REDUX REMADE?

Now here's an interesting fact: the Catalyst film Rewind (Redux) is similar to the director's earlier short Deep breaths. Same cast, same characters, same woodland setting, same slow car chase, and same storyline. That's two of the three cataylst films that appear to have been expanded from short films. Was the Catalyst scheme really set up for this?

DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS EITHER!

But people in Russia have accessed this blog more times than people from Britain. Quite strange?

TRAPPED DVD!

XtraVision is selling the awful Anton under its new title Trapped! The first name was better but for some reason it's been given a second release? Is this the first time an Irish movie has received two separate releases under different titles?

IRISH HORROR MOVIES ARE LIKE THAT WICKER MAN REMAKE!

Finally got round to watching the remake of The wicker man. Wasn't as awful as expected but did notice its similarities with most horror films made in this country. For instance the director hadn't worked in this genre before. There was too much emphasis on the scenery. Also, it was too script-based and concerned with telling the story. Just like in most Irish horror films. When the horror parts arrived they were given the same treatment as the quieter scenes. They were too brief because it was time to get back to the story. Compared with the original there was a lack of the 'lingering gaze' where the camera focused on the horror scenes longer than the other ones. There was no observant camerwork that might unsettle the viewer. It's the same with Irish horror films with their routine direction, obsession with technical ability, and emphasis on story telling rather than shocking the viewer.

NEW BEHAN MOVIE!

The guy only wrote two full-length plays but there will be another Brendan Behan movie. After Quare fellow and Borstal boy this new one will be directed by Lance Daly. It details the writer's wild years in France and like too many Irish movies it's getting compared with Withnail and I. So that's this movie ruined already as it won't be as good!

ANOTHER JOE DUFFY SHOW!

Where some guy slates Irish theatre for not reflecting the current economy at this year's Fringe Festival. So no guessing what I'll say next! It's the exact same with our cinema. Tools making rubbish horror films while a generation emigrate or live in negative equity. People distanced from reality or too trained to bother making social realism. People making technical crap and hoping to win awards while ignoring the real stories that don't need to be adapted from novels or plays. People standing on stage at the IFTAs wearing a tux and smirking because they play into the system without challenging it. Twenty years from now when others look back on this recession and try and see what stories our filmmakers were telling they will piss themselves laughing how out of touch our film 'artists' were.

STRANGE MAN WITH DOG

There's a strange man in Dublin who walks around with a dog. His name is David McDermott and is a famous American artist. However, he's also known for appearing in several No Wave films in the 1970s. These are the low-budget films that gave directors Jim Jarmusch and Susan Seidelman their start. Bizarre seeing this guy walking around Dublin over thirty years later!

WHERE ARE THE BLACK IRISH DIRECTORS?

Not the movie Black Irish but rather the African-Irish living here. Been reading a book called Black directors in Hollywood about the low-budget stuff directed there by African-Americans and it might be a good idea to have something similar in Ireland? What I liked about the book are the stories of how several filmmakers made their features with little financial assistance or training leading to more personal work. It would certainly be a welcome break from the middle-class, white, 'Official Ireland' style of filmmaking. A film by an African-Irish director would stand out from the usual stuff made here and would be more interesting. Many festivals around the world would select this kind of movie? Would be a good selling point too. Probably another twenty years away but it will happen eventually.

TAYLORFEST!

Good that Carlow are recognising one of their own. Along with Katie we have another great Taylor. William Desmond Taylor (who has been mentioned on this blog several times) now has his own festival. This silent director is one of Ireland's greats and has made more impact on cinema than Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan, and our current crop of Film Board sycophants. They are screening some of his films this month and it's great that he's getting recognised at last. Hope Herbert Brenon is next?

MORE CHARLIE!

Today's Evening herald newpaper is still going on about Charlie Casasnova! Here are some quotes:
 The worst Irish movie of recent times ... is back in the news, having picked up yet more awards at a 'prestigious' film festival.

...as is usual with this turkey that will not die, all is not what it seems ...
Then the article says that the judges of the festival which gave CC another award must be mad!

MAMET IS RIGHT!

Been reading a book of interviews with the famous playwright and on one page he says:

Right, I'm going to say something heretical. My experience has been that literal actual art flourishes better without government support. On the other hand, having come up the hard way as everybody does in show business, it would be nice to see if some people could be helped. I'm torn between wanting to see them helped and wondering if the government's subsidising - even a little - this fellow's performance art. Well, I object to a lot of the pablum that gets grant money. I think people who get that money would be better left to their own devices and eventually to lapse back into the real estate business.

In Ireland we have the Film Board funding rubbish made by rubbish filmmakers. People who can't do anything without pre-production 'loans', script editors, and doing everything 'right'. People who think they've got talent because they got a stupid IFTA nomination. The true film artists are the ones making stuff by themselves, the outsiders, scraping by, and not needing permission to do things. Sadly in short supply in this country.