#awatt

“Another performer who was keen to explore darkness in his character was Dan Stevens, who plays Tombstones’ Kenny Kristo, a man who loses everything when he finds his beloved wife brutally murdered. Curiously, Block chose not to make the heroin trafficker the villain of his story, and that adds more layers to his work...much like the actors chosen to join the production. “Dan was anxious to stretch people’s perception of him as this heartthrob in Downton Abbey,” Sher says. “He is a gifted actor and was game to go for it and to transform himself physically.” 

“For Kenny Kristo, the designer gave him a bit of jewelry. “We didn’t want to say ‘drug dealer,’ but he has some of the trappings of his trade,” reveals Heimann. “I chose deep burgundy for him and black leather to give him just a bit of a tougher exterior. I liked the deep burgundies on him because you don’t want everybody in your movie running around in black.” 

From Den of Geek

9. A Walk Among The Tombstones

Production budget of $28m, worldwide gross of $53m

"Well, this wasn’t the film I was expecting. Quietly creeping out at the end of last year, after star Liam Neeson had already scored a hit in the form of the gloriously 90s B-movie joy of Non-Stop ($50m budget, worldwide gross of $222.8m) it was safe to assume it would follow in the footsteps of his recent action driven thrillers. Not so however, as A Walk Among The Tombstones feels more like a 70s-set crime drama along the lines of Zodiac or Summer Of Sam, even though it takes place in 1999.

What makes that setting work so well is that it allows Neeson’s private investigator the chance to indulge in some old-fashioned detective work, as both mobile phones and the internet were still relatively new forms of communication/information, and ones that his character eschews out of principle. It’s slightly frightening that the late 90s can now be used a period setting, but it's a clever choice as the only real aesthetic details that have changed are technological.

Our own Mr Lambie recently reviewed Taken 3 and lamented how Neeson looked bored of the whole affair, but there’s a real sense of investment in his performance in Tombstones, no doubt relishing the change of pace as much as most viewers will. He’s ably surrounded by a fine supporting cast, most of whom play utter miscreants, and the escalating career of Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens sees him add another fine character role to his CV (it’s also a nice coincidence that his former co-star, Michelle Dockery, appeared alongside Neeson last year in the aforementioned Non-Stop).

A Walk Among The Tombstones would rank higher on the list for all of its merits, but since the action side turned out to be deceptively light, I think sitting it here seems about right. If you don’t know anything about it, I won’t divulge any plot details here as you might end up being as pleasantly surprised as I was and as luck would have it, it’s released this week in the UK on disc."

Read more: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/action-movies/33692/the-top-10-underappreciated-action-films-of-2014#ixzz3PY2YHYIe