I watched Once Upon a Time in the Midlands tonight, the third film by Shane Meadows, whose A Room for Romeo Brass I saw in England a few years ago and liked very much. “Midlands” was nicely done, a sort of western romance transplanted to a suburb in the Midlands, just like the title implies. Robert Carlyle and Rhys Ifans are always fun to watch, and the film paid special attention to cars – a stretch Mini Cooper, a van decked out in Scottish colors, Dek’s beloved Ford Sierra called “Baby,” and a pink, three-wheeled loaner car Dek uses when Baby is in the shop, to name a few – that added a nice touch. Carlyle’s brogue was almost incomprehensible at times, and strangely enough, my dvd player decided to turn on the subtitles not when the Scottish got tough, but when there was a large sign in the shot. So, three times during the movie, subtitles came across the screen saying “COMPLET” or “FELIZ NAVIDAD.” I even went back to make sure I wasn’t mistaken, and “NÃO H? VAGAS,” which I assume is Portuguese, showed up where it had said “COMPLET” before. That’s what I get for buying a hot-wired dvd player.