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The Accident review – echoes of Grenfell in devastating disaster drama

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

Sarah Lancashire stars in Jack Thorne’s sweeping, harrowing look at how the aftershock of a disaster ripples out into people’s lives

Apart from the explosion, The Accident (Channel 4) is very quiet. Hairdresser Polly (Sarah Lancashire) doesn’t even shout when she finds her 15-year-old daughter Leona’s latest one-night stand still in her bedroom. She just flings his clothes at him, notes that Leona (Jade Croot) is underage and that he looks 28, and makes him jump out of the window. Then she takes herself off to the local charity run with her friends. They are walking, Polly’s best friend, Angela (Joanna Scanlan), says firmly.

So begins the new four-part drama by Jack Thorne, the unassailable powerhouse behind the likes of This is England, Skins, Kiri (in which Lancashire also starred) and the forthcoming adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials. […] Continue reading →

Graham Coxon talks ‘The End of the F***ing World’ soundtrack

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

Blur guitarist Graham Coxon speaks to NME about his work on the soundtrack of hit Netflix and Channel 4 show ‘The End of the F***ing World’

Netflix dark comedy The End Of The F***ing World has been this year’s massive breakthrough hit, featuring the most loveable teen misanthropes since Richard Ayoade’s Submarine. Just like Alex Turner’s memorable score for that 2010 film, Graham Coxon has delivered a soundtrack for End Of The F***ing World that delves into the show’s very core: at times angsty, other moments carefree and all the while bewitching.

With Coxon recently releasing the soundtrack digitally (a vinyl release is scheduled for March), he spoke to NME about working on the score, plus upcoming solo material and – of course.

Did you ever think the show would become such a hit?

“I had no idea. I know why I like it but I like all kind of things that no one else likes. It’s not something you can always judge subjectively. People can get obsessed with that kind of stuff and identify with the characters. Obviously I’m not a teenager, it’s not like I can identify so much with the characters but I remember when I was a teenager being the same.

“There’s the characters themselves, for me when I first watched them, they weren’t really likeable. Like there is this ungrateful, gobby girl and then there is this really weird boy who speaks in a detached way. But of course people do identify with it, that’s what is good about it. After series one I liked the characters more, and that inspired me more and more. They got a lot nicer and funnier and the boy went less weird. Characters go through a gradual change which you hardly notice. You suddenly think ‘I really like those people’. So it’s more and more exciting.” [ . . . ]

Continue at: Graham Coxon talks ‘The End of the F***ing World’ soundtrack, solo music and Blur – NME

End of the Fucking World Review 

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

“The End of the F***cking World” is a near-perfect Netflix binge and, in all likelihood, an intolerable traditional television experience. Through three episodes, the adaptation of Charles Forsman’s comic book series comes across as a pointless odyssey copping themes and plot points from other, better stories: That “Bonnie & Clyde” is directly referenced does little to pique interest in the lead characters, James and Alyssa, as they embark on an unprompted road trip-turned-crime spree across England.But then it clicks: A relatively late turn — over an hour into the two-and-a-half-hour series — provides a much-needed sense of purpose, and suddenly “The End of the F***ing World” becomes a darkly compelling journey of self-discovery and adolescent confusion. James develops into more than a disturbed wannabe serial killer; he’s a confused kid trying to cope with pain the only way he knows how. Alyssa isn’t an uncaring, self-destructive disruptor, but a child acting out to get the attention she actually needs.

That their relatable motivations comes out at the same time the two alienated and alienating leads start acting a bit nicer to one another may lead to a misunderstanding: The first half(-ish) of “The End of the Fucking World” (we’re done bleeping the name, thank you) isn’t frustrating because the characters are unlikable; it’s difficult because everything feels forced. The world turns bleak to accommodate their own bleakness; bad people lurk around every corner; darkness is definitely defeating the light.

Once we understand a bit more about their decision-making, the show opens up and starts to flow in a more natural manner. It’s fascinating, fresh, and exposes the viewer to surprising emotional depths. The ending is almost antithetical to the beginning, in that it feels authentic and inevitable while the beginning feels artificial and quirked up. (Before you understand where the story is going, so many early scenes feel designed solely to provoke, rather than inform and drive the story.)

And that ending is already a point of controversy. The series aired in October 2017 across the pond (on Channel 4 in the U.K.), and it’s stirring up discussion in the States now that “The End of the Fucking World” is popping up in Netflix queues. Below, we’ll dig into the events leading up to a surprising, satisfying finale, but if you’re not there yet, just know this:

“The End of the Fucking World” is worth sticking with (unless you’re utterly intolerant of animal abuse, which is a persistent theme). Even if you’re not immediately engrossed — and who knows, you very well could be — keep going to discover what’s got everyone talking. Then come back and keep reading [ . . . ]

Continue reading at: End of the Fucking World Review (Netflix): Let’s Talk Endings—Spoilers | IndieWire