Getting back into movies

The last film I saw in the cinema, would you believe, was the Movies.ie Preview of Iron Man.

Which by the way was excellent. Darren's review is here. Thumbs up from me too:


Cheesy as anything, me :-P

That's been ages ago.

I love film. I love the medium, I love reading about them, talking about them and the extras on DVDs - happily sit down and go through the entire extras of the extended Lord of the Rings movies.

I registered with MovieExtras ages ago to see what happens on a film set. I collect the monthly Movies Plus magazine, I'm a member of the IFI, I'll check out FilmReviews.ie when I get the chance, worked on the Cinemagic and Darklight Festivals, am a Filmbase member and I have more DVDs than books - and that's saying something!

And yet it's been April 30 since I was in the cinema.

That has to change. I've been over on the wonderful Movies.ie site today and from now on this is going to be my first stop for deciding what I'm going to see. I'm really impressed by how much work has gone into this - the guys behind it obviously know movies and know what they're up to.

They've got competitions, reviews, preview screenings, trailers, interviews, forums ... it's a site I could get lost in for days. They've also got quirky ads:



I'm going to have to start with the coming soon page - and there's a number of ones I want to see:

• Priceless (Hors de prix) - out June 13 with Audrey Tautou
  
  
• The Incredible Hulk - out the same day with Edward Norton as Bruce Banner.
  
  
• Prince Caspian - from the Chronicles of Narnia - out June 26. Getting rave reviews apparently.
  
  
• Wanted - out June 27 - with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. Has one of my favourite movie quotes of the last while, and delivered in Freeman's voice which makes it all the more powerful:

"It a choice, Wesley, that each of us must face: to remain ordinary, pathetic, beat-down, coasting through a miserable existence, like sheep herded by fate, or you can take control of your own destiny and join us, releasing the caged wolf you have inside. ... This is the decision that lies before you now: the sheep, or the wolf. The choice is yours."

• The Visitor - out June 27 is also one with a great tagline, making me think it might be worth a watch:

In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life.

Then there's the ones I'm REALLY looking forward to:

• Wall-E - the new one from Pixar. Cannot wait for 18 July.

And then, then there's The Dark Knight. What can I say about this, really? It's gonna rock.

Filmreviews.ie have the official posters here where I got this from:



Roll on July 25!

Of course I'll have to do a review at some stage of it. Won't be as good as Darren, but then again, he was never interviewed on RTE News now, was he?

(You'll need Realplayer for this unfortunately - blink and you'll miss me)

Embedded from RTE.IE

(Thanks to Jazzbiscuit for the embed code!)

Iron Man is fluffy!

Yes it's true. Iron Man is fluffy. (Thank you Damien!) And yes you can have tickets for free, gratis and for nothing. Well, almost. You have to read the below first.



One of the festivals I'm looking forward to working with and attending this year is the Cinemagic Festival, or to give it its proper title:

The Coca-Cola Cinemagic Film & Television Festival for Young People in association with Spencer Dock

It's on from April 23 to May 1 in various venues around Dublin and the festival programme promises a vast array of films, masterclasses with film and television professionals, workshops for schools, Q&A's and more, all of which aim to entertain, motivate and create opportunities for young people aged from 4 to 25.



We put some of the competitions live on the Vodafone Live! portal earlier today (that's the interweb on your mobile, like), including family tickets to see new Irish film 'Summer of the Flying Saucer' directed by acclaimed Irish filmmaker Martin Duffy.



X Factor host Dermot O' Leary will officially open the festival which starts at Movies@Dundrum, Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin on Wednesday 23 at 1830 with the premiere.

The young cast and crew from the film including Robbie Sheehan, Dan Colley and Joanne Kiernan will also be in attendance and will answer questions from the audience after the screening.

You can download the full festival programme here.

Personally the other screenings I'm looking forward to are:

Vexille - a Japanese CGI anime film witten, directed and edited by Fumihiko Sori. That's on Monday 28 at 7.00pm in Cineworld.

Pan's Labyrinth - the Guillermo del Toro film returns to the big sceen. That's on Friday 25 at 7.00pm at Movies@Dundrum.

MONSTERS INC is showing on Saturday 26 April at 2pm at Movies@Dundrum. The Wizard of OZ is showing in the same place and day at 7.00pm

Amélie is on Sunday 27 April at 7pm in Movies@Dundrum. I think this was the first film I went to the cinema alone a few times to see.

Other films being shown include Artic Tale, Donnie Darko (Tues 29, 6.30pm, Cineworld), Toy Story, The Last King of Scotland, Jaws, The Kite Runner and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.



One of the cool things I think (and I wish I could go!) are the Masterclasses on from April 23 to May 1.

A must for young people (aged 13- 25) wishing to follow a career in the media industry are the insightful Cinemagic masterclasses taking place in Spencer Dock, The Mill Theatre and Filmbase.

They include Television Presenting with Laura Woods and Dermot O’ Leary, Acting with Rachel Kavanagh, Matt Littler, Darren Jeffries and Chris Rankin, Directing with Dave Caffrey, Television & Music Production with Ned O’ Hanlon, and a class with the Casting Director Ros Hubbard.

So it all looks really good, eh? Really great to see events like this in Dublin (and Ireland) bringing film to younger audiences. Check out their website.



Oh yes, Iron Man. Well, it's on Thursday May 1 at 7pm in Cineworld, Parnell Street, Dublin 1 and for tickets please just leave a comment. I can then let you know. I can't promise unfortunately but will do my best for you. :) I've already reached my allocation but remember You can also buy the tickets for €7.00 by booking on www.cinemagic.ie

Please note that it is WAS first come, first served.

Can't ask for more than that, can you? :) A big thanks to Claire from Cinemagic for offering the tickets :-)

(Don't forget Movies.ie and Rick are offering tickets to the premiere the night before.)