Tag: protector

Hell or High Water

Post author By Jeremy Clarke
Post date 14 June 2026
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Director – David Mackenzie – 2016 – US – Cert. 15 – 102m

*****

Two brothers embark on a series of bank robberies even as two Texas Rangers follow their trail – out in the UK on 4K UHD

Entering the Texas Midlands bank early in the morning, a woman employee (Dale Dickey from the G, 2023; Iron Man 3, Shane Black, 2013) finds herself at gunpoint from two masked men in the middle of a robbery of a Texas Midlands bank. Sadly, only Mr. Clauson (William Sterchi) has the keys to the safe – and he won’t be in ‘til 8.30. At which point, one of the pair pistol whips him after his friendly, “good mornin’”. The gung-ho car driver is the elder brother Tanner (Ben Foster from Christy, David Michod, 2025; The Messenger, Oren Moverman, 2009); his quieter younger brother Toby (Chris Pine from Wonder Woman, Patty Jenkins, 2017; Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, 2009) tells him to slow down.

Another Texas Midlands interior: an old man (Buck Taylor from Yellowstone, TV series, 2018-24; Gettysburg, Ronald F. Maxwell, 1993) is talking with the teller (Kristin K. Berg) about the box of old coins he found when the pair burst in and take the money from the till.… Read the rest

Tags Amber Midthunder, American identity, bank, bank robbers, bank robbery, Ben Foster, bereavement, brothers, Buck Taylor, child support, concealed guard, convoy, cross the border, Dale Dickey, David Mackenzie, diner, drive, dust, evidence, failure to protect, foreclosure, gambling joint, Gil Birmingham, Giles Nuttgens, gunpoint, Hell or High Water, holed up on the ridge, human condition, Jeff Bridges, Joe Berryman, John-Paul Howard, Katy Mixon, Kristin K. Berg, lawyer, live being over, manager, Marin Ireland, masked men, Molotov Cocktail, money, oil on the land, Oklhoma, on camera, pay off the debt, people and land, pistol whip, praising Jesus, protect person and property, protector, ranch, receipt of the fax, rifle, road block, security upgrade, seizure of land, shooting, small towns, stake out, taking land, Taylor Sheridan, teller, Texas, Texas Midlands bank, Texas Rangers, tip, Tom Duffield, US, used truck, waitress, warrant, West Texas, William Sterchi), winnings, wounded

Features Live Action Movies

The Devils

Director – Ken Russell – 1971 – UK – Cert. 18 – 106m 41s (cut)

*****

UK DVD release date 19/03/2012, cert. 18, 107 mins plus extras, £19.99. Reviewed for Third Way

40 years after its 1971 theatrical release, the late Ken Russell’s key work reaches UK DVD in its original UK X Certificate version with a host of invaluable DVD extras. Although a more complete (2004 restoration) director’s cut exists, the nature of the excised material makes the current cut as complete as is ever likely to be released on DVD. In terms of controversy, the film has everything – sex, religion, politics and torture – and Russell’s original cut didn’t hold back in any of these areas. This presented headaches for not only the distributor Warner Bros. in terms of a mainstream US release but also the UK censor who questioned, as the BBFC’s secretary John Trevelyan succinctly put it, “whether artistic quality justifies total freedom.”

The plot concerns seventeenth century France where Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) is attempting to increase the Catholic Church’s hold on the nation by persuading decadent monarch Louis XIII (Graham Armitage) to knock down the walls surrounding cities that enable their functioning as self-governing entities.… Read the rest

Tags artistic quality, audio commentary, BBFC, BFI, blasphemy, British cinema, British Film Institute, Cardinal Richelieu, Catholic Church, Christian spirituality, Christopher Logue, church history, city walls, concession, convent, Craig Lapper, decadent, demon-possessed, Derek Jarman, Director of Devils, director's cut exists, distributor, diversion, editor, eerie, experimental, father, France, Graham Armitage, gratuitous, home movie, John Trevelyan, Ken Russell, knock down walls, Loudun, Louis XIII, Mark Kermode, Michael Bradsell, modern city, Monarch, mother superior, nation, nudity, nun, nunsploitation, Oliver Reed, orgy, Paul Joyce, Peter Maxwell Davies, Pinewood, political history, politics, power, power base, priest, promiscuity, protector, public lavatory, rape, Rape of Christ, religion, score, self-governing entities, seventeenth century, sex, sexuality, sister, statue of Jesus, torture, total freedom, UK, UK censor, Vanessa Redgrave, Warner Bros., X Certificate

Animation Features Movies

Song of the Sea

Director – Tomm Moore – 2014 – Ireland – Cert. PG – 93m

*****

A family is torn apart after the mother returns to the sea as a selkie – reviewed for Third Way, July 2015

Tomm Moore picked up an Oscar nomination for his medieval Irish animated fantasy The Secret Of Kells (2009). Like that earlier work, his equally impressive Song Of The Sea eschews Hollywood’s headlong rush towards 3D in favour of traditional 2D animation with an emphasis on drawing and visual design – and it’s a real pleasure to watch. A family movie in the best sense – there’s nothing here parents wouldn’t want children to see – it explores difficult issues about parents and children, being set in a family where, effectively, the mother has walked out leaving dad to look after the two kids. The plot employs Celtic folklorish figures of selkies – creatures who periodically change from female seals to human girls or women and back again.

Thus, the reason for the departure of Bronach (voice: Lisa Hannigan) a few minutes into the proceedings is that the sea is calling her to become a seal once again. She leaves behind her lighthouse keeper husband Conor (voice: Brendan Gleeson) and kids Ben (voice: David Rawle) & Saoirse (voice: Lucy O’Connell) to fend for themselves and their beloved dog Cu.… Read the rest