What's your favourite film? People in Dublin tell JDIFF

Last month, a video was filmed as part of the 2009 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival where people were asked to name their favourite films. Here it is:



I do apologise. Blame Anthony - he sent me the email saying

The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival would like to know what your favourite film of all time is? We need one hundred people to help us with an exciting new marketing campaign that features you!

All you need to do is come along this Saturday the 6th December and have your picture taken and tell us what your favourite film of all time is and then do the same thing all over again to camera. Pictures taken will be featured as part of a fabulous print and online campaign for the 2009 festival.

So I went and I did it and now I'm part of the advertising. In fact I'm apparently on a big poster in the window of Filmbase, Temple Bar, one of the "lucky" ten. People are emailing/texting me along the lines of

"Can you imagine how frightening it was to see your face enlarged by about 100 times plastered on a poster on the front window of Filmbase?"

When we were at the Festival launch on Monday in the Odeon, I walked into one part to find the monstrosity below staring back at me. Bizarre is one way of describing it. The lighting was pink, explaining the poster. Even worse I found out I adorned a pillar outside too.





So there you have it. It's the 1997 Roberto Benigni film La Vita é Bella for me, at 2:40 in case you're that interested. In defence of my wardrobe, that was the day I filmed the Hibernian Ad - I don't dress as well as that normally!

What's your favourite movie? Can you limit it to just one?

Personal choices for the 2009 Jameson Dublin International Film Festival

I'd started this post differently but have edited to keep it a tad shorter. I'll move the other waffle to a new post, so now let's talk about the films in the festival with particular reference to the ones I'm going to see.

It's the seventh year of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. It's on from Thursday February 12 to Sunday February 22. It features a staggering - by my count - 121 films - or 132 events according to the website - some new, some old and all worth a look. Now, I have no intention of seeing all of them, but there are some that just beg to be seen.



The opening gala - Doubt - is now sold out but would be my top choice for the entire festival. Featuring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, the film has been winning awards left, right and centre. It's on Thursday 12 February in Savoy 1 at 8:30pm, tickets are €18.

FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY

Friday 13 sees Three Colours: Blue (link) return to the big screen, again in Savoy 1 at 2pm. This 1993 film starring Juliet Binoche is a choice of broadcaster Zbyszek Zalinski who will participate in a short Q&A after the screening.



At 6pm in Cineworld we have Armando Ianucci's In the Loop (link), a comedic farce starring James Gandolfini. The director is to attend the screening.

SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY

Valentine's Day has Revolution (link) starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland and Natassja Kinski. The 1985 film is about the American War of Independence and director Hugh Hudson is participating in a Q&A afterwards.



Good (link), in Screen 1 at 4:30 pm stars Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs and Jodie Whittaker in a film with a simple question ' What turned normal "good" Germans into people capable of sending millions to the gas chambers during the Second World War'.



At the same time in Cineworld screen 9 there's an interesting documentary about Paul Watson, the so-called 'Pirate for the Sea' who "takes the law into his own hands on the open seas, confronting, by any means necessary, the hunters who indiscriminately slaughter whales, seals and sharks".

Bronson (link), in Screen 1 at 6:30pm looks promising, giving a biopic of notorious criminal Charles Bronson who has spent 28 of his 34 years in prison in solitary confinement.



I can imagine though that Confessions of a Shopaholic (link) in Movies@Dundrum at 8pm, starring Isla Fisher, John Cusack and John Goodman will be a sell-out. It's the one where Fisher stars as Rebecca Bloomwood, a New York city girl addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt.

The French Gala screening of The Class (Entre les Murs) on the same evening is also sold out.

SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY



Sunday morning will see me in Savoy 1 at 11am for Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (link). I saw the trailer last weekend - it looks brilliant, much better than Mystic River or Million Dollar Baby.

"At 78, perhaps the only actor in the history of American cinema to convincingly kick the butt of a guy 60 years his junior, the hard-headed, snarly mouthed Clint Eastwood of the 1970s comes growling back to life in Gran Torino."

Also that night is Coraline 3D in Movies@Dundrum at 8pm. Based on the Neil Gaiman book, I'd say it's the one that David Maybury and Debs, who'll be sharing their popcorn with us are most looking forward to.

The world premiere of Margaret Corkery's Eamon is also on that evening in Screen 9 of Cineworld at 8.30pm.

MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY

Monday sees the start of 'Irish Blog Week before the Blog Awards so I'm a bit limited in my choices here. But Franklyn (link), in Cineworld at 6pm has been getting great reviews in the UK. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (link) has Chris O'Dowd in a sci-fi comedy with the basic premise "Three men walk into a bar; two geeks and a cynic."



Charlie Kaufman follows up Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Adaptation and the superlative Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind with Synecdoche, New York (link) starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. That's at 8.30 pm in Cineworld 17.

TUESDAY 17 FEBRUARY

On Tuesday 17 I'll be attending Were The World Mine (link) in Cineworld 9 at 6pm. A fun, dazzling and amusing musical-of-errors; a magical modern interpretation of Shakespeare. The directors Tom Gustafson and Cory James Krueckenberg are in attendance at the screening.

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY



Whitnail and I is on Wednesday 18 February in Savoy Screen 1 at 2pm. Religulous (link), the documentary following comedian Bill Maher around the globe interviewing people about God and religion is on in Cineworld 17 at 6pm.

FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY

Rupert Grint, Robbie Sheehan and James Nesbitt will be in Cineworld on Friday 20 February for the screening of Cherrybomb, a fast-paced Belfast based drama centering on two teenage friends whose furious rivalry for a gorgeous yet cunning girl has shocking consequences.



Colin Firth is also in Dublin for the screening of Genova, Michael Winterbottom's film in Cineworld 17 at 8pm.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21

Liam Neeson joins James Nesbitt for the special screening of Five Minutes Of Heaven (link) on Saturday February 21 at 6.15 in Savoy 1. The next day sees Marley and Me in the same screen at 11am.

SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY



The closing film is The Secret of Kells (link) featuring the voice talents of Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally, Evan McGuire and Christen Mooney. Set in the 9th century Kells Abbey where they're illuminating the Book of Kells, this animated film is apparently breathtaking, according to Gráinne Humphreys, the Festival Director.

Other events during the festival include Hospital Screenings, an over 55's Film Quiz, and panel discussions including Creative Cinema on February 18 at 4pm:

“Film is a battleground. Love, hate, violence, action, death... in a word, emotion.”

So veteran director Samuel Fuller defined Cinema in Jean Luc Godard’s classic Pierrot le Fou. But how true are those words when you are making your feature film debut, working with small budgets and tough shooting schedules.

How can you create and maintain the energy and momentum to stay true to your story and characters? Three emerging filmmakers who have impressed many with their debut features will discuss the emotions of filmmaking and other stories in a panel discussion about staying true to your creative voice.

and Star Rating on February 20 at 6pm in the IFI:

"Established three years ago, The Dublin Film Critics Circle offers the city’s professional movie reviewers an opportunity to pool opinions on recent releases, consider movie heritage and whinge about each other’s shortcomings.

This year, the Festival has invited a panel from the DFCC to chew over their favourite films screening at the event. Five DFCC members will be joined by a distinguished foreign critic and, following debate, will announce their awards for best film, best performances and best Irish films at JDIFF 2009.

The discussion, which will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio, is to be hosted by veteran broadcaster Dave Fanning. Expected a blend of high-falutin’ cinema-speak and old fashioned bickering.

The film event though I'm most looking forward to is on February 19 in the IFI at 18:30. The Irish Film Board Shorts features nine short films (for €10) including Nicky Phelan's Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty:

Granny O’Grimm, a seemingly sweet old lady, loses the plot as she tells her version of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ to her terrified granddaughter.

and the delightfully named Hoor from John Kennedy:

Hoor tells the short story of three young lads paying a visit to the local prostitute in order to lose their virginity. Only with the last boy, Ciaran, clearly the youngest and most nervous of the boys do we see what Desire is really up to.

So there you have it. There's LOADS more on, much more than I could fit in a single post (though I'd give it a go) but you'll find the complete list of films here and you can book your tickets and more on the website, http://jdiff.com. Also worth keeping an eye on will be the Festival blog - a task I don't envy that blogger at all!

Frost/Nixon review - five quick points

I saw Frost/Nixon in Dublin's Lighthouse Cinema last night. It opens on Friday.

1. It couldn't have worked as a fictional story - it just wouldn't have been believable. Even if you know nothing of the history, the man who was Nixon or have little or no interest in US politics, the story behind the film is so strong that you couldn't make it up.
   
   
   Images from Slashfilm
   
   
2. The acting is superb. Just superb. Frank Langella plays Nixon as a tribute to him - he's uncompromising, personal, humorous and intelligent. Whether the intention or not, Langella's portayal of Richard M Nixon left me with a respect for Nixon, an understanding of what he was trying to do and who the man was.
   
   
   
   The best I can say is to ask you if you've seen Jim Carrey play Andy Kaufman in the 1999 film 'Man on the Moon'? Remember Carrey in the Mighty Mouse scene? Here's Kaufman in the original. It's virtually identical. That's how good Langella seems.
   
   
3. It's funny. There are genuine laugh out loud moments. The dialogue is interesting, witty and intelligent. It doesn't assume you know, nor does it assume you don't. It seems faithful.
   
   
4. It makes the interviews look interesting. I've never been inclined to look at them before but the way that Michael Sheen plays Frost and the interaction between his character and Nixon in this film - well, if it's only half the chemistry between the real life counterparts, the last part of the last interview must be truly great TV.
   
   
5. Finally, probably most importantly, it's a damn great film. If you're looking for something with great dialogue, a brilliant story and interesting characters, this is it.

The Academy has some challenge ahead in deciding this year's Oscars, that's for sure.

Joanna Hogg, writer and director of Unrelated

Smithfield's Lighthouse Cinema is a great place to watch a film. Particularly enjoyable and appreciated is their selection which has gathered its own audience and fanbase. It's a lovely space to have a pre-film coffee and chat in, a feature sadly lacking from places like the Savoy, Screen and Cineworld. Their colourful seats are comfy.



We're there to see a preview of Unrelated, the first film of writer/director Joanna Hogg. There's a Q&A with Joanna afterwards and given the fact that this is her debut and has won the FIPRESCI international critic's award at the 2007 London Film Festival, there's a good chance it's worth going to see.



Introducing the film, Neil Connolly from Lighthouse called it "a remarkable debut. While it's very, very British it's also unlike any contemporary British film" while Joanna herself said "this is a film that has encouraged discussion. One of the pleasures of being a film maker is hearing the feedback directly". The critics have been hailing it as "discovery of the year", "refreshing and unusual" and "truly impressive" and the film was hailed by Jonathan Romney in the BFI's Sight & Sound as "the under-the-radar discovery of the year."

I have a healthy respect for film makers, especially given my involvement with the 4 Day Movie project. I'm fascinated not only by the story but the method of communicating, the message the film portrays and the techniques used to do so. I'd read little about the film beforehand to be able to judge it fairly. The basic story:

When fortysomething Anna turns up - sans husband - at the summer home of an old friend, she finds herself reminded of a life she has not lived. Everything she is discovering now, she has arrived at too late.

Usually on the periphery of events, she believes she has found a second chance, mostly keeping the company of the younger folks present - inevitably, and especially with handsome late-teen Oakley, tensions arise.

After watching the film, I'm hesitant in sharing any more of the story, other than strongly recommending you give it a go. My advice is based on a few things - firstly, I liked it, as apparently did most of the 100 people in the cinema last night. Secondly, it will make you think not only about the subject matter but about the people you know in a similar situation and thirdly because of the way it's made.



It's a very "real" film without claiming to be, or forcing its faux reality on you. You'll probably know people like this. You know they exist in their world and that yes, they probably would react this way. While nothing very unexpected happens, events or conversations that seem minor and mundane are suddenly epic, tense and sometimes quite scary. Less is more here. You can't help expecting other things to happen, eavesdropping on conversations and speculating at what you'd do in the same scenario. This is the film's power, why it's different.

The only "British" element were the cast, whose lack of previous film experience worked superbly to give the film a real sense of authenticity. It was the lead actress, Kathryn Worth's first role. They worked well together, this mix of parents (the "olds") and their teenage children (the "young") - rival camps in a situation that seems remarkably realistic, avoiding what could have been a grotesque "brits abroad" potboiler, as an Observer critic put it.



It's a film of remarkable contrast, with unusual devices used to highlight differences. The old people need a lot of sleep. The young people are loud, energetic and move, whereas the parents are still, moving only when necessary. Every youthful experience is accompanied by noise and colour while there's a real sense of quietness about situations requiring maturity.

In fact, it's the silences in the film - where dialogue is not needed, would seem artificial or intrusive and so is not included - that makes it so different and gives it that sense of watching something very real, very personal unfold. It's a very brave move by the director and one of the first we talk about afterwards.

"After school I started as a photographer. I'd always been passionate about film but loved the power of photos and images. I was lucky enough to work in a studio which I had the use of at weekends. Equally, London at the time was a great place to see experimental film - there were cinemas like the Gate at Notting Hill where non mainstream films could be enjoyed.

The film is not so much autobiographical as slanted from a personal perspective at a particular time in my life. I never experienced a holiday like this. However I did feel that if I didn't do it now that I wouldn't have gotten a chance again. It did feel like an act of courage. I'd had ideas over the years but didn't want to put those out into a public arena.

I've worked on a lot of TV - including Eastenders and Casualty - but feel that my passion was on hold during that time. I've always been interested in character and sroty and I feel film is the best place I can show that. TV wasn't me. This is what I want to do. This is what I enjoy."

In a recent interview with the BBC she states

"I was developing ideas but they wouldn't come to fruition, not because I couldn't raise money for them but more because I didn't quite have the courage to see the projects through," she states. "I couldn't get to the point where I was confident enough to express my own voice, in a way. That's come to me in my 40s, and there's nothing wrong with starting to make feature films at this point of my life, when I feel much clearer about what I want to do."

In fact, as Mary Rose Doorly who was facilitating the Q&A session discovered, the film was made with comparatively very little money.

"It was a small crew and an independent production. Not having anyone breathing down our necks gave us a real sense of freedom. People invested amounts from £2,000 to £5,000 and more to a bigger pool of money, which ultimately meant the majority of the say was with me. I'd much prefer to stay independent, to retain that influence.

"We spent 7 weeks in Tuscany, a place I was familiar with - it seemed to have chosen me. It was more enjoyable for the cast than for me as they were on holiday - it certainly contributed to the realism of their roles. Most of them have theatre or small film backgrounds, so a film like this can be quite difficult, being almost the antithesis of the control and structures in place for theatre production."

Indeed, as Mary Rose commented, it was lovely to spend 100 minutes in sunny and scenic Tuscany rather than dank and dreary Dublin. As I asked the final, predictable question before the equally predictable photo, I almost knew the answer before she said it.

What advice do you have for young film makers, for people with an idea who want to film it?

Just do it. I feel it's unfortunate for me I didn't do it until now but there's nothing to replace just getting on with recording something. The chances will come.

I owe a massive thanks to Joanna for her time and to Mary Rose Doorly and other reviewers for the words, to Neil and Marietta from Lighthouse for allowing me to indulge my inquisitiveness and wander around with camera in hand. Thank you. I'll be back soon :o)



Unrelated - website here - opens in Lighthouse on September 19. It's a movie to appreciate. I hope you do.

Batman, The Dark Knight: I didn't like it

I wanted more.

Thanks to my favourite Irish website, Movies.ie I saw the new Batman movie tonight (Tuesday) at the Savoy in Dublin.

There will no doubt be a vast amount of reviews up - I'm greatly anticipating Darren's, who bounced around outside the Savoy in his excitement afterwards. Yet I can't say I was as thrilled as he or Rick seemed to be.



If you haven't seen Batman Begins yet, you may as well stop here. The film that defined the hero, redefined the genre and gave us back Batman, rescued from the silicon masked, rubber suited parody that he'd become under the "care" of Joel Schumacher who gave us the cringeworthy Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Christopher Nolan did away with the cartoon that Batman had become and redesigned him into something believable, someone human, somebody cool. Batman Begins set up the story with Bale's Bruce Wayne as a man driven by his demons to rid the city his father has worked so hard to fight. He has a worthy enemy - the League of Shadows, a group set to rid the world of decadence:

a check against human corruption for thousands of years... Gotham's time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die.

His triumph against Ra's Al Ghul is well fought, well planned and executed with flair. Gotham's problems aren't fixed, but Batman's presence is necessary. The movie was fantastic, with nods to its heritage but a firm grip on its own identity.



The Dark Knight's Gotham is different. Supposedly only a few weeks after the end of the first movie, the sense of hunger, of desperation and of panic is missing. Criminals are less confident, the police more so. Supposedly a city in the grip of Mob rule, Gotham shows no sign of the rampaging fear that should be caused by the release (and presumable failure to capture) of its top criminals from the secure wing of its criminal psychiatric hospital.

Instead we're presented with a city who carries on, happy to ignore the crime, almost waiting for something big to occupy its time instead.

And when that happens, boy does it happen.

Bruce Wayne: I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight. But this is different. They crossed the line.
Alfred Pennyworth: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them. And in their desperation they turned to a man they didn't fully understand.

At no point during the film did I once look at



and think



Ledger was incredible. This was the Joker. Jack Nicholson may have brought a maniacal clown to the screen in true Nicholson style, a version of Batman's enemy; but Ledger was The Joker, an excitable, twisted, sadistic and oh so brilliant character, who delivered his lines with delight.

Bank Manager: The criminals in this town used to believe in things. Honor. Respect. Look at you! What do you believe in? What do you believe in!
The Joker: I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger.

"Do I really look like a man with a plan, Harvey? I don't have a plan. The mob has plans, the cops have plans. You know what I am, Harvey? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. I just *do* things. I'm a wrench in the gears. I *hate* plans ...

I am not a schemer. I show schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are ... I'm a man of simple tastes. I like gunpowder...and dynamite...and gasoline!"

In a strange way I wanted to see the Joker triumph. I wanted to see what he'd do with the power he got, the anarchy he caused, the mania he possessed. In one of my favourite scenes, and quite possibly the most visually appealing in the movie, The Joker blows up a hospital. He saunters away from the building and delights in its destruction. I wanted to see more of that. I wanted to see Gotham burn.





But no. Batman is there. Of course Batman is there. Even when it all goes horribly wrong and Bruce Wayne - or any reasonable hero - should have thought "Ah feck this, let someone else do it" good old Batman heads out there, this time on a very cool steed, to sort the bad boys out. His methods are ingenious, but as with any effective plan, it's over far too quickly. It looked too easy. I wanted it to be more difficult.



As much as I would love to see Ledger be nominated for his role in this movie, I hope Aaron Eckhart does equally as well. His talent and charisma were evident in his performance and he acted the role of "a bit square but actually I'm alright" DA Harvey Dent brilliantly. In Batman Begins we followed the evolution of Bruce Wayne to its dark conclusion - this time the transformation is in Dent. Again, I felt that he wasn't given enough, he wasn't used enough. He didn't get enough opportunity to scare. I believed in Harvey Dent. I believed in what he became a lot more.



The Dark Knight fulfils what any good sequel is supposed to do. It expands the story, gave us more characters and a greater view into existing, familiar ones. Michael Caine as Alfred was excellent - a suitable foil to Bale's Bruce Wayne. Gary Oldman as Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Fox and Maggie Gyllenhall as a very different-from-the-first-character Rachel Dawes all fantastic in their roles. The cinematography flawless, the special effects wonderful. One of the features I became most conscious of was the sound editing, and if there's any justice the wizards behind the sound effects this time will sweep the Oscar board.



The film is almost two and a half hours long and there were scenes that dragged, places where my mind wandered, plot devices that could have been better with a bit more thought and time. All very easy for me to say I know, but dammit, I'm not satisfied. I said to Niamh on the way out - I have to see it again. I couldn't take it in. I have to return. And I will. I think I'll find better seats on a quieter showing and re immerse myself. I'll stop looking for the nods, the references, the "did you see that card, well that meant..." bits and just enjoy it.



I didn't just like The Dark Knight. I loved it. it may not be the "best movie ever", but it's so close that it's difficult to say why it's not. Maybe it didn't go far enough. Perhaps it's the storyline, perhaps that needs work. We may never know what parts were taken out because of Ledger's death, or see now what could have been, but it's an epic that should only be better with repeat viewings.

Even as I write this my mind is racing with the possibilities of the next one. Bale says he'll do it if Christopher Nolan directs. I think it would be a brave director who'd try replace him. The potential is incredible and the third one could well be the best movie ever made. If I could I'd book my tickets now. I'll just have to make do with the Dark Knight, Thursday, again.

Great to meet so many bloggers - Pinky, David, Anthony, Sinéad, Damien and Rick were all there, as were Neil Delamere and Brian Kennedy. Swit swoo, or what?

They're discussing the movie now over on Movies.ie - I'm off to share my thoughts. If you've seen it and have any comments, I'd love to hear them.

Images taken, lovingly, from the best Dark Knight blog ever.

4daymovie - the films are going online

Chancer readers may have seen this already but some of the films that are part of the Dublin08 movie are now going online.

This is David Chandler's Shamrockfield:




There'll be an announcement this week about the launch of the film. Keep an eye on the blog. The team are working hard!

La la la la la la, la la la la la

They're making a Smurfs movie!


Image taken from here

According to Reuters:

"The Sony studio said it has acquired motion picture rights to the Belgian-born characters from Lafig Belgium S.A. for a big-screen Smurfs adaptation mixing computer-graphic imagery and live action.

A similar "hybrid" treatment was recently given to another popular cartoon ensemble in the highly successful "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie from 20th Century Fox.

Like Alvin and his rodent companions, the Smurfs will be created by CGI technology and interact with real actors portraying humans."

It's going to be interesting to see how this is done. Will they keep the same Smurf theme?


Image from firstshowing.net

The Smurfs aired from 1981 to 1989 with around 256 episodes. I reckon I must have seen most of them. They were on Dempsey's Den, and on a Sunday morning before(?) Sesame Street.



Classic table quiz question - can you (without checking Wikipedia) remember the name of Gargamel's cat?

Racism and discrimination in Limerick?

Limerick Unplugged parts 1 and 2:

"Two University of Limerick students Matthew Organ and Daniel Murphy decide to do a video project on the causes of racism and discrimination in Limerick today,

In their quest to seek the truth they uncover some interesting characters who paint a very different picture on the subject rather than the one found in the mainstream press. "

I met Frances Murphy, one of the stars, while being a movie extra on Triage.

I don't know if it's accurate know it's not a true reflection, it being a college mockumentary, but is it funny? Maybe the lovely Maz, The Limerick Blogger, Bock, Alexia or Laura could tell me more?

;-)