Mrs Brown's boys d'movie

Based on the popular TV series this has Mrs Brown looking for an old receipt to help save her Moore St stall. She gets help from her family and blind ninjas! There's a new oriental character (also played by O'Carroll), a running gag about an Asian man, the Russian mafia, a court case, and Cathy has a new job. This is just average and certainly not as funny as the similar features of TV comedies from the 1970s (On the buses, Likely lads, Steptoe and son). The opening sky shots of Dublin were done better in Pete's meteor. If they were going to make a feature film then they'd shouldn't have used a TV director! Unwritten rule, if everyone had a good time making a movie then it will be a bad one!

Title: Brendan O'Carroll's Mrs Brown's boys d'movie
Genre: Comedy
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema

Elliot & me

Strange there's a recent Hollywood movie about a dog called Marley and me and now there's an Irish movie about a dog with a similar title! Short feature, just under an hour this effort is about a Dublin girl who buys her own pet, has it stolen, and tries to find it. She makes a report to the Garda yet when she discovers who stole the dog decides to get it back all on her own? The supporting cast are good and the cinematography is well done. But the little girl can't act and that dog is no Benji or Yeller! Not a lot to recommend, typical Irish movie, unoriginal and says nothing. The whole movie gets ruined by using too much piano and guitar on the soundtrack. However, unlike most films made here it has a target audience, young people!

Title: Elliot and me
Genre: Kids
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: DVD

Snakes and ladders

One of dozens of lost Irish movies from the 1990s this effort is a romantic comedy about two 30-something women who get involved with the same man (comedian Sean Hughes). It's dialogue heavy and rather bland though some scenes will wake you up! Joe Dolan appears in a great scene (similar to No surrender) and Rosaleen Linehan steals every scene she's in. Similar in tone to the later About Adam it uses location as a romantic setting and there are lots of great shots of this great city (though many locations are of course gone now). There's even some full-frontal nudity, a concert from Pierce Turner, and a clubbing scene. It's a good snapshot of mid-1990's Dublin with various characters (who've probably since emigrated!) and streets. The movie itself is dull enough but the accents and dialogue are good.

Title: Snakes and ladders
Genre: Romantic comedy
New/old: Old
Cinema/DVD: Cinema

Food guide to love

It's back to the Celtic Tiger era with expensive apartments, blogs, cafés, attractive women, tennis, and lots of nice people! Everyone here looks clean and inoffensive. It's about a food critic who falls for a Spanish lady. Very bland but still enjoyable. Dublin looks great here and the two leads are good. The story is slight (we're supposed to care that she turns vegetarian!) and there's a good contrast between the writer's sophisticated lifestyle and his old-fashioned parents. There's a running gag about coddle and Simon Delaney plays the same role he did in This must be the place. Looks out of place in current Irish cinema but it's a surprisingly good effort. One of the better Irish releases from this year.

Title: Food guide to love
Genre: Romantic comedy
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema

Jimmy's hall

Low-key but impressive movie about a man in 1930's Leitrim who starts a gathering. They learn dancing, jazz, cookery, and other pursuits. The church, state, and local IRA get involved and divisions in the area happen. Names get read at mass and fights break out. This movie is like dozens of rural Irish movies set in the middle of the 20th century except it actually has something to say. What it says is that certain people don't belong in conservative Ireland regardless of their talents. Also impressive was the lack of any photogenic actors! Of course, now the pendulum has turned and everyone's welcome here! There is little comedy in the movie and some of the characters spout left-wing stuff non-stop! It's strange they all seem to have the same political views? Not Loach's best work but compared to other recent movies made here like the derivative Frank and the cookie-cutter Run & jump it's a minor masterpiece!

Title: Jimmy's hall
Genre: Social realism
New/old: New
Cinema/DVD: Cinema