Monthly Archives: January 2011

Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2011

  By Anto | January 27, 2011 - 6:58 pm | Events, Movies & TV, The Culch
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If there’s one festival more than any other that I’ve attended in recent years, it’s the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. I went along to the launch event on Tuesday evening in Tripod to get the lowdown. Running from the 17th - 27th February, the 2011 programme features over 130 screenings plus a myriad of special events, panel discussions, public interviews and industry masterclasses. It’s a tribute to the hard work of the festival team and sponsors that they’ve managed to pull together one of the best lineups the festival has ever seen. It’s even more of an an achievement when funding for the arts has been hit as much as it has over the past year couple of years. Launching the festival programme were award-winning actors Maura Tierney (ER, Liar Liar), who is currently in Dublin for rehearsals of God of Carnage at The Gate Theatre, and Charlene McKenna … There’s more →

Review : Black Swan

  By Andy Gaffney | January 27, 2011 - 9:28 am | Movies & TV, The Culch
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Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan in many ways should be an ad man’s dream. It has big beautiful dance scenes for girls who enjoy pretty things like unicorns, and it has a very well-publicised sex scene between two of the sexiest actresses on the planet for men who have eyes, the perverts. However it is also a seriously dark and downright odd film all about ballet, which probably makes your average Don Draper’s job a little bit harder. The film revolves around Natalie Portman’s Nina whose dedication and perfectionist approach to ballet pays off when she is offered the lead role in her company’s production of ‘Swan Lake’ by handsome apparent-genius director Thomas Leroy, played in the film by a seedy smug prick doing a Vincent Cassel impression. However Nina’s mental state, already shaky from battling incredible self-doubt and a controlling mother, is pushed into batshit crazy territory when sultry dancer … There’s more →

Sweary’s Jaw: Kim Kardashian’s Glass House

  By Lisa McInerney | January 27, 2011 - 8:30 am | Celebs, Gossip, Sweary's Jaw, TV
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Do you lot know who Kim Kardashian is? There’s no shame in admitting you don’t; if anything, I’m rather mortified that I do. I blame it on an unfortunate addiction to bonkers/offensive celebrity gossip site, The Superficial, and having once shared a house with a Heat subscriber. Knowing who Kim Kardashian is may well be taking cranial space from much more important and rewarding snippets - how to hotwire a tractor, for example, or how to home-tattoo myself with a crochet hook and half a bottle of hair dye. I take no pleasure in knowing who Kim Kardashian is. In fact, after her latest patronising public-service announcement, I take even less than ever. Kim Kardashian is a famous American socialite. She has enhanced curves and an oddly proportioned arse. She keeps trim on a never-ending promotional circuit for all manner of snake oil cosmetic and diet solutions, and also from … There’s more →

Ad Nauseam: Betting on a One Trick Pony

  By Éilish Burke | January 26, 2011 - 12:30 pm | Adverts, The Culch
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If you’re interested in learning about the art of advertising I can recommend no book more than ‘The Advertising Concept Book’, which is not only something nice to put on your coffee table, but is also chockers full of sage advise, beautiful pencil illustrations and campaign deconstructions from author ex-Ogilvy adman Pete Barry. The byline of the book ‘Think Now, Design Later’ sets out Barry’s stall; that great advertising is only great if its roots are in insight-led ideas. I was reminded of one of the lessons in the book recently when hearing and seeing some recent Irish ad campaigns. Barry talks about the difference between having an overall concept which leads to lots of different ideas and having one idea which gets spun out into lots of different versions. The latter circumstance is common in short-lived advertising campaigns, but it is a route which is often taken as the … There’s more →

Review - The Fighter

  By Anto | January 26, 2011 - 9:10 am | Movies & TV, The Culch
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As happens with most preview screenings at Culch, an email went out to the group but I responded back damn fast on this one. The Fighter, starring Mark Whalberg and Christian Bale, was a film I’d singled out from the first trailer and a half day off work was well worth it. The film is based on the real-life story of boxer Micky Ward from Lowell, Massachusetts. Micky has grown up in the shadow of his older half-brother and trainer Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). It’s clear that Dicky was once a fantastic fighter but over the years has slipped in with the wrong crowd.He’s still living off the prestige of his high flying days and believes that there’s still time for his comeback. If there’s a single film this year that manages to capture blue collar life as well as The Fighter does, I’d be surprised. Micky works on the … There’s more →

The Nintendo 3DS - Should we care?

  By dinglesurf | January 24, 2011 - 10:36 am | Gadgets, Games
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Nintendo_3DS__Sims_3_3DS_Version_May_Hit_European_Markets_in_January

Last week Japanese gaming behemoths Nintendo announced the European release date (March 25th) for their latest shiny piece of kit, The Nintendo 3DS. So the question is: Should we care? Or is this just another piece of plastic aimed at emptying out the wallets of spotty teenage boys? Well I for one believe we should. So whats new this time? The clue is in the title. The 3DS will be the first gaming console to offer authentic three dimensional graphics WITHOUT the need for any dorky glasses. Nintendo have pioneered ‘stereoscopic’ technology, that delivers jaw dropping depth of field to the gaming experience. It uses two overlaying screens and a polarising filter that sends slightly differing images to each eye, tricking the brain into seeing the image in 3D – or something like that!?! The 3DS is also equipped with a ‘depth slider’ that allows you to manually adjust the … There’s more →

Awful Movie Posters

  By Ronan | January 21, 2011 - 9:30 am | Movies & TV
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Niall and Brogen are usually the bee’s knees/cat’s pyjamas when it comes to good movies, so I better not go there. However, in 2010 I came across a lot of quality movie posters, so I thought I’d round up some of the really, really bad ones. Which glorious Oscar contenders am I missing? What if Stargate had the production values of a Bosco episode? IMDb Rating: 4.2/10

Review - Little Fockers

  By brogen | January 16, 2011 - 9:30 am | The Culch
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Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) and his over protective father-in-law Jack (Robert De Niro) butt heads again in this sequel to Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers. All is going well between Greg and Jack until Greg’s inherent misfortune and clumsiness rile Jack. It’s not long before there is all out war between the two… Again. When watching Little Fockers it is had not to think of some of the great movies of the 20th century. Dustin Hoffman’s performance as Ratso in Midnight Cowboy was truly a star turn. The same goes for Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. So what happened that they turn up in this dismal final installment in the Meet The Parents franchise? Well, that’s simple. A pay cheque.

Review - Gulliver’s Travels

  By brogen | January 15, 2011 - 9:30 am | The Culch
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Lemuel Gulliver (Jack Black) tells a few untruths to the girl of his dreams Darcy (Amanda Peet) to secure a travel-writing job. On his first trip, Gulliver gets caught in a storm in the Bermuda Triangle and ends up in Lilliput – a mysterious land where the people are no more than 6 inches tall. Gulliver, through an act of heroism, soon becomes the hero of the land, but how long will it be before his lies about being President the Awesome of the island of Manhattan will come back to bite him? Jack Black has made a career of playing the lovable loser – memorable moments were High Fidelity and School of Rock – but Gulliver’s Travels is not one of his finest moments. While Black labours hard to make the mediocre script work for him, this is not enough to make up for the film’s rather odd choices. … There’s more →

Oh look, it’s Spider-man

  By Darren Byrne | January 14, 2011 - 11:55 am | Movies & TV, The Culch
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I rewatched a lot of Doctor Who over Christmas and was surprised to see one Andrew Garlfield pop up in a Dalek-centric episode, long before he played a brilliant Eduardo Saverin in The Social Network and certainly long before he was cast as the new Spider-man. I was never a fan of Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker (that painfully cringeworthy strut in Spider-man 3 still gives me nightmares), so I’m certainly dubious about another incarnation of the character. Here’s the first shot of Garfield in the role. What do you think?

Review - The King’s Speech

  By brogen | January 14, 2011 - 9:30 am | The Culch
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The King’s Speech is the story of King George VI, his unexpected and rapid ascension to the throne and the obstacles he had to overcome in order to deliver a radio address that inspired his people and united them in the face of World War II. There is already a considerable Oscar buzz surrounding The King’s Speech, and with good reason. It is not even a year since Colin Firth was nominated for an Academy Award for his brilliant and moving performance in A Single Man, and in The King’s Speech, Firth once again reminds us how great an actor he truly is.

Review - Love and Other Drugs

  By brogen | January 13, 2011 - 4:00 pm | Movies & TV, The Culch
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Pharmaceutical drug rep Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) who has more notches on his bedpost than most meets his match in Maggie (Anne Hathaway), an alluring free spirit who just so happens to be suffering from early onset Parkinson’s. It’s nice to see Gyllenhaal and Hathaway on screen again, minus the slightly dodgy aging effects used in Brokeback Mountain. Many fans of the two leads wondered why they signed up to do a fluffy romance movie, but Love and Other Drugs is slightly more than the Rom-Com that it is billed as. Sure, Jamie has his heart stolen by a girl as unpredictable as he is, but the fact that she is suffering from a degenerative disease and her fear of getting close to anyone breaks down his barriers, and gives the audience a reason to root for the relationship to work.

Ad Nauseam… De do do do do doooo

  By Éilish Burke | January 13, 2011 - 9:46 am | Adverts, The Culch
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I’m still emerging from my Christmas holiday coma and fighting the acceptance that it’s actually now mid January. Hence I haven’t written a proper post this week. But there has been one ad on telly in the ‘deliberately shit but awesome’ category which got my bells ringing. De do do do do dooo… I don’t understand why Pat Shortt’s programmes are so successful (actually that’s a lie, I do - they’re watched by middle aged counthry people such as half of my family) and on a personal level I’d rather poke my eye out with a splintered twig than watch an episode of Killinyourauntiewhoisactuallyalsoyoursister or whatever it’s called, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for the Pat Shortt of the D’Unbelievables era. The man clearly has dramatic talent too, as shown in his nuanced performance in Garage, the fact that he chooses to ride the RTE … There’s more →

Choice Music Prize Irish Album of The Year 2010 Shortlist Announced…

  By ElaineBucko | January 13, 2011 - 9:36 am | The Culch
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It’s that time of year again… Just as you thought you’d seen the back of the debates surrounding end-of-year lists, the Choice Music Prize shortlist announcement comes along to get everyone all riled up again! The Choice Music Prize was established in 2005 to highlight, promote and showcase the work of Irish bands and artists. What is unique, and most admirable, about the Choice Music Prize is that it rewards the music and no other factor – sales levels or amount of airplay are not considerations of the judging panel. Previous winners are Julie Feeney, The Divine Comedy, Super Extra Bonus Party, Jape, and Adrian Crowley. So who will be joining the alumni of Choice Music Prize winners? The nominees are… Adebesi Shank - This is the Second Album of a band called Adebisi Shank The Cast of Cheers – Chariot Cathy Davey - The Nameless Fight Like Apes - … There’s more →

Review - The Green Hornet

  By brogen | January 13, 2011 - 9:26 am | Movies & TV, The Culch
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When his father dies, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) decides to change his life, turn his back on his days as a party boy and devote his life to fighting crime. With the help of his friend and mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou), Reid forms his alter ego – The Green Hornet – and sets about cleaning up the streets of LA. Along the way, however, he discovers some unpleasant truths about his father and the media empire that he was running. The Green Hornet has been a pet project of Seth Rogen’s for a long time. Like Scorsese’s beloved Gangs of New York, it kept getting pushed back and pushed back to such a degree that many wondered if it would ever see the light of day. The movie is finally here, but the question is, is it any good?