ajptonner I bought this film for nothing in a Chinese market and sat down to watch it. The only thing on the cover in English was the title. For the first ten minutes I was trying to decide whether this film had been made by some kind of movie school in the UK or not, but to my growing joy I was proved wrong. Set in some town in New Zealand(Aukland maybe), the film is basically about a day in the life of a bunch of 'hard men/wise boys' out to get back something stolen from their leader in a mugging. The story has obvious flaws - but tell me one that doesn't.The dialogue is absolutely spot on. This is how we really speak. At least the gentlemen I know speak like this "you're a knob jockey" being a fine example that comes to mind.Upon close of the film I found I had come across a great bunch of characters and all in their own way likable and recognisable from my own experiences. The lead duo I thought were superb, and you can tell while watching the film they were enjoying themselves. It's all done with a great sense of fun and lust for life. If you are interested in watching a well made film, full action, great dialogue, magic characters, funny as hell - and without the biblical references, social pap, bare knuckle fighting and blood (although Mr Richie does this well) political correctness, etc. etc. - then here it be. Marvelous work! Lets have another one.

progen Pretty good movie overall in the sense that the story keeps moving and there's no soppy love scenes to slow things down. Acting was alright too and most of the actors / actresses were convincing. Ketzal's outbursts and coined phrases added that little bit of humour and if you just watched it at face value, you'd never have guessed the ending. Looks like this is a Quentin Tarantino or Guy Ritchie in the making. Just too bad he didn't come up with anything like this after. I've watched it a few times and will definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a 'light' movie or simply to find out what a knob jockey is.

birck It's not a bad job. The characters are convincing, even if some of the action isn't. If you can accept stylized, unconvincing violence (no blood anywhere), which I don't mind, the story has some new twists. The first two thirds seem a bit aimless, like Mean Streets down under, just a tale of four thugs who seem to have an appointment to keep in the afternoon, and manage to keep it, in spite of the befuddled police they have to deal with in New Zealand. It's funny; it could have been funnier, but for something I never heard of before a street vendor offered it to me, it ain't bad. The acting is generally acceptable; the camera-work is utilitarian. Technically, it succeeds in some ways, e.g., the steadicam work, but fails in others, e.g., under- and over-exposure, or their digital equivalents. The dialogue is in Kiwi, i.e., "english", but it would benefit from subtitles, also in English, as in The Harder They Come. It's worth noting that the vaunted technical achievement (long, uncut shots) was barely noticeable-which means that it did what it was supposed to do without drawing attention to itself.

Johnny Piranha This is an obviously inspired film that isn't the usual predictable drivel that I see in so many films of this genre. It has a Taratinoesque quality to it but isn't quite so scattered brained as most of his movies are. The characters are interesting and personable and not over the top, and there are some genuinely funny moments. There is a little bit of bad acting but not from the main actors at all, just in some of the bit parts. The story line is very good and although there are some violent moments in the movie it wasn't at all gory or messy. Also, the camera work is really quite unique and there is a flow to it that almost makes you feel like you are part of the movie. I would think that a lot of other filmmakers will be trying to use this type of effect in upcoming movies. Overall I would give this move at least an 8 out of 10.