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Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 British black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, produced by Matthew Vaughn and starring an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Steven Mackintosh, Sting with Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham in their feature film debuts. The story is a heist involving a self-confident young card sharp who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a rigged game of three-card brag. To pay off his debts, he and his friends decide to rob a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door. The film brought Ritchie international acclaim and introduced actors Jones, a former Wales international footballer, and Statham, a former diver, to worldwide audiences. Based on a $1.35 million budget, the film had a box office gross of over $28 million, making it a commercial success. A British television series, '' Lock, Stock...'', followed in 2000, running for seven episodes including t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Ritchie
Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr. Ritchie left school at age 15 and worked entry-level jobs in the film industry before going on to direct television commercials. In 1995, he directed a short film, ''The Hard Case'', followed by the crime comedy ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' (1998), his feature-length directorial debut. He gained recognition with his second film, '' Snatch'' (2000), which found critical and commercial success. Following ''Snatch'', Ritchie directed '' Swept Away'' (2002), a critically panned box-office bomb starring Madonna, to whom Ritchie was married between 2000 and 2008. He went on to direct '' Revolver'' (2005) and ''RocknRolla'' (2008), which were less successful and received mixed reviews. In 2009 and 2011, he directed two box-office hits, ''Sherlock Holmes'' and its sequel, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gramercy Pictures
Gramercy Pictures was an American film production label. It was founded on May 20, 1992 as a joint venture between PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy was the distributor of PolyGram films in the United States and Canada and also served as Universal's art-house division. After Seagram's buyout of PolyGram, Gramercy along with October Films were merged by Barry Diller to form USA Films in 1999. On May 20, 2015, Focus Features (the current art-house division for Universal) revived the name as a label for action, horror and sci-fi genre films; the label was shut down after the release of ''Ratchet & Clank'' on April 29, 2016. History Gramercy Pictures was formed on May 20, 1992 as a joint venture between PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy Pictures released its first film, the Mario Van Peebles western ''Posse'', on May 14, 1993. On January 11, 1996, PolyGram brought the 50% stake owned by Universal thus assuming full control ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wales National Football Team
) , Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , Coach = Rob Page , Captain = Gareth Bale , Most caps = Gareth Bale (111) , Top scorer = Gareth Bale ( 41) , Home Stadium = Cardiff City Stadium , FIFA Trigramme = WAL , FIFA Rank = , FIFA max = 8 , FIFA max date = October 2015 , FIFA min = 117 , FIFA min date = August 2011 , Elo Rank = , Elo max = 3 , Elo max date = 1876~1885 , Elo min = 88 , Elo min date = March 2011 , pattern_la1 = _wal22h , pattern_b1 = _wal22h , pattern_ra1 = _wal22h , pattern_sh1 = _wal22h , pattern_so1 = _3_stripes_white , leftarm1 = FF0000 , body1 = FF0000 , rightarm1 = FF0000 , shorts1 = FFFFFF , socks1 = FF0000 , pattern_la2 = _wal22a , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three-card Brag
Brag is an 18th century British card game, and the British national representative of the vying or "bluffing" family of gambling games. It is a descendant of the Elizabethan game of Primero and one of the several ancestors to poker, the modern version just varying in betting style and hand rankings. It has been described as the "longest-standing British representative of the Poker family." History The rules of Brag first appear in 1721 in ''The Compleat Gamester'' where it is referred to as ''"The Ingenious and Pleasant Game of Bragg"'', but in fact, it originates in an almost identical game called Post and Pair which is recorded as far back as 1528 (as ''Post'') and which, in turn, was descended from Primero. However, Brag introduced a key innovation over Post and Pair: the concept of wild cards known as 'braggers'. Initially there was just one, the Knave of Clubs; later the Nine of Diamonds was added. In parallel with this early three-stake game, in 1751 Hoyle describes a ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Card Sharp
A card sharp (also cardsharp, card shark or cardshark, sometimes hyphenated) is a person who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker or other card games. "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region. The label is not always intended as pejorative, and is sometimes used to refer to practitioners of card tricks for entertainment purposes. In general usage, principally in American English and more commonly with the "shark" spelling, the term has also taken on the meaning of an expert card gambler who takes advantage of less-skilled players, also called an "advantage player", without any implication of actual cheating at cards, in much the same way that "" or "pool hustler" can (especially when used by non-players) be intended to refer to a skilled player rather than a cheater or swindler. The synonym to "card sharp", "", when used with reference to card-playing and swindlers, has pejorative connotations. A card sharp or shark (by either of the gamb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heist Film
The heist film or caper film is a subgenre of crime film focused on the planning, execution, and aftermath of a significant robbery. One of the early defining heist films was ''The Asphalt Jungle'' (1950), which ''Film Genre 2000'' wrote "almost single-handedly popularized the genre for mainstream cinema". It featured robbers whose personal failings ultimately led to the failure of their robbery. Similar films using this formula were ''Armored Car Robbery'' (1950), '' The Killing'' (1956), and '' The Getaway'' (1972). By the 1990s, heist films began to "experiment and play with these conventions," incorporating things like comedy into heist stories. Characteristics of the genre While there is sometimes some confusion as to what counts as a heist film, there are characteristics that most films in the genre follow. The most basic of these is that films in the genre tend to follow the planning, execution and aftermath of one large robbery. While there can be smaller crimes lead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ensemble Cast
In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the popular model, which gives precedence to a sole protagonist, an ensemble cast leans more towards a sense of "collectivity and community". Cinema Ensemble casts in film were introduced as early as September 1916, with D. W. Griffith's silent epic film ''Intolerance'', featuring four separate though parallel plots. The film follows the lives of several characters over hundreds of years, across different cultures and time periods. The unification of different plot lines and character arcs is a key characteristic of ensemble casting in film; whether it's a location, event, or an overarching theme that ties the film and characters together. Films that feature ensembles tend to emphasize the interconnectivity of the characters, even when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crime Film
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but also include comedy, and, in turn, is divided into many sub-genres, such as mystery, suspense or noir. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified crime film as one of eleven super-genres in his Screenwriters Taxonomy, claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and western. Williams identifies drama in a broader category called "film type", mystery and suspense as "macro-genres", and film noir as a "screenwriter's pathway" explaining that these categories are additive rather than exclusionary. '' C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction, for example, the term ''black comedy'' can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Popular themes of the genre include death, crime, poverty, suicide, war, violence, terrorism, discrimination, disease, racism, sexism, and human sexuality. Black comedy differs from both blue comedy—which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, and Body fluids—and from straightforward obscenity. Whereas the term ''black comedy'' is a relatively broad term covering humor relating to many serious subjects, ''gallows humor'' tends to be used more specifical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Dollar
The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it into 100 cents, and authorized the minting of coins denominated in dollars and cents. U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green color. The monetary policy of the United States is conducted by the Federal Reserve System, which acts as the nation's central bank. The U.S. dollar was originally defined under a bimetallic standard of (0.7735 troy ounces) fine silver or, from 1837, fine gold, or $20.67 per troy ounce. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 linked the dollar solely to gold. From 1934, it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pound Sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and the word "pound" is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. Sterling is the world's oldest currency that is still in use and that has been in continuous use since its inception. It is currently the fourth most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. Together with those three currencies and Renminbi, it forms the basket of currencies which calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights. As of mid-2021, sterling is also the fourth most-held reserve currency in global reserves. The Bank of England is the central bank for sterling, issuing its own banknotes, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh language in Argentina); encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational co-operation with the United Kingdom. The organisation has been called a soft power extension of UK foreign policy, as well as a tool for propaganda. The British Council is governed by a Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its Chairman is Stevie Spring and its Chief Executive is Scott McDonald. History *1934: British Foreign Office officials created the "British Committee for Relations with Other Countries" to support English education abroad, promote British culture and fight the rise o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
