The Banshee is on the field!

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Hi all. No long lead item today, but there’s a pretty big finish at the bottom. So let’s dive right in …

In Inisherin

The latest motion picture from writer-director Martin McDonagh is The Banshees of Inisherin. McDonagh has been under-the-radar great for years, or at least he was under the radar until the Oscar-nominated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Before then, he was the man behind the wild rides of In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. I saw the latter at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival, and I’ve hardly ever been with a crowd that was so purely electrified by what was on screen (especially when it’s not a blockbuster action flick). Definitely one of the best moviegoing experiences I’ve ever had.

Of course, now it’s 2022, so like almost every other thing we see, we watched Banshees at home. (A trip to the movies for my family is easily $100, especially if we get any food at all.) And it was a treat.

Like In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, Banshees stars Colin Farrell, reuniting him with Bruges co-star Brendan Gleeson. Kerry Condon, whom you should recognize from Better Call Saul, has a critical supporting role. The performances are beautiful. Farrell has spent a lot of his career off the beaten path, which means you can forget how perfect he can be.

And the story. Banshees is so simply constructed, but the construction is something you can build a cathedral upon. And that’s exactly what McDonagh did.