Welcome to the Punch
Dir: Eran Creevy
2013
**
Welcome to the Punch has a great cast but unfortunately no one in particular gives a great performance except for maybe Johnny Harris. If only they had spent more time writing a good script for all the great and unused actors instead of messing about with bleak, slightly modern looking locations around London it could have been something worthwhile. The fact that they cut and copied so many famous parts of London annoyed me. Eran Creevy has said in interviews that he wanted to do a London film, in and around the City itself but all we get is crappy office buildings and industrial estates with a fake Canary wharf background. There are a couple of great scenes, notably the one with the brilliant (but underused) Ruth Sheen and the music and sound is amazing. Apart from that, it's forgettable and amateurish. Amateurish with fancy cameras and a great cast wasted. A real shame, this country needs to make some decent films quick!

Shifty
Dir: Eran Creevy
2008
***
Shifty isn't a masterpiece but I think for a little small budget British film it deserves praise. It stars Cinephile Crocodile favorites Riz Ahmed and Daniel Mays as drug dealer and ex-drug dealer consecutively. The film is basically one long conversation between the two, comedy and drama happen along the way, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much but the script is always spot on. It is a balance of originality and cliche but I would forgive some of the more expected aspects of the film for the scenes of genuine quality and tenderness. Not perfect but a fine debut by anyone's standards.