RFI: Shane Meadows' Small Time

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

the long B&W scene where you see what happened to Anthony must be amongst the most powerful things i've ever seen in a film. the religious analogies are never overplayed they hit home nevertheless. great use of choral music.

the scene after they take the drugged tea i had to watch from behind a cushion, great use of music in this one too - that drone reverbing through the entire scene and heightening the sense of disorientation and panic. absolutely incredible.

i liked that last one that was funded by eurostar, well until the ending anyway, but that new one, le donk and scorzayzee is pretty so-so. the people i saw it with liked it but for a supposed docu-comedy about aspiring rappers, it wasnt thaaat funny, and this might sound odd, but the guy rapping was almost too good to be laughed at.

Has anybody been watching his C4 show, "The Virtues"?

would have to be paid handsomely to watch anything by Meadows ever again.

This was something, grim as fuck but with some really remarkable naturalistic acting and what I assume was a lot of unscripted dialogue. The first episode featured probably the most realistic depiction of a drunken bender I've ever seen, felt hungover after it. The rest didn't quite live up to that opener

Watched a couple of Meadows' things recently, with a view to getting around to *Gallows Pole* eventually. First was his short film about Gavin Clark, singer/songwriter fella from Sunhouse and Clayhill who died stupidly young and unheard in 2015. It's called *The Living Room* and is about anxiety as much as anything, tracing Clark's re-emergence from his lounge back into the wider world. It's a mess, in the way a lot of Meadows' stuff is, but I found it moving. It's on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVJBYBUabbU

Also rewatched *Dead Man's Shoes*. This knocked me sideways when I first saw it. It's looking its age and I have issues with the portrayal of mental illness that I can't wholly articulate. Some of the improv scenes are ragged but there's no denying Paddy Considine's central performance.

This was prompted by listening to Smog's 'Vessel in Vain' and wondering which came first. It's almost too perfect just to be a coincidence.

Wow, that's some formatting fuckery.

3-post lunacy: hardly see Sunhouse mentioned on here. Ridiculously underrated band.

Watching some of the Fry & Laurie 'John, Peter & Marjorie' sketches led me to the discovery that Shane Meadows was born and raised in Uttoxeter!

Thought Gallows Pole was really excellent.