Posted on February 24, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
The story of Edmund Hillary is a fascinating one, rendered skilfully in 3D by Leanne Pooley. While Beyond the Edge leans just a little bit too heavy on pop psychology to dig into is subjects, and while the documentary could use a bit more room to breathe, it is a very effective illustration of exactly what the Hunt expedition accomplished in scaling Everest in May 1953.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: beyond the edge, documentary, edmund hillary, Everest, film, Mountaineering, mountains, non-review review, review, the summit | Leave a comment »
Posted on February 23, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
Lock a character in a tight space for an extended period of time, crank up the pressure, watch the results. It’s a tried and true method of generating compelling drama – albeit one that depends on a wide range of variables. Films like Phone Booth and Buried demonstrate – to varying degrees of success – the appeal of such a format. If you can get a good actor in a tight space for an extended period of time and crush them, the results are inevitably fascinating.
At the same time, it’s a very delicate cocktail. The set-up has to be convincing, the script has to be tight without being contrived, the direction needs to be spot on, the performance needs to be perfectly modulated. Steven Knight’s sophomoric feature-length film manages to maintain this fine balance for Locke‘s eighty-five minute runtime. Essentially an hour-and-a-half locked in a car with Tom Hardy, Locke is a powerhouse of a feature, an utterly compelling and heartrending watch.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: car, commute, film, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, locke, Movie, non-review review, review, steven knight, tom hardy | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 22, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
The Double calls to mind a very old school of BBC television production. In fact, it’s not too difficult to imagine The Double as an artefact from the BBC archives, a piece of eighties low-key dystopian science-fiction existential horror, like a slightly more polished (and colourised) companion piece to their 1954 production of 1984. By translating Dostoyevsky’s story from late nineteenth century Russia to a vision of the future from eighties Britain, writer and director Richard Ayoade has crafted a wonderfully unnerving psychological black comedy.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, jesse eisenberg, mia wasikowski, Movie, non-review review, review, richard ayoade, the double | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 20, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
There are not too many surprises to be had in Cas & Dylan, and those surprises mostly come towards the end of the film. For most of its runtime, Cas and Dylan is a reliably constructed old-fashioned odd-couple roadtrip movie. The roadtrip movie is a cinematic staple, and it has attained that status for a reason; it’s a fairly standard format that adapts to fit the actors and characters slotted into the adventure.
In this case, first time feature director Jason Priestley is directing veteran performer Richard Dreyfuss and young up-and-comer Tatiana Maslany. The charming duo give Cas & Dylan a bit of an edge as far as road movie go. The pair play comfortably off one another in fairly stock roles, elevating material that might otherwise seem a little overly familiar or trite. Cas & Dylan succeeds primarily off the strength of its two lead performers.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: cas & dylan, cas and dylan, film, jason priestley, Movie, non-review review, review, Richard Dreyfuss | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 20, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
Under the Skin exists as a gigantic flash backwards to the atmospheric and moody science-fiction horrors of the seventies. Despite a verbal reference to 2014 and some quick glimpses of posters for movies released in 2012, director Jonathan Glazer has constructed the movie as a throwback. Indeed, Under the Skin feels very much like an even lower key spiritual successor to Nicholas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell to Earth, except this time it’s the Scarlett Johansson who fell to Scotland.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, film, jonathan glazer, Movie, nicholas roeg, non-review review, review, scarlett johansson, the man who fell to earth, under the skin | 4 Comments »
Posted on February 19, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
To be fair, this isn’t the first time that the Jameson Cult Film Club have staged a screening of Jaws. The club did a screening of it last year as well, to considerable (and deserved) acclaim. So the visit of star Richard Dreyfuss to Dublin was the perfect excuse to break out the tried-and-tested showing, watch a classic piece of Americana and enjoy a nice conversation between Dreyfuss and presenter Rick O’Shea.
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: film, jameson cult film club, jameson dublin international film festival, jaws, jdiff, Movie, Richard Dreyfuss | 2 Comments »
Posted on February 18, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
There’s very little original to be found in The Last Days on Mars. Ruarí Robinson has constructed a gigantic homage to science-fiction horror, taking great pride in setting up the familiar clichés and working through the obligatory tropes. There are any number of shout-outs and references built into The Last Days on Mars, so much so that the film seems to struggle to stand on its own two feet.
At the same time, there’s an undeniably trashy charm to The Last Days on Mars. There’s a sense of Robinson’s abiding affection and enthusiasm for the conventions he evokes, the movies he homages. Nobody watching the film will confuse it for a trailblazing or original piece of work; however, it works surprisingly well as a gigantic tribute to pulpy science-fiction B-movies.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, horror, Ireland, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, last days on mars, Movie, non-review review, review, science fiction, the last days on mars | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 16, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
A Long Way Down is never anywhere near as irreverent as it thinks it is. The story of four people who attempted suicide on “the most popular suicide spot on the most popular night for suicides” has a pretty effective basic premise. There’s a lot of material for a pitch black comedy here, particularly with Pierce Brosnan playing a former television presenter who has been convicted of having sex with a minor. (The BBC co-production credit makes this plot point feel particularly awkward.)
Instead, A Long Way Down pitches itself as a generic feel-good yearn about how people are nowhere near as cynical as they might initially claim to be. Ironically, this ends up making A Long Way Down feel particularly cynical.
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: a long way down, film, Imogen Poots, jameson dublin international film festival, jdiff, nick hornby, non-review, pierce brosnan, review | 3 Comments »
Posted on February 14, 2014 by Darren
This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2014.
Calvary takes itself just a little bit too seriously for its own good. John McDonagh’s second feature film has a sterling cast, a witty sense of humour and some absolutely breathtaking cinematography; but there’s a sense that it’s trying too hard to say something meaningful and profound. Unlike the biting social satire of The Guard, which was buried skilfully beneath a charming screenplay and lightness of touch, Calvary has difficulty figuring out what it wants to be at any given moment in time.
Is it a scathing examination of rural Irish life? An exploration of guilt and integrity, sin and virtue? A meditation on the role that the church has played and has yet to play in Irish life? A critique of “detachment” as a default mode of being? The movie frequently transitions between hilariously exaggerated philosophical exchanges and attempts at more grounded human interactions, often missing a step in between.
Calvary is still a rather clever and powerful piece of Irish cinema, featuring a phenomenal Irish cast and trying to deal with important social issues; it just feels a little to heavy-handed and self-important in its attempts to do so.
Burning down the house…
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: calvary, film, non-review review, review | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 8, 2014 by Darren
José Padilha’s RoboCop reboot is much better than the lame duck attempt to adapt Total Recall a few years back. It’s a functional action film, structured well enough to stand on its own two feet as a science-fiction thriller. There are the obligatory explosions and CGI, but there’s also a clear enough story populated by reasonably well-drawn characters with just the faintest hint of social commentary at the core. It is solid and functional on its own terms, even if it suffers in comparison to its source material.
Robocop 2.0…
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, gary oldman, José Padilha, michael keaton, non-review review, Paul Verhoeven, r eview, reboot, RoboCop | 8 Comments »
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