Thursday 30 June 2011

SETANTA IRELAND IRISH MOVIE SEASON!

Fair play to TV channel Setanta for having an Irish movie season. So what's in store? The extremely rare Last bus home, Night train (also hard to see), H3, the more recent Puffball, and the long forgotten Mapmaker. These are all Irish films, not Hollywood productions so check these titles out next month!

Wednesday 29 June 2011

MOST POPULAR POSTS!

NEW IRISH FILM BOARD CEO?
CAROLINE MORAHAN!
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TEN MOST UNDERRATED IRISH MOVIES
TEN GOOD NON-IRISH FILMS FROM IRISH DIRECTORS!
SHOOT THE CABBAGE CELEBRATES 200 POSTS!
TEN THINGS TO LOVE ABOUT IRISH CINEMA!
TEN REASONS WHY KOREA IS THE BEST IRISH MOVIE OF T...
LIST OF IRA MOVIES!
TEN THINGS TO HATE ABOUT IRISH CINEMA!

Tuesday 28 June 2011

CHEERS MOLDOVA!

Another far-away country has accessed Shoot the Cabbage. So welcome and cheers Moldova!

Monday 27 June 2011

BOLLYWOOD FILM FOR IRELAND!

According to today's Irish sun newspaper the world's biggest film industry are shooting a new movie in Dublin this summer. Can't wait to see this one when it's completed. Will be great seeing people singing and dancing across the square in TCD!

Sunday 26 June 2011

BLOOD SWEAT AND WARS CANCELLED!

Yet another Irish movie has finished uncompleted. According to today's Sunday world newspaper this traveller movie follows in the footsteps of other titles such as Divine rapture and Sparrows trap. Looked good too, shame.

Saturday 25 June 2011

CHEERS PHILIPPINES!

No idea why all these far away countries are reading this blog? Maybe it's the same person travelling the world? Anyway, cheers Philippines!

Friday 24 June 2011

WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR

Another forgotten Irish director from the silent era. Born in Carlow he moved to America and then on to Hollywood. Starting as an actor he progressed to directing and became successful. Then he was murdered. It wasn't until the 1960s when legendary director King Vidor (Stella Dallas, Fountainhead, Ruby Gentry) uncovered the facts and a young actress was blamed for the killing. There were so many suspects that it was first thought it was another actress. The story was turned into a screenplay and then a book came out in the '70s. Taylor's death was one of the reasons that Hollywood in the silent era had to introduce a code of conduct to clean up the movie business. Also, Taylor was the inspiration for the name of the Norma Desmond character in the classic movie Sunset Boulevard.

Thursday 23 June 2011

Wednesday 22 June 2011

OS VIEWS FOR SHOOT THE CABBAGE!

Pageviews by Operating Systems
Windows 58%
Macintosh 27%
iPhone 10%
Linux 2%
Android 1%
Playstation 3 <1%

Tuesday 21 June 2011

PS3!

Good to see people accessing this blog using a Playstation 3!

Sunday 19 June 2011

MICHAEL HIGGINS FOR PRESIDENT?

Seems the man who set up the Film Board (Mark 2) has been selected to go for the Presidental election as the Labour candidate. Always thought his role in reestablishing the Irish Film Industry was overstated?

Saturday 18 June 2011

CHEERS THAILAND!

Even another Asian country has accessed this blog recently so cheers Thailand!

Friday 17 June 2011

CHEERS CAMBODIA!

Yet another far-away country has accessed Shoot the Cabbage this week so cheers Cambodia!

Thursday 16 June 2011

Wednesday 15 June 2011

COMEDIES THAT MAKE YOU CRY, DRAMAS THAT MAKE YOU LAUGH PART 2!

Right, so what is Irish cinema doing wrong with 'mainstream' films? By mainstream we mean commercial and genre-driven stuff. There are a number of reason our mainstream films are so bad. They don't make money, get mixed reviews, and the director ends up working in television. The main reason (and it's been said by other people) is that there is a lack of 'personalisation' in these films. They are copies of foreign productions. We've seen these titles many times over: from Headrush to Wide open spaces to The runway. Complete sh*t films that don't make money and are quickly forgotten. So instead of this rubbish why not have mainstream films made by auteur-type directors? Why not have a horror, black comedy, or film noir made by a personal director instead of a jobbing one? More films like In Bruges perhaps? Or a new director along the lines of Abel Ferrara or John Waters? Working in the commercial sector but with a strong style of their own? The wait continues!

Tuesday 14 June 2011

WHY DE VALERA'S IRELAND WOULD HAVE PRODUCED BETTER CINEMA!

That's some statement! De Valera's Ireland of an insular and conservative society would have produced better cinema than today's 'masterpieces' such as The Runway? Easy. There's too much openness to world cinema now with the internet and media. Back in De Valera's Ireland there was little awareness of the bigger world. So Irish films (if made regularly back then) would not have been influenced by another country's cinema. Imagine that? Imagine a small group of filmmakers making conservative and religious films that were different to what's made abroad? Imagine the discoveries that other countries could have made at the international festivals with Irish cinema. Cinema made with little influence from outside forces? What a shame this didn't happen as now we have to put up with blueprinted and original sh*te such as The runway!

Monday 13 June 2011

COMEDIES THAT MAKE YOU CRY, DRAMAS THAT MAKE YOU LAUGH!

Good but predictable article in yesterday's Sunday Times - Culture section newpaper. It slated Irish Cinema so nothing new there. Embarrassing maybe? Even Kirsten Sheridan got a mention! The problem seems to be that mainstream Irish cinema is a joke! Sure, some stuff at the edge is doing well such as documentaries, arthouse, and animation. But the rest is sh*te. The article notes that no new Irish director has replaced Neil Jordan or Jim Sheridan in terms of making an international impact. This is true. What else? The success of Once was due to the distributors (just as the Crying game was a success back in the '90s). All in all another embarrassment for the Irish FIlm 'industry' but this stuff has been discussed before. So what's the solution? All will be revealed tomorrow!

Sunday 12 June 2011

Runway


Well that was sh*t. Getting mixed reviews in the press but Shoot the cabbage will give this movie an honest review. It was terrible! After an impressive March it's back to normal for Irish cinema. As in Summer of the flying saucer 'normal'. A pair of kids who can't act, lots of locals, a bit of whimsey, Tourist Board cinematography, a high-concept story of a plane getting stranded and they build a runway, a silly crime sub-plot, lots of scenes that fall flat (and are not as funny as they think), a stupid and predictable romantic subplot between one of the kid's single mother and the pilot, and a confusing ending. This is just sh*t. Yet another award-winning Irish filmmaker of shorts 'progressing' to a clichéd and routine feature. Why didn't they use music from 1983 where the movie was set? The song over the end credits didn't get released until the end of that decade!

Saturday 11 June 2011

WELL DONE THE GUARD!

For getting a featured article in this month's Total Film magazine (issue 182).

Friday 10 June 2011

CHEERS ROMANIA!

Seems the latest country to read Shoot the Cabbage is Romania so cheers!

Thursday 9 June 2011

FILM BORED LOOKING FOR NEW APPOINTMENTS?

Seems the cronyism and self-funding in our Film Board may soon be over as the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht plan to 'widen the pool of suitable candidates for consideration'. So that's bad news for the current 'esteemed' IFB members such as Kirsten Sheridan and Tristan Lynch who have done so well in putting Irish cinema on the world map! About bleedin' time too. However, 'The Minister will not be restricted to considering only those who have responded to this invitation'. What does that mean? You can apply for this job offer but they may give it to someone else who didn't apply? Maybe giving a job on the IFB to a Fine Gael Minister's daughter who has recently completed a course at the 'prestigious' Irish Film Academy? Shoot the Cabbage would like to apply for the job of Irish Film REGULATOR!

Wednesday 8 June 2011

WILL HC2 GET BANNED HERE?

The Irish Film Censor bans few films these days. So it will be interesting to see if the horror sequel Human Centipede 2 will get banned here like in Britain? The last horror banned here was the DVD release of I spit on your grave.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

CHEERS COSTA RICA!

Yep, another far-away country has accessed the world's best Irish Film blog. So cheers Costa Rica!

Monday 6 June 2011

ONCE THE MUSICAL?

Seems the Irish film Once has been turned into a stage musical in New York. Impressive stuff and best of luck to it.

Saturday 4 June 2011

THE RUNWAY OUT NEXT WEEK!

Next Irish movie due is The Runway based on a true story from the '80s. As usual with Irish film it's getting a lot of hype!

Friday 3 June 2011

Thursday 2 June 2011

CHEERS COLOMBIA!

Someone from the South American country has read this blog recently so cheers Colombia!

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Master of the world

Dated movie from the 1960s with Vincent Price trying to stop wars around the world. He uses an airship to attack from the sky. A group of ...