Monthly Archives: May 2010

Play it again Sam at Screen Cinema

  By Niall | May 31, 2010 - 1:23 pm | Events, Movies & TV, The Culch
1 Comment

After an exhausting vote Screen Cinema, D’Olier St., Dublin 2 has finally unveiled the winner of its viewers choice poll ‘Play it again, Sam’, which allowed cinema-goers the chance to vote their favourite classic back onto the big screen. The choices ranged from cult classics like Troll 2, through proper old-school movies like The Great Dictator, Casablanca and Gone With the Wind, right up to modern greats like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Two winners were selected, the beloved children’s classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Audrey Hepburn’s star turn as Holly Golightly in Blake Edwards’ classic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Willy Wonka will be shown in a special one off screening June 14th at 8.30pm, with Breakfast at Tiffany’s enjoying a week long run starting July 16th. Tickets will be available for Willy Wonka from June 7th, from the box-office at Screen Cinema. Team Screen plan … There’s more →

Ad Nauseam: Boots, Bubbles and Butter

  By Éilish Burke | May 31, 2010 - 9:00 am | Adverts, The Culch
5 Comments

There’s a whole load of ads around at the moment which tap into the theme of female friendship. Let’s call it the Sex and the City effect. That TV series and movie franchise was an exploration of the close bonds between a group of girlfriends, with rather a large serving of consumerism on the side. A celebration of friendship and shopping in equal measure, one could say. And given that young, single, professional women have a lot of disposable income (relative to other groups anyway) it’s ripe territory for advertisers.

Album Review: Oasis Time Flies 1994 - 2009

  By Peter | May 29, 2010 - 6:54 pm | Music
2 Comments

I remember when Oasis released their first album in 1994. I was 18 just and had gone to live in London. I’d bought Definitely Maybe on cassette just weeks previous. I’d just moved to Clonmel Road near the seven sisters tube station and had my guitar and cd player as standard luggage. The funny thing was Whatever came as the hidden song on the CD album only. So I bought Whatever as CD single in heathrow. Why is this important….? London to me was rock and roll. Especially for an 18 year old having just left Piltown Horticultural College in Kilkenny. Population four and a half sheep. My first sight of which was Kings Cross Tube Station. Every teenage boy to man needs an anthem from which to derive nostalgia and Oasis just handed them to me on a platter one after the other.

Michael McIntyre - Work in Progress

  By seanear1ey | May 28, 2010 - 3:19 pm | The Culch
3 Comments

Self professed ‘Fat Chinese Man lookalike’ Michael McIntyre was the comedy buzz of 2008/9. With a 54 date arena tour of the UK (including a brief stopover at Dublin’s Olympia theatre) the funnyman played to over 1million people. His DVD Hello Wembley saw him sell over a million copies and rocket to the top of DVD sales for Christmas 2009. So, when McIntyre announced he was doing a run of ‘Work in Progress’ gigs at London’s Leicester Square theatre, tickets were snapped up by fans. Not to mention the exceptionally low price of £10 being less than the price of buying his DVD. The venue was brilliant, just off Leicester Sq, the basement comedy club could hold about 200-300 people and was perfectly intimate. The show had been moved from a smaller room in the same venue which could hold less than 100, and as a result extra tickets had … There’s more →

Up in the Air DVD Review

  By Anto | May 27, 2010 - 9:22 pm | Movies & TV, The Culch
1 Comment

It’s almost a role that George Clooney was born to play. In Up in the Air, Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizer, a man whose job it is to break the life changing news to people across America that their “positions are no longer available”. Although the story that this script is adapted from was written a few years ago, the current economic environment has lent a new weight to it. Bingham’s home is in the air, chasing a target of air miles that only six other people have ever achieved. He packs like a ninja and is turned on by platinum cards. It’s that particular encounter in which we are introduced to Alex (Vera Farmiga) who is almost a carbon copy of Bingham, at one point uttering the words “Just think of me as you but with a vagina”. Bingham finds himself developing feelings for her and relationships are … There’s more →

Red Dead Redemption: A Review

  By Paul Hickey | May 27, 2010 - 5:21 pm | The Culch
1 Comment

‘Red Dead Redemption’(RDR) is the latest title from Rockstar San Diego. With a development house that has such a fine history of open world games (Such as Grand Theft Auto & Bully), fans shared a unanimous anticipation for ‘Red Dead Redemption’ when it was announced. Information gradually trickled out over it’s time of development and with every new unveiling the game sounded more promising. We were promised a fully realised western sandbox, refined combat mechanics and a groundbreaking multiplayer mode. The game has just hit shelves, did Rockstar hit the mark?? There’s more →

Guest Post: 3 Irish Celebrites Who Impacted Global Popculture and Why

  By Rudolf | May 27, 2010 - 3:46 pm | Celebs, The Culch
6 Comments

This is an interesting guest post from Rudolf giving his thoughts on pop culture and on the influence of three ‘celebs’ of Irish heritage on global pop culture. Let’s hear your thoughts. - Darren When you think of Popular Culture, chances are you think more of teen idols Miley Cyrus and Robert Pattinson than of more prominent figures, such as JFK or Paul McCartney. This, however, is a result of the “dumbing down” of a term that is anything but dumb to begin with. On the contrary, the term Popular Culture—or Pop Culture—refers to a totality of ideas, perspectives, images, and political and social attitudes of the 20th and 21st centuries, as derived from art, music, film, consumer media, politics and even religion. Popular Culture, therefore, encompasses much more than passing fads or elitist trends, having more to do with the people who set them than the actual trends themselves. … There’s more →

The International Comedy Cellar Wednesdays

  By Peter | May 27, 2010 - 11:42 am | Comedy, The Culch
2 Comments

Last night I went along to The Comedy Cellar - in The International Bar in Dublin. I really wanted to see Carmody and Jones. I shall rephrase…. they were the only act I knew that were on. Because they told me so. It’s hosted by Andrew Stanley who is a legend all by himself and can pack out an entire Vicar Street in the morning. Throw in to the line up Neil Delamere and Keith Farnan and charge me €10. This is like paying a fiver to see Barcelona play Limerick FC. It’s for nothing! Its every Wednesday and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Interview With Fin Costello

  By Lisa McInerney | May 27, 2010 - 9:00 am | Events, Photography, The Culch
4 Comments

Robert Plant. Siouxsie Sioux. Pete Townsend. Steven Tyler. Freddie Mercury. Outside of their all being great big pop culture monsters and everything that goes with it, there is something else they have in common - they’ve all been snapped by our very own Fin Costello. As he prepares for his forthcoming Cork exhibition, Culch.ie wrangles the chat out of the legendary photographer. Discovering a legend on your doorstep is an experience akin to putting on a new pair of sunglasses and being mistaken for Monica Bellucci - disorienting, then humbling, then rather bloody thrilling. When a mutual friend requested I check out Fin Costello’s work, I was immediately taken aback by how familiar his subjects were - isn’t that Peter Gabriel? Dear Jesus, that’s Rory Gallagher - which threw me into the proverbial state a’ chassis. How was I so unfamiliar with someone whose work was so recognisable? The more … There’s more →

At the Indie Disco…

  By Andy Gaffney | May 26, 2010 - 9:59 am | Music, The Culch
4 Comments

While I am still drinking buckets of water in order to combat the dehydration caused by the many tears shed over the Lost finale , another big finale needs addressing. After nearly 5 years worth of cheap Cashels cider, gentlemen in pointy tipped shoes and of course fantastic music, the club night Antics is closing its doors for the last time, and while its ‘only a club night’, it’s going to make me rather sad. Set up by three young men, John Goucher, Craig Harper and Dave Parle it has been the home of indie kids on a Wednesday night , which also means the Harcourt Diner has been their home on early Thursday mornings (Fantastic tenders and curry dip in there). Not to get all grandpa but I remember fondly the first Antics where myself and a couple of friends had fallen into after a Saul Williams gig in … There’s more →

What’s on offer on the Culch.ie Eurovision Party Night?

  By Darren Byrne | May 26, 2010 - 9:00 am | Featured Post, Music, The Culch, TV
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As I type this, I’m watching the first semi-final of this year’s #Eurovision (yes, I’m also tweeting away). Some of the songs are decent enough, but a lot of them are making me want to throw my netbook at the screen. Alcohol is required. Thankfully, this Saturday night, when the final is on, you don’t have to sit home alone, sober, watching the Eurovision. Instead you can join the Culch.ie Party in the Odeon, Harcourt Street. We’ll be watching the Eurovision, having a few drinks, eating some grub and giving away some great prizes. Surely, that’ll help you get through the show. With thanks to The Gibson Hotel, we have a night in Dublin’s newest hotel in the Point Village for two lucky Eurovision fans. Chic, understated and right in the heart of Dublin’s brand new cultural hub, The Gibson Hotel, which opens on June 23rd, is the perfect base … There’s more →

Competition Closed: Keith Barry at The Olympia

  By Sinead Keogh | May 25, 2010 - 11:10 pm | Competitions, Events, Performance Art
38 Comments

**Competition Closed. Winners will be contacted** He’s a trickster, a fast talker and an entertainer (whether you can bring yourself to believe in his talents or not) and Keith Barry is bringing his new show, The Asylum, to the Olympia Theatre next month. It kicks off for a 20-night run on June 30th and finishes July 25th and promises to leave you ‘Shocked! Astounded! Mind boggled! Disturbed! Confused!’ The man who’s escaped from being tied up in a burning shed and impressed audiences with mind reading and sleight of hand hasn’t revealed quite what the new show will involve but if the ‘unsuitable for children’ warning and the advice that audience participation will feature heavily is anything to go by, it sounds like Barry’s going to be up to his old tricks.

Get Caught Up In … The Joy Formidable!

  By Lisa McInerney | May 25, 2010 - 10:04 pm | Gigs, Music
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Now that is a title suggesting serious exhilaration, and from a seriously infectious band, and all. The Joy Formidable play rock n’ roll bolstered by monster hooks and tempered by frontwoman Ritzy’s dreamy vocals - like floating on a stormy sea. They’re going to be massive. Oh, yes. Think Pretty Girls Make Graves. Think Howling Bells. Even think Garbage, seeing as Shirley Manson’s such a huge fan. If these girl-fronted rawk comparisons strike you as being a bit obvious, or hardly inspirational, just give new single Popinjay a listen. Head-boinking, no? Popinjay comes ahead of the as-yet-untitled debut album which is due for release later this summer, though The Joy Formidable are no new conception, no band of green types blinking in the light of sudden exposure. Their very impressive eight-track collection, A Balloon Called Moaning, has already earned palpable respect for this gang of gorgeous workhorses. I’ve been listening … There’s more →

The Purple Nokia Winner

  By Darren Byrne | May 25, 2010 - 4:22 pm | Competitions, Site News, The Culch
6 Comments

No! It’s not Barney the bloody Dinosaur. It’s not a plum with a face drawn on it (great answer, btw). It’s not Elmo and it’s not a Smiley bar (hungry now!!!). It’s not a jelly baby or a robot dog or a toilet seat. It’s certainly not Prince (that made me laugh). It’s not a one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater, although I’m tempted to give Jenny a prize for that suggestion. It’s not Nemo and it’s not a Purple Baby Bear (sorry Chris). It’s not a toothbrush, Sex and the City shoes or a facecloth and it’s definitely not a hedgehog painted purple (the clue was soft and smiley!!!). So what was in the box? Niall finally got on the right lines with a “purple smiley pair of knickers”, but there were a few more people on his heels suggesting boxers and briefs with smiley faces. No, … There’s more →

Ad Nauseam: Who’s more sexist – Hunky Dorys or Guinness?

  By Éilish Burke | May 25, 2010 - 2:15 pm | Adverts, The Culch, TV
5 Comments

Hey Culchies, please welcome our newest contributor, Eilish, to the mix. I hope you make her feel very welcome and I think she’ll be a great addition to the team. As part of a regular column, Eilish is looking at Irish ads. Looking forward to reading more. - Darren Hello readers and welcome to this brand spanking new series of posts all about the lovely world of advertising. Yes, I’m talking about those annoying bits that we all try to avoid in between programmes on the telly and radio. It follow us around everywhere, advertising - you can’t even go to the jacks in your local pub without being confronted with posters trying to sell you thrush cream or urging you to check your testicles. But I kinda love ads. Ads can be great, ads can be crap, ads can be entertaining and ads can be cheesy. Sometimes ads can … There’s more →