Filmmaker reacts to Blue Ruin (2013) for the FIRST TIME! 

One thing I love about this film (and the director’s follow-up Green Room) is the realism. There’s nothing flashy, the violence is brutal and intentionally off putting, and the protagonists are just normal people who often make really stupid decisions in moments of extreme stress.

This movie's budget was around $420,000 btw. I don't know how they did it but it looked great, the performances were believable, the story was great. A true hidden gem of a movie.

Even better is the _Blue Ruin_ lead actor's directorial debut: 2017's _I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore_ with Melanie Lynskey. A minor Neo-Noir masterpiece worth checking out.

I’m so stoked you reacted to this! I never seen reactions or talk of this movie. It’s a hidden gem 💎

Fun fact: homeboy with all the guns is big brother, Buzz, from Home Alone.

Someone parking right next to you in an empty parking lot is the same energy as someone using the urinal right next to you when the far one’s open. This is a good flick, I saw it completely blind too, the way the story plays out is perfect for a blind viewing.

This movie came out the year I graduated high school and boy it changed my life. It made me want to be a filmmaker. A simple story with impact. It really pushed me into watching more films I never had before. Great video, brother.

Wow, that's some uncanny timing James! I just watched the You Were Never Really Here reaction and thought "James would probably love Blue Ruin, similar vibes." And boom here you are, reading my mind lol. Stoked to watch this one!

Yo, couldn't click quick enough. This film is an absolutely fantastic piece of cinema

Nice, looking forward to watching this reaction! I think this film is super underrated or at least under appreciated. The filmmaking on display is super impressive, and it makes for a super thrilling, tense, and effective story

Same director as Green Room. Really like his natural style. All seems real and hits harder for it.

bro im so happy you are doing this film! such an under the radar film! EDIT. just finished the reaction! great as always man! I have to commend you for taking the time to watch this film. not enough people know about it! Once again i have to suggest Me, and Earl and the Dying girl! you dont even need to make a reaction! you just need to see it! Look forward to the next video!

Blue Ruin was a breathe of fresh air when it first dropped beautifully shot, the style and built up were amazing

god even just watching this reaction video my heart is beating so hard. this movie is amazing

i (and probably tons of other people) would recommend you check out more of either jeremy saulnier or macon blair (who also played the protagonist in this movie). i love most movies they were involved in and i also love the approach of "it is neither good or bad", because that is the aspect i appreciate most about them.

There is a specific look to a lot of 2012-2014 indie films because of the accessibility of mirrorless and DSLR cameras and letting directors use the washed out natural light. Short Term 12 and Upstream Color come to mind also in terms of similar cinematography

Jeremy Saulnier has always been my dream pick to direct/adapt Red Dead Redemption into a movie. The grittiness and scenery of Blue Ruin and Green Room would be perf! His other two features are also great, but Blue Ruin and Green Room are some of the best violent thrillers of the last decade.

If you want another great anti-revenge movie / explores the themes of that weight, Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Only God Forgives” is great and a really uniquely constructed piece of narrative/visual storytelling

Amazing movie.

Saw this just once and was blown away by it. Very underrated Edit: forgot the gun guy was in Supernatural!

So happy you’re doing this one. Thanks for the content bruv

Yes, this is one of my favorite films!

There’s an Irish film very similar in themes to this called A Bad Day for the Cut, and it’s fantastic as well

Special mention to the matriarch with the TEC-9, played by Eve Plumb a.k.a. Jan Brady, the middle daughter on _The Brady Bunch._

Another great film that subverts the glorification of revenge is The Nightingale, by Jennifer Kent (The Babadook).

Intense film, with a very somber conclusion..what are your thoughts? Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day!

Glad you did this one. Its one of my favorites and I'm happy that you enjoyed it as well

If you didn't know, this may blow your mind. The guy who played Ben is the same guy who played Buzz from the Home Alone movies. Didn't know 'til a long while after watching Blue Ruin.

19:01 I saw this movie when it came out in 2014 and I just found out the woman in the gray dress is Eve Plumb (Jan from the Brady Bunch).

I love this movie. It has a unique structure for a revenge type movie

Everyone mentions green room but murder party is awesome it's the less talked about film in this trilogy. It's a fresh take on horror comedy

I love this movie because it seems real. Yeah he could of had a better plan to execute his actions but he's not a badass dude who can just kick everyone's ass. He's sloppy and I just like how everything unfolds

This movie (and the follow up, Green Room) high key fucks

you HAVE to watch some of Saulnier's other work. i adore blue ruin and it's what made me fall in love with his stuff, but in my opinion green room perfectly embodies what made me fall in love with his movies. it has all the same great qualities of blue ruin, the incredible camerawork, the grittiness, the realism, the short and believable and incredibly brutal moments of extreme violence, and best of all it's about killing neo-nazis. it's a great movie. also a big fan of murder party, which is basically a horror comedy. i also recommend looking into the first movie macon blair directed (macon blair is the lead actor in blue ruin). it has a very similar style but has a lot of humor and also has elijah wood playing an absolute weirdo. macon blair is also doing the remake of the toxic avenger, which i'm very excited about.

So glad you did this - I adore this film and have hoped you would watch it since day one

Hell yes!!! I love this movie, and please check out these guys' other movies. They are all really amazing!!

I wasn't a big fan of this movie (I felt it was a good concept that suffered from lazy writing) but Buzz from Home Alone was top tier in this. He actually has a PhD as well, in Marine Biology. His is Dr. Devin Ratray now. (Also that sticker on his gun locker is the MOS for a machine gunner in the Marines.)

great revenge flick, I enjoyed how grounded it is.

This is one of my favourites. Top 50 for me. Glad you're checking it out

Watched this movie few months back, realy surpriced how good this was. Defennetly going to keep this dvd on my collection

one of my favorite hidden gems

6:39 this is exactly why I love this film! I also love and respect punny people ☮️

Another underrated revenge film is Dead Man's Shoes (2004)

i just watched this 2 weeks ago, what a low budget film! love it

Wow. Great to see this film getting some respek.

Nice. Super underrated film that most people dont even know about. And even fewer reactions to. Jeremy Saulnier has a great track record of films that he has put out.

Hey James great reaction as always much love love you😊

I actually prefer Blue Ruin to Green Room. It has beautiful cinematography and I love the way it subverts the revenge film genre. Something really impressive about it is it was somehow made on a budget of only about $400k, but still looks amazing.

Excellent movie! Green Room is good too!

Possibly my favorite revenge thriller of all time. Glad you liked it!

Great review James. This film is quite artful and a realistic approach to a revenge flick. Though I’ve never seen someone on the edge of their seat concerned some iced teas aren’t sipped.

Check out a movie called the battery. An indie flick about 2 baseball players trying to survive a zombie apocalypse.

This and green room were 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

ong tho!! great movie and great review

Think about checking out Victoria (2015) . The whole film is a single shot. Peak anxiety.

Ah this is a great movie!

Your reactions are among the best on RU-vid, James. Suggested series for you: Prison Break (2005). You won't be disappointed!

I remember Green Room made me want to buy some guns and never be in a band ever.

Holy shit I was just thinking about this movie the other day, what an absolute gem!

One of my favorite movies of all time

Damn, James, between this and You Were Never Really Here, you've been watching some difficult movies lately! It makes sense that you need the absurd levity of Always Sunny in the mix. Cheers.

I think I read that this movie is a deconstruction of the revenge movie like Unforgiven is a deconstruction of the western genre.

If you're taking requests, please watch SHE'S FUNNY THAT WAY

Love this movie. So underrated

Living in Oblivion please. :)

This movie is fantastic. And it was shot around me.

Nice reaction bud. I seem to remember you reacting to another moive by this director: Green Room. Man, both are so viceral

Where's the Barry reactions? We're only on the second episode of season 4!

Great movie. Great reaction. Hell yeah

This is from the same director that Green Room where Patrick Stewart plays a Neo-Nazi Leader

can you react to La Bamba? It’s Ritchie valens biography just as good as Selena, I saw it the other day for the first time in a while and was in tears 😢 literally no one has reacted to it

Memories of Murder

track down this filmmaker...he is not to be missed.

Made by the same people who made Green Room, I believe

incredible film I highly recommend watching Animal Kingdom and Snowtown if you haven't already

Nice