Posted on Monday, 30 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Frosty, formal, yet so forceful. This story of terrible deeds in a small German village in the months prior to the first World War is the latest masterpiece to come from the formidable Austrian director Michael Haneke. Shot entirely in black and white and with rigid camera mountings, the film seems like a throwback to [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: Branko Samarovski, Burghart Klaußner, Christian Friedel, Das Weisse Band, Josef Bierbichler, Leonie Benesch, Michael Haneke, Rainer Bock, Susanne Lothar, The White Ribbon, Ulrich Tukur | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Saturday, 28 November 2009 by Longman Oz
As we all know, the Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago this year and it is therefore no real surprise that there are some films dedicated to this event during this year’s German Film Festival at the Irish Film Institute. Equally, the current fascination of German film directors with the country’s troubled recent political [...]
Filed under: Cinema | Tagged: Anonyma: A Woman in Berlin, Berlin ‘36, Connie Walther, Daniel Brühl, Franziska Petri, German Souls, Germany 09, John Rabe, Karoline Herfurth, Long Shadows, Martin Fark, Matthias Zuber, Max Färberböck, Nina Hoss, Steve Buscemi, Ulrich Tukur | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Friday, 27 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Music @ Videos
Yee to the haw, it doth be Friday once more. A propos of nothing, I have just finished watching the HBO mini-series on the invasion of Iraq Generation Kill. As an offering, it is a bit of a mixed bag, but there are still some great characters featured in it and it seems [...]
Filed under: Music, Videos | Tagged: Califone, Headlights, Prarie Cat, Shearwater, Simian Mobile Disco, Why? | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Thursday, 26 November 2009 by Longman Oz
It is hard to believe that this colorful and globetrotting tale of conspiracy, embezzlement, covert surveillance, and due process all spins on a humble amino acid known as lysine. Based closely on real-life events, this story has its origins in the Midwestern head offices of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), an enormous but little known agribusiness [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: Steven Soderbergh, The Informant!, Matt Damon, Mark Whitacre, Marvin Hamlisch, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale, Melanie Lynskey | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Wednesday, 25 November 2009 by Longman Oz
This is social realism ageing Batman-style, as Michael Caine plays a senior citizen who snaps one day and decides to get seriously medieval on the asses of some loathsome yobbos and junkies. To desensitise the audience for what is to follow, though, there is a whole litany of sordid scenes involving drugs, beatings, intimidation, murder, [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: Ben Drew, Charlie Creed-Miles, Daniel Barber, Emily Mortimer, Gary Young, Harry Brown, Iain Glen, Michael Caine, Sean Harris | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Tuesday, 24 November 2009 by Longman Oz
There is a sketchiness to Martin Provost’s biopic of the self-taught French artist Séraphine de Senlis that no amount of high calibre acting, verdant scenery, and meticulous replication of the era can mask. Yet, even as mere outlines, it remains a remarkable tale. Orphaned at an early age and an impoverished menial labourer for most [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Monday, 23 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Films by Jean-Pierre Jeunet do not come around that often. However, they are usually well worth the wait, as no one else quite paints his cinematic canvas or brings such childlike magic to an adult world like he does. Perhaps only the computer whizzes at Pixar get close. Moreover, the belated decision to freshen up his [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: André Dussollier, Dany Boon, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Julie Ferrier, MICMACS, Micmacs à tire-larigot, Nicolas Marié, Omar Sy, Tetsuo Nagata, Yolande Moreau | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Sunday, 22 November 2009 by Longman Oz
The play dramatically opens to the juxtaposition of a wedding celebration with a tragedy at sea. Between the two events, on the strandline, stand four women and a teenage boy called Sweeney (Conor MacNeill). The scene may be a chaotic one, but the tensions between the five are obvious and will only grow more so when [...]
Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: Abbie Spallen, Cathy Belton, Conor MacNeill, Eleanor Methven, Fiona Bell, Fishamble Theatre Company, Jim Culleton, Sabine Dargent, Samantha Heaney, Strandline | 2 Comments »
Posted on Friday, 20 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Music @ Videos
A quiet enough week on the new video front, with the dry season perhaps kicking in a couple of weeks earlier than usual. Not to worry, though, as Animal Collective are on hand to kick off proceedings, followed by The Cribs and then Mumford & Sons.
Have a handball-free weekend, mes amis!
Animal Collective – [...]
Filed under: Music, Videos | Tagged: Animal Collective, Mumford & Sons, The Cribs | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Thursday, 19 November 2009 by Longman Oz
This distinctly Irish play equally bears some casual resemblances to both the parable of the prodigal son and Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. It begins with a humorous and familiar domestic scene that is filled with the awkwardness and petty jealousies and rivalries that can arise when adult children return to the family home – [...]
Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: David Horan, Deirdre Donnelly, Deirdre Kinahan, Kate Ni Chonaonaigh, Maeve Fitzgerald, Maree Kearns, Moment, Ronan Leahy, Tall Tales Theatre Company | 2 Comments »
Posted on Wednesday, 18 November 2009 by Longman Oz
The theatrical manner in which magicians perform their tricks has a twofold benefit. Firstly, it entertains the audience and entices them into a world where cynicism can be suspended for a time. Secondly, it keeps them distracted long enough for the magician to engage in the necessary sleight-of-hand for the trick to work. In Cold [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: Cold Souls, Sophie Barthes, Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, David Strathairn | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Soused in tall tales, volatile repartee, and introspective pauses, Sam Shepard’s play takes place on a wooden porch somewhere in backwoods America. At the request of Ames (Stephen Rea), two old friends have met up for the first time in many years. The opening scene finds them sitting outside, steadily knocking back bourbon, and catching [...]
Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: Ages of the Moon, Brien Vahey, Paul Keogan, Sam Shepard, Sean McGinley, Stephen Rea | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Monday, 16 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Director Philippe Lioret describes his film as being an understatement in terms of what is taking place in and around northern French ports such as Calais. Given that he makes allusions in Welcome to a police state existing in France that is bordering on the fascist, one can only wonder about the appalling acts that [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: Audrey Dana, Derya Ayrverdi, Firat Ayverdi, Philippe Lioret, Vincent Lindon, Welcome | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Friday, 13 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Music @ Videos
Rain Machine is the name of Kyp Malone (TV on the Radio)’s solo project. Back in September, he released his eponymous debut album, from which the song below is taken.
Also featuring this week is new music from Wetdog, The Most Serene Republic, and Hadouken!
Have a good weekend y’all!
Rain Machine – Give Blood
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Filed under: Music, Videos | Tagged: Hadouken!, Rain Machine, The Most Serene Republic, Wetdog | Leave a Comment »
Posted on Thursday, 12 November 2009 by Longman Oz
Allegedly born of a criticism that recent films about Romania’s Communist era were better suited to garnering international plaudits than to audience enjoyment, Cristian Mungiu wrote this anthology of short films based on actual urban legends from the country’s so-called “golden age” during the 1980s. Of course, despite such State propaganda, life in Romania was really [...]
Filed under: Cinema, Films, Movies | Tagged: Amintiri din epoca de aur, Cristian Mungiu, Tales from the Golden Age | Leave a Comment »
