georgetdavies
Highlights
2011 Oscars
Lifetime Total
1+
Poll Taker
10x
IMDb Member
12 years
Reviews
Journeyman (2017)
A remarkable sophomore effort from Considine. Packs well more than a punch
It started about 20 minutes into the film. It then reoccurred every 10 minutes or so for the remainder of the duration. I've not cried like that at a film for I don't know how long. Like an emotional dementor Paddy Considine's second picture as a director takes so much, and give it back in equal measure.
I could say it was a like a punch to the face. A knockout of a film. It took me the full 12 rounds. It had me up against the ropes and... I could say these things. But they'd be naff -especially when describing this bruiser of a film.
It follows Matty Burton, an ageing boxer who knows his times spent and is ready to take his last steps into the ring before hanging up the gloves. But fate has another idea. Sounds familiar right? That's what I thought. Benefitting from having not seen the trailer, which I'd strongly advise avoiding if possible, I was of course shocked at the tale that followed.
Matty revives an injury which alters the course of his life. The film is really about how it affects not just him but those around him, namely his two friends and most of all his devoted wife, portrayed by Doctor Who's Jodie Whitaker, in a career best role. It's a boxing film but more than that it's a film about those we love and who care for us. It's about identity in some ways, fight in others, but love in every way.
Set mainly in the family home of Matty, his wife and their baby daughter Mia, the film is, for the most part, a domestic tale about a man recovering from a traumatic injury and a family recovering from the fallout of it.
When I say domestic I mean in the sense that the action is all contained within the confines of the house; not the ring. As a director Considine creates tension from the most ordinary of sights and sounds, a crying baby, the call of a name. He also crafts more than a couple of shocking moments, also within the house. These really shock. They're sudden, viscous and yet they create no feelings of anger, only anguish and desperation for our two leads.
Considine proved himself as a more than competent director with Tyrannosaur, and also a capable writer with Shane Meadows' Dead Mans Shoes. Here he goes beyond that. The original score is used when necessary and removed entirely at just the right moments, a certain phone call scene is one of the films standouts. It never tips into the melodramatic or pandering which I was very worried it would.
However above all this directorial talent which produces and almost insist on such incredible emotional response, it's the acting of Considine and Whitaker which truly blew me away. Considine is utterly convincing, scarily so at times. Whitaker more than matches him too in what is a very different but no less enthralling portrayal. Being a small British film (small only in the sense of it not getting a wide release) I don't expect any awards to come raining down. But I also don't think I'll see another pair on screen this year who put as dynamic and heartfelt a performance as these two. Absolutely stellar.
Yes it is a knockout. It did hit me with an emotional guy punch. And yet it's so much more than the cliches thrown its way would have you believe. See it.
I could say it was a like a punch to the face. A knockout of a film. It took me the full 12 rounds. It had me up against the ropes and... I could say these things. But they'd be naff -especially when describing this bruiser of a film.
It follows Matty Burton, an ageing boxer who knows his times spent and is ready to take his last steps into the ring before hanging up the gloves. But fate has another idea. Sounds familiar right? That's what I thought. Benefitting from having not seen the trailer, which I'd strongly advise avoiding if possible, I was of course shocked at the tale that followed.
Matty revives an injury which alters the course of his life. The film is really about how it affects not just him but those around him, namely his two friends and most of all his devoted wife, portrayed by Doctor Who's Jodie Whitaker, in a career best role. It's a boxing film but more than that it's a film about those we love and who care for us. It's about identity in some ways, fight in others, but love in every way.
Set mainly in the family home of Matty, his wife and their baby daughter Mia, the film is, for the most part, a domestic tale about a man recovering from a traumatic injury and a family recovering from the fallout of it.
When I say domestic I mean in the sense that the action is all contained within the confines of the house; not the ring. As a director Considine creates tension from the most ordinary of sights and sounds, a crying baby, the call of a name. He also crafts more than a couple of shocking moments, also within the house. These really shock. They're sudden, viscous and yet they create no feelings of anger, only anguish and desperation for our two leads.
Considine proved himself as a more than competent director with Tyrannosaur, and also a capable writer with Shane Meadows' Dead Mans Shoes. Here he goes beyond that. The original score is used when necessary and removed entirely at just the right moments, a certain phone call scene is one of the films standouts. It never tips into the melodramatic or pandering which I was very worried it would.
However above all this directorial talent which produces and almost insist on such incredible emotional response, it's the acting of Considine and Whitaker which truly blew me away. Considine is utterly convincing, scarily so at times. Whitaker more than matches him too in what is a very different but no less enthralling portrayal. Being a small British film (small only in the sense of it not getting a wide release) I don't expect any awards to come raining down. But I also don't think I'll see another pair on screen this year who put as dynamic and heartfelt a performance as these two. Absolutely stellar.
Yes it is a knockout. It did hit me with an emotional guy punch. And yet it's so much more than the cliches thrown its way would have you believe. See it.
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
Lynne Ramsey's best film. By a strong margin.
I feel the term 'speechless' is used a little too often. Only a handful of films have left me speechless. This is one of those films, obviously.
Meet Jauquin Phoenix's Joe. Life has thrown everything at Joe. Brutality beyond imagine. He's highly disturbed but within him is a child, a scared child. Working as a hired gun (or hammer), Joe tracks down kidnapped children. He's good at his work although not particularly happy in it. The story follows him as he tracks down the daughter of a senator, Nina, who's been taken to a brothel for underage girls. There's no glamour in the story nor in the execution of its telling.
The film is hard to watch at times as it's ultimately a story of abuse. Lynne Ramsey, a master storyteller flexing all her ability here, finds enomournous warmth and catharsis in the midst of the films lost souls. Comparisons have been made to Taxi Driver and these are well earned. Joe is a marauding beast in the concrete jungle, adorned with scars from past beatings, both physical and emotional. The camera echoes this animal instinct, peering round dingy corridors, waiting with sinister placement in dark corners. Unsettlingly the films central feeling.
In stark contrast, the scenes with Joe and his ailing mother are filled with warmth, provoking a smile at times and even a laugh or two. These scenes bring both a necessary restbite but are also the anchors to which my emotional involvement depended on. Joe is a lost child, playing silly games with a knife, slurping the last of his milkshake, giggling at himself in the mirror.
On a technical level I'm struggling to think of a fault. The sound design is incredible, klaxons, screeches, grates, synths, whispers, both diegetic and non, fill the sound space. And who pops up with a fittingly brilliant original score but Mr Johnny Greenwood, with his best work since There Will Be Blood.
Ramsey is one of the best filmmakers working today, this film makes that apparent. I think the making of this kind of film, of this calibre, has been within her powers for a while. Flashes of similar brutality can be seen in her debut feature Ratcatcher. The stakes are not so high but the cruelty is still jarring. It's a lean, tight, scarred muscle of a film.
I'm not sure I'll see a better film this year and I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that. It demands a rewatch and this will review will be mostly incoherent but it's some film. It's fantastic. I loved it. I don't really know what to say.
Meet Jauquin Phoenix's Joe. Life has thrown everything at Joe. Brutality beyond imagine. He's highly disturbed but within him is a child, a scared child. Working as a hired gun (or hammer), Joe tracks down kidnapped children. He's good at his work although not particularly happy in it. The story follows him as he tracks down the daughter of a senator, Nina, who's been taken to a brothel for underage girls. There's no glamour in the story nor in the execution of its telling.
The film is hard to watch at times as it's ultimately a story of abuse. Lynne Ramsey, a master storyteller flexing all her ability here, finds enomournous warmth and catharsis in the midst of the films lost souls. Comparisons have been made to Taxi Driver and these are well earned. Joe is a marauding beast in the concrete jungle, adorned with scars from past beatings, both physical and emotional. The camera echoes this animal instinct, peering round dingy corridors, waiting with sinister placement in dark corners. Unsettlingly the films central feeling.
In stark contrast, the scenes with Joe and his ailing mother are filled with warmth, provoking a smile at times and even a laugh or two. These scenes bring both a necessary restbite but are also the anchors to which my emotional involvement depended on. Joe is a lost child, playing silly games with a knife, slurping the last of his milkshake, giggling at himself in the mirror.
On a technical level I'm struggling to think of a fault. The sound design is incredible, klaxons, screeches, grates, synths, whispers, both diegetic and non, fill the sound space. And who pops up with a fittingly brilliant original score but Mr Johnny Greenwood, with his best work since There Will Be Blood.
Ramsey is one of the best filmmakers working today, this film makes that apparent. I think the making of this kind of film, of this calibre, has been within her powers for a while. Flashes of similar brutality can be seen in her debut feature Ratcatcher. The stakes are not so high but the cruelty is still jarring. It's a lean, tight, scarred muscle of a film.
I'm not sure I'll see a better film this year and I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that. It demands a rewatch and this will review will be mostly incoherent but it's some film. It's fantastic. I loved it. I don't really know what to say.
Calvary (2014)
Calvary - Utterly Superb.
Calvary
Honestly, for those of you who haven't seen this film, go and see it. It's absolutely fantastic!
Brendan Gleeson gives a stunning performance as a troubled priest who has to come to terms with something shocking that he has been told will happen. It paints a brutal, realistic and yet original picture of modern Ireland. All the characters in the film are exaggerated representations of the types of people you get in Ireland today IMO. The story is touching, emotional, real and unforgettable.
My favourite film of 2014 so far. If you liked In Bruges or The Guard or even Seven Psychopaths, see this film. It's darker than all three of those films and it's hard to watch at times but honestly, it's worth it.
A beautifully dark film, with lashings of black humour and some lovely one liners. Just make sure to laugh at the appropriate parts, some viewers in my cinema laughed at the opening line! (once/if you see it you'll understand) I hope audiences outside of the UK and Ireland can enjoy it. I implore you to see it. 9/10, a must see!
Honestly, for those of you who haven't seen this film, go and see it. It's absolutely fantastic!
Brendan Gleeson gives a stunning performance as a troubled priest who has to come to terms with something shocking that he has been told will happen. It paints a brutal, realistic and yet original picture of modern Ireland. All the characters in the film are exaggerated representations of the types of people you get in Ireland today IMO. The story is touching, emotional, real and unforgettable.
My favourite film of 2014 so far. If you liked In Bruges or The Guard or even Seven Psychopaths, see this film. It's darker than all three of those films and it's hard to watch at times but honestly, it's worth it.
A beautifully dark film, with lashings of black humour and some lovely one liners. Just make sure to laugh at the appropriate parts, some viewers in my cinema laughed at the opening line! (once/if you see it you'll understand) I hope audiences outside of the UK and Ireland can enjoy it. I implore you to see it. 9/10, a must see!