This, my review of the film The Gentlemen written and directed by Guy Ritchie, will be a bit different from your average Collider movie review. I've seen the movie twice, once at a completely normal screening in which I took extensive notes, and a second time following a "cannabis-infused formal dinner" hosted by STXEntertainment. (A lovely time, here are Collider's photos.) To clarify further and in the interest of full disclosure, I've seen The Gentlemen stone-cold sober and I've seen The Gentlemen higher than Brad Garrett's balls. And it was enlightening in ways …

Once you figure out just what to make of the title NOS4A2 (pronounced like “Nosferatu,”) you might expect some classic vampire lore from AMC’s latest horror offering. And indeed, you will find a vampire of sorts, but the new series based on Joe Hill’s celebrated novel of the same name avoids the classic tropes and familiar monsters of the genre, offering instead an immortal man by the name of Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) who feeds on the souls of young children and discards the husks of their souls in a terrible Christmas village in his mind called Christmasland. …

The opening credits of Captive State start with a series of title cards detailing the events of an alien invasion and takeover. We’re informed that the aliens are now known as “legislators” since they control the law; major cities are now closed zones where humans labor to build underground tunnels for the aliens; collaboration with the aliens has exacerbated income inequality; and people who resist are deported off world. That’s a lot of interesting stuff that we’re only told about before the story picks up in Chicago, 2027. While the thought of dropping in right in the …