jameson dublin international film festival | the m0vie blog

Non-Review Review: Death of a Superhero

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012. This was the closing gala.

Cancer is a tough topic to address in film, if only because mortality offers a thin line to walk between sincere reflection and blatant emotional manipulation. It is an even greater problem when you’re dealing with a younger protagonist, one who has barely had a chance at life before the disease conspires to rip them away from the world and their loved ones. Death of a Superhero is far to schmaltzy for its own good, often pandering to its audience while trying to distract away from its cloying manipulations with predictable doses of humour and a wry cynicism that the hero must vanquish before his untimely passing.

Holding out for a hero...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Aisling Loftus, andy serkis, art, California, Death of a superhero, dublin, film, Film festival, Filmmaking, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Michael McElhatton, Movie, non-review review, review, superhero, United States | 4 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hunky Dory

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

There’s very little in Hunky Dory that we haven’t seen before. It’s a story set in the past about a young and idealistic teacher attempting to give her students a more rounded and useful education before they enter the big bad world. It’s set in Wales in 1976, giving the movie a bit of character and contextualising this period as the calm before the storm. Margaret Thatcher, that most divisive and controversial of British Prime Ministers, can be heard faintly on the television in the background; tough economic times lie ahead; skinheads roam the streets; and the Falklands War is just around the corner. As Vivienne, our young drama teacher, attempts to offer some guidance to students who might otherwise slip through the cracks, the sinister forces of the establishment seem to conspire against her.

Joyeux de Viv!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Bel Ami, david bowie, dublin, Falklands War, Film festival, Hunky Dory, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Man Who Sold the World, Marc Evans, margaret thatcher, Minnie Driver, Movie, United States | Leave a comment »

Jameson Cult Film Club: Reservoir Dogs & A Talk With Michael Madsen (JDIFF 2012)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Darren

This event was held as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Last year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival served as the launch of the Jameson Cult Film Club, with a screening of The Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey in attendance. To celebrate the first anniversary of that launch, the guys organised a special treat for movie fans in the capital – a screening of Reservoir Dogs, with Michael Madsen in attendance. It goes almost without saying that the Jameson folks threw one hell of a shindig, converting Dublin’s CHQ into the warehouse from Tarantino’s iconic debut – a film that had hosted its Irish premiere as part of the festival twenty years ago, a screening that host Rick O’Shea remembered fondly. It was a great evening, organised with the same impeccable style as ever.

Note: This is just an article about the wonderful screening held by the Jameson Cult Film Club, including an interview with the man himself, Michael Madsen. I’ll be running a review of Tarantino’s masterpiece sometime next week, when I’ve had a bit more sleep.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, cult film, dublin, film, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, kevin spacey, Michael Madsen, Movie, quentin tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, Rick O'Shea, ridley scott, tarantino, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Chicken With Plums

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

As the follow-up to Persepolis, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to suggest that there’s a lot of expectations around Marjane Satrapi’s follow-up, Chicken With Plums. The second in her trilogy of graphic novels, Chicken With Plums might fall a bit short of the heights that its predecessor reached, but there’s no denying that Satrapi and her co-director, Vincent Paronnaud, have composed a truly beautiful film. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Chicken With Plums might be the most beautiful film that you will see this year – a bold statement for late February. There are some very fundamental problems with the movie, most stemming from the fact that it can never decide if it’s a story or a collection of anecdotes, but it’s held together by superb artistic direction and a charming central performance from Mathieu Amalric.

A man at peace, but with inner violin...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, Azrael, Chicken With Plums, dublin, film, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, Marjane Satrapi, Mathieu Amalric, Movie, non-review review, Persepolis, reivew, United States, Vincent Paronnaud | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Yellow Sea

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

The Yellow Sea is a strange little Korean neo-noir that manages to seem impressively intimate and epicly vast, often at the very same time. Written and directed by Hong-jin Na, the movie follows a cab driver in the borderlands between North Korea, China and Russia. Severely indebted to a local crime lord, Ku-Nam finds himself assigned to assassinate a South Korean businessman. At the same time, he tries to track down his wife, who disappeared into South Korea after he paid for a rather expensive visa. The movie occasionally has a bit of bother balancing the personal side of the story with the wider crime-based elements, but it is darkly fascinating viewing, driven by Hong-jin Na’s wonderful eye for kinetic action sequences.

Myung-Ga wonders how good his insurance police is...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Asia, Byung-hoon Lee, China, Film noir, jameson dublin international film festival, Kim Jong-il, Korean, michael mann, non-review review, North Korea, Pyongyang, review, Russia, South Korea, the yellow sea, the yellow sea (film), the yellow sea (movie), Yellow Sea, Yonhap, Young-kyu Jang | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Silent House

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that Chris Kentis and Laura Lau are both big fans of Edgar Allan Poe. In translating the cult Uruguayan horror for American audiences, the two directors seem to evoke Poe at every opportunity, from the dreary New England setting, with its early sunset and dreary overgrowth, through to symbolism lifted almost directly from Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. However, they juxtapose this classic American horror film vibe with a self-consciously modern filming technique. “Real terror in real time,” the poster boasts. While the decision to film the movie so it would seem like one continuous take is generally technically impressive, but also undermines a lot of the stronger elements of the tale. There is, after all, a reason that directors tend to favour long takes for very particular types of films.

In the silent house, nobody can hear you scream...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, Chris Kentis, Edgar Allan, Edgar Allan Poe, Elizabeth Olsen, Fall of the House of Usher, film, Horror film, House of Usher, jameson dublin international film festival, Laura Lau, Movie, New England, non-review review, Poe, review, Silent House, the silent house, United States, Uruguay | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Into The Abyss

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Capital punishment is always a thorny issue to tackle, if only because of the delicate relationship between the victim and perpetrator of the original crime. It’s easy to seem sly or manipulative while painting the convicted murder as some victim of society or social injustice, while ignoring the impact of their actions on the family and friends of those they killed. Werner Herzog is always a deeply fascinating director, whether of narrative films or documentaries.

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Abyss, capital punishment, Chevrolet Camaro, Conroe Texas, Crime and Justice, documentary, Documentary film, film, Herzog, Into the Abyss, jameson dublin international film festival, Michael Moore, Movie, murder, non-review review, Peter Zeitlinger, review, texas, Werner Herzog | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Fort McCoy

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Fort McCoy is a mess of a film that manages to botch a fairly interesting and compelling premise. Though Eric Stoltz does manage to escape the film with much of his dignity intact, many of his co-stars are not nearly as lucky. Written and directed by, and co-starring, Kate Connor, the movie struggles to find any measure of tonal consistency, as the movie takes basic concepts like cultural identity and coming-of-age drama, only to mangle them by playing to extreme melodrama. Indeed, most of the movie’s problems find expression in a single awkward moment: following the death of one of their own, the German P.O.W.’s at the eponymous camp arrange a funeral profession, which Connor opts to film in slow-motion, treating us to the unintentionally hilarious image of a bunch of mourning slow-motion goose-stepping Nazis. It’s a scene that beautifully evokes all the sorts of complex emotions that Connor was undoubtedly aiming for, but also demonstrates that the film has absolutely no idea how to get them to work together.

The war at home...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Child, Colt McCoy, Eric Stoltz, film, Fort McCoy, German, germans, germany, history, jameson dublin international film festival, Jews, Lyndsy Fonseca, Movie, nazis, non-review review, review, Twentieth Century, United States, William Shatner | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: My Little Princess

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

My Little Princess is a deeply disturbing piece of French cinema. It’s very hard to address the topic of the sexual exploitation of children in a way that doesn’t end up feeling exploitative itself. However, despite some moments of melodrama, Eva Ionesco’s creepy and unsettling character exploration is a fairly well-crafted film, one that leaves you feeling just a little bit dirty for even watching it.

Mamma Mia!

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: art, arts, Arts and Entertainment, Cinema of France, Cultures and Groups, Diana Princess of Wales, Eva Ionesco, film, france, French, Gary Glitter, Ionesco, jameson dublin international film festival, Little Princess, Mother, Movie, Movies, non-review review, review, Violetta | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Samsara

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Director Ron Fricke first came to attention as the cinematographer on Godfrey Reggio’s groundbreaking Koyaanisqatsi. His contributions to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith not withstanding, he has somewhat followed in the footsteps of Reggio, offering up a series of films without character or narrative that explore man’s relationship with the world around him. Samsara is another entry in the canon that includes Chronos and Sacred Site, and is a direct sequel to Baraka. It goes almost without saying that Fricke’s cinematography is transcendental. Set to music by frequent collaborator Michael Stearns (with Lisa Gerrard and Marcello de Francisci), there’s no denying that Fricke has a canny and incredible eye for beauty. That said, Samsara does suffer a bit from being heavy-handed with its central themes and ideas – quite an accomplishment for a film with no dialogue.