The defence The Big-Idea Head
“Form is the argument.”
Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.
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Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Comedy · Crime · 1998
A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.
Movie details
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
“A Disgrace to Criminals Everywhere.”
1998 Comedy · Crime 1h 45m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
8.1 / 10
Community rating
A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels?
For the defence
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood
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When Ashtray moves to South Central L.A. to live with his father (who appears to be the same age he is) and grandmother (who likes to talk tough and smoke reefer), he falls in with his gang-banging cousin Loc Dog, who along with the requisite pistols and Uzi carries a thermo-nuclear warhead for self-defense. Will Ashtray be able to keep living the straight life?
11:14
Thriller · 2004
Tells the seemingly random yet vitally connected story of a set of incidents that all converge one evening at 11:14pm. The story follows the chain of events of five different characters and five different storylines that all converge to tell the story of murder and deceit.
The Killer
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Wolfs
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Hired to cover up a high-profile crime, a fixer soon finds his night spiralling out of control when he's forced to work with an unexpected counterpart.
In the Grey
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A covert team of elite operatives are living in the shadows. When a ruthless despot steals a billion-dollar fortune, they're sent to take it back—an impossible heist that erupts into a deadly game of strategy, deception and survival.
Flypaper
Mystery · 2011
A man caught in the middle of two simultaneous robberies at a bank desperately tries to protect the teller with whom he's secretly in love.
Killing Them Softly
Crime · 2012
Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.
Beverly Hills Cop
Comedy · 1984
Fast-talking, quick-thinking Detroit street cop Axel Foley has bent more than a few rules and regs in his time, but when his best friend is murdered, he heads to sunny Beverly Hills to work the case like only he can.
Smokin' Aces
Action · 2006
When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Guy Ritchie
Written by
Guy Ritchie
Vinnie Jones
Big Chris
Jason Flemyng
Tom
Dexter Fletcher
Soap
Nick Moran
Eddy
Jason Statham
Bacon
Steven Mackintosh
Winston
Nicholas Rowe
J
Court is in session
Put Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Technique in search of a pulse.”
Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.