Night of the Living Dead is…..uh, alive?

You may remember that in May we asked you to assist in funding Devious Theatre’s production of Night of the Living Dead. Well, after months and months of script writing, set design, rounding up zombies, rehearsals etc, the production is running this week! As you read this, there are 3 performances left: Thursday 26th, Friday 27th and Saturday 28th. It’s in the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny and you can get tickets (€13) on 056 7761674 or book online at WatergateTheatre.com. Not convinced? Check out this feedback from last nights opening performance PLUS the prologue: Wow. Just out of #LivingDead by @devioustheatre at @watergateKK Smart, funny, bleak and bloody. - @niamhnic So @devioustheatre’s Night of the #LivingDead last night was brill. Very funny, great acting and writing - totally recommend it! - @niamhsmith We’ll be there Saturday. “They’re coming to get your Barbara”.

Late to the game - My first week on Netflix

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There was a big interwebby brouhaha when Netflix launched in Ireland in January. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t particularly interested at the time. No one was raving about it. Many people said that the price was great (at just €6.99 a month, that seems a fair comment), but that the content was seriously lacking. The range of movies was very limited and the TV shows that were available were far from up-to-date. I gave it a miss. Six months later There’s more

No Doubt are back and they’ve brought the 90s with them

I was a huge fan of No Doubt from the second I received their debut album, Tragic Kingdom, as a Christmas present in 1995. Today, they release the video for their first single in nine years. The Grammy Award-winning rock group release Settle Down, the first single from their new album Push and Shove, which is released on September 21st. There’s more

Blockbusters: From Avatar to X-Men at the NCH

I’ve been in the National Concert Hall more in the past twelve months than I have in the past twelve years. I don’t know why I haven’t gone more but I’ve had particular occasion of late due to some excellent programming. In February, myself and Darren saw the RTE Concert Orchestra put on an evening of Danny Elfman’s music as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The Batman theme and Mars Attacks! were particular highlights. The use of a theremin really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. We were back in May to catch Close Encounters: A John Williams Celebration featuring tracks from: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Superman and lots more. Williams is an absolute legend of modern cinema scores and hearing his music performed live was fantastic. That brings us to the Concert Orchestra’s next show on the 28th July: Blockbusters: … There’s more

Competition Closed: The Iveagh Garden Concerts with Rufus, Mike and Lisa

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Well, this lot almost slipped past my radar. How did that happen? Did you know that there are three frickin’ awesome gigs lined up for The Iveagh Gardens next week? Wanna win some tickets to see Rufus Wainwright, The Waterboys or Lisa Hannigan? Then keep reading… Rufus Wainwright begins the Iveagh Gardens Nights on Wednesday evening. I have been a huge fan of Wainwright since I first heard his version of Hallelujah for the Shrek soundtrack. Now, I know purists will scoff at me for saying that, but I’ve since dived into his full back catalogue. In fact, his newest album, Out of the Game is fantastic. It will be an evening of stories, drama, humour and some brilliant music. He kicks off at 9pm on Wednesday 18th July with support from Krystle Warren. Tickets €44.05 (a strange number) including booking fee are available from Ticketmaster. Mike Scott’s Waterboys hit … There’s more

Free Music (And it’s pretty damn good)

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I‘ll have to hold myself back here. I’m itching to make some crude joke about getting the clap. I failed. The Clap is a Dublin based rock band made up of brothers, Cathal, Dara & Donal Melinn on piano, guitar and drums respectively, Daniel Knowles on bass and Simon Moore on vocals. Rock music has been the driving force for the Melinn brothers for years and despite the occasional sibling bust-up, they happily spend hours writing and rehearsing until each song has been thoroughly arranged. The lads sent me (and I’m sure a million others) an email. They’re trying to get their name out by offering free music to one and all. And while this isn’t the first time I’ve recieved an email like this, this is one of the rare times that I really like the music. The Clap’s cabaret-/jazz- rock sound is very cool. Sure, it’s raw and … There’s more

Soundtrack Review: Ted is Easy Listening Cheese

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In complete contrast to the edgy, outrageous, controversial fare we experience in the movie itself, Ted‘s soundtrack is a mix of a gentle (and sometimes amusing) score from Composer Walter Murphy and a selection of easy listening tunes and cheesy classics. In the live action/CG-animated comedy, Seth MacFarlane tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish…and has refused to leave his side ever since. I’m not going to let this become a review of the movie itself (I’ll pop that post up closer to the release date), but I’ll openly admit that Seth MacFarlane has made possibly the funniest film I’ve ever seen. So, I was understandably looking forward to the soundtrack. In fairness, I was looking forward to the iPhone app, the t-shirt, the poster, the mug, … There’s more

Review: The 5-Year Engagement

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The opening of this film is where many other rom-coms would often be finishing things up: at the wonderfully awkward yet heartfelt proposal scene, with a few laughs here and there, but the prime focus being on the romance. This pretty much sets the tone for Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel’s newest collaboration, after proving themselves a formidable duo with the hilarious Forgetting Sarah Marshall and last year’s glorious Muppets revival. You may have heard this film described as the movie that turns the whole concept of the romantic-comedy on it’s head. While it’s not exactly a game-changer, it’s an incredibly refreshing take on the genre, and in my opinion definitely the most ‘realistic’ of these type of films I’ve seen since 500 Days of Summer. The 5 Year Engagement focuses on the extremely rocky road that couple Tom (Jason Segel) and Violet (Emily Blunt) take on their way … There’s more