Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2011

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

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

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