OK so it’s officially Tuesday morning at the time of this writing, which means that it’s still Monday if you’re living in the United States. It also means that I technically saw Wild Horse Nine yesterday and I’m doing a write-up today when it’s the early hours of Tuesday morning, but I digress.
So, Wild Horse Nine. I thought it was excellent. I don’t think it’s quite as powerful or as hard-hitting as The Banshees of Inisherin, which I would personally say is Martin McDonagh’s cinematic opus (even if some people I know don’t agree) but in my opinion, it’s still another outstanding addition to his body of work and I won’t be surprised if it winds up being a contender once Oscar season rolls around. I can almost guarantee that John Malkovich, in particular, is gonna be a shoo-in for Best Actor and deservedly so because he’s fucking amazing in this. Not to say that Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi. I could definitely see both being nominated for their roles, but Malkovich does such a great job portraying this eccentric and unpredictable character who’s rambling about the correlation between cheese, democracy and homosexuality one minute and ruminating on his own mortality the next. It’s a film that’s funny, gleefully absurd and unapologetically irreverent but also strangely melancholic, moving and poignant. Maybe I’m just biased because I’m such a huge fan of McDonagh but he’s always had such a unique skill for combining absurdism and pitch black humour with genuine pathos and existentialism, and that’s why he’s one of my favourite filmmakers.
Anyway, I’m so glad I got to see this with my dad. Like me, he’s a huge fan of McDonagh and would even go so far as to say that he’s a way better writer than Shakespeare. Feel free to agree or disagree, but we’ve made it a ritual to see any new Martin McDonagh movie in the cinema. I know his films aren’t for everyone, but if you like his movies, this is well worth checking out. If you’re on-the-fence, I’d say give it a shot. You might like it. You might not. At the very least, I hope you understand why I enjoyed it.
And now’s the time to log off and get some rest. Good luck with that.
