Sunday, March 5, 2017

Episode 98 - Flickering for Vengeance

Thanks to a recommendation from friend-of-the-show George, we started down a long, twisty path that lead us to the films we discuss on this episode. The through-line on all of them is the idea of revenge.  We start off with 2004's Dead Man's Shoes, from director Shane Meadows.  Paddy Considine plays Richard, who has come back to his hometown to settle a score that involves his brother Anthony.  At first, we do not know exactly what has set him on this path, but the film reveals it in a masterful way. It is powerful and dark, yet surprisingly comic at times. We follow that up with 2013's Blue Ruin, from director Jeremy Saulnier who had also helmed Green Room. We follow Dwight, who is also locked into getting revenge for something, which we only really learn the full details of, late in the proceedings. The incredible lead-performance is from Macon Blair, who has gone on to write and direct a film that was just featured on Netflix titled I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore.  With two great lead performances from Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood, this is yet another revenge tale, but this one is wonderfully offbeat and unique. An excellent aperitif after the heavy double-whammy of Blue Ruin and Dead Man's Shoes.  We went far afield with episode 98 and we hope you enjoy the show as much as we enjoyed recording it. Let us know your thoughts by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com, or just post a message on our Facebook page.