The Banshees of Inisherin

 

The Banshees of Inisherin 2022

• Director: Martin McDonough
• Seen by this director: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendon Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Colin Farrell – many
• Brendon Gleeson - many
• Kerry Condon – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, This Must Be the Place, The Last Station, Intermission, Ned Kelly, Angela’s Ashes
• Barry Keoghan – Eternals, Chernobyl, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, ‘71
• Why? The cast
• Seen:  8 March 2025   

             Have they been rowing, old friends Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson)? Pádraic doesn’t think so but Colm suddenly refuses to sit with him at the local pub on the tiny island Inisherin off the coast of Ireland. Colm just doesn’t like him anymore. He doesn’t want to waste his life with Pátraic’s dull chat.

            Pátraic lives with his sister Siabhan (Condon) and his little black donkey Jenny. He is very upset by Colm’s rejection.

            It’s the 1920s, the Civil War is going on over on the Irish mainland. The people of Inisherin are isolated, lonely, eccentric, immersed in nonsensical religion and mean-spirited gossip.

            The film is funny, sad, extremely well-acted (of course) and beautiful. Ireland is beautiful.

 5* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knock at the Cabin

 

Knock at the Cabin 2023

• Director: M Night Shyamalan
• Seen by this director: many
• Based loosely on the book by Paul Trembley
• Cast: Dave Bautista, Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Rupert Grint, Abby Quinn, Kristen Cui
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Dave Bautista – Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick, Blade Runner 2049
• Jonathan Groff – Doctor Who, The Matrix Resurrections, Hamilton
• Nikki Amuka-Bird - Old, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Doctor Who, The Children’s Act, Jupiter Ascending, Luther, Coriolanus, Small Island
• Rupert Grint – Into the White, Harry Potter, Driving Lessons
• Why? M Night Shyamalan
• Seen:  7 March 2025   

             Seven-year-old Wen (Cui) is on holiday in a cabin in the woods with her dads Andrew (Aldridge) and Eric (Groff).

            Four very kindly, unhappy, apologetic and violent people (Bautista), (Grint), (Amuka-Bird) and (Quinn) break into the cabin, take them hostage and tell them that they must choose and sacrifice one of them. Only that will prevent an apocalypse. If they don’t every human being on earth will die.

            The film got a lot of negative reviews, and many seem to hate Shyamalan. Of course the story is ridiculous, based on the biblical end-of-the-world tale, but I like Shyalaman and I quite like the film. Ridiculous or not, it’s well-told.

 3* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crazy Heart

 

Crazy Heart 2009

• Director: Scott Cooper
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Jeff Bridges – many
• Maggie Gyllenhaal - The Dark Night, Stranger than Fiction, Paris je t’aime, Sherrybaby, Riding in Cars with Boys, Donnie Darko, Waterland
• Colin Farrell - many
• Why? The cast
• Seen:  3 March 2025   

             In these Oscar days it feels appropriate to see a film with an Oscar winner, Jeff Bridges for best actor. I don’t generally like country music but I’m hoping this will be the palatable sort.

            Bad Blake (Bridges) is an ex-superstar country musician, now an alcoholic on the skids. His current gig is in a bowling alley.

            He and single mum journalist Jean (Gyllenhaal) start a romance and he sort of tries to get his life together. It’s a mediocre story that we’ve seen before. I like Gyllenhaal in most roles but here I found her mournful eyes and hunched posture irritating. An Oscar for Bridges? Another one of those mysterious choices. Only Colin Farrell is really worth seeing here and he raises it to

         

 2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me and You and Everyone We Know

 

Me and You and Everyone We Know 2005

• Director: Miranda July
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: John Hawkes, Miranda July
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• John Hawkes – The Peanut Butter Falcon, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Everest, Lincoln, Contagion, Lost, Winter’s Bone, A Slipping Down Life
• Why? The title
• Seen:  26 February 2025                         

       Quirky is the word for this film and most reviewers use it. I’m fine with quirky films if they don’t try too hard. Is this one trying too hard? I think so. Is it good anyway? I don’t know. The characters are all pathetic, unhappy, love-starved, lonely. There are a lot of them, and they’re only loosely connected.

       I feel likeshould like it but I’m having trouble with that. It’s just depressing and I can’t do depressing this evening. But I will probably watch it again when I’m up to it. 

2 ½ * of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water for Elephants

 

Water for Elephants 2011

• Director: Francis Lawrence
• Seen by this director: The Hunger Games, I Am Legend, Constantine
• Based on the book by Sara Gruen (DNF)
• Cast: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• All of them - many
• Why? I like the title and I like elephants
• Seen:  25 February 2025                   

        Circuses are not my thing but I like elephants. Jacob (Pattinson) gets work in a circus, falls in love with the boss’s (Waltz) wife (Witherspoon) and there’s an elephant.

       As expected, I like the elephant but the love story is ho-hum. I don’t like seeing animals in cages or forced to perform. Witherspoon is often good but not in this role. Same with Pattinson. Waltz too, for that matter. Maybe it’s the roles that are wrong, not the actors.

       Nope, not for me. 

2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tell Tale

 

Tell Tale 2009

• Director: Michael Questa
• Based loosely on the story by Edgar Allan Poe
• Cast: Josh Lucas, Lena Headey, Bea Miller
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Josh Lucas – The Lincoln Lawyer, Undertow, A Beautiful Mind
• Lena Headey - The Flood, Game of Thrones, Fighting with My Family, The Mortal Instruments, Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Babes of Saint Trinian’s, The Brothers Grimm, Aberdeen, Remains of the Day
• Why? Lena Headey
• Seen:  24 February 2025                  

             Terry (Lucas) has recently had a heart transplant. He’s a single dad with a young daughter Angie (Miller) who is very ill. He and the girl’s doctor Liz (Headey) are in love.

            Terry discovers that his donor was murdered. How? His new heart beats wildly when he gets close to one of the murderers which happens because…. Oops, no spoilers. He sets out to solve the mystery and ends up… oops, no spoilers.

            There’s not much Poe here but it’s quite a clever story with an almost completely unexpected twist ending.     

 3* of 5  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamilton

 

Hamilton 2020

• Director: Thomas Kail
• Based on the book: no
• Cast: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Philippa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr, Renée Elise Goldsberry, David Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Chris Jackson
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Lin-Manuel Miranda – In the Heights
• Why? The hype
• Seen:  22 February 2025                   

        Oh, to see this on stage, but oh how happy I am to see it on my TV screen.

       Believe the hype. Music, lyrics, voices, humour – just brilliant.

       With that said, there are problems. The story is muddled, possibly difficult to follow for those not familiar with US history. It goes on rather too long, a few kill your darlings would sharpen it up. The lyrics are always clever but don’t always bring the story forward.

       The major problem however is that, though the cast is mostly made up of actors of colour, the characters portrayed were in reality white slaveholders, or at least entrenched in a racist society. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote it and starred in the title role, has acknowledged this and apologised.

       Still, it presents some astute comments on the complexities of wars of independence and building a new nation. It is definitely worth seeing. More than once. 

4* of 5