United States

In this 2013 American “reinterpretation” of Park Chan-wook’s Oldboy – which was itself loosely based on a ‘90s manga by Tsuchiya Garon – a misogynistic, binge-drinking ad exec (Josh Brolin) is mysteriously abducted and held captive for 20 years without any explanation. Then, just as suddenly as he was taken, he’s released back into the world with a stack of cash, a phone, and a hankering for bloody, violent vengeance to help him find out why he was kidnapped in the first place. Full disclosure:

How To Make Money Selling Drugs (2012) is a documentary discussing the lucrative world of drugs and drugs dealing and how people get involved in the world, and, essentially, what should change to make the business less attractive. In a 90-minute feature, director (and melodramatic narrator) Matthew Cooke interviews a multitude of people among which musicians and actors like Curtis Jackson (50 Cent), Susan Sarandon, Woody Harrelson, Marshall Mathers (Eminem), a whole bunch of drug traffickers among which Brian O’Dea and Freeway Ricky Ross, people from the law enforcement, both pro and against the War on Drugs. I went into this movie without any prior knowledge.

In The Purge, a happy, wealthy family gets ready for the annual night of the Purge, a 12-hour period during which all crime is legal. This new way to fight crime has been very successful – crime is at an all time low, as is unemployment. Moreover, it is supposedly an easy way to rid society of those who do not contribute.

In Dead Man Down, Colin Farrell plays Victor/Laszlo (whom I’ll just call Victor henceforth), a Hungarian gangster who’s part of an organized crime syndicate. We soon find out he is not who he pretends to be. The movie opens with a talk about children, which nicely sets the mood and foreshadows some of the movie’s story.