Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and--if he has his way--every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It's enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop...except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen's world apart. "Gangster Squad" is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD's efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.
2. "trailer looks v generic IMO" In response to Reply # 0
can't quite put my finger on it but there's a vibe here that screams subpar to me (maybe it's the cinematography that feels a little MTV-ish although I'm not sure why) And Gosling's voice sounds stupid. I've yet to dislike him in a role, but this trailer is not making me want to see him, or the movie.
------------------------------ For the record, my teams: MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets
6. "i don't wanna agree with this but i do" In response to Reply # 2 Thu May-10-12 06:54 PM by Mynoriti
i LOVE that they're doing a movie about the LA gangster squad(LA confidential touched on it some), and that mickey cohen is getting a full movie... the cast is great, and i'll watch pretty much watch any movie with tommy guns... but generic was probably the best word for the trailer
12. "Digital definitely gives it more of a TV feel" In response to Reply # 2
I guess I was always expecting something pulpy since it's coming from the director of Zombieland and 30 Seconds or Less. I was always hoping for a better version of Mobsters than a new LA Confidential.
Love that Nolte is in this; he's been on a roll lately. Plus, wasn't his role in Mulholland Falls similar to a gangster squad? All I remember of that joint is Jennifer Connelly.
--- "Every Golden Age is as much an act of disregard as it is of felicity."
15. "Moved to January 11, 2013 (swipe)" In response to Reply # 0
deadline.com/hollywood:
>New Date For ‘Gangster Squad’: January 11 By MIKE FLEMING | Wednesday July 25, 2012 @ 7:48am PDT
Warner Bros is expected to announce today that it has moved Gangster Squad from September 7 to January 11. The move allows the filmmakers to excise a shootout scene that takes place in a movie theater, which nobody wants to see after the Aurora, Colorado, tragedy at the midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises. There will be an alternate murder spree scene shot, but it will not be in a movie theater. The move also creates some distance for the film, which unfortunately had a trailer attached to the Batman finale. Fox faced a similar dilemma with its comedy The Watch. Even though that film is about a volunteer neighborhood patrol encountering aliens, its original title Neighborhood Watch brought unfortunate connotations to the fatal shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Changing that title was an attempt to avoid appearing sensitive and tasteless, and it seems to have worked.
The Ruben Fleischer-directed Gangster Squad is an L.A. Confidential-style period mob tale that stars Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Emma Stone, and it takes place in the 1940s and ’50s during the crime reign of Mickey Cohen. The six months of breathing room should help bring the focus back to the storyline, and not a murder spree that has no other correlation to the film.
________________________________________________________________________ We out here tryna function.
16. "Because a different killing spree is better" In response to Reply # 15
I get why they are doing it but it seems kind of silly to me that somehow things are better because they're replacing it with a different mass murder. There just seems to be something wrong there.
18. "I didn't really think that shit looked like an Oscar contender anyhow.." In response to Reply # 17
I mean, it certainly has an impressive slate of actors, but the trailer made it look like they were aiming for the MTV crowd. I don't know an awful lot about it though, so I could be wrong...
21. "Should've been better w/ all the talent involved. Lol @ Ehhmeh Stone." In response to Reply # 0
I understand Chastain was probably busy. Christina Hendricks also worked w/ Gos before & portrays the saucy tomato role it seemed her character was going for to a T. They tried to get by on some "she's his etiquette coach" shit but I wasn't buyin it.
Gos is good but that voice is somewhat jarring. Also made me want to leave the theater several times to have a smoke.
I wonder why Penn has never played a Cohen type character before. He really stood out. Might've overacted in a scene or two but I can't blame him for tryin to spice things up a bit. The script doesn't give him or anyone else a lot to work with.
Brolin was beasting a few years ago but it seemed like he sleptwalk through this. He's not bad. He's just there. Michael Shannon might've been a better choice. Brolin probably would've flourished more as one of Cohen's henchman. As good as he was in American Gangster, he's woefully average here.
Patrick, Peña, Mackie, Nolte, Ribisi & the rest of em are all just kinda there to make up the rest of the squad.
The action is good enough to make up for the trite family stuff in between. Entertaining for the most part but nothing exceptional you haven't seen in this genre before.
29. "The Basterds in LA as played by Dick Tracy (spoilers)" In response to Reply # 28
And written by the last man on the "Castle" writing staff.
I can't believe the screenwriter is working on JL, Lethal Weapon 5, and Logan's Run. He's a former cop so I assume he's got some shit on people because this was bad.
I enjoyed the first half of the film for what it was (I was looking for something on par with "Mobsters", which this ultimately wasn't) but man, this shit falls apart fast and the final act is borderline parody. Not only did it hit every gangster movie cliche, it did them about as cheesily as possible.
Zombieland was a perfect storm for Fleisher. After this and 30 Minutes or Less, I have little faith in him helming a film.
I laughed when Robert Patrick seemed to try to outdo Marion Cotllard's Dark Knight Rises death. (The climatic Untouchables moment also was so bad that I laughed.)
On a mildly related note, if people are gong to bitch about Zero Dark Thirty, they should hate this movie which not only glorifies violence (save for a second of remorse by Brolin's character) but it changes history to make violence seem like it led to the solution. (Ironically, the book they shut down is actually what likely led to Cohen's real arrest - tax evasion.)
It's worth a rental but it's by no means a good movie.
33. "who's responsible for fucking up Gosling's swag" In response to Reply # 0
Who okayed that ridiculous accent
And who's dick is Emma Stone's agent sucking. She a cool little actress. Got that sweet red head thing going, BUT she aint no dime and def aint got the sex appeal that role required for that role. Her ordinary broadness kept taking me out of scenes
Zoo already pretty much covered why this film sucked
34. "AN EPIC PIECE OF SHIT IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE." In response to Reply # 0 Tue May-28-13 08:21 PM by The Analyst
I mean, I guess it's a stretch to say this was one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but I still can't think of a single redeeming quality. Literally every single thing about it sucks. It's going to be nearly impossible to dethrone this from my bottom 5 of 2013.
35. "RE: What are your worst of 2013 so far" In response to Reply # 34
This year got of to such an awful start.I bet you gonna have two worst of lists. The first list will be for Jan.-June 2013 and the second from June- Dec.2013.
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