The Playlist

What Are You Seeing This Weekend? 'The Host' & 'Place Beyond The Pines' May Spark 'Retaliation' Or 'Temptation'

By Emma Bernstein
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March 29, 2013 4:08 PM
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0 Comments

News

There ain't nothing like some bad behavior to kick off a stellar weekend. You know -- by cutting class, or taking a walk of shame, or going to work hungover on Friday morning. Or, as the movie stars like to do it, by killing some dudes, pulling off a bank job, stealing a dog, and implanting a jellyfish in a teenage girl's body. Succumb to your more depraved instincts with the second installment of the "G.I. Joe" franchise; Stephenie Meyer's latest paranormal teen love fantasy; Tyler Perry's rendition of "Unfaithful;" a doc about the ultimate turn to the dark side in "The Shining;" a British heist film; and a bevy of Philistine-filled indies. And let us know your favored depiction of sin in the comments below!

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20 Great British Crime Movies

By The Playlist Staff
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March 27, 2013 12:34 PM
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19 Comments

Features

Today sees the release of the James McAvoy and Mark Strong-starring "Welcome To The Punch," and as you'll know if you've read our review, it's a slick, unusually ambitious, gorgeous-looking and absorbing British cops-and-robbers flick. It's also the latest film (with Danny Boyle's even better "Trance" following sharp on its heels next week) to prove that our cousins across the pond can take on the crime movie with the best of them.

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'Welcome To The Punch' Director Eran Creevy Planning Possible Sequel, Drives On 'Autobahn'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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March 13, 2013 9:36 AM
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News

There are basically two ways to go as an up-and-coming filmmaker. One possible way to go is to make your debut feature, and use it as a springboard to get access to projects already brewing the system, so you can keep working, honing your craft and expanding your skillset. The other path is to keep developing your own movies, and hope that your voice is one people will want to invest in.

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Review: 'Welcome To The Punch' Is A Stylish & Smart British Spin In On The Action-Thriller

By Oliver Lyttelton
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March 11, 2013 11:19 AM
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2 Comments

Reviews

The terms "British cinema" and "action movie" tend not to go together particularly well. Maybe it's the smaller budgets at play, maybe it's an awareness that our American and Asian cousins do it better, maybe it's cultural -- most British cops don't carry weapons, for example. It's not that it hasn't been tried, it's more that the examples we do have -- "The 51st State," "Centurion," "The Sweeney" -- tend to be bad enough to dissuade too many others from giving it a shot, and so the idea of an action movie set in the U.K. remains incongruous enough that it can form the central joke of an entire film, like Edgar Wright's "Hot Fuzz."

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Watch: New Clip & Featurette For 'Welcome To The Punch' Starring James McAvoy

By Joe Cunningham
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March 4, 2013 5:09 PM
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News

“Welcome To The Punch” feels like it’s been a long time coming, but it finally hits cinemas in the UK a week on Friday, before debuting 12 days later in the US on March 27th. Eran Creevy’s follow-up to his excellent micro-budget “Shifty” is a crime thriller in the vein of “Infernal Affairs,” shot in the style of Tony Scott, and stars an impressive British cast lead by James McAvoy and Mark Strong. With those release dates fast approaching we’ve got a new clip and a new featurette.

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10 Films Worth Tracking Down In Theaters In March

By Oliver Lyttelton
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March 1, 2013 2:54 PM
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7 Comments

Features

It's been a long, dark couple of months at the start of 2013, with not all that much that's been worth seeing, bar a few bright spots like "Side Effects" and "No." But as the days start to get sunnier and warmer (we hope so, at least, or we're going to jump off something tall fairly soon), the prospects at movie theaters are improving a bit too.

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Watch: James McAvoy & Andrea Riseborough Make A Proposal In Clip From 'Welcome To The Punch'

By India Ross
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February 19, 2013 8:56 AM
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News

It’s not as though James McAvoy has been gone very long, but his absence, albeit brief, from top-tier dramatic roles ("Arthur Christmas" notwithstanding) has been a difficult time for all of us. The good news, however, is that he’s back in our lives with a couple new movies arriving within the span of a few weeks, in Danny Boyle's "Trance" and "Welcome To The Punch." And a new clip for the latter British thriller, directed by Eran Creevy, has now landed.

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5 New Photos From 'Welcome To The Punch' Starring James McAvoy, Mark Strong & Andrea Riseborough

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 1, 2013 3:43 PM
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0 Comments

News

"Hot Fuzz" aside, the history of the British cop/action film is not a glorious one. Indeed, it's hard to think of a truly successful one that plays it straight, especially with recent disappointments like "Blitz" and "The Sweeney" fresh in the memory. But there's one sneaking up that we've had high hopes for for some time.

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James McAvoy's 'Welcome To The Punch' Gets U.S. Theatrical & VOD Release In March

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 31, 2013 3:30 PM
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4 Comments

News

With Ridley Scott executive producing, James McAvoy in the lead, a supporting cast that includes Mark Strong, Andrea Riseborough, Peter Mullan and more, all in a gritty crime flick directed by the rising auteur Evan Creevy, perhaps expectations were a bit higher for "Welcome To The Punch." We figured it might be the kind of thing that rolled into SXSW or Sundance, but instead, you can just check it out at home at the end of March.

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Watch: James McAvoy & Mark Strong Trade Bullets In Trailer & Clip For 'Welcome To The Punch'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 11, 2012 11:00 AM
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1 Comment

News

Looking for the next candidate to fit into that British-indie-director-who-goes-A-list-Hollywood category? Someone to follow in the footsteps of Christopher Nolan, Rupert Wyatt, and "The Disappearance Of Alice Creed" director J. Blakeson? A strong contender is emerging in the shape of Eran Creevy, who made a storming debut with the microbudget "Shifty" a few years ago, a low-key drama that featured top-notch performances from Daniel Mays and Riz Ahmed, and oodles of filmmaking talent behind the camera.

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