BoxRec

some classic quotes in that movie.

i like the bit at the end when he's trying to get back with his wife and has that little rant on the garden lawn.

"when i have fornicating kids, i'll teach em to fornicating hate u, all of ya....my kids will fornicating come round here and eat yours......i do love ya though, honest"

"try looking in the mirror, your a fornicating hooligan john".

some clips on youtube here.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mNxOnprn0jE

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo0EvKLzc ... ed&search=

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nQleL2v-p ... ed&search=

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=hqiDMx6Mm ... ed&search=

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1jG6HeTyg ... ed&search=

classic. :)

hitman_hatton1 wrote:some classic quotes in that movie.

i like the bit at the end when he's trying to get back with his wife and has that little rant on the garden lawn.

"when i have effing kids, i'll teach em to effing hate u, all of ya....my kids will effing come round here and eat yours......i do love ya though, honest"

"try looking in the mirror, your a effing hooligan john".

One of my fave films of all time

It makes me laugh when they're in the stand watching the game and they get a free-kick

"Feck'n'ell don't let Gerry Edwards take it, he's facking useless"

[Gerry scores the free-kick]

"One Gerry Edwards, there's only one Gerry Edwards, one Gerry Edwards"

KOJOE90 wrote:I think it was an excellent (if not great) film. But I am a big Meadow fan. I was looking forward to seeing this film for ages being someone who is a 'Skinhead' and a lifelong fan of the Ska/2 Tone movement

Like Autobarn says it was not promoted as some sort of epic, that's not how Meadows works, far from it, he is very much in the traditional British kitchen sink drama mould. His films to me have the feel of those early Mike Leigh BBC 'Play For Today' of the early mid 80's such as Grown Ups and Life Is Sweet etc etc.

As for This Is England it brought back a lot of memories for me of the early 1980's. I thought the acting was outstanding by the character Woody in particular and also by the main character Shaun who really should win some kind of award.

The film had the music and fashion pretty much spot on with only a few small 'errors' but nothing the most hardcore skinhead/ska fan would notice. The film also did a fair job of making the point that not all Skinheads were or still are right-wing/racists a fact that the media in general seems to 'forget'.

As for Football Factory I thought is was quite poor and just plain silly at times and did nothing that had not been done several times before in ID or The Firm years ago. I just found it a bit shallow and lacked any sort of depth or real insight.

Are you the one in the front???..... rather short arent you!!... 8)

it's a poor film, but the young kid is from grimsby so it gets a big thumbs up in my book.

MIKEE wrote:

Autobarn wrote:Picked Shane Meadows' latest film up on DVD on Friday. Meadows has done a # of films that are relevent to boxing fans. 24/7 had Bob Hoskins running a local boxing gym; DEAD MAN'S SHOES featured Gary Stretch as a thug; Meadows also did a short monologue film THREE TEARS FOR JIMMY PROPHET with the great Paddy Considine as a boxer who's been locked up for killing someone with a punch.

Anyway, while THIS IS ENGLAND has nothing to do with boxing, it's one of the best films I've seen about the clan mentality. I can't recommend it highly enough and it is filled with humour and compassion for its characters as well as featuring some uncompromising violence.

Anyone seen it? Thoughts?

I expected more of it to be honest. It isn't a patch on GREEN STREET, FOOTBALL FACTORY or DEAD MANS SHOES: The first two of which I feel give a good insight into the clan mentality. I didn't even think it provided much insight into the NF or the Skinhead/Ska movements. Maybe it was not written with that intent. I just did not think much of it.

You have to be kidding me?! Green Street Hooligans was the worst film. Myself and my siblings laughed all the way through it, it was so ridiculous and just plain crap!

jeej wrote:

MIKEE wrote:

Autobarn wrote:Picked Shane Meadows' latest film up on DVD on Friday. Meadows has done a # of films that are relevent to boxing fans. 24/7 had Bob Hoskins running a local boxing gym; DEAD MAN'S SHOES featured Gary Stretch as a thug; Meadows also did a short monologue film THREE TEARS FOR JIMMY PROPHET with the great Paddy Considine as a boxer who's been locked up for killing someone with a punch.

Anyway, while THIS IS ENGLAND has nothing to do with boxing, it's one of the best films I've seen about the clan mentality. I can't recommend it highly enough and it is filled with humour and compassion for its characters as well as featuring some uncompromising violence.

Anyone seen it? Thoughts?

I expected more of it to be honest. It isn't a patch on GREEN STREET, FOOTBALL FACTORY or DEAD MANS SHOES: The first two of which I feel give a good insight into the clan mentality. I didn't even think it provided much insight into the NF or the Skinhead/Ska movements. Maybe it was not written with that intent. I just did not think much of it.

You have to be kidding me?! Green Street Hooligans was the worst film. Myself and my siblings laughed all the way through it, it was so ridiculous and just plain crap!

Suit yourself... everythings relative and subjective, even taste.

I just found it all so unconvincing and cheesy. Elijah bloody Wood and then there was that blond haired P.E. teacher with the worst cockney accent of all time. I, honest to god, laughed through a large portion of that film.

The story is about the boy, not about Combo and Woody. It's told from 1 person's viewpoint, but Combo doesn't need fleshing out. Stephen Graham's compex and intense performance is fine as it is. Woody's a nice guy but he doesn't have a strong enough personality to protect the kid & therefore disappears from the film.

We do get glimpses into Combo's backstory. Film isn't about spelling everything out. Showing is just as effective. Cue that terrific scene where he goes after the girl and gives her that naff little box that he's dead proud of and that he doesn't give a damn about, and then his reaction in the car. This is film, not theatre, where everything is done via dialogue. Action, facial expression, camerawork, etc all contribute to meaning in a film. We see beneath the surface with this character.

I prefer films that give a glimpse into characters. I don't want to hear long speeches or inner monologues or see cliched "love-hate" relationships.

I like that don't solve everything. Art cinema, for example, was designed to oppose the traditonal and patronising Hollywood narratives, in the '60s. Alfred Hitchcock always gave viewers food for thought, by refusing to resolve all his characters' conflicts/issues. Meadows doesn't allow test screenings and all that crap to change his vision, and this lack of compromise is good. On film forums, this movie is very well received, btw.

In any case, it's hard to do much after Combo's nasty beating of Milky - a numbing scene (and another one that hints at combos own inadequcies & possibly his own redemption/recognition very well)...I recall another film that had a similar ending...Sam Peckinpah's WW2 film CROSS OF IRON. James Coburn kills a guy, then keeps stabbing his dead body, in a scene that purges all of his hate, guilt and so on. It's a massive scene, on an emotional level.

I was in a film studies lecture and 1 guy couldn't believe it that there wasn't a big battle after it. I sighed.

.

This is England - well I liked the film and considering the young lead actor had very little acting experience he put on a great performance.

Personally I thought Football Factory was pretty shite and i wont bother with Green St after the crap reviews it has had. ID was a great film though!

I had big hopes for This Is England as I like some of Meadows previous work and am a fan of British realism. Love some of Mike Leigh and Ken Loache' work, Naked, Kes, My Name is Joe, to name a few. As for Meadows, for me his best is Dead Mans Shoes. Brilliant cinema, excelent acting by Considine, very believable and intimidating. However, felt let down by This Is England. I could see what Meadows was going for, but for me I think the casting was weak. Som were able to make the most of their improvisation, in particular, Stephen Graham. But some of the others were not convincing and created a feel not of realism but GCSE drama class. They were going for the natural feel but were overdoing it, if that makes sense, thus, creating the opposite affect.

I liked the casting in the sense of their diversity - age, race, culture, IQ, gender.... They were a bunch of oddballs, of misfits in a sense, that like most sub-cultures form their own identity, or want an identity. And yes, it did illustrate the germ of nationalism. Nonetheless, felt it was flawed and that it wasnt the best of its type around. Worth watching though.