It is high time for a re-appraisal of Sinéad O’Connor. Now best remembered with a tinge of distaste for tearing up a picture of the Pope on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992, the singer is the focus of Kathryn Ferguson’s documentary, NOTHING COMPARES. Centering on O’Connor’s precipitous rise to stardom at barely 21 to the… Read More »
FINDING YOU
FINDING YOU is the quintessence of YA fiction brought to cinematic life. In it, our ordinary, yet winsome heroine, Finley Sinclair (Rose Reid) is pursued by a famous movie star, is the only hope of settling a decades-long family feud, and puts all the snooty girls in her orbit in their respective places. All while… Read More »
THE BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL
There is an air of Celtic melancholy running through the, ahem, deadpan humor of THE BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL. That touch elevates the, further ahem, stakes in this horror comedy that takes a few swipes at fraught family relationships, a sinking economy, and Bram Stoker’s relevance when a real vampire resurfaces. The supernatural is almost… Read More »
WILD MOUNTAIN THYME
John Patrick Shanley’s WILD MOUNTAIN THYME, based on his play Outside Mulligan, is a charmer of an Irish muddle. Committed in its gentle eccentricity, it essays to find the mythic in the quotidien and darn near pulls it off. At least sly humor abounds as the determined Rosemary (Emily Blunt) pines for Anthony (Jamie Dornan)… Read More »
MAZE
There is a distinct strain of melancholy nihilism throughout Stephen Burke’s MAZE. Based on the 1983 prison break by 38 inmates of the eponymous maximum security prison in Norther Ireland, it mixes the suspense of plotting an escape dependant upon split-second timing from an inescapable prison with the psychological games the prisoners play with the… Read More »
PILGRIMAGE
PILGRIMAGE tells a dour tale of faith and fanaticism. Set in 13th-century Ireland, it blends mysticism with realpolitik in a time and place so distant from ours that a subtext of imperialism might be almost too subtle, while the vicious commonplaces of summary justice, revenge, and casual violence are all too vivid A prologue set… Read More »
Welcome to JIMMY’S HALL
Ken Loach has never been a filmmaker to shy away from politics. In fact, a case could be made that the reason he makes films is to explore politics, the which he has done with such strident films as BREAD AND ROSES (union organizing in contemporary Los Angeles) and LAND AND FREEDOM (the Spanish Civil… Read More »
SONG OF THE SEA is Beautiful Harmony
SONG OF THE SEA reminds us of the power of simplicity in storytelling and in animation. Hand-drawn and steeped in Irish folklore, it is a profoundly moving experience rife with charm, wisdom, and beauty. Told from a child’s perspective, the magical and the mundane coalesce in perfect harmony, revealing the one in the other in… Read More »
Ivan Cooper Relives BLOODY SUNDAY
Ivan Cooper was a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, where he was a founding member of the SDLP. His was a commitment to non-violence, and the march he was leading on January 30, 1972, was planned as a peaceful protest against the British government’s draconian internment policy that could lock someone up indefinitely and… Read More »
John McDonagh Hires THE GUARD
John McDonagh garnered acclaim for his screenplay, NED KELLY, but didn’t like the way it was translated to the big screen. The experience gave him the perfect impetus to come up with a screenplay that he could direct himself. Conceived as a low-budget project that would allow him the artistic freedom he craved, THE GUARD… Read More »