Only God Forgives

America’s sweetheart Ryan Gosling stars in this 2013 Crime-Thriller-Drama written and directed by Danish Nicolas Winding Refn who brought us 'Drive'; smelt a lot like a Tarantino film saturated with grisly images, bloody violence, sexual content and foul language. With a run-time of 90 minutes, filmed in Thailand and with a budget of an estimated $4 million USD, it was able to achieve 3 wins and 1 nomination but $700 thousand only at the box-office.

Aesthetically appealing at many moments but confusing and gore difficult to watch, this story shone light on drug-smuggling, corruption and crime in Bangkok. English actress Kristin Scott Thomas gave a performance of a lifetime as a lewd, cunning and believably 'no-nonsense' mother figure; you may remember her from ‘The English Patient’, ‘The Horse Whisperer’ or ‘Mission Impossible’. Newcomer and native to Thailand Yayaying Rhatha Phongam offered exceptional beauty and poise and Vithaya Pansringarm whom you may remember from ‘Hangover Part 2’ shone also for his role as ‘Chang’.

Beautiful cinematography, wonderful soundtrack and great action for those who enjoy it; but in my opinion a difficult story to follow; not really my cup of tea.

Drive

"Get in, get out, get away…"

The cast of American heart-throb,Ryan Gosling and English beauty Carrie Mulligan is enough to make anyone these days intrigued to see a movie; but I was made aware of this film because of it's beautiful soundtrack. Based on the novel by American James Sallis, adapted into screenplay by Persian Hossein Amini whom you may remember to be the writer of 'Snow White and the Huntsman' and directed by Danish Nicolas Winding Refn, together produced cinematic gold with this 2011 crime-drama.

Unique, mysterious and stoic, this film's message is one of being careful who you do good-deeds for and how much is too much with getting involved. Our main character 'Driver' played by Gosling kept viewers interests peaked because of his darling and gentle personality flipped into one you wouldn't want to mess with. Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Albert Brooks and Bryan Cranston also add colour to this film's strange, dramatic and violent palette. There were so many wonderful and delicate details carefully constructed within like Gosling's 'Scorpion' jacket, and the locations in LA where this film was shot like the small pizzeria and mechanic boss' garage.

Mystery was probably my most beloved element of this film, as there was very little dialogue, but it also is Rated R for its strong brutal and bloody violence, obscene language and some nudity. With an estimated budget of $15 million USD, filmmakers were able to gross not only $35 million USD back, but also an Oscar nomination and another 43 wins and 80 other nominations. This film was intense and not recommended for the faint-hearted; but certainly beautifully shot and thought-provoking story.