What I Watched: February 2024

‘71

An incredible action film that flew under the radar. Set amid the Troubles in Belfast, this is a part of history that is often avoided or handled terribly in media. It is near impossible to capture the complexities of the situation and a huge amount of care is required to tell a story set in this time. All that considered, ’71 does a brilliant job of painting a picture of the realities back then. The Troubles was a conflict centred around division and alienation, scheming, and underhanded dealings. The British Government’s willingness to engage with Paramilitary, manipulating communities to fight their battle underpinned the whole conflict. This is utilised brilliantly in this film, Jack O’Connell’s character is a young soldier abandoned on the streets, deep in IRA territory, desperate to stay alive, he increasingly gets caught up in a covert military operation, unable to tell friend from foe, witnessing increasingly deplorable actions from the British Army against citizen they were brought in to protect. The tension in this film is incredible, the chases through claustrophobic alleys, the cat and mouse game from multiple parties, the complete uncertainty on who to trust. Whilst it mostly avoids getting bogged down in the politics, it works as a smart analogy of the overall situation in Northern Ireland and the lack of responsibility from the British Government

4/5

Harvie Krumpet

What an odd little film. Following the life of potentially the unluckiest man of al time, we experience Harvey’s life and the range of experiences he goes through. At only 23 minutes long, this film crams a lot of adversity into a short amount of time, yet somehow Harvey finds ways to find joy in the smaller things in life. Despite its heavy subject matter, the use of humour and Harvey’s attitude actually make this quite a heartwarming watch. Worth putting on if you are looking for a quick watch!

3.5/5

May December

I want to address this further in a longer article, so I’ll keep this brief. What I will say is that this is a fantastic film. The film weaves a story of control and abuse, with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore’s characters fighting for the lead at the expense of Charles Moore’s character. The performances of Portman and Moore are exceptional, each highlighting toxic behaviours at odds with the other, constantly battling. However, the standout performance comes from Moore, displaying a childlike vulnerability, trapped in a grown man’s body, it is gut wrenching to see at times and Moore handles it all which such fragility it is incredibly powerful and not what I expected from him at all! Most definitely check this one out.

4/5

Mad Max: Fury Road

What a lovely film! Well, not really, in fact not at all. It is in fact an excellent film. Set in a hellscape of a post-apocalyptic world, where humanity ended a long time prior, and gasoline fuelled insanity rules those left. George Miller takes the franchise to a whole new level whilst keeping the core feelings of the original very much at the forefront. The fact that the majority of these stunts are practical is astonishing. This film hands down has the best action sequences I have ever seen in cinema. It pure, unadulterated chaos dialled up to the max, and it is wonderful. A simple premiss that does not overcomplicate things but keeps you engaged in the story and invested in the characters enables Miller to stretch every other aspect out to the most ridiculous level. He certainly does that: the crazy cars, the grotesque characters, the full throttle set pieces… the guy with the flamethrower guitar that shreds for the entire film, this film is so much fun and I am so excited for the Furiosa film.

5/5

All of Us Strangers

From pure, unapologetic fun to soul crushing misery… quite the double feature here! Going into this film I knew it was going to be sad, what I was not prepared for was to have my heart ripped out of my chest and stomped on by Andrew Scott repeatedly for 106 minutes. This film boils down the basic human emotions to their purest form and really dives into human desires. Andrew Scott is outstanding here, doing so much emotional heavy lifting, he really sells the vulnerability of Adam without ever hamming it up. Watching his journey through the stages of grief and his attempts to progress with his life is incredibly tough, but truly life affirming. Although maybe not as heavy as Adam’s life, there are aspects we all can relate to, the desire to be accepted, to make loved ones proud, to be loved and not be lonely. This film expertly and carefully explores the depths of human nature and crafts one of the most powerful explorations of grief in recent years. A powerful offering from Andrew Haig

4.5/5

Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Honestly? Kind of disappointing. I had heard so much about this film before I watched it, so much buzz that my expectations were through the roof. That is where this experience let me down. Do not get me wrong, this is in no way a bad film; I still enjoyed watching it, I just kept expecting more. The big thing I hear about this film is that it is a time capsule of the 80s, and whilst it may be that the attempt at a story and the characters are just not that compelling to me. The film rides this weird line of attempting to tell a story whilst also being a hangout movie, not really excelling at either. IT left me with this unfulfilled feeling at the end that I did not get with other films of a similar ilk. Maybe if I had been alive when it came out it would have been more meaningful for me, but honestly, it did not do much more than pass 90 minutes easily.

3.5/5

Dazed and Confused

After my unsatisfying experience with Fast Times, I needed to scratch my 80s high school hangout film itch. There was only one film to turn to! This film gets better with every rewatch, words cannot do justice to describe how much I love his film… but I tried a couple of years ago: https://www.threeactstructure.com/post/dazed-and-confused-the-ultimate-hangout-film

5/5