Fifty dead men walking

Another troubles movie this one is based on a true story about a tout who saved the lives of fifty men (hence the title). It starts off abroad where he gets shot (and survives) and then it's back to the late '80s in the North. It's never explained why he turned informer but the movie is stylish and there are lots of titles to explain who everyone is in the movie. More of an international picture than an Irish one (if that makes sense?) it's still worth a look as the story is interesting.

DENNIS HOPPER R.I.P.

Another sad death with Dennis Hopper passing away. His contribution to Irish cinema included filming Space Truckers here back in the '90s. He also played an Irish outlaw in the movie Mad Dog Morgan.

Night train

Middle-aged romance story set what looks like Ranelagh? Blethyn is the lonely unmarried woman living with mother. Then Hurt arrives as a lodger. He's on the run from Fair City criminals. There's a neighbour who dresses as a woman but he's a man. Then Hurt has a surprise set up in his bedroom! Another rare Irish movie from the '90s this one has good acting from the leads but the support cast are terrible. The story is slight and there's a silly subplot involving gangsters.

H3

Hunger-strike movie set in 1981. No way as good as Hunger but it's still a fine film. The prisoners decide to call off their protest but after being refused proper clothes they go on full hunger strike. The guards are all out of shape and stupid (as expected!) while the prisoners are mostly intelligent and good looking. There's a lot of Irish dialogue subtitled in English and the ending is powerful. Even the music on the soundtrack is not too obvious for a change in an Irish movie. Well worth a look though there's little tension or disagreement between the prisoners which makes for a few dull spots.

IRISH FILMS THAT NEEDED TWO DIRECTORS!

There have been a number of Irish feature films over the years that for some reason needed two credited directors. Don't know why and the quality didn't turn out twice as good as using just one!

Sugar

Probably the strangest feature film funded by the IFB. This is a Lynchian tale in black and white (of course!) about a woman in a suitcase. Naturally it's more than that but nothing else happens. It's set in one room and a new tenant tries to settle in. Yet another film made here by two directors. Other claustrophobic resident titles include Ailsa and Alarm but Sugar is a strange and unique Irish film that not many people have seen.

Trafficked

Shame that this gets a belated release as it's similar to several other later Irish titles (W.C., Kisses, Foxes). W.C. especially owes a lot to this film! A black woman moves to Ireland and ends up working as a hooker. Various shady Dublin characters exploit her. The handheld (and underlit) video camerawork is energetic and the city centre location is exploited fully. But the story doesn't add up to much and there are too many repeating scenes and establishing shots. Did we really need to see that Celtic Tiger mural several times? The main problem is that the film never gets out of first gear and it runs out of steam far too early.

YOU REALLY KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING AN IRISH MOVIE WHEN ...

May have seen a few newspaper articles about the clichés in Irish cinema. Here is Shoot the Cabbage's definitive(!) guide on how to spot an Irish movie.

Freeze frame

Strange one this. Partly funded by our own IFB and RTE this was made in Northern Ireland and post-produced here. Yet it seems to be more of a British movie? Kind of like 1984 it has a character under suspician and his every move gets recorded. Except he is doing all the recording. After being accused of murdering a family Evans becomes paranoid. There's a cop, a woman, and a writer after him. Like several other Irish movies the male character gets raped by a woman! Saw this in the cinema and it looked sh*t but on DVD it's actually quite impressive. A lot of what Evans believes is possible and though he goes through hell it's not that bad because he's funny! One scene looked like it was filmed yet again in Kilmainham jail?

SHOOT THE CABBAGE CELEBRATES 100 POSTS!

There may only be four followers but Shoot the Cabbage has now got one hundred posts. The world's leading web log on Irish cinema has continued despite the small interest. Seeking out obscure Irish movies to comment on; finding long-lost IFB titles that they should never have funded; passing comment on the offical version of Irish cinema; bringing note to lesser known Irish titles; pointing out how bad some celebrated Irish films really are; and stating the well-known fact that Kirsten Sheridan has little talent despite how respected she is in our 'industry'. Shoot the Cabbage is here to stay because someone has to give a realist's view on Irish cinema. Amen!

Film with me in it

This is another rubbish comedy from the IFB. A pair of mismatched guys slack it out in Dublin and accidentally kill people! As unfunny as it sounds it's even worse. Then there's a spoof of the Irish film industry at the end. This is the kind of rubbish that gives Irish cinema a bad name, unoriginal stuff that will appeal to people who've never seen Withnail and I. The kind of movie that sounds good but never is. It's just sh*te plain and simple. Grrrr.