John Michael McDonagh | |
---|---|
Born | 1967 (age 56–57) London, England |
Occupation | Filmmaker |
Spouse | Elizabeth Eves (m. 2003) |
Relatives | Martin McDonagh (brother) |
John Michael McDonagh (born 1967) is a British-Irish filmmaker. He wrote and directed The Guard (2011) and Calvary (2014), with the former earning him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay.
John Michael McDonagh was born to Irish parents in the Camberwell area of London in 1967. [1] His mother was a part-time housekeeper from Killeenduff, whille his father was a construction worker from Lettermullen. [2] He holds both British and Irish citizenship, referring to himself as "London Irish" because he does not "feel particularly British [or] particularly Irish". [2] His younger brother Martin is a playwright and filmmaker. [2] [3] He and his brother were raised in Camberwell while spending summers in Killeenduff. [2] They both dropped out of secondary school and were unemployed. [2] When he was 26 years old, his parents moved back to Lettermullen, which allowed him to regularly travel to nearby Galway. [2]
McDonagh initially pursued a career as a novelist but decided to try screenwriting after his first five books, which he later described as "really bad", were rejected by publishers. [4] He made his first foray by writing and directing the short film The Second Death (2000), on which his brother served as an executive producer; they have not worked together since. [2] When asked why in 2011, McDonagh said that the brothers had recently argued over cheese in the fridge, quipping, "If we're arguing about that, we're probably not going to work together on a film!" [2] McDonagh adapted Robert Drewe's novel Our Sunshine (1991) into the screenplay for the film Ned Kelly (2003). Directed by Gregor Jordan, the film received mixed reviews and was not the resulting film McDonagh had hoped to see; he later revealed that he did not get along with Jordan, whom he called "a pretty humourless man". [2]
McDonagh had his breakthrough as a filmmaker when he wrote and directed The Guard (2011), making his feature-length directorial debut at the age of 44. [5] The film received critical acclaim, [6] becoming the most financially successful independent Irish film of all time. [7] Among several honours, McDonagh was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay. [8] His next film, Calvary (2014), received acclaim. [9] His next two films, War on Everyone (2016) [10] and The Forgiven (2021), received mixed reviews. [11] [12]
In 2014, McDonagh spoke of plans to end the "trilogy" he started with The Guard and Calvary, reteaming him with star Brendan Gleeson. The film, titled The Lame Shall Enter First, will follow a paraplegic ex-policeman in London who has developed a hatred for able-bodied people and gets caught up in a new investigation after one of his friends is murdered. It is intended to be an amalgamation of themes and tones present in the first two films. [13] He has also mentioned numerous other forthcoming projects such as Fear Is the Rider, a thriller starring Abbey Lee and Christopher Abbott; [14] an adaptation of Percival Everett's novel Assumption; [15] The Bonnot Gang, a period gangster film about the titular French anarchist gang; [16] and Chaos Inc, a series about a Buddhist private investigator based in Las Vegas. [17]
McDonagh frequently works with the same actors, including Gleeson, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot, Marie-Josée Croze, and Caleb Landry Jones. He has also frequently worked with cinematographer Larry Smith and composer Lorne Balfe.
McDonagh has been married to Australian film producer Elizabeth Eves since 2003. [18]
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2000 | The Second Death | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
2003 | Ned Kelly | No | Yes | No | |
2011 | The Guard | Yes | Yes | No | Feature-length directorial debut |
2014 | Calvary | Yes | Yes | No | |
2016 | War on Everyone | Yes | Yes | No | |
2021 | The Forgiven | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Martin Faranan McDonagh is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his absurdist dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won numerous accolades including an Academy Award, six BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Olivier Awards in addition to five nominations for Tony Awards.
Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor. He has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, two British Independent Film Awards and three IFTA Awards, along with nominations for an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, he was listed at number 18 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors. He is the father of actors Domhnall Gleeson and Brian Gleeson.
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The Guard is a 2011 buddy cop comedy film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham.
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Calvary is a 2014 drama film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh. It stars Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Domhnall Gleeson, M. Emmet Walsh and Isaach de Bankolé. The film began production in September 2012 and was released in April 2014 in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, in July in Australia and in August 2014 in the United States.
The 11th Irish Film & Television Awards took place on Saturday 5 April 2014 in Dublin, honouring Irish film and television released in 2013. The nominations were announced on 27 February 2014. The Awards Ceremony took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Burlington Road Dublin, and was broadcast on RTÉ One at 9.45pm. The Annual Irish Film & Television Awards are the highlight of Ireland’s entertainment and cultural calendar celebrating the very best of Irish screen talent across film and television. Guests in attendance included Michael Fassbender, Colin Farrell, Jamie Dornan, Steve Coogan, Will Forte, Jeremy Irons, Fionnula Flanagan, Brendan Gleeson, Neil Jordan, Amy Huberman, Colm Meaney, Jack Reynor, Killian Scott, Eva Birthistle, Victoria Smurfit and Outstanding Contribution Honorary Award Winner President Michael D Higgins.
Brian Gleeson is an Irish actor. He was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Awards for the television series Love/Hate. He has appeared in the films Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Assassin's Creed (2016), and had regular roles in The Bisexual (2018), Resistance and Peaky Blinders (2019), Frank of Ireland (2021), and Bad Sisters (2022).
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The Banshees of Inisherin (Original Score) is the score album consisting of the original score composed by Carter Burwell for the 2022 film of the same name directed by Martin McDonagh. It was released on 21 October 2022 by Hollywood Records. The album was announced with a three-track sampler debuted on the Deadline Hollywood magazine. Burwell experimented the score with approaching Colin Farrell's character through "the child-like" and "Disney character"-based music as well as fiddle-themed compositions for Brendan Gleeson's character, and non-Irish music, despite the setting in 20th century Ireland. The score received a nomination for Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in a Feature Film, as well as Satellite Award and Golden Globe Award nomination in the "Best Original Score" category.
Gary Lydon is a British-Irish stage and screen actor from Northolt in England. He is known for playing the Garda Peadar Kearney in The Banshees of Inisherin.