Stag

Like a cross between Zonad and Speed dating this is awful! A bunch of polite wimps go on a pre-marriage trip up the mountains and nothing happens. It's not funny, the characters are jerks, and it's too predictable. Even worse they make a big fuss about Ireland. This is a comedy made by all the 'right people' and it shows. Extremely bland and badly put together. For example there's a scene at the start where Huberman enters a lecture hall to talk with the lecturer and you just know that this lecture will end after a few seconds. Another early scene has the official wedding planner appear startled because the groom knows more about the layout than she does. That is reverse sexism, she realises that he's better than her at the job so she makes a derogatory remark to him. Then there's the part where The Machine says that Gleeson will cry to a U2 song and guess what happens later in the movie? It's like a derivative of a recent Hollywood formula movie with Irish accents. The only good part to this movie was talented actor Scott!

Title: The stag
Genre: Comedy
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema

OBSCURE WESTERN!

There's a good but little-known Western from the early 1970s called Great Northfield Minnesota raid. In one scene they rob a bank but what was unusual was a sign in the bank saying 'Royal Bank of Ireland Dublin'. Not sure what that was about but worth a mention!

Stalker

First Irish movie released this year (in Dublin anyway) and this one is another along the lines of Charlie Casanova. A homeless guy meets a younger man, gets involved with his friends and extended family, and then violence erupts! Part awful and part impressive - the acting is terrible and lots of scenes are unintentionally funny. There was one scene in Ranelagh where they head off to the cinema and I thought they were going the wrong way to Rathmines. Then they said they weren't going there but to the IFI! Lots of classical music on the soundtrack - a previous post on this blog complained about the lack this in Irish movies! The characters are all bad caricatures and the dialogue is silly. The violence and cruelty veers into bad comedy. But at least this movie has energy, passion, and unpredictability! They are three qualities missing in most recent Irish releases.

Title: Stalker
Genre: FIS
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema

Courier

Twenty years before Savage here's another Dublin vigilante movie! A motor biker gets fed up seeing his friends die of drugs and goes after the main dealer. Stylish thriller except it's neither! Loved the scene with the movie poster on an office wall: a talented director would use one of Citizen Kane or some cult movie but these directors used a poster of the infamous turkey Howard the duck! That just about says all you need to know. Everyone argues in this movie and it gets tiresome. Most of it makes no sense: a guy sings in a street but there's no hat on the ground for people to throw him money; where did the main guy get that gun or rather how did he know it was there?; who was that girl shot by Bergin's character; why did the main guy give away his house?; and why is everyone acting in a different movie to each other? One good part was the use of proper rock bands on the soundtrack instead of the lame indie groups you hear in most recent Irish movies.

Title: The courier
Genre: Thriller
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: Online

FILM IRELAND 2003!

Scanned (read) the issues from that year and here are some interesting points and quotes:

'Male, pale, and stale' - description of the dominance of white men in cinema!

'Why the fu-k make films which even people in Ireland don't want to go and see. TV movies made on 35mm. - disgruntled script editor

'My view is that of the 100 films there are about 12-15 that are completely achieved' - former Film Board chairman

A respectful and emotive film for a character of strength and tenacity Veronica Guerin is a worthy piece of cinema made with clarity and restraint that deserves every success that comes its way. Essential viewing. - review

FILM IRELAND BACK ISSUES!

Took a wrong turn in my old college library and found a shelf full of Film Ireland magazines going back the last TEN YEARS! Will post anything of interest over the next few months!

REVIEWED SO FAR!

1950/60s
A love divided
Ballroom of Romance
Broken harvest
Country
Evelyn
How Harry became a tree
Korea
Lonely passion of Judith Hearne
My left foot
Stella days
The boys and girl from County Clare
This is my father
Widows' peak

ACTION
Eliminator
Fistful of dynamite
Haywire
The medallion
Viva Maria!

ADVENTURE
Captain Blood
Ek tha tiger
King Solomon's mines
Private lives of Elizabeth and Essex

COMEDY
Adam and Paul
Another shore
Closer you get
Come on Eileen
Dead long enough
Death to Smoochy
Everlasting piece
Film with me in it
Guard
Happy ever after
Happy ever afters
Headrush
High spirits
Holy water
How to cheat in the Leaving Certificate
Irish jam
Kiss for Jed
Laws of attraction
Life's a breeze
Most fertile man in Ireland
Mystics
Naked truth
Oh, Mr Porter!
On the nose
Puckoon
Quackser Fortune has a cousin in the Bronx
Rat
Shamrocracy
Spin the bottle
The actors
The snapper
The Van
W.C.
Waking Ned
When Brendan met Trudy
Wide open spaces
Wild about Harry
Zemanovaload
Zonad

DISASTER
Night to remember

DRAMA
32A
8.5 Hours
Agnes Browne
Ailsa
Alarm
Albert Nobbs
All good children
Angela's ashes
Barry Lyndon
Black Irish
Blind flight
Bloom
Boston kickout
Breakfast on Pluto
Brothers McMullen
Brylcreem boys
Butcher boy
Charlie Casanova
Cherrybomb
Circle of friends
Conspiracy of silence
Da
Dancing at Lughnasa
Death of a superhero
Disco pigs
Dollhouse
Driftwood
Eamon
Eat the peach
Eden
Exposure
Flick
Freeze frame
Garage
Gingerbread men
Guiltrip
Halo effect
How about you
Hush-a-bye baby
Inside I'm dancing
Intermission
Jump
Juno and the paycock
Liam
Love and rage
Maeve
Magdalene sisters
Man of no importance
Night boat to Dublin
Nora
November afternoon
On the edge
Ondine
Other side of sleep
Our wonderful home
Parked
Pete's meteor
Philomena
Pigs
Portrait of the artist as a young man
Puffball
Quare fellow
Reefer and the model
Relative strangers
Saltwater
Savage
Seaside stories
Sensation
Shell shock
Snap
Song for a raggy boy
Stolen summer
Sugar
Swansong
The dead
The fading light
The field
Tiger's tail
Trafficked
Tree keeper
Turning green
Ulterior
What Richard did
White Irish drinkers
Wild Decembers
With or without you
Words upon the window pane

EMIGRATION
2 by 4
Anner House
Beyond the Pale
Claire Dolan
Clash of the ash
Daughter of darkness
Dreaming for you
Far and away
Felicia's Journey
Gold in the streets
I could read the sky
I was happy here
Kings
Luck of Ginger Coffey
Molly Maguires
Opportunists
Philadelphia here I come
River queen

FAMILY
Boy from Mercury
Flight of the doves
Into the West
Last leprechaun
Magical legend of the leprechauns
Mickybo & me
Mighty Celt
Race
Runway
Secret of Roan Inish
Shine of rainbows
War of the buttons

FAMINE
Under the hawthorn tree

GANGSTER
Ash Wednesday
Between the canals
Boondock Saints 2
Gobshite
I went down
In Bruges
Irish eyes
Kill the Irishman
Long Good Friday
One eyed king
Ordinary decent criminal
Perrier's bounty
State of grace
Sunset Heights
The courier
The general
Town
Undercurrent
Veronica Guerin
When the sky falls

HORROR
Assault Of Darkness
Boy eats girl
Daisy chain
Dead bodies
Dead Meat
Dementia 13
Dorothy Mills
Eclipse
Eternal
Grabbers
Halloween 3 season of the witch
Hidden
In fear
Isolation
Leprechaun 2
Leprechaun 3
Leprechaun
Leprechaun in the hood
Outcast
Rawhead Rex
Leprechaun's revenge
She creature
Shrooms
Stitches
Wake Wood
Winter's end

IRA
Anton
Belfast story
Blown away
Borstal boy
Crying game
Devil's own
Fifty dead men walking
Fools of fortune
Gentle gunman
H3
Hunger
Informer
IRA informant
Irish destiny
Johnny was
Last September
Michael Collins
Omagh
Patriot games
Patriots
Prayer for the dying
Riot
Shadow dancer
Shake hands with the devil
Shergar
Silent grace
The boxer
Violent enemy
Wind that shakes the barley

MUSIC
Apollo Music Club
Commitments
Good vibrations
Hear my song
Last bus home
Once
Riders to the sea
Small engine repair
Steamin' and dreamin' the Grandmaster Cash story
Vox humana
When Harvey met Bob

PROTESTANTS
December bride

RELIGION
Black narcissus
Catholics
Middletown
Scarlet and the black

ROAD
Accelerator
Black ice
Book that wrote itself
Craic
Crooked mile
Crushproof
Disappearance of Finbar
Hard shoulder
Hardy Bucks movie
Joyriders
Kisses
Lilac bus
Man about dog
Molly's way
My brothers
Round Ireland with a fridge
Spaghetti slow
This must be the place
Where the sea used to be

ROMANCE
Abduction club
About Adam
Honeymooners
Last of the high kings
Leap year
Mad about mambo
Matchmaker
Moondance
Nephew
Night train
O'Briens
Only the lonely
P.S. I love you
Pier
Ryan's daughter
Situations vacant
Tara Road
Tristan and Isolde
Trouble With Sex
Watermelon

SCIFI
Chaos
Earthbound
Leprechaun 4 in space
One hundred mornings
Summer of the flying saucer

SOCIAL REALIST
Foxes
Helen
Man of Aran
Pilgrim Hill
Poitín
Week in the life of Martin Cluxton

SPORT
Best
Gentleman Jim
Strength and honour
Studs

THRILLER
Cry of the innocent
Fantasist
Front line
Hard way
MacKintosh man
Rewind
Taffin

TROUBLES
48 angels
Angel
Bloody Sunday
Bogwoman
Cal
Closing the ring
Divorcing Jack
Five minutes of heaven
Four days in July
Harry's game
Hidden agenda
Nothing personal
Resurrection man
Sunday
You, me and Marley

TRAVELLERS
King of the travellers
No resting place
Traveller
Traveller 2
Travellers
Trojan Eddie

Leprechaun's revenge

Daft film about a killer little monster in the States. Based on Irish folklore, it's about a woman whose father is the local cop and granddad is the local bar character. The main action revolves around a St Patrick's Day Parade and while some of the violence is shocking it's too brief. Has the look and feel of a high-numbered Friday 13th sequel! Lots of references to Ireland from the local pub and history behind the legends but this is a slow-moving TV movie that is nothing special. They use four horseshoes against the little creature.

Title: Leprechaun's revenge
Genre: Horror
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: DVD

Dreaming for you

Another movie about an Irish emigrant to New York. This one is about a messed up actor who gets mugged. Then he meets a guy who helps him and tries to get an agent. Or does he? Not sure what to make of this? It's done in wide-screen, black and white digital video, with music throughout the movie, the characters are horrible people, there's no explanation on what happened to the main guy, and there are only a few references to Ireland. It's not terrible but looks like a vanity project for the main actor who also directs. Still, more interesting than Gold in the streets!

Title: Dreaming for you
Genre: Emigration
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: Online

Apollo Music Club

Another music movie set in Dublin. This one is about students on a preparation course for entry into the music colleges. Everyone is the same age so it gets confusing, there are lots of good but unsuitable reggae music on the soundtrack, and the sound and lighting quality is awful. The movie is well paced and the acting is good. It's about the various relationships that develop between the students. Some of it is very funny particularly when the girls become uncomfortable when a male student bring home his girlfriend. But it's bland, boring, and could do with better editing.

Title: Apollo Music Club
Genre: Music
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: Online

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