Mister Foe

First let me say that this movie is not for everyone. But I liked it. A lot. Part of the reason is I liked this is the Scottish humor just under the surface. Very dark. Another reason I liked this was the supernatural performance of relative newcomer Jamie Bell. Was he really possessed? His character was surely haunted enough.

Other faces you will surely recognize include Ciarán Hinds and Claire Forlani but someone you may not be so familiar with is Sophia Myles. She is another reason to enjoy this movie. Maurice Roëves even has a charming role here as a career hotel dishwasher. He too is a very pleasant surprise.

The plot is not really as complicated as most the summaries suggest. You have a teenage boy who is distraught over the death of his mother. He is convinced his father's girlfriend committed the murder. He runs away from home and is forced to find a job to survive in the big city. He meets a woman who looks just like his mother and he falls in love. This trouble young man is finally able to make peace with all his relationships. No, I'm not giving anything away there. He is also a Voyeur, which plays prominently in the plot, but is really just a second tier story feature.

And as with so many well-done independent projects, this movie has a fantastically eclectic soundtrack with music by many Scottish artists you'll love once you've heard them.

If you can make it past the first 40 minutes of this movie, which I admit are pretty disturbing, you will be richly rewarded with a funny, tasteful ending. And I've seen way too many movies I can't say that about.

Watch this movie with someone who can handle the nudity and the psychotic teen angst.

Green Street Hooligans

British football (soccer) hooliganism is fairly akin to American gang society. Each "firm" has a military-like structure. One must be initiated in. Not all of it's activities are legal, and the only way out is incarceration or death. The only real difference is that one group centers it's actions around the most recent game and the other centers activities around, um, fund raising and discipline.

This movie is about one such firm, Green Street. It is about as authentic as us yanks could stand. If you want a peek into this subculture, this movie is a great primer.

German-born Writer & Director Lexi Alexander is as interesting a Hollywood character as you can find. She is a former world champ Karate and Kick-boxing champion who has dreams of being a film-maker. She worked as a stunt woman until getting her first work on screen. it was good enough to earn her an Oscar nom. I share all this to give some insight into why this movie is so intense. It comes from the gut of a director who is fearless and knows how to get what she wants.

That was way to much to say before getting to the actors or plot. Thanks for indulging me.

Elijah Wood (Avalon, LOTR series, and Everything is Illuminated) plays a Harvard student who is wrongly expelled. Having nowhere else to turn but his sister in London, he goes there to work out what to do next. While there, he gets caught up in the Green Street activities.

Claire Forlani (Meet Joe, and CSI series on TV) plays the sister.

Very few other cast members will be recognizable to us Yanks, but their work is solid and very satisfying.

Watch this movie with a plate of bangers and mash. Toss a pint as well if you must. And by all means, sing along.