It’s not easy narrowing the best films of the year down to 10, particularly when you’re looking for a consensus between 6 writers with different tastes, who have all seen a different number of films this year. We think we did a pretty good job all things considered, we hope you’d agree. But there’s always going…
All posts in December 2016
Film In Dublin’s Top 10 Films Of 2016
The urge is understandable to avoid a retrospective of the year 2016. Not since Lot’s wife decided to take a cheeky glance back at Sodom has looking back at something been more likely to produce misery and misfortune the way this year has, but that only makes it all the more important to go back over the…
Passengers Is A Profoundly Uncomfortable Experience
Directed by: Morten Tyldum Starring: Chris Pratt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Sheen Running Time: 116 mins Passengers is not the nice romantic sci-fi film you’ve been led to believe. What’s disconcerting is that it thinks it is. Thanks to a horribly misguided plot development in the first act of the movie Passengers is a film so…
Dublin Bowie Festival Brings Starman To The Screen In 2017
The second Dublin Bowie Festival will take place citywide this January, beginning on Thursday 5th of January and continuing until Tuesday the 10th, the one year anniversary of David Bowie’s death. With last year’s festival happening to coincide with that event, interest was naturally high and the festival is already expanding considerably, with a programme of live…
Handsome Devil Chosen As Closing Gala Of ADIFF 2017
With 2016 drawing to a close, it’s time to start looking ahead to what 2017 will have to offer for film fans in Dublin. With that in mind, it’s exciting to watch as next year’s edition of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival continues to take shape. Two new films, including next year’s Closing Gala,…
Dogs and Dads: Male Melodrama in The Force Awakens
With Rogue One out this week, I decided to take a look back at last year’s Star Wars offering, The Force Awakens. While both new Star Wars films have been both celebrated and attacked for championing ‘minority’ characters, they’re still very much focused on Fathers and the passing on of power, which shows that patrilineage is still king. Patrilineage means the ways…
Rogue One Finds The Wars In Star Wars
Director: Gareth Edwards Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelsen, Forest Whitaker, Riz Ahmed, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk Running Time: 133 minutes The ambition to have a Star Wars movie come out every single year may end up hitting a point of diminishing returns, but for now the annual return to a galaxy far, far…
Your Name Is Beautiful And Complex Animation
Director: Makoto Shinkai Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi Running Time: 107 minutes After a year with two Disney films and a Pixar sequel, it’s going to be difficult for other animated features to distinguish themselves either in the hearts of the viewing public or in the ballots of voters during the busy awards season. Your Name, an anime film by…
The Birth Of A Nation Shows A Disappointing Lack Of Depth
Director: Nate Parker Starring: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Penelope Ann Miller, Gabrielle Union Running Time: 120 mins There’s a very interesting film to be made about the story of Nat Turner, the literate slave who lead a violent rebellion in the Deep South in 1831, killing over 60 people. This…
Kinopolis 2016: Love, Actually, Is Not Around In United States Of Love
Director: Tomasz Wasilewsi Starring: Julie Kijowska, Marta Nieradkiewicz, Magdalena Cielecka, Dorota Kolak Running Time: 104 minutes The theme of the 2016 Kinopolis Polish Film Festival is love and the many faces that love can have. The opening film of this year’s festival, Tomasz Wasilewski’s United States of Love sees love manifested in less heart-warming forms. It…