Film & DVD
The White Stripes – Under Great Northern Lights
Emmett Malloy proffers a beguiling glimpse into the machinations of the ever-enigmatic, blues-inflected figureheads of the garage rock revival with Under Great White Northern Lights, a rock documentary that charts the White Stripes’ tour across Canada in the summer of 2007. Stopping in every territorial province and finishing with a tenth anniversary show in…
Twilight: New Moon
The reddened interior of the Savoy cinema is a broth of hormones and anticipation as a few hundred school girls squeal piercingly as the curtains roll back for the preview screening of New Moon, the Twilight sequel. Security has been tight. All mobile phones and iPods have been confiscated on arrival and sealed in…
All Tomorrow’s Parties: The Film
Originally inspired by the Bowlie Weekender with Belle and Sebastian in 1999, All Tomorrow’s Parties has turned into something of a global phenomenon – albeit in a cult-ish sort of way, an experience like no other, and now an experience that has made it on to the silver screen with ATP: The Film. Those…
The Men Who Stare At Goats
On paper, The Men Who Stare At Goats is a wonderful film concept, with potential in the mystification and bemusement departments on offer. So what has gone wrong with director Grant Heslov’s adaptation of Jon Ronson’s 2004 book of the same name? It’s hard to put your finger on it because what you are…
Frozen River
Christmas is fast approaching in Massena, a small township on the border between New York State and Canada where tattoos, trailer-parks and thrift stores are the order of the day, and Ray Eddy (Melissa Leo) is in trouble. When her gambling addict husband disappears with all the money they’ve saved to pay for their…
Girls Aloud – Out Of Control: Live From The 02
The perceived wisdom on pop music is that it’s easy, simply a question of placing slot A into slot B, finding some pretty boys or girls to front it (never mix the sexes), bung a load of cash at them and watch the teenagers, tweenies and youngsters roll on up to purchase their downloads,…
Le Donk and Scor Zay Zee review/ticket giveaway
In a departure from the rough-edged kitchen-sinkery of This Is England and Somers Town, Shane Meadows shoots and scores in the mockumentary genre with this silly but soft-centred rock biz spoof. Paddy Considine (the name may not ring an immediate bell, but the face certainly will) is the swaggering Le Donk, the kind of…
Chéri
Based on the novel by celebrated French writer Colette (1873-1954), Chéri sees director Stephen Frears back to the costume drama genre which cemented his reputation with 1988’s Dangerous Liaisons. He’s also back in France, this time during La Belle Epoque at the end of the 19th century, when courtesans were the celebrities du jour.…
The Inner Life Of Martin Frost
The eponymous Frost (David Thewlis) is a novelist, worn out after three years of working on his latest book, who foregoes New York for the countryside, taking up residence in his friends’ empty country house to “live the life of a stone”. However, no sooner has he downed tools than our hero is inspired…
Interview with Liam Clancy and Alan Gilsenan
The Yellow Bittern, Alan Gilsenan’s biopic of Liam Clancy is a rather surprising illustration of 20th century counter-culture, meandering as it does from 1930s Ireland to the folk hey-day of 1960s Greenwich Village, New York and up to the present day. State recently chatted to Liam Clancy and filmmaker Alan Gilsenan about the film…
Waveriders
It’s not difficult to see why Joel Conroy’s at times disjointed surfing documentary has won so many fans in the last year. The shots of surfers making light of four-storey high waves in the shadow of the Cliffs of Moher and elsewhere provides jaw dropping entertainment, while the protagonists are a great mix of…
Broken Embraces
Few film makers operating today can better Pedro Almodóvar. Sleek and richly creative, rarely does the Spaniard fail to deliver. His latest is no exception. Enjoyable and engaging, Broken Embraces is another fine work from one of cinema’s most exceptional of film-makers. Stylistically rich and multifaceted, Almodóvar’s latest nods to Hitchcock; 40s noir dramas…
Coco Before Chanel
Considering the well-trodden choice of those heading down the biopic route is to smooth out the rough edges of the main subject, it’s a testament to director Anne Fontaine’s faith in Audrey Tatou’s innate likeability that she allows her to portray Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel as a generally moody, often unsympathetic loner in this beautifully…
Interview with David OReilly, U2 video director & animator
David OReilly is a young Irish animator working out of Berlin. This year he won the best short film Golden Bear in Berlin for Please Say Something, a melancholy modern day kitchen sink drama between a loving cat-type creature and an inattentive mouse. He also created the Youtube cult Octocat animations under the pseudonym…
