culture | the m0vie blog

393. The Banshees of Inisherin – Leaving Cert 2024 (#—)

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Conor Murphy, this week with special guest Ciara Moloney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This September, the podcast is going back to school, covering the films on the Irish Leaving Certificate that we have yet to cover. This time, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin.

As the Civil War rages on the mainland, an even more intimate conflict is brewing on the idyllic Irish island of Inisherin. For years, Pádraig and Colm have been the best of friends, but that all changes one day when Colm decides the dissolve their acquaintance. Neither man is fully prepared for the consequences of that decision, and how it tears the island apart.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: brenadan gleeson, ciara moloney, colin farrell, conor murphy, culture, diaspora, emigration, identity, irish, irish cinema, irish leaving certificate, irishness, leaving cert, leaving certificate, leaving certificate english, martin mcdonagh, podcast, Podcasts!, Stage, The 250, Theatre | Leave a comment »

360. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (#7)

Posted on December 30, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guest Deirdre Molumby, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, to mark the 20th anniversary of its release, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

After the Battle of Helm’s Deep, the forces of men rally at Minas Tirith for one final confrontation against Sauron. At the same time, Frodo and Sam press deeper into Mordor, guided by the mysterious Gollum. However, with the fate of Middle Earth hanging in the balance, this epic struggle may yet come down to the most unlikely of figures.

At time of recording, it was ranked 7th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: aragorn, awards, box office, culture, deirdre molumby, fantasy, frodo, J. R. R. Tolkien, legolis, meaning, orcs, Oscars, peter jackson, the lord of the rings, the lord of the rings: the return of the king, the return of the king, viggo mortensen | Leave a comment »

351. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers – All-o’-Ween (#—)

Posted on October 28, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Joey Keogh, this week with special guest Peter Keenan, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This year, we are running a season looking at the films in the Halloween franchise. So this week, Dwight H. Little’s Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

It has been ten years since Michael Myers’ rampage through Haddenfield. For that decade, the killer has lain dormant. However, during a routine transfer, the innocuous mention of Myers’ last surviving blood relative stirs the slasher from his slumber. Myers makes his way towards Haddenfield, and towards his innocent young niece: Jamie Lloyd.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: america, culture, dwight h. little, evangelicals, franchise, halloween, halloween 4, halloween 4: the return of michael myers, halloween iv, horror, joey keogh, michael myers, moustapha akkad, peter keenan, politics, religious right, sequels, slasher, stabbing, stranger danger, violence | 1 Comment »

New Escapist Column! On Colin Farrell and the Shifting Definition of Movie Stardom…

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Darren

We’re launching a new column at The Escapist, called Out of Focus. It will publish every Wednesday, and the plan is to use it to look at some film and television that would maybe fall outside the remit of In the Frame, more marginal titles or objects of cult interest. This week, we took a look at the fascinating career of Colin Farrell.

Farrell is in many ways the perfect encapsulation of an interesting trend in post-movie-star Hollywood: a character actor trapped in a leading man’s body. Farrell is an incredibly handsome and charismatic performer, but he seems particularly liberated in smaller projects and stranger roles. He tends towards larger performances and physical transformation, often playing with and subverting his movie star presence to do something more interesting. Farrell is one of the finest examples of a larger movement in modern Hollywood that includes actors as diverse as Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth and James Franco.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: celebrity, character actor, colin farrell, column, culture, movie star, out of focus, the escapist | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Avatar: The Way of Water” as the Rare Discourse-Free Blockbuster…

Posted on January 30, 2023 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With Avatar: The Way of Water continuing to push its way up the list of highest-grossing movies of all-time, it is interesting that James Cameron’s sequel hasn’t dominated the discourse to the same extent as comparable blockbusters like Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame.

Truth be told, there is something innately charming about that. It’s fun to have a big and bombastic blockbuster that hasn’t become an online shouting match, a film that audiences have just turned out to see and then gone back to their lives without making the film’s performance or reception a key part of their identity. Whatever problems there may be with The Way of Water, there is something to be said for a film that manages to entertain that many people without causing too many ripples.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avatar: the way of water, box office, culture, debate, discourse, in the frame, pop culture, social media, the escapist, whales | Leave a comment »

301. Cool Hand Luke (#234)

Posted on August 20, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, Stuart Rosenberg’s Cool Hand Luke.

Lucas Jackson is a petty criminal assigned a two year sentence to a chain gang in Florida. All he needs to do is to keep his head down and his nose clean, and he’ll be back out in society in no time. However, Luke is unable and unwilling to do that. Luke bristles against the camp’s authority, and finds himself locked in a battle of wills against those in charge.

At time of recording, it was ranked 234th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: anti-authoritarian, brutality, celebrity, cool hand luke, counter-culture, culture, jewish, Paul Newman, prison, rebellion, sixties, Slavery, stuart rosenberg | Leave a comment »

298. The Sound of Music (#243)

Posted on August 6, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this time with special guest Síomha McQuinn, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, Robert Wise’s The Sound of Music.

Maria is a young woman lacking purpose and direction in her life. Exiled from a convent, Maria is assigned to work as governess for the von Trapp family, caring for seven children who recently lost their mother and are struggling to connect with their emotionally distant father. Maria strikes up an unlikely connection with Captain von Trapp, but the family soon finds their idyllic existence threatened as historical realities come to bear on Austria.

At time of recording, it was ranked 243rd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: box office, christopher plummer, culture, Fox, julie andrews, musical, nazis, podcast, Robert Wise, síomha mcquinn, songs, The 250 | 2 Comments »

266. Spider-Man: No Way Home – This Just In (#8)

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guests Graham Day, Luke Dunne and Bríd Martin, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Peter Parker returns home from a school trip to discover that his deepest secret has been revealed to the world: thanks to the villain Mysterio, now everybody knows that the teenage is the vigilante known as Spider-Man. Peter races to put the genie back in the bottle, but discovers that his plans might have unforeseen consequences.

At time of recording, it was ranked 8th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: brid martin, culture, fandom, graham day, jon watts, luke dunne, marvel, Marvel Studios, Movies, podcast, spider man, spoilers, The 250, Tom Holland | Leave a comment »

247. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – Indiana Summer 2021 (#—)

Posted on August 14, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Tony Black and Darren Mooney, with special guest Alex Towers, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, continuing our Indiana Summer, Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Escaping a botched deal in Hong Kong, intrepid explorer Indiana Jones finds himself in India with two unlikely partners. Jones is quickly drawn into a mystery involving stolen artifacts and a village of missing children, which offers the adventurer the opportunity for “fortune and glory.” However, dark secrets are buried beneath Pankot Palace, and it may take an archeologist to unearth them.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: alex towers, apu, culture, divorce, george lucas, horror, imdb, india, indiana jones, indiana jones and the temple of doom, indiana summer, racism, sexism, steven spielberg, temple of doom, The 250, tony black, violence, willie scott | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Video! On “Mad Max: Fury Road” and the Arbitrary Lines Between High and Low Culture…

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Darren

So, as I have mentioned before, I am launching a new video series as a companion piece to In the Frame at The Escapist. The video will typically launch with the Monday article, and be released on the magazine’s YouTube channel the following week. This is kinda cool, because we’re helping relaunch the magazine’s film channel – so if you can throw a subscription our way, it would mean a lot.

This week, with the renewed and ongoing debate between “high” and “low” culture, between “art” and “content”, it seemed like a good time to take a look at one of the more fascinating films to straddle that line. Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth entry in a long-running franchise, a film essentially built around a long car chase and explosions. However it’s also as pure a piece of cinema that has ever been made. It demonstrates the fungibility of those perceived boundaries.