April 2011

The Archives

  • 04.21.11
    PINA: Wim Wenders’ evocative dance documentary is a thing of beauty Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    PINA Directed by Wim Wenders. Starring Pina Bausch, Regina Advento, Malou Airaudo, Ruth Amarante. 106 mins. In cinemas April 22 Rating: Four/Five As visionary director Wim Wenders celebrates the work of choreographer Pina Baush, two iconic artists are brought together to create a thing of absolute beauty. This hypnotic documentary displays the incredible skill of both individuals, and ended leaving me so punch-drunk that, far from wanting to dance, I just wanted to stay in my seat. And maybe watch it again. Centred around four of Bausch’s most celebrated pieces, the dances are given little or no context, and only two are even named. ...
  • 04.21.11
    THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC: Whimsical but even, this French fancy is quite ordinary indeed. Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ADELE BLANC-SEC Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Louise Bourgoin, Mathieu Amalric, Gilles Lellouche, Jean-Paul Rouve. 107 mins. In cinemas April 29 Rating: Three/Five Once revered as one of the masters of cinema du look, Luc Besson seemed to effortlessly cross over into the slick world of Hollywood in the 1990s with Leon and The Fifth Element. But judging by his very uneven new feature, it seems that all that culture-crossing may have caused a bit of an identity crisis. An adaption of the famous (well, in France) comic books, Besson’s film is based around Adèle (Louise Bourgoin), a writer ...
  • 04.21.11
    ARTHUR: Unoriginal remake is rom-com by numbers, but does have a specific brand of charm Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    ARTHUR Directed by Jason Winer. Starring Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Jennifer Garner. 110 mins. Rating: Two/Five In cinemas April 22 LIKE ITS STAR, THIS UNORIGINAL REMAKE WILL BE HATED BY MANY, BUT DOES HAVE A CERTAIN BRAND OF CHARM A stubborn refusal to follow the crowd has not always served me well, as numerous photo albums displaying my long-held belief that parachute pants were cool can demonstrate. So I fear that in years (or days) to come, I’ll look back at this review and cringe, wishing I had gone with popular opinion, but so be it. Deep breath: Arthur ...
  • 04.21.11
    INSIDIOUS: Though short on real scare, this haunted house horror still entertains Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    INSIDIOUS Directed by James Wan. Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Leigh Whannell. 103 mins. In cinemas April 29 Rating: Three/Five Just as it will undoubtedly please many to hear that latest feature from the team behind Saw is not the gore-heavy torture porn of their debut, it will surprise few to hear that it’s not exactly a subtle affair. On the contrary, Insidious provides such an onslaught of possessed children, creaking floorboards, screeching violin music, scary old women and demonic figures that the experience is akin to walking through a funfair’s haunted house. Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) have ...
  • 04.21.11
    HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER: Tense Russian anti-drama highlights the danger of all work and no play Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER Directed by Aleksai Popogrebsky. Starring Grigory Dobrygin, Sergei Puskepalis. 124 mins. Rating: Three/Five In cinemas April 22 Pavel (Grigory Dobrygin) and Sergei (Sergei Puskepalis) have been stationed at a meteorological station in the polar tundra for far too long. While veteran Sergei has mastered the art of survival in the barren landscape, approaching the monotonous work with diligent, routine care, it’s clear that his airheaded young partner can’t do the same. Easily distracted and quick to sulk when his co-worker scolds him, Pavel’s maturity is put to the test when Sergei leaves on a fishing trip. Receiving a message ...
  • 04.15.11
    The Lighthouse Cinema to be wound up. Blog Exclusives, Trade News | Comments Off
    My favourite cinema, & indeed one of my favourite spots in the city, is set to close following a wind-up order made by The High Court. This announcement comes after weeks of uncertainty after landlord John Flynn had threatened to close to cinema when it couldn't pay its annualrent, which had doubled in the past year. This article from RTE gives all the details surrounding the case: The High Court has made an order winding up the Light House Cinema in Smithfield. The petition to wind up the cinema was issued by its landlord, John Flynn following a dispute over rent. ...
  • 04.15.11
    A Knight with Danny McBride: Danny Boy comes to Dublin Blog Exclusives, Interviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    To celebrate the release of Your Highness, the new comedy from the director of Pineapple Express, star Danny McBride came to Dublin for a special screening & Q&A in Cineworld. And the affable star even joined us for a drink after the screening, proving that his character Thadeous isn't the only one who likes a laugh & a drink. The actor, best known for his roles in Pineapple Express, Eastbound & Down and Tropic Thunder, revealed that the idea for Your Highness had come up during a game with friend and director David Gordon Green. "David & I went to film ...
  • 04.15.11
    YOUR HIGHNESS: Bow down to the King of low-brow Blog Exclusives, Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    YOUR HIGHNESS Directed by David Gordon Green. Starring Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Justin Theroux. 102 mins. Rating: Three and a half/Five In cinemas April 13 Watching a film in a cinema full of film critics, most of whom are middle-aged intellectuals (or wannabe-pseudo-intellectuals) can be a somewhat odd experience. As general rule, most normal cinema behaviour like eating popcorn or trying to make out with people in the back row is frowned upon…or met with a restraining order. (Sorry about that, Critic Who Can Not be Named For Legal Reasons, obscure German documentaries just get me in the mood.) ...
  • 04.13.11
    IFI launches their film club, The Critical Take Blog Exclusives, Trade News | Comments Off
    The IFI launches its new monthly film club The Critical Take on April 27. This April the IFI is launching a brand new film discussion club that brings audiences together with critics, filmmakers and programmers to discuss new releases, seasons, and re-releases of classic films from the IFI programme. Each month three films to be discussed at The Critical Take will be selected and listed in the monthly programme. A panel of three (normally an IFI programmer, a filmmaker and a film critic) will kick things off followed by a very informal and open discussion with everyone present who’d like to ...
  • 04.10.11
    SNAP: A HARROWING FAMILY PORTRAIT Reviews, Trailers | Comments Off
    SNAP Directed by Carmel Winters. Starring Aisling O Sullivan, Stephen Moran, Eileen Walsh, Mick Lally. 86 mins. Rating: Four and a half/Five In cinemas April 8. From Snap’s opening shots, where sepia-tinted footage of a child’s birthday is accompanied by the eeriest rendition of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ ever heard, the atmosphere is thick with tension. It’s clear that some family secrets should be permanently erased from memory. Three years after teenager Stephen (Stephen Moran) kidnapped a toddler, a documentary film crew begin to interview his mother Sandra (Aisling O’Sullivan.) A caustic woman with a piercing stare, Sandra relishes her role as the media’s favourite ...