A great film I just watched.

[Jason]

This Is England, directed by Shane Meadows.
The film is set in 1983 and centres around Shaun, a 12 year old boy who's bullied at school after losing his father in the Falklands War. He's befriended by a gang of skinheads who treat him as an equal until Combo, an older skinhead, is released from prison and divides the gang with a racist nationalist agenda and becomes father figure in young Shaun's eyes.

The kid who plays Shaun is just amazing and it's a crime that this film will probably never see much distribution.

Here's the trailer.


[youtube=425,350]H0jkv2bRFgQ[/youtube]

[Omar]

This Is England, directed by Shane Meadows.
The film is set in 1983 and centres around Shaun, a 12 year old boy who's bullied at school after losing his father in the Falklands War. He's befriended by a gang of skinheads who treat him as an equal until Combo, an older skinhead, is released from prison and divides the gang with a racist nationalist agenda and becomes father figure in young Shaun's eyes.

The kid who plays Shaun is just amazing and it's a crime that this film will probably never see much distribution.

Here's the trailer.

Have you seen Twenty Four Seven (1997)?  That's the only Meadows film I've seen.

[Rainer]

I've only seen "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" which was pretty good (I am a fan of Rhys Ifans).  The "This is England" trailer almost seems a bit like "Pixote" to me.  Netflix has it; I've added it to my queue.

[Jason]

I never did see any of his other films, I remember 24/7 coming out and thinking it was just another low budget gangster flick (yawn). I also remember Once Upon a Time in the Midlands coming out and there was something that put me off that, although I love Kathy Burke and have been fortunate enough to get drunk with her twice.
I might check them out now although I hear Dead Man's Shoes is pretty good.

[kenkwan]

I've only seen "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands" which was pretty good (I am a fan of Rhys Ifans).  The "This is England" trailer almost seems a bit like "Pixote" to me.  Netflix has it; I've added it to my queue.

When I added Twenty Four Seven to my netflix queue, one of the recommended movies was the live action Super Mario Brothers Movie. Oh, and Rainer, do you want to be my Netflix Friend? Send me a message, and I'll get you my email address.

[Pride of Staten Island]

This Is England, directed by Shane Meadows.
The film is set in 1983 and centres around Shaun, a 12 year old boy who's bullied at school after losing his father in the Falklands War. He's befriended by a gang of skinheads who treat him as an equal until Combo, an older skinhead, is released from prison and divides the gang with a racist nationalist agenda and becomes father figure in young Shaun's eyes.

The kid who plays Shaun is just amazing and it's a crime that this film will probably never see much distribution.

Here's the trailer.


[youtube=425,350]H0jkv2bRFgQ[/youtube]

This is England? Well, if it's as good as the Clash song of the same name it should be very... um... nevermind.

[Emily]

it seems like it might be the british version of "american history x" ...?
'british history x' ?
its just reminded me of it a little.

[Laurie]

It looks pretty good, but I'd much rather watch gay skinhead porn.

[Pride of Staten Island]

it seems like it might be the british version of "american history x" ...?
'british history x' ?
its just reminded me of it a little.

This may be an unpopular sentiment but I would call "American History X" one of the worst films I've ever seen.

I actually thought "Fight Club" was much better.

Is that Best Show heresy?

[Emily]

oh geez. i dont even really have an opinion. i was just thinking in terms of like gangs and young people getting caught up in them.

that's all.

[Pride of Staten Island]

oh geez. i dont even really have an opinion. i was just thinking in terms of like gangs and young people getting caught up in them.

that's all.

Well, don't take it as an attack. It's nothing personal. I just thought "AH X" played something like "Skinhead: the Afterschool Special."

As far as Edward Norton movies go, I'd take "Fight Club" over "American History X" and I was curious if I was alone in that opinion.

[Sarah]

This Is England looks very much like my cup of tea.  I will eagerly await its arrival on some channel to which I have access (since I don't do NetFlix [Spike echo deliberate]).  This will likely happen; after all, I've managed to see both 24/7 and Once Upon a Time in the Midlands.

I was just watching something that made a reference to Thatcher's England and the generation that grew up knowing only her version of reality.  This movie looks like the perfect illustration.

The trailer made me think of Made in Britain, which I haven't seen since shortly after it was released.  Tim Roth's Trevor was more punk/vicious/anarchist/sociopathic than skinhead, and Thatcherism had barely had time to take hold in 1982, but still . . .

[Emily]

it seems like it might be the british version of "american history x" ...?
'british history x' ?
its just reminded me of it a little.

This may be an unpopular sentiment but I would call "American History X" one of the worst films I've ever seen.
I actually thought "Fight Club" was much better.
Is that Best Show heresy?

right. i just saw "heresey" and "gay skinhead porn" and got scared.

lets see, ed norton in fight club beats (ha! a pun!) ed norton in ahx.

[Laurie]

Sarah, I used to have quite a crush on Tim Roth.

And Emily, there's nothing to be afraid of. Gay skinhead porn is love.

[John Junk]

This thread reminds me of a recent panel on Feminism at Calarts that I attended where the boomer women in the audience were commenting on how the college students of today are more conservative than the baby boomers were because they grew up with Ronald Reagan.  This somehow was perceived as the college students' fault.  It was like "Hey, there's no in utero absentee ballots!"  I suppose some 8 year old ungrateful Gen Xer invented AIDS in his basement as a homophobic science experiment.  Somehow the toddlers of baby boomers cajoled them all to turncoat on all activism once the whole "conserving oil" thing got to be too much of a bummer.  Later, roughly at age 14 they cajoled mom and dad to vote for George Bush the 1st, but then they got sick of him when he made them pay taxes. Then the Gen Y 4 year olds talked some sense and guided them toward the centrist policies of Bill Clinton.