One of the promises of digital technology was that we’d all get the chance to tell the stories we wanted. No longer would you need to re-mortgage your house to clear your throat with a low-budget short or film, and creating pertinent, socially aware narratives wouldn’t be left to disinterested big studios and deep-pocketed broadcasters. Richard Goss’s Fried is a new breed of enterprise, self-funded for less than the price of a couple of grand, it’s a four part series made for streaming, with genuine virtues which make it worth a review.
Following in the traditions of Beckett and Pinter, Fried is a two–hander about a couple of guys, collapsed on their sofa somewhere in deepest, darkest, dismal London. They’re both fried, which is to say, burned out by modern life, and Fried examines their malaise as it ferments into animosity and violence; it’s an age old story of supervisor-fatigue and post-workplace angst, but told in a way that’s in tune with their misery, in a tital of 45 mins of Fight Club style.
Robert (Goss) and Dave (Jake McDaid) are the men between which we follow the ebb and flow of their ebb and flow; charting their decline is central to our observation of their rapport. ‘How do you eat an elephant?…one bite at a time’ is a helpful sliver of dialogue here; Fried is more patient than you might expect in the way it unpacks the two men’s unhappy predicament in granular detail. Each of them are in danger of slipping into some kind of place where reality and unreality mix in a dangerous cocktail, and it’s not long before we’re all on a trip to hell.
Cine-eastes will recall that Ben Wheatley took a similarly dank route which his debut feature Down Terrace, which was made on a humble five grand and propelled the writer/director to a high-profile career. It’s too early to tell if Goss will be able to find a similar trajectory, but Fried is worth seeking out if you crave the experience of hearing fresh voices, particularly at a time when British cinema is firmly stuck in WWII/royals/nostalgia/heritage mode.
45 min of Fight Club style, huh? You got my attention there with that.
Low budget, but the dark nihilism is there for sure.
How does this compare to Glasgow Fried Movie? That’s the one you won an award for wasn’t it?
Sigh. I’ll fry you in a minute, Bunty.
I know it’s late, so feel free to answer tomorrow, but what do you think of this?
https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/hollywood-ators-union-strike/2023/05/18/id/1120376/
Going to kill the little bit of momentum cinemas seem to have picked up? or just a blip nobody will notice as AI writers start churning out the same drek as human writers?
The schedule is fully loaded, so the strike affects tv more than film. Writers are generally underpaid and not particularly empowered to strike, and I’d support them. I don’t think the ‘creature’ AI has an original thought in its head, so I doubt that’ll be a factor. But cinema should be fine, there’s plenty in the pipeline, you’ll be relieved to hear.
You have no idea how much that gives me comfort. The thought of movies with no good dialogue or plot or good acting was starting to weigh on me, I have to admit.
😉
It could happen! Imagine watching a film without sparking dialogue you wanted to write down and preserve when you got home. That could be where we’re headed.
That’s already happened. Look at tv. After Futurama ended, that was it for sparkling wit and dazzling banter on the small screen.
It’s a cartoon from the Simpson people with a robot called Bender.
Exactly. Best TV show ever made.
BTW it used to have other peoples movie reviews of the same movies you were doing in the “more on WordPress’ section under the comment thread in the reader, now youve got Marty’s BBQ Wilson North Carolina. (I’d be surprised if Marty was BBQing ketos!)
It must be because today’s film is called Fried. I did not see this coming.
No I don’t think anyone would have. It’s a little amuse bouche to get us over hump day.
Every day is like hump day right now.
I hear you, as they say in the movies.
Hi there! I just wanted to drop a quick note to let you know how much I adore your blog. It’s an amazing treasure trove for anyone who is interested about cooking. I particularly enjoy your homestyle recipes and quick bites suggestions, but your crispy treats ideas are also making my mouth water. I applaud your efforts to supporting people in their dieting journey with insightful tips and tricks. Keep up the remarkable work, and I can’t wait to explore more of your fabulous posts!
Regard Mel
Dear Mel,
The recipes are all my own, and I’m hoping to publish more mouth-watering crispy treat ideas in the next few days, so watch out!
I’m proud of the work I’ve spent on supporting people with their dieting journeys, and glad to hear that you are enjoying reading about it.
Thanks for reading my blog with such care!
Eddie
This so deserves a shed load of laughing emoticons!
Don’t scoff!
No way, I wouldn’t eat a keto if my life depended on it!
Sigh. My recipes are wasted.
What didja have for tea then, or do you have posh dinner up there?
I made a mean mushroom risotto last night, still polishing it off. How about you?
Are you a vege? I did a lamb ragu with spaghetti.
If you saw lambs every day the way I do, you’d probably avoid the little mites, but all Italian is good. I don’t have a meat risotto recipe, but am not a vege. Glad to clear this up.
I wouldn’t have a hard time being vege but Phil would lie down and die without meat I think.
I did it for a year but I was caught having an illicit tryst with a Govan burger or a flat sausage sandwich, if you prefer.
Sausages are not supposed to be flat though!
Big if true.
That doesn’t make sense. What’s big?
That sausages should be flat?
It’s big that sausages should be flat?? What does it mean?? Is that a vernacular thingy?
Big news in my world.
Ok going to say TTFN movie time!
just so you know, if you allow a spam comment through, it trains akismet to start letting more of them through.
I may retire it tomorrow. But you are right, thought it was worth it for the traffic.
Sometimes it is worth it 😀
What does it say about Western Civilization that the “common” man chooses to tell a story like this? Makes me almost as sad as that author would write something like Lapvona….
I can’t comment on Lapvona due to a lack of specific information on that text, but I can confidently say that I have rarely felt as deep fried by life as I have in London and-or working in service industries. I don’t find it surprising that some film-making feels like a scream; modern life has a way of scrambling your brain.
I’m not saying that what the movie portrayed doesn’t happen, or isn’t valid, but why choose that to show instead of something that counters the experience? I guess I see the movie as a completely selfish shoutout of “here’s MY pain” instead of something that says “here’s some pain we all experience and here’s a way to blunt/counter/lessen it”.
Even the “seeing the same pain as mine will somehow lessen it” theory doesn’t hold water. Adding lesser pain to a greater pain doesn’t make the greater pain less. It simply adds to it.
I hear you, and you argue that well. Audiences seems to self-select; some enjoy escapism, some enjoy pain, some enjoy both and some enjoy neither. But yes, in this case, I’d have been keen to see another act that put the story in a wider context, and offered some kind of remedy, however minor or symbolic it might be.
I enjoy a fairly wide variety of films, and sometimes they do reflect how I see the world, and sometimes they don’t. I like a mix, but I get the impression that a large section of the audience like to escape. For me, there’s a recognition here about what it feels to be burnt out on the couch after a double shift, and that’s something that I think many people can relate to, even if only a fraction want to see that scenario on-screen.
And this conversation we’re having is exactly why I don’t believe something like world peace possible. (I realize this is a complete change of topic) If I can’t even understand people and their choice of entertainment, when we both speak the same language and have a similar cultural background, how in the world are people going to actually understand each other on serious issues? That’s a rhetorical question, just in case I wasn’t clear.
I’m just in a contemplative mood at the moment. Coming down from all that caffeine you know…
You were Tony Montana this morning.
I think people of different cultures and opinions can get on in a live and let live way. We don’t all have to agree on everything, we are all different and we are all the same. It’s a matter of personal choice how much you choose to engage with those who live differently from you. Compared to previous times, there is a general will for peace, and hopefully we’ll all get along.
57 lines in just 2 minutes baby!
Is that a quote from Scarface?
I had that punishment in school too Booky.
You had to snort coke in school as punishment? Man, that must have been brutal…
School of hard knocks.
Or, hard lines anyway 😉
Never seen that movie, so I wouldn’t know.