corktown common
Thursday, July 25, 2024

inside man

With the short film Closing Dynasty

Is it possible to execute the perfect crime? In festival favourite Spike Lee’s Inside Man, mysterious mastermind Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) boasts directly to the camera that he has staged the ultimate bank heist. His implausible claim is that everyone involved – from his team of professional thieves to the bank workers and customers held hostage – has one thing in common: they are all innocent. Faced with this puzzle, NYPD negotiator Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) meticulously examines every thread and is determined to figure out the true motive in a rapidly-escalating situation where nothing is what it seems – all the while desperately trying to secure a long-overdue promotion to Detective First Grade. In their fourth director-actor collaboration, the acclaimed and iconic Oscar-winning duo of Lee and Washington deliver an exhilarating and suspenseful addition to the heist film genre. 

Reminiscent of Inside Man and countless films in Spike Lee's acclaimed catalogue, Korean-Canadian filmmaker Lloyd Lee Choi exquisitely captures New York City's neon-tinged nighttime aesthetic in Closing Dynasty. This captivating short film follows Queenie (Milinka Winata), an extremely hardworking seven-year-old girl with a natural affinity to survive, as she devises numerous ways to solicit money from strangers. Witnessing the world through her innocent, curious eyes, the audience experiences the beautiful joys and tragic burdens placed on second generation immigrants.