Night to remember

The best Titanic movie! This one has a few early scenes set in Ireland and also follows a group of Irish emigrants who are stuck in 3rd class. They aren't allowed up on deck so try to escape. There's a dance scene where they sing about moving to Philadelphia and leaving Tipperary. The rest of the movie is impressive though the ship hits the iceberg after twenty minutes! It gets annoying seeing the cast wait their turn for the camera to reach them to speak a line. You can see too many influences here on the Cameron version.

Title: A night to remember
Genre: Disaster
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: DVD

In fear

Strange that the average Citadel received so much hype yet this superior horror movie crawls into our cinemas unnoticed? A pair of tourists drive off the beaten path, get lost, pick up a local man, and scary things happen. Good atmosphere, well-made, and has its moments. Best scene was when she opens the cat boot for the last time. It gets annoying when the guy's name gets said too many times though. Slow-moving and easily predictable it's still an impressive effort using only three actors. This is the kind of movie that won't be on the IFTA's nominations list next year but is better than most of the recent Irish-themed features.

Title: In fear
Genre: Horror
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema

O'Briens

One of the better non-IFB digital features. Using the standard Hollywood blueprint of the family gathering a group of grown-up siblings arrive back in Galway to dad Tommy O'Neill's special news. One guy has a secret, another gets involved with two women, while the sister doesn't want another baby. Full of pretty but mismatched faces and dislikeable characters the movie impresses because it gets you to eventually like these people. The expected piano and indie bands on the soundtrack but this time it works! Not too many Irish movies show a Gaelic football match? Also good was the party in the local bar. However, some terrible camerawork where the backlight button gets permanently switched off? I wouldn't push that Kellie Blaise out of bed! Not heard much about this movie from the media but it's out on DVD.

Title: The O'Briens
Genre: Light drama
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: DVD

Philomena

The best Irish-themed movie this year! It's about a woman who attempts to track down her lost son. What really stands out is the script: it's a mismatched buddy movie, an exposé of 1950's Ireland, problems with the Catholic faith, a condemnation of President Reagan's AIDs policy, a mystery story, and a road movie. So it works on many levels. Some of the dead ends get tedious but there are some great scenes including the one where Coogan finds the missing son online and the many home-movie clips of him. However, there are too many stops and starts in the plot and the arguments over publishing the story get tedious.

Title: Philomena
Genre: Dark drama
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema