Tag: Tragicomedy

REVIEW: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Brendon Gleeson and Colin Farrell’s characters at the pub in Martin McDonagh’s latest hit THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN — PHOTO: Searchlight Pictures.

Directed by Martin McDonagh — Screenplay by Martin McDonagh.

By now, Martin McDonagh, a long-time celebrated British-Irish playwright, has established himself as a brilliant writer-director with a home in the dark comedy genre. His Oscar-winning short Six Shooter, as well as his equally excellent first two features In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, set up his name as one to keep an eye on as a filmmaker. With Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, McDonagh had a genuine awards frontrunner, and that extra spotlight, or magnifying glass, revealed a far more divisive and controversial film than the 7 Oscar nominations (and excellent Rotten Tomatoes score) may have made general audiences suspect. I’ve enjoyed all of McDonagh’s films, including Six Shooter, but Three Billboards didn’t land as well for me as In Bruges or Seven Psychopaths had. Therefore it makes me happy to say that The Banshees of Inisherin, his latest film, is a return to form and arguably as good as, if not better than, In Bruges. 

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REVIEW: Windfall (2022)

Jason Segel and Jesse Plemons in Charlie McDowell’s WINDFALL – Photo: Netflix.

Directed by Charlie McDowell – Screenplay by Justin Lader and Andrew Kevin Walker.

Charlie McDowell’s Windfall takes place in a single location and mostly features three unnamed characters; a wealthy CEO (played by Jesse Plemons), his wife (played by Lily Collins), and the ‘nobody’ who is trying to rob their vacation home. The robber (played by Jason Segel) had planned to steal from the property while its owners were out of town, but, when they suddenly return home while he’s in their home, the robber has to improvise on how to get out of this situation unscathed. And the wealthy CEO? Well, he just wants to get him out of the house as fast as possible, even if it means having to lose some money in the process.

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SERIES REVIEW: Fleabag (2016; 2019)

Fleabag was created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge.

This is a complete series review of the BBC Three and Amazon Studios black comedy series Fleabag, which aired its first season in 2016 and its second and final season in 2019. Both seasons consisted of six episodes with each episode having a runtime of approximately thirty minutes. A ‘series review’ is a new review concept on the blog that is inspired by my franchise reviews, which feature short reviews of every film in a franchise within a single article. Below you’ll find my reviews of each season as well as a full season grade for seasons one and two.
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