RYAN Isolation Film Round Up
** Adult Themes **
This post comes from Ryan Kelly - top scorer on the film round in Pete’s Pub Quiz and my resident film expert. These can all be found on free channels and I am told are not suitable for younger audiences. Enjoy.
RYAN KELLY
Catch them quick!
Round up of free to watch films on the tele right now, catch them before they go.
KILL LIST movie poster, Image Source - imdb
The rom-com for everyone, a true story from Kumail Nanjiani, this film has heart, schmaltz, and is amusing throughout. It avoids big set-piece gags, instead opting for a humour that is woven throughout. Also, a great semi-straight turn from Ray Romano, the beginning of his Ray-naissance.
This gives the context and patience needed for substance abuse addicts. We've learned our lessons with torturing and mocking people in a spiral, so maybe it's Diego's turn? Asif Kapadia excels in this niche, given the excellent 'Amy' he created a few years back, and Senna before it, this is almost the culmination of a sport/tragic triptych.
If you've never seen a Ben Wheatley film, I suggest Googling nothing and watching this. This has the brutality of Brit Gangster Flix, the scrunge of a kitchen sink drama, and the "What The Fuck?!" of a Park Chan-wook film. Bonus Tip: See more Ben Wheatley on iPlayer with "Happy Birthday, Colin Burstead"
4. Manchester by the Sea - iPlayer
This got a lot of buzz at the time but has been more or less buried since due to some unsavoury rumours about Casey Affleck. Separating artist and art, this a gut-wrenching family drama, which doesn't show its hand straight away. You're a bystander to a family tragedy, where truth is known only by a few.
Take. Jim. Carrey. Seriously! This is a heart-breaking, true(?) Story about the real life of Andy Kaufman. Carrey gets to be the 'Ace Ventura' Carrey, then be the 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' Carrey. Watch this, laugh, cry, read Wikipedia, then watch the 'making-of': 'Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond' on Netflix. Which lifts the lid on working with a method actor/prick.
Haven't seen it, so can't tell you anything, nor should you read too much. It's a film I've been meaning to see for a long time (six years). As I understand: Family + Something bad happens = fallout over people's actions. Watch it before the (now released) US remake becomes popular, and then you get to be that wanker in the pub that retorts: "have you not seen it in the original Norwegian?"
7. Hypernormalisation – iPlayer
Now you're indoors, you have no excuse, watch an Adam Curtis essay film. This somewhat bleak film gives an interesting theoretical glance at world events that tipped us from the last century into this frightening hell hole, just as The Man requires it.
Ok, you've eaten your veg, time for dessert. Mindhorn is a mad comedy in the style of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. I could watch Julian Barratt all day, so switch off, and let this wash over you.
"Hey, it's 11:48pm, Twelve Monkeys is on, shall we watch a bit before bed?" – this is how I've approached this film for the seventeen times I've seen it. Now's the time to see the whole thing as director Terry Gilliam (yep) intended: from the start, all the middle bits, and then the end! In all seriousness, this a great film, Bruce Willis actually turning up and doing his job, and people finally saying "Wow, Brad Pitt actually turns up and does his job!". Yeah, he does, and always does.
Sleeper hit! If you know it like I do, good on you, and good on me. Paul Bettany, Malcolm McDowell, Barbican, and a killer soundtrack. Warning: this does get gory, but I remember it for being a rather remarkable Brit Gangster story that contrasts nicely with Guy Richie and his film that he does.
And a few podcasts to keep you going - The Empire Podcast & Kermode & Mayo’s Film Review