Shifty - 09

[khan31]

New, low budget British film with Riz (MC) Ahmed playing the lead role as Shifty and his old mate Chris is played by Daniel Mays (The Bank Job). I knew Riz as an artist and thought he was pretty dan but now his acting is supposed to be even better. Here's a quick synopsis from IMDB (its been rated 7.8/10 so far) :-

"Shifty, a young crack cocaine dealer in London, sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend returns home. Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer, intent on setting him up for a big fall. As his long time friend Chris, confronts the dark past he left behind him, Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he's hurtling towards."

Youtube the "Shifty trailer" and watch in HQ. Supposed to be one of the best british films of the year and hasn't had too much hype either.

Looks big. Will probably go to see it tommorow or day after as many mates want to see it. Was wondering if any of you man were gonna watch this one?

 

[Will_NA]

No, I'll watch it online like Kidulthood and Adulthood if I cba. I don't go cine unless I know the movie's gonna be really good.

 

[Simbazz]

Although I know I should try to support English movies, especially those which are generally low-budgeted, I just can't bring myself to ever support English made movies, as 99% of them are purely aweful!

The English do a millennia of things better than the Americans, film and TV aren't one of those!

 

[Will_NA]

Disagree with you, Simbazz. There a lot of British movies the Americans would suck at replicating.

trainspotting
the italian job
shaun of the dead
28 days later
gregory's girl
alfie
the remains of the day
withnail and i
james bond
a clockwork orange


A lot of it's old but I'm missing out some of the modern stuff which has escaped my memory. Americans are brilliant at Blockbusters but pretty much **** at everything else.

We make better comedies and dramas.

 

[Simbazz]

The thing is, you see names there and you know who's involved. There is an "elite," team of actors from Britian who specialise in comedy. The lead actor from Shaun of the Dead is the main one, as well as Ricky Gervais.

I'm not saying that they're the worst things out there, BUT in my defence, I did say low-budget "type." Which I know for a fact that, some or most of those aren't.

James Bond in the recent releases has been incredibly Americanized. No getting past that one.

In comparison to the rest of the world, barring America, English film isn't all that bad, but when you compare it to America, England is always gunna lose that battle.

England gave people shows like Causality and Waterloo Road, America gave people House MD, Friends, Cold Case, Prison Break, Lost... I could literally go on for hours.

Just saw the last comment, about comedies. Depends on a persons humour. English comedy which Americans don't quite grasp, but then again, living in England I see that the Americans don't grasp a lot of things.

 

[Will_NA]

One word - Only Fools and Horses. Well, no that's 4 words which makes it four times as good as it was before.

As I said, I think Americans do mystery/thriller and action better but we have everything else locked down.

 

[Simbazz]

OFAH, literally the best comedy of all time, totally agree, how can I not?

But comedy is a personal thing. Personally, I'm not a fan of the English humour, but that's just me.

Another thing the English do better, fun/fact programmes like Top Gear!

 

[Will_NA]

The thing that annoys me about Top Gear is that they act like it's not scripted when it clearly is.

 

[Simbazz]

I dunno, they do say they do rehearsals etc.

I like it personally. Brightens up my sunday nights.

 

[PhilD123]

England gave people shows like Causality and Waterloo Road, America gave people House MD, Friends, Cold Case, Prison Break, Lost... I could literally go on for hours.

Whilst I sort of agree with what you're saying, it's a bit of an unfair example as you've picked two British shows that are nowhere near the best in their field.

For proper good British TV, look at shows like Spooks and Hustle etc. And then comedies like The Office (so good the Americans had to copy it) and Peep Show.

 

[Simbazz]

My cousins love the American version of The Office, but continually seek websites to get the English version.

I do agree there are better than I've mentioned, BUT, i'm kinda talking broad here. Really we shouldn't compare English TV to American, as they're two different styles, for two different cultures.

 

[khan31]

Hustle is huge in the UK and I hear its also watched in the US some time after it is aired over here. As you've said they have copied the Ofiice already (English one is miles better) but then there's also shows like Doctor Who, Thunderbirds, Blackadder, Dad's Army etc.

I'd much rather watch shows like 8/10 cats, Never mind the buzzcocks, have i got news for you, Mock the week, A Question of Sport etc than any of that US crap.

Agreed though, that when it comes to action films the US does dominate on the small screen and cinema.

 

[King Pietersen]

The American Office is quality, but has nothing on the UK version. Merchant and Gervais are involved in the American one as well, so it wasn't copied, just the basic idea borrowed and adapted with Gervais and Merchant's blessings.

 

[PhilD123]

The American Office is quality, but has nothing on the UK version. Merchant and Gervais are involved in the American one as well, so it wasn't copied, just the basic idea borrowed and adapted with Gervais and Merchant's blessings.

Copied wasn't an insult to it, if you copy something that good it will obviously have a lot of quality in it. They don't write it though, do they? (Except maybe a forthcoming episode I think). So the writers have copied it and the characters are copied.

As for American drama, has anyone seen the Wire on BBC recently? Personally I haven't, but I've heard so many good things about it, that I might start.

 

[evertonfan]

British cinema is so much better than American cinema. I know i'm ridiculously biased, but I just hate yanks. And there's nothing wrong with that.