I thought all of McDonagh's work was Oscar bait and overrated.
There is an underlaying shared theme, where the plots are all dark yet juxtaposed with quirky/sarcastic characters to make it seem as a take on the absurdity of life or some other such statement, which can get pretentious and annoying. It was too obvious in 3 Billboards, but only if we're supposed to take it at face value and there's no extra layer. So technically I will agree that there is an air of, I wouldn't call it Oscar Bait, but more "self-importance" coming off them. However, he works with very talented casts and from a technical standpoint they're a treat to look at, with the stories themselves always being interesting. So in an era where I can barely remember any of the new films that I watch, I'm willing to cut him some slack.
Saying that, Colin Farrell is awesome. He stole Batman as old Oz, and he has some fantastic credits under his belt the last decade between True Detective, The North Water, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Gentlemen, and After Yang.
Hear hear. It still makes me wonder why not more people take him seriously. He's got a ton more range than a lot of actors the general audience praises. Oh, and Miss Julie was pretty good too...
But yeah, he's the only reason I'm even looking forward to the Oz show. I didn't love TB and I've never much cared for the Penguin, but Farrell hamming it up as paisan Oswald(o) was great. Here's to hoping he also comes back in the sequel and we can get more scenes with him and Battinson.
The sad thing is, I can't think of any newer stars, in that 20s bracket, that I've been impressed by. There's Chalamet, obviously. Pattinson's older but I still consider him part of the "new breed" and he's obviously shown his chops. I'd even say Kristen Stewart did some good work in recent years, especially with Assayas. What else... Saoirse Ronan; been a fan since Brooklyn (she and Chalamet have a lot of chemistry, so I have to say, a red dye job and a tan and she'd have been a great Chani). But she doesn't have a lot of luck picking roles. The last ones she did and I liked were Lady Bird and Little Women (now that I mentioned it, I might rewatch it tonight). Austin Butler really gave it his all in Elvis, so I'm curious to see where he goes. Nothing else comes to mind. Fassbender and McAvoy were the last two that really impressed me and I thought would go places. McAvoy is still doing good work, but Fassbender crashed it all. However, he's an F1 driver now, so I don't think he cares much. He might be attempting a comeback though, as he did a film with Fincher and Swinton based on a French comic (pretty fun, if trite story-wise; could make for an entertaining watch).
