movie/Dexter

[ellen_datlow]

Tonight I watched In Bruges and was surprised at how good it is. Although Colin Farrell's eyebrows kept reminding of of caterpillars (Eugene Levy anyone?) he, Brendon Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes (who finally broke out of the effete mold of the last few movies of his I've seen) and came across as a rough tough (albeit) dapper and weird, coldblooded but sentimental crimeboss).

I only realized why it's so good and strange when I saw in the end credits that it was written and directed by the great Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who wrote The Pillow Man and the Lieutenant of Innishmore, which are quite dark with some black humor thrown in--as is In Bruges.

Basic plot: two Irish hit men are sent to Bruges, Belgium after a cock-up in England. While there they wait for a phone call from their boss. I highly recommend this. Be aware though, it's got quite a bit of violence.

Comments

[lonesome-crow.livejournal.com]

And quite a bit of foul language. But I enjoyed it immensely. Gleeson was phenomenal.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Oh yes...I forgot that :-) I barely noticed it. Don't forget, I watched The Sopranos, and more recently Deadwood :-)

[kaolinfire.livejournal.com]

Going into it, I was expecting something a little more Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (I got that impression very strongly from the trailers). It took me about 10-20 minutes to really adjust and accept that my preconceptions were way off.

Once that was done I was blown away by it. :) Haven't seen the other two, but I'll keep an eye out. :)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yes, the trailers were misleading.

The other two are plays--I saw them both on Broadway over the past couple of years.

[kaolinfire.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it wasn't just me :hehe:

Maybe next time I'm in New York. Or I'll try to keep an eye out in LA. I just don't leave the house often enough. Movie watching for me involves my father-in-law dropping off items he's netflixed ;) Still meaning to see Wicked...

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

They were limited runs.

[ecmyers.livejournal.com]

I liked that film a lot, too. If you have an opportunity to see his Oscar-winning short film, Six Shooter, I highly recommend it.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

If it's available on Netflix I'll check it out. Thanks.

[greygirlbeast.livejournal.com]

Loved that film.

[misplacedmind.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, I just read The Pillow Man yesterday (I'm going to see a production of it in a couple of weeks) and was simply blown away. I couldn't put it down. I'm very excited to hear about a movie written & directed by McDonagh! I'll be looking this up... thanks!

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Where is it being produced? Enjoy it (if that's the word).

[misplacedmind.livejournal.com]

Yes, "enjoy" doesn't sound quite accurate :)

It's being produced by a small company based here in Cedar Rapids, IA, called Urban Theater Project (http://www.urbantheaterproject.org/Home.html). There's actually a surprising number of independent companies in this area; this one is interesting because they operate on the principle that you can do theater anywhere - they don't have a space of their own; they're sort of nomadic.

[sunpony.livejournal.com]

In Bruges was great; foul, understated, and crazy, but great! For reasons I cannot really figure out, I cried at the end, which I have only done for two other movies in my life. Still not sure why. . . .

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

It's very rich in understated emotion. And the "villains" have depth for a change. It took several surprising turns--good writing and direction and acting.

[sunpony.livejournal.com]

It is, which surprised me. I loved the scene where Harry apologized to his wife and really seemed to mean it, and the scene where ray talks about his mistake is quite affecting, even though it could havebecome maudlin or manipulative. I like how they danced around some cliches and brought a solid immediacy to the characters' feelings.

I want to watch it again now that I know the director was a playwright, because I found the closeness of the camera to be compelling, and I wonder if that comes out the way a playwright envisions characters. I wonder if it seems more like a play when looking at it with that in mind, and if that actually adds to our connection with the characters.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Yes, those were very good scenes--that rounded out the characters. And you can see that Harry is a total bastard but does indeed have a sense of integrity about him.

[sunpony.livejournal.com]

Exactly. And you find yourself asking a lot of questions about morality and "doing the right thing" throughout, unlike most other gangster movies.

[livia-llewellyn.livejournal.com]

I just saw that movie last weekend, and loved it. It was especially cool seeing all the places in Bruges that I'd been to last year - sadly, though, my sister and I never saw any cool shoot-outs. Only bajillions of tourists and lots of screaming kids. Bruges seems to be less crowded on film. :)

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

It made me want to see Bruges. It does look like a very pretty town.

[sunpony.livejournal.com]

Sure, unless your boss sends you there with a new editor who just made a huge mistake . . . :-).

[sovay]

Tonight I watched In Bruges and was surprised at how good it is.

I saw it last winter with ericmvan; I'd see it again in a heartbeat. I need to track down more of Martin McDonagh's work, especially onstage.

[pgmcc.livejournal.com]

I have watched In Bruges three times and it only gete better. The first time I thought Farrell's acting for the first part was OTT, but watching it the second time, and knowing the pressure the character was under, his acting turned out to be perfect.

Colin is a Cartoon!

[zainybrain.livejournal.com]

It was an odd, fascinating, emotionally affecting movie. Lots of spilled gore, and still affecting. A bit "god out of the box" ending in that it hinged on one character's personal moral code to be suicidally strong, but I think the overall tone and focus on idiosyncrasies helped that plot device work. I loved how Colin's character was all about his eyebrows -- his scowl with his hands jammed in his coat pockets for the first third & followed by his open-faced delight with finding a midget (!). Colin Farrell could so be a cartoon with that face of his, but he gives more. He's such a good actor.