatening individual who is a total ganster under the surface... the cop lampshades this very thing by the end of the film. I think it was very well done.


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  • From Ogg@VERT/CAPCITY2 to Arelor on Sat Jul 3 13:55:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    [This is a repost. I didn't seem my original on other dovenet
    channels].

    ** On Wednesday 30.06.21 - 13:47, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    You should be much more careful when dropping spoilers all around.

    Ooops. :( But I didn't expound on details.. so I thought that
    wasn't a clear spoiler. Next time I will be more liberal with
    ROT13 at any suspect spoiler.

    I think precisely that part is what rounds Bob's character
    up. He is a calm, meek nonthreatening individual who is a
    total ganster under the surface... the cop lampshades this
    very thing by the end of the film. I think it was very well
    done.

    The after-SuperBowl night barscene was a surprise reveal.

    But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was autistic.
    Autistics generally cannot lie.

    I suppose we'd have to read the original story to know what the
    author, Dennis Lehane, had in mind for the origins and motives
    of his created character.

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  • From Arelor@VERT/PALANT to Ogg on Sun Jul 4 01:26:00 2021
    Re: The Drop (2014)
    By: Ogg to Arelor on Sat Jul 03 2021 05:55 pm

    But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was autistic.
    Autistics generally cannot lie.

    I think Hardy pretty much stated that he was playing his character as if he had a high functional autist disorder.

    If you watch the film you will notice Bob does not lie openly very much. In fact I am hard pressed to think of an instance of himself lying. He avoids telling the truth and lets people believe whatever they want to believe.

    (I think he lies in one instance when he tells the cops the bar is not operated by the Mafia, but I'd have to rewatch the film to be sure.)
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  • From Ogg@VERT/CAPCITY2 to Arelor on Sun Jul 4 08:15:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    ** On Sunday 04.07.21 - 05:26, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was
    autistic. Autistics generally cannot lie.

    I think Hardy pretty much stated that he was playing his
    character as if he had a high functional autist disorder.

    Ah.. ok, in that case.

    But now, I'm curious to tackle the book version to see how
    Dennis Lehane explains that character's behaviour.

    If you watch the film you will notice Bob does not lie
    openly very much. In fact I am hard pressed to think of an
    instance of himself lying. He avoids telling the truth and
    lets people believe whatever they want to believe.

    He does not lie very much. But he does to the mob when he
    denies knowing who the guy with the impaled/bleeding leg in the
    van is. Avoidance to tell was something I noticed too.

    If you ever feel interested in reading a story from the POV of
    an autistic/asberger, check out "The Curious Incident of the
    Dog in the Night-Time" (2003). It was unlike anything else
    that I had read before. Even chapter numbers are "strange".

    (I think he lies in one instance when he tells the cops the
    bar is not operated by the Mafia, but I'd have to rewatch
    the film to be sure.)

    Yes.. I seem to recall that interview too.


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  • From Ogg@VERT/CAPCITY2 to Arelor on Sun Jul 4 13:03:00 2021
    Hello Arelor!

    [This a REPOST of a message I made this morning, but didn't
    seem to get distributed outside this BBS]

    ** On Sunday 04.07.21 - 05:26, Arelor wrote to Ogg:

    But I wouldn't agree with your prognosis that he was
    autistic. Autistics generally cannot lie.

    I think Hardy pretty much stated that he was playing his
    character as if he had a high functional autist disorder.

    Ah.. ok, in that case.

    But now, I'm curious to tackle the book version to see how
    Dennis Lehane explains that character's behaviour.

    If you watch the film you will notice Bob does not lie
    openly very much. In fact I am hard pressed to think of an
    instance of himself lying. He avoids telling the truth and
    lets people believe whatever they want to believe.

    He does not lie very much. But he does to the mob when he
    denies knowing who the guy with the impaled/bleeding leg in the
    van is. Avoidance to tell was something I noticed too.

    If you ever feel interested in reading a story from the POV of
    an autistic/asberger, check out "The Curious Incident of the
    Dog in the Night-Time" (2003). It was unlike anything else
    that I had read before. Even chapter numbers are "strange".

    (I think he lies in one instance when he tells the cops the
    bar is not operated by the Mafia, but I'd have to rewatch
    the film to be sure.)

    Yes.. I seem to recall that interview too.


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  • From The Millionaire@VERT to Arelor on Sat Jul 17 01:11:00 2021
    I seem to recall watching The Drop. That was a pretty good movie.

    $ The Millionaire $

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