Jan
11
2007
Well, I did the books so now I’m turning my attention to the films. And in no particular order my top films of 2006 are:
- The Departed[1]
Violent and great. But must be call “The Depaaahrted” for proper effect. Both DiCaprio & Damon were great, but the whole supporting cast were fantastic.
- Pan’s Labyrinth[2]
I loved this film. Visually stunning, and with a great story as well. Brilliant.
- Little Miss Sunshine[3]
Just wonderful. Funny and touching and so watchable. And another film with a great child actor, Pan’s Labyrinth being the other.
- United 93[4]
This may be here because of subject matter rather then purely the film, but I still think it deserves a mention. Gripping both because of the drama/tension raised, but also because of what you know happened.
- Severance[5]
Because who doesn’t love a silly gore-filled comedy. Not quite in the same league as Shaun of the Dead but I loved it all the same.
- Superman Returns[6]
Not perfect, but pretty damn close. Let down by having Bosworth play Lois Lane, but I thought that Routh was perfection as Supes.
- The Wind That Shakes The Barley[7]
This is one that’ll feature in quite a few history classes over the coming years I’d guess. The Irish civil war in all its violence and brutality.
- El Lobo[8]
Another Spanish language film, this time set in the 1970’s, and involving terrorism. Didn’t know anything about it before going it, but thought it was a very good film.
- Junebug[9]
This was just lovely. Yes, it is a quirky independent film but don’t hold that against it.
- The Proposition[10]
Nick Cave writes a film, we’re all expecting darkness, and that is certainly present. Very violent and harsh, but a great film.
- Mirrormask[11]
It may be a little similar plotwise to films like Labyrinth but this is still a great film in its own right. Great visuals.
- Merry Christmas aka Joyeux Noel[12]
This came out in 2005, but I didn’t see it til Jan 2006, so it still makes my list. Set in the trenches of World War I this is a story based on the true-life unofficial truce between the opposing sides of that war, and it makes for a great film.
Tags:
El Lobo,
favfilms2006,
Favourite films,
Junebug,
Little Miss Sunshine,
Merry Christmas,
Mirrormask,
Pan's Labyrinth,
Severance,
Shaun of the Dead,
Superman Returns,
The Departed,
The Proposition,
The Wind That Shakes The Barley,
United 93
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Jun
26
2006
Three posts in the one day, I must be busy at work!
Went to see The Wind That Shakes the Barley on Friday, and meant to post this then, but I forgot[1] Is there a better actor out there at portraying pro-English propaganda than Roger Allam 
He was great in V for Vendetta as the “England Prevails” character, whatshisface Prothero. And in TWTSTB he gives another great, if small, performance as a p-spitting character[2] This time wanting god to preserve Ireland from the likes of Damien & friends as they fight for independence, or in his words, create a priest-ridden backwater[3]
It is a good film[4] btw, if you get the chance, you should try and catch it. You may not get the chance if you are in the UK as I’ve read that it is getting a limited release, on account of being so anti-English as to make The Patriot pro-Empire. It isn’t, of course, but that is the way certain sections of the media have reported it. It doesn’t show the soldiers in a great light, but they are acting as Black & Tans and The Auxillaries. And many of them are actual British soldiers who told Ken Loach that that is exactly how they would act if faced with a hostile population. Without the random murders of course.
It hasn’t been released in the US yet.
I may go see it again at some stage this week.
Linknotes:
- Forgot, was too lazy. All the same I suppose. ↩
- not peas, or pee. But words beginning with P. See? ↩
- - something like that. IMDb have no memorable quotes for me to check ↩
- although the quality of hurling during their training wasn’t great. All ground hurling, was it hockey they were playing, eh lads? ↩
Tags:
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
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Jun
24
2006
Dir: Ken Loach
Writ: Paul Laverty
- Cillian Murphy - Damien
- Pádraic Delaney - Teddy
- Liam Cunningham - Dan
- Orla Fitzgerald - Sinead
- Myles Horgan - Rory
Opening with a hurling scene in Cork in the 1920’s this film lives entirely within the experience of the main character, Damien. A young doctor about to leave Ireland for a career in London he is pulled into the Irish War of Independence. And this film is about his fight. The film starts without any introductory text, there is no attempt made to make the viewer aware of the wider world, this is Damien’s story and only his story.
Continue Reading »
Tags:
10 Stars,
1920s,
brother against brother,
C20th,
Cillian Murphy,
death,
historical fiction,
Ireland - civil war,
Ireland - war of independence,
irish history,
Ken Loach,
Liam Cunningham,
Myles Horgan,
Orla Fitzgerald,
Paul Laverty,
Pádraic Delaney,
The Wind That Shakes The Barley,
torture
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Jun
07
2006
While I was home I had the wonderful opportunity to read The Sunday Independent[1] cause the parents get it every weekend. And what a load of unreadable tosh a lot of it is. Not that there is all that much choice on a Sunday. In Sligo we get the Sindo, The Sunday Tribune and The Sunday Times. The mudder says the only reason to get the Sindo is for the jobs section, but I’ve a feeling it is more down to habit than anything else. Anyways, despite my dislike of the style of the Independent there was one article that I liked. One[2] which pointed out the ever so slight differences between the English version of certain papers and their Irish versions.
The winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes was Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley[3] which deals with the Irish civil war, and the behaviour of British forces during the War of Independence. Now I haven’t seen the film, I’ll be going when it is released, and I’ve a feeling that I won’t like it’s politics. It’s supposed to be more in favour of the anti-treaty side, whereas I’m a Michael Collins-pro-treaty sorta person. But I’ll wait till I’ve seen the film before I judge it[4] I’m more interested in the fact that the Sindo seems to be correct in its pointing out how the English papers are reporting it:
- The Times give ou about Loach’s Marxist philosophy and say he shouldn’t have been in Cannes as it is all about the capitalism
- The Daily Mail think that Loach just likes attacking his own country. And sure wasn’t the Empire a great thing anyway, “With all its deficiencies, it brought much of value to most of the countries it occupied. Also, it all happened a long time ago and no one should be forced to apologise for it.” Hmmm. What else should you expect from the Daily Mail though
- Back to The Times again and it again Loach is attacked for being English. Or at least, for being English and daring to suggest that the English soldiers during the War of Independence weren’t all heroes. This despite the fact that it is an historical fact that the black and tans did commit reprisals and random shootings. Course the IRA did too. Maybe Loach doesn’t show that, in which case, fair enough, complain about that. But what I particularly like is the fact that although these articles are critical of Loach and The Wind That Shakes the Barley the film itself isn’t actually reviewed. Does this mean they haven’t seen it?
Course the fact that Loach then justified the film “exclusively” in also makes me go hmmm. But as I haven’t seen the film I can’t complain about it, or judge it, unlike some who know all about it before they go:
The reason why I won’t be going to his film (which I couldn’t see before I wrote about it as it had been shown only at Cannes) is because I can’t stand its sheer predictability.
Personally I think I may be more bothered by Cillian Murphy’s voice. In all the trailers I’ve seen so far he sounds very like Gift Grub’s version of Roy Keane.
Tags:
Cillian Murphy,
meeja,
newspapers,
prejudice,
The Sunday Independent,
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
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