Physical Media // 3 in 1
I haven’t posted any film or TV based items for a while, which means I have a bit of a backlog. So, rather than expend energy unnecessarily, I am lumping 3 recent viewings together in this single post.
No Country For Old Men // This Is England // Family Guy - Blue Harvist.
I’ll start with ‘No Country For Old Men‘, which is another of Ethan and Joel Coen’s departures, that mostly result in great films. This is no exception, but sadly it’s not as good as I thought/expected it was going to be. That may well not be the fault of film, I got sucked in by everyone harping on about this being ‘the best film this year’, fool, I hate it when that happens.
Don’t get me wrong, this is masterclass in chase thrillers, but there are some weird bits, like that ending..? And as controversial as it sounds, I don’t think there is enough nastiness, which sort of left me wanting more tension. I think (the outstanding) Javier Bardem’s nasty killer could of been even nastier; I wanted him to be more scary. I think the chase would have been more fraught and haunting had he have been darker.
Definitely watch it; but make sure you think it’s going to be just OK - and you’ll probably love it.
Next up, ‘This Is England‘ from the (I think) unpredictable Shane Meadows. The film is a cultural reference to a country governed by Margaret Thatcher, a country where nationalism grew out of fear, poverty and racial inequality.
This is a superbly written and directed and therefore hugely compelling coming of age drama. On top of that there are several stand out performances, not least 12-year-old Shaun (brilliantly played by Thomas Turgoose). When he’s on form, there are few directors can milk their ‘council house’ past as well as Meadows; This is England is by far his most personal and powerful film yet.
Top draw.
As a fan of both Star Wars and Family Guy it wasn’t that difficult to enjoy Blue Harvest. It’s all very familiar and safe and has some genuinely funny moments. Having the Star Wars characters, score and sound effects means it’s pretty hard to fuck it up.
I just couldn’t help thinking how good it would have been if it was South Park though.
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