Ireland | the m0vie blog

Commiserations! And Something to Perk Us Up!

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Darren

We had the pleasure of attending the Blog Awards Ireland in the Osprey hotel over the weekend. We made the final five in the Best Pop Culture category. We didn’t win, losing out to a deserving A Year of Festivals in Ireland. There’s always next year. A massive thanks to the organisers as staff for all the hard work.

In other news, to help cheer us up, here’s Conan the Barbarian! The Musical.

I have no idea what the link is, but it made me smile. Also, “and hear the lamentations of their women” needs to be used in more chorus lines.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Conan the Barbarian, Ireland, Osprey, Ryan Braun, Shawshank Redemption, Sports, Travel and Tourism, United States | Leave a comment »

Photos from the Jameson Cult Film Club Screening of Snatch in Galway…

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Darren

The nice folks at the Jameson Cult Film Club were kind enough to send on these photos from their recent screening of Snatch in Galway. I have to admit I’ve a bit of a sentimental attachment to their unique (and wonderful) take on Snatch, as it was the first screening I attended. It’s also a movie that lends itself quite well to the fourth-wall-breaking celebrations that the guys do so impeccably. Anyway, here’s some photos from the first screening the gang have held in Galway. And here’s to many more.

Anyway, if you live in Ireland, and you want a chance to attend these screenings, just sign up for membership. The screenings are absolutely free, always a great time, and a great way to appreciate some truly classic movie.

Click to enlarge.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: arts, galway, Galway GAA, Ireland, jameson cult film club, Movie, Silence of the Lamb, Snatch | 2 Comments »

Check out Mondo’s Dark Knight Rises Poster…

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Darren

Mondo are great even if – as somebody who lives in Ireland – I’m relegated to simply posting screenshots of their distinctive alternate posters. They did a whole bunch of alternate posters for The Avengers, which were awesome. And they’ve done one for The Dark Knight Rises.

The artwork on this is by Jock, who is one of the most distinctive Batman artists working. If you want to see more of his work, you could do a lot worse than picking up The Black Mirror, which is also one of the finest Batman stories of the past few years. (If not, you know, ever.) Just sayin’ is all.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: avengers, batman, Christopher Nolan, dark knight, Dark Knight Rises, imax, Ireland, Jock, Mondo, poster, posters, Warner Bros | 2 Comments »

The House at the Abbey Theatre (Review)

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Darren

Tom Murphy’s The House is big play with some clever ideas, but not quite enough to fill its somewhat extended run time. In fact, the first half of the play, as Murphy tries to settle into his groove, seems to run nearly forever – to the point where, sitting in my seat, I was starting to wonder if the actors had simply forgotten there was supposed to be an intermission. The second half, however, is much stronger and much more tightly focused. While the production itself is nothing less than impressive, one wonders if an editor might have been well-suited to take a hacksaw to Murphy’s script, or perhaps director Annabelle Comyn might have cut down on the staring into middle-distance.

House that now?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: abbey theatre, Alison Croggon, arts, Australia, Bunty, Canberra, Downton Abbey, dublin, england, house, Ireland, Irish American, Irish diaspora, London, Murphy, Performing Arts, Public Broadcasting Service, Theatre, United States | 2 Comments »

A Film By Any Other Name: The Art of Stupid Movie Branding…

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Darren

I have a confession to make. I did not go to see The Avengers. I went to see Marvel’s Avenger’s Assemble. I didn’t mention this before because… well, that’s a stupid name and people aren’t idiots. If I talk about “The Avengers” and mention details like a “giant green rage monster”, “Nick Fury”, “box office records” or even “enjoyable”, odds are that you will know the film that I am talking about. I’m normally quite reluctant to attack particular movie practices as silly or illogical, if only because I’ve no direct experience of how the industry works.

To be fair, I’ll generally assume that the studios know what they’re talking about when it comes to making movies. However, when it comes to slapping silly names on their posters and insisting that the audience refer to a movie by a convoluted, generic and awkward focus-group-crafted title, I do feel like I have an opinion. The Avengers is the most recent high-profile example, but I’ve found myself increasing irritated by this somewhat pointless branding.

Silly titles make Darren angry!

Continue reading →

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Avenger, Avengers", diana rigg, entertainment, inglourious basterds, Ireland, John Steed, marvel, marvel comics, Mel Gibson, nick fury, ralph fiennes, scarlett johansson, sean connery, Shopping, uma thurman, world war ii | 7 Comments »

See The Dictator First – The London Premiere Streaming Live to Selected Irish Cinemas

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Darren

Read our review of The Dictator.

The lovely folks at Paramount sent around a release about the upcoming Sacha Baron Cohen comedy The Dictator, which is being released on May 16th. They are streaming the London premiere live to selected Irish cinemas, so if you are in Dublin, Galway, Cork or Belfast and want to get a sneak peak, the details (and links) are below:

For one night only, before the release of The Dictator hits cinemas ( May 16) 4 cinemas in Ireland will host special screenings with a live link in to the World Premiere screening in London at the Royal Festival, The Eye Cinema in Galway, The Odyssey Cinema in Belfast, The Omniplex in Cork – and limited number of tickets to the Irish Premiere Screening at the Savoy. Doors open at 6pm and there will be a live link in till 7.15pm where you can experience the red carpet and presenter Alex Zane will host and then see the film first at this special event. For more details and to book tickets please check out their respective websites and box office

I’ve already nipped down to the Savoy and picked up a ticket. At the very least, it looks to be one of the more interesting blockbuster releases this summer.

Please note that the trailer below is kinda spoiler-y.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Belfast, Dictator, dublin, Ireland, London, premiere, Royal Festival Hall, sacha baron cohen, The Dictator | 2 Comments »

Alice in Funderland at the Abbey (Review)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Darren

I had the pleasure of catching Alice in Funderland at the Abbey Theatre on Friday night. An attempt to playfully recast Lewis Carroll’s iconic story against the backdrop of modern Dublin, it is – for most of its runtime – an enjoyable high-energy experience with a cheeky charm and a winning wit. It is, however, just a little bit uneven – especially in its first act. In fact, the play works much better indulging its delightful appetite for the insane and the surreal, instead of attempting to offer rather blunt commentary on the political and social character of modern Ireland.

Alice? Who the %@#! is Alice?

Continue reading →

Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: abbey, abbey theatre, Alice, alice in funderland, alice in wonderland, Cork, Cork GAA, dubin, dublin, Ireland, Jack Phelan, lewis carroll, Mark O'Regan, Naomi Wilkinson, Sarah Greene, thisispopbaby | Leave a comment »

Improbable Frequency at the Gaiety Theatre

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Darren

Produced by Rough Magic, Arthur Riordan returns his celebrated musical to the Irish stage. An artistic collaboration between the writer and musicians Bell Helicopter, Improbable Frequency is a delightful little farce set during “the Emergency.” The wonderfully madcap little espionage music metaphysical meditation premiered over half-a-decade ago, and has toured the world. I think it certainly deserves to be measured as one of our most distinctly and cleverly Irish of theatrical exports. It’s insane, it’s over-the-top, it’s hard-to-pin-down and it’s also more than a little bit brilliant.

Schrodinger's a cool cat...

Continue reading →

Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: Arthur Riordan, Aviation, Bell Helicopter, Brian O'Nolan, business, General Electric, Helicopter, Improbable Frequency, Ireland, irish, Irish Free State, Irish language, John Betjeman, Riordan, Textron, Transportation and Logistics, Very Important Person | Leave a comment »

Tiny Plays for Ireland at the Projects Art Centre (Review)

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Darren

There’s something very charming about the rat-tat-tat nature of Tiny Plays for Ireland. A collection of short pieces by a variety of new and established talent, not every chapter in Fishamble’s latest production is perfect. Some are even quite weak. However, the quick turnover means that there’s a new and better drama unfolding on stage in the time it takes to toast a slice of bread. While there are some weaker segments, some of these short plays are charming, some are endearing, some are genuinely moving. Some leave you longing for just a little bit more, and some feeljust right.

Continue reading →

Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: art, arts, audition, Bill Withers, christopher walken, Culture of Ireland, dublin, Flag of Ireland, france, Ireland, irish times, Leprechaun, Lovely Day, Nation, Saint Patrick, Saint Patrick's Day, Scotland, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: This Must Be The Place

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012. It was the second “surprise” film.

This Must Be The Place is a film that has several interesting components, but keeps them so thoroughly isolated from one another through almost deft use of road movie clichés that nothing ever clicks. Paolo Sorrentino hasn’t so much made a movie as he has stapled a bunch of holiday snapshots together, treating us to a holiday slideshow full of half-finished anecdotes, banal details and no real sense of structure. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of brilliance scattered through the over-long and self-indulgent mess of a film, but the fact is they can’t add enough flavour to salvage the film.