American Reacts to Top 10 British Indie Films!
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- čas přidán 11. 04. 2024
- Let's explore the top ten British indie films you need to see! From heartwarming stories to gritty dramas, these movies showcase the best of British independent cinema. Get ready to discover hidden gems and unforgettable performances in this exciting journey through the UK film scene!
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'Withnail and I' is a stone cold classic. One of my all time favourite films
The end is to sad 😢
Absolutely classic. Fave of all time.
@@shelltomlin86the end is perfect
It's beautiful and hilarious. My life would not be as rich without it.
Kes is a film so good that it formed part of our education in British secondary schools in the 70's
Mine too.
@@minburibkk I was just about to say that. A wonderful book and a classic and superior film.
Saw it in secondary school and made to read the book, wasnt impressed, was just Lassie with a bird, suspect we were too young to understand its showing of working class life that we were living
Well take out shirts off then there’ll be no clash of colours. Brilliant.
Kes, the greatest British film. The funny, tragic, uplifting, depressing, all in one brilliant film. Still my favourite childhood book
Dead man’s shoes should have been on this list, maybe Rita, Sue and bob too
Dead Man's Shoes (2004) is better than This is England (2006) but still massively overrated.
Shane Meadows' TV shows are miles better than his films.
Great picks, how about "Wish you were here"
Perhaps overall profits were taken into consideration? I enjoyed 'Dead man’s shoes' but It's not that widely known?
@nigelw7626 wow that was a brilliant and disturbing film, then we had Personal Services 😂 Madame Cyn, what a legend 🤘❤
Dead mans shoes for sure is up there man. Sweet 16 too based in Greenock, Scotland. Maybe just coz I relate to it but for me it's a top film from the UK 😎👌
Christopher lee wasnt paid for his part in the wicker man, as it was done on such a low budget and he really liked the script, he agreed to do it for free just so the film could be finished, hoping his name would be a big enough pull. At the time he was a very successful, well known actor.
Absolutely icon and was such a gentleman!
Yes! I remember reading that years ago. 😊
I thought Lee in drag was hysterically funny 😂✌🏻
Christopher Lee was such a legend in so many ways
How big was edward woodwood back then? I presume this was pre equalizer, wasn't britt ekland quite big back then aswell just wondering about their pay deals if christopher lee did it gratis
He's so tight, his confetti is on elastic! He's very thrifty.
"I'm glad he's still alive"
Oh. Oh, I might have some bad news for you, I'm afraid...
LMAO
The Life of Brian is quite famously an indie film, seeing as how George Harrison remortgaged his home of Friars Park to have it made, just because he really wanted to see it. It was the start of his film production company called Handmade Films.
"An Eagle for an Emperor, a Gyrfalcon for a King; a Peregrine for a Prince, and a Saker for a Knight; a Merlin for a lady, a Goshawk for a Yeoman, a Sparrowhawk for a Priest, and a Kestrel for a Knave" - Boke of St Albans 1486
'The Wicker Man' is the best British horror film ever. I hate watching the ending but I have to because its pure class.
We have the Wicker music festival in Scotland, near the end they burn a gigantic wicker man standing on top of a hill so that it can be seen for miles around...amazing site.
@@garymcatear822 I'd love to see that!
It scared the shit from me , I was about 8
This is a great psychological movie, which at the end becomes real horror. There are many cuts of the original, three at least - not as many a Blade Runner of course.
The Decent is good too
You need to watch Dead Man's Shoes as well as This Is England. Both films are amazing and have a lot of heart. Both in my top ten ever.
If there's one film out of these that you have to watch it's Kes. I understand from what you read about it that it might not be your sort of story but trust me, you just have to see it, no questions asked. Some of the other films, obviously the ones that were made closer to the modern day you will either have heard of or know of the actors, but Kes is a masterpiece you just have to see.
"Kes" really isn't a tough watch - it is absolutely beautiful! "Withnail and I" is genius. Personally, I would include "Vera Drake" and "Secrets and Lies" to this list. Both brilliant.
I remember we had to review Kes at school for GSCE English in the 90s, I had never heard of Ken Loach at the time, 1 of my favourite movies of his "Ae Fond Kiss" his films do tell a good story!..
If you're going to include films financed by and for TV channels then Shallow Grave is in IMO better than Trainspotting and 12 Monkeys which was financed by the BBC would be an interesting addition.
Don't know the criteria, but would certainly add Get Carter to the list.
The Wicker Man, maybe should be higher, but that is a personal view.
Kes broke my heart when I watched it. I was about 12/13 at the time in the early 80s. I think quite a lot of it struck a chord with me. Older bully brother that I could never escape from etc.. Older brothers tended to be like that back then, my friends had a lot to put up with with theirs too 😅
Excellent movie.
@@darthwiizius Shallow Grave is another brilliant one 👍
I remember insisting on watching The Wicker Man as a kid (80s parenting lol) and as the ending unfolded and it slowly dawned on me what the Constable's inescapable fate is, I experienced true horror for the first time. I couldn't believe my eyes 😮 And his last cries mixed in with the animals' cries... Absolutely genius!
One of my fave 90s indie films was Shallow Grave. Recommend it.
Actually preferred Shallow Grave to Trainspotting myself.
Kes is basically mandatory watching, if ever there was a tv day in school, you could guarantee it would Kes on again. love it though.
These are all great films and I'd like to add 'Scum' to this list. Its a film about a Borstal which is a childrens prison that we used to have in the UK. The movies stars Ray Winstone who is very young in it. It's an unflinching look at how they used to treat children in those places and it covers some pretty dark themes but it's well worth a look.
Oh yes.... "Scum" is absolutely brilliant...
Yeah! And Quadrophenia for a cult classic!
I’m the Daddy
Definitely
@@SR1Recordsexcept for the Who, Pete Townsend too pretentious for my liking
Surprised Scum and Quadrophenia didn't feature, I and thousands of others wouldn't have spent the 1980s riding around on Lambrettas without Quadrophenia.
Yeah..we could easily have a great top 20
'IF !' is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Part of Lindsey Anderson's trio of films.
....
Absolutely, he has the attitude of boarding schools just right, the us against them (although they had just phased out the violence when I went). It was a favourite amongst us when we were there, in the hope of re-enacting the ending
I first watched it in a cinema in Windsor. Boys from Eton were in the audience!
@@chrisbrace3989 Oh yes, the ending - shocked audiences of the time. Now commonplace in the USA unfortunately.
I think the movie Midsommar owes more than a little to The Wicker Man.
You definitely need to see Withnail, an absolute classic. Suprised Long Good Friday isn't on here - another 'Handmade' gem.
Withnail & I is fantastic, don't let this movie pass you by
Thanks, I can't wait!
@@JJLAReacts Withnail and I, is one of the worst films I've ever seen.
1/10 at best, for one scene.
@@danielgardecki1046 Really? Its in my top ten movies of all time - absolutely loved it.
@@danic9304 I watched it for the first time a few years ago, after seeing it constantly appear in Top 10 and Top 100 lists, yet nothing made me laugh.
Just one scene in the pub make me smirk, and that was it.
Both the British original The Wicker Man (1973) and the Nicholas Cage remake The Wicker Man (2006) are also rubbish, and I'm someone who normally likes Nicholas Cage films.
As for the others:
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels - 8/10
This is England - 6/10
Fish Tank - I can't remember, however I don't remember it being excellent. Maybe a 7/10 at best.
Monty Python's Life of Brian - 5/10
The Man Who Fell to Earth - I haven't seen.
Trainspotting - 9/10
Kes - 7/10
If... - I haven't seen, I don't think I have anyway.
@@JJLAReactsShane Meadows is a genius you need to watch This is England and the follow up tv series also by shane meadows is Dead man's shoes a film that should of definitely been on this top ten
Funny that you should mention Hot Fuzz when talking about The Wicker Man: The policeman in The Wickerman is played by Edward Woodward, who also played the head of the Neighbourhood Watch in Hot Fuzz.
I think there were few "hats off" moments to The Wicker Man in Hot Fuzz. Simon Pegg is a big fan of horror.
Kes is well worth a watch. The accent may take a little time to tune in to, but it’s honestly one of the most heartbreaking films ever. Withnail and I is also a classic.
Withnail and I is so close to my own life coming to London in 1980. One of my favourite films.
My favourite British indie movie is Pride. It’s based on a true story, about a group of gay activists in England who raise money and support for the miners on strike in Wales during the Thatcher years.
No idea if you’d ever be able to get it past CZcams but I’d love to see your reaction to it, I think you’d like it! 🏴
I love that film and first heard of it before it was in cinemas so couldn't wait to see it. I saw it the first week it came out. Then saw it twice on TV since then.
Kes: filmed 20 miles from my childhood home, and breaks my heart still to this day. Beautiful
Withnail and I is one of my 10 movies of all time. Would highly recommend. "Are you the farmer? We've gone on holiday by mistake." lol
Coming from a grim northern town in the late 60'd Kes was more like a documentary than a fictitious film. Minus the Kestrel of course. We had ferrets. Really.
In `Kes` he said, in reference to someone else, that " he`s got confetti on elastic, that`s how tight fisted he is." I grew up next door to Yorkshire, in Lincolnshire - and now live in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
With the toilet scene in Trainspotting, apparently Ewan suddenly realised it didn't make sense unless he turned round at the end to make it look like he was going around the U bend so they did a last take where he turns his body around so his feet turn the other way. Fun facts 🤣
Shane Medows Dead Mans Shoes is the best film ive ever seen. Give it a watch as its on youtube in its entirety. A budgit of 600,000 and shot in three weeks its phenomenally english and realistic.
Thank you, I didn't know it was on here. I wanted to commit murder myself after seeing it. Toby, can't remember his surname, is a seriously underated actor and made me cry like a bloody baby for days!
As stated already, George Harrison passed away years ago in 2001 age 58 I believe.
i really cant tell if he was joking
@@OiiRobbi3x JJ once reacted to video where someone was oblivious to George being dead for years, a subtle callback to that. 😀
@@VonPunk Ah,got you 👍
Withnail & I, the funniest film ever made with no jokes in it..100% a must see
We want the finest wines in England. We want them here, and we want them now!
loved kes we read the book and watched the film at school worth a watch you may need subtitles on tho our Yorkshire ascent on the film is pretty strong
I know that more people know This is England, but Dead Mans Shoes really should have been on this list, along with A Room For Romeo Brass.
I’d like to give a shoutout to a film called Twin Town! Rhys Ifans and his real brother play a pair of down and outs. It’s a comedy that turns into a revenge story. Absolutely hilarious and incredible film.
The Scene they showed in Kes where the boys were caned was real, the actors were actually caned in real life,
even though this film was made before i was born it was filmed around the area where i grew up and in one of the scenes if they were to pan the camera around a bit further you would have seen my house, growing up in Barnsley in the 80s this was compulsory viewing,
@AndrewCusworth wasn't just compulsory viewing in Barnsley, I'm South London 70s baby and we all watched Kes at school, I think it was on the curriculum at the time 😂 I was traumatised for years after seeing it🤦♀️ 😂 Amazing film though ❤
I'm frum tarn as well, I actually met Brian Glover once, around time he filmed Alien3, a nice memory.
@@VonPunk Brian Glover is so funny in Kes.
Withnail is a gem of a film. It's in my all-time top 5 comedies - ever. The humour is really dark and as dry as a nun's gusset.
The first 15 minutes of the film seem dark but not really funny, then things change dramatically when, in a rough pub, Withnail orders "2 large gins, 2 pints of cider - ice in the cider".
N.B. Watch it multiple times when drunk for full effect.
Kes. Broke my heart when I was a young lass. Still would if I watched it today. ❤
Kes made me cry/angry/laugh. A brilliant film you can,t forget.😍
I'd also add - Attack The Block, My Beautiful Laundrette, Gregory's Girl & Local Hero, if that counts as Indie.
Love attack the block, mad film and still John boyegas best film to date...
The wicker man is horrifying.
Withnail & I is a must watch, you won’t find a more quoted film.
Withnail & I is my absolute favourite film and far too few people have seen it. This is England is also fantastic.
I think every single schoolchild in the 1980s had to watch Kes!
@trollied yep, being a 70s baby I was amongst those who watched Kes at school. Really upset me. Am I the only one whose still traumatised? 😂😂😂😂 loved the Bo Selecta sketch with Craig David and "Kes ya dirty bitch" though 😂😂 made things better for me 😂😂
I was a 60's child, so just started secondary school when it came out. Had to read the book at school. Beautiful book and film.
It was still on the curriculum in the mid 90s.
@anarchodolly a ha, now we know where it all started going downhill. Majority of generations to watch Kes at school, we're quite decent people with empathy and know how to take a joke. They must've removed from curriculum in 2000s. So can't just blame Internet, what we need is Kes back on the curriculum 😆🥰
@@stephenbalderson8459 '60s
Withnail And I is essential, the best English comedy film. Funnily enough I saw it with some Americans about 30 years ago and they thought it needed subtitles 😂
Whickerman you should definitely see too, so influential on films like Midsummer.
I’d also highly recommend This Is England, a truly dark but realistic portrayal of part of Englands story. Uncomfortable at times it really defines ‘gritty drama’.
Withnail and I is hilarious and would say Rita, Bob and Sue Too fits here. Many films in the 60’s and 70’s have pretty dark themes but the way they’re done makes them very watchable and did reflect the times. The Wicker Man is a great example of a film that is just one long buildup to a climax.
Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987) - Legendary 10/10 Comedy set and filmed in Bradford.
The Selfish Giant (2013) - Excellent 10/10 Drama set and filmed in Bradford.
How to Have Sex (2023) - A very good 9/10 Drama starring 2 Bradfordians, as 2 of the 6 lead characters.
Rita and Sue legendary.
other 2 are now on my radar
Rita, Sue and Bob Too was brilliant! I forgot about that
Omg I really thought Rita, Sue and Bob too would be in there as well 😂 Everybody sing "We're having a gang bang" 😂😂😂
The end is to sad 😢
Steven Graham been in loads.He was Capone in Boardwalk Empire.He was in the Irishman, Gangs of New York to name a few.
He’s an amazing actor. I will watch anything that he’s in. So good he can play a far right skinhead when he’s actually mixed race.
He searched the wrong guys name, he found a different bald guy 🤣
@leotom7527 the guy he was looking at was the creator of this is England
Withnail and I knocks the other films on this list into a cocked hat!
Withnail and I is one of the greatest British dark comedies every written
This is England is among the greatest British movies of all time, well worth a watch. The scene shown in this footage with them all sitting under the bridge was shot on the Lenton housing estate in Nottingham, and the cafe scenes were shot in what was the vegan Crocus Cafe directly opposite the Housing Office in Lenton. My ex-girlfriend lived with Smell's (Rosamund's) parents - the Hansons, who made possibly the most expensive nightwear on Earth - and Thomas Turgoose was a guest at an event at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, curated by my ex-fiance's younger brother. What can I say, this is a small country. 😂
Re the Wicker Man, make sure you're watching the director's cut or final cut as the original cinematic version is missing around 15 minutes of footage.
Dead Mans Shoes is an absolute cult classic that should've been on this list. Another Shane Meadows film.
"Dead man's Shoes" not being on this list is criminal
I find your voice so soothing so you are my go to CZcams channel when i get to bed! Always enjoy your reactions. ❤️
Withnail and I is fantastic! You really need to watch it
Thanks, I'm gonna! Cheers 🍻
@@JJLAReacts Withnail and I, is one of the worst films I've ever seen.
1/10 at best, for one scene.
@@danielgardecki1046your iq =1/10
@@williamrankin2418 Says the person who doesn't know how to use correct grammar.
@@danielgardecki1046 you’re much to young to respect your own opinions so much
"This is England" is my absolute favourite film and tv series! Shane Meadows is a great director and screenwriter (my fav) and all of his films and series are beautiful!
Also Ken Loach's entire filmography is worth seeing!
Oh yes, forgot, play the "Withail and I" drinking game.
'This is England' and the three TV mini-series that followed it were brilliant. Not sure how it translates for anyone not from England or from that time period though. 'If' and 'Kes' had to be 1 & 2...could be interchangeable, I would say.
The film and tv series are brilliant also Dead man's Shoes also made by shane meadows is quality
The film is an above average 7/10.
86 is an excellent 10/10.
88 is an good 8/10.
90 is a very good 9/10.
Dead Man's Shoes is an 8/10 at best.
Kes is a 7/10 at best.
If... I haven't seen.
You should have checked the Wiki of the bald guy that says 'and this is England', Stephen Graham. Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire, Tony Provenzano in The Irishman, and many other great parts. He's a Scouse, but does very passable American accents. You were looking at the details of the director, Shane Meadows.
Stephen Graham is a very good actor. I first noticed him in Band of Brothers and Snatch, I knew he played a villain in a soap just before that and people said he was great in that, he won TV awards for it at the time I think. Man, Band of Brothers was a who's who's of up and coming British actors with quite a few Americans too, what a cast for a TV show.
@@darthwiizius Absolutely.
A fantastic actor. Top guy too.
Withnail & I is amazing. So many quotes!
“We’ ve come on holiday by mistake”
‘Withnail and I’ say no more. Fabulously fabulous.
primalengland, you´ve come onto this comments page by mistake!
@@smahier 😂 I see what you did there!
@@primalengland cool your boots, man. This comment is two quid.
@@smahier For two quid can you get the finest wines known to humanity, because we want them here, and we want them now.
@@primalengland I assure you, Primal England, I´ve only had a few ales.
No idea if these are indie films but I can recommend Four Lions and also Gregory's Girl. Both are comedies. One light hearted teenage rom com and the other a thought provoking comedy (yes, comedy) about terrorism.
Dead man's shoes. Should surly be on this list.
Yes, it is one of my favourites too.
I recommend Withnail & I, it's hilarious and so quotable.
"We've gone on holiday by mistake!" :)
Camberwell carrots….
"He's got confetti on elastic, that's how tight he is." and the first one was "as you see(I think?) he started it", great film. Just get subtitles on. You absolutely should check out Withnail and I too.
Withnail and I is one of my top ten favourites it’s funny and sad at times, There is a drinking game around it ….every time Withnail has a drink you drink the same (including the lighter fluid which I don’t recommend), Give it a watch you might be surprised and entertained by this indie classic .
Thank you for this reaction clip. I had heard of nine of the ten films and seen five of them. Wish I had seen the other five.
The school massacre with machine guns by disgruntled pupils in the climax of, If. Made in 1969. Prescient.
Not sure if O Lucky Man was a follow on?
Also stunning soundtrack, a mass sung in traditional Congolese forms.
I've watched Kes countless times, it's such a film. The football scene is awesome.
you can add "scum" 1979 ray winstone to that list as well.
"Confetti on elastic" in order to facilitate re-use of the confetti to avoid having to buy replacement confetti.
Withnail and I is absolutely ridiculously funny. You definitely must watch it. Immediately
Not too bad a list, though there were a few big omissions - "The Full Monty" and "Sexy Beast", for instance. The original of the Wicker Man got a middling reception when it was released, but it's become a cult classic and is a must-see. And yes, there were references and in-jokes in Hot Fuzz to both it and a lot of other British movies. Sadly, you're wrong about George Harrison still being alive - he left us in 2001.
Kez .
its legendary in England
strongly recommend a watch.
"He's got confetti on elastic. That's how tight he is"
Key was filmed in my area (yes, I do speak like that). Barry Hines was one of my English literature teachers at Sheffield Polytechnic (1981 - 1983)!
Shane Meadow's This is England is fantastic but his Dead Man's Shoes film is his best work and would probably make number 1 on my list.
Don't watch Kes if you cry easily. I did the text, 'Kestral for a Knave' in school for O' Levels and the story, analysis and experience was rough. Just FYI.
Both "If" & "Kes" were brilliant films... "Withnail & I" too....😊👍
"Man who fell to Earth" is a must watch!
Recently been a very good TV series sequel to it as well.
David Bowie was, of course, convincing as an alien.
You should do movie reactions for films you haven't seen before.
If you like Michael Fassbender, he's also really good in another British Indie Horror/Thriller Eden Lake (2008)
George Harrison died years ago, mate. Ringo and Paul are the only living Beatles.
I think he is trying sarcasm 😉
He knows. He's a massive Beatles fan.
It's a running joke. A reference to a video he saw where they thought George was still alive.
Dead Man's Shoes by Shane Meadows is one to watch. Proper gritty with a great story.
Another suggestion for something you might want to react to: the sitcom Peep Show about two poorly-matched misfits who flat-share in south London.
Some scenes in This Is England were filmed here in Grimsby, Thomas Turgoose who plays the young lad is from Grimsby he has starred in a number of films and tv series including Birdsong set during The First World War, Game of Thrones and Kingman The Golden Circle. I saw Kes on tv I also watched it at secondary school in an English 🏴 lesson in 4th year in 1989/90 when I was 15.
The plot of superb comedy "Hot Fuzz" - borrowed liberally from The Wicker Man, including casting the actual police officer from that movie - the Equalizer himself - Edward Woodward, but this time as a NIMBY community leader that wanted to protect his village from clowns and jugglers!
The fish-out-of water police officer this time was Simon Pegg's "Nicholas Angel" - who had been sent into the countryside because he was making the rest of the London police look bad with his supercop record!
So - paralleling The Wicker Man, a lone cop ventures into a strange village where nothing is as it seems ....
Depending on what you want to class as Indie, Dead Mans Shoes, Four Lions, and Human Traffic could all easily make this list as well
You should watch more of Stephen Graham, earliest I remember him is in Band of Brothers.
Yeh Stephen Graham really has become a powerhouse in British acting.....you can see him vulnerable and viscious....and believe both
Another 1960s one you might want to see is Georgy Girl: it has Lynn Redgrave, Alan Bates, James Mason, Charlotte Rampling. Where “Swinging London” didn’t swing. A lot of subtext about class, as usual, but for once, a Brit movie with quite an upbeat ending!
We read "A Kestrel for a Knave" at school in English.
Dead man’s shoes should have been on that list and should have been number 1 , not only is it one of the best Indie films but one of the best films to come out of the uk
"Dead mans shoes" and "a room for romeo brass" are great but hard watch Shane Meadows films...highly recommend them
Life of Brian was paid for by George Harrison if I remember correctly. The movie was banned in Norway, so the Swedish add campaign for the movie read "So fun it was banned in Norway" 😂
A few other films to add to the list are:
* My Name is Joe (1998)
* Secrets and Lies (1996)
There is a USA dub of Kes, but ironically as far as I know is only available as a "of historical interest" bonus feature on the original UK blu-ray.
Scum wasn't in there. Not sure if it's indy but it's an incredible, brutal film about a Borstal (young offenders institute), it's stars a very young Ray Winstone. Twin Town with Rhys Ifans is also a incredible Welsh made film. Human Traffic is a great look at the student clubbing scene in the 90s, set in Cardiff.
if and kes are fantastic movies and really worth a watch.